Paradise Trifecta, 4-19 (Updated w/Pics on Page 2)

Kewl score!  Way to get the pics and share 'em.   

Right on, D!  Thats a cleeean lookin' striper.  Oh, and a fat hali, too!  Sick.

Nice trifecta Dustin!

Nice catch rock hopper!!! or should i say catches? u really put in the hours out there. ur welcome for the shiners i released the day b4 way 2 go man!

Thanks, Er'body.

Here's the full version:

After watching Shogun destroy The Iceman, I shot home early Saturday night to get some rest for an early Sunday start. I usually stay up 'til 2:00 or 3:00AM and get up at 6:30AM for fishing trips, but I think I was in bed and actually asleep by midnight. I had planned on getting to Paradise Park before 8:00 so I could have a better chance of being able to drive my yak down to the launch. I was out the door at 6:30 and at LL bait shop by a little after 7:00. Got to the bait shop to find out that the guy I just saw walking off the dock had snatched up the last shiners. Wait around for a few more minutes and Keith gets the call - shiners will be there in 30 minutes. D'oh! I have a million more times confidence with live bait so I decided to wait it out. Went back to my truck and tied on fresh leaders to both poles. Went back down and chatted with another angler who was also waiting patiently for shiners. Turned out to be SharkByte, who also happens to work for the same company I do! Nice to meet you!

Anyway...finally got to the park and hit the water around 9:00AM. Beautiful weather and conditions. SharkByte and I slow trolled our shiners North to the first set of pilings and drifted back all the way down to the point, staying shallow until the big dip just south of the pier. Then pretty much repeated the same drift through different depths. We did this throughout the majority of the outgoing tide. Just before the turn of the tide SharkByte took off. I had contemplated bailing, too, but figured I'd stick it out since the weather was so nice and I pretty much didn't have anything else to do but yard work. I stuck to the pier / point area so when the tide did turn I could just ride it and start my drift from there. I made multiple drifts back and forth over the big dip here:



As the tide started to turn I noticed a few cormorants (or greebs?) snatching baitfish out of "the muck line" so I put my kayak in the line of debris and, while drifting down the side of the slope, got nailed. Fish put up little resistance at first then made short powerful runs toward the bottom. I was very excited because it was fighting like a hali and rippin' line from my little Acurist reel spooled with 10lb mono and a 14lb Vanish leader. I looked around and noticed I wasn't going to run into anything so I calmed down, eased up on the drag, and enjoyed the battle. After an awesome fight I finally get the fish to color - And it's a striper! And a mediocre one at that. Lip gripped him, snapped a shot of him, and off he went, leaving me with a lap full of sex milk. Eww.

Made a few more passes in the area and picked up the little ling near the rocky shoreline south of the pier about 30 minutes later. I marked the area in the picture above. The tide was just starting to move but there was a slight breeze from the North so I had to paddle a bit to get anywhere. It was now after 4:00PM and I decided that I would drift/paddle North to the last set of pilings then slow paddle my way back to the launch. I stayed close to shore, in the 8 - 10' range.

I paddled past another one of my future houses:



Then proceeded to the second set of submerged pilings.



Since there was very little tidal movement I fished inside of the pilings, zig-zagging through the entire area with my shiner just off the bottom. Nothing happening in there so I reluctantly pointed the P15 South and slowly started paddling back to the pier.



Just as I passed the pilings heading South (against the tide) my rod tip dipped down for just a second longer than normal then snapped back up. I thought it was a snag, but I quickly grabbed my rod and clicked the reel into freespool just in case. After a few seconds I slooowwwwwlllly wound in the slack, felt resistance, and immediately kicked it back into freespool again. There was no way I was reeling in a scratched bait this time. Let the fish finish her last meal, reeled in the slack ever so slowly again, still felt the resistance and gave a quick tug to set the sharp Owner 2/0 live bait hook. FISH ON! She put up an awesome battle and, once again, I sat back and enjoyed the fight. When she started getting tired I cleared the deck the best I could, got my beater out, got the game clip open and ready, and reached back for my net which is in the rod holder attached to my Plano. On the two previous trips here I had actually practiced these moves. Got my net, extended it in one smoothe motion - using my foot, and gently glided the hali safely head first into it while still keeping her completely underwater. Grabbed the already open game clip, slid it under her gills, and then she went ape-sh*t. While she was still in the net and attached to the game clip I re-tied the game clip to an eye on the front of the yak. Now that I knew she wasn't going ANYWHERE I took her out of the net and while doing so I noticed that she had already conveniently spit the hook for me! Put a savage beating on her and strapped her to the front hatch of the P15, then I just sat back and smiled. Mission accomplished...called my GF and told her to leave the Farmer's Market bought cod in the freezer 'cause we were havin' fresh halibut for dinner.

Began paddling back toward the pier along the same 8' - 10' lane and while passing the little generator looking type building I got nailed again, this time it was the 28" striper. Didn't put up nearly the fight that the smaller one did, but it did leave me with a nice little milky gift as a thanks for releasing it.

Overall a great day on the water. If the park didn't close at 7:00PM I would have gladly stayed 'til it got dark. Already fiendin' to get back out there!

Way to go.  I should have stuck it out.  Did you do anything different after I left?  Maybe I was bad luck???

You know - at first I thought the fishing got better because the tide turned around...but now that you mention it....hmmm.... 

Just kiddin'. I didn't switch anything up. Same tried and true method has always worked for me. I stayed shallow all day except for that one area near the point we fished that quickly drops off.

All of the fish I caught could have been caught from shore - that's how close I stayed.

Also forgot to mention that the water was pretty dirty still and I expect that when it clears up the bite should be a bit better. Also, near the landing when I was putting everything away - as I attached my hook to the little hook holder on my Seeker the weight suddenly came flying back toward me. WTF? Took a look at my line and my knot at the hook had come undone! The same hook that had just landed the hali and the striper. 

Hey man, thanks a lot, that's a great report, really useful. I'm gonna see if I can wiggle out of work to give it a shot later in the week.

Great detail and energy in your report.  Thanks for coming back and providing such a good read.   

Score.I'm super jealous of the early season hali action you guys get up there.

Congrat on the catches.  Thanks for the great report and pictures.