.JPG) |
I was out fishing today in the Bay in my kayak. I had already landed a couple of slot fish when the unexpected happened. I was drifting along and spotted a few pogies flipping on the surface. I also noticed several cormorants in the area where these pogies were flipping. I grabbed my rod and casted my snagger to the area I saw the fish flip. Right away, I snagged a pogie on the first pull, but what happened next was one for the books. Almost immediately after snagging this baitfish, the rod was pulled to the water and the line started taking off. I pulled back thinking I had a striper. The rod bent, the drag was going and I was on, so I thought. Suddenly, a big cormorant literally flies out of the water with my snagged bait in its mouth! When the bird got to about ten feet in the air, I yanked back and the pogie came out of the bird's mouth and plunged to the water. As soon as it hit the water, there was a tremendous splash at my pogie that looked like a cinder block hitting the water. I was on right away as the fish peeled off line at a frenzied pace. I knew I had a big fish. After a tug-of war battle, I got the striper alongside the kayak. It was a brute of a fish, the biggest I have ever landed from the kayak. I don't know the exact size, but I'm thinking in the mid 40 inch range. After grabbing it with the Boga and getting a few quick photos, the big girl was released and swam off in great shape. By the way, this fish was barely hooked in the lip since it hit the bait so fast it had no time to really take it in. So, happy ending for all!