A few weeks ago, Kayak Kevin Whitley, Virginia Marine Police Officer Ron Cagle, and I were invited to the Hampton Appomattox River Company location speak on springtime striper fishing in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
Officer Cagle was awesome, speaking to the changes in striper regulations, and rules in general if you plan on keeping any striped bass in particular.
Kevin and I presented in more of a forum type style, which was really enjoyable. Whether you are interested in the conventional or fly fishing aspect of springtime striper fishing, Im sure you will enjoy the video.
Video courtesy of Kayak Kevin
Below you will find some information I came up with to aid the kayak fly angler. I hope you enjoy it!
This has been a odd summer for me. In the years past I have been hammering the fish inshore getting on good numbers of quality fish, of many different species. This year, the inshore fishing in SE Virginia really hasn't materialized into much to talk about, so I have spent my time carp fishing instead. Besides a few outings which produced a few Sheepshead to 25", Carp fishing with the fly rod has been my main pursuit.
Bowed up on the 6wt
A bit over 32" Common
My first Mirror (on the fly none the less)
Carp fishing has presented me with a number of challenges that have helped me step up my fishing game. It teaches you patience, to make the right presentation on a fish, observe their moods and adjust to the fish, and fighting fish in close quarters. All of these skills I worked on came into play the past month, when I went on a 3 week marathon to the great waters of the North Carolina coast.
These trips all occurred on days off, with the schedule looking something like this...
0600 - wake up for work
1600-2300 - go over gear, pack the car, and relax
2300-0430 - drive south
0530-1700 - fish hard!
Repeat for the following days off
last day 1600-2200 - drive north
This leads to very little sleep which requires good decision making and patience when your body just isn't willing to do what your mind tells it to do. It also requires a good playlist to keep you going.
Money Trees - Kendric Lamar
Woah! - Black Robb
Root Down - Beastie Boys
Woo Hah!! - Busta Rhymes
The music got me going, and it was time to get some fishes! Week one presented muddy waters, low tides, and lots of wind. With all of that being taken into account, there were still a good number of flounder being caught on the natural Ultra Shrimp. These bad boys were sight casted along marsh edges. Just look for sudden and violent explosion's, and there you have it!
Flounder on the Fly
Day two was searching new water for reds. Again, the conditions were challenging at best but we still got a few fish to hand.
The Wicked Pissah of the world famous Wicked Pissah Guide Service with a quality inshore Redfish
This greedy lil' guy fell for a Chatterbait with a PTL JP Hammershad
Following this trip, I had a 5 day hiatus in which I met up with Kevin and Lee for a fishing/fight podcast.
Late during the week, my boy Ted Crumb and I decided, "What the hell, lets do it again". Another night of driving found us at the fishing spot in just enough time to get unloaded, rigged, and on the water at sunrise. Sunrise services consisted of Topwater and Trout Tricks, resulting in a good number of aggressive, healthy Speckled Trout.
A feisty fatty fell for a Tactical Anglers Crossover
This weekend ended with some keeper founder coming off the flats, and a crap-ton of reds between 20-24" coming from a cut through an oyster field.
The third weekend was the weekend of the 2015 Hook, Line and Paddle TJM tournament out of Wilimington NC. This is an event that I fish every year, and has become one of my favorites. I would miss Christmas before I would miss this. So, I had a 4 day weekend to get out and really hit it. Friday morning was forecasted to be calm and clear. Everything was supposed to be perfect, except it wasn't. Winds were NE at 10-20, pushing the tides out, making things difficult. The Trout Trick ended up being the skunk buster, bringing a few flounder to 17" and some spike specks to hand.
Flounder on the Trout Trick
After a less than encouraging pre-fish, Seth Goodrich and I decided to change things up, with the plan of being "Hero's or Zero's". A paddle across the mouth of the Cape Fear resulted in some beautiful cuts with lots of oyster mounds, and clear, moving water. When we first saw the area in person, our mouths dropped as it was one of the fishiest areas we had ever seen. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving, and this was not the case. In looking for reds, Seth and I both saw a fish pushing 30" that would have made for a great day. This fish didn't mind us being there and looked as if "I'm going to stay here and watch y'all make fools out of yourselves trying to catch me." We saw other small reds, that just weren't in the eating mood. I ended scratching an insignificant speck, but the fish of the day was the flounder. Seth and I both lost flounder that would have put is in the top 3, with 4 of mine being 2nd and 1st place fish. I was sickened, but at least we brought home a few for the frying pan and found some new water. Youngblood Drew Camp really did some work with a 30 1/4" red that brought him home 1st place and an awfully large bag of donuts. I'm super stoked and honored to be able to call him a teammate!
At least the tournament day view was plesant.
