Post your fishing reports and fishing questions here for June-July 2018.
I wish I had a report to post, but plenty of cobia and big red drum are being caught around the Chesapeake Bay and the Virginia Beach oceanfront.
I wish we had a boat where a group of us could go chase them.
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Leaving in 45 minutes for a week on the Outer Banks. I'll post any reports if we get into anything. Hoping to fish some every day.
The ridiculous cobia boat bite is slowing down a bit. Piers will have spanish on the end with gotcha plugs on easterly wind days. Sea Mullet and puppy drum in the surf. Offshore has dolphin and tuna.
Thanks! Hope to have a report later. Appreciate the info.
If you have a heavy short spinning rod, it can't hurt to throw a bucktail at a cobia swimming under a leatherback or big carpet ray from the pier. You need 70 degree water and a good pair of glasses to see them.
Thanks for the info. We've not had a chance to hit the pier yet. Surf fished all day yesterday a few hundred yards north of the Army research pier in the Duck area.. Three people using a variety of bait (fish bites, blood worms, shrimp, squid, Gulp Swimming Mullet, bucktail, and a few suspending twitch bait type lures; not a sand flea to be found), we only managed three decent whiting and seven skates.
Bite was very slow. Not sure what the water temps were but I'm thinking not quite 70. Winds from the southwest if memory serves. Three to four ounces required to hold bottom successfully.
I'm hoping for better luck this week but I doubt we fish much today. Not sure my younger nieces and nephews can handle today's cooler and windier weather.
That's a lot like what we experienced a few weeks ago on Hatteras. Whiting and skates. Whiting on fish bites and skates on cut mullet. We needed 4-6 oz to hold until the grass started piling up. Then nothing held. Murders me that a 92 lb cobia was caught from the surf down there last week. I caught nothing on Gulp in three days, but might have had one hit. Such a fickle thing this time of year. Good luck the rest of the week. Good weather's a'comin'.
Thanks! We'll be at it either way. Bad day of fishing is better than a good day...of a lot of things.
I saw that about the 92 lb cobia. That's insane. I'm curious to know what kind of reel the guy had and what kind of line he had on it.
Supposedly the water was 77 at the end of Duck Pier yesterday. Keep reporting!
Turkey, when do you sleep?
I'd love to do a group trip too. I'm game if anyone ever wants to go in on a charter together. I'll also bring my boat down if we want to run two boats - she'll fish 3 adults comfortably. It's a bay boat though, so I won't be getting to close to the big water.
Email me at gmail.com. I know most folks want to do the whole site casting deal, and I get my itch for it sometimes. But I prefer to sit and chum and shoot the shit. Because of the clouds, the site cast guys have been chumming since Monday and had some strong success. The beachfront and Plantation Light were both hot yesterday.
French60wasp
I haven't successfully done the sightcasting so I'm itching to try that but as long as you got somebody good to shoot the shit with chumming is fun.
If you are interested in the sightcasting deal for cobia and we can get a third for a charter. French's guy Zach Hoffman still has some open dates to go. It probably run about 300 if we got three of us.
Jack- I have SMF and VTFish on email. Drop me a line and I can loop us all together to coordinate. I have some thoughts.
Eh, having gone through architecture school and raised three kids past the toddler stage already, sleep isn't much of a necessity. Lol.
I'm gearing up for them, French. Let me know when you can go after this weekend. And of course, Jack and Scott stay in touch. I do think two is the limit for cobia fishing from my boat, what with the gear and set up requirements, but it is definitely time to get started on the chum thing. Or, if the sun is shining, I guess I could bungee my step ladder to the cockpit of the Scout and....naw, I'm gonna have to stick to the chumline approach.
Sounds good, Tom. Things have slowed down for a bit at the office. So I should be fine getting out on a weekday whenever the weather is best. I'm ready to go.
Hopefully this is the year where all our hard lessons pays off. The numbers sound really good.
Coordination has begun, and local lore says they're here, for sure, and were being caught before the season opened last Friday.
They are there, but will be able to catch one???????
Yes, Lucy, this time I'm gonna kick the shit outta that football!!!!!!!
Hahaha I hope you do!
Bugs in the sky, time for cobia to die
Caught a small striper on the surf of Assateague Island on Saturday. Unfortunately too small to keep, but it was my first striper off the beach, so it was fun.
Going to Top Sail in a few weeks hoping to catch something eatable.
Good luck, Snake. My only experience on Assateague was a canoe-in camping trip in August one year. We were, of course, the only campers in the entire place. They sent a helicopter over us every day to make sure we were ok. An absolutely beautiful campsite, foxes, deer, ponies, crabs, clams...man it had it all. Oh, though, by the way, did I mention the MOSQUITOES? Since that trip in the early '80s, we just call it Assa-fuckin'-teague.
Topsail should be better.
We're you on the bay or ocean? I've done both. The bay mosquitoes are terrifying. The ocean ones are tolerable. Especially when you have a wife that attracts all of them. We camp on the island every year, but this is the first time I've fished it. I'll definitely do it again next year.
We were on the Bay, and truly were the only campers there. They really did send the helicopter every day and they would find us, we'd wave, they'd boogie. Absolutely beautiful site and setting, but the mosquitoes came in clouds...literally. My friend who set it up had done it before in the Fall and raved, but even the Rangers when we checked in were laughing at us and made us show proof of possession of ample Deet based repellent. Didn't help much, though. Never seen anything like it before or after, and hope never to see it again. When we finally left, three days short of our planned outing, both of us were sick for a couple of days from all the bites. Yuck.
I know the feeling. The first time we camped on the bay side, we arrived after dark. They were bouncing off of the windows in anticipation of fresh blood.
You should check out the ocean side. We particularly like the state park J loop. Quiet, fairly secluded, dog friendly, and good access to the beach and bath house.
Anyone fish for triple tail regularly? Heard they can put up a fun fight kinda want to give it a go.
Did that in CFL. Tripletail are delicious (ugly though). We'd go to the buoy line out of Port Canaveral. The buoys would hold them. Used live shrimp free lined or with about an ounce or so of weight to get below the buoy (sight casting mostly as they tend to sun themselves on the surface near debris or buoys). Great fight on medium tackle.
Watch when the cruise ships go by, the bow waves are huge!
Skunked at the Kitty Hawk pier. No one catching anything. Wind shifted onshore and surf is much bigger. Pretty day, but no success to report.
Any tips on catching whiting in heavy surf? We're really wanting a fish fry by Friday night, but we've got a long way to go...
Apologies to anyone annoyed by the vacation fishing play by play. I am the definition of a saltwater novice, just trying to increase my odds by asking you guys who know a lot more.
You have to hold bottom. Use a bottom rig with two long shanked #1 or 2 snelled hooks and while bloodworm fishbites works well for me, if you want to go the full Monte, spring for bloodworms. Keep your rod in your hand so you don't miss anything, and then hope for the best. Also, be out there as early as you can get up, usually the calmest seas of the day. And by all means, please keep up the play by play.
Fish close to the lip of the beach. Real bloodworms, sand fleas (best) or tiny chunks of mullet. Don't cast too far if you have a good slough. When I first started going to the OBX, we stayed in Duck at Barrier Island Station and we caught a bunch of sea mullet off that beach.
Thanks Fish and French. I'll give the blood worms another try.
The odd thing about this area of the beach is I can't seem to identify any of the structure I'm used to targeting. No slough, no bars, just a gradual slope into the ocean and nothing really sticking out as a place that attracts fish.
Hopefully, as the surf calms down, you'll be able to identify "structure" more easily, but if not, you might try it like I would. First, make as long a cast as you can for the first few casts, then, if you're not being bitten, start making 2/3 length casts, etc. until you are literally just pitching it a few yards past the breakers. There is usually something, if not visible from the beach, still in the trough, that will attract the fish. I have many times caught myself admiring my lengthy casts, but being outfished by less "talented" casters. I have seldom, however, just been fishing for whiting. Seems like there should be more there, but your experience, and mine a few weeks ago, seem to be saying otherwise. Hopefully the high pressure will calm things down and bring more bounty into the surf. Were it me, I'd have a bobber hook on the top of my bottom rig with meat for blues and drum and a regular hook with bloodworms on the bottom of the rig for the bottom fish like whiting and croaker (which are good table fare, regardless of some opinions to the contrary you'll read here). Yeah, this does invite the skate/shark crowd as well, but it's nice to be ready for that drum since they do wander by down there, and blues are fun to catch.
Thanks! We tried again today (before reading this) and we got skunked. I swam out with my rod past the breakers, which were breaking a long way off shore all the way in, trying to hook up with another skate. Total skunkage today.
What's a bobber hook? I'm so new at this the only thing I've learned to do so far is to tie my own bottom rigs and soak a variety of baits. I haven't tried a popping cork in the sound or really anything else in the surf.
Any advice for night fishing off of the Nags Head Pier? Several members of our group are wanting to go tonight and have no clue what I'm doing.
Appreciate the info, as always!
I have made that swim many many times in my yout. The bobber hook is available at any decent tackle shop down there. It is a snelled hook that can come singly or in packs, usually a long shanked stainless hook in varying sizes that have a brightly colored, orange, red, chartreuse bobber that the snell has been threaded through. The bobbers vary in shape from round to oblong to cigar shaped, with the purpose of holding your hook off of the bottom into the area where non bottom feeding fish, like blues, are more likely to be feeding. Some have wire snells, others just mono. The float also serves as a visual attractor. While drum are also bottom feeders, they will also chase and swim upward for food, so the bobber helps keep the bait away from crabs and small bottom fish that will shred meat but not get hooked up while keeping it in a better zone for predators. With the bobber thing on the top hook and the bloody on the bottom, you pretty much have it covered. Go look at the tackle shop, you'll see what I'm talking about.
As for night fishing from the pier, go look around and and ask folks what's going on, then do what they do. There's little mystery to most pier fishing.
Use with a chunk of mullet that you can get at bobs. It keeps better than fresh bunker.
As for those sea mullet, use small hooks (bluegill size.) If you have kids, have them try to catch sandfleas. They should be in the wash as the waves move out. Look for open holes in the sand where the water is bubbling out and dig quickly. You should find them. They are the best sea mullet bait this time of the year.
Final update on the OBX 2018 trip. After the 7 skate 3 whiting day #1, complete failure the rest of the week. We tried everything we could think of. Short casts. Long casts. Beads on dropper loops. No beads on dropper loops. Bobber hooks. Non-bobber hooks. Squid. Mullet. Sandfleas. Blood worms. Shrimp. Fish bites. Nothing. Oh well, the sun was warm and the beer was cold and I wasn't working.
My brother in laws cousin arrived the day we left and has been slaying Spanish mackerel in the surf for two days. Go figure.
Thanks again for all the tips and tricks. I plan to use them in Florida in July.
I am sorry.
Unless you are just offering your condolences, no need to apologize. That's why it's called fishing and not catching. We'll get them next time. Thanks again all the helpful advice. I honestly think if I had time to scope out a better section of beach with better structure we'd have done better. Too many competing priorities on a family beach trip.
We did catch about 15 legal blue crabs handlining for about two hours. Kids enjoyed that.
Wish you'd had better luck. Sounds about like my lake Anna trips go - catch 1 fish early and nothing but sunburn the rest of the day.
For those who know the Rivanna in cville, you'll appreciate this drone footage of the flooding: https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/d/drone-captures-rivanna-river-overflowi...
This would have been prime time for a run on that river.
Wow. Guess I can cross that off for the list of guiding possibilities for this weekend...
Everything North of I-64 and on both sides of the Blue Ridge are totally blown out. WV is flooding bad too.
Welp was hoping to hit that river this time of year but looking like I'll be waiting a bit.
I'm headed down to Oregon Inlet on the 22nd. Haven't been in a couple years now, and am pretty excited about some bridge and surf fishing. I used to go all the time, but life has gotten in the way. Whats the word down there recently? Any good tips, spots, rigs?
Best of luck to ya. Didn't turn out so well for me, but that was over three weeks ago, so things should be much better for you. TW's fishing report is pretty useful, if for nothing more than the best of what happened yesterday. Seems like those on the Little Bridge were catching fish every day. We were adamant about fishing from the beach when we were there, but if I were thinking about bridge fishing, I'd probably give that one a chance.
1) Gulp grub on a jighead in the surf. Use your time on the beach to catch sand fleas. Keep them in a cooler. Use them in the surf on your standard two hook bottom rig and bluegill hooks for sea mullet.
2) Take the sand fleas to the bridge, fish on the east side. Drop straight down next to a piling. Use braid if you have it. There are some monster sheepshead there, but they are VERY challenging to hook. In the middle of the area between the pilings drop straight down with bloodworms for spot. You can catch some nice ones. Small ones, I would tie up to a fish finder rig and see if I can entice a flounder.
If the wind is blowing from the sound side, bring bug spray. The greenies and mosquitos are brutal on that bridge on a prevailing SW.
Had some time to think about boat plans last night. Think I'm gonna make my boat right before I get her out too much more. The anti-fouling on the bottom needs to come off, there are countless dings in the clear coat, the electrical is all over the place. Figure I'll take the most crowded months to get it all taken care of, repaint it with some awlgrip and make it look nice.
Did get it out on Sunday mainly to test the boat out, make sure the motor was running right caught a few decent large mouth....need to get the trolling motor set up on it before I do that again, cranking and drifting a 135 two stroke is pretty obnoxious.
Sand fleas have always been a favorite of mine since I was a youngin. I love fishing on that's bridge. When I was smaller I used to climb down the pylons. Now I'm afraid I'll get stuck.
EDIT: APPARENTLY I CANT REPLY TO THE CORRECT THREAD
We knew what you meant! At least you think you could still get down the pylons, I wouldn't venture to try it on a bet because I know for a fact I'd be stuck. I've never fished that bridge, but have heard some intriguing things about it. As for sand fleas, as good as they can be, the best ones are the soft shelled ones, but you have to dig a few hundred of them up to find the soft shelled variety. Those get bit immediately, even if you are fishing in your bathtub.
I'm gonna try SmartStrip on the ablative paint on the Scout. Next step is to re-prop to hopefully improve the hole shot.
Let me know how SmartStrip works I just got this stuff off of a recommendation from TheHullTruth Safer Paint Strip
I saw people using SmartStrip in the same thread, seemed like they got good results as well.
Let me know what you find as well.
I did 3 small test spots, applied overnight, uncovered at various thicknesses. the thickest of the three got thru most of the paint (3-4 layers?) and left an "opaque" film (like a really chintzy primer coat). the thinner applications did little to nothing.
Will let you know when I get serious, i.e., applying it fairly thick, covering it and leaving it for 24 hours. May try the butcher paper thing for a cover but at a minimum, I'll cover it with stretch wrap.
Optimistically, I'd like to get most all of it on the first try, then come back with a thin coat and pressure wash it
Not sure what kind of gel coat damage I have, if any, underneath the paint.
Edit: I'm doing a more in-depth test tonight thru tomorrow...thick coat covered in plastic. Going to go 24 hours; unless it rains first.
Edit: Can easily scrape all the way to the gel coat this a.m. with my fingernail. Will start the messy scraping later today
Where I maintained good coverage of the paint stripper, round 1 reduced the painted layer to a gray film. But the process is beyond messy. Seems like if one could take a stiff nylon brush and agitate the strip/paint layer and then leave it on another few hours, it might be much more effective.
I went ahead and started mine this weekend. Tried a bunch of different methods...I need to try covering as you did but anything I left sit for over an hour didn't seem to do much. After about 30 minutes of sitting I could take the carbide scrapper to it and get down to the gel coat, finished up my stern yesterday and started on the port side. I'm still testing the easiest way as I go. I'll patch off a side of the boat and cover it tomorrow and see if that works any better. I also tried citristrip it works about as well as the other stuff I'm using
you'll be ahead of me shortly...busy week
if you figure out something that seems to work better, please post.
I will......this is a major pain in the ass lol
So I've finished probably 30% of the boat now. My newest method is to put the stripper on cover with plastic for 24 hours. When I go to scrape that I'll apply stripper to another section scrape the 24 hour section and then the recently applied one (as long as it sat for ~30 minutes) and repeat. For hard to get areas I'll go back with Easy Off Oven Cleaner and spray that on, let it sit for ~2 hours and it comes right off.
I'm having similar success getting through the paint layers down to just an opaque residual film. but it looks like the previous owner did a coarse sanding job when he originally applied the paint, and I'm not having success getting the film off those sanded areas to a clean gelcoat.
which has me rethinking how much paint I'm going to remove.
I'm probably going to have to wet sand that film to get it off...which is very disappointing, but will definitely try the easy off
Yeah this is why I went with the repainting route I knew getting all the way down to the old gelcoat would be difficult.
If you do end up wanting to repaint I'd look at Awlgrip its expensive but super durable.
the sanding works! so I am more optimistic; but I may reduce the scope of the paint removal to just the transom and the "sponsons" (if you are familiar with the Scout 145, 151, and 162 hulls), and repaint the center "keel" section.
have read good reviews on awlgrip
Yeah me too I just didn't realize that it was $80 a pint for primer...$75 a pint for paint and then another $100+ in additives.
Does anybody have any good recommendations for cleaning up old aluminum pontoons? I have been rebuilding the used boat I got last year. Down to rewiring all of the electrical and prettying it up.
Everbrite or Protectaclear and a buffing wheel. It works great.
EDIT: Also if you are looking for a great aluminum safe cleaner before shining it up, simple green Pro is amazing. It's the purple stuff and safe on all metals. I use it to clean carburetors and it does great. Dont buy the ZEP version if it. Not safe on aluminum and will discolor it.
Spoiler alert
VTFish, 3rdGen, and Smf went cobia fishing today and got one.
My dad got through his bypass last night and is doing well.
As our world melts down today over some of the sports news, take a moment to reflect on the miracles that happen ever day.
French, really so happy about your dad.
As for miracles, well, landing a cobia on my boat pretty much qualifies. I'll let 3rdGen or smc tell the tale, I'm too wore out!
You have no idea how excited I am for this story to be told. I don't know if I would be as giddy if I was the one who caught one.
The story is Jack's to tell, but I will leave this little nugget - it's all about the sibiki. 😁
It has magic voodoo. Did the sea mullet/croakers show up at all, or just threadfins?
Just those pretty threadfins, though I really wish we'd pulled that thing out earlier.
Everywhere else besides the Spit, I tip it and catch bottom fish. For some reason, the Spit holds those threadfin and seems to be absent bottom fish.
3rdGen had some help, for sure, but he did a masterful job of handling that cobia. It fought close, but it really fought hard, like they do. It wrapped around the chum bag rope and anchor and things got dicey for a bit, but he stayed cool and smc got the rope up, the fish came clean and was soon in the net. A team effort, for sure, but Jack definitely gets props for this one. Since we had plenty of bait, the sabiki came out late just for something to play with, but once we started hassling the threadfins, it seemed to attract attention and we started getting bit. The fish hit a croaker, as did a really big fish earlier that didn't quite get to the hook while he was destroying a croaker, but we had several eels get hit/stolen as well as having a shark totally ravage our chum bag on the bottom, which was a first for me. So many things went wrong, lost my boat registration card before we went, depth finder quit working, gps didn't work right and got broken from being tossed by a swell, hit a crab pot buoy that caused a moments panic, anchor wouldn't hold in the developing big chop, and yet we still had a fun and rewarding day. We also had several big turtle sightings, one even caught one of the lines for a moment, but thankfully didn't get hooked or wrapped up. All in all, another bright thread in life's rich tapestry.
Thanks for the kind words, Fish. I've gotten some experience fighting bigger fish definitely felt comfortable and in control for most of it. Quick fight breakdown. Cobia took probably 20 feet of line and then line went slack. I flip the reel in gear and start reeling in slack thinking the cobia is off. Rod gets a strong bend and cobia makes an explosive run of about 20 yards. Cobia starts swimming towards the boat. A slow tug of war and walking around the boat ensued. We didn't want to net it too green either. It got wrapped in a line that went down to chum bag and anchor. Luckily, we managed to finesse it off get it into the net, wack it in the head a few times. Hopefully breaking some bad luck in Fish's boat. Keeper cobia at 42".
3rdGen for the win! Man I wish we'd gotten the first one in the boat too. I would have loved to seen it. The way it took off and started stripping line... Too bad we had the rookie (me) on stick for that one - he got me after the 2nd short pause - I thought I could lock and load, and then there was nothing there. The croacker was still alive but had his back fins crushed right up to where the hook was. He'd been holding it in his mouth the whole time, just below the hook.
Not your fault. It was a tough situation. I told you to flip it in gear but I guess that was too early. Probably could have let him run and wouldn't have an issue with other boats. Coulda woulda shoulda game is all too real in the cobia chumming game.
The charter guys all preach patience. I just don't know how they manage not to hook themselves. It is crazy. I am glad you guys nailed that second chance! I told VTFish that I might have been more excited to see you guys get one than I would have been for me to get one.
Yeah I want to see some underwater video of them attacking a live bait. You probably would have been more excited than I was. I was relieved that we got one in the boat.
You ever find any video of this? I tried looking, but didn't come up with anything good.
Hadn't looked yet. Will probably look tonight
Did tide corolate with the bite turning on? Did you see any on top? Were there any bluefish in the slick? I am jonesing on the FOMO right now.
Tide/currents ... I did notice that when the boat would start shifting, we'd get a run of something passing through it seemed. There must have been some blues around - 20 to 30 mins after tossing the injured croacker back out, I reeled it in to check on it, and there was nothing left but a head. So some were definitely around, but probably on the lighter side. I didn't see any on top, but 3rdGen and Ifish might have - we tossed one of those Bowed Up lures out at one point, as they thought they might have seen one, but no takers. There were definitely some sharks around too - looked like a tail bite on one of the eels, and one of them ate through the darn chum bag.
Little sharks and blues will chomp those baits. The houndfish will kill them too.
No hounds this trip. Too early?
That is surprising, but then again, I don't recall seeing them out there. We got into them when we fished shallower near the danger marker.
We were as close to that structure as prudence would allow. To my knowledge, not a one of us saw any fish or minnow activity in the slick. I totally bailed on the bluefish, but it was fun to catch a few shad and we all gave it a go. While they're really a cool fish in their own right, I'm happy they didn't screw with us yesterday.
Next time you all want to know if there are houndfish or bluefish in the slick, let me know and I'll show up with my fly rod
Well done guys!
A friend and I floated the Holston river (North Fork) yesterday near the TN line. The flow was about right, maybe a bit high, but the water was still pretty stained from the rain several weeks ago. We ended up with probably 10 fish, all on topwater or squarebill cranks. Could not get anything going with soft plastics and it seemed moving baits were the only thing they were interested in - I'm guessing due to the conditions. Largest was probably 2.5 lbs but lost a 3 lber at the boat. Hopefully the rivers can settle down to allow some better fishing. I'm trying to plan a trip to the New in a couple of weeks if conditions are favorable.
Request for those familiar with Topsail Island, especially with party boats. I have 5 year old twins. One of which is really into fishing (and sea creatures in general). The other enjoys it a bit, but gets bored quickly.
I found the "Queen Jean" online and they offer normal half day trips as well as 2.5 hour "kids fishing adventures". Is anyone familiar with either? I would take the whole family on the kids fishing thing if it's worth it, but it says they only go for pinfish and pigfish so I'm not too sure. The half day would be fun, but it's really pricey at $70 a person and I'm not sure the non-fishing lover would make it 5 hours.
Are there any other options on or around topsail?
2.5 hrs goes by really quick on those trips - I always feel a lot of time is spent on just getting to the fishing grounds. In terms if making the trip enjoyable for the other kids, I have the same problem. I generally take lots of snacks and an iPad so they can watch movies while me and my oldest son fish. Works reasonably well, but 5 hrs might be a bit much for that even.
I've been on a couple of party boat trips, one was either a half or full day and the other was significantly shorter (2.5 hours?). Both were based around Myrtle Beach. I will say that the short trip seemed like some travel with about 45 minutes of mediocre fishing sprinkled in. The longer trips we actually got pretty far offshore and the action was pretty good. The boat I was on had a galley where you could get refreshments and go below deck if needed. I was young at the time but I loved to fish so I had a blast. I think if you had an ipad and could stand the ride in and out, a half day would be very doable. We caught red snapper, grey snapper, hognosed snapper, grouper, etc. If I recall there were some pretty big amberjack caught and I think somebody caught a tuna. You get to see a ton of different fish and like I said the action should keep them occupied. Hopefully they're in good spirits and don't get sea sick. Good luck.
