The Magical State of North Carolina

While Im a Coloradoan living in Virginia, I feel that North Carolina is my true home.  Amazing weather, waterways, people, and scenery keep me chomping at the bit to come "home" every chance I get.  So when tournaments come up, I do everything possible to make it down.   I feet like I'm meant to soak in all this wonderful state has to offer.  One of these events it the annual NCKFA Oak Island Classic. 

The Classic is unique in the fact that it comprises two separate tournaments (Inshore and Ocean) into one event.  Over a period of three days each October anglers congregate from the south and mid-atlantic regions and take over the sleepy town of Oak Island.  The islands inhabitants are all for the classic, to the point that when you walk into convenience stores, tackle shops, and restaurants, proprietors and employees ask about the days fishing, and offer up local intel.  It is truly a sight to see.  For me, my classic started at Midnight, a mere 7 hours prior to the beginning of the ocean division start.  A five hour drive was accompanied by lots of coffee and a level of anxious excitement.  Upon arriving to the 49th Street beach access, I had the pleasure of preparing with some of the best people the state had to offer.  Tim "NCPIERMAN", the Kingfish Legend  Capt. Jerry Dilsaver, perpetual event winners Big Jon Grady and Brian Klammer, Mike Eady and the one and only "C-breeze" Patterson were just a few of the people I shared the morning and coming days of the event with.  After a quick meeting and safety brief, we were off to fish and that is just what we did.

Photo Credit - NCKFA

Upon launching that first morning, my focus was set upon catching bait.  This focus was shattered by the shrills of my friends Tim and Mike.  They got on fish, and did it in quick form.

NCPIERMAN with his first Kayak Bull (and NC Citation)

Mike with a competitive 39" Red

My experiences did not mirror those of my friends on Day 1.  I was struggling, barely catching bait.  It wasn't until Mike shared some intel with me, and I was rewarded by the Drum Gods for recapturing and reviving a floating fish that was poorly released by a boat (and yes... the drum gods are real) that I got my first action of the day.  I dropped down, and after 2 hookups that seemed to manage long distance releases, I was in the zone.  I bought a 36" (fork length) drum in the yak, and was thankful to get on the board.

Fighting my only scorable fish of Day 1
Photo Credit - Mike Eady

Day 1 ended with Tim on the board at 41", Mike with 39", my 36", and about a half dozen others with fish ranging from 33" up to 43".  Klammer had a big drum and a good flounder, and Big Jon had a Big Drum and Spanish to take the lead.

Day 2 began much the same as the first, with the exception being that I was well rested.  On the beach, I made a point of getting on the water quickly to catch bait and have a better showing.  Well, it didn't take long for me.  Almost immediately Mike hooked up, and I quickly followed.  It ended up being nothing short of magical, with at least 20 Reds between 37"-40" for the morning.  While I have had a few days with better numbers, the quality of the fish were nowhere near what I experienced.  I was fishing the Ocean division, but with my showing day 1 and the added factor of a big fish calcutta, I opted to go for the latter.  This didn't fare well for standings but it didn't matter.

An 18 spot beauty!

1 of 2 NC Citations both at 40"

While I still had a few hours left to chase Kings, Spanish, Specks, and Flounder, I opted to do so.  Mike and I paddled out to the reef trolling spoons and plugs.  I ended up with nothing more than bluefish to show for my efforts.  While at the reef, nothing was going on so with an hour left to weigh-in, and a 20 minute paddle ahead, I trolled my way back in, hoping for a big hook up, but expecting nothing... and that's when it happened.  It seemed that I was immediately stopped in my tracks.  As I looked behind me, I see a king re-enter the water, and the spoon rod starts ripping line.  I am super excited, knowing this was the king I had spent years chasing.  But like all big fish stories, this ended poorly... resulting in a lost fish due to equipment failure.  I quickly throw on a king rig, and go back at it.  This time I drop a live croaker back and while Im feeding the line out, I get slammed!  Again, I loose the fish due to error.  With 30 minutes left on the water I paddle back in, having no lines out and my head down.  Then I realized that I have just experienced a day that many people could only dream about.  With that in the back of my mind, I was bound to end on a strong note.  No more than 30 yards of the beach, I dropped a bait back down for drum, and was rewarded with a solid 39".