With two days remaining, I drove a bit further north, and fished with the Wicked Pissah himself. We went out to two spots that produced fish for us the previous two weeks, but were fighting strong North winds and falling tides again. The first day, we expanded our search area after only finding flounder in the oyster fields, As we worked our way south with the wind, we started getting into flats filled with large mullet and some reds. I ended up getting out on a grass island to find a better vantage point and could see 5lb mullet spooking mid 20" reds. Our problem was that we were spooking mullet, which in turn spooked the reds. In 10-20 mph winds, we gave it a good try, but only had a slot red and a few flounder to show for our efforts. On our last day, we decided to go back into a spot along the ICW in which canals would lead us into ponds and lakes in search for reds. This was a good choice! On my 3rd cast I landed a red just shy of 29". Hopes were high, and the fishing didn't disappoint!
1st fish of the day
As we progressed we found more solid pumpkins. It was also an opportunity to test out fish shots with the DSLR. I still need some practice but all of these shots came from the camera on a tripod, and remote.
Notice the "selfie" setup back in the marsh.
Had over a half dozen quality fish in the morning, with some shots that I am extremely happy with.
The trip ended as uneventful as it started, with a long drive back home. As I write this, I cant help but wonder... When 1600 comes around on Friday afternoon, will I be Carolina Bound again?
Winter... It is increasingly becoming a period of long, cold days here in the mid atlantic. We dont have much to hope for other than those warming south east winds and longer days which thaw us out, bring in warmer water, and break us free from our winter doldrums. While there is still some kayak fishing to be had, the tides of spring bring us the highly anticipated return of the Redfish. Many of these first schools contain reds that often break the 40" mark. These are the fish that we are after, and what we look forward to upon their departure in the fall.
With our northern lattitudes and the sucesses of the Sciaenops ocellatus as a species, I consider myself extremely lucky to have the oppritunity to target, chase, and land such an amazing species. It is what I long for. That first five minute fight and monstorus headshakes are my sign that spring is finally here, and my vacation bank is about to be sucked dry.
What is even more allureing about this fishery is the speed in which our spring season comes upon us. This was never more evident than in 2015. I find myself partaking in a bass trip one evening after work when I get the call. Jay Brooks is on the other end of the line when I hear "Our scouting trip turned in to much more". For me, The only question running through my mind is "are we still on for tomorrow?" The answer was "hell yeah we are!", and thus my season began. Jay's better half Meghan stoked the fire with a great story of her first bull (and the first kayak caught bull of 2015 that we know about). Trip one for me ended with a skunk, but sometimes you have to pay to play.
Not even a week later, Jay and I pull up to the ramp to find RMFC and Lockhart chillin in their car. On this trip, Jay struck 1st with a 47" red, followed shortly by a 46" landed by Lockhart, and a 48" landed by RMFC. I had a heartbreaking encounter with a red in that same class. When i got the big ole mamma yak side, I noticed terrable hook placement which ultimately resulted in the fish sliding over my leg and through my hands. My attitude was terrable and it was one of the only fish that I have lost that made me physically ill. But in the words of Ike, NEVER GIVE UP kept ringing through my head, and for a second time in as many hours, RMFC found me a school, and put me on the fish!
Lockhart's First Bull
Photo Credit - Rob Choi
You can read more about that day over at Angling Addict.
A few days later Jay, Tex, and I go out on the back side of what was a stellar day for Kevin, Lee, and crew. This day will forever be known as "Cloudfest 2015". Not even a peek of sun through the clouds, with the occasional shower didnt stop us from conducting our search. We paddled from here to there and back for hours on end with nothing to show for our efforts. It appeared all the fish had just dissapeared. That is until I hear Jay wisper "2 o'clock, 100 yards". These fish were moving fast towards us. We coordinate our efforts, get inot position, and bomb casts into the cloud of fish. I was the first to hook up, but that didnt last long. Paddle, cast, hook up, curse. That was the name of the game for what seemed to be an eternity. I got lucky and broke the streak and managed to stay hooked. With my drag cinched down, I went right for a ride through the school, and they dispersed. I was able to keep eyes on a smaller school, and sent Jay and Tex to them. As I am landing my fish, Jay and Tex both hook up, but Tex broke off. Much to our pleasure, we had found some dinosaurs without the help of an palentologist. Jay and I both boated Stripers in the 41"-42" class.
Releif!
Photo Credit - Jay Brooks
Landing a Dinosaur
Super Stoked!
Again, just a few days later I went out looking for fish on the fly. My buddy for the day has hooked into a handful of bulls chucking bugs, but has yet to come tight. We decided to maximize our efforts and add sidescan to our arsenal. Thank god we had it because there was absolutely zero clarity. We work a few areas, and I know I went over fish, not quite knowing what I was looking for. About halfway into the day, I smell the smell I was looking for. REDFISH FEEDING! I pull out the fly rod and make some solid casts in the right areas, but never hooked up. I began to get discouraged, grabbed a baitcaster, and got bumped. I called my buddy over, he casted his switch rod to no avail, while I hooked up to a solid 47" red that we tagged and released.