The one that loves fishing definitely would get seasick, but children's dramamine does wonders.
A hate party boats. Did one when I was a kid and could tell how much of a sham it was. Pinfish and Pigfish are about as bottom of the barrel as it gets. If I were you I'd take the kids to the pier and fish off of that and then you don't have the fear of seasickness and can be on your own schedule. You could also look into renting a tandem kayak and go cruising out in the marsh. If you child likes animals and sea creatures, you'll see a lot more that way than staring down into 65 feet of water.
Flyguy, when are we going out? I'd love to get a trip lined up.
Where do you want to go? My summer schedule is getting crazy
Quite possibly the sketchiest procedure I've done. The boat sits on a small hill and nothing is level. It's sturdy though. Now the real work starts.
Only two beers?
Oh no. It was two beers every time I moved that trailer out more, to calm the nerves.
I just had a thought, unrelated to the work you are doing now. How is the ground bar and attachments in the hull for the electrical system. #1 place to lose bottom finder/gps sensitivity and have light/switch issues. Ive replaced them and all connections before, Its a job, but solves a lot of problems.
Sweet rig, gonna be a fun platform!
Oh I have an entire project list. Completely redoing my electrical will be part of phase 2.
Entire List is:
Paint, Reorganize electrical, replace controls, replace trim motor (works but completely rusted out), replace water pump, install trolling motor/24v battery system, repair motor cowling, repaint motor/cowling, re upholster.
And when I'm about halfway through I'll add 4-5 more things to the list because boat
I have major you-somehow-managed-to-get-the-boat-off-the-trailer envy.
Same here.
Its really not that hard.
1)Jack the tongue all the way to the ground
2)Block the stern.
3)Jack the tongue all the way up.
4) block the bow.
The boat is now completely off the trailer, so if you wanted to replace bunks or something this is all you'd have to do. To move the trailer out you just have to use a bottle jack and move your bow blocks over the cross-member's of the trailer.
It has taken at least three applications of the paint strip but the "sponson" and transom portions of the Scout are ready for wet sanding...almost all of the paint and remnant film are gone.
Starting to come together now!
yes it is!
Wow, what a difference. Looking great!
Thanks on a two day delay due to rain. Hopefully I'll have it back on the trailer and done next week.
Got greedy yesterday, saw 20% chance of rain in the afternoon and went for the second coat anyway. Finished up came inside to a sever thunderstorm warning. Paint had about 30 minutes to set before the downpour came. The parts that I started on are fine, some of the last places I hit formed water droplets of paint. I'll have to pop the bubbles sand down and fix a couple areas on the starboard side and one small spot on the stern.
Think I'm going to sneak out to Lake Anna early tomorrow morning ... hopefully I get a decent pic or two to share.
Pretty typical day on the lake. Decent bite early but everything shut down with the sun and the boat traffic. I recently upgraded the trolling motor to one of those with a spot lock, and man, it was well worth it. My boat likes to catch wind, and being able to lock in a position makes the day so much more enjoyable.
The redfish Gods smiled upon me yesterday. It was the most insane day of kayak redfishing I've ever had. Friday was super slow on my money spot even with good conditions, so on a hunch I paddled an extra half mile to an area I've always wanted to explore but just haven't. Perfect conditions of 7 mph wind and clear blue sky with a 10:15 am high tide. Within 5 minutes I had sight casted a 22" fish in 2 feet of water. Over the next 3 hours I sight casted in gin clear, 2-3 feet of water with legit shots at 30 reds. I hooked 20, landing 15, all on the fly. All fish were between 22"-26". Catch, photo and released every single one of them. I saw probably 45 fish, if not more. All fish were actively cruising around and searching for food with several surfing on the backs of giant rays, which is a sign of aggressive, feeding fish. There was one tailer that I spooked. It was one of those days to test out every fly in the box and see what worked best because the fishing was so good. Drab colored shrimp flies were the ticket, they didn't want bright gold or copper. They couldn't resist my Coyote and Fox Shrimp flies. Unreal.
Woke up this am to a complete wind shift and some hazy skies, not what I wanted. I need to work on my hangover (start drinking again) and am going to play on the boat all day. Hopefully the wind shifts back this week and I can go stalking again.
There is no more deeply moving religious experience than seeing the targeted species cruising on a ray. Those rays are kicking up crabs and disorienting baitfish so you know if a predator is cruising with them, the right presentation will make them eat. There is little as exciting.
Any type of sight casting to redfish is the pinnacle of the fishing experience for me. There's just something about seeing them tail, or school up and cruise or peeloff of a ray and suck in a well placed fly. I need to check my heart rate when I'm seeing them because I'm sure it gets dangerously high
That's outstanding! Never knew about the cruising with rays thing, but make total sense.
For a pier fisherman, seeing a big carpet ray with 7-8 cobia on it is the closest thing to Christmas. Usually if they are competing for food, they are more aggressive. Loners are much more difficult to get to eat, even with live baits.
At one point yesterday a monster ray came down a channel four to five feet deep with two reds on each wing. Looked like a squadron of fighter jets. Really wish I would have been able to get a photo of it. The ray and fish got too close before I could switch to my rod with sinking fly and as soon as the ray hit my shadow, both sets of reds took off in the opposite direction and the ray bolted right under my yak. I see reds surf and ride around and tail behind rays but I've never seen them in perfect staggered formation like that. I'll never forget it
Where y'at, flycat?
How big is your check book?
IG say Florida. But a master fisherman never tells. 😂
No, just meant in general. State would be enough.
NC
Gracias. Leave the light on for me, will ya? /s
I'm heading out at first light tomorrow am for some spec fishing on Mobjack, you know where. It would warm my heart greatly if we were to see a red or two out there. It's going to be too hot to stay on the water around here tomorrow, so we're going to fish until ten or eleven and then boogie.
Good luck!
Thanks, we needed it. One small striper and one lost ray was all we had to show for our trouting. Water was beautiful, conditions right weather-wise but the tide was rock bottom and it was too hot to wait out the change, so we bagged it. Did see several rays in 2-3' of water, and I noticed one had an extra long tail. When it got close enough I did see a fish trailing it tightly, but couldn't identify the fish, and I'd already made a long cast with my Jerk Shad, so I didn't get a throw in on him. It wasn't a particularly big fish, maybe 18" or so. Could have been a red by behavior, but we saw no other evidence of predators out there but the small stripers we had biting, and one small bluefish that took a tail. We'll try again periodically, but with that much really productive looking habitat, I was surprised we saw no trout at all. Got hot quick when the fog burned off, though, and it was way too hot to sit and cobia fish.
That stinks. I think most of the trout go wiped out by the cold front this past winter unforunately. Wind is supposed to move back to the NW and drop on Wednesday, so I'm hoping to be back on the flat then
I was encouraged by some "reports" and some remarks from Chris Newsome about catching some nice trout, and I'm not done trying, but we covered a lot of water to not see even one, in a place where I got them last year and with the same baits.
Friend is coming over to my new spot on the Rivanna Reservoir we're hitting the water tonight and tomorrow kayak and canoe...he just finished a four day trip floating down the Shenandoah but the rain from 2 weeks ago made it for tough fishing until this morning...anyway wish us luck!!!
I haven't fished it in years, but there used to be some big ones there. Good luck!
How'd it go?
Can someone recommend a guide for the nags head area? I don't have any desire to do deep sea fishing, just light tackle would do. I bass fish the new and James mostly and have lately been getting more into it and want to do something while I'm there. I have no real knowledge of the area. I checked google but I want to see if y'all know a guy. I would like to ideally fly and bait cast but am open to one or the other if needed. Interested in half day (they do that?) or full day I guess. Not made of money but I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for.
Pulled an 17 inch small out of the new yesterday am. Really pretty morning.
Captains Brian Horsely and Sarah Gardner out of Oregon Inlet. They are very, very good.
Lots of good ones. Sadly I don't know the sound guys as well as the inshore ones. I know that there are so many small rockfish that the charter guys come in and let kids catch them with light tackle around their discards. There should be good light tackle action.
Went once with DOA charters out of Oregon Inlet. We were winter fishing for stripers, but in the summer, he is an inshore guy with a really nice boat. It's been a few years, and I can't remember the capt'n's name, but I saw his boat a few weeks ago still in the corner slot at the marina. We murdered the stripers catching 69 in four hours between two of us, much better than anyone else out there and on light tackle, too, and I'd go again with him anytime I could.
OBX this Friday. I should be down there early evening and will be getting right at it. I have heard it hasn't been great down there recently. Anybody know if that has changed at all?
http://fishermanspost.com/2018/fishing-reports/northern-beaches/northern...
Blues and spanish on metal (stingsilver) in surf. Sea mullet seem to be around too. Sheepshead on fiddler crabs, mole crabs or sand fleas if you are going to fish the bridge.
It will vary day to day based on the wind. SW wind (wind hitting you in the back when you face the ocean) will drop the water temps and make the fishing crap. Look for an easterly wind. Head to the pier with a light spinning outfit (10lb mono, 2500 size reel, medium rod) and cast gotcha plugs for spanish on an easterly wind. If you are fishing in the surf, expect sea mullet. Use small hooks on bottom rigs. Fish with bloodworm fishbites, sand fleas, or fishbite EZ Fleas.
If the wind is Southwest, spend the day at the pool or book an offshore charter.
Here's a pic of one of the reds I stuck on Saturday....
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkKy7I8ngTV/?taken-by=knotthereelworld
Beautiful! Headed down to Beaufort this week. Will hope to have a quarter of the success you had on Saturday.
NC or SC?
Love it! Man what a pretty fish.
I've got a week in West Palm Beach in early July and all this fishing talk has peaked my interest. My saltwater experience is very limited, mostly drinking beer and catching sand sharks from the surf. I've never been to WPB and have no idea what to expect. I'm sure there's a pier nearby and if the beach isn't crowded i could cast from the surf, but does anyone have any experience/recommendations for this area? Could possibly splurge on a charter if there's something worth chasing.
Did a little research and found out we'll be staying within walking distance to Singer Island which is in the inlet. I've never fished in an inlet, however there are several bait shops nearby that I'm sure could give me an idea of what's going on. My typical surf fishing is with a pompano rig and pyrmaid sinker, however I may try a fishfinder rig given the calmer waters. Anyone have any experience in this area? It sounds like I'll be stuck in the inlet or on the surf late/early, as the nearest pier looks like Juno that's about a 15 min drive.
July in South Florida. The Snook bite will be hot. The season is closed so you can't keep them, but you can do catch and release. Awesome fighting fish!! They are smart also. I don't know much about Palm Beach inlet or the beach adjacent. If its anything like Sebastian or Jupiter inlet then here are some points to consider.
1. For live bait fishing:
a. Use a Med Heavy 7 ft single piece casting rod with 20 to 30 # braid. Use a sliding sinker rig with egg sinker (I would use 1-2 oz if no current, then up to 2 - 3 oz or higher if current and/or in the inlet with current.) and use Flourocarbon leaders at 25# or 30#. Use at least 25# barrel swivels. Use short shaft circle hooks, 3/0 to 5/0. Sharpen the hooks and turn the tip sideways a small amount so the hook is not exactly in line with the short shaft (better and more often hookups that way). [Note: If your good with bait casters (I'm not), awesome!, these work well for this.]
b. Live mullet, croaker, or pinfish (4-7" long), Mojarras are awesome as well and their dorsal fin is soft so Snook love them. Croaker is Snook candy! Use a bucket with bubbler to keep bait alive. Shrimp will work as well (hook through the head but not through the brain). Some guys I know cut the pinfish dorsal off with scissors. Snook will suck in the bait and use their mouth to remove the scales before eating. This can take a while so you must be patient when you feel the bite, Wait for the pull after the first few pops, don't jerk set circle hooks, just reel tight - the hook will set in the lip 90% of the time.
c. Outgoing current will be best bite in the inlet. If the inlet is rock bottom you will loose a lot of rigs, so build up many prior to the trip so you can swap out fast.
d. On the beach, high tide is best. The Snook (and maybe some reds and/or black drum) will swim in the trough literally 5-10 ft from the shore. Note: In Brevard County (my old haunt) the trough is literally 3-4 ft deep right at the shore so I would cast into that literally just a few feet and either place the rod in rod holder or walk with it if there is some current). The trough in West Palm beach may be different. Water clarity will be higher in West Palm than in Brevard, so the fish can see you, try to be stealthy.
2. For lures
a. Use red/white bucktails, retrieve with jigging motion. These need to be with 3/0 to 5/0 hooks so they will be large. You'll need a rod to handle them. I use a 7 ft Penn boat rod that is pretty stout.
b. Twitchbaits in the surf: The Mirrodine 27MR-808 (808 color scheme is key) is awesome! These are self suspending (neutral bouyancy) and they get absolutely attacked. Slow twitch retrieve to tease, adjust retrieve to conditions and bite.
c. Lipped lures: I'm not a big fan of these in the surf, but have fun with some times. Try to match the colors of the Mirrodine I mention above. I would trim the lip down about by 1/2 so that the lure only goes 1-2 ft down (these are designed for 4-6 ft so they hit bottom too much).
d. Scented soft plastics. These get a lot of attetion (and a lot of bit off tails). Red head with white or pearl tails is best color combo for snook, but others swear by the electric chicken color.
d. Don't be surprised to catch a decent size Jack Crevalle. Don't eat them, but the WAR! you will have for the fight is awesome. I've caught these in Sebastian up to 35#. You might have to walk the beach/jetty during this fight.
3. Beach casting with fresh clams (You'll need a hammer to break them - or you can slam 2 together to open one), shrimp, or best of all sand fleas (only ones with eggs/roe!!!!!).
a. Pompano season is long over. You might get a straggler, but they'll be small. I think there are Permit around West Palm, but I'm no authority on them. Permit like crabs.
b. You'll catch a lot of whiting and maybe some black drum. But the water will be pretty warm so expect a lot of salt water catfish (Yucch!). Don't eat these. There might be some reds, but West Palm is pretty far south for them in the summer (water is getting hot!).
Have fun and good luck!!
EDIT: And you will need a fish license even to fish from shore (I think its really cheap or no cost, but you have to have one). Keep it with you, the Man (FWC) will be around!
This is an excellent post and I am happy to have read it.
I agree. I actually screen shot this for easy access.
Thanks for the tips Smitty!
Wow, excellent information. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. I've got a couple of weeks until my trip so I'm going to use that time making some rigs and going through my gear. A couple of quick questions:
- I don't have a surf rod and in the past have use an old Cabela's salt striker reel on an 8' fiberglass "catfish" rod. This has worked ok for light duty, but I think it's time for an upgrade. Any quick advise on a good setup? I'd like to stay under $200.
- I'm a pretty avid musky fisherman so I have some good baitcaster rigs that should work inshore. My biggest concern is with saltwater and sand getting into my Curado 400B and causing problems. Would you have any hesitation taking some freshwater rigs out and using them? From what I've read you need to wash everything down really well with low pressure water. I just hate to ruin a good setup.
- I've never kept a fish from the ocean, but I'd like to if I can get the right species. Do you guys just pack a cooler with ice and put your fish in there? I've got some research to do in this department.
Thanks again for all the info. Looking forward to my trip more and more now.
Responses embedded below:
- I don't have a surf rod and in the past have use an old Cabela's salt striker reel on an 8' fiberglass "catfish" rod. This has worked ok for light duty, but I think it's time for an upgrade. Any quick advise on a good setup? I'd like to stay under $200.
[Smitty]: Mine aren't expensive. A Penn spinning reel (6500 or equiv) with a 10 ft 2 piece rod. Others on this forum will be better at this than I. Again, I use 30# braid - you never know what will bite (I caught a 6 ft spinner shark on this rig once, that was different! and no, I didn't land it, but it had me running down the beach and it jumped a bunch!). For these I am not a fan of Pompano rigs - they get tangled too easily. I use a 3 way swivel. From one, I use about 3 ft of 12# mono for the pyramid sinker. If it gets snagged or you get a large fish it breaks off easy and you don't lose the entire rig. From the other I use the 25# flouro leader at about a foot long with the 1/0 or 2/0 circle hook (modified similarly as described above). With this rig, you feel every bite! Bait is just off the bottom dangling and is between you and the sinker - great sensitivity. Some people place a pink bead above the hook - helps the fish find it as they follow the scent.
- I'm a pretty avid musky fisherman so I have some good baitcaster rigs that should work inshore. My biggest concern is with saltwater and sand getting into my Curado 400B and causing problems. Would you have any hesitation taking some freshwater rigs out and using them? From what I've read you need to wash everything down really well with low pressure water. I just hate to ruin a good setup.
[Smitty]: Always! I repeat: Always, wash your rods and reels with plenty of fresh water after salt water fishing immediately after your day is done. Be religious about this. I prefer low pressure, but sometimes you have to give them a blast or two (don't blast up into the guts of the reel). I don't know much about fresh water bait casters, so not sure how they'd do in the salt. I would think if you didn't drop them in the sand and you wash them as stated above, they'd be fine. You might want to take them apart and re-lube after your trip (I am pretty religious about reel tear down and re-lube every 6 months - I don't fish as much any more).
- I've never kept a fish from the ocean, but I'd like to if I can get the right species. Do you guys just pack a cooler with ice and put your fish in there? I've got some research to do in this department.
[Smitty]: An iced fresh caught fish is fresher to eat and filets much, much easier. I'm always ready with a cooler with ice. You can keep bevs in it prior. Maybe keep a bag to separate the bevs form the fish once you start throwing your catch in the in the cooler.
Also, KNOW YOUR REGS! The FWC are enviro-cops on steroids, they will bust you for anything they don't like (and they're packing) and FL fines are steep. They're not unreasonable, in their mind ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse - they see it all the time.
I second the Penn spinning outfit. I have a Penn Fierce II 6000, 9'-0" medium heavy action two piece and absolutely love it. I'm considering a second one in the 8000 series (10' heavy action).
I'll let Eric, Thomas, and Curtis know their folks are doing a good job!
Rough day floating the upper James above scottsville on Saturday only caught 3 little fish on a fly popper and just slow all around and only got worse at the landing to see a guy with a 3 and 2 pounder on a stringer, probably just me but I get peeved when I see people keeping big old smallmouth to eat when there's bream
On a side note I'm finally tired to fighting my old town kayak on the river and finally gonna upgrade to a nicer fishing kayak and recommendations? Top price is 1500$ trying to stay under 1300$
https://bnc.lt/a/key_live_eifqPbvhIRnKEb1T0MSFpipgsCenSDRu?%24ios_deepli...
On my phone, but hope that link works. 😁
I've always liked the custom one man canoes but the seats are always weird feeling but I'll be looking at one this weekend to try it out and give it a go
What do you want out of the new kayak that the old one was lacking?
Biggest thing is that my current yak puts me so low I can't fly cast out of it effectively so I'm looking for more stability and more room so sit on top is a need for storage behind for tackle other than that a better higher comfortable seat is the only big thing since I spend every weekend in it my back can't take another junky seat I'm too young to feel so damn old.
Right now I'm really liking the look of a nucanoe the way it sits up and I've always like the setup for future add ons as well since I'd like a boat I could rig up to be easier to use.
One big question is do they make kayaks the don't constantly spin around that's a huge pet peeve of mine with the no keep on my current boat the slightest shift in weight or bite by a fish sends it spiraling like I'm in a tornado and I'd prefer something that held a line better but that's not a necessity if I can have enough stability to stand I'd be fine
Yes, the kayak I have (Perception Pescador Pro 12) doesn't spin easily and is very controllable. I can stand. Haven't gotten super comfortable yet cause I haven't tried yet. Unfortunately you just missed Appomattox River Company's test day where you can try out everything. Jackson Kayak came out with the Mayfly which is designed for fly fishing. 35" wide which is pretty massive and is 90-95 pounds which would be a pain to move around. I know Hokieflyguy loves the Jackson Cuda which is in your price range. He can pile on his thoughts. Edit: (See below haha)
To wrap up my ramblings, there are a bunch of kayaks in the 12-13 foot range that track well and are 31-33 inches wide which allow you to stand. Look at the Cuda, Tarpon 120 or 130x, Bonafide SS 127 (French's guy Rob Alderman uses these).
I have a Tarpon 100 but I usually fly cast sitting down or park it on the rocks. Freshwater only for me.
I have paddled the 100 once. Didn't try to stand in it. It's a good yak. Tarpons are all solid which is why there are so many on craiglist cause so many people like them.
The perception and tarpons look nice I'll have to go to the app yak store by grrentop to look one day at them all I'm mostly looking for stable and a high seat so I can cast the fly easier my current setup I can't stand and I'm below water level in it so casting ain't easy
At the moment I'm leaning to a nucanoe since I've tried one and liked it but I'm always interested in looking at others as well I'm not in a hurry to buy one so I'm not dying to splash cash mainly I'm looking for wide and shorter than 13 feet since my truck beds on the short side
Yep, I really like my perception. Nice and stable and tracks solid. I can put my seat in a high or low position and it is probably a couple inches off the bottom of the boat in the low position. If you got the tarpon, you would want the 130x for the extra 2" of width which gives you that extra stability. I don't think the tarpons I have elevated seat that you are looking for though. You wouldn't want anything longer than 13 anyway for just doing rivers. 13+ would be better suited for longer distance open water.
I'll check into the perceptions this weekend when I go look at them all the 33 inches width seems a standard in fishing kayaks I've looked at so far. The nucanoe F10 is a whopping 39 inches wide which seems excessive but its only 10 feet which for my short bed would be easiest to handle. Grew up fishing out of an ocean kayak angler 13 footer on the james river it was nice but the length killed me in rapids if I rememeber right it was just under 14 feet the 13 was a lie. And being all my fishing is done in rivers and ponds length isnt a need.
Dang 39 inches is crazy. That's gotta be somewhere in the Hobie range. Perception Pescador Pro 12 doesn't have the best storage. Only has a 3 inch diameter hatch to get to inside of the boat. I haven't run any rapids in mine. So I can't comment on that.
if you really think you want a Nucanoe, you may want my Frontier 12.
Why am I selling it? I bought a 2.5 HP for it so I could motor to some really tight backwater. What I found out is you really need weight in the front to maintain the balance in the back when you turn around to crank or shift the gear on the motor.
So it is great if I have someone with me, but it is more than I want to deal with when I want to motor somewhere by myself...which is my MO.
Oh man, I just checked out those nucanoe's and they're sharp, I want one now, and totally don't need it.
Something to think about - what if you have a GF or ever want to go with a buddy; or if you want to do overnight trips that require more gear. My first first boat purchase was a kayak, and I still love it, but soon after meeting the lady that would become my wife, it started collecting cobwebs and I ended up getting a canoe so we could go out together.
Also, having a stern that allows you to mount a trolling motor is something I cannot recommend highly enough. You don't have to have a trolling motor on it, but if you wanted to hit the bay, or a sound, or a big reservoir, it'll save you a lot of paddling, and on those hot summer days after being out on the water for hours, you'll be grateful.
Also, these make hauling a canoe of any size a breeze. Just back your truck up to the water and pull it off. Hard to get any easier - https://www.autoanything.com/hitch-bed-accessories/77A13327A4622564.aspx....
Funny you mention that is that the entire reason I'm back in the kayak game is that my girlfriend and I have two completely different styles of fishing so she wants a kayak instead of our canoe since it's a bit tricky. That decision might also be related to the fact I mostly fly fish these days and she's not too thrilled of flies hitting her head if I screw up but I'm not entirely sure.
But the nucanoes have always caught my eye but im still going to look at the jackson and perception kayaks this weekend. I really like to open deck on the nucanoes but the jackson has kick ass storage but is a tad longer gonna have to make a sacrifice somewhere. I also like the jackson seats a bit too. The old town ones are simply too pricey these days.
Also my girlfriend bought me a hitch extender like the one you posted for christmas since I bought my colorado for hauling boats on the weekends but the new style beds arent that long I got the extender and it works great with no problems, I did however add polymer strips on the top and side bars so it was easier on the boats sliding them in and out.
That NuCanoe Pursuit would be right up my alley if I were in your shoes (caveat - I didn't check out the other recommendations). It's probably pretty pricey though, but it's always fun suggesting ways to spend other people's money. :)
Also, good call on the polymer strips.
The pursuit is a bit too long and pricey so I'll probably stick with the F10 or the flint model since theyre cheaper as well. The other models are simpler which is what im going for give me a range to mess with.