While I did not catch enough to place in the Ocean division, I experienced something truly special.

1. It was my best drum day (and up there with overall fishing days) ever.
2. I got to share it with some amazing friends and anglers.
3. I got to witness some firsts (first citations, first larger drum, and first drum ever)
4. Amazing level of competition, but also camaraderie and teamwork.

David Adcox First Ever Redfish - 38"

At the Inshore Capt. Meeting that night, Seth Goodrich and I were feeling good about the following morning.  While I was in the parking lot, on cloud 9, I saw one of my sponsors and all around awesome people (Bryan Owen-Astral).  In talking with him, his usual tournament partner had to run back west, so the only logical option was to invite him to fish with us.  So glad I did, because I (and Seth) learned a lot from him.  After the meeting, I decided to set up camp at the launch for the next morning.  This is when I met my old friend Fred.

I offered Fred a beer...  Fred wanted me to go for a swim...  Fred didn't get his beer

The tournament morning came too soon, and started much like the others (being awoken by vehicles pulling up to the launch).  I slowly get moving and was thankful for the help of my teammates Seth and Bryan to kick into gear.  Enroute to our first spot, we were laughing, joking, and just having a great time.  Then the mood got serious.  As we pulled into the grass, Seth whispers "Reds... Tailing..."  Such a sight is not common in our neck of the woods.  Bryan sneaks into the grass and positions himself to fish a great location, and that was when tails popped up in his area.  As the two of them work the grass, there was lots of tension and hard fishing, but nothing came tight.

Bryan Owen awaiting another shot at a tailing red.

The water started dropping, and the reds made their way out of the grass.  In hindsight, we had the right baits for the grass... during the summer, but not in the fall.  As is, we worked deeper in the cut, making some stops for bait along the way.

Walking the Grassline, Searching for Bait
Photo Credit - Bryan Owen

After making our first attempt at bait, I managed my first fish towards the slam.

Followed shortly by my second...

And finally my third (well 4th actually, which was an upgrade)

And that was it.  A whopping 35.5" slam, which Im sure set a tournament record for smallest slam in recorded history.  About this time, we got in an area that was chocked full of bait, so all three of us got out of the kayaks to get something more enticing ready for the fishes to eat.  Bryan managed a rat red in the net, I managed to get a number of lacerations from oysters on my legs and hands, and Seth learned first hand why I wear my Astral footwear on the water (thanks Bryan for helping Seth out)!  The fishing stopped for us, but our time on the water kept going.  In our conversations, things like "Spirit Animals" came up.  I think that my spirit animal is actually a gator, much like my buddy Fred (onry, hard headed, water loving creatures).  

Normally, my showing inshore would have been an irritant on my day, but thanks to my fishing buddies and frankly the previous day to keep me happy as a clam (or an oyster).  While this placed an uneventful end to the 2015 Oak Island Classic, it did not end my time on the island.  Tim, Michael Allen, Jamie, and I went out to see if we could coax some more fish from the surf.  While Tim got a Red rather quickly, the fishing almost stopped until Jamie got a hell of a run on the Balloon Rig!

A Studly King (from just off the surf)

I spent a little bit of time trying to get a king after Jamie got his, but quickly got bored and went after drum.  Well, hours had gone by and the fishing frankly sucked until we found that magic spot.

The Magic Spot... or Three

Fishing picked up and Tim and I ended the day with a half dozen reds each between 38"-42".

One of my Sunday Redfish
Photo Credit - Tim Taramelli

And that last run of reds coupled with a huge release of water from the Cape Fear River ended my day.

