Hey everyone. I figured it was about time to start up a spring fishing thread. I have made four trips to Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis since St. Patricks Day. I managed a 41 inch and a 30 inch fish, along with around 50 schoolie rockfish over the four trips. Every fish was caught on a bloodworm threaded over an 8/0 or 7/0 circle hook on a fishfinder rig during an incoming tide. Both fish were released to complete their spawn.
That will probably be it for fishing the Bay. Crowds are starting to grow and I am ready for shad fishing.
In other less happy news, it looks like the season to keep cobia will close on June 20th in Federal waters. States that do not close on the same date will be out of compliance with federal law. I have been part of an intense lobbying effort with Congress, NOAA, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Governor McAuliffe, and North Carolina fisheries management to reconsider the data that features a rather outlandish (500% increase over the average catch from the previous 10 years in 2015) that has triggered the closure. If you target cobia, unless we can get something changed, make sure you have a net and understand how to safely release a fish this season.
Who else is catching this spring?
Comments
Beautiful fish. I noticed the rig you have. Is it absolutely necessary to be able to cast extremely far in that area to get to the fish? How long is that rod and what is its stiffness?...
I know, PHRASING! Fishermen understand...
Oceanmaster OM12H conventional with a Penn Squall 15. It is rated to throw up to 12 ounces of weight along with the bait. I was throwing 8oz and bait during this trip when tides were running strong.
That is my normal set up for drum fishing in the surf or on a pier.
Nice fish, French. Hadn't seen your thirty yet.
Other than crappie in a local private pond, I've been doing dick. Tried today at Beaverdam Reservoir in Gloucester where a buddy caught numbers and size weekend before last, got totally skunked. Too windy to boat, and the fish had moved back into the deeper waters with the cooling trend we've had. Just crappy crappie fishin.
Big smallmouth should be moving to the eddies on the New and upper James, and there was a really great spring walleye run/bite above Claytor Lake that I couldn't get down there for, much to my regret. Let me know when the shad really get going. Maybe I'll drive up and get in on it with you.
weather/tide is great when i can't go and sucks when i can. scratched out a slot red, a few trout , and a flounder a couple weeks ago.
fixin' to order a Nucanoe 12' Frontier to fish the neighborhood tidal marshes/creeks/flats/oyster bars. my back won't take sittin' in a yak for very long and i can sit higher and stand up in the nucanoe. will outfit it with a either a trolling motor, tiny outboard, or both.
anyone with nucanoe experience speak up!
when we lived in herald harbor many years ago , i wondered who fished at Sandy Point. now i know! very nice fish
sorry about the Cobia deal. you worked your ass off on that
I just looked up those Nucanoe's and they look awesome for fly fishing. If I wasn't still in school and had a real job, I know I would spring for one. The fact that they give you the ability to stand up with stability is really nice. Hopefully one day!
Wife has a destroyed shoulder and wanted autonomy on the water, so we got her a Hobie Revolution 11, with the foot pedal drive. Works great for her, I've messed with it fishing, but prefer a bit higher set up myself. Lo and behold, I see on TV a couple of weeks ago, Hank Parker is in a newly outfitted Mirage Drive equipped Hobie with a raised real seat, with a great back support that looked like it would be a good way to fish, if fishing from a kayak/canoe is what you are after. The pedal drive thing is gold for a non-motorized way to get at skinny water fish from a personal conveyance. Not a recommendation, just a heads up. I know the Hobie drive system can require a few inches more to motivate than the paddled yak or canoe, but I liked the idea of the pedal drive and the raised easy chair they came up with.
see reply below
Saw that Perception has remolded the cockpits in their sit on tops to take a Larry chair as well.
I know a couple guys with the Hobies over in Tallahassee. They get out in the Gulf with them near St Marks and love them. The footdrive won't work all the time where I'm going; and I really want to stand. And I can totally rig out the nucanoe, including motors, for what I'd put into a decent Hobie.