I have a Nucanoe Frontier and am going to sell it. If you or anyone on the board are interested, let me know and we can try to work something out. And I can give anyone an in-depth review. Like anything, they have their strengths and weaknesses.
Any info on the Nucanoes are welcome since its a main interest for me I would be interested if youre selling but I'm not in any hurry to buy at the moment as I've gotta sell my old boat and make some more cash before I can get a new boat. An in-depth review would be great if you dont mind.
Pros: Stable fishing platform with comfortable seating, much more so than a canoe. Yes, you can stand and fish...you can stand and paddle for that matter. And there is room for two. My dad and I fished farm ponds in one of those cheap 12' jon boats back in the day. This is better.
Cons: Doesn't paddle as efficiently as a kayak or canoe so don't plan on paddling a long way without the help of the current. Weight distribution is crucial if you have a motor on the back...you have to have weight on the front to counterbalance the excess weight in the rear...when weight is out of balance, lateral stability is lost. So if you have a trolling motor on the back, the battery should be up front and you'll be adjusting the seat forward and backward to get the weight right. An extension handle is a must.
Summary: Very good option for fishing ponds/small lakes. Should be the same for floating down river. Covering distance with a motor is possible, but it is not as easy as it looks on the videos. You HAVE to get the weight distribution right to maintain stability. I think there are probably better motorized options...like a small gheenoe.
Sounds good with me I dont own any motors though eventually id like to get a small trolling motor but as you said weight is everthing something I liked on the jackson kayaks is the front and rear storage where I can put drink etc to help keep the boat level weight wise my current kayak has no front storage so its a pain to keep it straight due to serious weight issues. Only looking to fish rivers and ponds in it so really not too picky the shorter the better since I do a fair amount of portaging and im not into portaging long and seriously heavy boats like say a big full canoe. interesting you say two people can fit on them but I've seen floor models at greentop with two people in them but since the reason I'm buying a kayak is so I have fly fishing room having someone in front of me is dangerous.
If you are going to be solo, I'd take a serious look at the Pelican "Catch" series yaks and even some of the new SUPs designed specifically for fishing.
My girlfriend is looking at the pelican kayaks catch series, I'm far to clumsy for a SUP my main reason I want a steady kayak is for the hi seating setupt to help with all day trips the low seats hurt my back some kind of bad. Im gonna try out the jackson and Nucanoe seat to see which is better if at all
Back issues are a factor for me as well...I need to stand up when possible I have two 12' Perceptions with the typical low seats...I last about an hour.
I'm thinking standing in the Catch series isn't too difficult and they have the higher kayak seat position as well.
We shall see I'm probably gonna give the flint kayak a hard look over it seems better especially price wise and has all the requirements I'm looking for but it can all change if I like the feel of the Jackson. I just cant take another day in my dingy kayak and its cheap plastic seat im not 55 yet but that boat makes me feel it.
Edit most reviews on nucanoes are typical it's big and in a breeze can be sluggish or like a sail and I saw one saying the quality is cheaper than a Jackson but I only saw one salty review out of them all. Curious how it holds up to elements and typical use I keep my boats indoors to help them last?
I'm not familiar with the Jackson and haven't had the Nucanoe long enough or used it enough to speak to longevity.
Build-wise, there are no obvious issues.
Thats mostly what I was wondering the negative review said it immeadiately degraded but like I said that review was off, mostly just concerned with quality considering I'm dropping over a thousand bucks I'm mostly looking for something that will last.
I would say this review is spot on...and they have resolved the seat comfort issue
http://www.yakangler.com/fishing-kayak-review/122-review-nucanoe-frontier
if you are considering a motor, watch this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1gfO5xtEGY
note where he is sitting and the mod necessary to shift the motor in and out of gear. the reason he isn't further back is the stability issue i mention. to reach it by hand, you have to have significant weight up front to counter balance the weight in the rear. the same is true of a rear mounted trolling motor. that's why you see all sorts of contraptions designed to deal with a motor.
edit: he says of the shift extension "a lot easier than climbing back to the motor". what he should have said was " it is much safer than trying to reach the motor by hand; which is almost impossible if you are the only one in the boat."
there is a reason he started it from the dock and used a kill switch to turn it off. you never see him touch the motor while he is in the boat...and he is the NuCanoe rep
Jackson Cuda 12. Only kayak I will fish out of and I keep it as simple as possible.
Is there a specific reason you love the Jackson kayaks so much? I'm just curious I hadn't even considered them since I rarely see them out and about but I'll look into them luckily I live 5 miles from the app canoe store so I can go look at them
Because they are so well designed. The Cuda 12 weighs 70 pounds and I fish it in everything from the New to lakes to saltwater flats and ocean. They track very well, are very stable, have great seats and I can easily throw it on the roof of a car or bed of the pickup truck.
I like to keep mine as simple as possible for fly fishing. I took off the rocket launcher mounts and the front rod tip protector for spin rods.
Green Top has new ones for sale that are expensive as hell ($1800) and really tricked out, but I found both of mine used on CL for $800 each. I recently saw a 2016 one that was "new" online for $1200. If I had the cash, I would have gotten it to add to my fleet.
I used to fish out of Tarpon 120s and 140s. Not any more but I still own one. It sits in the yard and gets used once a year.
I find the Mayfly to be a great idea but it is too heavy for me.
I've been in a Ride 135 which was pretty nice but still not as well designed as the Cudas. I'm sure there are other solid brands out there, I just have no reason to switch it up.
The Cudas have a seven beer limit on stability. I've tested this more than once.
I like alot about the cudas particularly the center storage bin between the legs but I wonder does that extrusion not let you lay a rod flat in the middle like where if I set a fly rod down would it roll into the foot channels or is that not something that happens?
I'm going to look at them this weekend and see what I feel like in person just to get an idea
I'm not sure about the newer ones and what the hatch looks like but on my older one the hatch has some indentations in it and I can perfectly lay two fly rods on there with the reels sitting right in it.
Ahh okay I'm going to look at both the Cuda and Coosa to see what they have this weekend theyre both reasonably priced compared to the HD versions these days.
Update from Topsail. VTSnake 1. Sting ray's 1.
Caught a small ray in the morning. Then in the afternoon one nailed my foot while jumping waves. Hurt like hell for about 4 hours, then gone. Soaking in hot water completely relieved the pain though.
Otherwise caught a couple of small stripers. No keepers.
Anyone work on a trim tilt unit before? Laid plastic down to start priming yesterday...noticed I'm leaking hydraulic fluid out of one of the pistons. I'm assuming its a seal but I've never had hydraulic trim tilt on any motor before.
As someone who's worked on hydraulic logging equipment most my life could you specify where the leaks coming from, is it possibly from a hose connection that's lose or sometime just a seal on the hose end, cylinders usually don't leak it's more time a hose or a fitting
This was originally a picture of my Trim motor...which is in excellent condition. But the closest piston to the camera right at the cover you take off with a spanner wrench.
I would start at the rings and see if that gets it fixed. Those a lot cheaper option than anything else that could be going on.
I wish it was cheap...the seal kit is $70. I got some advice from people to change the seals as well as the caps so I'll go ahead and knock that all out.
Went out on the James this weekend down in Surry. 4 of us fished 3 hours and caught 80 fish total, mostly croaker and white perch with some catfish and small striper. We kept roughly 30, the biggest being a couple 3 lbs cats.
I wouldn't say you'll catch a monster but if you want to catch a lot of fish, the James should be good for a few more weeks while the water temp is still rising.
Good report, thanks. Any size to the croakers?
Nothing to write home about. 50% of the Croakers and Perch were big enough for some fish nuggets. They were really active around oyster beds and elevation changes.
Heading out the door for Maryland and a guided trip on the Potomac around the Harper's Ferry area for smallmouth. Although the forecast for tomorrow is looking dismal, I'm going prepared with rain gear and a positive attitude. Spoke last night with John Hayes, our guide, and they had a great day on the river yesterday. They got about 70 fish, with 7 being 18" or over, two of which were over 19. Most were caught on Senkos and tubes. If the river gets up and muddy, which is looking more and more likely, we'll throw spinnerbaits. I will, of course, present a full report upon my return to more civilized surroundings.
Drove over a section of the Potomac on 95 today, and it was raging. Stay safe and hope you got into something good.
Wind worked out for me again yesterday at super secret location "puppy drum." The heavy southwest wind from the past 4 days had dirtied the water however and made it difficult to see fish. It was a small high tide as well and that gave us less water to work with.
I took my two best childhood friends out with me. They know how to fish, but standing and paddling and seeing the fish and then setting the paddle down and maintaining position then fly casting to the cruising reds isn't exactly easy for those who haven't done it prior. We scored 3 of them. 26", 24" and 23". If I had been by myself I could have probably landed another 10.
Rarely do I keep fish, especially reds, but they were very good last night blackened with asparagus and red wine.
Good job. Like you, I catch a whole lot more fish than I keep, but I do like those smaller redfish, and I'll keep one if I get the chance. I don't think reds are in danger anymore, so can't feel bad about eating one here and there and I wouldn't keep a big one even if they were good eating. Hopefully, they'll make an appearance in this neck of the neck this year and I'll have the opportunity.
They definitely have made a come back and it is great to see. NC reduced the limit from two slot keepers per day to one in the past few years. They are a really good eating fish, I just respect them so much and they are my favorite game fish so I find it tough to kill them. I'll eat a few every year.
The wind just keeps getting worse and is blowing 15-22 at location X the next 3-4 days. I headed back to Richmond today. Will be back down to my spot at least once (hopefully twice) more this summer.
I will be in the OBX June 30-July 7. Easterly winds will find me on Avalon Pier. I am also going to try and do a research and development trip with Bowed Up Lures if the weather gives us a good opportunity.
Tear it up French.
I know this isn't your fave time in the OBX - whatcha gonna target?
I'll be there from Sept 23 - 30.
Tight Lines!!
Pier, spanish for dinner, cobia for pulling.
Boat- not sure if we will go looking for amberjacks or head up to the Bay to sight cast.
I'm sure it can't come soon enough. I keep trying to get out too, but all this rain is wrecking the plans.
Went and looked and sat in some kayaks today and think I'm gonna go with the F10 nucanoe the Jackson and bonafide kayaks we're close but priced out of my range just gotta sell my old boat first!
good luck! F10 puts you a foot closer to the transom if you want to add a motor and it's 15 lbs lighter...both big plusses if you are by yourself.
I'm excited to get to go pull the trigger on one the seat was way comfier than a sit in kayak junk seat plus it felt stable and I liked the shorter one since I'll always be by myself plus the flat back for ponds will be nice just wish there were other colors but I'll live
lol. my F12 is the bright green...you'll get over it.
mine came with their mesh seat. I bought a second seat base (rigid high) and then went to Academy and bought a simple folding, padded seat that frankly, I like better. something like https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/marine-raider-padded-fold-down-boat-sea...
if yours doesn't come with a seat, you might consider just buying their seat base and finding the seat you want elsewhere
I'm buying from greentop so I'm sure it comes with their mesh seat so I'll see how that goes all day long seemed more than comfy for a days float but if not I hadnt even considered modding the seat but now that you mention it I might end up doing that even thought about maybe adding a bench like seat for bass fishing ponds? This will be my problem child as I'll always be thinking of ways to modify it out to make it perfect. Already got a anchor system to install once I buy it.
anchor sticks can work well depending on the water you are fishing
when I bought mine, the mesh seat in the F12 came on the rigid low base and I found the seat to be a bit lower and wider than I wanted and the straps holding the back to be in the way (at least mentally). my wife on the other hand, loved it...very cool and comfy...best ride along seat ever.
i wanted the seat to be higher and I wanted something with a smaller footprint in pivoting around and that I could easily flip down if I was standing. i don't like anything in my way and I also didn't want a seat that could snag a hook
Anchor sticks are a really cool idea but being I fish moving rivers mostly I dont know that anchor sticks would be the best best I love the idea but they just wouldnt work well in rocky rivers. I will probably just use a round weight on a pulley system with a extension cord roller to keep it neat.
Slow 3 days in Beaufort. Drum and flounder fished the first day with nothing to show. Went after spanish the next day. Got a couple but nothing like the reports had been saying. Couldn't make it out to the shoals at lookout. Where I think we would have done better. Tried sheepshead fishing Saturday tied off to the bridge pilings but couldn't connect on any. Had some pesky pinfish around.
Surprised you did not find any drum. Were you fishing backside flats?
Fished the one of the bays around core creek. Need to try out the backside flats again. We were going to try for it Saturday afternoon but it was blowing 15+ and decided to not go out. Going back down in mid-July
If you can find good grass on a flat, you've got a solid chance at finding them
Thanks for the tip! I've been struggling the past couple times. Need to explore more over there
Sure thing!
Sheepshead can be infuriating
They are as hard to catch as permit
That's for sure. First time ever targeting them. Used the dropper rig with a 2/0 owner cutting point hook and a 2 ounce sink. I think the hook might have been a bit big for the fiddler crabs. Just getting my feet wet into trying it.
I don't know about bait fishing for them but when catching them on flies it has been a size 2 or smaller hook. Most come on a 4 or 6.
Yeah, that seems like a really big hook. I was using size 2/4 live bait or octopus hooks on dropper rigs down in Charleston, with fresh oysters as bait in the winter. I didn't use any crabs, but the guys fishing Oregon Inlet's pilings use live sand fleas and small hooks.
As for hooking them? Well, I will put it this way. We went through $60 in oysters to catch 41 sheepshead in 3 days. Of the 41, 4 kept. You go through bait faster than poop through a goose. And I swear, every one I hooked actually hooked themselves.
The saying goes you have to set the hook on a sheepshead before it eats.
When I fished Louisiana last spring there were thousands of them cruising down a flat in schools of 4 to 50. We put down the redfish rods and both the guide and myself cast to them. I had 5 eats, he had two over 3 hours. I landed two of mine and one was lucky as hell as the fish broke the hook when we were pulling it in the boat. I literally cast to well over a thousand for 5 eats. They sure as hell aren't easy. I've cast to dozens and dozens in the OBX and get follows and a few bites here and there. Only one ever landed, but it just happened to be this big boy that I'm claiming as the unofficial world record.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV-_9QqA3OA/?taken-by=knotthereelworld
Yeah from what I had read. 2/0 was a standard size. But after hooking the baits, I think a size 2 would be better. Lots of cursing when getting robbed haha. It is an intriguing fishery for sure. I want to get on some of those monsters they catch off the CBBT.
Rain totally blew out the Potomac for our Friday trip, so we went to Plan B and headed up and over to the Susquehanna. Fished around Duncannon Fri., Liverpool on Sat. Friday was a bit tough because the Juniata was pumping brown mud into the river and it really screwed up the fishing downstream. Still managed several smallmouth (biggest was 18") on tubes, spinnerbaits and Case Magic Sticks (Senko type sinking worm). I had a musky bite me off clean and lost a big fish when it ledged me and broke off. Sat. was a better day upriver and we had a really good day. Couldn't estimate numbers, but we were getting bitten pretty regularly all day. Got another 18 and several 15-18, including a four pound channel cat on a Magic Stick that fought so well I was sure I had that 20+ smallmouth until we got it close. It was a really good day on the water and while we got a few on top water, the Magic Stick, rigged in my special way for those in the know, was the bait of the trip catching the biggest and the most fish both days.
For those who haven't fished it, the Susquehanna is a huge river with a strong flow and tons of structure to nurture fish. Despite many pollution concerns, the fishery seems to be in very good shape. We caught pretty much all sizes of fish, even though our fish averaged pretty sizeable for an average. The smallmouth look to have been infused by a Great Lakes strain, with wider bodies than our Va. strain. Perhaps because of that, and the strength of current they must live with daily, those smallmouth fight noticeably harder than those from more southern climes, and I have caught enough of both now to be able to certify the difference. My previous experiences on the Susquehanna were in early March and I wasn't impressed with the area beauty-wise, but the summer leaves blocked the road views and softened the hills to produce a truly beautiful river view I'm glad I got the chance to see. We only took pics of the two 18s, and if/when I get them sent to me, I'll try to get them posted.
Sounds like you guys had a pretty good trip - glad you got into the fish. There's nothing like a fat smallmouth in the current. I've only caught them in Southwest Virginia and Lake Erie, and I can vouch that those northern fish are a whole different animal. They look like footballs compared to our usual river smallmouth. The difference in a 20" fish is likely pushing 1.5 lbs.
I know you've danced around it before, but care to share your email in the off chance I could learn more about how you rig those senko's? I'm asking for a friend.
You are correct, and I actually have it on good authority that some of those Erie dearies got magically "transported" to the Susquehanna back in the day by outlaw stockers and perhaps that's the origin of the difference. Either way, it is amazing the difference in the fish all the way down to the dinks.
As for the rig, I dance on the site but have offered the skinny more than once to TKP as a gift for letting me hang out. Email me at newriverangler@hotmail.com and I'll clue you...er...your friend in. Since I'm no longer in the guiding game, I have passed the rig along to some, but it actually still is held pretty close, one of the major reasons it is so effective. That and the counterintuitive, even downright ridiculousness of the rig, is one reason it works so well, so consistently.
Awesome report, thanks! Have always wanted to get up to the Susquehanna but wasn't sure how well it had recovered in recent years. What section did you fish?
As far as your worm rig, was this the way you showed me on your boat that CK does for tourists?
Yep. CK designed and developed the rig, and while the name may imply its simplicity and inspire thoughts of negativity, I swear by it. He'd probably flay me slowly if he knew I was offering it up, but so be it. I do love my Hokies.
Thanks. Well you offered it to me, another guide, and I know him, so you're all good! Just saying the name of the design doesn't do anything to give it away
Yeah, well that's one way of looking at it, huh? As for the name not giving anything away, that was actually the point of naming it that.
Spent many many days hiking along the susquehana but never fished it but that might have to change with the James being the let down it is and luckily I've got family living by it so I may have to try that out. Glad you guys didnt go on the potomac the rivers here are an absolute record level mess.
You sir, are correct. The Potomac was about 10 feet too high. We lucked out up in PA, though, and while we wore our rainsuits a lot because of drizzle, it never really rained on us and was cool and cloudy all day both days. If you can fish it and like to catch smallmouth, it shouldn't be an afterthought, but a targeted destination.
Will have to do some research and a random trip later this summer then sounds like a great river for smallmouth. We live on the south anna river above richmond and that river almost hit 28 feet on friday night as if the fishing wasnt ruined on that river now the fish are caught in the tree tops, that rivers normal flow is 5 feet for those curious on the data. With all the normal fishing holes running out of fish looks like PA sounds good to me
Posting on behalf of iFish. Those are a couple of beautiful bronzebacks - it wouldn't hurt my feelings if that strain was introduced to the James.
Thanks, bro. The angle of the photo diminishes the width of the fish, but I agree that I'd love to have had those fish in the James and New. I noticed as well that the fish seemed to really thump the bait, maybe because of the current, but the bites were absolutely never subtle like they were so often on the New. I have said that I've caught enough smallmouth to tide me over until they spread my ashes, but honestly, I'd go back to the Susquey any chance I got. Since we weren't in Md or Va, our guide couldn't legally guide us, so we just all shared the expenses and fished an extra day to make the trip worth it, but he was pretty sure that next year, he'd get the Pa guide license and go over there to fish clients sometimes. I ain't shilling for anyone, but I'll shill for that river's smallmouth. Also muskies, cats and walleye are around and caught on the same water. Anyone wishing info on the guide can email me, I've known him for maybe 15 years and he has one of the coolest boats ever made. 14' raft, I forget the manufacturer, made as a prototype for the Navy Seals, that he somehow talked the maker into selling to him. 40hp jet on back, oars, 80lb thrust trolling motor, he carries everything and somehow gets 11 rods on the boat as well. Every time we parked, even just for gas, we had lookie loos ooing and ahhing over it.
Damn!
Footballs!
Headed down to Hilton Head in two weeks. Don't think my boats going to be a go so I'm going out with a guide I've fished with a couple times down there. Honestly have no idea what we're going for probably some reds, if they're not biting he usually will get us on whatever is.
Wanted to share an update from our trip to the Maury River on Friday June 15th. We fished a 7 mile stretch, putting in downstream of Glen Maury Park, taking out at Glasgow. Myself, my 16 y/o son, and my best buddy hit the water at 10:30 am, after driving up from Richmond, and enjoyed the river all day, finally taking out at 7:30 pm. Beautiful day on the water filled with tons of laughs, the occasional father fussing match, some great views, and good fishing. Not a huge numbers day, but the bite was fairly consistent throughout the day, with most of the best fish caught in the early afternoon. The fish were thick and well fed, I'm assuming they've been gorging post-spawn. The topwater bite was nonexistent, and I couldn't my crank game going, so it was a finesse fishing day. The best lures were a small tube and a soft plastic craw by zoom. Some other fish were caught on Ned rigs and other stick worm presentations.
Here are the two best fish of the day:
Well crap, it looks like I don't know how to post pictures. I've got my pictures on amazon prime photos. If someone wants to give me some instructions, I'll try again.
I think the url you posted is private. In prime go to the picture click "Share" -- "Link"
Also might have to remove the img tags from the post as I don't see a direct url option on amazon
Let's try this again:
https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/Sel7odgRoIoBvi7zzwpn3UETrRwoZoTvjo3Y...
https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/FhxLiXyuxbSmc9oYhuOrDuu6paXRAC2rdJlf...
Nice fish!
Nice! The background in the second one is great - magical looking spot!
Thanks! Much appreciated.
Hokienator,
At what levels do you start to see the North Anna clear up? I like to fish it at 400 CFS or lower, but right now she's running at 700 and falling from the big amount of water pushed into it this past weekend. Do you know if it clears up at this level as it drops?
Thanks!
That's the hard part to answer it clears up about a full week after a hard rain once it hits normal levels ie 4-5 feet it's clear in about three to four days IF and a big IF as long as they don't open the damn up or a stray thunderstorm dump some water which makes it tough to get a clear floating in the summer . which will muddy it over night but good luck fishing it in the near future there are some serious log jams on it now after this last huge flood haven't done much on the north in a few years but in the past clearing up took a bit of normal flow on the north and especially the south which is far muddier and harder to fish
Edit pardon my old mind but I've forgotten all the data points I used to know when I floated it extensively but I used to have a piece of paper with the data points for optimal fishing on those rivers I'll try and find it I haven't been on either river in two years now even for a cruise I just pass over it every day to work and laugh when it got stupidly high this weekend so I've got James River and other numbers in my old spots in my brain.
Much appreciate the info! I'm not an expert on that stream yet but I know it gets super muddy post rain and when they let the dam out, but I wasn't sure if I could time it as it falls and clears up to fish post rain and/or release. It is the only local spot I have to guide right now. It was 700 CFS today and it is dropping, but I cancelled my trip tomorrow as the client said he really wanted perfect conditions. I generally float it when it is above 350 CFS but running clear.
I do want to fish the South for spotted bass, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
If either of you guys ever want to fish the North Anna or the South Anna please let me know. I live on the South just below 54, but am terrible about making time to fish either!
The damn is key on the north in all my years it's what keeps it semi floatable but it's random and they usually let the damn down on Sundays so Mondays can be the better days to float as damn releases don't muddy it much and can make it floatable but only a few chunks are really floatable even in high water it's meant for wading really and back when I was on it twice a week the stretch below route one was the one with spotted bass the thickest the south used to be primarily smallmouth but that river is unfloatable in the summer only wading too many shallow streches last time I was on it the sod farm keeps the river levels stupidly low all summer which makes floats a drag but like I said maybe the rivers changed since my last trip on it I can't say anymore my days off going down with a chainsaw and all to clear log jams are over sadly
I'm heading to Cherokee Lake in NE TN for some striper fishing this weekend. Plan is to try and locate fish and soak some shad on them and fill in the lulls trolling umbrella rigs. Water temps are down this week due to weather so hopefully the fish have moved up in the water column and are active. Last report I got they were moving towards the dam and holding around 30' to 40'. I'll post a report once I get back.
Used to fish the head of the lake and near the warm water discharge in Rogersville for walleye, and occasionally stripers. There's a great spring crappie run there and the only place I've seen paddlefish. Best of luck!
Sometimes you get lucky and snag a bass with just a worm...
No hook? Leg for the nice fish, and the nice hat, and the nice T shirt, or the whole damn thing.
