Easter Kayak Fishing Annapolis

My brother and I took our first of many kayak fishing trips to the Chesapeake bay in the Hobies. It was my first time fishing in the bay and my only previous experience targeting striped bass Aka Rockfish were a couple of unsuccessful trips to Lake Anna during the winter.  This trip we set our sights toward Annapolis with hopes that the warming spring weather would have them active and feeding. I let Collin do the planning and research for this trip and he picked out Sandy Point state park as the launching point. On the hour and twenty minute drive to the park he briefed me on the tactics that we would employ to target the Rockfish. He suggested I rig up 4 to 6 inch white paddle tail jigs  on 3/4 and 1 ounce jig heads I also figured they would hit a rat-l-trap so I tied that on as well I also wanted to give an x-rap a shot but never go to use it. He also told me that he had read reports of fish being caught from the beach out to about 20 feet of water. So we would have to search around to find the magic depth to run our baits. When we finally got to the launch we were greeted by a friendly Dnr agent who gave us a few tips  checked our fishing licences and safety gear and wished us well. After the brief conversation we launched and headed out of the harbor.

Optimistic start to the day.

As we cleared the jetties we dropped our lines and began trolling parallel to the bridge. I pedaled ahead of Collin eager to make it to deeper water and hook up but two minutes into fishing I was interrupted by him yelling and when I turned I could see his rod doubled over. He quickly subdued the 19inch Rockfish and we snapped some pictures before the release. The fish hit a 5 inch white paddle tail in 15 feet of water.

Collins first kayak striper.

After watching him make it look so easy I was anxious as ever to hook up on my first rockfish. I trolled back through the area he hooked up in but no takers. We then began to make our way south but the wind picked up and the waves began to build so we turned around and headed closer to the launch in case conditions deteriorated. On the way back north my rod loads up and I have a fish on I took my time fighting the fish which turned out to be our largest of the day. The fish fell for a 5 inch sardine gulp jerk shad trolled on a 3/4 ounce jig head.

26 inch Maryland rockfish.

We continued trolling up and down all day I wish I knew how many miles we covered because it sure felt like a bunch when we loaded up to leave. We were each able to land four a piece Collins were all in the 18 to 20 inch range. I landed 3 more in the 15 to 18 inch range two on the Rat-L-Trap. I look forward to returning soon and going for a striper in the upper 30 inch range.
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Collins second fish a nice 21 incher

Choked Em'

The release

The End