Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Ernie · Oct-19-09 5:52PM

What a day!!!!

We started off by meeting Capt. Sean Crawford at 8:15 AM at Kent Narrows on a cold (low 40s) and very windy (low 20s) day. This had all the makings for a cancel day but Capt. Sean was fairly certain that the winds would calm later. As well, we knew the temps would get into the 50s....eventually!

We started by making a couple of shallow water drifts on some very fishy places but no one was home. Casting was difficult as we were making the casts against the wind.

On to Plan B.....this plan called for looking for breaking birds but we didn't see many. Finally, we marked some fish and I was able to take the skunk off the boat.

A few minutes later John got his skunk off.....

....and then, so did Jim.

So now, it was time to go find some numbers! That we did once we found these guys!

For the next 2 hours of so, we were on fish most of the time.....I even got to fly fish!

Most of the fish we were catching were between 18-22 inches with very few "throwback" type.

While Jim was fishing mostly on top, John was fishing the bottom since he heard the bigger fish hand out down there. He found them alright....

This was a 30" beast! What a great fish on light tackle!

I got another on a fly (8 wt).....

....and my 1st one on top water. Before that, I was either throwing the fly or an assortment of Specialized Baits on the bottom....all were catching!

Here is John on top again....

By the way, I didn't get that many shots of Jim because he was in the back of the boat just wailing away on us. He was the top water master for the day. These fish were hitting top water while the sun was up (no clouds)! They even hit when there were no birds around! Credit this to Capt. Sean for reading and understanding the water. Totally impressed!

Sean talked me into throwing a 10 wt with a popper and it paid off!

This next fish has quite a story. John made his cast and immediately got hit but the fish did not eat. John kept retrieving and got hit 3 more times before finally nailing this beauty on the 5th hit. Incredible!

On the other side of the boat, Jim was still wailing away and hollering because a striper hit his popper and knocked it 8-9 feet in the air. Unreal!

The last hour of fishing was perhaps one of the most spectacular hours I have ever participated in or witnessed. We had several triples, many chases and catches both on top and on the fly (me). It was after 4 PM and Capt. Sean said we needed to go so we should make our last casts. We all caght a fish and John ended the day with this 27" beauty! Are you kidding me?

We were worn out after catching more than 90 stripers of which only 15-20, were less than 18". As a matter of fact, I would guess that we had 30-40 fish that were bigger than 20".

Epic day!

Dominion Dan · Oct-19-09 5:55PM

WOW! What a day! You guys really got into them, it's a good thing you didn't cancel! Those stripers must be fun, especially on a fly rod!

doberdog1 · Oct-19-09 7:01PM

now that looks like a fun day, what a rush. I don't know if I would be able to contain myself if I was there.

I like fishing!
MO

Bob B · Oct-19-09 7:21PM

Wow! That was a lot of action. Great report and pics (as usual).

Rob Allen · Oct-19-09 9:14PM

Ernie -

excellent trip!

But..................... where are the White Perch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding -

I look forward to my trip with Sean next week - glad you released those so I can catch a couple.

Rob

jumping jasper · Oct-20-09 4:51AM

doberdog1 wrote:
I don't know if I would be able to contain myself if I was there.

MO

I'm with you Mo. I would have been giddy like a school girl.

Glad you guys had one of those days we all dream about.

AndrewDo124 · Oct-20-09 5:45AM

holy moly! Nice outting! Some quality fish in there!

Ernie · Oct-20-09 6:10AM

Here is what John said in an email last night, "All we can say is 'wow'. I'm bushed, burned, arthritic for the right reasons and enjoyed hearing Jim tell his Dad how much fun he had. Called it his 'field of dreams'. Welcome to striper fishing at its absolute best......never trolling again!".

It was quite a day....I can't tell you how many fish exploded on the top water and were missed. Each of those was as thrilling as catching one.

Ernie · Oct-20-09 7:55AM

And here is what our Capt. posted on a fly fishing board that I frequent. He gives a more scientific review of our day:

Thanks Ernie, it really was a pretty amazing day. I asked them if they wanted to try for 100, but the last fish was a great way to end it.

When the wind was still blowing in the morning we had fish blitzing for a few acres, more fish than birds, drifts were about a mile. Look in the deeper water for high flying birds that wheel and dive occasionally. Seeing the smaller fish blitz was also really cool because the water was so clear, you could see the entire school about 10 feet down....awesome.

Later in the day we were looking around and saw the makings of bigger fish, a few spashes, and a few bunker being chased out of the water. Idle over and stop and start casting poppers, nothing too huge, stillwater jr. worked great, as well as rapala skitter walks. They didn't like the smaller fly rod popper I normally fish....was thinking of trying a large Bob's banger or something but I didn't have the heart to tell Ernie he had to fly cast a even bigger popper. Marks were all over the screen though and as soon as he picked up a sinking line with a 6" BTD, it was fish on every cast.

The other anglers stuck to topwater mostly, the last hour was as good of fishing as I have seen. Large fish, on top, chasing bunker, hitting topwater lures. I tried to video some of it but they were catching fish on almost every cast and I was running around the boat taking fish off, it was silly.

Ernie is not exaggeraing on the size either, I would say that no more than 30 of the 90 were less than 18", most were 20" - 24" and fat...think CBBT footballs.

I am heading to Florida Thursday so will miss the fun the next few days. For those of you going out, water temps dropped 10 degrees since last Wednesday, the bait has moved into deeper water where it is warmest, up to 56 degrees or so. There is a ton of 4" - 6" peanut bunker out there. look for those splashes or a few bunker launching, you dont need birds this time of year, in fact, the birds are typically going nuts when the smaller fish are on anchovies, not the bunker. Check the charts for areas where current is concentrated, it doesnt need to be much of a constriction either.

CozUF2001 · Oct-20-09 12:12PM

Curly wrote:
Very nice. You've got me itching to get out on the water again.

Like you need motivation!

CozUF2001 · Oct-20-09 12:13PM

Fantastic day on the water for you all. Worth its weight in gold!

Ernie · Oct-20-09 12:13PM

CozUF2001 wrote:
Curly wrote:
Very nice. You've got me itching to get out on the water again.
Like you need motivation!

Pacemaker Fishing Forum

#1 Oct-19-09 5:52PM

10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#2 Oct-19-09 5:55PM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#3 Oct-19-09 7:01PM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#4 Oct-19-09 7:21PM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#5 Oct-19-09 9:14PM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#6 Oct-20-09 4:51AM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

doberdog1 wrote:

#7 Oct-20-09 5:45AM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#8 Oct-20-09 6:10AM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#9 Oct-20-09 7:55AM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#10 Oct-20-09 12:12PM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

Curly wrote:

#11 Oct-20-09 12:13PM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

#12 Oct-20-09 12:13PM

Re: 10-19-09, Eastern Bay report

CozUF2001 wrote:

Curly wrote:

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