When the River Meets the Ocean

All of this was amazing, but I still had one more day to go on my vacation.  My good friend Joe "da Wicked Pissah" offered his pad an hour north of OI, and after spending the last 4 days in the car, I quickly accepted.  A few beers, great food, and amazing company were on tap.  The following morning, we planned on fishing but heavy rain and thunderstorms kept us off the water.  As I was preparing to drive home, the heavens parted, and we had beautiful conditions.  One look at the radar to confirm what we just witnessed, and our minds were made up... its time to fish!

Joe "guided" me to a new part of the ICW I had never fished before, and I quickly hook up to some rat reds and belt buckle flounder.  Joe fared better than I, with some slot reds and flounder on the ole fall go to, the Jumbo Vudu Shrimp.

One of the Wicked Pissah's Well Fed Reds

This trip was the conclusion of an amazing five days in Coastal Carolina, but I didn't (and haven't) have enough.  So as re-aclimitizing to work after such a great vacation and the upcoming weekends forecast gave me the blues, I decided to do something about it.  After soliciting for fishing partners, Luther Cifers so politely obliged.  It was off to the Crystal Coast in search of Drum, Mackrell, and Mr. Fat Albert himself.  I felt confident in my drumming know how to get us some fish, but the Albies I had to ask around for.  While I got some general guidance to confirm my suspicions, the day was left up to mainly the knowledge I had gathered over the years.

As the 0400 wake up arrived, I was greeted by chilly temperatures and the unmotivating thought of a 4 hour drive.  Well, I got moving and met up with Luther mid-morning.  With very little knowledge of the area, I quickly found a beach access point.  After seeing the conditions and abundance of bait, we unloaded, got rigged, and were off.  Luther quickly hooked up to a stud of an albie, which was over the 30" fork length mark.

Luther with a Stud Albert

I was pumped now.  We got a target!  While I was trolling around looking for Mr. Al, Luther was busy collecting drum bait.  While my fishing was non existent, we met back up and worked the shore line searching for Luther's first bull.  Drifting baits past the breakers, through pods of bunker, and off ledges produced nothing and my confidence was shot.  I didn't even see anything that looked drummy, so I went out looking for albies.  About a mile off the beach, I saw a slick, and quickly I thought drum.  I bring one of my trolling lines in, and drop a bunker to the bottom.  Then it happened.  I thought I was going to have a flush mount pulled out of my kayak the hit was so violent.  While I am unsure what is going on, I grab the rod out of the rod holder and proceed to get pulled around at a very high speed.  After watching fishing shows where folks catch lots of tuna, I was sure I knew what was happening.  My confusion led to excitement as I had my first False Albacore pinwheeling under my yak!

28" Fork Length False Albacore

 As the day went on, the fishing was slow.  Still no drum near the mouth of an inlet, and no signs of the Albies.  As Luther and I paddle toward the launch, we see a beehive of birds working.  We both have baits behind us, and haul to the spot.  As we near, we see the water boiling with feeding albies on the surface.  Knowing it is a damn near futile effort to catch up with the school, I try anyways, and ended up putting myself in the right position.  At this point, I have one rod still in the water, and one casting to the school.  This is when the rod in the rod holder goes crazy.  I get the rod to hand, and this fish runs right to Luther.  As we are only feet apart, I am unable to stop the fish.  At one point my rod was in the water between our two kayaks, then it was over his yak damn near attached to his Black Pak.  He gets his lines cleared, and I manage to get away from him without cutting his lines, breaking a rod, or loosing the fish.  As my fight is about over, I see him hooked up.  DOUBLE BABY!!!

