Lake Bradford

Well I was hopin to catch some catfish to put in the freezer after not catchin any fish Saturday, so I headed over to Lake Bradford on Little Creek. I found it kind of funny that the lake I was fishin in is like 500 yards away from where I was fishin on Saturday if you look on the map. Unfortunately I had the same luck!
I started out fishin the lilly pads again trying for some bass. Fish were jumpin all over but after using every top water bait in my tacklebox and not catchin anything I put on the night crawlers and began lookin for the cats. I had one rod rigged with a cork and one rigged for the bottom.
The first fish I got into were perch, I caught 3 small ones just under good eatin size but couldnt get anymore/any larger to bite.

7 inch yellow perch

I kept fishin the night crawlers around the pads and then moved over to a fallen tree to see if there were any fish in there. I ended up findin some bluegills but again none bigger than my hand.

6 inch bluegill

After the bite died and I seen more bass jumpin I switched back to fishin lures and managed 1 small bass. It would appear I am destined to just catch small fish!

No catfish ever made it onto my hook. I dont know where they hide in that lake. I think I casted into every hole in the lillies and every 3 feet in the whole lake. The weather was amazing and I did get to see the eagle that lives there on the lake catch what looked like a decent sized fish, but was unable to snap pics fast enough.

CBBT to be or not to be?

Great fishing weather was in the forecast even though a cold front had just moved through the area bringing strong winds and lower temps. Sunny, 85 degrees, ssw winds at 5 mph, and 0-1ft seas. Spoke with William Ragulsky and Russell Hamm about meeting up to catch some fish. William was heading to the CBBT and Russell was headed to the HRBT. Before I could make a decision on who to go fishin with Russell decided to head out to the CBBT so I through my hat in.
Headed over to Ocean East 2 to grab some chowder clams and some tackle. Got to Alexander's at 0600 to see William already unloaded and catching some mole crabs for bait. The wind was a little higher than forecasted but the weather was nice.

After we got a bucket full of mole crabs we headed out on the water. The wind and current were rippin pretty hard. The chop in the pilings made it almost impossible to paddle let alone fish. We were kind of disappointed but it was decided to not try and risk heading out. Russell had arrived to the launch as we were coming back in so we decided to go get breakfast and then head over to the Little Creek jetty for some flounder.
We launched at an undisclosed area right beside the jetty and started lookin for fish. I was using gulp shrimp/swimming mullet and the mole crabs since we already had them. I caught a few small croaker right off in the rocks and tied one on the cv rod in hopes of somthing big coming around. After a few hours the first fish to be caught was a nice redfish by William on gudgeon. Russell's friend also caught one on swimming mullet. We fished the first jetty at the break and managed a few small flounder but none of legal size. My only flounder of the day was 11.5. There wasnt alot of fish around and bites were few and far between. William did manage a few more nice redfish. I caught a few more croakers, and nothing decided the croaker I was trolling looked appetizing.
Even without the fish it was an awesome day on the water. I was glad William and Russell were gracious enough to go out fishin with me and BB, this being only the 4th time BB had gone fishing on her kayak. I hope there are more trips in the future, and alot more fish!

BB flyin her pirate flag as usual.

Heading out.

11.5 flounder.

9JUN13 POL/TKAA Charity Tournament for the Boston Marathon.

Was a late start getting up at sunny 0600 to make the 0700 captain's meeting. Was another meeting of putting faces with names from the internet. After filling out the forms and grabbing an identifier I paddled out onto Lynnhaven Inlet just as the tide was coming in. I started out fishing the grass, hopin to find a redfish hiding. I used gulp shrimp(natural) on a white jig head. I managed 3 croaker right off on the first 3 casts, none over 10 inches so I decided to paddle over to the channel to see what was happening. 3 boats were vertical jigging with cutbait and squid and were catching small throwback flounder. I made a few drift pasts to see if I could come up with anything and struck out. I paddled around and talked to a few people who said they were havin about the same luck, small croakers. I started getting the tails taken off my shrimp so I switched to a chartreuse swimming mullet and sped up my retrieve. I managed a few more croaker but no red fish or flounder. Then BB called and said she was having trouble unloading at the boat ramp so I went back to assist her. Once I found her we paddled back straight out from the ramp and ran into Tom VanderHeiden who said they were catchin flounder at the tennis court. So me and BB paddled over that way hopin to bring one in ourselves. It must have been a good fish because it got crowded pretty quick once we got over there. We drifted a few passes and then continued on. I started fishin the drop off from the sandbar across from the tennis court with a 3/8 oz hand tied bucktail/white grub and hooked up on 'somthing' that felt like a flounder, dead weight which then started peeling line/moving once I set the hook hard. A few tense seconds and drag noise and then nothing. Reeling in a looped end of braid where there was suppose to be a leader not and 24 inches of flouro leader is very discouraging. The only real bite of the day, the rest of the day we spent fishing the sand bars reeling in small croaker. Biggest going 10 inches but was unable to get him to hold still on the hawg trough for a photo. The real fun didnt start until we got to Salty C's for the weigh in. Great specials on food and drinks and tellin stories with people who ive gotten advice from on the forums. It was pretty surprising to learn of some of the catches people had throughout the day. 20+ inch flounders, rays, and 15 inch croakers. Guess its a good thing they were released so I can catch them next time! Having some technical difficulties with the camera so pics are below, I may get around to editing so it flows better at a later date.

June 2nd Lynnhaven

Headed out to Lynnhaven inlet to try and catch some flounder. On the water by 0630 and started out using Gulp shrimp. After about 2 hours and not a bite I switched over to Gulp swimming mullet. Didnt get a bite on the swimming mullet but I did see alot of 3-4 inch bait fish jumping so I started throwin scatter raps in 08 size hopin there were blues or specks chasin. The only thing I caught in 5 hours of fishin was a sunburn.

Hangin with a skunk.

Started today out with gorgeous weather, 85 degrees by 8 am and sunny. Didnt get out on the water until 10 because I forgot my seat back, milk crate, and pfd in the girlfriend's car trunk and she had to work nights. I had to wait on her to get home. Decided to head out to the HRBT from the Norfolk side. Was alot of boat traffic and wind, didnt see any fellow kayakers so I decided to fish the beach down to Ocean View. I made it all the way down to Chesapeake street without so much as a nibble on Gulp shrimp and swimming mullet. I also threw a few top water badonkadonks and mirror lures with no takers. I caught a few small spot and decided to try my fancy at some cut bait/live bait. Not a nibble. I did start catching croakers and spots at about 4th view street about 200 yards out, but none of them were over 9 inches. The girlfriend met up with me after she took care of errands and we had a nice afternoon out on the water.

 Not alot of action but couldnt beat the weather with a stick. We stopped in at the Ocean View fishing pier to hangout with a friend and splash around on the beach and then headed back out. I was actually pretty impressed with how the Hurricane Phoenix 120 handled. Its a quick little boat only weighs about 40 pounds and turns on a dime.