The neighborhood is a moonscape of oyster bars on mudflats and narrow cuts thru the marsh grass. I literally need as close to zero draft as I can get. And I need to be able to cross the ICW with the tide ripping in a short amount of time. I think I can semi-pole the Nucanoe in the super shallow areas...at least I hope so...and run one of those anchor rod things thru the scupper holes and down into the soft mud (which is why I can't just wade fish) when I want to hold in position. When/where I have depth, I'd rather stand and use a trolling motor and cover some ground.
You can Google Earth zip code 32086 and look at the marshes and creeks south of the Highway 312 bridge and north of the 206 bridge fronting and intersecting the Matanzas River/ICW and get an idea.
edit: this should be under ifish
French, thanks for the report and thanks for releasing those big stripers. I'm confused on the cobia catch rule myself, yet the lawmakers allow all of these menhaden to be harvested and it devastates the striper population and no one blinks an eye. I don't understand it.
As far fishing goes, spring pickerel should be on fire in no time. The brook trout fishing is apparently amazing right now and will be that way through June in the parks. I will be throwing my first fly casts of the year for smallmouth later this week in the James and Rivanna.
I've been lucky enough to get some early season trips in. I spent 12 days in Florida in February and landed my first snook on fly. Biggest one topped out at 24" and I caught it on my personal design.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBsiEKJlcJm/?taken-by=siessel4
Biggest fish in Key West was a 44" cuda. Goddamn I love them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BB6U9hTlcGa/?taken-by=siessel4
Two weeks ago took a trip to Costa Rica with my parents. We fished some amazing water on the south Pacific portion of the country. Highlight of the fishing was catching my first Roosterfish on live lined sardines with a local captain. My dad landed three!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BC6c2QfFcDm/?taken-by=siessel4
My next big trip is to New Orleans for redfish in April. Cannot wait to hopefully get a really big on fly.
For those discussing kayaks and the like you can stand up in, I highly recommend the Jackson Cuda series. I fish out of the Cuda 12.
Anybody in the Richmond/NOVA area there is the VA Fly Fishing and Wine festival April 9-10 at the fairgrounds in Doswell off of 95 (below Kings Dominion.) I'll have a tying booth and be hawking my wares/flies/art/shirts/hats and booking trips for the summer. Stop by, talk fly fishing, Hokie Football and drink some wine and beer!
Me, every time I open one of these threads...
Leg for Brian Regan
The last handful of trips have been shad fishing above Fletchers Cove on the Potomac. The run started early so I had to wait until this last cold snap ended before I could hit the river. My preferred set up is a Shimano Sahara 2500 on a St. Croix 7 foot ML Triumph rod. I use 8 pound Sufix Tritanium line. I tie a double uni knot to about 2 feet of leader. On the main line tag end I use a 1/2 oz Locket Lures shad dart in chartreuse and red. On the long end of the leader I tie on a small gold nungesser shad spoon.
I have not been able to fish my favorite spot yet (crowds) so I have waded around the rock islands about a quarter mile above the cove. Most of my shad have been small hickories with some roe shad mixed in. The bigger shad have been in the 16 inch class. On three trips, I have caught 26, 33, and 19 in around 3 hour windows. Shad fishing can be much better (100 fish half days are not uncommon.)
My last fish yesterday was my first American Shad of the year. It was barely hooked on the gold spoon and just broke 18 inches. It wasn't a monster, but hopefully the first of several more to come.
Nice! I'm a big fan of the Shimano Symetre 2500...I think I have 5 of them.
Drone to help fishing
That is badass! Is that legal on boats offshore or in the bay (weather permitting)? Awesome tool for the arsenal.
They are on fire in the Shenandoah River. 2 Citation Smallmouth, 1 Citation Largemouth, and 1 Citation Rock Bass in the past month. Plus numerous other fish.
Good to hear the Shenandoah is doing well again. What were the sizes on those fish?
One smallmouth 23 inches, about 5 pounds, another 20.5 inches. Ive caught an 18 and a 19 incher as well. The largemouth was 23 inches, we are saying about 6 lbs.
Those are some big fish. I know smallmouths are supposed to be
good fighters. Must have been a good time.