My 2nd of the day at 26" FL

Luther's 2nd, and complimentary fish to the double

As the sun is getting lower on the horizon, I see birds working again.  I get myself in position, but trolled baits are attracting Blues and Greys, and I am not seeing anything happening.  At that moment I think the day is over, I am super stoked with the outcome.  Then out of nowhere, I see a school of fish 20' off the bow of my kayak coming straight for me.  It would have been such an amazing shot with the faces of the fish pushing but not breaking the water, silversides going in every direction, and the golden glow of the sun shining down on them.  It would have been an amazing shot if I had the camera in my hand.  But I didn't...  I only had a rod so I worked to my strengths and put a 4" Ronz right in there faces.  Within a split second, I was hooked up for a third time.  The fish ran in the exact opposite direction I was going in and I went along for the ride.

Obligatory Tuna Shot 

This fish ended my day on the water, and was a fitting end to a 10 day period down south.  Record book days, new experiences, and fishing with some of the greatest anglers and industry professionals made for a truly magical experience.

North Carolina still has its spell on me, and rest assured, my next trip is already in the works!

Adapt and Overcome

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!

1. 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.

 

2. 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
    

3. 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

    

4. 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!

Paying the Fish Gods

Over the past few weeks my fishing has been sporadic at best.  From my last post I had been getting into a decent class of Triggerfish, and some real solid bridge Spadefish.  Between now and then I had to switch up my summer fishing style to inshore tourney mode.  This led to some issues...

Trip one - My boy Tex and I went out to a spot to fish a real solid redfish pattern I had established this spring/early summer.  It ended up being one of those days where two extremely competent fishermen landed (1) small croaker and (1) small oystertoad between the two of us.

Angler 0 - Fish Gods 1

Trip two - Ben Hoover and I decided that with the slow bite the day before, we would try to change it up and hit the Eastern Shore of VA for some flatfish.  When we got out there we met the Kick-Kick MD crew (Jack Daughtry and Matt James) who had been catching some solid flounder to 20".  For us, it was oystertoad after oystertoad.  After hours of fishing, I managed to find (4) Flounder from 16.5" to 19.5"  A far cry from the work that had been done by others just days before.

Angler 0 - Fish Gods 0 (Draw)

19.5" Flounder

Trip 3 - A mid week excursion on the SUP yielded no fish, but plenty of views.  This trip wasn't all about fishing as much as it was about getting used to reading inshore waters.  I was able to regain focus and center my soul in preparation for the first tourney of the year, so in that aspect I was fine without catching.

Angler 0 - Fish Gods 1

Trips 4 & 5 - After being down to the fish gods 2-0, traveling 260 miles and no sleep, I finally made it down to Cape Fear for some tournament action.  This was the weirdest tournament weekend I have ever had. On the drive down I saw over 150 deer along the road (in downpouring rain), a running car in a ditch with 4' of water (nobody inside), and drank 4 Monster energy drinks, just to wait on early morning thunderstorms to pass.  While I was waiting, I made acquaintance with a crusty old Korean War era Marine (Semper Fi you old fart), and a swarm of fire ants.  I will just say this, don't think that you can drown fire ants to get them off of you, because you will lose.  I also learned that fire ants bite to ensure they have a solid hold on your skin, then they sting.

After a crazy energy drink fueled morning, I got on the water in search of my 3 target species (Specks, Reds, and Flounder).  I managed to find the specks about halfway to my target location, and left them be.  I then proceeded to soak mullet at my destination while finding a pattern on artificials.  While my mullet was on a flat swimming under a cork, I see a large wake making a b-line towards the bait.  It hits, and turns right for my yak.  I was thinking shark as it charged me, but when it hit the yak, I saw a solid 23-25" Jack.  Unfortunately, the cork got buried in the grass before I could get my line back, and the hook straight up bent.  Now my blood is pumping and I move around more looking for some solid Jacks (screw the tournament fish).  I didn't find any more jacks in the area, but saw reds around 30".  I established my pattern on some mid 20's reds, and while I was doing so, I had a storm bearing down on me.  Being 8 or so miles from the launch, I left and made a strong effort to get off the water.

