Frustrating

I spent the last two outings fishing in a protected area of the Bay fishing from my kayak. I was sitting in the middle of hundreds of stripers. Some were whirling right below the surface maybe picking off worms. Others were finning and causing wakes on the surface. Still, others were simply sitting there doing nothing like sunbathers at the beach on a warm day. Every time I paddled the kayak, I would scare off dozens of fish along my track.
I wish I could say I caught a lot of fish. I landed just five fish in two evenings and got them all on my homemade 3 inch popper just before dark. The biggest fish went 28 inches though I saw dozens larger than that. Tried skinny plastics, small swimmers, flukes and countless other goodies that had been working for me. All seemed to produce follows, but no fish. That's the way it goes sometimes in shallow and calm water, but nevertheless.... it's FRUSTRATING.