Recent outings and putting time in.

The weather lately has been unforgiving, thunderstorms spotting up and high winds not cooperating with work schedule. I have managed a few trips out to Lynnhaven, Rudee, Oceanview, and the CBBT.


My experience with obtaining information about fishing the CBBT has been hit or miss. There are several anglers who-happy to share pictures of catches and brag about their infinite knowledge, clam up tighter than a drum when approached with questions. On the other hand, there are several who, are happy to share their wealth of information if they know your not going to exploit it. And they see your putting in the effort yourself. Im one of those hands on stubborn learners so I decided to ask questions, pick up what I can, and trial and error. My first trip out to the CBBT was with William Ragulsky and unfortunately the weather did not allow us to paddle out, however I was able to pick up on a few things and using this I decided to head out.
I got out to the bridge and dug up some mole crabs, I also had some chowder clams. I paddled out and didnt quite make it to the first island because the weather started acting up. I mostly focused on learning the paddle while fish technique around the pilings, which is alot harder than the infamous K.K. makes it look on film. Now I know why Rob Choi makes all the silly faces (I just dont have a GoPro constantly filming me.) My first bite I got excited and jerked so hard the 2 oz egg sinker and 5 inch croaker nearly flew onto the bridge. I continued to catch more croaker. No spadefish or sheepshead were caught by me that day.

My Lynnhaven trips have been a disappointment as well, small beltbuckle size flounder, small croaker, and lost tails of gulp. I have found that by either soaking regular soft plastics in gulp, or a super secret formula I came up with I might share with you if we ever fish together, creates as much bites (atleast from croaker/small flounder) as the expensive gulp. So although im not catching 30 inch flounder or slot reds im still learning and experimenting!

Saturday's TKAA Family day trip out with BB proved to be another win for the weather. The winds were turning the water choppy and the current was difficult to paddle against, it was nice to meet some new faces, say goodbye to Russell, who in my short time knowing has been a very great fishing mentor and good friend.

I managed a trip out to Rudee with William, and he was kind enough to show myself and BB the ropes on general inshore fishing. I didnt catch a single fish. William managed a few small flounder and one keeper just in the short time he fished with us. I am very greatful for the patience, and sharing of knowledge. He was also kind enough to treat us to dinner. (Kind of)

12 inch croaker on Egret Vudu Shrimp (Tiger) under a green popping cork.

My solo rudee trip was at high tide, with storms moving in, so I didnt venture very far sticking to the grass flats I managed a few small croaker, one 12 inch croaker, and one lost fish that felt frisky enough to pull drag so I know it wasnt a croaker (or atleast bigger than any croaker ive caught since the 12incher didnt even pull drag.) Then the storms moved in so I paddled to shore.

I invested in a few lures, hopefully these prove to be a wise investment and help me in my quest to figure out Virginia inshore fishing and one day be able to atleast catch dinner.
Egret Vudu Shrimp-for use with a popping cork.
Egret Bayou Chub-for jigging/fishing with a spinner for reds and flounder.
Reel Fast Tackle 5 inch Flinchin Minnows-for specks and reds, single and tandem rigged.
Rapala X-rap 10-for specks.

I have also experienced a few negative comments and rumors and I would just like to say that I may not be that great of a fisherman, but it wont stop me from continuing to paddle out and try. I have never considered myself a great fisherman, and yes it is sometimes disappointing, and even disheartening to invest time and money and not have anything to show for it, but I believe in learning from experience.

10Jul13 OV Beach.

There was a forecast for isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon for the day so I decided to head out early to Lynnhaven in hopes of some flat fish. I got the boat ramp at 6 am and paddled out onto the water. I fished the grass, the channel, and all over the place until about 11 with nothing but croaker and one curious little sea robin that decided he wanted a swimming mullet for lunch.

Sea Robin.

Being disappointed in not catchin anything I decided to try out the CBBT since it seemed like a nice day with hardly any clouds, maybe the storms would hold off or miss us entirely (last week I decided not to fish because of the forecast and in turn I missed out on some awesome fishing.) One I got over to Alexander's that idea quickly diminished, 15 mph steady with gusts up to 25 and I could see chop building up on the waves. Sure enough I check NOAA on my radio and theres bad storms forecasted for the CBBT so I figured id stick close to home.
I headed over to east ocean view and decided to paddle out from the beach. I got out on the water and paddled a ways out and then started throwing chum. I lowered 2 blocks of frozen clam juice mixed with sand and a block of chopped up croaker. I caught a few small croaker on pieces of gulp from the morning's failed flounder attempt.

