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Carlos Maceo and I have fished the Kent Narrows, MD CCA Catch & Release Tourney a few times in the past and it was time to do it again. We had skipped the last 2 years to ride in the Tour de Cure (for Diabetes).
We went to a new ramp ( to me), Shipping Creek on Kent Island, and we were on the water by 7AM. The tourney started at 5:30 AM but we had no interest in going that early considering that is 83.1 miles from my house!.
Anyway, we were off....
Kinda reminds me of some of the boats my countrymen have taken out of Cuba to come to the US for freedom....
It was a spectacular day, not a cloud in the sky. Carlos was ready for the sun!
We started to look around and I found some water that went from 7' to 20' that was holding some fish. I scored 1st!
But he was 1 1/2" shy of legal so I could not count it.
We caught fish almost every drift but they were concentrated in a very s,mall area. I called a friend of mine that was nearby and they came over but could not score.
I was using a baitcatser and Carlos had a 7wt fly rod. He got his 1st one and gave it a smooch...
Carlos had asked if I had ever caught a ray...yea was the answer and then I got hit and the reel started screaming. No way to stop it and Carlos had his line out so I could not chase it down. It was a big ray and I finally had to break it off. What a run!
None of the fish we caught were legal and just when we were going to change location, I got slammed!
This one went 19 1/2"...got one for the board!
Everything shut down around 9:30 AM. Now what are we going to do?
Well....Carlos gets a hit and the fish takes off like an albie! I told Carlos he has a massive striper on!
But he know he had a ray....and he had never caught one. I told him we would land this one! So I started chasing it so Carlos could gain line. It was textbook...just like TV. I had to back down a few times, zigzagging all the way. Carlos' 7wt (and his knot) held up as he fought the ray. After 15 minutes or so, he got it close and I grabbed the leader. I yanked and the fly broke off. Leader touch = caught fish.
That was a cool experience for sure.
We got off the water early (tourney ended at 3:30 but we wanted to head back at that time). So we socialized a bit...saw a bunch of old friends....ate some good food and headed back at a reasonable hour. We did not stay for the finals but 25" was the fly leader and there were a few 30"+ fish that were in contention for big fish. They also had a top 3 category (93 3/4" won it) and a kayak division. Redfish12 may have been in contention.
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Great seeing you Ernie! I finished 2nd place by 1/8"!!!! Crushed me to come so close to getting that nice cooler and instead end up with a rod! I'm not complaining though, it's a nice rod and I couldn't have lost to a nicer guy (and fellow hobie fishing team member to boot!).
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Congrats Michael!
1/8"? Wow!
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I should have mentioned that we spent an hour or so looking for white perch in the shallows and found none. It was new water to me but it sure looked perchy.
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Sounds like fun was had!
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Looks like good times
Congrats on the 2nd place finish redfish!
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Ernie, Shipping creek is where my buddy has his boat "The Osprey," just to the left of the skiff. Those are mostly crabbing/working boats, so they take the little dingy out to them and then tie up the dingy until they return. It turns out that the skiff you have in the picture is owned by the last of the commercial crabbers in that creek according to my friend and he just started catching a few. We'll see how the crabbing season is this year!
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Small world....I should have taken a picture of the crab boat when we returned as he had taken the dingy back t wherever he goes.
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I never bring beer on board but for today, I had a surprise for Carlos. Around 11, we stopped fishing and just sat back and chilled.
We did not get to use a top water bait so this one is still locked and loaded.
It's a Surface Tension top water lure that does not float. Eyes are in the back by the hook. It comes with an undressed hook and after some experimentation with Capt. Brady a few years back, it has proven to be a great lure. And...NO treble hooks!
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Seems like you guys had a good time. Thx for sharing.
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Looks like fun ...
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Ernie wrote:
I never bring beer on board but
Wha...?!? Not even in summer?!? Confused...
As for me, I love an ice cold brew on a hot day. Fished via kayaks at the Harry Nice 301 bridge on a hot day a couple years ago. I shared my ice cold Heinekens with a couple guys on this forum. They know... :-)
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jffoley wrote:
Ernie wrote:
I never bring beer on board but
Wha...?!? Not even in summer?!? Confused...
As for me, I love an ice cold brew on a hot day. Fished via kayaks at the Harry Nice 301 bridge on a hot day a couple years ago. I shared my ice cold Heinekens with a couple guys on this forum. They know... :-)
Nope....just lots of G2 and water.
I don't drink that much beer.....usually only one when I do.
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Ernie wrote:
I don't drink that much beer.....usually only one when I do.
Or 5 little ones
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GregF wrote:
Or 5 little ones
And my lips get numb when I do those samplers......
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Ernie wrote:
GregF wrote:
Or 5 little ones
And my lips get numb when I do those samplers......
That means your doing it right and that is half the fun!!
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