Flounder Tournament and Trout

Last week was quite busy with work, but I was able to sneak away for 2 days of fishing. First trip I took was to the Eastern Shore of MD to chase some Speckled Trout and the 2nd was Saturday for the MSSA Flounder Tournament in Ocean City, MD.

Wednesday was slow fishing, but I managed a few fish on chartreuse twister tails and 1/16 oz jig heads.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday we only caught one flounder but it was a nice fish and helped us finish well out of 60 boats and 140 anglers.

Team Alltackle took 5th place with a 22.5", 4.35lb flounder and Capt. Luke was able to make up some ground in the MSSA Captain of the Year Race!!

 

Dad with his catch!!

 

 

Chesapeake Bay Schoolie Striper Action

Here is some video I got last week with the Go Pro. I must say I didn't get the hottest action, but I was more worried about catching fish. But here it is, enjoy!

All Out Blitz

The title is fitting for not only the beginning of football season but also the way fishing has been lately. If you read one of my last posts about fishing the Thomas Point Lighthouse then you know it has been a very productive location. This has continued since then and I have been able to make it out a few more times this week.

The fish has been blitzing almost every evening and morning when it has been calm. The blitz has been lasting for a few hours and fishing has been insane. Lots of undersized fish with some overs mixed in, but you can't complain catching 40+ fish a day.

Lures have included road runner jig head with Bust Em Baits jerk shad.

 

 

 

Lots of fish underneath of my yak!!!

 

 

My new Personal Best Striper 26.5", not too impressive but I just don't fish for them enough.

 

Thursday afternoon was my best day yet. That was when I managed 4 overs with the largest coming in at 26.5". Once the fish would start to blitz I used a Mirrolure Papa Dog topwater lure to catch a fish almost every cast. Although my bigger fish came below the surface with the roadrunner Bust Em Bait Shad combo.

Ran into Don (DOGFISH) on the water at the light on Thursday.

 

Also, caught my 1st bluefish of the year.

 

 Definition of "The Hobie Life"

Friday morning my Dad and I went out again with a calm forecast again. We launched at 7am and the birds and fish began blitzing at about 7:45 and it continued almost all morning until we called it quits at 11am. 

Both of us caught over 40 fish with my Dad managing the biggest at 23". I got three keepers right around 19". 

I also caught my 1st striper on the fly!!

The catch from Thursday and Friday, plus Dad's 23 incher. 

 

Small Craft Advisory

Well as you might have thought from the title it was a little bit rougher out today than we expected. And "a little" is not really giving the mighty bay much credit.

The forecast showed 10mph winds out of the SW last night and when we woke up to launch at 5am it had been bumped up to more like 15mph. Which is doable, but not necessarily in the main stem of the bay, which is where we were headed. Shane "Reelaxin10", Ryan "Shady", Pat "Knot Working" and myself launched at a private location I've got access to near Thomas Point with the hopes of paddling out to the lighthouse for some early morning topwater stripers. 

The wind and waves dampened the possibilities of anything topwater and at first even the possibility of going out to the light.  We were all tentative as there was a solid 2' chop out of the south and it was building. Ryan made the 1st move and with his trusty Torqueedo evolve he left for the light. The rest of us contemplated the journey and after Ryan confirmed he had already caught fish we headed out.

About half way to the light all we could see in the distance was hundreds of birds diving across about a mile span north of Thomas Point Light. This is what you dream of. The water was rough so you couldn't see fish breaking but they were definitely chasing bait to the top.

As soon as we got out there we all hooked up immediately and our fish finders lit up or blacked out. It was on!!

1st fish and largest fish of the day at 24"

Photo Credit: Shane

 

Photo Credit: Shane

 

24 incher

 

It was a wet, windy ride on the bay today!!

 

The waves continued to build with some peaking at close to 4 feet. It got very sporty for awhile and none of us would have made our way out there if we weren't in a group. I had multiple large waves crest on the side of my kayak nearly turning over the trusty Pro Angler 14. But like I said we are all experienced paddlers and know how to react and not react in those situations. Also, you may notice I'm actually wearing my life vest which means it was not safe and most definitely a "Small Craft Advisory". Today was the day that I wish I had the Go Pro set up just to show how rough it was and how close I came to flipping.