 

I was hopin for cobia, or big reds, or really anything that would bite. I wasnt sittin long when the reel started peeling. I grabbed the rod and heaved it up and it hit the deck, pending into the water. I fought the fish for about 10 minutes and got it up and it was a big cownose ray. I grabbed my camera to snap a few pics and no sd card! I had take the sd card out to upload pics for my previous trips and forgot to put it back in. Got the ray off the hook and then I tried gettin my cell phone out, I keep it in a water proof box in the fish finder spot since I broke the chargerport that made my phone water proof. Once I shimmied up the kayak to reach it the ray started flappin his wings trying to fly and flopped into the water. So I rigged up and casted out again. Another 15 min and another bite! This time I had the cell phone ready and managed to snap a few pics. It was a nice clear nose skate, which might be a nuisance to some but its still fun to catch and looks totally wicked.

Clear nose skate.

The wind/current started to pick up and I noticed a large group of birds diving in the water, I was hoping it was some spanish mackeral chasing bait. I started casting gotcha plugs into it but never managed to hook up on anything if there was somthing then they moved on. I managed to catch another butterfly ray that didnt want to cooperate in the kayak and nearly took my fishin rod with him and another clear nose skate I believe was the twin brother to the one I caught before.

Cool lookin and fun to catch!

 The wind started to pick up and some large grey clouds started forming in the distance so I decided to call it a day and packed up. As I was paddling back to shore, I passed within 30 yds of 2 young (14-15 yr old) girls on paddle boards. They had drifted out a good ways from the beach and didnt appear to be having much luck in paddling. I paddled up and asked if they needed help, they laughed and said no so I continued to shore. When I got to the beach, 2 ladies who were on the beach asked me if I would call the coast guard on my radio for the 2 paddle boarders... I told them that as I paddled by I asked the girls if they needed help and they said no, so I started loading up the kayak stuff. Once I got my stuff up it started to rain, lightning, and thunder. Then 2 fire trucks, an ambulance, and 10 life guards show up. Apparently the 2 girls were there with their parents, who were out kayaking on touring kayaks, and left them on the beach with the paddle boards, the 2 ladies were concerned and called 911. So I told the fireman that as I paddled by they said they didnt need help and asked if they wanted me to paddle out to help them. The fireman along with the life guards said no, that they wouldnt let me paddle out in my kayak in the weather. So everyones standing on the beach and just watching these 2 girls drift further and further out. About 45 minutes later the group of kayakers along with their parents show up and paddle back to shore with the girls. They were obviously scared/shaken.
As I was leaving the group of kayakers were joking about how they would have been fine and even a few hours on the water wouldnt of mattered because they wouldnt have drifted that far. Short of lassoing them and dragging them to shore anyway I dont know what more I could have done when they refused my help, and the life guards wouldnt let me go out to help.

Rainbow after the storm passed.

 It was a long wet drive home in the soaking wet jeep, the storm barely lasted 30 minutes but left about 3 inches of water in the jeep!

 

Latest reports 27Jun/4th July Weekend.(Long/Pics)

My week/weekend, pics at the end.

Went out to Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach with BB in hopes of catching some catfish. Catfish is her favorite fish and since I had caught a bunch of keepers before she wanted to go and catch some herself. The weather was nice, although a bit windy and it had rained for the past few days before we went out so the water was a little high. We started fishin around the far side of the golf course and managed a few small white perch and blue gill but no catfish. We kept fishing the bank with nightcrawlers and then finally BB started catching catfish. Unfortunately they were only little kitties not big enough to eat but that didnt stop her from being excited catching fish. She wouldnt pose for a picture and the few pics I took didnt save, having issues with this cheap 30$ digital camera saving photos. Towards sunset we decided to try for some bass and started fishing around the cypress trees. BB was using a purple flippin creature texas rigged and I was using a blue/white 1/2 oz buzz bait. I landed a chunker 3lb bass that was 16 inches long but wide as a barn. BB asked me how she should fish so I told her to hit the trunks of the cypress and let the bait drop and sink down then hop it back to her. She had been casting up into the branches and getting upset, so when I turned and looked and seen her rod nearly doubled over I assumed she was snagged again and started paddling over to help her when suddenly I seen her rod jerk and the line shoot off. It wasnt a tree she had hooked it was a mailbox of a fish! It was a lesson learned for her though because she had her drag set wrong and as soon as she got it up to the kayak it kicked around and the fish went one way and the lure the other. She was still pretty excited to have hooked a bass on her own and how big it was. It could have swallowed a cantaloupe!

