It's been over 3 weeks since anyone commented on the "winter sucks fishing thread", so time for the summer fishing thread. I guess we skipped right through spring. I find it hard to believe that no one has been fishing, and there's a 0% chance no one has had any boat issues.
Chesapeake Bay is heating up. Seen lots of pictures of cobia already and plenty of nice trout and drum with none caught by me.
Post your reports, catches, and boat repair stories here.
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My trolling motor isn't working.
The RF18 does have full new wiring system, which was a cool two grand and that was a deal.
I went fishing for West Virginia Permit this weekend and sight cast a dozen in half an hour.
The New has been on fire spring fishing. Went a few weeks back and we landed 5 fish 16-19", all on a very small black sculpin pattern.
Dying to get down to the Cape for the summer but life responsibilities are kicking my ass.
West Virginia Permit
Had a slow few weeks of not fishing. Finally got out Friday for a few hours. Didn't have a ton of time and immediately happened upon a giant school of menhaden so took a few of those...just to find out my Livewell pump didn't want to work. Went ahead and flipped a couple dead ones out on a carolina rig while working a bank with a z-man. Next thing I knew I had 3 over slot reds on 3 medium rods with just me in the boat in a tight creek and it was an absolute cluster fuck, drag and lines ripping all sorts of directions, boat dancing in wild directions. Managed to go 0-3 after getting the one on the lure to the boat before it shook free. Not learning my lesson I did the same thing less than 10 minutes later before settling on just soaking one bait rod and landing a big bonnet head for my all my troubles.
Good news is I found a quality spot, bad news is I managed to land <1 target fish from it.
Headed towards Farmville for a long weekend of fishing at Sandy River and Briery Creek reservoirs. Used to fish them a lot several years back but this will be my first trip in a while. Hope to get some quality bass to the boat but plan on a few low-key relaxing days with some fellow Hokies. We'll see how the fish cooperate.
Never did post a report so I'll give everyone a condensed version:
We hit Briery the first morning and quickly realized why we quit fishing it years ago. Navigation is hell with all the standing timber, and with the fish post spawn and not situated where we initially thought, the idea of moving around the lake banging the boat off of stumps to find them didn't sit well. We packed up at lunch and headed to Sandy without a bite.
Got to Sandy and struggled over the first couple of days. A big low pressure system had just came through and there had been a lot of rain in previous days - water was heavily stained. Water temp ranged from high 70's to low 80's. Weather was absolutely gorgeous, with some overcast mixed in with plenty of sun. Marked a ton of bait and some fish working them, but I think most were crappie as we pulled a couple when working around bait balls. The bite was sporadic at best - no real patterns and fish just seemed to randomly hit as we were losing faith. I lost a good 4-5lb fish at the boat on a buzzbait. The few fish we caught were healthy and in the 1.5lb to 3lb range.
Next to last evening some bait moved in shallow and we had a great 30 min right before dark. Most of our action came on topwater - frogs and buzzbaits. Baitfish were popping in flats in around 6' of water. Caught a couple in the 3lb range and the big one of the evening was a 4lb 14oz that absolutely choked a frog. Felt good to have some action and felt like we found a pattern.
Last day was again a bit sporadic, but steady. Perhaps the stable weather was having an effect. Water was a bit clearer, and action was more predictable. Big fish of the weekend was boated on soft plastics right off the main lake channel - a long and skinny 6lb 14oz. Fish looked to be easily 8lb pre spawn. We caught several more decent fish both on soft plastics and topwater. I had my heart broken working some cypress trees next to a dropoff. Set the hook and the fish turned and just started peeling line. I tried to get her back around but had my drag set a bit too stiff and snapped my line. When I set the hook I was around a stick and likely caused a nick. She felt like she had shoulders and easily felt like the biggest fish I'd had on in years. Oh well.
It was good to get back up that way. For anyone in that area that likes to bass fish, Sandy is a real gem and has some great quality fish. Tight lines everyone.
Turned out May was the month the big trout turned on.
Sadly this porn doesn't involve me but I really should try to fish this spot
same guy; same day; same place
Man, that's some gators there.
yeah, that guy (who I believe is the best trout fisherman in NEFL) and a good friend of mine have taken some "salmon" out of that hole. The larger one there is 30".