Side Imaging scored me one more fish on the day that was around 42" that quickly came in for a quick photo opp, and went back to be caught another day.
Work, finances, and the like made my time chasing these beasts short this year. I am always psyched to get out there and be given the oppritunity to have good fishing with great friends. I will say that my success chasing bulls is not typical, I still find myself in awe of some of the greats in this fishery, and find myself watching them fight and land fish more than getting in on the action myself.
Im extremely thankful that the tides of spring are here, bringing with it more opritunities to do what I love!
I would like to believe that I am a good fisherman, with well-rounded skills in both fresh and salt waters. I also view myself as a minimalist in the aspect that I paddle a lightweight kayak that does not suit itself well to having all the bells and whistles that larger kayaks have. I don't take 10 rods on the water with me or enough tackle to open up my own shop. I have to ensure that I have the gear I need to effectively target what I may encounter and nothing more. Here I will outline some of the lessons that I have learned, or ones that I have re-learned over the past few months, with the hope that it may help others out along the way. Here we go!
Know the water you are fishing, and the gear you are using - This may seem like a no brainer, but if you follow these rules your trips will be much more enjoyable and you will be nicely rewarded. On a recent trip to one of my favorite bass spots, my buddy Ted and I were fishing an area right before, during, and after a cold front. Prior to the front, we knew the areas that the bass were feeding on and what baits best mimicked the forage of the lake. We were able to bust out some quality fish in the morning and the day was a success. As the front passed, the fishing grinded to a halt. This is where we decided to go fish some deeper water with the hope of finding fish stacked up. We changed up our presentations to take advantage of the conditions and we were pleasantly rewarded. Point being, be versatile and understand that just because a pattern worked during one part of the day, it will not always continue to produce throughout the remainder of the day.
A nice pre-spawn bass caught using a Chatterbait in deeper water right after a strong cold front passed through
Ted Crumb with a beastly sow after observing and establishing a pattern for post frontal fish.
Don't be afraid to depart
from the norm in order to catch fish - On another day when
Square Bills and Jerkbaits would be the normal presentation for the given
conditions, mix things up. We decided that with the jerkbait bite in deeper
water being nonexistent, we would fish trees and vegetation with spinnerbaits.
We knew our tactics were a departure from what we had established but decided
to go with them anyways. This paid off with some quality Bass and a would be VA
weight citation Bowfin. When I asked the science behind spinnerbait fishing in these conditions, we could not come up with any other answer than "it has worked in the past".
Tommy establishing a spinnerbait pattern on a jerkbait day
An angry Bowfin that slammed a Spinnerbait
Realize that in order to catch fish, you may need to adjust your target, and techniques - There will be days when the conditions, the fish, or both will not allow you to chase after your target species, or you might not be able to get the exact presentation needed conventionally, and may need to switch to other methods. This occurred on more than one occasion where I wanted to chase bass, but knowing where they were located, the conditions would not allow me to get there. This is when I changed my target, and focused on catching citation pickerel. Another time, I wanted to chase pickerel, but the conditions were brutally cold and I realized that a very slow presentation was the best way to fool them into biting, so instead of fishing with gear, I decided to take the fly rod out and I was pleasantly rewarded. As long as there is open water, there will be something waiting to be caught. Tunnel vision can be the worst enemy an angler who just wants to get out and fish.
Crappy conditions for a Crappie Day
A Pickerel on the fly to pop the cherry on the 2015 kayak fishing season
A VA release citation Chain Pickerel caught when the bass were unaccessable
Be ready for what the
conditions may throw at you - Sometimes you are just stuck
fishing certain conditions. This may be low, dirty, grassy water, or quite the opposite.
Have enough gear to tackle multiple presentations for your conditions, but
still keep some that may be just the opposite. Recently, I encountered low and
dirty water conditions. While I like to throw pinks and yellows in these
conditions, I could visibly watch fish turn away and pay my baits no mind. It wasn’t
until I switched up to the darkest colors that I had that I found the fish on
the end of my line. Sometimes rules are just meant to be broken.
A nice redfish caught after switching color schemes
The most important thing to remember though is to go out and ENJOY yourself. Take advantage to the vestle you are on and look around. Enjoy the sights, and sounds. Emerse yourself in not just the fishing, but also your environment!
I thought I would share for those who are unable to attend tonights talk, and all of you not in the Hampton Roads VA area. Thank you Kayak Kevin for use of your lightline pic.
