TKAA Outing.

Got a late start to the Tidewater Kayak Anglers Association Fish Day at Owl Creek (Rudee Inlet.) Had to pick up the girlfriend from work at 0800 so I didnt get out to VA Beach until 10. Once I got on the water I paddled around to talk to everyone, or those who were social I should say. The weather was awesome and I heard rumors and whispers of flounder being caught so I tied on a gulp shrimp and started drifting. I fished the inside around the aquarium for about 30 minutes with only 1 'nibble' that I didnt get the hook set in so I paddled out to see what was happening on the rail. No action from shore except croaker and there was a lot of boat traffic and jet skiers so I paddled back to the islands and fished around them. I seen some flounder being caught but got no bites. I got my first fish right off the first bouy, a 10 inch croaker that decided he liked my gulp.

I continued paddling to the far bank and drifting back to the boat ramp with only a few more bites. I did manage a 13 inch grey trout, but after trying to get my cell phone out of my pfd and hold him on the hawg trough he slipped out of my grip and plopped into the water.
Another croaker, and the biggest ive ever caught. (I guess thats a milestone? PB croaker...)

I managed 2 more small grey trout, but again they proved to be too frantic and slippery to pose for a picture. From what I was getting from everyone else I was doing pretty good just to get bites. I switched over to swimming mullet and managed a small bluefish but he decided to throw the hook when I picked up the line to swing him in my lap. I carry a net, no idea why I didnt decide to use it. Guess I learned my lesson there. Paddled back out to the bridge and talked to Jay Brooks about what was being caught and then paddled back to the ramp. My girlfriend finally showed up at around 1 pm and we paddled around some more. She was just happy to be out on her Phoenix 120 and fly her pirate flag, and since the fish werent bitin we just enjoyed the weather and the water.

I did see Rob Choi setting out after everyone had left, and I think I might have offended him with my "A little late start for you?" comment, but I did enjoy checkin out his yak in person. All in all it wasnt a bad day, its too bad there was so much boat traffic and the fish were being sulky. Atleast it wasnt a skunk.

First time Lake Bradford.

A wild cold front came through on Friday and decided to flip everything upside down. Temperatures went from 70 to 40 in less than 12 hours with steady cold rain. Winds were 10-15 with gusts up to 20 but I had nothing better to do so I headed over to Lake Bradford on the Little Creek naval base. Never fished the lake before and with as windy as it was I didnt want to head out on any salt water solo.

Lake Bradford is a small lake, and has no topical features what so ever. Its shallow, deepest part I could find was 6 feet deep. The entire lake is like a dinner plate with gradual slopping sides and shallow center. I spent the first 2 hours paddling around trying to find structure or change in bottom to no avail. There is a large amount of lilly pads, and a few fallen trees on the shore line.

Not knowing the status of the bass, if they were spawn or post spawn I started out fishing the lilly pads. Just looking at those things screamed bass. Its hard to look at lilly pads and not think about a 10 pound lunker sitting there just waitin for you to plop a lure down infront of him. I started out with a frog lure. No bites in about 100 casts. Either its still to early in the season, or the cold front shut down the action. I switched over to a creature bait and started punching in the center. Not even a nibble. Then I got desperate, and tried everything I could think of. I threw every lure in my tackle box. I tried scatter raps, xraps, count downs, bombers, jigs, square bill crankbaits, lipliss crankbaits, worms in every color you can imagine, and umbrella rigs.

I finally got my first bite around 6 pm on a 4 inch Slider worm in purple/chartreuse . It was a very light hit, I was fishing it rigged on a worm hook weedless with a bb split shot 12 inches up the line I had just casted it out near the bank and let it sit and when I pulled the slack the bait stopped moving. No hard hit, no nibble, no bump, just a steady weight. Once I set the hook the fish knew I was there and took off. I thought I had found a monster but it was just a little largemouth who thought he was bigger.

Once I got him landed and measured I let him go to get a little bigger and fished the spot for a few more casts hoping there were some friends with him, but no such luck.

I heard there was catfish in this lake, so I decided to switch gears since the bass bite didnt seem to be producing and tied on a bait hook and nightcrawler. I started fishing the mouth of a cove/creek I found with houses, past experience from fishing the TN river if houses near the water have docks then alot of times fish will gather. Home owners sometimes throw dog food or cat food in order to attract fish to their shore line, and I hoped I would find some catfish. Unfortunately either VA is so much different from TN that people dont know that trick, or the catfish were all just hiding but I never managed a single bite. Infact I was almost ready to give up on the idea that the lake had any fish in it at all, even mud puddles will have bluegill in them! And thats when the lake decided to mock me with a joke.

Caught this little guy, but again no friends with him when I casted back into the same spot.

Even though it wasnt a slam, it wasnt a skunk either. Once it warmed up in the afternoon and the wind died down it turned out to be a nice day out on the lake. I got to try out the new anchor trolley on the kayak in the wind, and I used my improvised stake out pole (broom handle) as a shallow water anchor.

To infinity and beyond.

Starting this blog in order to keep track of my adventures here in Virginia and to keep my Facebook page more private. A little late on joining the blog scene and I have no experience at all but here it goes, and I hope you enjoy my ranting.

A little bit about myself.

 I grew up in a small town in middle Tennessee where I spent most of my time in the outdoors. I worked on the local area farms and kept myself out of trouble by hiking and camping all over the hills and woods. After high school I began working at a sawmill and logging with a good friend of mine Jordan McDonald. My original plan since I was around 12 was to enlist in the US Navy, but the reality of the end of school along with the end of a relationship I sort of lost sight of my goals.

A New Years celebration.

Finally joining the Navy.
Working in the sawmill industry, and logging is not the adrenaline filled excitement that Ax Men portrays as a reality show. Its alot of hard, monotonous labor and long days for little to no pay. The cost of fuel, blades, and supplies for the sawmill along with the ever fluctuating price of trees made for a big difference in pay checks from week to week. Alot of working outdoors, rain or shine in the mud and sawdust. Having lost our contract with Armstrong wood flooring, and the discomfort of working outdoors in Tennessee's cold wet winters we had about enough. One rainy day Jordan called me to say we were not gonna be working, and we would get some beer and hangout. I started finishing up work around the house, hay the horses and what not and I seen a Navy recruiting car drive by, you know the dark blue ones with the giant Navy across the side. It kind of snapped me back into reality. A Navy recruiter had called for my older brother a few weeks before, and the number was still on the caller ID. So, I called the number and was surprised to find it was the cell phone of the same recruiter that had driven by. I told him to turn around and not 3 days later I was headed to Chicago. Alot of people laugh when I tell them that a rainy day made me join the Navy, but I really do think had the weather been nice, and I went to work I would have just kept on goin down the same road I was on.

Two years in Great Mistakes to complete my initial training and A-school. I reported to my first ship USS James E Williams DDG 95. As a satellite communications technician on the AN/WSC-6(V)9 system my job was to maintain internet and phone capability to the ship.
A few changes happened after my first year, and I was sent to USS Wasp LHD 1 in order to support the ship's INSURV inspection. Caught in a loophole I ended up getting kept on the Wasp where I spent the next 5 years.