OP report 5/4/2022...

Arrived at 0600 and loaded the kayak alongside my retired friend James.  James hits the open ocean and bay at least once a week and keeping up with his catch #s is near impossible.  Fishing is his hobby, passion, and then some…. I can only hope to hit the water as much one day…. Unfortunately James is still not on NCKA…

Off we ventured to some proven grounds.  Sunny, gorgeous day with a gentle breeze in the early hours.  Boats, several other kayakers, and the water was still flowing out of the bay.  Negative tide at 0930.

Had a mixed bag o bait with one tray of herring and one large tray of anchovies.  Used the herring at the beginning and began catching fish.  First fish was 21.5” and the next was 20”.  Damn I thought for sure they were keepers.  Peeling line, felt sort of heavy, but a no go.

James’ first fish was 24”.  Boom not wasting anytime with his flasher and hoochie set up.  Then James finally started catching some small shakers, as did I.  James eventually hooked into “something bigger” and gently played it to the surface.  29”…!  Clearly he’s got the hot hand…

I continued fishing both herring and anchovies and caught some trout sized halibut.  We’ve all been skunked… but I was glad to have gone out and watched James land a pair of nice fish.  Fishing continues…

Around 1030 the water turned to a lake.  Incoming tide now and I tied on a large anchovy.  I was fishing alongside James and I saw “the nibble”… then the rod bent over and stayed down.  Set the hook and knew I had something decent on.  It peeled line at the beginning and then turned into the wet doormat.  Slowly worked it up hoping it was not going to be a big ray.  When the fish came into view I was pleased it was the right species!  Nice looking butt alongside my kayak.  Grabbed the gaff… slowly worked him alongside…. Began making a left turn and wham!… scored a fair gaff shot that was enough to stun him.  Clipped him, bonked him, bled him…. 32” on the boat.

We caught a few more shakers and called it around noon.  It was still calm when we pedaled in.  Spoke with a couple other kayakers in the lot and all said they only caught shakers.  Slow day for the most part, but worth the effort.

Awesome Aaron 
So happy you got a nice one!

Boom!  Never surrender...good stuff!

Way to go! I got 4 shakers 18" to 21.5" today at ARW. Lots of bites, and 1 small dogfish. Warm conditions.

Thanks for the reports and pictures guys.

Congrats! I wish I could join you today. Can’t wait to get Hali in the ocean together

Nice report! Glassy waters!

Way to go!  Code 3 = Halibut whisperer.

Nice fish!  Grats and thanks for the report!

Congratulations on the 32 incher. Well done!

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