A moose. That one could have eaten the "big" gray trout I had on my sibiki rig before breaking off on Tuesday.
Those are some studs. My buddies have sent me some pics of big trout in VA just need to get out there and chuck some topwater.
that's where you fished with the guide
Yup, that's what I figured. I've seen him post lots of big trout this spring. A guy I've talked to on instagram took a trip down there and got a 9 pounder with him.
I got three cobia this morning in Hampton... 46 inches, 40 inches, and a pup. All on live threadfin on my Century drum rod. I will add pictures later. Glad to have a good start to the season after stinking out the joint last year.
Also lost a 16 inch gray trout that decided my sibiki looked tasty.
The skunk is off!!
Thank goodness. I had not caught a targeted large saltwater gamefish since October 2022. It was a long dry spell.
Well done! Apparently the Cobia bite has been en fuego in NC for the past several weeks
French is on 'em. He got another one this morning. Man's a pier meister.
I landed one and lost two others this morning. Fortunately the two who came unglued were small ones. Also hooked a big cownose and now my back hurts. It was excellent today despite it being very cold with a NW wind, but at some point the bluefish in and made it so tough to keep bait alive that I packed it in around 11AM. Mine wasn't a giant but there were a half dozen 40 pound class fish caught despite the NW wind and dingy water. Probably 15 or so that were runts (30-38 inches.)
It has. Also the Virginia guys going on CnR trips have been seeing a ton of fish. I hear most of the biggest ones have lock jaw though, but some of the captains are reporting seeing 100+ and catching 30+ when the conditions allow it.
I am tickled pink after going pretty much O for everything last year and the miserable sharkfest my OBX trip turned into last October.
Pretty work, glad you got on em.
https://x.com/french60wasp/status/1798402864609722555 to see pictures
Nice! Thanks for the pictures. To me they are always the best part of the story.
Great reports.
Highlight of my fishing so far in 2024 was visiting the Fly South store in Nashville a couple weeks ago. Good thing we were on a tight schedule or I would have emptied my wallet.
Fished a little on Lake Anna over the weekend. Trolled for stripers with no luck Saturday morning before it got busy. Caught a bunch of white perch and sunfish but nothing else.
Question: has anyone made the switch to lithium batteries? Looking for advantages/disadvantages. Know they're lighter and have a much longer life, but curious to know if there are any drawbacks besides price. I'm assisting with wiring a new trolling motor (not my boat). Old one was 12V. Current system is 3-bank onboard charger with 3 12V lead batteries (one crank, one house, one trolling motor). But it should really be a 24V TM, so I'm thinking of keeping the onboard charger for the 2 batteries, abandoning one bank, and then using a 24V lithium (either 2-12V or 1-24V) in the abandoned space. Then just charge the lithiums separately. Thoughts?
Fly South is the best fly shop in the country in my opinion. That tying room makes me go from 6 to midnight. Plus they have Hattie B's right across the street!
Well, got the boat out for the first time this year, shoulda stayed home. I went for flounder, all in with no plan B, and caught a little spot. And lost something too big to get off the bottom and broke off my lighter than usual leader I was using for the flatties. In recent years, the floundering has been spotty at best, but usually if I put in the time, I get something. While I'm sure that the flounder population continues to steadily decline around here, it also didn't help that some bragging fool had to blast on Facebook that he'd caught some and exactly where. The area is small and fairly restricted, and a friend of mine said for the past three weeks or so there have been more than the usual activity there as he passes by daily. Oh well, I should have gone weeks ago, I guess.
I caught a couple of throwback flounder on Tuesday and today. One was 10 inches and one was 13. Used a strip of bluefish on a 3/4 oz jighead. Saw several keepers caught. Apparently there are some big trout in the shallows at night. I saw a guy walking off around 5AM with 2 20 plus inch trout in his bucket as I was walking on.
As of June 1, flounder have to be 17.5" to keep. Most of the ones I've caught inshore here have been smaller, though I've also caught a bunch of keepers at my not so secret spot. To be fair, it's long been known to hold flounder, I didn't discover it. I have a productive technique that I honestly believe will get 'em. IF they're there.
