Transitions

Shorter days, cooler temps, all part of the transition from summer to fall. This is my favorite time of the year here in Virginia,with the water temps dropping the fish start to feed up for there winter migration.

 I decided to give Lynnhaven a shot, since I had a few hours to burn. I started the day in search for the drum on the flats, and was quickly rewarded . After catching numerous pups up to 17in.  I make another cast to a dock near a channel, and get a solid hit, after a few short reel peeling runs, to my surprise up came a juvenile Black Drum. I'm always excited to see these juvenile fish ,because it shows that the fishery is thriving, soon after my surprise catch, I made my cool evening paddle back to the dock ,thinking about the upcoming Fall festivities  striper,tog,and specks Ohhhhhhh Myyyyyyy

Plan B

On this particular day, I decided to switch things up a bit. The forecast was calling for heavy winds,and rough seas, so I moved inland to the sweet water. The body of water I fished today is in Suffolk, off of pitch kettle road, and goes by the name  Lake cahoon. The area offers two fisheries, that are split by a dam one side cahoon  lake, and the other lake meade. I have fished them both with similar success, but others will beg to differ on which is the better hole to fish.

 I started the day off early throwing top water,with little to no success. As the day progressed I started to throw soft plastics in and around lay downs, and that seemed to be the ticket. I managed several bass, a few bream, and a BASTARD of a Bowfin that gave me pure hell. I hooked this guy earlier in the day, and he spit the hook,so as I made my way back to this stump on my way in, he nailed my bait for the second time ,and it was on. This guy ripped drag on many runs,before submitting to my Boga grip.I got him up long enough to weigh him,(5#) and then he went "Ape Shit"he turned so violently he tore his bottom lip off ,before hitting the deck of the yak, and then in the drink he went. I soon after ended my day on the sweet  water,not a bad day for a last second plan B trip.

Strength Is In Numbers

As stated in the title post ,this couldn't be more true for what I'm about to talk about. The illustrious "Sciaenops Ocellatus"AKA red fish. They are here in pretty good numbers and they are HUNGRY.

 This is much different from recent years,they were almost mythical, with only a few mentions of a few here and there.If you ask many of the local fisherman why this is?You get a couple different theories, like  harsh winters, and over harvest from commercial netters, but who knows the true answer. All I know is they seem to be on the incline, and I hope as  recreational anglers we can find what reasoning was behind the decline in the local population of Red fish. With that being said grab some jig heads , some paddle tails, and enjoy the bite. Here are a couple pics of others that wanted to play as well.

Bridge Hopping

 As I awake from a dreary half awakened sleep,due to the anticipation of catching GIANT sheepshead at the CBBT  I  jumped up , crab a cup of joe ,and headed to the tackle shop,only to find they were slap out of fiddlers. :-( I did manage to buy some frozen ones there, even though they are less than favorable,I made due. I arrived at the launch before sunrise to what looked like it was gonna be a Beaut of a  day.

 

           I  worked many pilings, at various depths and only managed critters for the most part. At one point  I got a little excited yelling" Hell Yeah'' I finally got me a nice one, after doing the piling shuffle, up out of the water came a BIG OLE UGLY TOAD...... Bummer. The rest of the day I managed lots of sea bass, pig fish, and toads.Although I didn't get any Giant fish, I enjoyed The scenery and running into fellow yakkers on the water, nice to meet you Chuck Wrenn  .            

The following day I decided to head over to the HRBT, and try my luck for the flounder, and whatever else would bite. I arrived at the tunnel span about 7am to find good moving clear water. I thought these might would be good conditions,and on my second cast I snagged a 16 in. flounder. SAWEET!! I continued to work the piles with only a speck to show, so I made a move and immediately found myself bailing reds, even though they were on the small side, they were still fun. I ended my day catching a few decent Flounder and a crazy looking Ribbon fish as well,All in all a great day on the water.

Summertime Flounder

 It's here "Summertime"  The heat is on, and so are the " Flounder" They are just about bitting everywhere, although they are in greater numbers now, the lil guys are more promenant in the inlets. The last few days or so I ventured to Rudee Inlet and Lynnhaven Inlet to try my luck at some flattie's and I was rewarded, with a few keepers, in the 18-20in range. The bite was pretty good both days with fairly clear water. The bait of choice was GULPS on 1/4 ounce lead heads.

NC Bassin

 This past weekend I made a trip back home to visit family and friends in NC. This is where my love for the outdoors started at a very young age, my Grandfather had me and my cousins in the fields hunting, and on the water fishing. It's funny how we all get so wrapped up in expensive rods and reels and the best lines available,when all my Grandfather use to use was a old cane pole, and a tube of live crickets. I guess the old saying "Less is more" couldn't be more true in this instance.

 I met up with my cousin Saturday morning, who is also fairly new to the kayak fishing scene. he just purchased a Jackson Coosa ,and was looking to put it to work, so off we went.on this day we hit a local reservoir that we had never fished and that definitely showed , cause we were only able to manage a few blow ups in the lillie's,but all in all it was a nice day for a paddle and some conversation among ourselves.

 On Sunday we decided to hit a local pond that we had heard some fish stories about.This pond looked like a fishy place, until further inspection. The pond had cypress tree's ,lily pad's, and a lot of GRASS. The grass made it difficult to fish, so I decided to stand in the yak to get a better view of the pockets within the grass, to make a cast. I have recently been paddling around in the standing position , but have yet to really fish while doing so. I thought what the hell, I'll give it a shot,I jumped up and made a cast to a open pocket in the grass, and BAM! he nailed It,pulling drag running left, then right, a few short seconds later got him next to the boat and lipped him on in. As I let him go, I thought to myself damn instincts must have taken over, because I never even thought once that I was in the standing position.I tell you what, that was one hell of a experience, and I loved every second of It. The rest of the afternoon was slow , but the time spent enjoying the outdoors with family , much like we did back with my Grandfather, this will go down as a one of my better days of fishing.

OBX Trip & First Attempt

This past week me and me wife Christinia headed to our home away from home,the OBX. We had a 4 day stay there ,and I thought this would be the perfect time to let her try this yaking thing, I've been so addicted too here lately.I rented her wilderness tarpon to try, and she absolutely loved it ,although I think we'll look for something more fishing oriented than touring yak for her.It didn't take her long to say I can see why you love this so much,It's so peaceful and serene out here.When I heard that I instantly knew I was screwed from here on out... just kidding :-) I encourage everyone to take there better halves out on the yak.




 While in the OBX I did manage to do a little "Hook Wetting" I fished in and around Pea Island ,working the edges and drop offs for whatever would bite. I managed a couple flounder and that was about it.  I also had decided to  bring my dslr camera and snap a few pics of the surroundings in OBX.

 As for the First Attempt that would be a small video I put together from a couple outings in rudee over the last month or so. I purchased some editing software and tried my best to come up with something, definitely not a easy task. I envy the Kayak Kevin's and Rob Choi's of the world for putting together great work on film that motivates me to learn the craft. So put on your ears, bob your head, and enjoy

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