White perch!

Irritated phil caught on camera! 10 second timer and the fish jumped out of my lap before I could get the photo!

 

Chunky bass on the buzz bait.

16 inch 3 lbs!

Tuesday (2JUL) I spent the afternoon fishin Lake Bradford on Little Creek . Took the kayaks out with a buddy from work hopin to catch some bass and took some nightcrawlers along to get a few cats for dinner. The forecast was for scattered rain in the evening but partly cloudy and warm throughout the day. We got out on the lake at around 3pm and paddled to the end of the lake and started fishing top water. Some darker clouds moved in and we started paddling into a creek. Summertime bass fisherman know that a few rain drops wont damper the fishing and sometimes can even turn the bite on so we kept on fishin. Almost immediately once we decided to stay it seemed someone wanted us off the lake because the bottom of the clouds fell out. It started raining so hard I couldnt see Zach who was only about 40 feet away from me. The kayak was nearly submerged with the rain coming up from the lake so we started paddling for the boat ramp. Of course my biggest worry, especially after watching Rob Choi's video at the CBBT was lightning. Sure enough in the distance a flash and a rumble let me know this wasnt gonna just be a summer rain storm. I started paddling faster and Zach felt it necessary to anger the powers that be. "What are you worried about Zeus and Thor are too busy to waste time throwing lightning bolts at us on this lake." Simultaneous with 'time' a huge lightning bolt shot across the sky right above us. It was so close the sizzle and crack of the thunder made my hair stand on end! I couldnt believe he was trying to jinx us while actually out on the water, in a rain storm so strong we were practically submarines! Needless to say no fish were caught on this trip. Although im sure there was enough water in the jeep when I got home that a few herring were eyeing it as a place to wade for fish...

Wednesday I spent the day out at Lynnhaven with absolutely no luck, didnt take any kind of bait only gulp and I didnt even catch a croaker. I guess thats fishin not catchin!

Thursday for the 4th I wanted to spend the day at the CBBT but I couldnt find a single parking spot within 2 miles of Alexander's so I fished the HRBT instead. I fished all day and into the night catching more croaker than you can shake a stick at and a dozen or so 'belt-buckle' sized flounder. I never did land any keeper flounder but I did manage a few large spot and croaker to take home for dinner. I had the saltist out with a live croaker on it and it took off peeling line, I tightened the drag and started reeling got the mystery fish near the kayak and right when I was able to see color/shape it took off again and jerked once or twice  and then my hook flew out of the water. I think it was a blue, but not too sure.
 It was a pretty awesome 4th of July One of the cool things about being out on the water at the HRBT was I got to see some pretty awesome firework shows. It was nice weather and a nice day out on the water anyway.

13 inch croaker, not bad eaten when fresh! (This one was dinner.)

Belt buckle flounder, caught about a dozen this size but no keepers!

Whats left of the croaker after somthing bit it.

Friday I did laundry and chores. For dinner I boiled up some shrimp, blue crab, and the spot/croaker I caught on the 4th and had a pretty excellent meal.

