FishHeadRic Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 It's been a while since I've been on the board. Sorry for not stopin' by but I've been out fishing with every free chance I've gotten. Last year when I first got here I bought a little 15ft Grumman aluminum but with the price of gas and the extra added stress of towing this thing around I decided over the winter to sell it off and get a Kayak. After doing a bunch of research on yaks I decided on getting an Ocean Kayak Caper. It's 11'2" and 34" wide. Nice and stable for what I needed it for, (mostly back bay and semi-flat water conditions). I rigged it up with a milk create, 5 rod holders, anchor trolley, fish finder, lights, cargo hatch...... So about 3-4 weeks into it and about 800$ in I decided I was good to go. My Best friend Todd lives on the water so he let me keep it at his place. Works out great for me, all I have to do is get down there and rig up and I'm off. (about 15 min) Early season was kinda slow and mostly just bottom fished but as soon as April rolled in the Stripers started flooding out of the Hudson and right by me. Mostly smaller fish at first, ( Smaller stripers are refereed to as "schoolies") but there were a few nice ones mixed in. Unfortunately I wasn't taking my camera out with me when I first started cause I was getting real wet but the few times I did I took these shots. Todd snapping a shot of a schoolie. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy! Couple of mine on that same trip. When you fish for stripers a lot of the fish will be around the same size, especially early in the season. So if you're into smaller fish you can expect to be catching smaller fish all day but when you get into larger fish... You can expect to be catching larger fish all day. These two were from the end of the spring. Todd and I caught about 20 of these that day. So as the summer has been progressing I've been picking away at the stripers and learning how to sail on Todd's boat. Catching a lot of Sunsets And catching a lot of fish! It's gonna take me a bit to catch up reading all the posts I've missed but I'm gonna try to get caught up. Hope all of you are having a great summer and catching a lot! FHR
scuro Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Looks like your having fun, nice fish, and thanks for sharing.
Greencoachdog Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Great report and pics Ric!!! Some real nice Stripers you got there! I'll bet those Striped Torpedos take you for a little ride in the yak too!!!
Victor Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 It's great to see you still alive and kicking FHR!!! We sure miss your pike reports . Nice rig, the big fish can probably take you for a ride lol. Thanks for the report and checkin in with us, I'll be waiting for the next one to come!
mattyk Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 some sweet looking fish, i love catching top water stripers!
FishHeadRic Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Posted August 11, 2008 (edited) Scuro, either you have really tiny hands or that is one hell of a pike in your avatar! Holy Crapoli! I miss them critters! GCD, Victor, they definately do take me for a ride. I usually end up a few city blocks from where I hook up with them. I'm only running 12lb test so it takes a bit to land em. Thank god they don't have teeth. The Brown Shark I hooked into at the biggining of the summer had me going for over 45 minutes and it took me for about about a mile and a half ride. Victor I Just bought a water-proof camera so more pics will definately be taken, hopefully some under-water shots as well> FHR BTW Victor, I'm not kickin' anymore! Just paddeling! Edited August 11, 2008 by FishHeadRic
Guest Johnny Bass Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Nice little fishing machine you have there. And even nicer Striper bass!! Do you ever catch anything in between or just bass and I guess thats the ocean you are fishing?
Spiel Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 ....Man oh man I've always wanted to fish stripers and Lord willing someday I will. Good to see you're hooking up Ric.
tjsa Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Great to see a report from you Ric, you should come around here a bit more often. 5 rod holders on a Yak, sheesh, on my buds 20 ft. Crestliner we only have 6 I`ll probably never get to fish for Stripers, so thanks for the report and pictures.
FishHeadRic Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Posted August 11, 2008 Spiel, anytime you wanna come down to NY you have a place to stay with me. I'll get ya into all the stripers ya want to! Johnny!!! How are ya man? I saw that post ya put up the other day and the other one where you went up to Head Lake. It's a tough lake eh? If ya want I can send ya a map of the spots I know up there. My uncle owns property on the north side. Fished it hard for an entire summer. Lots of smallies and some decent walleye as well. Seen the Ski's up there but only caught one about the size of a kit-kat. I have a good Idea of where they hang though. As far as catching anything else down here goes, depends on the seasons. Right now bluefish are in in force. Fluke (summer flounder) are everywhere, Porgies (Seabream), Sand sharks, Brown sharks, skates, sea robins, sea bass... As far as I'm concerned Striped Bass are my new Pike. They're all I really wanna go after. :/ FHR
FishHeadRic Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Posted August 11, 2008 Tjsa, hop in the car with spiel!!! Ric
Raf Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Hey Rico... Nice pics. I am going to be down around Chesapeake Bay again this fall.. likely pick your brain when the time comes. Maybe I'll get up Hudson way too, who knows.