Scheels has fenwick elite inshore rods (I assume old stock before the new reboot) on sale nearly half off. And free shipping.
7'M fast $90
7'6" M fast $105
https://www.scheels.com/p/fenwick-elite-inshore-spinning-rod-1292681/022...
Thanks for posting; that's a steal! I just ordered two 7'M fast.
Dammit I need new rods but I keep buying boat stuff and golf clubs.
Non fishing but was at Railbird Festival this past weekend. I got into Josiah and the Bonnevilles from your recommendation I'm pretty sure. Ripping harmonica and had an awesome performance.
So, this week has been all about getting my nephew Aiden his first cobia, but the bite has slowed down. I netted the only fish caught today and about a dozen on Monday. I got three runs... two cownose rays and a loggerhead turtle.
The kid did well. He pulled on the rays a bit, got his first Spanish and bluefish on his sibiki, and made a major dent in the local sand perch population.
Didn't get the target species, but sounds like he did well and was plenty busy. He won't forget this day. Nice work.
Just got back from Key West. Our party boated 3 tarpon, 4 permit, multiple mutton snapper and multiple mahi.
Damn! Nice work.
Gotta love that mahi mahi bumper on an inshore focused trip! Chef's kiss!
That's a dream trip to me. Well done!
Another glowing report from the East River and the Mobjack Bay. Just talked to two guys who'd been out since dawn. And caught one small bluefish. After now a lifetime of fishing, I recognize capable anglers pretty easily, and these guys passed the test, had the boat and fit the bill. Glad I didn't go out this morning, as beautiful as it was here.
And people ask why I don't fish the Bay any more. The only spot I know that is any good any longer is Poquoson Flats and everyone knows about it and fishes it.
I certainly understand your feelings. I will say that when the fish are here, they are in the same places every year, and I know many of them. I didn't move here for the fishing, honestly, and it was a heck of a lot better 15 years ago when we bought our house and 12 since we moved in. Not that crowded, convenient for me, but would I choose it for a fishing destination if I didn't live here? Nope.
My brothers/dad bailed on a sunrise trip to the Mobjack, so we fished Lake Anna instead. Caught some blueback herring before sunrise under a bridge and then started fishing. Set up near a point and picked up a handful of 3-4 lb largemouth. Took us a while to find a school of stripers, but we found one and caught 8 keeper stripers in an hour of nonstop action. We couldn't get baits out fast enough. Caught a few smaller ones and a bunch of big catfish. Once we lost that school, it was pretty much over.
ummmm you don't eat the fish out of lake anna do you???
Not a bad question with the recent reports of kidney problems with kids swimming in the lake. Lot of freshwater fish in Virginia should not be eaten because of past pollution. James River Kepone?
Catch and release is widely practiced by many fishermen, but many fishermen eat what they catch and don't pay attention to warnings.
Guess we all gotta go sometime, and probably something other than eating the wrong fish will get you, right?
First trip into the Mobjack for my boat this year. Old client, good guy and really good fisherman came down from RVA. We didn't rack up the numbers, by any means, but we did ok for the day. 20" red and 19" trout were the headliners, but a couple of just under slot reds and several lost trout and a couple of busted off reds definitely did a good job as supporting actors. Winch busted after (luckily) I trailered the boat to go home, but got home ok and we judged it a decent day. Trout dinner for him and red dinner for me to boot.
Never a dull moment for my flats boat, Pretty Fly. The 4 year old Minn Kota Terrova started acting up last fall. I tore it down to determine the issue, and upon prying open the motor itself, found it completely full of salt. By completely, I mean mounds of it on the table and not a square centimeter, uncovered. MK makes these motors with a hole in the side of them that water can intrude. For anyone with one, I'd highly recommend
Now I've got to get another one. The new Powerpoles are $6k but apparently the best thing ever and come with a lifetime warranty. Problem is, I don't have 6k, and I'm not looking forward to spending another $2600 on a Minn Kota to crap out on me 17 times over the next 3-4 years.
Edit, found a replacement steering box for $200. Much more palatable and hope it works
Good luck man. It's always something and when it ain't, it's something else.
Thank you
You're welcome.