Daveinop, where did you get your nucanoe from? Trying to go through grrentop without much luck
locally (I'm in St Augustine) at Black Creek Outfitters in Jacksonville
https://blackcreekoutfitters.com/kayaks/
They charge 200$ to ship it for you?
no shipping. i picked it up at the store.
these guys say they charge $69. never done business with them
https://tristatetrollingmotor.com/inc/sdetail/2018_nucanoe_frontier_10__...
these guys claim $60
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kayak-NuCanoe-Frontier-10-/112743048535
I'll look into those links or may just take a little road trip to pick up a boat instead we shall see thanks for the links!
Let us know how it turns out. I'm eager to hear about it!
Also, you may want to try Appomattox River Co
I would since I live by it but they don't carry nucanoes it sucks and greentop can be tricky to deal with I'm trying to avoid paying 100$ for frieght shipping so I got some money to trick it out
My wife bought her Hobie foot controlled kayak from their Newport News (or Hampton?) store and another friend got a kayak from them as well. They were right on in pricing and fantastic for service. Recommend them highly.
Will look into them as well I've emailed all kinds of places and will be putting in a few calls tomorrow
tell them the first one who waives shipping gets the sale
I'm working my way there slowly got 8 vendors on the loop right now seeing who offers what that being said almost nobody has the F10 in stock like nobody except greentop so far and the order time is one month right now
Shame the James isn't the king for smallies anymore or I'd suggest we do a TKP tourney one day and winner gets a hat or something
Best response I've heard about fishing the James near me for smallies: "run your boat all the way down to the damn, and then jump it. All the good fishing is on the other side."
Well, any good fisherman'll tell you that you should always depend on local knowledge. Don't take your kids on this one though, ok?
Well I'm committed, just got some minnows and nightcrawlers. Gonna hit that dead spot tomorrow evening for a couple hrs and see if we do any good.
How has everyone been! Looks like many of you are catching fish! I have been out to The Chick R, Buggs and the Potomac . Nothing to write about. The bass on the Potomac seems to have been smoked. But you can catch all the snake heads and catfish you want. Headed to Leech Lake for spotted muskies, walleye and SMB in a few weeks. CANNOT WAIT!
A question for you kayak people... do you have any need to keep fish alive during the day? Be it for a tournament, to eat or any other reason? If you do, contact me at walleye0 at g mail. I have an idea!
Welcome back Musky!
Got any room to take a bronzeback addict like myself?
All done!
That looks awesome! Great job!
Seriously great job!
Electrical next?
Yeah. Gonna put new bunks, bunk supports, and new bearing hubs on the trailer while its off. Then start wiring, new trim switch, and reorganize wire.
Looks freaking awesome man. While you are at it, you may want to check your wiring for the lights on your trailer. I redid mine last fall and it only took an hour and it feels so good to not have to worry about the lights.
Yupp also in the works. I'll be moving my lights up and mounting them on my guides, just going to replace then entire harness.
WOW, totally love it!! Doesn't even look like the same boat. You should send a pic to the previous owner. :)
That was a seriously great job you did! You should be proud of the results. Now, if you need to hone those skills a bit more, I have a Scout that could use that kind of serious attention...
very, very, very nice!
wanna come down and work on a Scout?
edit: dang, Ifish beat me to it!
To be honest, my Scout is in pretty good shape. The blue hull section is in need of a full stripping and waxing and I have a few small dings in the gelcoat that need patching. I have shoulder issues that preclude me from wading in on that job, and right now, there are no teenagers in the neighborhood I could pay to do the work whilst I sit in a lawn chair drinking beer in the shade swatting skeeters and closely supervising. I'm not to the point of being ashamed of the boat, either, so there's that. Didn't want anyone to get any bad feelings about Scouts. They're good boats.
I was getting pissed at the mosquitoes yesterday up until I took a sting from a cow killer that got on my leg. I just brushed at it thinking it was another mosquito, nope.
Yikes, sounds bad, but I don't know what a cow killer is. I've been flybit, snakebit, tickbit, fleabit, gnatbit, skeeterbit, spiderbit, birdbit, dogbit, catbit, monkeybit, turtlebit, lizardbit, ponybit, goosebit, turkeypecked and fishbit, to name what comes quickly to mind, but never heard of a cow killer. If you're talking about those monster horseflies, well then I have.
Edit: How could I have forgotten goatbit and chickenpecked...and yes, henpecked applies.
Cow killer is a velvet ant...which is actually a type of wasp. Their stings are ridiculously painful (3 out of 4 on the sting pain scale)
That just looks nasty.
That looks gnarly as hell. In central Patagonia there is a big orange and black horsefly called a Tabano. Looks pretty similar. They are built like tanks. Will land on you and stay there and give you a really bad bite, like a Greenhead but a lot worse, but they are slow so you can smack them. Problem is, no matter how hard you smack them, they won't die. I'm not kidding. I would smack them and roll them under my hand to crush them and then take my hand away and those bastards would fly off. One of the fly fishings guides I went with carries chewing gum and toothpicks with him. He chews up some gum, sticks it on the side of his boat and when he catches a tabano landing on him, he grabs it and sticks it to the gum. They can't get off that. Then he takes the toothpick and impales it through the Tabano and then pulls the fly off the gum with the toothpick still in it. The goddamn Tabano will fly away with the toothpick still in him. I couldn't believe it. They are insane bugs.
Looks like the Cavalier on his back after falling off his horse. But the wasp has more fire power.
I do know of the velvet ant and have seen three of them in my years. Never close to getting into a tangle with them, though, their reputation preceded them. Thanks, I'd never heard the term.
sounds like mine is in the same shape as yours. I'm just taking the paint off to restore the gelcoat a bit at a time and won't redo all of it (will likely repaint portions of the bottom and the keel section).
My overall list isn't much shorter than Heuplek's, I just started at a different place. I've installed a trolling motor
and rodholders, moved the cranking battery/connections from the stern to under the console, replaced the steering/helm with a no feedback system, and put on a new prop. Will be taking it in for new cushions next week (for Mrs. D) and will order a bimini for local sightseeing trips (also a priority for Mrs D). Then it goes to the trailer folks for adjustments of the bunks and rollers.
Other than some wet sanding of what I've already stripped, I don't expect to attack the paint again until the weather cools this fall.
Do you have ablative paint or other?
Looks very nice. When are you taking us fishing?
If any of you guys are ever in SC and want to fish give me a heads up.
Dude...that is sleek!
EDit: Concerning the restored boat.
Went and got my boat just now at lunch and taking it to the james to float tomorrow will put up some pictures later but while im here whats a good weight leader for popper fishing for bass mine finally broke and I need some new leaders for my popping bug rod?
I use 12 - 15 pound test tippet for poppers. Highly recommend learning to build your own leaders, it is super easy and saves a LOT of $$$
I can just tie a loop knot on a piece of 12 pound mono and it'll fly okay then? Didn't realize I could do that I've got it set up to use a loop for my tippets just didn't think about that as an option
Yep, that will work. I used to do loop to loop for my tippets, works well.
I used 10lb fluorocarbon on the New. Liked the action of the bug with the lighter line, and 10'll still take care of a big smallmouth.
Sweet thanks guys for the tips I'm gonna go get some line for this weekend and do that it saves me a fair amount of money!
Absolutely agree. Once I learned to build leaders I felt ashamed to have spent the kind of money I used to spend buying them. Plus it's fun to customize leaders for specific uses, etc.
Prepping the F 12 for market
https://imgur.com/a/QyJxmdX
Man oh man why did I wait so long to get a nice fishing kayak I can't say enough about the F10 it was so smooth incredibly stable and comfortable as the recliner in the living room with golf on the TV on a Sunday afternoon. Took it out for it's maiden voyage on the pamunkey for a few miles this evening nothing in the boat to write home about just lots of small bream and too many fat Creek chubs or suckers which all took a nice dirt nap as well. Did a few small rapids standing up with no problems the boat barely goes down in the water and I could spin and stand anywhere on deck with little worry fly fishing is an absolute breeze I can't wait to get it to the mountains on the Shenandoah and new later on.
That thing looks awesome. The chair swivels all the way around?
Yup it's height is adjustable and it's 360 it makes getting into my tackle box behind a breeze when I spin around it hardly leans over super stability on the sides. It's incredibly agile as well was able to turn on a dime when I got a snag
Oh man, that's down right sexy. You better take some thumb guards when you go down the Shenandoah ... could be a long day for the smallies, and your thumbs. 😁🐟🎣
Absolutely can't wait the torn up thumb is always a sign of a good day!
congrats!
i think your decision on the F10 is much better than the choice I made on the F12
It's definitely tighter fit than the 12 a few extra feet would be handy but for the size I've still got room especially with the area under the seat
I'll be curious to see how it handles a class 1-2 rapid on the 'doah. It looks pretty top heavy with that seat way up off the hull.
We will see I'm gonna take it through a few rapids next weekend I'm not worried on flipping I'm just gonna definitely get soaked but that's all part of the fun the agility of the boat definitely surprised me big time
What is the weight capacity? I'm tall and heavyish. Would this work? I've been in the market for a fishing kayak for years and only recently have I been confident in fitting it in the budget. Thoughts have been save for a Jackson (and live in the doghouse for a while) or get the Walmart special for less than $400. Something like this might be a happy medium.
I did the Walmart special for a canoe once. Sold it after 1 season. It was super heavy, hard to maneuver, less stable, and made me not want to go out. My experience says don't go that route. Our other boat at the time was a 15' old town camper that we picked up used to save some $$; it was a dream comparatively. Too bad they stopped making royalex, I've seen those old town's get turned inside out on the river and then pop right back into shape and keep floating on.
Their website lists the recommended weight as under 350 pounds one thing on this model as it's super wire which allows for great stability and the seat is huge which makes it very roomy
Edit: I would do research and get a demo done if you can find vendors that'll do them or find people to try out their boat but I can't stress when it comes to kayaks or boats in general you get what you pay for I thought my old boat was great till I fished in it and now that I've upgraded there is a huge difference in how nice a boat is even though I didn't have a great day fishing being comfortable and not cursing my boat made it bearable and even enjoyable
Look at Diablo kayaks. I've got a friend who is pretty large and he fishes very well on his Diablo. He loves it
OBX "Reef Species" Fishing report (north of Oregon Inlet): Finally got the timing right yesterday to get the spear out and spend some time free-diving on the near-shore structure. Water is mixing warm & cold right now and visibility is marginal. There is a lot of mussel growth on the structures thanks to the cold-water winter and the triggerfish have shown up in big numbers - almost all structure seems to have a group of triggers picking at the mussels. The sheepshead are starting to thin-out (typical for early July) but there are still a few around (if you want sheepshead, go to the bridge). Saw quite a few juvenile stripers (20"-22" range), but none legal. Tautog in moderate numbers are here as (seemingly) always.
Saw a lot of bait in the water and saw fish making chase, but due to clarity issues, I could not make out what the pursuers were. Probably Spanish Mackerel.
If you like triggerfish, now is the time to be wetting a line.
Thanks for the report. How deep is the structure you dive? I've been debating getting into spear fishing
Most of the nearshore stuff around here is in 15'-25' of water. If you are a decent swimmer, 20' of depth will come with just a couple of days of practice. There are a few spots around here that get depths of 45' or so, and with more practice, just about any fit person can achieve that too - but there are a lot of fish to be caught in 20' of water and the 45' stuff is in a kind of sketchy location.
I recommend giving it a try, but give the hook & line guys a wide berth (avoid being anywhere near them - it's just common courtesy), and practice the buddy system. We had a guy disappear a couple of years ago when he was out spear fishing alone.
Thanks for the info. I've got an inner ear problem so swimming below about 8 feet is an issue for me. I do know of a spot in Morehead that I'm told is loaded with fish and is really fun to spearfish and treasure hunt and at low tide is only about ten feet deep. I may start there. Also have had guys tell me they go spear fishing on flats with just a snorkel, but that sounds silly to me when I can cast at those same fish with a lot less commotion.
Just to clarify - all of our spearfishing in near-shore water is done with snorkel & mask only. (Scuba gear is cheating!)
If you are going to give it a try, you don't need any fancy equipment. A basic snorkel, mask, & fins from Wal-Mart and a Hawaiian sling is all you need.
Sounds good, I've already got the snorkel and mask!
My niece got a couple of nice ones off Avalon this AM. Very little else around.
Just returned back home to my AC and couch after guiding the last two days in Topping Va out of the kayaks. Yesterday had a guy who could cast very well and tournament fishes. Despite proclaiming tarpon to be his favorite, he was happy to catch white perch. Alot of them. We also got on croaker and seven or eight stripers to 17 inches. There was a much bigger striper milling around the ones he hooked but we couldn't get him to eat.
Today the wind kicked up and the client was not as good of a caster as he proclaimed, which is a very common problem amongst fly fishermen when discussing experience with their guides. I was able to get him casting 25 feet. No bites for the first two hours and when the tide finally turned, the white perch turned on. He was happy to catch them one after another, which was fine by me, but I want schoolie rockfish.
An old friend showed up on his boat and we exchanged mixed reports. He hadn't done jack the last two days but an acquaintance of ours had done well on topwater on grass flats. Another captain reported inshore fishing as bad but then posted pics of trout and stripers. My friend left to go fish some more areas and later texted me that he was heading in and got skunked. He seems to think there is alot of freshwater in the system after all of the rain and it is affecting the stripers.
We ended up catching a few croaker and one dink striper to round out the day. I'm beat, sunburned and hungry and looking forward to working inside on the laptop tomorrow....
Anyone have a suggestion for a lure for Rockfish? I know live bait...I know. But I typically have 30 minutes in the morning before work to go throw out a line and don't have time or resources for live bait. Just want to rig something up and have a chance. I'm on the Choptank, in Cambridge, just about at the mouth of the Chesapeake and they are here now.
I would suggest a small swimbait. I had good success on the bass assassin 4" swimbait pink/green. I think it's called electric chicken.
Concur on swimbaits. I am partial to the Calcutta and Storm. The electric chicken is good, but I've also done well with the croaker color and it is hard to beat the various chartreuse/white combos. Start with the smaller ones, sometimes they'll just not take the bigger offerings. 4" is just about right for schoolies. They'll also take topwater, but I haven't had as much luck doing that as I have with the swimbaits.
Quarter or half ounce jig head (depending on depth) with a 3-4 inch long grub or shad style soft plastic in Chicken on a Chain Color. All you need.
This time of year, peeler crab is the way to go.
November rolls around, throw 3 inch storm shads on outgoing. Incoming is pretty useless at Choptank/Burton Pier.
I will also weigh in on my gripe of the moment...Venture boat trailers. Mine is rusting away as we speak, not the frame, but most of the added hardware and hangers. I will have to replace a busted spring to move it again, but will have to also replace the other spring, the axle, the hubs and numbers of hangers that are dangerously rusted. I wash the trailer down after every use, and always concentrate on the springs and hubs, but to no avail. Internet chatter leads me to believe that this is a common problem with Ventures and I know that salt water will kill most any trailer eventually, but I don't understand a trailer manufacturer making something so important that rusts so badly so quickly. I have read about folks having to replace their springs every two years and that's just not acceptable to me. Can't afford to just go buy a new trailer, so I'm stuck with a fix-up. Caveat emptor, I guess.
Oh man...I busted into trailer work this weekend. I knew the ruse was bad when I started but once I got the bunks off I realized that it was a bit worse than I thought. I have a Road King.
Axle and frame are good, bunk supports were completely shot so I replaced those. Replaced the bunk boards and put some Surfix slicks (god damn $400 to cover 2 12ft bunks) on them instead of carpet (hoping to get as much water/salt holding material of the trailer as possible). The main section of my hub looks okay but the housing over the spindle is completely rusted through so I'll be ordering some new hubs.
To top all of this off I set all of the new bunk supports exactly to the height they were before and I guess I just never realized that they were way too low for post because I finally got the boat back up on the trailer, winched her forward and all the weight ended up on the post, collapsing the roller down and putting a nice 3" gouge in my new paint. So since my post is already all the way down I jacked the boat up and raised my bunks as much as I could and bought a plate for the bow since my post is still supporting a little weight, like you said I can't afford a new trailer right now but at this point I'm so far into it I should have just had one made.
Yeah, and the worst thing is that the more I reallllllly look, the more things wrong I find. I have priced stuff, and without doubt fixing up what I have is cheaper than getting a new trailer, but I'm no mechanic and routine fix-it stuff is a real chore for me. The other thing is, if you fix one thing, you really feel pressured to fix it all because any of it could leave you on the side of the road.
While working from home today, I went to install new trailer lights....annnnd I'm getting 0v to the rear of the trailer now. New wiring harness here we come. The old harness copper is completely black so that's probably not good.
Been there, done that, got the T shirt. It's almost easier to just replace the whole shebang every three or four years than constantly chasing down the connection failures. I've done many things over the years supposedly designed to eliminate the problems, but while I've seen some systems that would work for a while, I've still hopelessly stuck with the same ole regular lights and wiring and have come to expect problems on a regular basis. Now, I'll ignore them for a while because it's only 2 miles to the boat ramp, but eventually I have to deal with them.
There is no better way to say it... Boat trailer lights fucking suck.
they do. though at least with LEDS you don't drive around with extra bulbs in the glove box of the truck.
having my boat cushions on the $cout being redone. then I'll drop it off at the trailer place and tell them to re-fit the trailer to the boat...previous owner (grumble, grumble, grumble)
No, you don't, but you still have the wires and connections to fail, and eventually those LEDs start losing lights as well.
And don't get me started on previous owner grumbles. I could start a whole thread...
They do. This new install should be better though. All my connections will stay 100% dry. I'm running a continuous wire up the guides, uninstalling all of my side lights that might get submerged and running the wiring itself through some conduit to protect it from getting nicked. All that plus heat shrink on my 3 connections should keep everything in place, maybe have to replace a corroded ground every few seasons but it beats the hell out of doing this.
that's really the key. i'm convinced there is no coating, shrink wrap, etc. that doesn't eventually fail if it is regularly submerged
And that's the crux of the matter, isn't it? I don't have guides on my trailer, and I know I should get something like that to solve the lighting problem, but by the time I get all this stuff fixed up I'll be too old to enjoy it or pushing up daisies.
You guys are handy ... meanwhile, I'm all proud of myself for knowing how to take the cover off the motor.
If the motor ever goes back, I'm trolling back; if both go out, I'm paddling. Yes Tom, I actually have a paddle now. :) Would have come in handy on Little Creek.
Paddle and a net, must have on any fishing boat. Nice to have a pole for shallow water as well, but paddle and a net.
I refuse to believe a paddle will help my boat one bit. I keep my push pole for insurance but that's still only useful in water 10 feet or less.
Yeah, I totally agree that a pole in ten feet or less is much more efficient than a paddle, and if you're in more than ten, the paddle might not do enough to help you much anyway, but I've been caught in situations where a paddle made the difference in docking and fine positioning when the motor isn't a good (or possible) option. Since most fishing in Va. saltwater is in deeper water, though, almost nobody has a pole on board. I used to carry one I cut from a sapling when I was fishing the realllllly shallow flats for reds the year they invaded our neck of the woods. I blew out two prop sleeves that summer getting in some stoopid situations because the bulk of the reds were in a foot or less of water. When aground, a push pole gives you more leverage to get off the bottom.
The paddle and a net quip was for smc's benefit because we went out one day and really could have used one. It was more of a joke than a declaration, and yes, I am prone to hyperbole at times. The net, though, is non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned.
Those slicks seem pretty pricey. I have bunks on mine too, and after about having to submerge half my van in order to get the boat off and on, not to mention having to wear waders in the cold weather to load back up, I finally tried just some cheap glide slicks from maybe Cabela's or Bass Pro. Took two per side, and the difference was dramatic. First time I launched, I did things as usual and almost dropped the boat on the ramp short of the water. Luckily, still had the motor up or it would have hit. Lesson learned. Now I can stop short of dunking my rear end for both tasks, but replacing my van's back bumper will eventually be necessary because of earlier experiences, and I'd hate to be the one replacing my rear brakes when the time comes for that. I didn't have to cover the bunks, just place the slick in the middle of each one and that did it. Nowhere near $400, though I don't remember how much it was (under $100, I'd bet). I'll never have a bunk trailer again without them.
I used bare Trex lumber for the bunks on my previous trailer for my 16'/40hp jon boat. worked like a charm. once a year I'd shoot a little silicon spray on them.
not sure how it would handle a glass hull but it was the best thing ever for an aluminum hull
Chased stripers on Cherokee lake in the sweltering heat for 3 days with absolutely nothing to show for it. We marked a lot of fish and saw some feeding on bait, but we absolutely could not get them to cooperate at all. We had just a few hits and tried everything from downrigging to jigging to setting up on fish and schools of bait with live bluegill and shiners. We didn't get an opportunity to catch any shad but I'm not sure it would've mattered. We did not see another boat bring in a fish and the heat made it tough once the morning drug on. We did find two fish floating that appeared to be caught deep and released - one was probably in the low 20#'s. Tough trip but that's the way it goes. My only guess is that the cool week with rain we had prior mixed with the blast of high pressure and heat had some negative effects.
I'm heading to the beach next week and will try for some saltwater action. Hopefully I can have a little bit of luck with some of the tips you guys have provided. Thanks again and good luck to everyone out on the water.
Talked one day with a fisheries biologist doing a striper survey one day in the river just above the lake. He said that the mortality from catch and release striper fishing was tremendous once the water got hot. He wanted the state to institute a catch and quit rule for the deep summertime, but didn't figure anyone would go for it. this was in the early-mid 90s, and I haven't been back there since, so I don't know the rules anymore.
The current regulation is 2 striper or hybrid in any combination with a minimum length of 15 inches. I don't think there's a catch a quit rule and a quick search didn't turn one up. I have seen boats catch dozens of them and throw them back. Anytime I've been on the water around an area where they are actively feeding and people are fishing, there's usually several in sight floating on top of the water. The only protection that I'm aware of outside of ethical practices is that they close off an area near the dam to fishing from mid July to mid September. This gives the fish some deep cool water to spend the hottest part of the summer away from fishing pressure. The boats tend to pile up outside of this zone and there's usually floaters always in sight.
Out of the 3 we saw floating Saturday, two were still alive and we scooped them up and put them in on ice. While it was a little unorthodox I just couldn't understand letting them die and rot in the sun when we could at least put them to use in the deep fryer. I didn't see who caught them but there's usually a lot of guides that come out on the weekends with clients that try to put people on fish quick and pick up lots of numbers. I guess since it's a 100% stocked, put and take type fishery they can still control the overall numbers, but the quality of fish is suffering. The bigger fish we found looked to be over 36" and had probably been in the lake for a decade and a half. It's hard to produce a 40 # fish with that kind of mortality and pressure.
Sorry to hear about the results - have a leg in the meantime.
My cobia fishing has been tragic. I saw one 28 inch rat eat a live spot on Sunday. I left the pier and joined a Hokie and some other nice gentlemen for a run up the Bay. We left from Little Creek and fished way up north. There were a ton of fish. I counted 46, and got to throw at 38. Three got hooked. Two spit the hook, and the biggest somehow unhinged the fluoro side of a braid to fluoro uni knot. I also had a 40 pounder sit beside the boat about 5 feet deep and pull two squid tails off my jig (yes with time to add a new one) and then turn it's nose up at an eel.) I had chases all day and even managed to hook one in free spool and jigging the bucktail with my hand, but with no way to close the bail because I was talking to MsSusieCue when the fish moseyed by. But nothing in the box.
The esteemed Hokie got a nice keeper to eat a prototype trailer on a Bowed Up jig. She was a mid 40'inch fish, but she was loaded with eggs so we let her go. Three other fish came in the boat, all short.
I am hanging my head in shame. It was so bad that the gentleman who took us out gave me a full spread makings of a seafood dinner (shrimp and scallops) right off the docks at Wanchease.
Today I went back to the pier. Perfect conditions (east 7-10 and pretty water loaded with glass minnows.) There were no Spanish or bluefish. My niece (age 9) did the work. She caught a nice sea mullet, a couple of spot, a handful of small spadefish, and two nice triggerfish. She packed up at 10am. I tried to stick it out, but after watching two dozen "I can feel his head shaking" cownose ray runs with no cobia in sight, I packed it in.
I may be back on the Bay on Friday sand Sunday, but the weather will be an issue. The pier has fireworks already set up so it will be closed tomorrow. I could go to Nags Head and try it but I think I will take a rest day and try again Thursday. Getting old fucking blows.
Sucks man, we all have those days. Unfortunately gotta have them so you can have the good ones. At least the numbers are good!