The New is fishing well also. My friend and river guide Jim Richmond had a couple of clients on this past Tuesday that caught 7 smallmouth over 18", with four citations. Caught them in Giles County, all on spinnerbaits.
absolutely beautiful fish!!!! those were great photos. Do you want me to post one here?
Sure, French. Too bad I don't have Charley Wiles' photographer, pics were pretty bad, but if you have a free moment, please do. One day, I'll learn how...one day...
I am thinking about heading down to Blacksburg to fish the New and spend memorial day weekend camping on my friend's land.
i have cobia on my plate May 16
Where are you going? I will be down in Beaufort/Morehead City that week. Going out with Mount Maker Charters trying for a cobia.
Hatteras. Going down Sunday. Charter Monday. Home Tuesday.
Efficiency at it's finest. From the reports, it seems to be heating up just in time for both of us.
Just returned from Louisiana. If you guys like fishing and like the opportunity to catch ALOT of fish, go. I got several redfish on fly. Biggest was 28". Could have caught more sea trout than I've ever wanted, but was specifically after the reds
Sounds awesome! I'm always interested in learning and catching more species on the fly. So much fun.
Buddy o' mine caught a 20" red this week at the top of the Piankatank, just at the mouth of Dragon Run. Not on the fly, probably on, yep, you guessed it, Gulp, but the point is that there was at least one red up there already. I'd love it if the reds moved back in this year like they were a couple of years ago. That was toooo much fun.
I've got a question for the guru French, and anyone else who has knowledge of this situation. I'm well versed in surf and pier fishing during the month of May. But due to myself and wife to be getting new jobs we had to push our vacation back to October. I go to Emerald Isle, NC. What should I expect during that time of the year? I've never went that late in the season. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
October is the absolute best month to fish North Carolina. I have never fished Emerald Isle but you are a just a few miles southwest of Cape Lookout which offers redfish, trout and the famous false albacore run. A quick look on Google Earth shows on the back side of Emerald there are some areas with flats, where you will find redfish and trout cruising the flats, along with flounder, jacks and sharks.
Ocean side in the surf you will also have lots of redfish/drum, along with some trout and possibly bluefish and spanish mackerel if the temps stay up. Using bait, I prefer cut mullet for the reds in the surf. If you get lucky, the albies can run down the beaches and may be close enough to cast to. Catching one from the sand is worth 10 from the boat and they are nuts to hook up to. Small spoons will take them.
Would add only that 1/2 or 5/8 oz painted jig heads and 4" Gulp Swimming Mullet in chartreuse, pink and white will catch most of those fish, with the false albacore being the exception (probably, don't know). It is a real hoot to catch those fish with bass tackle. I catch a ton of flounder on them, and have already caught a bunch of croaker on them this past weekend. Also, 6" Gulp Jerk Shad on an unweighted 4/0 worm hook is a great way to get trout and reds in skinny water. Good luck.
Gulp catch a lot of fish but I cannot stand buying those damn things.
Frankly if I'm not fly fishing for reds and trout, I'm just using a Johnson gold spoon.
Did you get the croaker in Mathews? I fished Rudee yesterday and caught one trout. Waste of time, too many people there. Reports were tons of big bluefish over 30". Nobody seemed to catch anything
Yep, croaker in Mobjack and East River. Agree, hate to spend money on baits like Gulp, but until I find a better bait, I'll maximize my catch and live with the cost. Flounder fishing tomorrow.
I've got some flies that are just as good!
I got a bridge in Arizona I want to sell you, too! I'll readily admit that in some situations, flies will definitely do the trick, but not always, for example, flounder in deeper water. We need to have a fish-off one day, Gulp vs your flies, loser buys the beer. Seriously, though, Chuck's Claw Dad will absolutely murder croaker/spot/whiting and most stripers will hit streamers. Reds will eat almost anything you put in front of them, and shallow water reds are about made for flies. My fly fishing has deteriorated to popping bugs for bream on the beds, and smallmouth in late summer and early fall, though. Now, if the darned rain will just stop, I want to get out this morning.