This is where it gets really fun!  The tide was super low, and I didn't realize the wind was pushing the remaining water out until it was too late.  I made my way deep into a cut, and dealt with an impass.  At this point, I tried to turn around, but there was nothing to turn too.  So I had one choice, risk lightning strikes and wait for some water, or get out and drag.  I chose the latter and soon realized, I chose wrong.  The first 30 or so yards were fine with hard bottom, then the fun started.  At the beginning I was sinking to mid calf, then to my knees, and finally my nuts.  This is when I realized I had made the wrong choice.  When I was Balls Deep in fluf mud, my fears turned from lightning strikes to drowning. It gets better though, for about 500 yards i'm anywhere from balls to tits deep, dragging the yak.  Over an hour and a half later, I am covered in mud from head to toe, thinking i'm going to have a heart attack before I make it to hard bottom.  I will say this, one of my sponsors ASTRAL makes some of the greatest gear, in this case the BREWERS.  Solid water shoes that (1) didn't come off my feet when stuck in the mud, (2) kept my feet and ankles safe from submerged oysters, and (3) still remained comfortable to wear after all that.  From now on I will not flats fish without them! (No pictures, but I changed close before going to the HLP captains meeting, and everyone asked me why I was covered in mud)

To finish that day, on my way in I for the Captains meeting I see some amazing topwater action.  At first I throw a Skitterwalk and get smoked by a 15" Jack.  After another in the same class, I switch up to a chatterbait and landed 3 in a row.  Being so ubsurdly late, I decided that when I had an unproductive cast, I would leave.  I guess threes company, fours a crowd.

Tournament day, I woke up late and called my tournament partners Seth and Kam it was a no-go, id get there as soon as I could.  After making it to the launch 30 minutes late, I paddled out and met up with them.  Kam had a 14" speck in the bag, so Seth and I sent her for Flounder while we netted some bait.  I took off my PFD and glasses, and got a few dozen mullet and spot.  When it was time to go, I put my PFD on and realize the splash next to me was my Maui Jims.  After 30 minutes of looking, I was able to find them and we were on our way.

Kam Goodrich Photography with this sick sunrise shot!

As we moved to the speck spot, I tell the team to start focusing on the area.  I managed a 19" red, but no specks.  We move on and I get the unmistakable hit of a speck.  I missed the fish and made another cast.  This time "Bam Bam Bam" and weight.  I knew it was a good tournament fish, but it never made it to the boat.  In hindsight, it was at least a 3rd place fish, if not a 2nd.  Damn!  We move again, and I make it to the spot that I patterned the reds the day before.  My first red was 25.5" and I gradually upgraded to a 26.5" to end the day.

Historically this would be a real competitive fish, so after a bit more fishing we head in.  Now keep in mind the low tide fiasco I had the day before.  I check Navionics and my track from the previous day and come up with a plan out, while staying in some water.  Kam is not psyched with our path, but after showing Seth the plan, we keep going.  At this point, every 5 minutes Kam says "I think were lost".  This is not what a Type A male wants to hear so I kept going, and going, and going.  On my last turn, I see a blessing and a curse.  A landmark that I knew without a doubt, but also I knew how far from the launch it really was.  At this time, we had about five miles to the launch and two hours to the weigh in. Kam later asked me "Did you know where you were going"?  My response, "Of course", to which she said, "Obviously not, because you got us F'n lost!"  Not my proudest moment.  Sorry Kam!

Fast forward one long paddle and now I have less than 10 minutes when I walk in.  the time is called, 3:55.  Five minutes but I feel good.  The Tournament Director Chris looks at my card and his eyes said everything.  BUMMER!

On a brighter note, my boy Bob aka Toba, killed it with a 33" red and a ginormous lam to bring home to yaks!  To boot, I got to chill with my fellow Teammate Drew Camp, and All Out Kayak Fishing Contributors Mike Eady and Seth Goodrich, not to mention the other great anglers and folks from Hook, Line, and Paddle and NCKFA.  For me, I am giving myself two points for a new species, and surviving the marsh with a quality fish!

