A Long Time Coming

Well, I can say that it has been a busy summer, and thus a lack of posts.  I'll try to put everything in order, but might get mixed up a bit.

In SE Virginia, the summer brought a long period of sustained warm water, which I am sure contributed to some amazing fishing.  I was not able to fish as much this summer as I have in the past few years, but I was fortunate to get some solid catches, and hit a few new species along the way.

First was chasing one of my favorite saltwater fish, the Sheepshead.  This summer started off a bit slow for some of the bigger fish, with a number of fish right under 24" landed.  This all changed in the middle of June, right before I left for a mini vacation to Colorado.  I patterned the sheepies, and found that the best bite for me was from about 4pm to 6:30pm.  I took advantage of this, and along with my buddy Tommy, we made a few attempts at getting him on his first Sheepie.  Unfortunately, he did not hook up, but I was able to catch my first citation in a few years.

It just so happened that by the time we got off the water all of the tackle shops to register this fish were closed, and I had a flight to catch at 5 am the following morning.  However, I was able to register this fish for a citation on my last day of eligibility. 

Speaking of my flight, I was able to make it to Western Colorado to see my father, Alex, be inducted to the Colorado Trapshooting Hall of Fame.  It was a proud moment for my family and I was happy that I got to experience it with him.  He is the man that instilled in me the passion for the outdoors, and I know without his passion, I would not be where I am at now.

I was able to slip away for a few hours back home though and hit some fine trout waters with my new 2wt.  I have loved to fly fish from a young age, and this experience was one of my most memorable.  The hunt was on for a Grand Mesa slam, and once I caught one, I was going for a super slam.  Unfortunately, the Brook Trout, Splake, and Grayling eluded me, but I was able to catch a Colorado River Cutthroat, Rainbow, Cutbow, and Brown, for 4 of the 7 species available on the mesa.  I was also able to spend the day with one of my favorite people (my mother), which made it extremely special.  It also didn't hurt that all of the fish were caught on dries!

A view on the north side of the Mesa

Bowed up to a 'Bow on the 2wt

A 'bow (or slimer)

Colorado River Cutthroat



A nice little pool



A little brown

After the trip back home, my focus shifted back to the salt.  First off, I was able to catch, land, and release, my first Cobia from a kayak.  It wasn't huge, but I was expecting a bigger speck, so it was sporty to say the least!  I will say, that my blood was pumping more on this fish, than ANY other fish I have caught to date.

Cobia release

I also caught some other great fish in the salt, and even had a couple of what Kayak Kevin refers to as "Spadefish Surprises".



My biggest Spade to date at 17.5"

I have also fished quite a bit more freshwater this year, mainly with my bro Tommy.  Some nice bass have been caught by both of us this year.  I am not going to call myself a "Bass" fisherman, but it has given me the urge to chase some smallies from the yak soon.


A solid post-boondoggle bass



Love catching nice sunfish on the 2wt



Kayak bass (fly)fishing

 

Good bass on the 4wt

 

My PB (21.25") Largemouth

I also had what one might call an "Epic" day on the water.  I wont talk about it too much, as I have a blog post I sent into Hurricane for it, and not to mention I had 3 other friends that wrote about it.  Here are a few pic's and a couple links to their blogs.

Rob Choi - Going Big in the Wide Open
Seth Goodrich - Bull Ridn'
Justin Mayer


The surf was actually pumping at 4-6', and we were all a bit nervous



47" red (photo by Seth Goodrich)

47" red (photo by Seth Goodrich)

47" red (photo by Seth Goodrich)

 Needless to say, with 3 citations, and all 5 of us hooking up to reds over 40", it was an EPIC day!

Now I have been fishing in a few tournaments this year.  First off was the Hook Line and Paddle, TJM Celebrity Tournament.  This event was the event that I won the Speck Division in last year.  This year, My buddy Matt and I decided to fish together.  We did have a large group of anglers (Seth and Kam, Alex, and Chip & Drew Camp) that were sharing info, but unfortunately we were all close, but just out from placing.  However, it was nice to chat with Chris and Ryan, Kaleb, Nathan, and all the other Carolina folks!

A 25.5" tournament day red

Next, we had the Catchin for Kids Tidewater Club Challenge.  TKAA has always had a strong showing in this tournament, and this year was no different.  Now, a few days prior, I had 3 or 4 people drop out on us, but we were able to make up some ground with a few phone calls and fielded 18 of 20 possible anglers.  We had teams at the HRBT, Back River, and the CBBT.  I don't quite remember all of the details, but we took 2nd in Sheepshead, and swept the Spadefish.  I think we took 2nd and third on the specks, and placed high up in the croaker division.  I was able to manage some small spades and a few Tog that were just short.  Overall TKAA took 3rd place, which was our best finish yet!

Finally, the 8th Annual TKAA Charity Tournament.  We had a record 275+ anglers and when it was all said and done, we raised over $15,000 for Heroes on the Water and Project Healing Waters.  The weather was supposed to be half decent, but as luck would have it, a front blew in about 12 hours early, which brought with it a solid north wind and rain.  That didn't hamper spirits, or the fishing.  There were 11 slams entered for the day between 47 and 54 .5"  I ended up fishing with Matt, Seth, and Kam.  Seth did a great write up for the tournament, so I wont go to far into details, but all four of us placed.  Kam was also the first woman in tournament history to turn in a slam.  I will go from last to first in my listing below:

4th Place Striper- William Ragulsky (the last 4 years, I have been 1/4 to 1/8" shy, and I finally broke into the top 4!)

3rd Place Red - Seth Goodrich

3rd Place Woman - Kam Owens (the women's division rules are being re-written so next year, if a slam is caught it will win the division)

2nd Place Flounder - Matt Greschek

Now I would be wrong not to add this in here.  Andy Backowski ended up catching a slam and due to a mistake, his 18 1/4" Redfish was not initially taken into consideration.  Andy ended up bumping Seth from 2nd to 3rd place with his Red.  I will say this, both Andy and Seth were amazing sports and are both stewards to the sport. 

        Andy, I got your back anytime brother, and congrats!

Now not to forget why we hold the tournament, Rob fished with HOW/PHW, and compiled a sweet video on his site.  It was definitely a successful day for all involved.

I am waiting on some pics from the Boondoggle up here this weekend, and am getting ready for the NCKFA Oak Island Classic.  I hope to have a report up on both of those events shortly!

Until next time...