There were rats (20-35 inch) fish everywhere. But they were all in concentration in one area. The area just east of the CBBT was a Dead Sea.
That just means next year will be good. If I find lots of rat reds, all of those fish are much bigger and better the next year.
French, if I didn't have so many problems getting big cobia to the boat myself, I'd swear you were the snake-bit one and it's rubbed off on me. Thanks a million, big guy!
In all seriousness, though, while frustrating, your experience is far from a bust. Seeing that many cobia, catching several, and having that many chances is far from a bad day. So give it a rest for sure, but don't talk to me about getting old blowing. I'm really busy writing that sermon as we speak.
I made it back out the James last night and had some fun with the kids. Nothing special we did, just jigs tipped with minnows, as iFish would say. :) The water is crazy warm, so the deeper pockets should be better, and the water is also finally starting to clear up after all the rain.
I'm trying to get after cobia this weekend in a 22 ft. CC. The boat handles rough water okay but it seems like the CBBT is going to blow the entire weekend (and be perfectly calm every other day while I am at work). Has anybody heard of people catching Cobia anywhere more north in the bay, or does anybody have any other suggestions on where to go to stay away from the rough wind? I've heard about a few small ones being caught at Windmill Point and I've heard people trying at York Spit but only catching sharks. I was interested in spadefish also which is why the CBBT is appealing.
Yes, they are catching cobia at Windmill Point, and at New Point shoals, and at the York Spit. Not all of the fish are small, but they do seem more plentiful than the bigger ones, but big ones are also being caught. Only time I went out we got a 42" keeper and while we had some baits savaged, we didn't see a shark. One savaged our chum bag for sure, but we also had a run off from a big cobia there.
Problem is, none of those places will afford protection from the predicted 15-20 kt winds, or the 3-4' waves. I was supposed to take French and 3rdGen on Sunday, but I'm no fool and my 18.5' Scout can't handle that kind of stuff.
Yeah, it's going to be rough. I just don't have many free weekends to take the boat out in the bay so I might try to force it this weekend. It looks like Sunday afternoon will be a little calmer in the northern part of the bay, but it's probably going to be a game-time decision for me.
Take a day off when it's calm if you can. Also, have you fished for spadefish before? Interested in targeting them myself.
Yeah I went fishing for them out at the Chesapeake Light summer before last. We limited out easily that day. They are great fighting fish for their size and can be tasty when cooked right. We used clams on drum rigs that day. Everybody I talk to claims clams are by far the best bait to use.
Nice. I have heard the same things about clams and carolina rig. How many clams did you go through?
I can't remember exactly - sorry!
It's all good. Do you chum for cobia or you into the sightcasting?
Chumming unless it's a really calm day. I've thought about putting a tower on the boat but I don't go for cobia often and my boat wouldn't fit on my lift with a tower.
That's cool, They do have tower options that fold down so you could fit it on the lift. What do you usually fish for?
Anything! Rockfish whenever possible. Bass when conditions aren't great for the boat. Catfish/croaker off the dock. Tuna/dolphin when I can get offshore. Freshwater trout when I have time to find somewhere to fly fish. Flounder, spades, grey/speck trout, drum, togs, etc. I was hoping to get out in the James for the shad run but missed that again this year.
Very nice! I hit the shad run for the first time this year. It was pretty fun. Looking forward to hearing about your future trips.
I saw a couple of big ones creeping around the Plantation Light area on Monday. It was weird seeing them free swimming away from visible structure.
Was at the Cell a couple of years ago and there were a bunch of them swimming around near the surface. There were some guys out there fishing for them and they'd only caught a few small fish, but one of them had a bow and he stuck one that looked about 10 lbs or so. All of the fish we saw swimming were really big spades. I even caught my one and only spade in my life that day on a stingsilver. It was foul hooked and about five inches long.
Good luck and stay safe out there; hope you have some pics to share later this evening.
Took the nucanoe out on the east river with the pup on board for a while yesterday didnt do any fishing but got in alot of stability testing with a anxious puppy running around and falling out a few times the boats more than steady the dogs balance is not so yet.
After decades in a canoe, I am no longer a fan of little boats, but I really like that dog!
Dont get me wrong im not a canoe person but this boats nice as can be but of course the dogs getting acclimated for a little waterfowl hunting well be doing out of the nucanoe this upcoming season.
great looking dog!
so, in researching potential stand up kayak replacements for the F12, I stumbled upon several videos of how people are now fitting trolling motors on kayaks...things I had never considered for the F12 (e.g., using the flush mounted rodholders to secure factory and homemade TM brackets). So after only a couple of days I took the F12 off the market. I'm selling my 2.5 Suzuki instead and I'm going to build a side mounted trolling motor bracket attached to the "freedom" tracks. It will still be heavier than your F10 but I think it will do what I originally intended...stable fishing platform to paddle short distances and motor long distances.
I saw a few people doing that by mounting it on the front of the kayak like on a bass boat, cant see how that would be a bad idea I had the puppy running all over the boat checking everything out and never once felt off balance. Keep us posted on the build I'm interested to see how exactly you build it up I ike the Idea these boats are stable as can be.
https://imgur.com/a/QL6Ihz5
https://imgur.com/a/qJvXmOv
https://imgur.com/a/YvqKrQ6
pt 2x4 attached to pt 2x6 with SS angle brackets
12" SS threaded rod cut in half and used to extend yakattack mighty bolts thru the 2x4
SS eye straps on back of 2x6 "transom" zip tied to yak attack eyelet
there is no doubt a lighter weight/better way to do this...maybe trex...but when you crank down the bolts and zip it, it is absolutely secure
looking at a Saturn 55lb short shaft TM
will also attach rod rack to the middle of the TM transom...drill a few utility holes for tools...maybe a tray for gulp container
edit: yup, going to re-do it using 1 x 6 composite lumber. 1/4 x 4 SS truss head bolts should slide in the freedom track and bolt thru the bottom piece. 6" base will make a nice utility shelf
Is that a Drathaar?
Yes sir he's a pure deutch drahthaar still a bit young and clumsy but he's getting there, best looking dog their is if you ask me
I fished at the Concrete Ships near Kiptopeke State Park on the Eastern Shore yesterday. Launched a bit after first light. Tried fishing with clams and crabs at first, with no interest. Switched to jigging a bucktail and gulp and connected with a few flounder. All of mine were too short to keep. Also caught a decent grey trout on the bucktail. My buddy caught 5 and had a keeper and a bigger one get away at the boat. Big thing I learned is having a net for flounder is key. I don't usually have one cause it is more clutter on my kayak. Most of the action came as the tide started moving. Super cool place, great way to spend the 4th.
Pull flounder in sideways. If you lift directly up, the hook comes out often for some reason. Whenever I catch them I drag them sidearm
Good advice. One reason is that the flounder fights differently than other fish due to its physiology. They shake their heads up and down instead of back and forth, one of the "tells" that lets you know it's probably a flounder before you even see them. The lower rod tip keeps them from more easily shaking the hook at the boat, which seems to be where they fight the hardest. At first, they kinda feel like you picked up a Walmart bag or something (also a "tell").
Never ever try to lift a flounder in a boat by the hook. . . .
I used to go to kiptopeke every summer for a weekend to fish and camp and a little secret if you can(havent been in 4 years) go up in the wrecks they hold some very nice sized sheepshead but as you found out the sand shoals around the wrecks hold lots of flounder just not keeper size it seems
Dang, I would have loved to get on some sheepshead. Had rigs and dabbled in it before we started jigging. You mean parts where you can get inside of the ship? What did you use for bait?
The middle ship if I rememebr correctly had a hole in the side where in a canoe we could sneak in and fish inside the ships only on a rising and high tide and we used to jig for them with gulp or use whatever bait we had not with much success but occasionally wed get something other than an oyster toad. They may have patched the holes up since inside was nothing but death traps with exposed rusted rebar all over the place though since I havent been in a while I cant confirm. Just have some kind of metal grips if you go in there with live bait as the stinkin oyster toads are everywhere and you dont wanna put your fingers near their chompers.
Yeah I know what you are talking about. We considered going inside. There are a couple spots now that you easily get in with a kayak. We couldn't get any fiddler crabs at oceans east but I had some clams that could have worked.
get a small net designed for wade fishing...very handy in tight quarters. i have one with a cork handle and bungee cord thru it
That's a good idea. Thanks Dave!
I'll second this I've got a fly fishing net for my kayak thats got a floatie on it but it works like a charm with the clutter of a kayak. Used to just lay it on the back of my old kayak now I have it under my seat for easy access to it. Plus when you wrap up you can throw all your loose tackle in the net to carry it
Paddle and a net! The short handled nets recommended will work just fine from a yak. I've landed my share of flounder, with and without a net, and it is almost luck to get a good one in the boat, especially green, without that net. Thing is, you might not need it most of the time, but I'm always confident enough to believe that a big or special fish is the next bite I'll get, so I feel like a net is about as important as tackle and bait on a fishing trip.
Yeah the flounder can jump so easily out of the yak. I had my leg over top of one of them in the boat not pinned and it still managed to flop out. Definitely a good mentality to have with every fish could be special so you don't break one off/lose it.
Made a mistake yesterday and told a client we could easily wade the North Anna. Levels were showing 450 CFS and I swear I have waded it at that level with no issue, but it definitely felt like a lot more water. Couldn't reach any of my good holes and cut the trip two hours short. Will resume later this summer and canceled a wade fishing trip for this morning. To top it off, my lifeproof case apparently has a crack in it and my phone got wet. Grrrrr.... Waiting on the new one to arrive so I can get to DC this afternoon for the Foo Fighters concert. On the bright side, we did see some big largemouths.
If you're looking for some business tomorrow and/or Sunday let me know. Since the bay is windy I'm thinking about getting into trout somewhere inland.
Thanks, just seeing this... I don't do much guiding for trout as the closest to RVA is over and hour drive for me. If you wanted to go trout fishing I'd recommend Albemarle Angler
everlong is much fun to play...currently working it into our set list
Love that song and the show was absolutely awesome
i am envious...great band
Gonna be a bit till they settle down depending on the damn release on Sunday we got a bunch of rain today that'll muddy it for the next week probably I'm planning on running the rapidan next week hoping that didn't get bombed by this batch of rain
Thanks for the heads up!
Hit a different area on the same pond I've been hitting for a few weeks last night. And glad I did. Took my 15 year old and buddy of his. They both had a blast and were lighting up the sunnies. My son caught his first small mouth. And his buddy had a BIG big mouth on the line that was jumping like crazy until he spit the hook at the last minute. Pulling 9" sunnies/pumpkin seeds out after a wonky week is always decent therapy. Seeing the boys faces might be even better.
Good stuff - it's so nice to have a place close by that you can go to regularly.
Heading to Franklin, NC tomorrow for a week vacation in the Smokies. Already scheduled a guided fly fishing trip on a private creek for Sunday morning. Hoping to get the lay of the land once we get down there and go some more throughout the week. I will try and post photos as I can.
Random aside - in relation to your username, what do you write about?
When I first joined TKP I was a newspaper reporter and English major on the professional writing option. I have since transitioned to writing proposals on government contracts.
No report from me, boat's still in the driveway awaiting another leaf spring replacement. But, a friend of mine got out last week and trolled for Spanish mackerel. They only landed one, but it was a nice one. He said they were catching bluefish, and what little I know about trolling for Spanish, if you're catching blues, you're trolling too slow, so that could have missed them out on some mackerel. They also caught a ton of small spot out in the "Mud Hole" area at the mouth of the Piankatank where the head boats go for them. No yellow bellies, they were all small. Another friend was out last weekend with his son in Mobjack Bay and got a 44" red drum on cut croaker. Hope to be back out soon.
What is it with trailers? I just went to do a simple bearing swap. My spindle is completely rusted through on the back side. So I'm just saying fuck this and ordering a new torsion axle. If I'm not on the water by the 21st I'm gonna lose my mind.
Yep, that's my world for the last week and this coming. The second leaf spring broke when I jacked up the trailer to fix the first one. I was hoping to get the boat off the trailer before tackling the second one, but no. Like yours, my spindle is badly rusted and the hubs are even worse, so I think I'm looking at an axle and hub replacement soon. I will admit that I was sorely tempted to approach the CFO here at house Ifish to lobby for hitting the savings for a new trailer rather than go through replacing all the rusted stuff on my Venture, but reality set in. Either way, I'd have to fix the springs in order to launch the boat and remove the trailer from the driveway, so I guess I'll wait a bit more and cross my fingers the spindle will hold out a little longer. It's not rusted through...yet.
I fished three pier days on top of my boat trip. The pier was a struggle. I managed some small spots, some nice northern kingfish (sea mullets), and a handful of bluefish, threadfin herring, flounder, and spadefish. My niece caught two nice triggerfish.
The livevait rig was a struggle. I had some spots get chopped in half by bluefish or small sharks. I had a skate eat a live spot off the surface. That was a first. I also caught a large houndfish that ate a small bluefish.
It was a slow week with good water. I am pretty disappointed.
I also caught a large houndfish that ate a small bluefish.
Now that's weird
Not really. They kill our live baits all the time, both on the pier and chumming in the Bay. It is rare that one actually gets a hook in it though. This happened to be a really small bluefish (about six inches) and a really big houndfish. It took him a couple of swipes but he managed to get a treble in his mouth. They are a pain, especially when it is hard to make bait.
They fight like the dickens, though, don't they? Jumping like lunatics and slashing left and right. I've hooked a bunch but landed just a few. If you have light line, they're going to break you off, and their teeth are fearsome on line, too.
But yeah, they really are a pain, I'll agree.
I guess you are getting the really big boys. I hooked and caught a five footer in Costa Rica that jumped and fought like hell. I catch 3 footers in the OBX all the time on fly but never had one eat a hooked fish.
Kids are asleep so I'm soaking some bait in West Palm Beach. Found a sandbar on the surf at low tide so I'm fishing above it as the high tide goes out. Lots of pinsfish and other baitfish swimming right on the surf during the day. Gotta be some fish in here. Gonna give it my all thru the week and I'll post any results.
reds in the surf in NEFL...first part of incoming
On a freshwater and Hokie note, my friend and fellow guide, Jim Richmond, took Vin Mihota and Ryan Willis out yesterday on the New for some smallmouth fishing. He said Ryan is learning to fly fish and caught about 20 fish on poppers, and Mihota caught about 30 using the "special" Senko rig on spinning gear. Jim has guided Willis before and really likes him, and said he really liked Mihota as well, said he was a good guy. Vin also told Jim that he has gained 40 lbs for his upcoming season at d-tackle. Would love to have been along for Hokie purposes. Jim's a big NFL fan, but doesn't follow the Hokies at all. Where were the footballers when I was guiding?
I have said this quietly. If you saw Mihota at the spring game, you would have a hard time believing that he is under 300 pounds. He looked completely different.
That's awesome. I've taken Augie Conte fishing twice and his dad multiple times. They both couldn't be nicer!
Guided another Hokie/repeat client on the Chickahominy this evening. The pickerel wouldn't cooperate, and when they don't cooperate, it generally means it is going to be a SLOW day. Well, two and a half hours into it, I was getting worried and tell Mike to put on one of my specialty flies, the Bangarang. Think rattletrap meets fluke, all in a fly. "Throw it over there and fish it like this..." Well he did and an 18 inch bowfin just annihilated the fly. Tore it to pieces and bent the hook. Ripped the epoxy head in half. I breathed a sigh of relief. We motored up into the river and explored some new water I had never been to before... I was looking for a spot that matched where the first fish was. Another hour of nothing. On the way back, bottom of the 9th, we cast along a shelf that looked promising. Second cast under a log and the Bangarang gets crushed again by a 22 inch bowfin. Destroyed that fly too. God I love those fish. Put on a third Bangarang... Five minutes later Mike throws the fly at the base of a tree and starts stripping it out. This massive wake comes past the root ball and slams the fly. Turns out to be a 5 pound largemouth. He missed one more fish and then stuck a 10 inch bass to end the day at dusk. Slow afternoon of fishing turned into pretty damn awesome evening with two really nice fish.
I was supposed to fly to Colorado for 10 days on Friday but have postponed till August so four more guide trips through the weekend around RVA. If anyone wants more reports, I'll have them, in between tying up more Bangarangs. I'm not going to fish the James. Mike's buddy who is a VGDIF office said there are very few smallmouth in the river near the city with the 4th straight year of flooding during the spawn (plus Dominion's wonderful additives to the water.)
I won't waste my time on the James this summer yet again got in two trips this spring around all the wonky weather and they were awful numbers and size wise even in the upper stretches around Lynchburg and Glasgow way and my friend who float Lynchburg to scottsville reported even poorer numbers and worse size than the last two years so at this rate I may build a private river on a bit of land so I don't have to drive to the new just to get some decent smallie action
The chick up around Providence forge has a healthy amount of big bowfin wish I still had the pictures from the last time I helped dgif shock that river, one question what's the length on the bangarang and would it be something for smallmouth as well? Trying to get my arsenal ready for my annual pilgrimage to the holy land.
Thanks for your info on the James as well as PF. I may run my Gheenoe way up the Chick River and start fishing up that way for the Bowfin.
Bangarang is 4 inches long and yes, big smallmouth eat it. I've caught several on the New with it. They seem to like Pink and Pearl.
For decent smallie action check out the Rivanna. The float I do is 6 miles starting at the public put in on the road going to the lake and ends in Palmyra. Some good water in there
Apparently there are musky in the Shenandoah ... not me, or my abs, but a friend went down the river and texted me this pic from their recent trip. Man, what a good looking fish.
Unrelated note...anyone know what that beer holder is that? One of those would be handy on my boat, looks like it keeps the beer level...no more forgetting it in the cup holder and proceeding to get a beer bath when I put the throttle down.
Looks similar to this...
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/ram-mounts-u-bolt-cup-holder-kit
K never mind I don't do this often enough to spend $40 on a cupholder. Thanks though.
Yes there are. They have also been sighted in the South River in Waynesboro having swam up from the Doah
Hell YEs!
I grew up on the Shenandoah (South Fork)...any idea approximately where this is?
Not sure, I'll ask my friend when I see him later on this week and let you know.
Island Fork to Elkton - near the Merck plant is what he said. Good luck. :)
I figured that was where he was. There is a big right turn that has a really deep hole.
Thanks for the info. I haven't fished the stretches that far south. My favorite is Alma to Whitehouse. Holy hell it can be filled with tubers, drinkers and kids on the summer weekends though. I may bring a paintball gun next time
Go upstream to the next boat landing at Newport. It adds about 2.5 miles of river. It has the most rocks and rapids of that section but can be hell in low water.
Yep, and some people fly fish for them too.
Edit : reply to msmcfa
Well on Saturday, I finally finished the rebuild of the pontoon boat. On Sunday, I renewed my fishing license. Hopefully, I will be able to finally start reporting some good news on the fishing front.
Just sitting here, tying leaders. Sigh.
Just set up a minnow trap, cheeze-its and an old hamburger bun. If it works, I'm going catfishing this evening. My primary attempt at catching them ... should be straightforward, I hope, but since when do things work as planned on the first attempt...
Honeybun works best for me and minners. The melting sugar sends a heck of a chumline out and the bun itself provides the bait in the trap. If there are minnows around, it'll fill the trap to capacity in quick order. I do break the bun into maybe thirds.
Hope your trip works better than my trip with my neighbor this morning. He got skunked and I had to make do with a 16" striper for almost 5 hours of work. Oh well, at least I don't have a boat to wash. I told French that when I get a little older, I'm going to sell my boat, go with friends that'll put up with me, and when they dry up, I'll sit in the Southwind Cafe and buy beers for anybody who even looks remotely like an angler, hoping to cadge a trip. It'll be cheaper than owning a boat, and a hell of a lot less of a headache. And, there's BEER!!
And I'm having to catch rides with others to go fishing because my trailer STILL isn't right. But at least I'm not just tying leaders...at least not yet.
I feel your pain. My trailer parts are on back order...I probably should have ordered them before I cut the spindle off.
Ya think? Me, I'm almost there with the springs, leaving the spindle for this winter when I'll also change the rusted hubs as well. With my second set of springs, the hanger/extender bolts in the rear slipped down when the weight was put back on them, I'll blame my help this time, sure...that's the ticket. Right now, the tire is not quite rubbing the fender, so I think I can make the two mile journey to the boat ramp where I can get the damn boat out of the way and redo those two bolts. Then, though, I'm sure something else will break.
I'm still working on getting the hub bolts off so I can use these tires again...a breaker bar didn't move them at all.
Your hub bolts? Is your hub in good enough shape to keep? I couldn't get my lugnuts off of my wheels, even after three daily soaking with Liquid Wrench and tapping with hammer, so I broke out the propane torch and heated them. They were still a bear to get off, and the new ones were a bear to put on, but the heat was the thing that got them started. I just had one of those cross type lug wrench, and didn't have a big enough pipe to make a breaker bar for it, but luckily, the torch got them loose. ish.
no I'm replacing hubs too. I'm thinking about just cutting them honestly.
Yep. Reciprocating saw and a metal cutting blade, my new best friends.
Going to try a new stretch of the rapidan on saturday to see if we can find some bronzebacks starting to get the itch for the week to be over. Whats the new river peoples reccomendation for rod weights for the new river would a lighter popping rod cut it for smallmouth in august?
I like a 7 wt with the bigger poppers for smallmouth, but I know folks that fish a 6 wt. When the water's clear, I want a clean long cast to get under the shade line and since you can get into some really big fish, I kinda like the extra ass in the 7. But, I was never the purist that Hokieflyguy (or Jim Richmond for that matter) is, so I'm sure he'll have a more cogent argument for whatever he thinks will suffice. The Rapidan is pretty small, so not sure what you'll be throwing. Maybe more mid-sized poppers, like a Sneaky Pete type would be more effective for the fish you'll likely encounter. I've never fished the Rapidan, even living in the area for 10 years, but I have floated it several times in October for early season wood ducks. Good canoe jump shooting, plenty of ducks.
Ill have to look into what I have I think its a 5 wt maybe? Any good brands for budget would be helpful as well. The rod Richmond had me using on the new last summer felt the right weight I know I cant afford what he was using but something that weight and length would do the trick.
Nator... I fish a fast 6 on the New... Sage Bolt at the moment or a Mauser Waterman. Bolts have been reduced to $350. The Mauser.... $695. I swore I'd never own a fly rod that expensive but it's my friend's company and he hand makes each one and they really are high quality.
While I mainly use a 6 on the New, sometimes I use a 7. I always make my clients use a 7.
The absolute best price per performance fly rod I have ever owned (I've had 30 plus rods) is my Colton Tradewinds XS 7 weight. This is a killer rod with great accuracy and an awesome price. It's my main redfish rod and I also throw it for smallmouth and largemouth. I also teach all of my entry level fly casting lessons on this rod. I can't recommend it enough. $225 and they come with lifetime warranty. Those guys should put me on their pro staff.
http://www.coltonfly.com/tradewinds-xs.php
I am now pairing all of my smallmouth, largemouth and saltwater floating lines with a Rio Redfish line. They aren't cheap, but it is the best line out there for tossing big flies IMO. Don't skimp on lines either, they make a big difference.
I'll look them up I was looking around with a clueless look I like my TFO but I was thinking to go a bit higher quality since I'm really getting into it now but my 4-5 wt limits my ability to cast bass poppers and my distance is anywhere near what I had with Jim Richmond's rods so I'm thinking a better rod like one you recommended or the lower tier orvis set ups to get better experience in since my bream rod doesn't cut it with big flies it seems so would going 7 wt be safer than a 6 wt since I'm still learning? Since I've already got a 4-5 wt I feel a 7 is safer bet or not.
Also do you make any of the cicada flies good for smallies in August?
What model is your TFO? I'm guessing it is a medium action, or softer rod. Thus is flexes further down into the blank on the cast. Nothing wrong with this, but it makes it harder to cast distances. Faster action rods, which are stiffer and more tip flex, will cast better into the wind and distance wise. I find them much more useful in a kayak as well because of the quicker line loading. I think you've been fly fishing for a pretty good time now, and a faster action rod will likely feel a world better to you when smallmouth or largemouth fishing. I'd go with the 7 weight, because if you ever want to take it in the salt, you could as well. If you want to ask about any specific models, I can tell you what the action is and how well it may suit you.
Yes, I tie cicada poppers and the cicadas are already coming out. Let me know if you have any specific colors in mind and how many you may want.