Angler 2 - Fish Gods 0

So this evens it up.  Hopefully it pays off!

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!

Well, it has been an amazing few days!  On Thursday, I got invited to join the Team Malibu Pro Staff.  It had been a dream of mine for years to be a part of a pro staff.  I thought my day couldn't get any better, I was wrong.  I was fishing with Mark Lozier at the HRBT for early season Rockfish.  I will say that if you are looking for a guided trip in Hampton Roads, Mark and Cory are class acts!  Anyways, I picked up a 18" Rockfish and a small Grey Trout at the end of the incoming.  It was slow!  We did see Rob Choi, and a few other members of TKAA and Pirates of Lynnhaven.  Rob is a great guy and boy he can fish.  He had a huge following on the water, teaching some newbees the ropes of Striper fishing the light line..  Mark and I let them be About 1230, we decide to hit the road.  On our paddle in, I see some fish breaking the surface.  I make the perfect cast with a 4" Marsh Works Bayou Thumper.  Bam... Fish on!  Mark and I worked the school for about 45 minutes picking off fish after fish.  We leave the school, still feeding to head back in.  We meet up with Derek and Mike from TKAA.  Whaile Derek was finishing up, I am siting back, waiting.  I see a fish chillin' behind a pylon and make a cast with a Killa Squilla and hook up!

Killa...  Squilla

We make it back at around 2am.  I make it to sleep at 3-ish, to be at work at 7:30 am.  It was a great, long day!

Friday I felt like death wormed over at work, but I was looking forward to the Poquoson Seafood Festival Tournament captain's meeting.  Other plans (i.e. replacing the starter in my car) made it for an interesting night.  I got a reprieve for the meeting, got the starter replaced and I was off!

Saturday morning I head to VB for my tournament day fishing.  I was fishing with Mark again.  I try for Reds, while Mark is hammering the Specks!  I join him and catch a few, but nothing notable.  I leave Mark to fish in the Atlantic.  I see one Red caught, but it was way to busy for me to fish effectively.  I head back to my morning spot, and start to pick up the Reds.  The Killa Squilla did them in.  My large fish was 28" (above Slot).

I caught more fish, and weighed 2.  This was a catch-kill tournament so I kept my 3 fish, largest about 24".  Total weight of the 2 fish I weighed was 7.34 lbs.  Good enough to win the Kayak Division!

Sunday, I went fishing again with Mark and his girlfriend Kris.  Probably some of my favorite people to fish with.  The morning was slow for Kris and I, but Mark caught a Slam(Red, Trout, Flounder), with the big fish being a 22" speck!  Great job Mark.  In the afternoon, I met up with Seth (BowedUp804) with the goal of putting him on some Reds.  His girlfriend is the accomplished fisherman and has been messing with him on his inability to catch a Red.  While I was waiting for the water to get right, we were working some Oyster Beds for Reds/Trout.  Seth hooked one on a Squilla, but it came unbuttoned.  While he is working, I throw my castnet and hook up with some Bunker and Mullet.  I hook him up with a "Big Poppy" and we go after some Reds.  I catch a few, but Seth isn't hooking up.  I stop fishing, and work with him for a few.  Seth starts hooking up.  He caught over 20 reds, with his PB set right at 26".  I had one or two over slot.  I got bored with the mullet, and started catching fish on the Squilla!  I even caught a juvenile Black Drum.  This makes Redfish, Speckled Trout, Grey Trout, Flounder, Black Drum and Striper all caught on the Squilla this week! 

Seth's Multi Spot!

Love those colors!

It was great fishing with you Seth.  You and your girlfriend are welcome to fish with me anytime!

Monday I had planed to chase Bull Reds down off VA's False Cape.  This was going to be a nice relaxing day.  As I go to pick up bait, I talk with "Kayak" Kevin.  We have a nice talk, and he convinces me to go fish for Togs, Sheeps and Bull Reds.  What was going to be a nice relaxing day ended up being a busy day covering over 10 miles.

