A First for me

 The last few outings I had been doing well on the flounder, and since my confidence was high on this particular area, and decided to take the Ole buggy whip. I have only had a fly rod for a about a year, and have neglected to use it . I have taken it along with me on occasion but I usually end up ditching for my conventional. On this particular trip I told myself I was gonna stick with it. I threw the fly for a extended period of time, with no success, and while doing so noticed that my fly just wasn't getting to the bottom, and as we know that's where the flounder are.  I continued to wait for the slack tide (slower moving water) and wouldn't you know" BAM "fish on!!! Those of you who fly fish know that it's a different fight on the fly and has definitely fueled my fire for saltwater fly fishing.

     

                                     

 

River Run

 

This time of year a host of  many many many boaters  and a few kayakers too can be found fishing the murky depths of the Elizabeth river, for it's winter trout fishery. On this particular day, I decided to join them. I started my day on the river trolling various swim baits in all colors, only to find a few short striper.

After bailing a couple of striper, and not much luck with the trout,I figured I would change to a swimming hard bait. I had previously seen some bait jumping around , and that was the closest bait that I had that matched it. I continued to troll these areas of bait till my rod had nearly been flung out of it's holder. " FISH ON "after a short fight I landed this purdy trout

I continued the rest of the afternoon on the troll, catching a few others as well. It wasn't hot 

and heavy by any means, but like most days on the water, time well spent.

The Trick To Receive The Treat

 On Halloween night I decided to hit the dock lights at night in hopes of finding a few stripers. I knew that with cooling temps, the fall feed, and some quality intel, that my chances would pretty good. I approached my first couple docks with no success, but I pushed on, hopping from dock to dock till I found some activity. Generally, I look for the ones that  have surface activity i.e.. fish popping, fleeing bait etc. I also have found that for me the docks near the deeper water, and faster current seem to hold  more striper. I like to keep my yak into the current, cast up current, and just let my lure drift back with the current like a normal baitfish presentation, just outside of the shadow of the light line. This particular evening I was using a Bass Assassin paddle tail on a 3/16 once weighted hook, but as most of you know when there feeding you can just about throw anything. As October comes to a close the striper bite will only get better thru November and December so go get LIMITED-OUT

A couple firsts

The last couple trips for me have been landmark trips, for both me and the wife. This particular friday mid-morning trip to the salt started off a bit slooooow. There were plenty of fish being seen on the flats, but none were wiling to play with our offerings. I had told the wife to work this dock while I tried a nearby rock point. I was on my third cast when I heard behind me, "Honey I got a nice one, " it's really pulling. I paddled over to find out that she had pulled up a purdy pup aka. redfish. This was her first redfish ever, and also her PB fish from the yak. She was really excited  to finally catch something other than a croaker or spot.

Soon after the wife's release of her red, I slowly creeped back to the spot where she had fished to see if there were any others around that wanted to play. I soon  heard a, NO SIR MISTER, GET OUT OF MY SPOT!!! I turned, and looked at the misses, smiled, and said sorry, thats just the fisherman in me LOL. Needless to say there were no more to be had at that spot. I decided to work the nearby grass flat near the channel edge, and that seemed to be where they were holding. The surface of the water was hectic with baitfish and the reds weren't far behind them. I was working weedless 4/O 1/8th ounce jig heads paired with Saltwater assassin  paddle tails.

The following day me and the wife had volunteered to work a Heroes on the Water event in Smithfield. I have been doing some video work for HOW, and had recently completed a video project for them from past outings http://vimeo.com/72968462 so this time I volunteered to shoot some pictures for them, to showcase the days events. In the mean time while waiting for the vet to show up, we had some free time to kill, so what better way to spend it then fishing. Tom Vanderheiden the HOW chapter director brought along his fly rod and was doing a little bream fishing. I purchased a fly rod back in january myself but had yet to catch a fish with one yet, partly because I snapped the rod during rigging one day due to a nasty high stick LOL. Anyway after observing Tom catch a couple bream, I asked him if he'd mind if I gave it a whirl. My first couple cast yielded a snag in the surrounding brush, and a few ugly cast. I soon got the hang of it (sorta) and began to work a small trout fly near some underwater brush. I could see the little guys interest in the fly soon as it hit the water. A few short twitches later BOOM, fish on, a palm size bream. these little guys were small, but fun on the fly. This was my first ever fish on the fly and hopefully not my last.The rest of the day yielded a few more bream and time well spent with a wonderful organization like HOW

