Spring Trout and Stripers

I know It has been quiet around here but its hard to stop fishing and start typing. Spring is here in Eastern NC and with that the speckled trout start leaving the backs of the creeks to make their way to open water. This is the time to catch your citation trout. You will find them from the mouth of the creeks to the backs. I suggest starting at the mouth with a probing bait like Berkley Gulp or a DOA shrimp on a rattling cork. Once you locate some trout you can keep after them with shrimp but the big trout put on calories with mullet and mud minnows. I move over to Mirrolure CMR-17 in white or Purple. These colors just came out this past Fall and have been on fire all winter. I have started moving all my reels over to Fin's Fishing Windtamer Braid. After fighting wind knots with all the other braids and some mono lines, Fin's Windtamer is the real deal. There is not a better braid on the market that I have used. Just so you know I am a Amatur Staffer for all these lines and baits. That means I walk in the store and lay down my hard earned money just like you. I have never received an endorsement or sponsorship from any of these manufactures. I use what I believe in not what is free!

Speaking of Spring the Striped Bass AKA Rock have been biting good as of March 30th, 2013. We got out on the Tar River in Greenville after a Easter Egg hunt in pursuit. It did not take long to start connecting on some Rapala X-Raps. Most ranged between 16 and 19 inches and all were released to fight another day. They did not seem real picky on the color as long as I was holding the rod. There is never a bad day on the river unless you are broke down or without a paddle.

Speckled Trout Bite is on fire!

Well as you can imagine its my time of year when the trout are stacked up and as I stated earlier in the year this is the best season in years. I have not fished a creek, sound or ocean that I have not found trout. The hot bit has been Mirrolures for me since that is mostly what I throw. I have been having luck with the new CMR17 in a Purple color along with the traditional MR 17's in every color I have thrown. The MR27 is producing some but the MR17's are producing more fish. I did catch a nice 20" fish weighing 2 lb 8 oz in early November on an MR19 in the 808 color.

Everyone seems to be picking up drum mixed with the trout bite on the same baits.

Lately the hot bite has been the easiest to get to in Atlantic Beach, NC at the public access near the Oceana pier. I stopped by Saturday at dusk and there must have been 50 people surf fishing for the Specks. There was a 7 lb trout reported caught from there on 11/23/12 according to the Chasing Tails Bait shop website. Live shrimp, live minnows and Mirrolures are all catching trout. If you toss jigs you will add some drum to your bag. If you fish the creeks stay in the backs since that is where the trout seem to be concentrated. I am catching a few in the river but they are larger back in the creeks. Good luck. This is my 5 year old with his first Mirrolure trout. He caught several this summer on jibs but I am most proud of this one!

NCKFA Oak Island Classic

Not a lot I can really say except this is a great event put on by some great people for a great cause. I got to Oak Island on Friday around noon and launched in an attempt to pre-fish and learn the local water. I went to a local creek and with a falling tide saw lots of exposed oyster beds. Caught 2 small redfish but nothing that would win a prize. So on Saturday the morning of the event arrives. I am the first kayak fisherman and the launch and then the official arrives. After I get setup and the official blows the whistle off we go. The wind is blowing 15-20 NNE. I hit a marsh bank with top water with about 3 cast. I get to a nice little point that everyone passed by and on the first cast a 16.5" Speck is locked on. I get back to the point, set anchor and take my photos. I continue throwing and catch 5 more speckle trout, which seemed odd since everyone stated there were none around they could locate. I figure I need to try for a slam and start jigging Gulp. Sure enough two small redfish around 14 inches. I wrap it up around 12 and head for some structure to try for the flounder. No luck. Once at checkout the trout sounds promising and I get the call to view my photos. Its confirmed and a nice trophy and some prizes for a 3rd place trout out of 168 anglers. Looking back I guess I should have packed up after that first fish. Not really I loved catching those specks that were stacked up. Thanks to the other anglers that passed them by!

