I was able to sneak out for a couple 3-4 hour quickie fishing trips the last two days to round out my Christmas/New Years vacation. Things went pretty well for me and the fish were there for the taking if you were patient.

Friday 01/02/09 @ Oak Harbor

I fished the afternoon outgoing tide in a couple of spots and found the action to be pretty slow. My luck with the artificials dried up but the mud minnows got me a little action. After working my Gulps and soaking some shrimp and mud minnows with a single trout I moved to an oyster mound in a previous hot spot.

I stated casting mud minnows on a 1/8oz jig head just short of the Oysters and then dragging them back to me slowly. On my first cast I got into something big and fought it for a good five minutes of give and take drag tug of war and just as I got him to within 10 feet of the yak he gave one last pull and the line went slack. I reeled in my line and found the fish had straightened out my hook. A painful lesson learned and I am back to using nothing but my favorite Strike King Jig Heads. I worked that mound a while longer and landed a nice fat copper colored 23" Red. He was followed by a couple of just under slot Reds before I called it a day.

Final Tally for 4 hours fishing:

3 Reds up to 23" (Mud Minnows and Shrimp)
1 Trout 17" (Mud Minnow)


Saturday 01/03/09 off Heckshear

I went out for some early morning incoming tide and arrived at my favorite spot to find a boat anchored right where I planned to fish (lots of boats on Heckshear today). I waited him out as the bite was slow at first. Things then picked up as the tide sped up and the boat left. I caught a slam of fish on live shrimp mud minnows and Gulp curly tail 4".

Final Tally for 3 1/2 hrs of fishing:

6 Reds up to 18" (all rats except one on shrimp, muds and gulps)
2 Trout to 15" (1 shrimp and 1 on mud)
1 Puppy Drum on a live shrimp
1 16" Flounder on a Gulp

The pictures below loaded backwards so the Heckshear photos appear before the Oak Harbor Pictures. The first two are from Oak Harbor and the last four are from Heckshear. All fish were released to be caught another day. Happy new year to all and good luck with the fishing.........

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Hobie Outback
Malibu Stealth 12

Hey Ron!!
Gotta say that those two days sure sound like fun to me...ESPECIALLY since you were not working them!!

Good quantity and quality and CONGRATS on the Legal Slam on Sunday!!
Very nice!!
JohnYaksJax

Nice report and wtg on the slam!...Bummer on the one that got away. That's what keeps us coming back though I guess.

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Hobie Outback
Mini-X

nice report and glad to see somebody catch a flounder i cant catch one to save my life

great job.

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FISH OR DIE...

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

JYJ I appreciate the personal OH tours and yak fishing pointers earlier in 2008. The company was great and I learned a lot to help get to where I am at almost 1 year into this hobby/addiction. Look forward to getting back out on the water with you.

Troy once the work schedules settle down with the new year we need to plan another trip as well.

KayneYaker don't feel bad about your flounder troubles, it is still the toughest fish for me to catch too. I am by no means any type of expert after doing this for just under a year but I do feel like flounder are different than the other species we target and I think I am finally getting the hang of it. Reds & Trout seem to look for your bait when they are hungry so you only need to "get close" to them. But it seems that you need to go to the flounder since they prefer to hang out on the bottom and ambush their prey and get right on top of them with your properly presented and slow moving baits. I have my best luck close to the bank near creek mouths with a muddy bottom. Just my 2 cents worth as a learning novice.

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Hobie Outback
Malibu Stealth 12

Hey Ron....please let me know when you and Troy are heading out someplace....would love to go also!!!

Have not gotten to fish with him yet....only chatted on the water once....really a nice guy!!
JohnYaksJax

PS: Oops....almost forgot....chatted with him in uniform once also....but it was at Oak Harbor so it was cool!!