Saturday I had plans of fishing the outgoing night tide at Lynnhaven but decided to fish with some friends on the Norfolk base pier. It was pretty packed with kids running around screaming, people crossing lines and casting every direction, and just chaos and disorder so I decided to fish the rocks. I brought my surf rod along so I was actually able to cast out farther than the people at the end of the pier were so I had pretty high hopes as I started out. I was using chowder clams on a fish finder rig. A guy a few yards beside me (yeah the rocks were packed too) was catching small croaker and spot and he was using a little spincast zebco so I figured id catch somthing atleast. A few hours went by and all I managed was a few small croaker, I know rays like to come in around the bay so I chopped one up for cut bait. Thom showed up, and he too decided to fish the rocks instead of the pier. As we waited on Bryan and Schyler to show up we were talkin about the different fishing regulations. Im not sure if your allowed to fish from the rocks on base, but I do know that on the pier you dont have to have a saltwater license because MWR has one for the pier itself. But, once your off the pier, your no longer covered so you have to have your own saltwater license*. Bryan and Schyler showed up and we started fishin and I noticed the guy beside us was catching undersized flounder and was keeping them. As I came back from the jeep getting a drink he decided to brag to me about catching "some nice flounder," so I took a look. I really hate people who dont follow regulations and this guy trying to brag about it really bothered me. I told him they were illegal fish and he needed to let them go. 10 seconds later he packed his stuff and left. I dont know if it was me calling him out on the fish and he thought he would 'get me' or if it was coincidence but about 10 minutes after he left the gamewardens pulled up and made a line straight for us. I couldnt believe that after this guy was catching undersized fish and then the gamewardens came right for us. Of course I checked out fine, I even have base permit from MWR along with my salt/freshwater license.

Sunday I wanted to go to the CBBT, but I didnt get out to the beach until 10 am, and again there was no parking. So I tried Lynnhave and Rudee with the same results, no parking. I ended up just paddling off the beach at Ocean View at the park. I paddled out until the beach looked tiny and started fishin. I figured I was right in between the CBBT and HRBT so there had to be some fish. I started chumming with a block of frozen cut bait with clam juice and had 2 rods with live small croaker. Within about 20 minutes my saltist started screaming. I flipped the lever forward and jerked back on the rod. There was somthing huge for about seconds and then nothing. I reeled it in and found a clean cut piece of flouro (40 lb leader.) So I switched from flouro leader to braid and tried again. Another 40 minutes pass and again the clicker starts screamin. This time instead of setting the hook hard I just applied steady preasure. It felt like a decent sized fish and I was hoping it wasnt a ray when all of a sudden it took off peeling line. I tightened the drag down and then they kayak got spun around, I didnt want the current to pull me with the anchor at an odd angle so I released my anchor line. After about 5 minutes I got it up to the surface and was surprised to see a shark! This was my first shark from the yak and I was super excited. I didnt get any pictures because I was messing with the shark, trying to land it without losing a piece of me, measure it, and I didnt want it to die. I got an inaccurate reading of 42 inches on the paddle as it was flopping around. It dug some sweet gouges in my fish grips though. Got the circle hook out and let him swim. It was a brownish grey with darker fins, unsure what kind of shark it was. Then the break offs continued. Total I lost 6 hooks before I called it a day. I had a trolling motor battery in my jeep and it leaked acid all over the back seat and I think it got on my fishin line. Every 20 feet or so my 65# PP would mysteriously just give under pressure. I ended up coming home with 3 large spot to eat and slime from hundreds more croaker.
The weather was amazing and it was a great day to be out on the kayak. I got to hangout with a huge sea turtle. It scared me half to death when it surfaced the first time. It was less than 5 feet from the kayak and its huge head plunged out of the water and it snorted and wheezed like a big ol buck in the rut. I nearly fell out of the kayak. Then it just kinda floated around by me lookin at me. I think it wanted the fish on my stringer but didnt know what to think of me. I kept my paddle close incase he wanted to get closer and take a bite I could push him off. It was every bit of 5 feet across on its shell. Its head was as big as a basketball with eyes the size of a grapefruit. Once I started movin around trying to get my digital camera off its mount to take a picture it dove back down. About 4 hours later it came back up again and checked me out but again I didnt have time to get a photo. I did take some video as it was submerging but you cant really see anything. Definitely one of the coolest things to happen out on the water. Seeing dolphins is cool but that sea turtle was huge! And after watchin documentaries and movies and hearing about them it was really awesome to actually be that close to one and see it out there. Finding Nemo has nothing on the real deal!

Today I got the saltist respooled with 65# power pro green, I got a crimping set and 80# Berkley big game leader, and new swivels. As soon as the weather clears up ill be back out there lookin for red drum, black drum, cobia, sharks, rays, and ofcourse croaker!