Finally some time on the water!

Friday, 18 October, was a glorious day! After way too long off of the water I was able to get out and get a line wet. I decided to head to Lake Rudee and launched at Owl Creek boat ramp. I checked the tide table, as well as Scout Look, to see when the optimal time was. High tide was just after 0800 and Scout Look's solunar table was saying that just after 1000 was the best time so I zeroed in on about 0900 to be casting the first shot.

After a relaxing morning with Paul I dropped him off at day care a little after 0900. That meant that I missed my target time. Still okay, but I needed to hurry. I went to Farm Fresh grocery store to pick up some shrimp to try that out on a popping cork. More about that in a bit. I headed back to the house to load up and get on the road. Luckily the ramp isn't too far from our house so I made it there in no time, got everything ready, and launched rather uneventfully.

For the first time I went behind the Virginia Beach Aquarium to try out the deeper water. There was a slight breeze blowing me into Owl Creek so I just rode that for a while fan casting. Nothing bit so I decided to try my new popping cork. That got immediate attention, but from smaller fish. So, I pulled out my ultra-light rod that I brought along for the purpose of attempting to catch bait. I guess the bait was too small because I never could get a hook set. Oh well….better luck next time I suppose.

I pulled anchor there & started paddling east down the lake headed towards the inlet. My goal was to go through Rudee Inlet, possibly out into the Atlantic a little bit, and then into Lake Wesley. Well, once I got through the inlet I quickly realized that there was no way I was going out into the big water. Swells were WAY too big. I made the right turn into Lake Wesley. What a waste of time! In Rudee I would at least see a fish jump every once in a while, but in Wesley there was nothing going on. There were a lot of boats, but no visible action. The wind was even lighter than on Rudee, too. After a few minutes I decided to head back to where I at least saw something going on. Back through the inlet and into Rudee.

Once there I headed straight for the grass island. When I got there I started throwing everything I had tied on. Swim baits, Mirr-O lures, popping cork…you name it. I saw some action on the popping cork, but I could not get a hook set. I drifted some, “beached” some along the island, but all the while I was casting. Nothing, nothing, nothing. I headed to the buoy and anchored up there. Then the fun began! I threw the popping cork and immediately got hit….HARD! I set the hook, but there was nothing there. So, re-bait the hook and start over. I threw out just a little farther and BOOM!!! This time it was a good fish! After a brief fight I got a look at this nice Speckled Trout.

Now, this is where I must insert a hard-earned lesson that I forget every time I go out fishing on my kayak. Have ALL of the gear you need READILY ACCESSIBLE!!! Once I had this fish on the end of my line, and next to the boat, I realized that I did not have the following gear set and ready:

1.    Net out and ready

2.    Fish Grip out and ready

3.    Pliers out and ready

4.    Ruler out and ready

Are you seeing a trend here?! After I got all of that stuff sorted out, with the fish still on the line thankfully, I landed this beautiful fish! It measured out at 16 ½ inches and sure was good on the table for dinner!

This is still the most beautiful fish I have ever caught!

After this one the bite was steady, sparse, but steady none the less. There was no more action on the popping cork. The only other action came on a new swim bait rig I set up a few weeks back with this being the first time I have been able to use it. It is just a simple piece of fluorocarbon line with a ¼ ounce jig-head tied to both ends. Then I tied a loop in between so that they are staggered. When you retrieve it through the water it looks like a miniature school of bait fish. Every time I was hit when I threw this rig the back swim bait was the one that was nailed. Stands to reason I suppose as the predator fish will go after the isolated/weaker fish. So the one at the back may look, to them, like that fish. Or maybe it had a dinner bell inside of it and I didn’t know it. Whichever was the case I don’t really care because I landed me two other smaller Speckled Trout. They fought way outside of their weight-class and that is all that matters.

All in all it was a good, much needed, day on the water. Here’s to hoping the time between trips isn’t as long as the last one!