You might get a kick out of this. Fished the Crazy Lady dock on our way down and then back up the river. My neighbor had fished it just before us in the morning and got two decent reds while we got 1 17.5, and it couldn't have been more than 15, 20 minutes later. Ditto the next dock, they'd gotten two and we got one. I was surprised that they hadn't stung the holes completely, but they didn't.
Also there on our way back in, Crazy Lady came out and stood on her porch glaring, then took our picture. We smiled to ourselves at the stories about her, but resisted, barely, the urge to either wave or moon her.
Anyone been down to Oregon Inlet recently? Snuck into the campground next weekend so I'm going. Just me and the dog, I wanna fill a cooler.
Hearing there are still sheepshead at the bridge pier on the other side of the bridge. It is free to fish but you need a license. Use double dropper loops with size 1 octopus circle hooks and live sand fleas. I wish I had tide advice but I am still learning about that fishery and haven't had a chance to go test my information yet, but the fish are there.
The blues and spanish have been thick in the morning on the piers, but when the wind switches S/SW this weekend that will probably stop.
Fishing here is hard to predict. Our dock fishing is primarily for specs and reds, with a striper thrown in occasionally, but absent so far are numbers of reds and specks in numbers or any small ones. Water temp in the East River of the Mobjack was 83 on Tuesday. And it's hot, and it's dry, and whatever excuse I can come up with. Will try again next week.
There are Blues around. Speck fishing is hit and miss. Unless you get some of the leftover 6-8 pound blues still hanging around, with a limit of 3 I don't think you'll fill a cooler. Go wading a little further south on the grass flats, or better yet, use a kayak, and burn a gold spoon. You'll get a drum eventually, if not several.
Flyguy gave you decent info on the predators, but if you're looking to fill a cooler, my suggestion would be to get some fishbites and fish for whiting (roundhead, sea mullet depending on your influences). A lot of serious guys won't use the metal bottom rig, but those fish don't care and it's the easiest way to get stuff out there. I like to rig up the top hook with a bluefish hook with float baited with cut mullet. This will catch the blues and will get a drum as well, should a puppy come by. Not all that exciting, for sure, but you want to fill a cooler and whiting are excellent table fare. I have heard of some nice flounder in the surf as well, but NC finally realized they need laws to preserve the species population and I don't think you can keep any at all. Run out of fishbites (or bloodworms if you can afford them), and whiting will eat sand fleas as well. If the fleas are easy to get like they usually are, catch a bunch and see if you have any soft shelled ones. They are money and everything on the bottom eats 'em.
NC passed the buck onto recreational fisherman who have little to no impact on the fishery while letting commercial and corporate fishing continue.
The limit on Blues is very helpful in my opinion but you are 100% correct. It is a fucked up state, just like Virginia with menhaden and stripers.
I watched a commercial "fisherman" maybe 20 years old fill up the bottom of his boat with huge blues a few years back. They do not care about the fishery.
Rec fisherman can't keep a single flounder this year but the commercial guys get to go to town. I admit that I'll do gigging one night with my buddy who has a license. We keep a dozen between 3-4 of us and half of it goes to my friends' parents. The commercial guys go out every night they can and they load up.
Fished the last five days at Cape Lookout. There was a hard east wind the entire time. East is least, as they say. The fish seem to get lock jaw and/or hard to find. The first day I had a dozen on one of my favorite flats. They would charge the fly, put it on their nose and then bolt. Eventually I switched to a spoon fly, which is the ace up the sleeve when they are acting weird. If they won't eat that, time to go sit on the beach.
I finally got a solid 27" fish to eat and made 3 good runs. A second small fish hours later also committed.
Monday night my buddy and I tried several different flats and only saw 4. They wouldn't eat. We went to a tailing flat at sunset and saw 5 tailers. Three spooked but a really nice 24" fish ate my crab fly. One of the bigger tailing fish that I have landed.
I returned to the same flat Wednesday night and saw another 8 fish, albeit all small. Two spooked on my presentation, but a third 18" fish ate. I'd rather catch bigger fish but tailing Redfish provide their own level of difficulty and really make you stop breathing for a minute during the presentation.
I'll be back in a week and a half for a majority of the summer.
