Fishing the Wando 2-18-12

I hit the water fairly early on Saturday to kayak fish the falling tide.  The plan was to drift with the tide as far downstream as I wanted to go on the falling tide, set up at a nice deep drop next to an oyster bar, and fish the last hour of outgoing there before paddling the Tarpon 160 back to the landing.

As I drifted downstream I simply couldn’t believe how clear the water was.  I could see oysters, rocks, stumps and even crabs on the bottom in 8 to 10 feet of water.  It was still stained the color of weak tea, but the clarisy was incredible.  Light winds and a good sun angle made watching for fish in the shallows while a hopped baits along deeper edges easy.  All I had to do was one or tow paddle strokes to adjust and let my gaze drift along the bank; a very relaxing change compared to the wind we’ve been having for the past several weekends.

I fished downstream for about 2 hours without so much as a hit.  I had already gone past my intended spot for the last bit of outgoing, so I began to paddle back up toward the oyster bar.  This bar almost never lets me down, so I felt good about not having to ride home with a skunk on the yak.

I brough the first fish to hand within 5 minutes of setting up.  It was a nice healthy Wando red; over slot, fat and happy. 

 I followed it up with what could have been it’s twin. 

Then the fun began.  I cast a Z-Man scneted Crabz deep off the oyster mound out to where I think the second drop off begins.  I started gently bouncing it with a slow retrieve to keep the crab rigged on a 4/0 trigger hook moving slowly downstream and toward me.  Tap, tap’ a little hit.  Hop, hop andWHAM a fish slams the crab and I set the hook.

When the barb hit her lip this fish took off downstream headed for the 41 bridge as hard as she could go.    Here’s the video that tells the story better than I can.

  Get ready to go chasing the big girls.  Thanks to a very mild winter they’ll begin staging before heading out to join the breeder population early this year.