Spiel Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Spiel, anytime you wanna come down to NY you have a place to stay with me. I'll get ya into all the stripers ya want to!FHR ....I may very well take you up on that someday Ric, thank you much.
PatrickGG Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Hey Ric good to see your doing good down in NY, some nice stripers thanks for the pics and report, take care.
FishHeadRic Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Posted August 11, 2008 Hey Raf, Anytime man! Just swing on by. If you're down there in the fall, late you'll at some point be passing huge schools of Stripers migrating down the east coast to the Chesapeake Bay. The two major rivers they spawn in are the Hudson and the Chesapeake. You should follow the coast down Jersey and just keep stopping and fishing. Or better yet hop on a party boat or two along the way. Ric
Guest Johnny Bass Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Spiel, anytime you wanna come down to NY you have a place to stay with me. I'll get ya into all the stripers ya want to!Johnny!!! How are ya man? I saw that post ya put up the other day and the other one where you went up to Head Lake. It's a tough lake eh? If ya want I can send ya a map of the spots I know up there. My uncle owns property on the north side. Fished it hard for an entire summer. Lots of smallies and some decent walleye as well. Seen the Ski's up there but only caught one about the size of a kit-kat. I have a good Idea of where they hang though. As far as catching anything else down here goes, depends on the seasons. Right now bluefish are in in force. Fluke (summer flounder) are everywhere, Porgies (Seabream), Sand sharks, Brown sharks, skates, sea robins, sea bass... As far as I'm concerned Striped Bass are my new Pike. They're all I really wanna go after. :/ FHR Other than a sprained ankle I am great! I already know a lot of spots on head but thanks anyways. Finally made it to the river where your uncle lives. Caught a lot of smallies on the small side. And I have caught a lot of Musky. Biggest being 44-46 inches but skinny. The Muskies are no-where to be seen this year. A local told me he is killing them..... So basically you are fishing the ocean in a Kayak??
Raf Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 The two major rivers they spawn in are the Hudson and the Chesapeake. you mean the hudson and susquehanna.. i guess i don't need any help. thank bud we'll keep in touch
FishHeadRic Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Posted August 11, 2008 (edited) you mean the hudson and susquehanna.. i guess i don't need any help. thank bud we'll keep in touch Hehe Johnny, I'm on the north shore of Long Island across from New Haven Conneticut. It's definately salt water but a lot more shelered from the ocean. Long Island sound isn't that big. Maybe 4-5 miles across. I could probably make it across on my yak in an hour or two but the currents would probably drag me a few more miles in or out if they were running real hard. Hey Johnny have you ever been up that river? There's a bunch of boulders in the river and it's tricky but just after the first major bend there's a huge stump feild that's covered in lilly pads. The only largies I've ever caught up there were in that part, but they were all BIG! Patrick...YO!! Ric Edited August 11, 2008 by FishHeadRic
blarg Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 ive done some striper fishing in the bay of fundy, good fun for sure, biggest i caught was 5 or 6 lbs, good eating fish too.
snag Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Hey Ricola, Did you have a chance to use any of those beautiful lures you made? P.s.The pike don't miss you.
highdrifter Posted August 11, 2008 Report Posted August 11, 2008 Uncle Rico! Don't listen to snatch, he couldn't find bass with dynamite.. Good to see ya again brah! I'm kicking myself for not making the extra effort to come up to see ya. In time dude, in time. Awesome pics and report. We miss you up here.. keep in touch HD Oh and PM me your numba again!
FishHeadRic Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) Fiddle Stix, Snaggle Puss... you two behave now! Grant, I started catching fish on some of the lures I was just testing so since then I haven't gone so elaborate into the paint jobs. I guess when the winter rolls back in I'll have more time and patience to do so. But I'll tell you what. PM me your address and I'll do up a nice top water for ya for your muskie adventures. Fidel. The season hasn't even begun. Just make the time and come down. I promise I'll get you into as many stripers as you want. I wish I could get you into as many stripper as you want but I don't have the cash for that. Ric Edited August 12, 2008 by FishHeadRic
highdrifter Posted August 12, 2008 Report Posted August 12, 2008 Bro we got 4 nights booked in New York city for the weekend of the 12th of September... I'm working on it.. Coming down to the sound to see ya would be stellar, even if it's just for one day. take good care HD
Leecher Posted August 12, 2008 Report Posted August 12, 2008 That is a great looking yak you got there FishHeadRic Catching stripe bass must be a challenge from a yak??? WTG and thanks for sharing Leechman
snag Posted August 12, 2008 Report Posted August 12, 2008 PM me your address and I'll do up a nice top water for ya for your muskie adventures. Ric PM comin'!!!! I hope that a musky with false teeth bites so that damage is minimal!!!!!!
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