Edit: While I've seen it done, or at least attempted, surf fishing with the fly rod is a tough task. Gulp works great in the surf.
Haha well clearly if we go head to head Gulp vs. flies you will win most of the time, unless we go freshwater trout fishing, where the flies will clean up. Indeed we do need to have a fish off and see what happens.
Tomorrow evening and Wednesday I am fishing with Mike Smith on the New. Will let you know how it goes!
It'd be a fun time, and we really should do it just for the heck of it. Agree, though, on the trout fishing. You'd likely beat me, but I wouldn't be using Gulp. I'd either be using flies myownself, or, depending on the water, a Joe's Flies muddler, or a Panther Martin if in a smallish stream, and probably a YoZuri suspending jerkbait or something similar in the bigger water, like the South Holston or the Clinch sized rivers.
Apologize for the late reply, been on a two week camping trip and just got back last night. Trying to catch up and not getting very far very fast. Hope your trip with Mike went well, I'll read down the thread now like I should have before starting this reply. Still worn out from the trip.
Thanks guys that was the kind of info I was looking for.
I have a question for someone who is well versed in surf fishing NC in May. I am heading down to Duck (OBX) on the 19th for the weekend. What could we expect to have biting this time of year from small fish to larger (Drum, Striper, Shark) given decent conditions?
If you're fishing inshore and/or off the pier, here's a decent fishing report I found to give you an idea. Sorry, no Pompano.
http://bobsbaitandtackle.com/outer-banks-fishing-reports/
It all depends on how quickly the water warms up. All of this rain flowing into Pamlico is probably not helping, but it does not effect the surf as much. You're likely to find blues, some trout and maybe some drum in the surf.
If it is early in October, the king mackerel will be around the pier. The locals aren't real warm to strangers though, and you need some specialized equipment to fish for them. I'd suggest surf fishing the way VTIAmFish suggested. If you go to the pier, take some gotcha plugs and zig jigs and catch bluefish and spanish.
I appreciate it. Yeah I've got 15+ years learning on how the locals work. No offense if any are here. Truthfully if I go to the pier Im looking for blues Spanish or a bunch of spot/mullet to eat. Majority of my fishing is surf. Still after a big drum, biggest is 7Ibs.
that time of year, if you want big drum, you need to head north. Fishing with heavy conventional surf gear throwing fresh spotheads on fishfinder rigs off the end of the pier is the ticket for big drum. Start at Avalon Pier and work your way south as the fish move through.
Hoping to get out next weekend and fish Rudee Inlet for some speckle trout before the run dies out. I'm hopeful to catch a flounder or two as well but needs to warm up a bit. Blues are being caught now and will hit just about anything shinny. I typically fish with gulp, jig heads, and live menhaden if I can catch them with a throw net.
Fished it yesterday looking for the big bluefish. 5 hours on the water between two very experienced fishermen and we got one small spike trout. There were a million other kayakers and some boats on the water. No one else was catching anything either
Some big trout and a TON of sea mullet have been caught on Avalon Pier in KDH this week. Sand Flea fishbites are the trick on the mullet. Great eating!
I heard there was a good bite. The blues are up the coast in the inlets of central Jersey (Manasquan and Bargaret)
the group around me had 8 stripers, a black drum, dozens of skates, and a few doggies, my smallest striper was 36.5", the largest was the one in the picture above
Fishing report from the weekend: Went fishing, saw the fish, cast my line, Only thing I caught was a nice buzz and my limit in lakeweed.
via GIPHY
I swear I saw one laughing at me.
Where are all the freshwater guys?
What do you want to know? I do it all! IfishVTIam is a hell of a freshwater fisherman as well.
Bass fishing has been hit or miss... the weather will not stabilize.. I tournament bass fish and it seems like we can get on a good pattern one day and then the weather changes and it doesn't work on tournament day. ..Hopefully this weekend will be better and stop being so windy.
