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Piney Point stripers, 5/7

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  • Piney Point stripers, 5/7

    The wind and weather were lining up for a good evening for potential topwater action (though, Sunday and Monday will be better), so I launched at Piney Point a bit before 4pm to check things out. The plan was to troll out to Stuarts Pier, jig for stripers and croaker, try some topwater action out there, then try for some topwater at my usual spot closer to the ramp.

    I trolled a deep diving Tennessee shad Yozuri Crystal Minnow (which was an awesome suggestion by DOGFISH) and it got slammed about halfway to the pier. The fish launched out of the water , and I saw that it was a striper that looked to be close to 28-30", or so. I was stoked. It spun my yak around and ran like hell a few times before I got it turned around and back to the yak. You think by now I would've learned to use my lipper, but I didn't want to risk losing the fish at the last moment. I put one leg in the water on either side of the yak, grabbed the leader as the fish dove under the boat, and manged to flip it into the yak surprisingly gently. I covered its eyes with one hand and reached for the lure with the other. It was still pretty green, and it almost launched out of the boat. Fortunately, I blocked it with my leg, but, unfortunately, the hook when into my dry suit. It just missed the double layered section, too. I'm not sure if it leaks, though, so I'll have to check it out. Anyway, after I got everything untangled, the striper ended up only being 24". I released it, and it took off like a rocket like nothing happened. So it wasn't my personal best in terms of length, but it was easily in terms of weight. He was a total football, and he was still looking to spawn. It was probably the second hardest fighting striper I've caught, too.

    I made it out to the pier without any more excitement. I jigged 5" Gulp jerk shads hoping for croaker and 6" BKDs for stripers. I didn't get any croakers, but I picked up a 16" striper on the Gulp jerk shad.

    Around 7pm, I started chucking a big popper around. I didn't have any luck with that, so I tried a 4" Badonk-a-donk and a 1oz Rattletrap, both of which went untouched.

    I trolled the Crystal Minnow back to the launch and switched to a big Bomber minnow when I got to shallower water. Nothing. I didn't have any hits on a Skitterpop at my topwater spot, so I called it a night at 8pm.

    The water temp was between 62 and 64 depending on where I was. The water was kind of muddy, but I don't think the muddy layer was all that deep because the salinity increased from 5.4 at the surface to 7.8 about 2ft down and stayed there to at least 10ft, which is the length of the cable on my meter.

    In all, it was a pretty nice evening. I was expecting a skunk, so the 24" football was a good surprise. Plus, I love catching fish while jigging even if they are small. Also, I finally learned my lesson about using my lipper.
    Yellow Hobie Revo Rube Goldberg
    Yellow Tarpon 120

  • #2
    Great report. I have yet to try the old leg scoop method of binging a fish in the boat. In fact the last time i brought a green striper in the boat with a face full of trebles hooks resulted in 5 mins of leg kicks and straddling the kayak to avoid ripping my waders or worse .

    Good job on landing that football. I need to get on the water. I'm missing to much action sitting behind the keyboard....

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    • #3
      Great write up Bill- Hope your dry suit isn't damaged. Those thing are expensive-
      "Lady Luck" 2016 Red Hibiscus Hobie Outback, Lowrance Hook2-7TS
      2018 Seagrass Green Hobie Compass, Humminbird 798 ci HD SI
      "Wet Dream" 2011 yellow Ocean Prowler 13
      Charter member of Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club

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      • #4
        Great job. We might have to join you on a night run this summer since I got the visipole.

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        • #5
          Sounds like you had a nice day, good job on the striped one! At least that hook went into your dry suit and not into you.

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          • #6
            Mike--5min of leg kicks probably made you look like your own chorus line.

            Ron--Found a small hole in my drysuit, but it's nothing a bit of sail tape and UV cured Goop can't fix. The fabric that Stohlquist uses is surprisingly tough. If the fish wasn't still attached to the lure, it probably wouldn't have left a hole.

            Dave--That would be good, especially after the lack of luck we had at PLO last year. The summer pattern at Piney Point set up by the end of May last year. Hopefully, the action will be as good this year. I'll let you know when the action is worth the drive.

            TJ--I would've preferred sticking myself with the hook. I heal, but my drysuit doesn't.
            Yellow Hobie Revo Rube Goldberg
            Yellow Tarpon 120

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