The 27" fish
Nice work!! I was just west of you last week. We fished bogue sound near Emerald Isle on Sunday morning and closer to Atlantic Beach on Monday and Friday mornings. Can confirm that east is least, although it made for very comfortable beach days. Surf fishing was almost non-existent. As many sand fleas as you could ever need but only a couple small sea mullet one day and nothing else.
Sunday morning went out with both brothers-in-law, one of whom I fish with regularly, the other only fishes when on vacation with us. I caught a topwater 18" red just after sunrise, and just after my BIL lost a nice fish just near the bought that popped off his topwater (either a nice trout or a red) after a long fight. He was devastated. Then caught a 19" red on a slick lure after we saw it feeding back in a creek. We rode around closer to bogue inlet for a while and managed to almost get stuck on a sandbar then saw a boat actually stuck on a bar. But no more fish.
Monday morning my brother-in-law and I fished a new spot at a creek mouth with a semi-grass flat and a nice oyster bar. There was a ramp just deep enough to launch my small skiff at high tide (we struggled to get it back on at low tide). We didn't get any bites for an hour or so after sunrise, but then he got hit on topwater and whatever it was cut his line right at the lure. We're thinking it may have been a shark. Then it came back a few seconds later and sipped the topwater but didn't hook on. So I cast and got hit immediately but my line was slack so I figured I had the same fate. Turns out fish was just running toward the boat so I lost it. Nothing for a while til I got slammed right at the boat as I was pulling the lure out of the water. No fish. Then another lull until BIL got a 23" trout on topwater. He was so pumped. It was blue skies and sunny at this point so a nice surprise. I cast nearby and got an 18" trout. Nothing for another hour or so and then my topwater got destroyed by a nice trout. Couple head shakes and she was gone. It will haunt me for a while. We then tried for sheepshead for 30 minutes or so but only caught small sea bass and pinfish. A solid morning and we were pumped our google earth scouting had paid off with a good spot to fish.
The east wind was pretty strong the next couple of days so I focused on Friday morning when the wind was supposed to die down and the day before full moon. I was cautiously optimistic. My other BIL and I went out before sunrise to the same spot. Had some minor trouble launching at near low tide, but we were at the spot at first light. We heard some action around us but no takers for a while. I got a small trout on topwater just before sunrise. Then got a big bluefish that I was hoping was a trout a little while later. That was it. And the wind picked up. The most exciting part of the morning was when I put a big pinfish under a popping cork my BIL was using. It got eaten by presumably a shark that cut the line immediately after it tried to eat the bait multiple times. Same thing happened with a smaller pinfish a little while later. We saw some dolphins and headed home.
I finally had my first trolling motor issue. The remote died without warning and then I put some new batteries in and all the buttons worked intermittently. Or I'd press to turn right and it would increase the speed. I'm hoping it's just bad batteries or a bad remote but need to do some more troubleshooting.
All in all in was a great week. Wish the surf fishing was more fruitful and we would have found some more redfish in the sound but I can't complain much since I got to fish almost every day.
Also it's crazy how many more oyster bars there are down there than in the Chesapeake Bay. It's awesome for fishing but makes it near terrifying navigating new water, especially in the dark.
Sounds like a good trip! Always good to get some topwater action and feel the satisfaction of spotting something on google earth and producing. I enjoy the kayak for never worrying that much if I hit something because I'm moving so slow and pedal drive/electric motor will kick up.
Struggling with the motivation to make the long trips with this heat. I really would like to try to find some landbased sheepshead opportunities, but it looks like Oregon Inlet or bust to make that happen.
In this heat...
Time to take up spearfishing!
In Nova Scotia.
LOL the gf is going to Norway in August. She told me its a trip for her and her son. I said fine. I'm looking at going to visit an old friend in Alaska. Should be cooler there.
Ironically its 80 at the coast in NC. 100 here in Richmond
Hmm, I should've consulted this thread -
Looking for input. My 10 year old son has taken an interest in fishing - something I know jack shit about.
So far he's only been fishing in the sound and the creeks here in Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, he seems to enjoy that. Maybe eventually, after I learn what I'm doing to, we'll move over to the piers and do some shore fishing too, but for now I'm looking to get him a decent rod and reel for the sound.