OK, so we went out here locally in Mathews, near Gwynn's Island. Floundering with Gulp. No I don't work for them. We got four flounder, all just undersized for keeping. I also got a 16" bluefish and a 10" striper. We lost several bites/fish on, some of which were almost certainly flounder, given the catch. I was satisfied to see that we were on the right track, caught the targeted species, although not dinner fare. Rain and unsettled weather held us to four hours of fishing. Not the most productive of days, but affirmation that the season has begun. Hope everyone gets out and gets after 'em!
#SOON
Smallmouth Bass on the New River are hit or miss. I went out for 2 days and caught about a dozen between 10-16 inch fish. A few hours they were biting good and then other times I couldn't buy a bite.
Two days fishing should have produced more than a dozen fish. Not trying to be a smart ass, here, but what were you fishing with? Where on the New? When I was there two weekends ago, we had some times when they were definitely not biting well, but we still managed a few fish an hour. When they were on, we were catching a dozen or more an hour. Obviously, water conditions can affect them, and we did better with stained water than clear, and it was unclear what the spawn status was. Hope you have better luck next time.
Most of the time when you include the words, "Not trying to be a smart ass" you are probably being a smart ass. To respond to your question, I fished from route 114 to Big Falls in McCoy. I threw everything from spinners, crank baits, swim baits and live bait(minnows and crawfish). I've had days where I've caught 50 bass and 7 citations in one day on the river. However, neither Monday or Tuesday were one of those days.
Yeah, I guess I deserved that. Reason I included it was in your answer. You obviously aren't a novice, but many are. I was really trying not to offend, I really wasn't trying to be a smart ass, but I guess I failed. I can be much more of a smart ass than that, though.
Haha, it's all good. I'm just messing with you on the smart ass comment. Glad to see other people that love to fish as much as I do. Feel free to fill me in on any tips and tricks you have on the New River. I've caught a lot of fish on live bait but I'm just mediocre without it. I found a lot of really big bass this past trip but they were on spawn beds and I couldn't get them to bite anything I threw at them.
Nah, you called it right! I do tend to be a bit too free to dispense advice as if folks don't already know what I've learned. Truth is, I'd been smallmouth fishing, almost exclusively, for thirty six years before I moved to the coast in 2012. The last ten years of that, I worked as a guide, the last eight, I had my own guide biz and made my living exclusively on the New. And interestingly enough, in 26 years of fishing the New, the only stretch below I-77 I never fished was from Whitethorne to McCoy's, so you could school me on that stretch. If you fished 114 to McCoy's, and were out two days, could I assume you were in a canoe? Did you camp out? Just wondering. Anyway, I will say that I haven't fished live bait for smallmouth for decades. I mostly made my living throwing tubes and jig and pig in the early spring, with suspending jerkbaits (LuckyCraft) and occasional spinnerbaits filling in. I fished crankbaits sometimes, but usually found other ways to get the fish. In the summer, I absolutely murdered them on Senko, or Senko knockoffs, like the Yum Dinger. I rigged them a "secret" way, but just fishing them unweighted and/or wacky style will suffice. Personally, I have found fish on the beds to be reasonably aggressive about clearing their space, so we got bit regularly when the males were guarding the beds, but when the females actually were spawning on the spawning grounds, it was more difficult to interest the fish. Our best luck with big females was during the pre-spawn when they were in position, but still feeding up for the ordeal of procreation.
I mention the canoe because boat control is such a big deal on the New, and my guide raft was tailor made for that kind of fishing, whereas my days in the canoe taught me the value of having a better boat for smallmouth fishing. Since I'm not there anymore and not worried about keeping my stuff close to the vest in order to make a living, I am quite willing to share tips and specifics, which I have offered to anyone on this site who wants them. If you have caught 7 citations in a day on the New, I'm pretty sure you don't need my help, but artificial baits will absolutely catch tons of fish on the New. Like you, I have also had those magical days, and up until a few years before I left, getting over a hundred fish in a day between two clients was not unusual in the summer, and the only times I've caught less than a dozen fish in two days were in the winter, or way early in March, with bad water and wind conditions, but what we caught was big. Tom at newriverangler@hotmail.com will reach me if you truly want specifics, including the "secret" rigging of the Senko. Otherwise, please dismiss my "smart ass" stuff as the attempt of an old man to pass along a bit of the little I was honestly pretty good at in my time. Good luck to you, brother!
