Double Vision

Thankfully, I have a lot to write about.  Unfortunately at this point, it would be way too much for one post so I'll keep it quick.

Low pressure, scattered rain, and a crap ton of wind put a damper on my 2015 Labor Day weekend.  What originally started out as an amazing 3-day period of big water and even larger fish turned into a period of sadness when I felt there was a legitimate forecast.  Fishing was put on a hold, and I had to deal with it.  Sometimes safety comes first!

So, before the weather turned to total crap on the friday leading up to the weekend, I was given an hour off work to rush to the water.  I met up with my bro Tommy Dewitt, and joined him in his chase for his first VA Release Citation Sheepshead.  He had been out for a bit before I launched and ended up with a few nice fish, but not quite what he was looking for...

Tommy's Sheepie just a hair shy of 24" and a VA Release Citation
(Photo - Thomas DeWitt)

Tommy with a consolation prize - Dinner
(Photo Thomas DeWitt) 

While Tommy got to enjoy some decent conditions, I launched into total garbage with a stiff NE wind, and lots of chop opposing an outgoing current.  While these are not enjoyable conditions to fish, the sheepies do enjoy them.  I made a few drops on a couple of pilings and was plagued by the Sheepshead fisherman's worst enemies; Black Seabass, Puffers, and treaded Portsmouth Tautog (Oyster Toad).  I move on and get the bite I was looking for.  I didn't set the hook, and brought up my rig to find a missing fiddler.  I smiled to myself, re-baited and dropped, and immediately found myself setting the hook onto what would become my Personal Best Sheepshead.

25.75" VA Release Citation Sheepshead

Unfortunately, the conditions were such that Tommy didn't hear my calls, and there was not a proper picture taken of this hog.  No worries...  Shortly after landing this guy, the conditions got too snotty to effectively fish, and we called it a day.  A personal best to end a long weekend of fishing before it started lessened the sting a bit.

Fast forward to Saturday Evening.  No fishing, just talking fish with Kayak Kevin and Lee.  Prior to starting, I just had to get on the beach and see how bad it really was in the bay.  After seeing this view, I knew staying landlocked was a good decision.

Sunday consisted of great company and amazing beer from one of my "Unofficial" (ok, DREAM) sponsor Back Bay Brewing.  Almost a growler of IPA in, the talk shifts to fishing.  After exchanges over the conflicting forecast (in which Tommy and I were referred to two "Bitches"), I caved and we made plans for the next morning.  The wind was still clipping which made me unexcited to wake up early and experience a day where I would be getting a whoopin'.  I make it to the launch at sunrise, to find excitingly and unexpectedly nice conditions.

Labor Day Sunrise Services... At the launch and on the water!
(Photo - Thomas DeWitt)

First order of business... make a drop and get Tommy his paper.  Well, the fish gods had different plans, and I had the hot rod of the morning.  Immediately, I hook a 20" class sheepie, and as I bring him up, I notice the hook is not in the skin, but pinched between two teeth.  At this point, without a net, it's a crapshoot.  I went for the sweep, and it popped off.  No worries, "cause I got this... This is what I do"!  Within minutes, I hook up again, and this time land a nice sheepie a hair short of 25".

We work the grounds for a bit longer in search of Tommy's sheep, but come up empty.  Lots of baits being eaten by trash, but no sheeps means we decided to keep a few crabs each for the trip in and head out in search of larger fish.  Upon arrival to "The Grounds", I was greeted by a waiting Jay Brooks, Meghan, and the Family Seed on their respective boats.  The reports were not great, but it didn't matter.  I know what I can do, and I was feeling good!

A few Kayakers from TKAA were out, and I decided to do something different from the rest of the fleet.  I went to find a spot and instead of following the pack and using their techniques, I paved my own path.  Each pass rounded out some different fish.  Some stud Flounder, a solid Gag Grouper, and some baits for my friends on the stinkpots.  It was all fun, but kinda boring until I feel a "THUD"  This could mean one of two things, the not so elusive ROCK...fish, or them big, nasty bulls.  I set the hook, and get into one of the oddest drum fights I have had.  Not much initially went into getting it off the bottom, but about half way out, I had a strong run back down.  Each time I gained more ground on the fish, but it was if the structure had an equal draw.  With the drag cinched down, I made short work of the brute, but still got worked at the same time.  Hard runs, but not heavy head shakes had me scratching my head, especially given the hook placement right on the nose.

Landing the second paper of the day... A 46" Red
(Photo - Jay Brooks)

I got the fish on the grippers to keep it fresh in the water, got an official measurement of 46", a few pictures, and got her off.  In all, the fight was less than 5 minutes, and she was out of the water for less than 2.

A big, nasty, spawning bull released to"Get it on" and make some youngins.

As time went on, it was apparent that not much more was going to happen, so we paddled in and attempted to again get Tommy on his paper.  Unfortunately, things sucked for both of us and we called it a day...  But not after I did something I had never done before.  I got multiple saltwater species citations on the same trip for the first time.  I can't wait for my next trip out.  Hopefully I'll be seeing double once again!