You can see some cresting waves in the distance.



Pat with his 1st keeper of the day at 22"

 

I had most of my luck trolling rather than casting solely because it was just so rough. It was hard to stay on top of a location and jig efficiently.  I was trolling a 4" Storm Swim Shad on a Overboard 7' Heavy baitcaster. On the 2nd rod, an Overboard 7' Medium Casting rod, I had a 3/4oz road runner bucktail with a Chartreuse BKD or Electric Chicken Bust Em Baits Jerk Shad. 

An 11" Striper completely swallowed the 4" Storm Shad

 

My two keepers for the day!!

 

 

Ryan ended up catching the most stripers and he ended the day with some big perch as well!! It's always awesome to get out on the water with good friends. And like many things there is safety in numbers while kayak fishing. We were off the water by 9:30am and off to do whatever else was in store for the day, in my case typing this post then catching up on the sleep I missed last night.

 

Tonight's Dinner!!!

Another Day, Another Citation

Got my 3rd Largemouth citation in a week yesterday.. I spent most of the afternoon testing a new product by Kanan Lures, that is currently not released and not even named. It's the original prototype bait and the plan is to release the series in September. Overall, I got a good amount of hits on the bait on what was a super slow day for me at the lake. I super pumped for more color options in this bait, I think it will become my go to crank.

Managed a big girl at the end of the night on a Rebel Pop R about 15 from shore in about 8-10 feet of water, so that was a big surprise.

This bass had some sort of Glaucoma in its' eye, but it sure didn't miss my lure.

 

The New Prototype by Kanan Lures

White Perch Tacos!!

Shane and I did some fishing at Weems Creek off the Severn and found some very active fish with good size. I caught 2 that were right at 12 inches.

Fried perch with homemade salsa, shredded cheese, tabasco.

 

Fatty Perch

Big Mosquitos and Big Bass

Caught about 25+ bass today at the honey hole. Dad caught around 10. I managed to tally two more citations for Largemouth Bass.

 

 

 

 

#1

 

#2

 

If anyone wants to catch bass... Now is the time!! There is nothing more fun that a morning topwater bite!!

 

Kanana Lures, Overboard Rods, AFTCO Fish Ninja Shirt, AllTackle

Bay Bridge Live Lining

The Bay Bridge has been on fire as of late. I haven't had much time to get out on the kayak, so last Friday I snuck away on the boat with Capt. Luke and my roommate Kyle. 

 

We got on the action quick. As soon as we caught our spot on the western shore side on bloodworms we headed to the eastern side to live line the pilings. Within 5 seconds of putting the spot in the water a striper took it for a run. It was on from there, between the 3 of us we caught over 20 fish in about 1.5 hours and missed a bunch more. All fish were caught on Overboard Rods, both the bobber series and the soul pole series.

 

 

Capt. Luke holding up all 6 of our keepers.

 

All fish in the 20-26" range.

 

 

What an amazing night!!!

 

MAKBF - Final Event Recap

Preparing for the final event at Mallows Bay off the Potomac River started for me as soon as the 3rd event ended. This only involved one day of pre-fishing, but there were numerous hours reading about the area, searching Google maps, and following tidal Potomac reports on Snaggedline. This is a common thing for me to help prepare for every event that I fish in. I believe it doesn't simply prepare me for that single event but it improves my knowledge on the broad scheme of being a fisherman.

I pre-fished Thursday before the event hoping to find a pattern and locate a school of oversized Potomac Bass. The average size bass in the Potomac is about 13-15" or so and there are a lot of them. Finding the bigger fish is the most important aspect of tournament fishing the Potomac, whether on a boat or kayak. Sometimes it takes a change in your presentation, up-sizing your lure, or targeting areas where an easy meal might be. The bigger bass on the Potomac don't usually like to work to hard for their meals.

