Exploration - West Bay 11/15/17

[Drifting Yak]

Hit West Bay with Ken yesterday and we had some success. We usually fish in or around marshes but decided to make this a trek out into the bay - an exploration into the unknown. Our thinking was to search mid-bay structures on a moving tide while hoping to find guts with shell/oysters along the way. Hopefully we'd find some specs!

We hit the water at noon on a dropping tide with a moderate wind in our face (steady 8-10 MPH) - a beautiful afternoon covering some 8.5 miles over the course of 8 hours. The trek into the bay did not yield much. Ken found some dinks under birds at one point but generally speaking, the fish just weren't there (watched the fish finder closely and nothing was showing up).

Earlier, while trolling on the way out into the bay, we did find a few 15" specs (all released) that were on a small shell/oyster structure, in 3 to 4 feet of water located about 70 yards off of a muddy shoreline. There was a distinct change in bottom going from 2' to 3' and we trolled along that change line. This may not seem like much of change but it was enough to make a difference. There weren't many hookups and snags were frequent so we decided to continue our course into the bay.

We moved around the open water for a while searching and finding various structures without any luck. After a couple of hours Ken, who has much more patience than I do, stayed to continue the exploration but I had had enough. The tide was now incoming and with the wind at my back, it was easy to cover the distance back to the marsh (averaged around 2 MPH without hitting a stroke!). Again it was a beautiful afternoon and after all, we were covering some new ground. So I sat there trolling along and taking in all of the beauty (bright sunny day in the mid 70's - just doesn't get better than that!).

The small shell/oyster structure that we hit earlier was calling so I hit it up on the way in. After a few drifts back and forth, a fat 17 inch spec hit my lure (used a Chicken Boy's 3.5" Psycho Chicken Shad in Plum/Chart most of the day). Caught several more specs over the next 30 minutes or so and the bite fell off. Most were around the 15 inch mark.

All in all it was a great day on the water. Was broken off by a huge bull red later that evening (damn near jerked my rod out of my hands!), missed a flounder or two along the way and all together landed 15 or more specs. I'll post a pic later of a few fish that were kept and will also let Ken tell you about his catches.

Note: This was the first time that I've personally made a conscious effort to search for and hit mud/shell interfaces. Ken has done it several times with success but I usually get lured away by the call from marshes and drains. After reading various posts (Tobin, Yaklash, etc. which stated that this was were the specs would be this time of year) we put it to the test. And guess what, it worked! So thanks everyone!

Also, there were a few other things learned.
- At one point, when nothing was going on, there was a grey heron perusing the bank near a rock pile. No other birds in sight and for sure no visual fish activity. I thought "He's got better eyesight than I do" so I threw over his way. Bam, flounder bump. Lost it at the boat but got the adrenaline pumping. He moved to another spot. I cast near him. 2 dink specs in the yak. No keepers but the point is that sometimes you have to follow the "little" signs.

- It was difficult trying to stay over the scattered shell/oyster structure. The current and the wind were moving in the same direction so you would actually move away from the target faster than you'd think. And then there's a bit of side to side motion which would pull you laterally off target. I've had that issue in the past but on this occasion, I used my fish finder to mark "multiple" spots across the structure. Normally I'd only mark a single way point for future use but by marking several spots on this one structure I was able to more clearly define the sweet spot. This allowed for a quick return after a drift or after fighting a fish. This may seem obvious to some but it was new for me and actually helped us stay on the fish.

See ya!

[YakRunabout]

Like Mike said, it was a great day to be on the water. He had more consistent fish action than I did, but I did manage to take home a 20” and 17” spec from night action over the canal lights. Most of my fish were in the evening and night.

Like Mike said it was a day of following little signs – like catching a couple small trout under birds, or the little sign on one of the reef islands that I found in the bay.

My best ‘little sign’ was the small slurp along a grass line in the marsh at the intersection of a small channel and a larger one. There had been very little fish action in the marsh and this little slurp was enough to draw my attention. I thought ‘that looks interesting’ and so I cast to the spot, managing to put the weedless jerk shad just past the spot into the grass. On pulling it out of the grass it was taken up by another little slurp and the fight was on. The red headed further up the little channel taking line as it ran. I took this opportunity for a quick radio call of ‘yeehaw’ indicating a running red. Taking my hand off the reel was a big mistake – Once back on the reel there was nothing there!! So I reel in quickly, when all of a sudden the weight is back – apparently the red turned just as I radioed, and headed back towards the kayak. He made a couple of runs as I coaxed him closer to the kayak. I was about to get him into view and then he was gone – the lure coming back towards me. Anguish – Aargh!!
A lost fish - but still there is satisfaction in this encounter – I saw a small sign, put the cast on the spot and hooked the fish! There is a satisfaction when all that comes together.
In this I recall a previous ‘small sign’ – a few large bubbles on still water along a grass marsh bank. A cast to the spot produced an 18” rat red. Not a keeper but still a satisfying catch.

Enjoy your next outing –
May it produce the big flounder all are waiting for!!

[kickingback]

Good report guys! Thanks for sharing!
The trout are on the flats during the fall and winter and you have to find them that's for sure. Those small changes in the water, be it the current, the wind or depth changes, all help in finding that"edge" to catch the fish where you hope or think they will be based on your knowledge. Good on you for going off the norm and trying new to find them! It pays off in the end with the experience learned.

[Drifting Yak]

Thanks Mr. Kickingback! It was fun!

And Ken's pic of that lone spec doesn't do her justice. The pic below shows 15", 17" and 18" specs (which will garnish the family table). Ken's 20 incher dwarfed these. She was nice and fat!

[Cuervo Jones]

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