The Launch

I launch, and have a nice calm paddle to my spot.  I fish some of my favorite spots, but have no luck.  Once I make it to the spot, I hook up in no time!  Fish is on and snap!  I fight through the anguish, and a dozen oyster toads to my next fish.  I hook up again, and snap!  Now I am frustrated and borderline angry.  I didn't paddle to what seems like the end of the earth for this.  I fight through and am rewarded with tiny Black Sea Bass stealing all my fiddlers.  Somethings got to give. At this point, I move to the locations I caught my summer togs and Bam... Tog on!

I continue to fish and catch a number of togs up to 17".  I kept a 16" fish for my troubles and head back.  This is where I have my "Lesson Learned" moment.  If you paddle far, or an area you know to have strong tidal flows, make sure you know the tides.  Even if it is an unplanned trip, it takes less than five minutes to keep you pain free the next day.  I did not do what I should of.  It seemed like my trip back was at least 5x tougher than the trip in.  To make matters even worse, I left the launch at 6:55pm to make it to class at 7:00pm.  Even with that being said, it was a great weekend.  Thank you to everyone that helped make this weekend great!

TKAA 6th Annual Tournament supporting HOW/PHW

Best view in the house!

Well, it has been a busy week.  Took Wednesday through Friday off work.  Unfortunately, Wednesday was spent taking two exams, doing homework and chores around the house.  It was on for Thursday-Saturday.  I fished Lynnhaven inlet.  I spent my time Thursday looking for the reds, which I was unable to find.  I managed some small Specks and a 15" Flounder.

Baby Speck!

Friday was a better day.  I caught a small speck right off the bat.  I spent quite a bit of time looking for reds, and I finally found them.  I had a knot fail and lost a fish.  Saw the dreaded pigtail on the end of my line.  After working the area, I had my cork go down and this time I had a 20" red.  I had another fish about the same size hit a Redfish Magic spinnerbait with a Salt Water Assassin plastic.  Not what I wanted, but I was awaiting a shipment from Marsh Works.  Thankfully it came just in time for the tournament.  I can say that the quality, action and price cant be beat.  Sorry Strike King, but as the great Kenny Powers would say, "Your F@#%ing out!".  I finished up the morning wit this small flounder.  It was my first slam of the year!  I did have the satisfaction of helping set up for the tournament, that is why my day ended so early.  I sold tickets at the Capitan's meeting and met quite a few members doing that.  Good times!

Baby Flounda!

The 2010 tournament started at 3 am.  I made it to Lynnhaven at 3:45 and got set up.  Last year, I made it there at the same time and the parking lot was almost full.  This year was not the case.  Fishin time was 6:05 am and the first car showed up after 5:00 am.  I went out for specks, but in retrospect, I should have fished the light line of the Lesner Bridge for trout and stripers.  I scratched a few 16" Flounder (I thought one was bigger but i measured it wrong), and a bunch of small trout.  Marsh Works were the go to baits for the day.  I could not find a red to save my life.  I dont think that a red was caught there all day.

The dinner at the weigh in was great.  I was lucky enough to win quite a few items in the raffle.  My thanks goes out to the following sponsors:

Surf Rider Restaurant - $50 Gift Certificate

TiCa Kayak Rod

Penn Captiva Spinning Reel

Diawa Procyron Rod - Oceans East II

Diawa Cobalt Spinning Reel - Oceans East II

MTI Solaris F Spec PFD

MTI Calcutta PFD

Numerous Items in the Captain's bag.

I want to thank all of our sponsors, notably those I listed above.  Thanks goes out to Mark Lozier - TKAA President, Wayne Bradbry - Tournament Director, the club officers ant those that volunteered to make this event a success.  Cory Routh and Ruthless Fishing for all their work to get the vets out on the water.  PURE SWEETNESS!  Congrats to all of the winners.  I hope to join your ranks next year!