I picked up, on sale at Walmart, about a 7' long Penn Pursuit IV for him. Anyone with any experience know if that is a decent beginner rod and real?
I don't need top of the line, but don't want something that is going to be garbage after a few uses either. I haven't given this one to him yet (just picked it up yesterday) so still time to exchange if recommended
Fishing dohickey
That's a fine to start with. Make sure to wash the reel off after every trip. 6 or 8 lb monofilament line to start is good. Switch to braid when he gets more experienced.
Get a Johnson Silver Minnow 1/2 oz spoon, cast and straight retrieve at good speed
https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Johnson_Silver_Minnow_Spoon/descpage-JSM...
4 Horsemen Cork with 18"-24" leader to 1/8 oz jighead with soft plastic, move the rod to create a pop and then pause for a few seconds and repeat
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/four-horsemen-tackle-oval-popper-float?h...
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/z-man-trout-eye-jigheads
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/z-man-diezel-minnowz
Look on google satellite for shallow areas with submerged grass and fish low light conditions for best shot (sunrise/sunset)
Hope this helps and feel free to ask more questions
Awesome, thank you for the input!!
Yes, that's a good rod for him. Def keep the reel washed after use.
Edit: I'll drink to what was said above! Johnson silver minnow and popping cork. He will eventually catch specks and reds and be ruined for life.
I will be the desenting voice I guess. I avoid purchasing any rods and reels from Walmart in general because they get handled very roughly and endure a lot of abuse getting to the shelves. I also do not like the inexpensive Penn reels because they have plastic parts that have a tendency to break down. If you want something that lasts, you are looking at $200 for a rod and reel just to start to have some durability. If you can find one of the older model Fenwick HMGs in medium light power with fast action ($70) and a Daiwa 3000 Fuego ($100 I am guessing) that would be my starting point.
I love my Penn Fathom II for surf casting, but for spinning reels, the performance of comparable Daiwas and Shimanos is much better IMO.
Also, if not a Johnson's spoon, can't beat a 1/4 oz jighead with a paddle tail under that poppin cork.
I think depending on how much you fish you can get away with a penn combo for 60 bucks. I had one when I started doing the light tackle inshore stuff. It lasted me a year and then bought nicer. Spoon and popping cork don't require much finesse. But I'd agree with your step up combo. I got a bulls bay banshee rod ML ($169) recently that I really like if others are looking for something in that slot/price range for light jigs/weedless presentations.
I understand the sentiment - but for his first rod and reel for a hobby that I don't know if he'll still be interested in 6 months from now, $65 is plenty
Now, in two years if he is still gung ho, i might look to upgrade
I tend to agree, but success early on in the endeavor is a big determinant, I believe, in continued interest. Don't need to spend a fortune, for sure, but at least get what he'll need to be successful when and where he's fishing. Nothing will do everything so tailoring the gear to the opportunity should be the guide.
Any OBX'ers know a sports bar that is open on a Monday night in Corolla? Trying to find a spot to meet up with friends to watch a game. Thanks!
Sorry... it has been 18 years since I have been in Corolla. But, in the OBX, if I wanted to watch a game, I like the little bar at Nags Head Pier.
Take the ferry out to Okracoke and watch it at Howards. you won't be disappointed.
Makes for a long ride back to the mainland, but you can always sleep it off, or keep it going on the ferry back. Been several years since I last went to Howard's, but it's a good bar, good crabcakes.
Lol, it's a 2 hour drive from Corolla to Hatteras, then an hour + ferry ride to Ocracoke. A bit much to catch a game.
I certainly wouldn't go to Howard's if I weren't staying on the island. Used to be a good music bar on Okracoke as well, 3/4 Time, but I think it's been gone for a long time. When I was a kid, we used to camp at Frisco and if we got a super hot, or rainy day, Dad would pack us up and we'd take the ferry and drive to the villiage, look around for a minute, then back to the ferry. The ferry was the highlight for me bro and meself, we'd hang over the front and were transfixed by the crystal clear water, fish, crabs and such on the ride. Good times from 60+ years ago.
3/4 Time has been gone for a long, long time. You can get live music at Dajio's or O Bar. The bar that really needs to come back is Jolly Roger, but it's now owned by a foreign company and they do not care about it.
