Monday, July 8, 2013

July 8th 2013: The two that got away....(on the Cape)

I didn't get out fishing in the salt as much as I would have liked (wind was relentless).  I got a bunch of schoolies when I did get out, but the big fish came un-stuck.  I always seem to remember the ones that got away better.

1st fish...
I was fishing deep in BH on the north side of the Cape.  There's a channel where the whaling boat goes out and a nice drop off the edge.  For some reason I couldn't catch them jigging, they wanted skinny plastic trolled on a long line.  So, I'm having a good time catching schoolies and trying to see if they like pink or arkansas shiner colors better.  They didn't seem to have a preference, so I kept fishing both rods (mistake).  I'd cast out into the channel and start pedaling against the tide, 1 rod would go off, haul in a fish, get swept into the channel, and then do it all over again.  Finally make a pass where I don't hook a fish and continue to troll both lines over a shell point on my way back to the ramp.  Ba-bam!  The pink skinny hogy rod doubles over.  Big fish.  No time to clear the other rod (mistake). Between the wind, the fish, and the tide, I had a hard time controlling the hobie as the fish pulled me into the moorings.  Fish took me under a mooring line and wrapped me up with the free line that was still out.  I see one of my rods go shooting out of its holder as I clear a mooring line and watch it dangle in mid air.  CRap.  Decided to cut the free line before I got impaled with a hook which was hard for me to do since that line was probably all that was holding up the rod that just flew out of my kayak.  (funny how things can go so bad so quickly?)  Oh well, I still have the big fish on.  Hook pops free as I was about to land her.  Mid 30's, I'd guess (inches - not pounds), but good fight on light gear.  Go back to see if I can get my rod.  Crank in the slack slowly because I know there's not much holding my other rod (since I cut the line).  A few more cranks and up she comes!  Swivel had lodged in the reel seat and was the only thing holding the rod up.  Grabbed the rod, stowed everything away, and headed back home to take apart my reel.  I was lucky I didn't get hooked or flip or lose my rod!  Not so lucky with the fish.  :angry:

2nd fish...
More schoolies on skinny plastic - this time near the mouth of BH.  Wind was supposed to be 8 mph from the SW.  It's a steady 10-20 mph straight W.  Awesome.  I can't see the fish on the flats because of the wind and I'm just blindly casting at little rips and cuts and stuff and catching a schoolie here and there.  Nothing consistent.  As the tide fills in, I let it push me back in the harbor and I'm getting soaked as the wind and tide are fighting each other and creating building waves.  The hobie is great and can handle most anything, but it can be a wet ride at times.  Oh well, I was getting hot anyway.  I decide to try a big silver Ron-Z in some of the deeper water.  Sort of like fishing the canal except without people crossing your line.  I pass over a hole that goes down to about 15'.  I can see bait + fish on the FF.  Pump the Ron-Z as I slide through and Blamo!  Big fish hits the Ron-Z.  The fish is stripping line on a ML 7' surf rod (heavier gear than the first fish) and pulling me into the main channel.  There's a tuna boat coming, so I crank the drag down a little and start thinking about Plan B. Plan B never came into play as the hook popped again!  Maybe I should have kept a loose drag and hoped the fish would turn?  The plastic was turned a bit on the jighead, but not balled up on the hook.  Not sure what happened?  Those hooks should be good enough for tuna.  Never even saw that fish - she just completely over powered my gear.  More boats are showing up now, so I decide to bail.  As I'm leaving, the wind shifts SW and cuts out.  White caps disappear.  Standing waves flatten out.  Looked nice enough to launch again, but I already was done for the morning.  On the plus side, I'm learning more about the area every trip and where the fish hide at different stages of the tide.  

I didn't take many pics...

Here's one of a sand eel that I snagged on a 6" pink skinny hogy with a Owner Inshore jig head 

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