Craziness

Well, things have been really crazy since my last post.  Between a semester from hell (BAD) to a new sponsorship (very GOOD), and so many different events and trips in between, it has been eventful to say the least.  For now, school is over, and I hope to get back to my 200 trip years in 2012.  Here are a few highlights from the past few months (In no particular order).

Hurricane Kayaks
I have recently been named to the Hurricane Kayaks fishing team.  You will now see me fishing out of my new Phoenix 140 throughout the Mid Atlantic.  I can say that it is the funnest boat I have owned.  I have fished from plenty of different yaks (all of which I enjoyed), but this one is different.  Even though I have not drove a Lotus, paddling the phoenix it is what I would imagine driving a lotus would be like!  I have written more on my first post to the Hurricane Blog, and you will see many more post there from me in the future.

TKAA Tournament

Every year on the last Saturday in September, you can drive to any launch in Tidewater, and see kayak fishermen from as far as Maine and Texas participating in one of the largest tournaments in the world!  This year I was fishing with my buddy Tommy, as well as Wes Seigler and Capt. Kenny Nance from Release Reels.  Over the past year, Tommy has become one of my favorite people to fish with, so choosing him to fish with was a no brainer.  Wes and Kenny were extremely gracious, and Release donated two reels to our tournament, one of which was a part of the first place prize for the Flounder division, and the other to a raffle.  I gout a call from them the week of the tournament, and we got them on board with two of my spare yaks.

The fishing was tough, as I tried to hit a spot that I caught a nice overslot Red the week prior.  Unfortunately, I saw a 25" fish caught right next to me, but that was it for the reds.  I managed a nice flounder that I thought was going to be extremely competitive, but again, I missed placing by 1/8"

I release 95% of the fish that I catch, but I really wish I would have kept this one.  I ended up having a blow up on a Marsh Works Buzzbait, but I missed the red.  I caught a 14" speck, but ended up just missing out for the third year in a row.  Scott Inge for NC ended up taking the speck yak from us, so I will need to bring my A game down to NC next rear, so I can get our boat back!  We had a lot of great competitors, and I was a great event with a lot of great friends.  Thanks to all of our sponsors for all of your gracious donations.  Because of your support, we donated $10,000 to Heroes on the Water!  Wes and Kenny, we need to get out again!

This was also the weekend that two of my close friends finally got married.  Congrats again Mark and Kris!

NCKFA Oak Island Classic

So, this was an event that I wanted to fish in 2010, but instead I fished the Poqouson Seafood Tourney.  This year was a bit different.  I fished with another group of good friends (Seth Goodrich and Kam Owens).  When I got to Southport NC, Seth and Kam were already on the water.  We met at the ramp, checked in to the hotel, went to the captains meeting, and had the best dinner ever down on the river in Southport.  The next day, after some good intel, we hit our spot.  It started for me with a pair of rat reds, and things died for hours and hours.  During that time, Kam picked up a 25" Red, which we both thought would be extremely competitive.  As we headed back, I picked up a 14" speck and a 12 1/2" flounder for my first tourney slam.  I was on cloud nine, as was Kam.  All fish were caught on a White Lightning Bayou Thumper on a 1/4 oz Marsh works jighead.  Unfortunately, I didn't place with my slam (4th again), and Kam didn't place either.  It was fun though.

The next day, we headed to a spot by her beach house on Holden Beach, and I was able to pick  up two slot reds (one was blackened that night for an amazing dinner).  Unfortunately that was it.  The end of the trip was a nice drive up US 17, past my old stomping grounds of Camp Lejeune.  Seth wrote a nice post about the trip on his blog.

I have had a few other trips that have been a blast, but not really worth a bunch of reading on my end.  I will post some links to other blogs, and pics to chronicle those events.

Tommy Dewitt with a nice Sliver Drum (aka Crokah).  Seth is in the background.  Not Pictured: The Crokah Chokah (Tommy V)

A fatty (and tasty) Croker!

A NC Slot Redfish!

The rigged Phoenix 140 at Ft. Fisher NC

A nice Tog

Dinner

Testing my limits on the Phoenix 140

Specks

A greedy pig!

My PB Tog at 21"  Courtesy of Rob Choi 

Some great posts from my pals!
Bent Rod Chronicles - Spots and Specks
Angling Addict - Tog-a-palooza and a Princess Rod Striper
Bent Rod Chronicles - Eelin for Biguns

Until next time...