I have the TFO 7 foot bug launcher rod thats the 4/5 wt so its also shorter and as you said a medium action so it flexes way easier and when I try longer distances it can get ugly. Like I mentioned above I really liked the heavier weight and longer rod Jim Richmond had me using so I'll not go that high in the market but I'll be doing some looking for a good 7 wt combo to add into my arsenal. The brands you mentioned earlier look good I've got everything on a list to go over the next few days. I had found some cheaper orvis combos like the clear water but theyre all medium action so I'll keep looking about at the moment.
Honestly I'm no cicada expert so I'd pass judgement on the color of the cicada flies to yourself, last summer we used a blue fly with white paint on top to do as well as we did but I'm sure other colors wouldnt be bad and I was looking at getting 6 cicada flies and I was also interested in trying some of the bangarang flies you tie as well.
Jim and our friend Chuck Kraft make the best looking popping bugs I've ever seen, no doubt, and Jim is partial to those blue ones, I'm sure for good reason. When it was me on the oars and struggling with wine corks to fashion a few bugs, I was partial to the colors I saw on the cicadas. I liked the dull olive color for the top and a pale sorta ivory color on the belly, with some small reticulations sorta "hinted" at like the insect actually has. Add some legs and one of Chuck's clawdad tails trimmed to size (usually white or black) and I was good to go. They didn't look all that great, and I couldn't have sold them for a buck to any self respecting fly fisherperson, but they did put 20+" smallmouth on the rods every year. In my experience, evocative was better than imitative and some of the cicada patterns I've seen are very realistic imitations, but I wouldn't have traded mine for them. The biggest thing once you had a bug they'd eat, was learning to hit the right spots and manage the absolute dead drift necessary to sell the product to big, wary smallmouth in the middle of the day in the super clear water of late summer/early fall. Some of those fish would be in a foot of water lurking in a 1-2' wide shadow line under the trees and the presentation was absolutely the key.
Spent all day listening back through all the stuff I could remember Jim telling me while on the New he kept us on the blue bug all day saying it would work but what I learned just listening was crazy. Just gotta make it another month till my trip this year and I'm getting an itch some kind of bad.
Now to just find a stinking fast 7 wt and a good reel for it without burning a hole in my pocket
Sounds good. I'll do 3 in Blue/White and 3 in the Cicada color, which is black and olive with some of the white in it as Fish mentioned below.
How many Bangarangs would you like? You will definitely want the 7 weight to throw it. It's a bulky fly.
Cicada style flies:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZCDygZgHy4/?taken-by=knotthereelworld
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYlM8DzgFW3/?taken-by=knotthereelworld
https://www.instagram.com/p/BX-gIY1gero/?taken-by=knotthereelworld
Sounds like a plan those cicadas look good! And I'll do 4 of the bangarang flies again differ the colors to you I'll be using those in ponds for largemouth and on a river or two for smallmouth as well so white sounded good but you fish em the most so I'll say whichever works well is fine with me just looking for a good fly to use when not popping away!
10-4. Should be done by Monday. I've got another order to fill and a guiding the next several days.
Good stuff I can get you my email or a way to get hold of me when theyre done and all whenevers easiest thanks again!
Was hoping to have them done today but I realize I flip-flopped a step and tied the legs in wrong on the poppers. I'm a nitpicker when it comes to flies and this may slightly affect how they land in the water, so I'm going to redo them and will need another few days if that's ok? Sorry for the delay!
Thanks for sharing this. I'll be in the market for a 7 weight (to fish out of the kayak for which I'm also in the market). This sounds just like what I need. You guys keep spending my money lol.
Sure thing. Remember to make sure it is a fast action rod
Guided today on Aquia Creek with a current Air Force service member who originated from Montana but lives in Maryland. This guy could cast with the best of them. One of my favorite clients to date.
A 17 pound snakehead was caught around the corner two weeks ago, but reports have been iffy. The last several years have gotten very difficult for snakeheads. There are just too many people trying to catch them or bowhunt or snag them. Today was no different unfortunately.
We had one really good follow for a 30 inch fish on a frog fly. Hooked a few 2-3 pound bass but they all came off. He had a case of the trout sets. Also missed a potential smaller snakehead due to a trout set and landed the fly on the back of two other 25 inch fish.
The guy was an absolute blast to fish and spend a day in the boat with and we talked about everything. Shame we couldn't get one a snakehead but I hope he books me again.
Alright FlyGuy....need a saltwater fly set up.
I need something that won't break the bank cause I'll use it sparingly, but still want to keep it on the boat. Inshore reds, trout, hopefully smaller tarpon, etc.
How far I got - Probably looking at a TFO 8wt after that I'm lost for models and reels.
What model TFO?
I really like that rod company and have a lot of their rods. That being said, the one I use is their top of the line $330 Axiom. I don't salt fish with other stuff. I don't find them fast enough, yet the Axiom is super fast.
Here's my recommendation for not "breaking the bank." Please keep in mind I don't think $400 is a ton of money to spend on a saltwater outfit. Generally the old age applies, you get what you pay for. Also remember that most inexpensive rods are going to be medium/softer action. If you are salt fishing, you want a fast action.
Rod:
This is in 8 weight.... http://www.coltonfly.com/tradewinds-xs.php
Reel:
Kraken Alpha 3 is a good one... https://www.allenflyfishing.com/alpha-iii-reel/
Another good option for a reel at $105.... https://www.cabelas.com/product/Sage-Fly-Reel/1664902.uts?productVariant...
Line:
https://www.cabelas.com/product/RIO-SUMMER-REDFISH/2489426.uts?productVa...
Use 150 yards of 60 pound braided fishing line for backing.
Thanks, that's pretty helpful the two TFO's I was looking at were the Clouser and the Mangrove. $400 is about what I'm looking to spend. My mindset is that if, before line, its more than my most expensive conventional set up we have a problem.
Have any knowledge on the Orvis Clearwater? its right in that same price range.
https://www.sageflyfish.com/product/web-specials/2200-series#!
Sage themselves has the 2200 series on sale for 95 bucks right now in 7-8 wt!
I've got a Clearwater 5 weight trout rod. If they make it in an 8 weight, I wouldn't dare throw it in the salt. It's made to be a trout rod. Flimsy.
St Croix has a 7 weight fly rod that's the bass mojo line it looks good only stick is it's moderate fast and only 7-11", anyone ever used this rod to see how it handles?
I have not fished it and I have read good reviews. Wouldn't be a bad rod for you and for laying in your kayak, the shorter rod is better so the tip doesn't stick out as far when paddling around. I do have a few shorter 7' 11" rods that I fish that I call "specialty" rods and I do like them, but I prefer the regular 9 foot because it will allow you to mend line better, pick up more line off the water easier and in general cast further.
Cabelas has a good sale on them right now with a reel as well which is tempting only downside is I was planning on getting a 9 foot rod this go round instead of a short one with an attempt to give me longer casting but for the price I may accept a shorter rod if it doesnt really hamper the distances by that much. Only thing I cant figure out is wether the 7 wt rod is moderate fast or just fast everywhere says something different cabelas lists it as Fast but St. Croix lists it as MF.
Also for the reel I was looking at getting either the Sage reel that is on sale with cabelas or the NXT LA 2 7 wt reel both are similarily priced just curious if youd have one youd reccomend over the other?
Edit: was looking at Redington reels as well gonna look into some reviews theyre all in the same price range of around 100$ which is fine.
I would go with St. Croix's description of MF. Here is a decent review of it that I just found.
http://streamsidetales.blogspot.com/2016/06/mojo-bass-fly-rod-review.html
The reviews all say its more fast than medium and for the price ill probably end up sticking with the 7 wt option jut gotta find a reel now to match, the Redington Behemoth looks right for the price as does the Sage 2200
https://www.sageflyfish.com/product/web-specials/2200-series#!
or
https://www.redington.com/fly-fishing-reels/behemoth#!behemoth-product-v...
One question is do I need the 7-8 wt reel with 200 yards backing if I only intend on using this to fish bass and maybe one day saltwater for drum etc?
Edit #2 Did more research into rods and found the Echo fly rod line like the Cabron or the ION XL which both are in the 160$ range and 9 foot long so a traditional length and was curious if anyone has tried any of these?
Cabelas sucks for all things fly fishing. I don't trust their reviews or gear.
You will want 150 yards of 60 pound braided line as backing. That's all you need.
Redington makes good reels. The Sage should be solid too. Echo makes very good fly rods for the price.
Gonna stick with the Echo Ion XL 9' 7 wt for the rod and the sage 2200 reel and the reel I'm gonna get the 7/8 size reel what line would you recommend for bass fishing? Saw that Rio has smallmouth specific line and was gonna get that unless anyone had any other recommendations?
I really don't like the Rio Smallmouth line. I've owned two of them. It's a weird taper and the coating is shit. Rio should be ashamed. Granted, they have have updated it as the last one I bought was 3 years ago. I cannot speak highly enough of Rio's Redfish line. I use it on all of my warmwater and saltwater floating line application.
Main thing I'm wondering if there's any big difference between the two all I'm worried is about casting but I know nothing on what influences that the cheap line that tfo spools their combos with is infuriating is all I know
Huge difference in the taper. I really dislike the smallmouth taper. It doesn't cast very well. The redfish taper is awesome and casts extremely well. For some reason the line on the smallmouth seems to disintegrate quickly too
Right o then I'll go with redfish I noticed greentop has summer and regular redfish line which would you recommend they have it cheaper than anywhere I can find it.
I was curious about this too. For using this line in freshwater ponds and rivers 95% and salt 5%, would the summer be the right call?
Summer version of that line must be new. I've always just seen it as the Rio Redfish line and purchased that one. The head is sky blue and running line is cream/tan colored. I'd be willing to bet there isn't much of a difference
https://www.rioproducts.com/products/tropical/summer-redfish
Sounds like you're using summer or what is now summer redfish nothing big for a difference in the two other than two foot shorter head
Yes, I'm using what they call summer now. The difference between the two is the stiffness of the lines. There are colder water lines and warmer water lines that have different degrees of stiffness to perform better based on the temps
Sounds good I just ordered my sage 2200 7/8 size reel and ordered a 9' echo ion xl when those come in I'll head to greentop to get the line last I saw they had the redfish line for 75 instead of 100 online
I fish a 3 wt. St Croix Avid that is only 7' for trout but it is very good quality and I have had it 15+ years with no issues.
I have never cast any of their heavier stuff so i can't give a review on those but the company build quality is good.
Heading to Hatteras Island in a few days - annual trip with the family...and surf fishing. Anyone know what it looks like at Cape Point? Did that island that formed last year connect to the point? Is Cape Point bigger now?
If I'm remembering correctly Shelly Island has gone back underwater. I know in May there was a closure of 4WD access to Cape Point. I hadn't kept up to see if it was reopened.
I think Shelley Island is gone now. Check Frank and Fran's to see what the closures are.
Best bet is to find a break in the bar, fish with fleas, and catch some big pompano on the south beaches.
And to reiterate a point I've made before, if you have time, or enough kids around, try to sift through the multitudes of sand fleas to find the soft shelled ones. They'll all work, but the soft shells are premium mondo uber baits that'll be bitten immediately, if not sooner. Flounder cannot resist them either, but the pomps are usually right in the curl of the surf. Sometimes, when the waves are really small, you can see them. They'll come in on the wave, then turn sideways and swim out in the couple of inches of wash nabbing fleas as the wave recedes. Much fun, but we never caught any "big" ones, though they were big enough to eat. Again though, the olden days.
I have fun catching the little pomps with my cast net. Throw them in a 5 gallon bucket...the kids play with them for a few minutes...then we toss them back. Never tried to clean one! Good tip on the soft fleas. I'll look for them to use for the flounder. Hope to post pics for you guys.
I'm no fan of them on the table, but my piscatorial taste is pretty stunted. The more full flavored fish are too strong for me usually, unless prepared by a master chef in an exotic recipe or something, or smoked. Pompano, though, are considered really tasty by a ton of folks, so I'll accept my limitations there, like with Spanish mackerel for another example. They are easy to clean, near impossible to filet unless large, so you just scale, gut and behead, fry 'em up and pick the bones. The ones you catch on hook and line will be bigger than the dinks you get in the cast net, or they should be.
When we were there this spring, the point looked a whole lot like it did 55 years ago when I first started fishing it. Shelly Island is no more, and there were a whole lot more people there than the olden days when 4WD vehicles weren't a dime a dozen, but it's still basically the same place. Please let us know how you do in the surf. Inquiring minds want to know!
Working today, but still managed to sneak out to the James for a quick trip after work yesterday with my little buddy, and we scored a couple fun sized cats.
"Teach your children well"!!! Nice job msmc.
Just got done with a week in West Palm Beach but didn't get to do as much fishing as I'd hoped. I managed to hit the surf a couple of times late in the evening and caught some croaker on frozen bait. Also got to fish some inlets and inshore areas a few times and managed a couple of bluefish, a small barracuda and a nurse shark. Probably the most exciting thing to happen was inadvertently hooking into a ray inshore and having it peel off 50 yds of line before straightening the hook. I also lost a good fish inshore - hit as the tide was going out on live bait (some kind of shad) on a fish finder rig. It took drag for about 10 seconds before cutting the line clean above the swivel. Didn't act like a shark but who knows.
I did use a sibiki rig for the first time and man, those things work. When the bait was schooling it was guaranteed to get what you needed. All in all a fun trip, but the heat and kids relegated me to a few early and late hours. I hope to plan a "fish first" trip next year. Thanks to everyone for the pointers, and good luck out there.
Floated the Rappahannock today and man it was nice plenty of folks out with the nice day but still found plenty of fish I ended the day with 17 smallmouth biggest was 15" but the buzzbait was fun while it lasted my girlfriend as usual out fished me and got a nice 18" fish to eat a buzz bait in some rapids so I gotta say it was a good day
Thanks for the report. Glad to hear there are good fish there. Mind if you share which stretch you floated? I have only fished in Fredericksburg and have done pretty well over the years.
We put in at hunters landing on the rapidan and took out at Mott's run put in at 10 and got out at 5 and we didn't fish as much as usual but man it was fun but whne I say there were piles if people I mean it was stacked but the river had so many fish it was refreshing to catch so many bream in a big river like that
Great water for fly fishing caught my biggest bream ever on a pink and white clouser minnow it was alot of fun jigging the clouser and watching the bream come inhale it but as we got further down the Rappahannock the wind really picked up and was causing my casting some issues sadly so I had to put the fly and resort to finesse stuff
Awesome, thanks!
Guided on the North Anna each of the last three days. The huge floods from May and June have brought down a lot of trees. You know it was big water when there are logs, sticks and trees still stuck hanging 25 feet in the air under the route 1 bridge. Lots of holes where shallow flats were and lots of flats where some holes were. There are definitely less fish in the river but still tons of sunfish. I have seen LMBs up to three pounds, a nice bowfin and one pickerel, which I had never seen before. My one "aquarium hole" that was just LOADED with fish over the past several years is dead. Barely any fish in it. I expect in a year or two it will return to normal but its still not a bad river to fish.
My client today was a Brit with exceptional casting skills. I'm sure he is better than me and definitely a better trout fisherman. Great to have him out on water that usually produces mainly sunfish, which often frustrates experienced fly fishermen, but he truly appreciated every fish. He had never caught a fish in the US and we landed 6 species... LMB, SMB, bluegill, red breast sunfish, chub and crappie. Good day on the water and I hope to fish with him again.
Weather and wind if perfect to fish my favorite NC flat tomorrow. Monday should be good too. I'm debating making the 6 hour drive...
"Weather and wind if perfect to fish my favorite NC flat tomorrow"
--Take me with you! Mostly joking, but seriously, if you ever want to guide on that spot, let me know. I couldn't hit a bull it the butt with a bass fiddle with one of those fly rods, but I can bring my own gear.
I decided to be an adult, stick around RVA and get some progress done on my two business ideas so I can get financial freedom and then retire from guiding and just fish whenever the hell I want.
As for guiding that spot... it's going to take a very large check for me to blow that one open. The access is so easy, it would get ruined if I started taking folks out there. There are already guides that fish it and it makes the fish skittish, and definitely less plentiful because they feel like they've got to keep all the puppy drum.
Fair enough, I can totally understand that.
Went out on the King Tides from Hilton Head. Took a rough ride over to Tybee and wore out some absolute pigs. Got 12 in a little over an hour shortest one was 30 inches. Tide changed and the wind shifted directly against the tide so we had to get out of there before things got really sketch for the bay boat. Set up inshore and hooked into a small bonnet head before we called it a day. First pic is the biggest of the day, second was where about every other fish fell into.
Oh and a plug for the guides that took us out. Off The Hook Fishing Charters, this was our 3rd or 4th trip with them fantastic every time.
Sweet Mercy, that's fantastic + congratulations!
Awesome bulls!
Awesome! PIGS!
color me green with envy...and seasick had I been with you
I went out for cobia Saturday off of Windmill point. There were a lot of boats out but the weather was perfect. We were chumming with fish finders that had live eels and cut bunkers and then we had a few lines out with squid on bottom rigs. We caught a bull nose ray, a skate, and a few bluefish but no cobia. We saw one boat right beside us catch 3 (2 keepers), another boat slightly farther away caught 1, and then right when we were pulling up our anchor a boat that pulled up right beside us an hour before got a good size one in the boat. We also saw one big cobia cruising the surface near the boat but I guess it didn't like what we had to offer.
We went out on Sunday in the same spot and when we dropped the anchor with chum on it the anchor line snapped and we had to go back in. Not the best weekend of fishing but at least the weather was nice.
Thanks for the report. I wanted to go Saturday, but my final (I hope) trailer springs work took the go out of me. Would have gone to York Spit, probably. Hopefully that chore is done and I'll be able to get out soon.
Interesting about the anchor and chum. I have come to the conclusion that a chum bag down on the anchor seemed like a good idea, but maybe isn't. Two things: One, I think the chum is going to be too far from the boat to be as effective as chum straight off the stern, and Two, especially when first put over, the chum might act as a little of a buoy to lift the anchor up with the chop and maybe making it harder for the anchor to hold. Just thoughts, I don't have enough knowledge to know whether any of that matters.
Last time I unsuccessfully attempted to cobia fish we ended up bringing a second anchor and rope that we tied a chum bag to directly under the boat about 3 feet off the bottom and made sure it wouldnt pull the anchor around. Never got any cobia but it worked like a charm for the sharks on the bottom rigged baits.
Ideally the tide and the wind cooperate and the anchor line is up-current. We also tied a bag of chum to the stern of the boat and that's where we dropped all of our lines.
Yeah, the boat will obviously on the chum line from the anchor and I did it that way several times, and I had a few cobia run offs while doing so, also with a chum bag on the stern. Last time, we dropped the chum down right at the stern, to the bottom, tied to a mushroom anchor. That seemed to work well until we got the cobia wrapped up in it, but that can happen to any line you have overboard, I guess. For me, it is a learning process. Incremental, at that.
Why not just weight a chum bag and drop it in and let hang down in the middle of the water column on a separate line?
I personally haven't heard of anybody doing this but that might work.
The experienced guys usually have a heavily weighted bucket on the left side of the stern, straight down. Then they will have a second bag on top (and many also create a menhaden milk drop to add to the slick.) Those experienced guys usually will have two live baits straight down near the bucket, two chunk baits (bunker chunks) on the bottom further out, and one float rig with a live eel or croaker/spot/bluefish on top about 30 yards behind the boat.
They will tell you that the vast majority of fish will come from the down rod with live bait closest to the chum pot. Based on my very limited experience chumming, that theory holds up.
This is essentially what we did last time we went out, smc, 3rdGen and I. Didn't use a bucket, but our chum comes in mesh bags so I don't see how a bucket would really matter except to be able to use non-bagged chum blocks, or to keep the sharks from eating the whole shebang like they tried to do that day. As for the baits, as you know, I can really only manage two stern baits, but I did rig an eel on a float deal with bungee cords and a sand spike affixed to the cockpit window strut. We stayed with live bait the whole time, but I know bunker chunks are good baits for cobia. I'm not sure how much help the stern bag on top of the water helps, though. If the cobia are on the bottom eating the croaker/eel/bunker, seems like that's where the chum should be, but I've never gone out that I haven't put a bag on top on the stern. Geez, I confuse myself.
Thanks for the intel. If I ever get back out for Cobia, will do this. I know Capt Horsely in the OBX chums on a change off the beach for them, but he's just using a bag up on top and then throwing lures/ baits / flies at them.
I couldn't go cobia fishing this weekend, so I went with a friend to the Bill Burton Pier on the Choptank River.
Using live grass shrimp, we filled a small cooler full of large white perch. My buddy also caught a 26 inch rockfish that ate grass shrimp on his perch rod.
When the sun started to dip, we switched to peeler crab. We managed around a dozen rockfish with two more keeping, in between oyster toads and catfish. I got cooked. 120 plus ounces of water and Gatorade wasn't enough. I feel puny today.
French, you were in my backyard!!!!
I actually work in Cambridge. Haven't had a chance to toss a line out much, but did snag a little perch this morning before work. (Even 15 minutes before hitting the office is decent now and again.)
Not a bad sunrise this morning.
Howdy neighbor. You didn't hear this from me, but if you get live peeler crabs, there are some mighty nice rockfish to be caught in there right now.
Work in Cambridge, but actually live closer to OC. Went down to there the other night and got skunked. But I'm still learning...just got bit by the bug a few months ago. My 15 year old has it too, so we are out scouring places to just chill and hook a few fish along the way. I think we are planning on making it up this way Saturday, so hoping to replicate your last weekend!
Going to be camping on lake moomaw in early september and having never been anyone have any advice I'll be looking for smallies but will gladly settle for some slow catfishing as well.
Jackson River is the best trout stream in the state. Better look up where you can wade in on public property though. I've never fished it but the property laws are ridiculous over there.
Stream flowing into Moomaw is also trout water but I've never fished that either.
No kidding. I've read about every story on the internet about the property laws and the Jackson when I thought about fishing it a few times. Never did because the laws are downright confusing. Like half of it stems from crown grants obviously dating back quite some time. Part of it has to do with the river not being navigable during logging, also almost a century old. Both of the claims still hold up in trespassing cases today.
Oh yeah and the sections where you can legally float down the river but if you fish you're trespassing.
Well, I have fished it numerous times back when the trout were first established. The Crown Grant stuff came up as a result of all that and my friend, Chuck Kraft, was charged with fishing on private property and went to court. He was supported by TU, and we even had a fundraiser for him, but he was homed by the locals over there, essentially, and the state backed off and let the nonsense continue. There's so much to say about this, but it's all been said years ago. We used to float it in Chuck's guide raft and canoes, usually in the winter and early spring, and we caught multitudes of trout. Multitudes. Thing is, some folks who claim the Crown Grant giving them ownership of all fish and fowl in and on the river are lying about it and posting fraudulent signage to that effect to take advantage of the confusion. Not sure what it's like now, haven't been in a while, but I'd call the Fish and Game folks in Staunton and ask someone.
At the top of Lake Moomaw, Back Creek joins the Jackson just before flowing into Moomaw. There is little river before the beginning of the Boiling Springs Rod and Gun Club that owns a long stretch of both. Do Not Try to fish their water. You will likely get caught, and I assure you they will prosecute.
I've heard the same. Are there any good trout streams/rivers that are stocked and fish-able this deep into summer?
Don't have to be stocked to hold trout. Upper section of the Smith River below the reservoir stays cold year round and has native browns. Moomaw has big browns.
Thanks for the suggestion. I definitely would prefer natives if there is a place that holds them well. Any places that you know of closer to Lynchburg? I have a place to stay there so that would be the most convenient for me.
Plenty of small brookie trout streams up in the mountains near Lynchburg but you will have to go high in elevation and hope it still has a decent flow to find cooler water. You will not catch anything big but it is still fun to me even if I have to hike in a couple miles.
South River in Waynesboro. However, keep in mind anywhere you go, water temps. Tommy Lawthorne who runs South River Fly Shop has been canceling trips left and right because water temps are getting into the 70s and hooked fish will die.
I'm no trout man so I'll be keeping off the jackson due to the laws I've done some reading and no thankyou im trying to have a relaxing get away so I'll just stick my boats in on the lake and probably just try to find some bronzebacks or anchor and bait up for catfish I dont own the stuff needed to get trout out of moomaw by trolling.
I'm a tight property owner in that I despise tresspassing in the highest order but after reading up on the jackson those people are pieces of filth and nothing more.
