Post by 31Airborne on Jul 17, 2023 14:15:42 GMT -5
Our final event of the regular season came up way too fast. The first part of the summer flew by. In spite of the furious pace at work, I managed to get away for the week. The break couldn't have come at a better time. I needed it. As the old saying goes, all work and no fishing makes Airborne a dull boy.
Practice - I intentionally planned my practice sessions for this event around the incoming tide. It is a phase of the tide that has challenged me in the past on tidal waters in general. That, and the tide schedule for our TX had us fishing the entire incoming tide period. I spent TUES and WED working areas my partner and I have fished before. All of them produced fish, including a few quality fish mixed in. I used THUR and FRI to visit new places that set up like the areas that produced earlier in the week. These, too, produced numbers and quality. There were no surprises in baits - top water presentations dominated. Plastix came in second. Pad and grass edges produced just about everywhere. Channel ledges produced consistently during the final stretch of outgoing and initial stretch of incoming tides. We did pick up a few fish on spinnerbaits and shallow running cranks but these patterns were inconsistent at best. These bites came at the outside edges of the grass and pads. The weather was typical for July in the Tidewater - hot and humid. Once the sun came up it was impossible to keep cool. We did have some wind on THUR and FRI, but it was still hot. The forecast for TX day showed clouds for a good part of the day. Our thinking was the top water bite might be enabled by the lack of sun. We also saw potential for the fish to become more scattered, away from the pads and grass. We were prepared for both. This was our plan going into SAT.
Tournament day - We drew boat 30 (out of 34) and made a run (from Rockahock) down river about 10-12 miles to a stretch of pads and grass on the edge of a hard channel swing. It was a place we visited during practice. It didn't disappoint. My partner hooked up on his first cast. It was game on from there. We had a small limit in about 15 minutes. We made our first cull a few minutes later. For the next 3 hours, it was a catching fest. The top water bite didn't play out like it did in practice, but the edge bite was awesome. Fish were stacked up along the pad and grass edges in bunches. We had back-to-back catches a number of times. The problem was all of the fish were the same size - 1.5 to 2 lbs. We bounced around, hitting all of the places we either caught better fish on during practice or had caught better fish during previous trips. No better fish, but we continued to wear out fish in the 1.5 - 2 lb range. The clouds broke and the sun came out around midday. The bite slowed significantly but we continued to catch [the wrong] fish. When it was all said and done, we figure we caught 50-60 fish over the course of the 8-hour day. It was one of the best days we've had on the water in years. Our only regret was that our work was only worth a little over 9 lbs.
Observations: 1) WTs stayed in the 85-88 range all week. 2) The river was heavily stained - maybe 18" of viz in the main channel, a little better up in the pads and grass. The area had had some rain the previous week. I'm guessing that's what caused it. 3) The pads were hit-and-miss. Areas we counted on fishing were almost void of any pads. Now, there was plenty of submerged grass in their place, but it caught us by surprise. The areas where the hydrilla had taken over did produce, but not as consistently as the pads fields. Denser pad beds were better than scattered pads. 4) Every irregularity in the pad or grass line held fish. Protrusions and indentations were fish magnets. You could call the shot. Places where pad beds went from dense to scattered were also money. Those seams held fish in bunches. 5) Most of the bites came on the initial fall. We had many (many) bites where the fish were running with the bait before we could begin the presentation. We also had many bites where the fish came back for the bait on a follow-up cast. 6) Drain and feeder creek channels produced but not as well as the adjacent pad/grass beds. 7) TX-rigged worms and walking baits did the job for us. No surprises on the colors - think natural. 8) The little wind we had was helpful. The bite was especially aggressive when the breeze was blowing across the pad/grass edge. 9) The edge bite was there for us all day. It slowed when the sun came out and wind laid down, but it was still there.
Brad and I have a few weeks to rest up before we get back into it. Our regional championship is in SEP, on the Potomac. We'll also spend some time reflecting this year - a couple of poor showings (Kerr and Anna) and our first win as a team (Gaston). We had a solid showing on the James (4th place). We did fish the Pawmunkey River event in JUN - I haven't posted on that trip yet because I'm not sure what I saw/learned. Suffice to say the river is beautiful but our performance was poor. We learned a ton we'll be able to apply to next year. We have some things to work on - making adjustments during heavy boat traffic, understanding how fish behave during the final portion of the incoming tide, and avoiding getting sucked into fishing history (instead of trusting our practice).
Gotta throw some love at our division leadership and his team - Andy and the gang put on another terrific season. Thanks, men!
One beef - the folks at Rockahock campground have hosted us for years. We always looked forward to going there because of the wonderful hospitality and facilities. They have new management now and the new leadership philosophy is cater to the campers, not the fishermen. We were told this in those very words. I encourage all of you to go see this amazing river system. It is worth the trip. Just use one of the other launch facilities. We aren't welcome at Rockahock. Call or PM me for details if you need/want them.