Three of us set out in kayaks and camped out along the way. The float could have been done in one day but we made it a two day trip. It seemed to be more of a camping trip and less fishing but we had fun either way. I'll send you an email and if you want to ever get together to fish the river let me know.
Pepper to Whitethorne is a long float for fishing. I mean a really long float if you are fishing it hard. If the wind's in your face, it's a pure bitch. Kayaks progress quickly, and my raft could certainly have done the trip from 114 to McCoy, but there would have been minimal fishing time for a one day trip, if any at all. Camping on any river is a treat, though and it's good you had a chance to do that in that stretch. Plus, the second day is on little floated water, which is usually a bonus. The ledges and breaks from there down through Parrott make for tough access for many, a long shuttle, and why I never did it, either professionally or recreationally. Anyway, thanks for the discourse. Keep us informed as to your fishing the New. I miss it.
I just floated from Ripplemead to Bluff City last weekend and did pretty well with spinnerbaits but the smallmouth were hitting plastics much better. My brother and I caught 32 fish but no monsters the largest one we caught was 3.2 lbs ad 19 inches long. Most of them were between 8 - 14 inches long.
Still, sounds like a decent day on what I think is arguably the prettiest stretch of the river. 19" is a really good smallmouth, too. When we went weekend before last, on the same stretch, we probably got 80-90 fish in all, all but a handful came on plastics. Of that total, though, were a bunch of rock bass, and we only had one bass over 19" that day. Thanks for the report!
As someone who never figured out the smallies, I'd take a 19 incher any day and be thrilled!
That sounds like a pretty good fishing trip and a 19 inch smallmouth is no slouch. I haven't made any floats past Eggelston yet but it's in my to do list in the next few weeks. Hopefully the weather decides if it wants to May or October.
One thing to keep an eye on is that Sports Authority is going out of business. The one by me was up to 30% off all fishing gear.
First day in Beaufort, caught 10 spanish mackerel. Almost hooked up with a big red drum. Saw 3 cobia caught from other boats. We missed a couple of cobia when we were sight fishing. Hopeful for one on the charter Tuesday.
pretty work. we are going out of hatteras on monday looking for cobia and big drum.
How did you do??
We were anchored for the first half of the charter trip. Caught a 7 foot wide ray and broke it off before it got to the boat. My dad got a 6 foot long shark about 125 pounds to the boat. Caught a couple other small sharks. Caught 5 spanish on light tackle while we were waiting for our cobia. Then we bounced around bait balls with no success. Anchored at another spot but no luck. Only a couple cobia caught on Tuesday including charter captains.
I wish I had a better report. We went sight casting for cobia out of Hatteras Inlet on Monday. We had sunshine, calm water, and light winds. It should have been perfect. We didn't see a cobia all day. We did manage a good haul of spanish, bonita, and bluefish trolling clarke spoons while looking for cobia, but it wasn't the intended target. The highlight was my stepson catching a 6lb bonita on light tackle.
French, if you every end up north to NJ, Fishing just turned on. Local boat had multiple 30+ lb stripers yesterday afternoon: https://www.facebook.com/partyboatqueenmary/
Hey New River guys. Any of you caught any muskies? If so what was the size?
35 inches on fly last March
Had a buddy last year with a 48" on the fly. Then some others 43" 35" and 25". Not sure what they caught them on as far as lures go.
Heading to Topsail Island, NC the last week in June. Was hoping to do a little surf fishing while down there. Any one have experience in that area and care to share some suggestions?
I remember my Dad always complaining about the poor surf fishing mid-summer on the Outer Banks, but this might have just been a tactic to deter me and my brothers from harassing him to take us each day.
Used to go to Topsail for vacation, didn't do all that well in front of the cottage, but along the inlets can be good for various species that time of year. Flounder, some trout, spot, croaker, whiting, bluefish, and puppy drum as well. Good luck.