Nice campgrounds around Moomaw. If you are into biking at all and want to ride some, there is a nice trail along the Jackson River a little ways below the dam.
I think I asked this last year, but what's the biggest species of fish I can hope to catch surf fishing in northeast Florida in July? Anywhere from Ormond to St. Augustine are in my range. I did quite well last year on whiting, small permit and pompano, and puppy black drum, but want to soak a bait for something larger this year. Leaving Saturday for a week. Any reds in the area? Sharks? Something I'm not thinking about?
Thanks!
My mind is not right, I'm still giggling to myself with the images coming to my head.
"what's the biggest species I can hope to catch from the surf in northeast Florida "
Dangle a little debbie cake on your line, and put it near a nice sunning spot. You do that, and I'd say your answer is "human".
Alright peanut gallery. Better?
I still like the original version, but don't mind me, but I'm easily amused these days. :)
daveinop I think mentioned that reds were coming into the surf on incoming tide. I would think that reds and sharks would be around. Maybe a surprise tarpon. Bait wise is the typical cut mullet or menhaden.
Thanks!
As far as distance from shore, should I expect anything within casting distance or is this more a take the bait out with a kayak situation? Will chunks of (or small whole) whiting be effective? Planning on using a fish finder rig for this endeavor.
Depends on what kind of casting setup you have and how much line capacity you have. I talked to a guy when I was surf fishing at Hatteras that kayaked baits out a couple hundred yards specifically to target sharks. Obviously you need a reel with a good bit of capacity if you take it out a couple hundred yards and then the shark will take line from you so you want to be comfortable to not get spooled by a huge shark. I know there are a bunch of youtube guys that specialize in shark fishing. I will try to find some links for you later. Conclusion is either method can work, whiting would work for bait. I think the most important thing is for the bait to be fresh. Also, might want to invest in some wire leader for sharks so you don't get bit off.
first slough; shouldn't have to get more than knee deep. fish the last part of the low tide and first part of incoming in the holes next to the runouts.
don't stay too long in one place. if there is nothing there, hit the next runout 'til you find fish
throw what you have confidence in. carolina rig works fine. Ifish uses gulp on a jighead. others like fishbites. if you have a cast net, i'd bring it.
Yeah, I use that Gulp a lot, but when it comes to pan fish, hard to beat fishbites. I usually use the bloodworm stuff. That'll catch your whiting/kingfish/roundhead/sea mullet or whatever you want to call them. While I'll use whiting for cut bait if I have nothing else, I prefer a more oily bait like croaker, jumping mullet or finger mullet, spot, etc. If you're after big fish, though, I'd usually go for live or big cut baits on carolina or fishfinder rigs, though I've caught some decent sized stripers on six inch Gulp grubs on 1 or 2 0z jig heads. It's a mouthful, but I think big reds would eat it.
That stretch of fl atlantic coast has a very gradual slope with decent depth only w distance on most beaches. The first troughs close to shore only have decent water depth at high tide. To get to the big fish ur gonna need line capacity. A kayak to take the bait out may be necessary. Tarpon n reds may be close enough at high tide when it occurs near dawn n dusk. Sharks will be out there.
Heres an idea which i have used in brevard county, but the weather has to be just perfect, u need an offshore wind at 10 knots at least. Use a wire leader on a 75 lb swivel with at least 60 lb braid. Hook size needs to be 6/0 minimum. Hook a live bait through the meat below the dorsal fin, dont hit the spine. Tie an inflated balloon (blue is best color) above the leader (leader should be at least 4 ft long). Walk the bait out as far as u can go n cast it gently out, walk back feeding line n set up in a deep set sand spike. The wind will carry the bait out ( u need to keep the spool open n feed it) n it will be on! Ive caught sharks, tarpon, n kingfish from the beach in brevard before, really fun, be prepared. U want clean water. Weather is the key. Good luck.
Waiting on a nice new rod and reel to come in next week and knowing I wont be getting out this weekend makes the wait even more hellish.
Spindle coming in Friday, oil hose and hose ties for my motor's air compressor coming in Friday, new Xi3 coming in Friday... I might actually get the boat out of my driveway this weekend.
Yeah, me too. I was thinking about going after cobia tomorrow, but now the waves have crept up to "probably not" for me. Took an impact wrench and a lot of cussin', but believe my spring system is tight enough to leave the driveway now. I think I'll save the axle/hub replacement for winter, when I can unload the boat and take the trailer to a professional and let him do the sweating and cussing. Yeah, my labor's "free", but I think I learned I just can't afford it.
I'm gonna give her a go on the freshwater this weekend. I'm planning on doing a run with a group in a few weeks from Charleston up the Cooper river, through the locks, and onto the lake. I need to put some time to make sure all of this stuff that I messed with is working correctly.
🤩
Hoping to float the New on Saturday! Rails Saturday night and either wade fish the New or Cascades on Sunday.
You had me before and after the rails. That's a place I hope to never return. Good luck and God speed.
You don't want to ever go back to Tots?
I'd prefer not to. Honestly.
I've had maybe three rails in my life, none in the last 16 years, and it never ended well. TOTS always seemed a bit too frat-tastic for my taste. The Cellar, Cabo, and Champs are my typical hangouts.
Well I was a frat star in my college days and I loved it. Still do, although it's not a frat bar anymore (plus VT is actively trying to screw every fraternity on campus and kick them all off) so there likely won't be much in way of frat bars any longer in the near future. I'm buddies with the manager and his wife, so getting drinks is easy. I'll still pound a rail or two after a nooner or 3 p.m. game. Most I ever had in one day was 5. A fraternity brother of mine had 7 our senior year. Lots of rails have ended well, lots haven't, it all works out to the same hangover. I'm always just happy to be back thinking about and attempting to relive the glory days.
I can respect that. Honestly in the summer time TOTS is probably one of my favorite bars. The deck is pretty much best in Blacksburg. Even during the school year it can be entertaining, sights to see and so on. And you are right about the owners, good people. I don't know them personally, though a friend who does has introduced me to them on occasion. I made the genius move of tipping the wife $10 for a glass of water one time when I arrived in a state of advanced inebriation. Once I settled into a solid buzz drinking rhythm, I cut right to the front of the line every time. Good memories.
Hope your weekend is a good one!
I vote for wading the New. That way, if you stumble and fall, you'll just get wet! Good luck.
Well I decided to bail on Blacksburg. 80% chance of "severe thunderstorms and monsoon conditions" with potential flooding for tomorrow and 90% of rain Sunday.
Damnit, I was really hoping to swing some streamers for big smallmouth. Mike Smith said he his client had three very large fish move on my Miracle Whip streamer today.
Hokienator - What's your email? I should have the 6 cork poppers done Friday and can toss them in the mail barring any further unforeseen setbacks. Finished painting them today, getting epoxied tomorrow afternoon and then quickly do the tails.
How many Bangarangs do you want?
jrd2936@email.vccs.edu is my email to reach me by, and 4 bang a rangs is good with me and whichever colors you think are best sounded like ones with white worked well!
So the wave forecast was wrong. I get up this am and see 1' seas and light wind, but I already have an alternative trip planned and logistics wouldn't work out for us to go for cobia now. This'll be the day everybody out there gets a 60 pounder.
You will get them, don't sweat it.
The report from Salt Treated Fishing yesterday was that it was REALLY rough out there yesterday, if that's any consolation. Those cats still managed to pull in big one however. I definitely need to book a trip with those guys - looks like they have a lot of fun out there, and know what they're doing..
Weather will be nice today. Tomorrow will be building. I wouldn't want to be out there in the afternoon on an outgoing tide. It will get bumpy. This weekend looks like a blowout. Lame.
Yeah, we ran into the wind and waves as we went out to troll up some Spanish and we couldn't keep our feet in the boat for the entire time. Got a couple of nice fish in the box and beat the retreat back into protected waters. REALLY glad I didn't buy the forecast, Mobjack Bay would have been ridiculous.
Nice on the spanish. Were you using downlines and clark spoons?
But of course. Gold was the ticket, but it was so rough we couldn't stick with it long enough to really get into a pattern with them. Still, they're there.
Shout out to good neighbors. Got my spindles in yesterday. Went to just cut off one side that needed replaced with an angle grinder. About half way through neighbor rolled up with some PB Blaster air compressor and his impact gun. He stripped the tires off the old hubs while I got the spindles replaced and help me get the new hubs and tires back on. Got some hoses to attach to my compressor housing and I'm cleared for take of this weekend.
Awesome. You don't have to resort to this now.
Lordy, don't tempt me!
Uhhhh, buddy, could I borry y'all's neighbor?
Rods...
Haven't upgraded my arsenal in a several years...While the trend in light tackle inshore is longer (lots of folks now using 7'6" spinning), being the contrarian I am, I just picked up 2 HMG 6' 9" ML, fast one piece rods before they stop making them. I have a 7 foot HMG maybe 5 years old (burgundy colored glossy blank). The new ones are a different blank; lighter wt with a matte finish, and there is less cork ahead of the reel. Result is not only lighter weight but better balance as well. Action seems to be the same. Why shorter? For me the difference in casting distance is nominal and I feel like I gain control which is more important to me hitting small targets around oyster bars in creeks. It's also a little easier to submarine the delivery up under docks/piers.
The previous HMG was a tournament quality workhorse. Time will tell if the new ones can match that.
I just picked up a 6'9" medium light HMG as well. Definitely like the shorter butt, makes it balance well.
this a.m., I put the 69 HMG side by side with my 7' HMG and my 7' All Star "Redfish Special". From reel seat to rod tip, the 7' HMG is longest (by 2") and has 1 more ferrule. The 69 HMG and the All Star are the same length with the same # of ferrules. The 7' All Star is simply 3" longer from the reel seat to the butt.
I hope they keep making the 1 piece 69HMG.
I paired the new rods with shimano ultegra 2500's. sadly, shimano doesn't make the symetre any more (I have 5 of them). like the rod, the ultegra is really lightweight and well balanced. and like the rod, time will tell how the new model reel holds up.
simmonssportinggoods has these on sale on ebay.
$79 delivered for one, $140 for two.
i see the 66
edit: He
might beis sold out at that length. He does still show a few (4) at the 7' length..
link to the 7' rod
Here is a link to an auction with 2 of the 69 rods remaining. If you buy both the shipping is still $10, so that is $80 each (delivered).
Nice pickup; man I love my fenwick.
Random aside for all you sheepshead guys, I ran across a rod custom designed for them. Checkout toadfish outfitters if you're interested. Sorry, on my phone and too lazy to link it up.
Avalon Pier just landed a 58 POUND king mackerel on the live bait rigs...
Fish of a lifetime. After almost 15 years of trying I still have not caught my king off a pier.
That's a big fish! Good runs of them in October and November off of Cape Lookout. Live line a lizardfish in 20 feet of water and hang on. I've been told they can be caught on fly but haven't gotten on yet...
Fire up the smoker, time 4 some fishdip w jalapena n garlic (my wifes recipe is outstanding!), yummm!
Edit: the only way possible to eat kingfish, imo.
care to share?
Smoke the fish the way u like, we used soaked hickory (mesquite is too strong) (we smoked it same day we caught it).
Heres the recipe:
Mash the fish (1 to 1.5 lbs of fish)
Couple tablespoons of minced garlic
Some garlic salt, garlic ppwder, n pepper to taste
"Blob" of horseradish (about a teaspoon or such)
Little Crystal hot sauce, some dried onion,
4 or 5 slices of pickled jalapeno, chopped
2 tablespoons of mayo to start,
mix to consistency of ur normal tuna salad, and add mayo as needed.
To finish, sprinkle small amount of old bay n add some chopped pickles jalapenos.
Serve w crackers of choice.
Edit: this recipe works well w smoked big blues, spanish mackeral, or amberjack (if u smoke same day u caught it). Enjoy hokie nation!
I assume you are referring to king mackerel? I know when I was in Florida, kingfish is what they called whiting (French's sea mullet) which we grew up calling roundhead.
Recipe sounds delicious!
Yes, King Mackerel.
Just wow... That is a heck of fish no matter where you catch it.
Finally my new reel and rod came in and I have a question for the fly guys here whats a good backing I see alot of Dacron backing options and I was gonna use 150 yards of backing then the redfish summer line on top. Was gonna go 20 pounds backing since its a 7 wt set up. Also saw someone selling red white a blue spun gel backing but only in a massive 100$ spool sadly.
I don't use Dacron. Too thick. 150 yards of 60 pound braided fishing line
Sounds good I'll have to run to the store to get some spiderwire or whichever I find.
Make sure you either tie into a provided hole in the spool (not sure how fly reels are set up these days) or put some mono on first before the braid. I didn't do that the first time I used braid on my surf casting rig and the line spun on the spool and I had to walk a ton of yards down the beach to take it all off, then "peg" it with some mono, then start all over again. It wasn't until it started slipping that I remembered I'd read something about that somewhere, sometime, but didn't remember it when it mattered. Luckily, I didn't lose a big drum because of it.
one of those fat rubber bands like you get on broccoli works as well
Just went to sageflyfish.com to order one of these reels, good price on a good reel. The black/blaze model is "temporarily out of stock". Since this seems to be a clearance sale, they have probably run out. The black/platinum model is still available, but if you are interested I suggest doing it sooner than later.
Cabelas still has them for a few dollars more but mine was 104 with in store pickup!
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Sage-Fly-Reel/1664902.uts?productVariant...
The weatherman really screwed up this weekend for the SWVA forecast. I bailed on my trip down there due to "80% chance of thunderstorms and monsoon conditions prior to 4 p.m." on Saturday, as well as rain all day Sunday. Well, it didn't rain until 7 p.m. Saturday and that was for 5 minutes. It was sunny, 80 degrees and the fish bit all day according to multiple reports I got. They finally had some thunderstorms Sunday afternoon based on what I saw on the radar.
I'm frustrated as hell as that was probably my only chance to fish there personally this summer. I knew when I looked at the radar Friday night that there was nothing that was going to hit the area. Last time I listen to the supposed experts on TV and online. As my friend often says, "You won't know if you don't go."
Rant over, hope some of you other guys were able to get on the water this weekend.
The Sunday afternoon storm that cruised thru Christiansburg, had some severe lightning. One of our large black cherry trees in the back yard got hit and exploded across the yard. A big mess. Looks like tree was only partially damaged and will survive, but I've got more work to do on it.
Glad it didn't hit the house.
Glad to hear your house wasn't hit. Yes, the storm did look pretty big Sunday afternoon when I watched it on the radar.
Thanx. We have a florida staghorn we mount on that tree in the summer (it spends its winters in the basement) above some face pieces - looks like a mohawk on him, the face pieces n the staghorn were blown 70 ft across the yard. Looks like Sammy the staghorn is ok (these air plants live more than 60 years!), Sammy was a gift from a Grant Farm Island resident when we lived there. His name?... guess....
Here in the Middle Peninsula, it rained all day Saturday, about 2-1/4" with gusts up to 30kt. Sunday, things were better, but very gusty, then we had a big and lightning filled storm in the late afternoon that dropped another 1.5 or so in a little over an hour. Wasn't any fishin' going on in my neck of the Bay this weekend.
Same here. I scrapped the fishing trip because it was supposed to rain until it was too late to go.
Ended up landing a free bed at a river house on the potomac a quarter of a mile below colonial Beach any tips for what I can catch up there figure I can probably find croaker and maybe some small spot any other suggestions maybe catfish in the creeks? Never been to this are before.
Also gonna take advantage of this crappy weather and do some custom rigging on my nucanoe to get it more fishy and gonna start with a anchor rigging setup and work my way towards adding in some other nifty ideas.
North side of Mattox Creek? My grandparents lived in development on southside of Mattox. Ring perch, Spot, Rock, Blues. You have to go way up the creeks to get to freshwater. Potomac is about 4-5 miles wide there and can get rough if the wind is up. Mattox Creek is close to a mile wide where it enters the Potomac.
Not entirely sure on which side of mattox creek its on I just know its around mattox creek. Any tips on how to get into something to catch not to eat just something to fight a bit? Bottom fishing rig setup or casting with gulp jigs maybe? Also I only have a VA fishing license I dont need a maryland one if im on the VA side right?
Since you are below the Rt 301 bridge, on the Potomac you will need a saltwater license. Tributaries to the Potomac, either.
Below copied from here.
Lower Potomac River (between its mouth and the Rt. 301 Bridge) Valid Virginia saltwater (excluding County licenses), Maryland Bay sport, or Potomac River Fisheries Commission licenses are honored in the main stem. In Virginia tributaries below 301, Virginia freshwater and saltwater, and Potomac River Fisheries Commission licenses are honored.
I was never a big saltwater fisherman so I can't give you any good intel. I would think either one of those options should get you something.
Im covered then I got a lifetime for both fresh and saltwater just wanted to check and make sure i couldnt get a ticket for that just gotta gather my saltwater stuff I havent used in years to get ready to go this weekend.
Gulp on a jighead cast around docks should get about anything in that big water.
Small hooks on a dropper rig and bloodworm fishbites should produce spot and croakers. Peeler crab around bridges on outgoing tide (use BIG hooks) should produce keeper rockfish. There are tons of 10-26 inch rockfish around in the rivers and big creeks.
Mainly interested in the rockfish or anything I can catch that doesn't croak preferably I've caught enough of them for a lifetime I've never quite figured out how to catch rockfish when it's warm only ever used peeler to night fish for specks and drum before, can you reliably find them with gulp jigs or are peelers the best way to find them? I'll be in a kayak so dock fishing won't be too hard to do
I can just tell you that I caught them on peeler. I haven't had much luck with them on Lures before October but that is just me.
Forgot I used to live line menhaden in the evenings at deltaville off of piers anc catch them that way but that was ages ago as a wee lad. May have to give peelers a try then guess I'll give my bait guy in mathews a call.
Yes, you can, and will if you try, catch stripers on Gulp on a jighead around docks or pilings. I have caught hundreds of them using that method over the years. Gulp is easy to skip back under the docks, and you can use either the 1/4 oz or next size up depending on depth, current/tidal flow, and size of fish. I almost always go to the chartreuse 4" swimming mullet and often contrast jighead color with a red head for the chartreuse grub. This'll catch trout and flounder if they're there, and while I usually slowly jig the bottom in hopes of a flounder or red, just a cast and steady retrieve will often entice the stripers but them and trout will hit it slowly jigged. White perch, yellow perch, and even catfish will hit it also. Unfortunately, so will bluefish, lizardfish, and puffers, which can really screw up the 70 cent grub. I have also, over the years, caught three really juvenile cobia on them, and even some really juvenile grouper. Don't get me started on the oyster toads, they like it too. Last year, we caught dozens of juvenile gray trout on them before switching to metal when the grubs got chewed up, there were so many trout in the schools. I have also noticed that as there is lower light conditions, sometimes the color preference changes to the pink grubs, but that's a matter of degree, with chartreuse being the normal go to.
While your disdain for croaker is documented, remember that redfish will croak at you too, and yes, unfortunately, spot and croaker will also hit that Gulp, but at least croaker will give you a tug. You don't have to like to eat them to appreciate the fact that they are basically mini-reds, and they fight pretty damn well on light tackle. Either way, good luck. I'd go Gulp long before I'd start messing with peelers unless sitting on a lighted dock with a cooler full of chillies and a nice evening on the river coming down on ya.
Oh I know all to well about the croaking and I'm just not in it for the meat as I once was and want to try and get back into the saltwater fishing game but dont have the capacity or boat for the big stuff so was looking to try getting into the dock fishing game. I always bottom fished with an ultralight to give it some fun with the east river croakers since they always fight with little proportion to their actual size. Ill swing by greentop this week after work to get some gulp jigs and jig heads to throw around this weekend if the weather allows. Gonna get pink and chartruese both incase the water is as muddy as I fear in the potomac. When youre jigging them do you come up a few feet then down or stay relatively low to the bottom the whole time? Might have to put the kayak in and try around the east river later this summer as well. Also I assume any light to medium weight casting rods will do just fine? Was thinking I could use a lighter casting rod to feel for the fish better.
I was just jivin' ya about the croakers. They'll be around the docks along with the more targeted species, though, so you'll likely have to wade through a few of them. I've done best with the bait by tossing it as close to, or preferrably under the dock, letting it sink to the bottom, then retrieving with very short hops, rather than hard or dramatic jigging, staying as close to the bottom as possible, with pauses in there as well, but working it with the rod, not the reel. Hop, recover, repeat. Feel a tick, set the hook kinda fishing. As I said above, though, just casting and slowly but steadily retrieving can get the stripers if they're not hitting on the bottom, and the deeper the water, the better that works. When the reds are in, they're so often under the docks in the shade, that that is my main target if I can get back up in there. Obviously, you have to look out for crabpots, and crackpots that don't like people fishing around their docks, for that matter. My best results, though, have been on the subtle retrieve on the bottom for all of the fish I get off of docks. The more complicated (and old) docks are, the better I like them.
Personally, while I love light tackle angling, I use a MH bass spinning rod, 6'6" or 7', with 6, 8, or 10lb mono depending on the size and species of the fish, reds need the heaviest, almost everything else the 6 or 8. I like having the ass on the rod, it casts farther and for me is easier to control where I'm going, telegraphs the strike, which can be really subtle, and has the stuff to get a good sized fish out from the pilings before the barnacles and oysters cut you off. That's just me, though. Use whatever feels comfortable tossing a 1/2 jig head and a 4" Gulp and you'll be good.
Sounds managable and easy enough to try and learn myself its amazing to me that nobody has ever found another bait to work as well as the gulp does considering the huge amounts of protoype stuff on the market to try out. Now to decide what rods im okay taking into the salt I've gone full baitcasting in the last few years but not sure I want to expose their beautiful inners to the saltwater so ill have to dig out some spinning gear from the past. I'm sure I'll find an unmarked crabpot with my luck. You just use plain jig heads for the jigs right no skirts or flair stuff like a bucktail I think I have a bunch from my flounder days on the OBX I can use.
The person who comes up with a cheaper Gulp will rule the fishing world. Stupid stuff is way too expensive to be as easily shredded, or even as nasty, as it is, but there ya go. You're not the first to remark upon it, but its efficacy is well documented, and I'm obviously a firm believer. And yes, I just use the Gotcha style jig head, no frills or bucktail, just the head and the swimming mullet. Thing is, have confidence and fish it like your next meal depends on it. If it doesn't work, I'd be very surprised if you'd find something else that does. For general dealings with Gulp, I'd suggest a couple of extra zip lock baggies for after you open the package. Yeah, it closes up, but believe me when I tell you that it will leak no matter what you do, and stink to high heaven in the process. Also, make sure you remove the Gulp from your jig head when you are finished fishing, and put it back in the package. Otherwise, you'll waste the 70 cents and have to cut it off the jig later, like the old Uncle Josh pork rinds of old. Regardless of which rig you use to toss it, you'll have to rinse it all down well at day's end, but I know you know that. I've had some good luck with some fresh water baitcasting reels in the salt, but I've used them sparingly and rinsed them assiduously, even got my Daiwa TDX cleaned after the only year I ventured to use it in the salt. I just mainly have better luck casting and skipping under docks with spinning gear.
Yea those damn Gulp plastic containers leak and it will stain carpet in your truck.
Article on Berkley about how Gulp works...I find it funny how they say you can use a Gulp all day! Not in my experience as they just get chomped in half right behind the hook!
http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley-ae-gulp-and-powerbait-unplugged.html
Yes- if there are bluefish around it won't last long.
That is a reason why I endorse Zman soft plastics. My Ez shad lasted dozens of trout and bluefish before being so torn up that I couldn't fish it. I switched to a shad assasin and the tail was gone after one cast. I am a believer after that.
bluefish, jacks, and ladyfish are the reason you don't throw away the soft plastics that didn't work out like you thought when you bought them
Z-man has sold me on every product they make. They last forever.
Yeah, I can find baits that will last longer, but that's not the point, is it? Gulp just gets bit better, hands down, than any soft plastic I can find for the fishing I'm doing. When they're schooled up, trout, stripers and blues will hit a lot of properly presented baits, but when I'm hitting docks looking for scattered fish, or jigging for flounder, I will use the Gulp and bite the bullet on the price and inconvenience. Gulp has an unequaled scent and the softness and pliability of the bait is part of its tremendous appeal to fish. If you are using a single Gulp swimming mullet all day, you're either fishing in the bathtub or the fish just aren't biting (or just aren't there).