Be safe in the heat, doods. Hydrate early and often.
Practice - I intentionally planned my practice sessions for this event around the incoming tide. It is a phase of the tide that has challenged me in the past on tidal waters in general. That, and the tide schedule for our TX had us fishing the entire incoming tide period. I spent TUES and WED working areas my partner and I have fished before. All of them produced fish, including a few quality fish mixed in. I used THUR and FRI to visit new places that set up like the areas that produced earlier in the week. These, too, produced numbers and quality. There were no surprises in baits - top water presentations dominated. Plastix came in second. Pad and grass edges produced just about everywhere. Channel ledges produced consistently during the final stretch of outgoing and initial stretch of incoming tides. We did pick up a few fish on spinnerbaits and shallow running cranks but these patterns were inconsistent at best. These bites came at the outside edges of the grass and pads. The weather was typical for July in the Tidewater - hot and humid. Once the sun came up it was impossible to keep cool. We did have some wind on THUR and FRI, but it was still hot. The forecast for TX day showed clouds for a good part of the day. Our thinking was the top water bite might be enabled by the lack of sun. We also saw potential for the fish to become more scattered, away from the pads and grass. We were prepared for both. This was our plan going into SAT.
Tournament day - We drew boat 30 (out of 34) and made a run (from Rockahock) down river about 10-12 miles to a stretch of pads and grass on the edge of a hard channel swing. It was a place we visited during practice. It didn't disappoint. My partner hooked up on his first cast. It was game on from there. We had a small limit in about 15 minutes. We made our first cull a few minutes later. For the next 3 hours, it was a catching fest. The top water bite didn't play out like it did in practice, but the edge bite was awesome. Fish were stacked up along the pad and grass edges in bunches. We had back-to-back catches a number of times. The problem was all of the fish were the same size - 1.5 to 2 lbs. We bounced around, hitting all of the places we either caught better fish on during practice or had caught better fish during previous trips. No better fish, but we continued to wear out fish in the 1.5 - 2 lb range. The clouds broke and the sun came out around midday. The bite slowed significantly but we continued to catch [the wrong] fish. When it was all said and done, we figure we caught 50-60 fish over the course of the 8-hour day. It was one of the best days we've had on the water in years. Our only regret was that our work was only worth a little over 9 lbs.
Observations: 1) WTs stayed in the 85-88 range all week. 2) The river was heavily stained - maybe 18" of viz in the main channel, a little better up in the pads and grass. The area had had some rain the previous week. I'm guessing that's what caused it. 3) The pads were hit-and-miss. Areas we counted on fishing were almost void of any pads. Now, there was plenty of submerged grass in their place, but it caught us by surprise. The areas where the hydrilla had taken over did produce, but not as consistently as the pads fields. Denser pad beds were better than scattered pads. 4) Every irregularity in the pad or grass line held fish. Protrusions and indentations were fish magnets. You could call the shot. Places where pad beds went from dense to scattered were also money. Those seams held fish in bunches. 5) Most of the bites came on the initial fall. We had many (many) bites where the fish were running with the bait before we could begin the presentation. We also had many bites where the fish came back for the bait on a follow-up cast. 6) Drain and feeder creek channels produced but not as well as the adjacent pad/grass beds. 7) TX-rigged worms and walking baits did the job for us. No surprises on the colors - think natural. 8) The little wind we had was helpful. The bite was especially aggressive when the breeze was blowing across the pad/grass edge. 9) The edge bite was there for us all day. It slowed when the sun came out and wind laid down, but it was still there.
Brad and I have a few weeks to rest up before we get back into it. Our regional championship is in SEP, on the Potomac. We'll also spend some time reflecting this year - a couple of poor showings (Kerr and Anna) and our first win as a team (Gaston). We had a solid showing on the James (4th place). We did fish the Pawmunkey River event in JUN - I haven't posted on that trip yet because I'm not sure what I saw/learned. Suffice to say the river is beautiful but our performance was poor. We learned a ton we'll be able to apply to next year. We have some things to work on - making adjustments during heavy boat traffic, understanding how fish behave during the final portion of the incoming tide, and avoiding getting sucked into fishing history (instead of trusting our practice).
Gotta throw some love at our division leadership and his team - Andy and the gang put on another terrific season. Thanks, men!
One beef - the folks at Rockahock campground have hosted us for years. We always looked forward to going there because of the wonderful hospitality and facilities. They have new management now and the new leadership philosophy is cater to the campers, not the fishermen. We were told this in those very words. I encourage all of you to go see this amazing river system. It is worth the trip. Just use one of the other launch facilities. We aren't welcome at Rockahock. Call or PM me for details if you need/want them.
Be safe in the heat, doods. Hydrate early and often.