Saturday, May 24, 2014, 6 pm
I posted on our kayak fishing club's private email board the other night about possibly launching at Ninigret Pond's "East Beach Parking Area". There are 4 spaces each on the left and right at the first parking entrance before the fenced area. After a certain time (11 pm), that main area gets chained off.
Anyways, shortly after I got geared up, I was joined by fellow RISAA - Kayak members Mo Rodriguez & Don Goodroe, which after a short walk across the parking lot, we headed down to the water's edge with our kayaks in tow and launched at what appeared to be almost high tide. We then paddled out to Hall Point, which was about 2.25 miles away. Once we got there, there was another boat with 2 men using fly fishing gear on a small skiff anchored in a shallow cove with a depth of about 2.5 ft. The cinder worms were barely present but the fish were making their presence known by splashing around at the very top of the water. They were everywhere!
We stayed until about 8:30 pm and started to head back. The wind was picking up while the clouds thickened. Our paddle back seemed longer because the wind was in our faces. Mo asked for an assist in turning on her mast light so we could be seen on the way back to the launch area. Don turned on his own custom made light. Then, I went to turn on my light, and all I got was nothing. WTF! That's not supposed to happen! Fresh batteries were installed last week, so I didn't know what the problem was. We decided to hug the East Beach shoreline on the way back because the depth was barely 2 ft deep. I turned on my red/green bow light just for some type of illumination. Oncoming boaters, if there were to be any at all, would have to pass on MY right, while the left was off limits because Mo had the right-of-way.
After we got back and all loaded up, I took apart my mast light to check the batteries, and found that the last battery was corroded and starting to leak. Also, I checked the lights, there are 2 small LEDs, one of which was completely burned out. I thought that to be somewhat odd because the mast is always stored under the rear seat of my truck. And, the top portion of the mast is sealed with an O-ring gasket, but I've never even had it in, or near the water. Even odder than that, LED bulbs take forever to burn out. That mast was only 4 years old!
I never thought that one day I would have to use my own idea and make my own lighted mast with safety flag! These ideas I come up with are for the frugal kayak fisherman who has a limited budget.
I did make the new mast but used the old flag off the old mast. I like the old flag because it's big, which makes you more visible out on the water. The mast was made by YakAttack and cost around $75 at the time. The mast I made cost about $35 - less than half of what the original mast cost! I do think that the light I chose is a lot brighter than the old mast light. The new light is powered by 3 "AAA" batteries, and is also a single LED lamp.
As for the action, you may ask? Mo was the only one who caught two schoolie Stripers that night in the 12" - 15" range at 7:30 pm. These are the two she caught out of her own kayak for the first time in saltwater since joining RISAA - Kayak last year (2013).
[Photo credit above: Jeff Hall]