When I was on Claytor Lake walleye fishing, we used to tip jigs with minnows. If we'd run out of live bait, I would use the small minnow looking Gulp instead, but while it caught fish, there was a dramatic drop off of bites, so I'm not all in on the many uses of Gulp, but in the salt, I've just not found its equal...yet.
It's like hunting - bullets/shells are the cheapest part about hunting so don't worry about a few dollars. You spend a lot of time/energy/money on fishing so even increasing your chances of getting a strike by a little bit for the cost of losing a few dollars is definitely worth it IMO.
With that said, I don't think I can say that I've noticed a big difference in gulps but I haven't committed enough to them to comment on it. Based on your comment I will probably give them another try.
Yup the age old you get what you pay for argument can cross into anything especially hunting as well wouldnt wanna use that junky walmart rifle to go hunt alaskan brown bears would ya? Hoping the weather clears to try the dock fishing out a bit turns out we may not have access to the potomac this weekend so may end up in the mobjack bay if not and can get down there.
Best of luck with the mobjack docks. I've been pretty disappointed in the dock fishing so far this year, but haven't dedicated a lot of time to it. I did get a keeper flounder from under a dock on the North, and several stripers and a couple of trout from docks on the East, but the local stuff hasn't been on fire. The wind should settle down this weekend, so you should have good kayaking conditions.
Were up by Raines Creek so I'll be staying in that area to fish docks if I go this weekend most people around there are fine with it and if the wind stays one way could make good conditions, I dont need a million fish to have fun if I can catch one or two stripers and an odd trout or flounder even a small one I'll be happy.
Boat got out on the water Saturday. Picked up some top end for sure. Lost about 1k rpm at WOT though so I'm thinking I have more speed out there with the right prop after the motor maintenance, I'm getting the correct pressure and everything now but sitting at 4600-4700 rpm.
Also ordered a couple 3000/3500 series Diawa Fuegos for some medium size inshore stuff, probably pair them with Diawa Prycons at M and MH.
odd that you lost RPM without changing the prop or the position of the motor.
on the prop, i went down an inch in pitch and up a smidge in diameter. On paper, my rpms should have gone up about 100-150, but they actually dropped a hair. i got the improvement in hole shot i was after and greatly improved the slip calculation, but it makes me wonder how far out of spec the old prop was
I changed the air compressor and I'm running on break in mode (just to send more oil to the new compressor) but I'm not sure how either of those effect the RPM. Other thing that changed is my old reading of RPM cam at 0 trim as my trim switch was broken. I would have thought I'd get higher RPM when I trimmed out.
agree on the rpm/trim.
re: my paint project, stage one is complete...paint removed from the sides and the transom. I paid a detailer to wet sand/buff it out, and those parts of the hull look new.
currently checking on the price of soda blasting the rest of it underneath. found a local yacht yard that does that sort of thing. if it is cost effective, i'll go that route. otherwise i'll do what I can in the fall.
Fished Flagler today for about 2 hours. Wasn't really being serious about it. Caught a small whiting and a small catfish on bloodworm fish bites. I had the family so couldn't explore the beach looking for a cut or anything. Fished the first slough. Hoping to get out tomorrow morning at first light, but we've got three cases of beer on ice so we'll see how it goes tonight.
if you are bored fri nite, our 80's band is playing Ocean Ave (formerly Mardi Gras) north of the Castillo and across from the Doubletree in St Aug (about a half mile north of the Castillo on a1a) from 6-10.
if you like live music of that vintage, i think you'll enjoy it. our lead guitar and both lead vocals are pretty decent
i'll be the old guy on bass.
Damn. That sounds awesome actually. And we love St. Augustine.
I'll see if I can get out for a date night with the wife. If not, appreciate the heads up anyway.
Ocean Ave has sports bar-ish food; okay but nothing special. For date night, I'd eat at one of the several better restaurants either in the historic part of town or just across Bridge of Lions on the island, and then come listen to the band for a bit. Unlike most venues in St Aug, you should be able to park at or close to Ocean Ave.
If you make it, come up and say hi during a break or give me the VT sign.
One of these days I'm gonna get down your way. I'll bring my harps if you'll let me sit in on a song or two. I've also got a gravelly blues voice if you'd want me to do Mustang Sally or something. If you've got a good harp player, I'll just get drunk instead and wave a lit lighter and scream "Free Bird"!!!!!
i messed up on the time...it's 8 to midnight
edit: assuming you did not make it...it was a pretty good crowd
and if you are still here, there are absolutely decent fish in the surf right now. use a carolina rig and throw a fresh dead shrimp on a circle hook
Sorry, we didn't make it up there this trip. Kids and all. Thanks again for the invite.
Pretty disappointing fishing trip. Due mainly to how much I got on the water. Fished a total of 3 hours all week. Managed a tiny whiting, similar sized catfish, and about a 14" black drum. Oh well. Had to use frozen shrimp as Al's (I think?) in Flagler had no fresh shrimp either time I stopped in. Sand fleas were everywhere so I used one shrimp and one sand flea on a double dropper rig. 2 oz weight. All three fish came on the frozen shrimp. Nothing on the fleas.
When you say decent fish in the surf, are you speaking of reds?
yes
Pic of the poppers I finished up for Hokienator at the link below...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BljrrdFnasY/?taken-by=knotthereelworld
Should crush some big fish on these for the rest of the summer and into mid-fall. I always tend to fish the Cicada colored ones, generally don't use blue too often so whatever type of water Jim Richmond suggests for those, fish it. For the cicada colored ones, you want to cast a 45 degree angle downstream as you float down the river. Fish just inside the shade line a few feet from the bank. Dead drift these bugs, don't move them! The big fish want to eat the cicadas that die and fall into the water with a loud plop, hence the reason I use cork poppers covered in epoxy and even tie some lead in them. Often times the big smallmouth will swim up under the bug and suck it in. They won't eat off the surface nearly as much so you have to pay attention because it isn't a lot of commotion when they suck it under. The mouths on the cicada ones are painted yellow so you can easily see them.
If you use the rod to set the hook (this isn't my recommendation) make sure you set away from the fish. I recommend a strip set after he has eaten it.
If when floating down the bank a fish hasn't eaten in 20-30 feet, I pick up and recast.
Sometimes a big smallmouth will swim up under the bug and sit there for a few seconds eyeing it. Then they will slowly turn and swim away. If this happens, wait till he has turned away and then give it one pop. Often times they will immediately turn around and crush the fly. It's awesome!
I'm sure IFish can add more intel as well on fishing with these bugs.
Good luck!
You about covered it Flyguy. Main thing is, just because it's a popping bug, doesn't mean you pop it. The dead drift is absolutely key to fishing it properly. I let them float as far as they'll go with the current and boat involved, until the line gets caught in the current and starts accelerating the speed of the bug. You can get away with maybe one mend not long after the cast, but that's about all you can do. The fish will sometimes follow the bug for 5 or 6 feet before eating it, and as Flyguy says, more often than not, the really big fish never break the surface. They'll come up to within an inch or two of the bug, open their mouths and flare their gills which creates a suction that just sucks the bug under and into their mouths. It is also CRUCIAL that you do not set the hook until the fish gets its mouth shut and turns to return to its lie. I cannot emphasize this enough, as even my more experienced fly guys had to learn this the hard way. While occasionally a big fish will crash on a bug, I believe because it is hanging around other fish and is competing for the bug, generally a big splash means a smaller fish. Those 18-23" bass are lazy when it comes to cicadas and they just don't want to work for them, hence the dead drift.
Unlike Flyguy, I've never been able to re-interest a big fish that refuses to take the bug and turns to go back home, but it is always worth a try, and we've gotten a few nice medium sized fish to go for it. Best thing is, once you've got the flies they'll hit, it is really just a matter of time before it pays off with the citation sized fish it is designed to catch. Also remember that this method can pay off any time of the day, but the key is to keep the bug in the shade line and not to worry about water depth much. We've had some bodacious fish come from a foot or even less of water in a foot of shade line and in the middle of the day. Those fish are so adept at blending in, you'd never know they were there if they didn't move and show themselves.
Thanks for all the advice tips and thanks to flyguy for the flies as well cant wait to get on the water in a few weeks and get to work. Still have haunting memories of losing an absolute pig that surpirsed us in a rapid the hookset is always the more instinctive bit but the fighting makes me a nervous wreck if its big since I just let my hands do the reeling. One question for the pros what weight line for the leaders? I currently use 12 lb flouro at about 3 feet for the tippet then the back bit of the leader is usually 20 lb mono or flouro whatevers in my bag for the back 5-6 feet.
Girlfriend even bought me a new gopro for the trip so hopefully I can get some good pictures and videos if I have any luck!
My approach to fly fishing was very basic. I just bought tapered fluorocarbon leaders in the desired length and test and then if I needed tippet as the leader got shorter, I'd use fluoro from spools. I never used more than 10lb test and used 7-9' leaders. I would usually cut back a bit from the tip of a new one to feel comfortable with the strength as I saw it in the leader. But, I'm basic, and haven't bought leaders in years, so take it for what it's worth, it sure worked well enough for me. I once got twenty leaders from a sale bucket at an Orvis outlet in Roanoke. Took me at least 15 years to work through them, so you see I'm not an everyday flyguy. I liked the smoothness of the taper and not having to rely upon, or rely upon my tying of, a bunch of knots in order to achieve a graduated leader. Laziness factors in here as well, I'll admit it.
I'm sure Flyguy can bring things into this century, though.
Only time I buy pre-made tapered leaders is for trout. Tapered leaders actually have hinges in them. They also stretch, hence the reason they are good for trout, not much else, IMHO.
Nator, get yourself some spools of leader material from Greentop and you'll be able to make leaders for years. Do 3 feet of 40, two feet of 30, 1 foot of twenty pound flouro and then 2 feet of 15 pound flouro for the poppers. The shorter leader will turn those poppers and the Bangarangs over better. It's rare to break 15 on a smallmouth and they will still eat it just fine. I always use 12-15 pound flouro for smallmouth, especially on the New.
At the top of the leader tie a perfection loop, so you can loop it to your line. At each junction do the blood knot. To the flies do a non-slip/Lefty Kreh loop knot. If you don't know how to do the knots, now is as good as ever a time to learn if you think you'll keep up with the fly fishing. Trust me. You will also be able to use all of those same spools you purchased for saltwater leaders.
Really good article on leaders:
http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing-tips-technique/understanding-...
I guess you make sense, but I never had that "hinging" problem that I noticed, and never broke off, nor had a client break off, a smallmouth on 10lb leader and I like the lightest leader I can get away with without losing those valuable poppers.
You are absolutely right about learning the knots, and the Lefty for the terminal is spot on. Given that my fly fishing is pretty much down to poppers for bream every couple of years, and trout out west for a couple of days every few years though, I think I'll just stick to the easy and leave all that knot tying for you experts.
I've had a few of the leaders seem to have a weak point / hinge in them and it tended to get tangled a lot. The biggest issue for me is they stretch, particularly the Orvoid ones. I'm sure you were able to get your fish in on 10 pound test. I certainly could too but if the fly ends up in the tree, I want some more strength to get it out. I've lost one to a log and cringed, thinking about all the time it took to construct one. Thank god I've got the process pretty well nailed down to tie more.
The bigger key for me on heavier tippet is that a thinner diameter tippet is not going to turn over that bug during the cast like a heavier one will. If I'm fishing my smaller flies for smallmouth, I drop down to the 12. I haven't found smallmouth to be leader shy. Hell, the biggest one I've ever caught was 5 plus pounds and ate a streamer tied on with a 12 inch black wire bite guard for pike.
Yep, makes sense to me. That's why you's da Flyguy!
About the leader shy part, though, I'm not so sure I agree. I have also seen big smallmouth hit musky lures on wire leaders, and spinnerbaits and buzzbaits on heavy line, but in clear water or with more finesse oriented baits, I prefer all the edge I can get, and leader is part of that to me. Big motion baits make them look at the bait, quieter baits are trying to tempt them into it so I tend to try to remove as much distraction as possible. Obviously, one can go to far and end up losing baits and/or fish, but that's the trick, figuring out where that line is. I still subscribe to the notion that lighter line = more bites, as long as the line is able to properly work the bait.
Well I'll start going down to 10 pound flouro and let you know if I find a difference!
Lord, don't do it on my account. Wouldn't want you losing that six pounder!
Edit: Most of my fishing is with spinning gear. Don't know what it takes for your flies to present well, but I figure you have it down. Wasn't trying to convince ya.
Haha I once went down to 12 when chasing redfish and popped off an 8-9 pounder. (I take strip setting seriously.) I wanted to cry. Never again will I go under 15 for reds.
I'll go to 10 flouro on the Shenandoah, but it isn't going to happen on the New. 12 at the least!
Yeah, the practical side of lb test choice comes into play there. It isn't worth getting more bites if you're losing fish or lures because the line breaks. I ran 8lb test for all of my spinning gear on the New, but for spinnerbaits or lawn mowers we'd use 10. Back in the days of jig n pig, I used 10lb on my baitcasters, but with the Teaser tubes, I stuck with 8 even with the increased flow of spring waters. We definitely broke off some fish, but they were muskies and we'd have lost them regardless. We also landed a bunch of muskies over the years, even on the 8lb. Just depended on where they were hooked, the cover around us, and sometimes the skill of the angler. Not saying we never broke off smallmouth, it did happen, but it was usually a "ledging" situation and that didn't happen often and wasn't dependant on the size of the fish to happen. For me, though, the majority of fish that came aboard, and most of the fish over 4lbs, including a couple over 6, came in on 8lb mono.
As for the Shenandoah, I was in the boat with Chuck when our old buddy Cecil caught a 9-1/2lb largemouth on a jig n pig. Biggest bass I've ever personally seen caught.
I use 20# braid on all of my spinning poles with a 8# flouro leader. It is rare that we ever break a fish off (usually it is a user error of the knot variety), and you would be amazed what you can do before you break off a snag. Plus when it does break, your braid is still the full length. Get a snag at a top of a rapid and you can get spooled quick; there goes $15 bucks of braid.
I found that double unis broke easily if they had too much friction when being tightened down. I switched to the alberto and my leaders have yet to break at the knot over the course of this year. The knot only tightens down on itself (think Chinese finger trap) so you can trim the tag ends really close.
There are more opinions on leader knots than anything else in the world. I have used Uni-uni, albertos, albright, J knots. They're all fine knots when tied right. The biggest key is finding something that you can tie quickly and effectively.
I love the uni to uni knot. I use it for flouro leaders to braid and have never had an issue. Holds tight and casts well.
Me too, switched to a J Knot recently. Quicker to tie for me and its sorta ramped so it goes through guides well.
I like it. Will give it a try!
also referred to as modified albright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs4Wdoc8-0o
have never had one break or slip
Luckily I was in boy scouts growing up so knots come naturally for me just gotta get used to tying the blood knot again I always used a fishermans knot for fishing not the other ones for flies so thats one I've got to teach myself since Ive never done that one. Thanks for the tips on leader sizes I'll have to go get some stuff I've always used two spools one of heavy mono and the other heavy flouro as something to make it work. Does not using the loop knot for the fly connection really make a difference in presentation I've never used it unless someones tied one on for me like that.
Yep, Lefty's loop knot is easy to tie and is pretty much the standard for many flies.
If you end up in Mathews and have the time, let's have a beer at the Southwind. I'm at "Mathews"-2680.
Will let you know looks like I wont but then again the pizza at southwinds is well worth the trip! Hadnt been there ever till last year when my sister introduced me to the place, been going to mathews all my life and never tried any of the stuff in the area!
Sure thing. Are you planning on using a nail knot to the line? Loop to loop connection is much easier and you wont cut off a small piece of line each time you put on a leader, like you would if you used the nail knot.
Id rather eat glass shards then tie nail knots I stick with loop connections and blood knots much simpler. Only trick is getting better at getting the loops smaller and smaller each time. I'll be learning the lefty knot this weekend when I get a minute then hopefully it helps!
Well learn the Perfection Loop as well. You can also do a double overhand knot to form your loop but it will get hung up in your guides and if you tie good blood knots, it will break first when you get hung up. The Perfection Loop won't.
I need to get out fishing asap. This whole work thing has me shopping way too much. Decided I needed something to throw with the Daiwa set ups I bought yesterday so just bought $80 worth of Z-Man lures.
I just got my first Bass Pro Shops order in, my first in more than six years since retirement. I got three Strike King Redfish Magic Spinnerbaits on the recommendation of my trout fishing neighbor. He swears by them for reds, trout and schoolie stripers, and I have seen him catch trout on one.
My former client and good friend wanted me to set him up with a basic rod/reel/tackle box for fishing here in the inshore waters. My old friend Chuck Kraft recommended an ABU-Garcia Villian, 7', MH and for the reel, a Pflueger Supreme XT. My friend got two rods and is gifting me one for some stuff I've done for him, but I've not seen one before so I'm looking forward to it. If it doesn't stop raining, hopefully there's next year!
A seminar I went to talked about using spinner baits for flounder by slowly bumping it along the bottom. He said the spinnerbait helped it not get hung as much as a regular jighead.
The spinnerbait is an interesting idea. Here's some info for you on flounder...
Last Labor Day weekend I was drinking at a bar in the OBX, talking to a local fisherman, about my age, and he brought up flounder fishing. He said they were his favorite fish and he claimed to be really good at it having grown up in NC and fished all over Pamlico Sound for them. He had gone to school at Texas AM and apparently they study flounder a lot there. He pulled up his phone and showed me multiple photos of HUGE flounder, 8-10 pounders, and based on the background, he indeed caught them in NC waters, often right against the shore in the backwaters of the sound.
He told me that he would use 6-8 pound test on a light spin rod with a lightly weighted, white fluke on a weedless worm hook and set up his boat as far off the bank/shore as he could. His key to catching them was to try to find small depressions and holes along the bank and cast to the bank as close as possible and then very, very slowly bounce it on the bottom back to him. He said sometimes he would retrieve for 5 minutes. That sounds like an eternity to me to retrieve a lure, but that's what he said. Depressions, holes and drop offs held the biggest fish and they didn't need to be extreme. Often times he would catch a smaller, 1-3 pound fish and then cast back to the same spot and catch a much bigger fish in the same area. Apparently they lay around together and the smaller ones eat first. He even pulled up some video from his AM days where they threw a bunch of minnows in a tank full of flounder and all of the small ones ate first. I think I learned more from that guy about flounder over a 30 minute convo and two Coronas then I ever will from anyone. I've been back to the same bar multiple times but haven't seen him around. One of these days I'll go actively try his theory out with flies, but that's only if the redfish aren't around. And I know flounder eat flies, I've caught many on them already, just not any 8 pounders!
That;s all helpful information, thanks for posting. I'm headed out my birthday weekend 3-5, probably towards Cape Romain, I'll give that a shot while I'm fishing reds.
Thanks for the info flyguy! Makes sense about the slow retrieve. It's tough to commit to that slow of a retrieve if you aren't sure of where the flounder are. I haven't tried to target them much in the backwaters. I've jigged at the ar reefs and at the port wall.
All of the ones I have caught have all been in water 6-7 feet deep or shallower and nearly always on a drop off. most have been in backwaters of NC. As a kid I would catch a lot of them slowly retrieving strips of squid on the bottom. Now I throw Clousers on a sinking line and strip back and can catch them pretty consistently. I've never understood fishing deep for them but never really had an interest either.
Yeah with you being a fly fishing purist I can understand not being interested in fishing deep. It's something easy to do to get a bite if you jig on the ar reefs.
The spinnerbait for flounder is intriguing. I could always take off the plastic on the Redfish Magic and replace it with a Gulp swimming mullet to cover all the bases.
As for big flounder in small places, that is the strategy I read about that this one guy at the CBBT has used for years to catch those big 8-10 pounders using live spot, but he wasn't fishing shoreline, just "secret" holes, some of which he said you could barely park a VW bug in.
As for little fish eating first, that's a fact, Jack. They are generally more active and less cautious. Smallmouth can be like that as well, sometimes making a second cast into a good lie more important than the first.
The captain at the seminar said he used some sort of gulp on his spinnerbait. I think he used a gulp pogy but I don't think it would matter too much.
Yeah, I don't know if the tail action of the swimming mullet would in any way affect the spinner blade during retrieve since the original minnow has a "club" tail. I have some pogies, but never did any good on them, maybe for lack of trying, but with the spinner blade working, perhaps that is the ticket. Of course, I'm talking about using the Redfish Magic, not a regular spinnerbait. The main thing is to be fishing over a lot of fish, and unfortunately, this area of the Bay isn't a flounder haven. Where a lot of folks go to get them is over across the water around the Buoy 42 area, but over there, you're fishing in 30-50' of water, so spinnerbaits are essentially out. Folks do get some in the Rappahannock, though, but I don't know much about where.
Sounds very close to the technique the old salts use on the pier. Low and slow.
This will be my first time taking my own rig out inshore. Anything I should definitely have in the boat that I wouldn't have for freshwater?
Well, that's hard to say, what do you usually take with you?
Bare necessities. Obviously all of the required USCG items. Fishing wise: tackle bag, rods, reels, good pliers, if I'm musky fishing I bring a net. Pocket knife usually.
Things I've thought of so far:
Cutting board
Filet/bait knife
casting net (may want to just buy bait until I'm better with the net though)
I like to use a good net for hauling in hooked fish. Cast net is great if you want to get finger mullet.
Navionics App for phone
Beer
I don't forget beer...
Another take, if I'm jigging a Gulp on a jig head and get hung up, I lose less than a dollar. If I'm bottom bouncing a spinnerbait on the bottom and get hung up...
Yeah, I don't know. Gotta figure out if spinner catches more flounder first and then if you get hung less. Guess the only thing to do is go fishing!
still not sure why people fish for flounder...if you are catching them, you are fishing too slow. if they were good to eat, i might feel different. lol
have yet to catch a north florida red on a redfish magic; granted, i don't give them much of a chance. friend of mine would throw spinners, bass fishing style (short cast into breaks in the spartina and rip it back), in S Ga (Kings Bay area) with good success, but i think they tend to spook fish where i am.
that said; making a "redfish magic" -style bait with an h&h spinner (https://www.hhlure.com/products/redfish-jig-spinners) is way cheaper than buying them assembled.
Yeah, I just got them for fishing over the grass beds here for trout, and don't see myself having to have too many of them. For me, it's just an experiment. If I like it, I'll get more serious. A few years ago, we had a "summer of the reds" here in my area. They were everywhere. Under docks, in the channels, on the flats, it was so much fun. We did best, and with the most fun, on fishing Gulp Jerk Shad, 5-6" on an unweighted 4/0 or 5/0 offset worm hook on 6lb test casting as close to the shoreline by the grass beds as possible from my unwieldy boat. We got them in less than a foot of water. They were the opposite of spooky, though I know they can be notoriously so. Not big fish, 16-25", but tons of fun to catch.
still not sure why people fish for flounder...if you are catching them, you are fishing too slow.
Because I can stand on the front of my boat and drink a beer while doing it... A 3-4 pounder will also fight on a 6 weight fly rod.
that, you can!
Chummed at Windmill Bar on Saturday, no runs, nothing except a bitten off tail of an eel. Very slow day. Lots of rain the night before probably didn't help. Got a 16" striper on Friday night off the dock light which was fun. They seem to get skitish once one gets caught.
There's been so much rain lately here I'm not surprised things aren't quite right out on the cobia grounds. I know I'm beating a drum here, but after 8.1" last week (including 2.8" the night before you went out), we're continuing the trend. Almost an inch already here today with more predicted to come. As a local friend put it, Mathews has its faults...but it drains well. Damn good thing.
Your dock light experience is typical. Get one, and the school absconds. They usually come back after a while if you don't beat the water too much. We used to take turns, with a full beer's wait between casts and no walking around on the dock.
Yeah it doesn't seem to be letting up from looking at the 10 day down there. Good call on the dock light waiting, I was thinking that would do the trick but it was late and decided to get sleep for fishing Saturday.
Well went to the potomac friday night swung by cobb island for some kick ass #1 jimmies first time I've had trouble with a dozen blue crabs but fought through the pain. Went out into mattox creek saturday morning hoping for rockfish or anything fun to fight and could not get away from the channel cats which were everywhere. Tried everything to get away from them but they had the docks and the deep holes and channel edges covered even tried trolling lighter jigs to keep em higher but still catfish. Caught one nice one bigger than 5 pounds but other than that nothing to report on. Hoping for a rain free day this week to put my SeaDek on my kayak and to get the fly rod out finally.