Installing a Garmin Depth Finder on a Jackson Cuda Kayak

I wanted to have the ability to find depth contours when fishing deeper water for Old drum and if I ever do so freshwater lakes. So I bought a Garmin Echo 100 from West Marine for $69.95 after the did a price match from my phone. After I got it home I studied how to install it with the different arms and the Lowrance scupper mount and decided to just build my own. I grabbed a piece of 1" aluminum flat bar from Lowe's and with a few quick measurements started to bend and shape it. Once I got the right lengths I smoothed the edges with a file, drilled the hole for the bolt and another for the transducer bolt. Then I attached the transducer.

Next with a little bending I was able to get it through the front scupper hole on the right side of my Jackson Cuda to keep it out of my way and still have use of the scupper.

I routed the wire into the center hatch using a West Marine wire cap item 8717886. It was time to mount the unit. I wanted to be able to remove the unit when it was not needed so a 4" Yakattack Geartrac was added to the first slot on the hatch cover. A Yakattack screwball was added and a Ram Mount arm and mount were used.

Another West Marine wire cap was used to run the power and transducer cables from the hatch to the unit.

Next was the power. I orders a 12 volt 8 amp gel battery and installed it into a Ozark waterproof container from Walmart. A grommet was used an a disconnect to be able to remove the box so the battery can be charged.I tied a bungee cord between the scupper holes to hold it out of the way. Make sure to fuse it. I switched to a mini AVP type fuse.

I hope this has helped you see how I installed a depth finder onto my Jackson Cuda kayak.

Boomerang Tool Company "The Snip"

Let me start by saying I purchase every product I discuss and no manufacturer has sent me any items to endorce. I am telling you what I like and what I don't like up fron and honest. With that out of the way I recently orders a product called "The Snip" by Boomerang Tool Company. They offered a code on Facebook and I could not resist. I received "The Snip" a few days later which is impressive since it came from CA. I attached it to my life vest since I have it with me on the boat and kayak. It has a retractable line and you can lock the cutter so it doesn't snip by accident. I have always used a knife to cut braid since I have never found a product that would cut it easy. Those days are over thanks to Boomerang's "The Snip." This think slices through braid and mono like no ones business. They have added a client for life and I will be checking out there other products in the near future. I have only had them out for one trip so lets see how they last through the Winter and trout season.

Thule Xsporter transport rack

Purchase from Austin Kayak

Jackson Cuda Kayak Review

You may say this review comes a little late. I did not want to post a review until I put the Jackson Kayaks Cuda through a full test. First the likes: Jackson has the #1 sit on top seat in the world. The cool mesh, comfort and ability to go from the low paddle position to the high fishing position to moving it to the back so you can stand and fish makes it amazing. Even though the Native Ultimate and now the Native Slayer are close, Jackson Kayak nailed it. It looks like Hobie has taken notes and has incorperated the same style seats into the 2012 Hobie Pro Angler 12 and now the 2013 Pro Anger 12 and 14. Its a complement when the competition sees a winner and copies you. The number one complaint of kayak angers has been the seat is uncomfortable and wet. The solution is the Jackson Cuda and Jackson Coosa seats. Next fisherman want a kayak they can stand in to cast, sit fish and fly fish from. Again Jackson answered with the Coosa and the Cuda. Where does the Cuda pull away it is 30 inches wide and 14 feet long. Which gives it a great speed and stability ratio. This kayak gets going and you are almost making a wake as you paddle. Other items seem like a great idea on the surface but turn out to be impractical. The rod storage and tip protector only is useful when I am transporting the kayak on the truck. On the water the only thing I store in the rod keepers are the Yakattack Park and Pole and the Bending Branches Angler Ace paddle when not in use. The problem with placing rods here while paddling is they tend to get in the way and if you flip the reels outboard they get soaked (with saltwater in my case). Jackson has helped in 2013 on the rear rod holders with using Scotty tubes to get the reels away from the water. The center hatch is nice and a place I store alot of gear using the Jackson hatch insert. The fact that the Jackson Cuda has hatches in the front, middle and rear make it very easy from a rigging standpoint. I can access the inside of my entire Cuda from the front to the back for rigging like my Cuda anchor trolly install. These kayaks are proudly made in Tennessee, USA. Please support made in the USA no matter what you chose but do yourself a favor and paddle a Jackson before you buy a competitor.