Newport, 5-16-11

[Amish Ed]

Well today definitely could've been better. Cold fickle winds, weird currents, and lock jawed fish. Launched at 5am and headed for the moored boats on the peninsula side of the channel. Didn't even get bit until the sun came up, but it yielded a legal sandie. That one fell to a 4" Flurry in olive brown bait. Took another hour to get another. It was another legal sandie that bit on the Hyspin w/a fire avocado 4" Flurry. Got a chunky spottie next, it fell to a rootbeer gold flake twin tail XPS shrimp. Finally getting sick of the lack of current I took a look around. Turns out it was all on the other side of the channel. It was so strong over there that it created an eddy on the peninsula side. I moved over there, but only got one bite in a half hour. So, I moved down to the Pavilion where the channel pinches. There was the right amount of current, but the fish were just as clammed up there too. I got one short sandie on a 3" gums Flurry. Eventually headed for the harbor mouth to get the last of the incoming tide, but got there too late. Current was dead. No bites off the docks, I was frustrated at this point and just called it a day at 9:30am.

New to me today was my new ride, a T140. Very interesting to compare it to my old Manta 14. The T140 is almost as stable and faster. I miss the Manta's cockpit though. It was much roomier with enough room to keep my swimbait box in front of the foot pegs. But, I do like the bigger, easy to access hatch on the T140. Plus, I like the side pockets. The seat back on the Manta is much more comfy, but the seat pan on the T140 is much better. I look forward to seeing how it does in open water. On flat water it tracks well and you can lean to adjust the tracking, which the Manta doesn't do. The T140 turns better from a stopped position and while moving. This could have something to do with the Manta's extra 7" too. Overall, they're very comparable and both solid rides.