Another Elizabeth Trifecta

Took the morning off to let the 15-20 blow subside so I cleaned the garage (really just reorganized to make room to hang my rods on the garage).

Got on the water at 1pm to an outgoing tide. Sunny 60s - water temp probably still in the upper 60s. 5-10 winds from the NE shifting to E and diminishing.

Trolled down the creek mouth while trolling the Gulp/jig. Got a hookup right at the creek mouth and boated a 12" striper. Quick picture and back it went. Tossed in the jig around the same spot and was about to start paddling when my rod bent over. Another 12" striper from the same spot. The lure barely hit the water when the striper hit it.

Worked the same area and had a few more hits but couldn't hook them.

Trolled around "Little Island" to avoid the yacht wakes coming from the recent bridge lift. No hits from the island and moved towards the south shoreline.  The outgoing and east winds had water moving out pretty fast and got really skinny and clear. Tossed the 1/4 jig and found a puppy. Another quick photo and release. She measured about 14" which has been the typical size lately.
Tossed the jig back to the same spot and just like the time before with the second striper, the lure barely hit the water when I was hooked up. This one had some meat to her. Had a mini sleigh ride going and it was working from one side of the yak to the other. Saw a golden flash and knew I had a nice size puppy drum. Got her on the yak and it was indeed a slot drum, right at 18" but nice and fat.

These came from a nice little grassy point that juts out from the shore. 2 casts and 2 fish. Decided to anchor and fish the spot. (Need to work on my anchor line management)

Had a few more taps and brought in a smaller puppy at 12". Still was getting more hits but small taps. Switched over to the popping cork/jig to see if that will entice another strike but that didn't produce. Picked up the anchor and started trolling with the current.

Around the same creek mouth as where the stripers hit, I picked up a spec at 14" and got my trifecta - Speckled Trout, Striper and Puppy Drum. Would have been a better trifecta if the stripers were keeper sized.

At this point, the tide was very low and the winds had tied. After waiting for the mega yachts to move through the channel, I trolled back.  No hits on the troll and started casting around "Area 41". Picked up a nice 16" puppy but when I was putting my rod in the holder behind me, the line got tangled up with another rod and had to unhook the fish then try to untangle the mess. I didn't realize I had dropped my jig back in the water. As soon as I got the lines untangled, my rod that had the jig in the water started to bend over. Fish on! A hungry 16" spec wasn't shy about coming close to the yak for a meal. Worked the area for a bit longer and packed it in.

Nice warm afternoon on the water. Fortunate to find fish today. Definitely got lucky at finding fish in bunches. Got back home to homemade pizza and to see that Tech didn't choke this week.