Redemption

From my last post I was tallying my fish totals and points from within the previous trips and determined that I had broke even.  Lots of cool catches, and other fun little mishaps were what memories were made of.  The following is a continuance of the the last post I made.

Trip 6 - This trip was one that was not planned, and just kind of snuck up on us.  On a random Friday night,  Jay Brooks and I were having a few drinks at a local watering hole and the wind was howling from the NE with gust up to 35 mph.  We both wanted to catch some fish, but we knew it wasn't going to happen...  That is until Jack Daughtry gave me a shout.  He was in the process of making the trip down from MD, and was trying his hardest to convince us that the next morning was going to be a go.  We drank a few more beers and decided to call it a night, and see if the weather gods would let us move forward.

Fast forward a short six hours.  I wake up to a phone call from Jay telling me that the weather was going to work in our favor.  After getting situated, we launch to find Jack and Matt already on the water.  After a nice paddle out, we meet up just in time to see Jack get the solid hook up and bend of our targeted quarry... Mr. Sheep.  The bad guy in me was saying "Really, Jack?  Give us a break dude!"  The other guy on my shoulder said "Good, the fish are chomping... Today is our day!"

We move on and make the paddle to the spot that I had been hooking up to nice Spadefish all summer.  The action started out slow, and Jay moved on to triggerfish.  I left my phone in the car, and wouldn't you know, once he got out of shouting range, the bite turned on BIG TIME.  I hooked up to a number of solid fish in the 14-16" range, like this one

16" Spadefish
Photo Credit - Jack Daughtry

 We hooked up to some really solid fish, and I stated my goal for the day... a 18"+ Spade.  We knew they were there and were chewing.  I ended up with some solid bites that never became catches, and some huge losses.  One of which was an 18" Spade.  We found this out the following day, when Jack caught the same fish I lost with the same hook, swivel, leader and blue powerpro I lost the fish on.  After I lost the fish, my focus started waning and I found myself engaged in combat fishing with three of my good friends.  As I was pushing and shoving my way back to the spot, I decided I was messing around too much, and not fishing enough, so I moved on and this is what I was rewarded with...

First Citation Sheepshead of 2014
Photo Credit - Jack Daughtry

On my first piling after leaving the spade honey hole, I hooked up with this beautiful 24" Sheepshead.  On my next piling, I managed to hook up with another solid 23" Sheepie.  At this point, we called it a day, and went our seperate ways!

Angler 1 - Fish Gods 0



Trip 7
After a few trips on the SUP chasing reds, and landing some beautiful upper slot fish, I found myself at the Tidewater Catching for Kids club challenge.  I have fished this event for the last five years, and each year we (TKAA) have placed very high with a top finish and tournament record point total and winning margin in 2013.  This year, there were some rule changes that were focused on the kayak anglers.  We did what yak anglers to best... Adapt and Overcome.

My team consisted of Seth Goodrich, Lee Williams, and Jay Brooks.  Jay covered the event well on his site.  Ill leave you with the clif notes.  We got to the spot where we had patterned fish the whole summer and almost immediately got on spades.  As I was prepping bait, the unthinkable happened, a cham shell had sliced my thumb open.  it was deep enough that I could see my heartbeat through the blood that gushed out of my thumb.  None of us had brought a first aid kit, so I had a few options.  First I could put pressure on the wound and hope the bleeding would stop enough to fish.  The second option (which I should have taken) was to paddle in and go to get sutures.  The final option was to wait for a boat to pass by, see if they could assist, and fish on.  As I waved at the first boat I saw, he kept moving on.  It wasn't until I raised my hand, which was covered in blood that I gained his attention.  Luckily, he found his first aid kit so I could tape my thumb and fish on.  The rest of the day I missed lots of fish due to a loss in dexterity, but managed some small spades, and what ended up being the 3rd place trigger.  Seth, Lee, and especially Jay got work done and put up a but load of points for the team, to include Jay's 1st place Citation Sheepie!

Brooks "Cheesin' it Up"

We knew with the work we did, and what the rest of the club had done, it would be close.  Just how close we were unsure.  In the end, we ended up with 17 points for second place, and missed out by a measly 2 points.  I know that I left points on the table that would have put us higher on the board, but fishing is fishing, and knowing what TKAA and all the other clubs did for Catchin for Kids was enough to make it all worthwhile.

The CBBT team... With Joe Underwood as my photo stand in.

Posing with the Club Challenge trophy until next year with my
Werner Paddles teammates Kris, Mark, and Drew 

Kayak Kevin Podcast with Lee, Jay, and Myself covering the tournament

With the days events into account, even though I lost scoring fish and sliced my thumb open, we still had a respectable showing, a great time, and I put up a scoring fish so ill call this...

Angler 1 Fish Gods 0

So the way I see it, over the last two posts, I came out ahead and finally got my REDEMPTION!