The cobia hearing for Virginia is in Newport News on Tuesday. I will be there prepared to offer public comment. Let's hope I don't get arrested.
Best of luck.
As someone who has been on the receiving end of of public comments at public hearings on dozens of occasions, the less volatile you are and the more you can tie your comments to the legal sideboards, the more your comments will be taken seriously by the decision makers...at least at the Fed level.
On the other hand, if you want to get interviewed by the press...
There can be value in both approaches.
But don't be the guy that earns the right to be monitored by an armed agent any time he is in a public venue with a resource agency. I know one of those, too.
In all seriousness, it shouldn't be an issue. I have a letter in tow from the three members of Congress representing most of the impacted area (including an author of the MSA) stating that the regulatory approach taken by SAFMC for cobia demonstrates "disregard for federal law." I have studies by Texas A&M that conflicts with their data. And I have the National Standards of the MSA itself. I should be able to make a sound argument.
best of luck!
(i really do know a guy that warrants an agent being there when he comes to certain meetings...nice old guy...just crazy)
edit: you know, unless the South Atlantic Commish is exempt, if they are in fact in violation you should have a pretty easy APA case.
edit 2: pretty sure they aren't exempt. courts are going to defer to the agencies when the issue isn't black and white, but the admin record will have to say how they handled conflicting scientific data.
Sadly, I don't have standing. We have been advised the state attorney generals will have to take action. But, the evidence I can present should encourage the Commission not to comply with the federal closure date. NC chose not to comply.
really? i guess they are saying they provide the reg framework and the states are the ones taking the action. kind of weird that the public can provide comment but not have APA standing
Would add here that I have observed French in action at one of these cobia meetings and he is, in fact, a measured, polite and well informed speaker, cogent and on point, calm in demeanor, confident but respectful to those on the dais. Not to mention that he's a bulldog who won't readily accept losing a fight.
I was totally calm and respectful in my public statement at the hearing over Dominion dumping coal ash into the James. The head of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which was the board overseeing the bill, actually laughed at me at the hearing. I wish I had said how I really felt and blasted him and the DEQ instead of being nice. It was incredibly disrespectful. One concerned citizen did call him out for being paid off by Dominion and equated him to a homeland terrorist, which was a fantastic comparison and drew applause from the crowd. Come to find out, two weeks later, it was uncovered that the head of the DEQ was being paid off by Dominion. All of these politicians are criminals and make decisions for their own pockets and laugh logic and science right in the face. It's a shame I would have been arrested for jumping the table and kicking his ass, because I would have after his BS stunt if I could. Sorry for the rant, this has me still very fired up
Good weekend trout fishing in Northern Michigan on the Au Sable. Some pics:
Nice! Looks beautiful. What's water temp this time of year?
Cold, or at least swimming in it was. Mid fifties and climbing fast with summer finally arriving.
Really nice pics. I looked at them a couple of times. Wish I had more than one leg to give for them.
We need to start a summer thread. Went for my first of the year cobia trip yesterday. Joining me was our own French, who drove all morning, fished all day, then drove back to the nightmare that is NOVA last night. Kudos to him for his stamina, he's a better man than I. We had an easy time making bait and were loaded with chum. Less than two hours into our set-up, I threw a small chunk of bluefish ravaged croaker out hoping to get a blue for bait, but as the rules of fishing require, my little bass rod with 8 lb test was chosen by the 20-25 lb cobia over the two perfectly lively croaker baits we had out on the big boy rods. After chasing the damned thing all over the Bay, we finally had it by the boat, but as the fishing rules also require, a desperation leap by the cobia finally broke the knot and we watched it swim away with its little buddy who shadowed it the whole fight, which lasted 20-25 minutes. Oh well, that's fishin'. Hope others of you will chime in on some more successful outings, and if you ever go fishing with French, don't let him drive the boat!!! (Just kidding, he played his part perfectly, I just didn't do what was necessary to land the fish.) Going again this weekend, maybe I'll have a little more solid report, but French and I had a blast.