 My Dad and I fished Thursday and to say the least it was slow and not very successful for the longest time of scouting. The water was dirty and there was a 15-20mph wind that made fishing the ships tough. My dad managed 3-4 bass during the day on a white spinner and I caught one as well. Once the tide shifted and started heading out I went over to a creek spill I thought might produce. The water had cleared up and I could actually see the bass stacking up waiting for bait to come out of the creek. I could not get them to bite for over 30 minutes though. I decided to put on a Kanan Lures Aqua Relic Fatty Blazeshad swim bait and this proved to be the trick, I caught 3 quick fish and missed a few other short strikes with all 3 fish over the average slot. It also produced a small snakehead. My total for 3 bass and the snakehead bonus would have given me 50.5", so I felt comfortable I could compete on Saturday.

Kanan Lures Fatty Swim Bait

 

Ultimately my goal at this event was to not necessarily win the event but to make up enough ground in the Angler of the Year race to take over 1st for the series and earn an invite to the 2014 KBF Invitational.

Saturday rolled around with the temperature up only slightly from the cold front we experienced on Thursday. As soon as we all registered and 7am struck the clock I made a sprint over to my spot I caught fish on Thursday. It wasn't going to be outgoing tide until 12pm, but I made the decision the night before to spend the whole day there and work to get the fish that I know are there. The water was dirty again Saturday, so I could not site fish any of the bass. Before I knew it I had my 3 bass limit before 8:30am a decent total, but the bit shut down as soon as a bass boater came and crowded myself and CJ Espey,  Bust 'Em Baits co-owner, who had already caught a 20" fish that came in at 5lbs 7oz. Again I went with what worked a few days before, I got 2 fish on a white spinner and the 3rd, my largest, on the Kanan Lures Fatty Swim Bait.

 

 

We continued to fish, I held my spot while CJ relocated a little and was rewarded with another 5 pounder measuring 19.5". He was set. I told him as long as he caught a 3rd fish he would win the event for sure.          

CJ from Bust 'Em Baits, the big bass sponsor for the event!!

After a long day that involved no more fish other than a yellow perch and a small blue cat I was quite nervous waiting for the results to come in. Jon Snyder and Bryan Herndon were both ahead of me in the AOTY race and the last I heard that had a tough outing, but on the Potomac it can be a matter of minutes that can change your day and put up a 3 fish limit. They are both stellar fishermen and it was not going to be an easy task to make up the points against them.

After the results were tallied CJ did indeed take first with a whopping 53.5 inches and I was fortunate enough to take 2nd.

Top 5
CJ Espey
Matt Baden
Dave Adlington
Wayne Chimo
Chuck Bieller


The final results came in and I snuck out a come back victory to take 1st in the Angler of the Year Race. I was really pumped and even more excited that it was a close and competitive series through all 4 events. I was fortunate to win an entry at the 2014 KBF Invitational, AOTY Bonus Cash, and free entry to 4 MAKBF events next year.

Thank you so much to all my sponsors: Overboard Rods, Hobie Kayaks, AllTackle, AFCTO.

And I'd like to announce my newest sponsor Kanan Lures, which I super excited to be a part of their company. Their lures are the bomb and they have helped me put up some tournament quality fish during these events.

 

MAKBF Final Wrap-Up

 

Event 1 – Mattawoman Creek – Indian Head, MD

Sponsor – Doc Irv Custom Baits (www.docirvcustombaits.com)

Winner – Matt Baden

Event 2 – Occoquan Reservoir – Lake Ridge, VA

Sponsor – Power Team Lures (www.powerteamlures.com)

Winner – Bryan Herndon

Event 3 – Upper Potomac River – Point of Rocks, MD

Sponsor – Pradco Brands Fishing – (www.pradcofishing.com)

Winner – Jon Snyder

Event 4 – Mallows Bay – Nanjemoy, MD

Sponsor Bust Em Baits (www.bustembaits.com)

Winner – CJ Espey

Final Angler of the Year Standings

1. Matt Baden - 27
2. Jon Snyder - 21
3. Bryan Herndon - 19
T4. Shane Clift - 16
T4. Wayne Chimielewski - 16
6. CJ Espey - 13
7. Dave Thompson - 12
8. Dave Baden - 11
9. Dave Adlington - 10
T10. Jeff Adlington - 9
T10. Alberto Tabian - 9