Well, last week I was on vacation with my family in Atlantic Beach, NC and took the kayak with me. My plan was to get in as much fishing as possible (while not aggravating my family)... I've fished in sounds, off of piers, charter boats, and from the surf numerous times. However, this would be the first time that I've ever fished in the saltwater out of a kayak. I was pretty excited to get my new boat out and hopefully catch a few fish!
Turns out, I was only able to get out a few times (once for an extended amount of time). We stayed 1/4 mile from the Bogue Sound and the road the condo was on went straight to a public boat ramp in the sound. Talk about convince! I fished around a few piers and even out in the sound some, but only caught grass. The fish were biting as they tore the tail off of a few of the rubber grubs! However, I did not land a single fish there. The water was crazy shallow too! Other than the boat channel, it was shin-deep in that section of the sound.
So, after a hellacious storm and 3 failed attempts near the condo I sought out the help of a local shop. They told me that "yeah, there's fish down near your condo, but they hold up in the deep holes". Also, they told me that unless I had the holes marked with a GPS it would be pretty tough fishing. Instead, they suggested that I go in towards Beaufort and put in just across the big bridge at the public boat landing on the left. They said that there was some nice fishing just around the bend and the water was much deeper. That was all I needed to hear! I went right back to the condo, dropped off the wife and kids, then loaded the yak and hit the road for the short trip towards Beaufort.
The landing was super easy to get to and there was plenty of room to get the yak in the water. After putting in and fishing for about 5 minutes, I landed this nice 21" flounder! At first, I thought I was hung up in the grass till it started to move. lol He tried his best to get under some cover and pulled my boat around a little bit. He fought pretty hard so I thought he deserved to live another day. After taking the pic, I put him back in the water. The picture doesn't really show off how big he is, but the lure in his mouth is a standard 1/4 oz. jig head with a grub.
I then fished towards an area that looked nothing shy of incredible. There were "channels" running all through the grass that screamed "FISH ARE HERE!". So, as I paddled my way through grass and channels, I had quite a few bites (lost some more grub tails), and really enjoyed the afternoon. Talk about peaceful! Man, I could have stayed out there till dark.
At one point I was winding through these channels and saw what looked like a big nest for something. This thing was right between me and getting out of one of the channels. It kinda freaked me out a bit because there was NO ONE around me and here I am staring at what could be an alligator nest 100 feet away. I made a few casts in the direction of the "nest" but didn't see any movement. So, I quietly paddled closer to it and as I approached it I saw that it was nothing more than a large circular pile of grass with some junk in it from the rise and fall of the tide. There was also a dead Christmas tree just beside it too. No sign of any gator activity...thank goodness. That's one thing I don't want to have to deal with in a kayak.
As the tide started to fall, I decided that I should probably get back and go to dinner with my crew... however, I would fish my way back out.
As I winded back out of the channels to the main sound, the only other fish I landed was this little guy.
A few cast after the small flounder, I hooked up with what I initially thought was another pile of oysters or some junk on the bottom. Well, after about 2.6 seconds I realized that whatever I hooked was slowly coming right at me and it wasn't moving off the bottom. As I reeled it in, the fish decided to change directions and once again my yak was going with whatever this was... It felt like I was reeling in the deck-lid of a car as it pulled some drag off of the reel. I fought this thing for a minute or two, then the lure came out of the water at mach speed. DANG! I'm assuming this was a ray or a huge flounder...
As I worked my way back to the landing, I had a few more strikes but I still think the few hours that I was out there were amazing! I'm sure I could have caught a few more fish if I wasn't so taken in by the scenery and how nice the afternoon was. Landing two fish, breaking off one, and being drug around by something big equals a good fishing afternoon in my book!
My Pompano 120 handled great and was pretty stable on the open water. I also think I'm starting to finally get this anchor trolley deal and how to use it for positioning. I can't wait to get back out to the sound or the waterway to do some more saltwater fishing! Hopefully, I'll be able to make it to the Oak Island tournament.
Eric
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