That chewed up piece of leftover croaker was the sorriest looking piece of bait I ever saw. IFishVTIam called his shot- saying as he hooked the chunk onto his little bait hook "just watch, I'll end up hooking up a cobia on this and we will have to chase him all over."
Ten minutes later, I am pulling up the anchors and starting the motor to chase the fish. It pulled us about a mile, due east to the main boat channel. We lined up beside of it and watched the fish clear as day for the last 15 minutes, but just couldn't get close enough to net him.
Lots of fun, croakers, bluefish, sea mullet, and one heck of a fish story later, I have worked from bed all day.
I am heading down to Duck tomorrow night for the weekend. I will be putting some rods out in the surf hopeful of anything that bites. We were down 3 weeks ago and only had a few bites but the crabbing in the sound was pretty good even in the cooler waters then.
hey Nick- if you like sea mullet, using Fishbite Sandfleas has been money for them in the surf. Don't cast too far!
And to reiterate my reiteration of a previous reiteration of my original iteration, while you are waiting for the fish to find your surf rods, maybe take a light bass sized rig with maybe ten lb test line and throw a Gulp 4" swimming mullet on a 1/2 or 5/8 oz jig head in the sloughs and current breaks. Work it on the bottom with slow hops. Flounder, trout, and bluefish love them, as do most other bottom fish. Just gives you something active to do, although it can interfere with alcohol consumption...not always the goal.
Or throw flies....
Hey flyguy! Have you ever been up to the New or James and fished for Musky with those really cool huge flies that they tie up there?
Yes indeed I have. I've caught one New River musky and had numerous follows while fly fishing. I've also fished the upper James but prefer the New. I tie flies for musky actually.
What's your surf fly rod/reel/line set up?
That's a tough question to answer for several reasons, first off being that I'm a gear head, secondly because anywhere from a 6 to a 10 weight can be used in the surf depending on conditions and what you are fishing for. I've got more rod, reel and line combos than I can count.
A good standard surf set up would be an 8 weight fast action rod with intermediate line and a quality reel. This exact set up also works well in the Bay and chasing various species on a boat. For rods, I like Sage, TFO, Colton, St. Croix. Reels, I prefer Nautilus, Ross or Lamson. The intermediate line is used to cut through the waves to keep the fly down for blues, spanish mack, pompano, etc. If I'm surf fishing in Fla I use a floating line - less waves. Also use a floating line for anywhere in Pamlico Sound.
Thanks for the reply. I understand the changing conditions require the changing approaches, just wondering what you do. Do you just fly fish in the surf, or is it reliant upon favorable conditions? Believe me when I tell you that I like to fly fish, occasionally, and am always interested in the take of the purist. I am a purist fly guy only on bluegills and popping bugs. Everything else, I use what'll work best for me at the time, be it fly or dy-no-mite and blasting caps. No, I didn't really say that. My father's daddy was known to take an old fashioned crank telephone and put the leads in a trout pool, hit the crank, and make his progeny scoop up dinner in a home made net. Ahhh, those good ole depression daze, huh?
Just seeing this now, sorry for the delay. If I'm saltwater, I've usually got a spin rod with me in case. Whether it gets used or not is another story. I will spin fish in the surf pretty often. If I can throw a fly I will, but I also understand the distance a Hopkins spoon can travel or a one ounce lead weight carolina rigged with finger mullet in late fall versus the limitations a fly rod has. The biggest factor to throwing the fly, particularly in surf, is wind. If it is blowing above 15, it's going to get interesting, depending on what set up I've got with me. It's possible to chuck a shooting head into a stiff wind but it can turn into some work. If I'm on my skiff, I've got 2-3 spin rods rigged for whatever I'm after and at least 2-3 fly rods. As they say, catching one from the sand is worth ten from the boat. Catching one on fly in the sand is probably double the pleasure. Since I'm also an attention whore, fly fishing from the surf/beach can make for some interesting conversation starters. More than once I've had an attractive female approach me asking what I'm doing? it looks cool!
I bet it has been 10 years since I cast a spin rod in fresh water (unless I was teaching a kid or something.) I just won't do it.