Doing My Part

  What do I mean by this? Well it was time to take part in a wonderful local and national organization, known as" HOW," Hero's on the Water. This non-profit organization helps our wounded military veterans that have suffered from many medical ailments, as well as psychological ones, such as PTSD. HOW  helps heal these veterans in a small way by getting them into the great sport of Kayak fishing. Getting them out of the confines of there homes, and out on the water, with others that may suffer from similar problems. Soon after hearing about this organization, I thought, man this would be a great thing to be a part of, especially being from a family who has had several  family members in the service. After several failed attempts  over the looming months due to a hectic work schedule, I had not been able to make it to a HOW event. One afternoon I had arranged to pick up a HOW shirt  as a gift for my father in law from Tom Vanderheiden the local Director of the Tidewater HOW chapter, as we began to talk, I told Tom that I really wanted to be more involved in the chapter but due to my schedule and all, It just never seemed to work out, Tom suggested, "Well, what do think about doing a video for the chapter? Better yet, a video about Kendall Wallingford and his story and involvement in HOW . Kendall is a disabled vet who now gives back to his brothers in service thru the same organization that once helped him. I told Tom I would be honored to do a film on Kendall and HOW. The not yet titled film will be a artistic, heartfelt view into Kendall's  story, and  HOW, in hopes we can get other vets out to this great organization.  Please stay tuned to our Facebook Page, Yaktastic Adventures for more updates, and a official movie trailer as I get rolling in the coming weeks. Thanks

Creating Memories

 These days and times it's not to hard to get wrapped up in your cellphone, or your Facebook, or even your favorite reality tv show. Don't get me wrong, I love keeping up with friends and family on Facebook, and watching Duck Dynasty, but sometimes it's just nice too shut the phone off, load up the yaks and camping gear, and head to the great outdoors.. We loaded up on a Thursday morning and headed to Lanexa VA. to Ed Allen's campground for a little R&R, and of coarse some feeshin too. This trip was pretty cool, I had the chance to introduce a lot of family and friends to the sport we all know and LOVE "Kayak fishing"I'm sure there were many that had thought, I wonder what all the fuss is about, after seeing all my pictures and posts on Facebook. I will tell you it didn't take long for them come around, they were all smiling ear to ear.  It occurred to me this weekend, especially after seeing the joy and excitement on there faces, that it's important to share your passion for something with others in  hopes they will do the same, so it forever prospers. This weekend  there were many fish caught, many campfire stories told, and  many memories made.  I  put together a short video of the weekends experience that I'd like to share with you all as well!! Hope you enjoy!! Don't forget to check me and Rob Devore out over at YAKTASTIC ADVENTURES on Facebook.  CLICK THE LINK BELOW to view video
http://youtu.be/y9s2NOEIMuQ

Blue Eyes

 As the Mother Natures switches gears the infamous BLUEFISH have arrived in the local inlets here in VB, and for us in-shore anglers it's a sign of the change of seasons, from winter to spring. This time of year can be pretty fun for all anglers, intermediate to the advanced anglers, these blues hit just about anything you throw, and put up a pretty good fight, if you are fortunate enough to nab  a bigger blue, also known as CHOPPER blue, then you have a real fight on your hands, for sure. over my past few trips out I was lucky enough to nab a few of these choppers, with one of them being my personal best 35" just a inch shy of a citation here in VA waters. The last few trips have been productive with blues, trout,flounder and a few slot reds mixed in as well. I hope to  make it over  to the eastern shore Va. in the coming weeks to try my luck for the GIANT REDS that are swimming the shoals, since they evaded me the first go round..