Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Redfishing and the TKAA Tourney


With the fall in full swing Meghan and I decided to head out for some Bull Reds. It's a really fun fishery we have here, we can jig them, bait fish for them or catch live bait and drift over structure for them. Our puppy Captain hadn't been on the boat yet so we decided to go hand out on anchor and try our luck. We ended up getting a pair of  smaller bulls after about 30 minutes and were then covered up in sharks so we packed it up and went in. 






Meghan's flounder on a chunk of Menhaden!

The next week we had the Tidewater Kayak Anglers Association tournament. It is typically one of the biggest in the nation. The  morning of I met up with Rob Choi and several others as we prepared to go for Bull Reds. The bite  had been hot on the pilings and most were planning on fishing there but in the past I had a lot of luck out at the islands. I felt more at ease knowing I had my plan and as Mark Lozier says plan your fishing and fish your plan. So while others were already fishing I made the long paddle out to the island. I saw a buddy Matt and another cat from Maryland hook up and then come unbuttoned next to me but other than that it was very slow. I then got my chance while jigging and it all came together. After the getting her into the boat and a quick measurement with help from Jeff Lockhart I had Rob Choi snap some photos despite it being valuable tournament fishing time. He is always a trooper like that!     

PC: Rob Choi


47" Bull Red (PC: Rob Choi)

PC: Josh Dolan

It turns out it was the only bull caught and I placed 1st in the Redfish Division out of just under 200 anglers! Unfortunately this year was the first year where prizes other than trophies were not distributed so I took home a trophy and the satisfaction of knowing I helped a worthy cause and finally accomplished a long sought after goal.





Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Marlin Fishing




I was lucky enough to finally have the bottom of the boat stripped of bottom paint and epoxy applied just in time for the White Marlin to show up off the Virginia Coast. Lee, Duane and I decided to take a weekday off to make the 70 mile run offshore to try our luck. Unfortunately at the launch we couldn't get our running lights on so we waited till first light, the joy of figuring out a new boat I suppose. Lee had a good idea of where to start and I let Duane take the wheel while I sipped on coffee on the way out. Once we made it to mecca it was obvious, sportfish boats as far as you could see North to South. Before we had our second bait in the water Duane was feeding the first Marlin of the trip. We caught 3 White Marlin before 10am and the bite shut off for us despite seeing a ton of other boats hooked up.







Overall we caught 3, burned just over 100 gals of gas and had a great time with great friends despite having one of the smallest boats out there!