Off the Wall in Currituck has several tvs if I remember correctly. Not many options between Duck and Currituck. Sundogs has a few. Uncle Ikes is pretty limited.
Had a pretty sick long weekend of the 4th of Fishing. Caught a few big drum at CBBT on big swimbaits up to 50". Managed to trick a 27" trout to eat a kwigglers bailtail under a popping cork. Haven't gotten the topwater bite dialed up yet this summer but popping cork has produced just being patient is the tough part.
Well done
Pretty work. I have seen the big schools
Up top and caught a few on bucktails, but haven't don't the night deal at the islands. It is on the list. Those are beauties.
Thanks, sometimes they are on top, mostly using sidescan to locate schools
Looks like an epic weekend. And that's a stud trout!!
Thanks man! It was awesome for sure. Hadn't had a big trout in the summer since 2020. Always feels great to hit that 27" mark and one that still was pretty thick.
very nice!
Fishing at the Cape has been hit and miss. I did find the Reds in a very specific spot on a very large flat I rarely frequent. Much deeper water there and the fish are hard to see. I ended up basically nymph fishing for them with a fly rod from my poling platform. The boat wouldn't spook them as I drifted over and I jigged the fly in their face. Lots of spooked fish from crabs falling from the sky, but a few would eat. It is hard to keep them on basically trout setting from high up. Strip set is key with Reds. I hooked 14 and landed 9 in two afternoons. Biggest 29", smallest at 22". The wind is BAD here this weekend.
Reds
So, despite the rain squalls from the remnants of hurricane Beryl, my mom is in town today and wanted to fish if there was a window and get lobster rolls. We drove through bad belting rain and then it vanished when we hit Newport News. Viola! No rain and none of the radar for a window. We went to Buckroe Pier. She got a decent spot on the first drop and it was steady. Caught and released around 30 spot and I contributed my trash fish (pigfish, sea robins, croaker, sea mullet, threadfin on a bottom rig) while Mom got spot after spot. A squall chased us off after just under two hours, but she had a blast. Then lobster rolls at A Bite of Maine before a miserable traffic drive home between the flooding, tourists, and getaway traffic getting across the HRBT.
It's cool you got to do that with your mom. Great that the spot were willing, I've had many a day catching them from the pier myself and it is a lot of fun.
My mom, on the other hand, didn't catch a fish in her life to my knowlege, but she'd have been all in for the lobster rolls, and would have eaten two, while sneaking airplane bottles of vodka or gin into whatever drink she would have. She was a pistol and I miss her. So good on ya.
Some solid days on the Cape recently in between the wind. I've dialed the slot Reds in on the big faraway flat. Getting eats on well placed casts with heavy crab flies.
Had some solid client trips and one of them has already rebooked for Sept.
As always with me and my boat, well, it's never a dull moment.
My trolling motor decided to go swimming
Any tips on catching pollock, boston mackerel, or stripers from shore in the area between Wisscaset and Bar Harbor in Maine?
Pollack absolutely destroyed a white plastic grub on a jig head for me. Just drag/bounced on the bottom. No fancy rig. Cast and retrieve. Pulled in a fish three out of four casts. Might have gotten lucky and just was casting into a school. But it was a blast.
I caught pollack on light spinning tackle throwing a small silver spoon, probably a Kastmaster. I was bouncing/hopping it down in the water column.
and like SJB above, almost every cast
I have never done it but there are a fair amount of light tackle / fly guides that pole skiffs across rocky flats up there for sight casting for Stripers. I would imagine you could blind cast across one and catch them if you were in the right area.
We are having some remodeling done and one of the guys fishes hard on the weekends. Unlike yours truely, he has a buddy with a 32' something or another and can run from Mathews through the CBBT to fish the wrecks off Va. Beach. They've been on a flounder bite, limiting out on good sized flukes, and getting 30 or so fish. Must be nice. Me, I'm somewhat sidelined by the weather, the lack of local success and the aforementioned remodeling. We've had 9.4" inches of rain in the last 12 days after a couple of months with absolute nothing, so what that might do here locally I don't know. My sometimes fishing partner has been struggling to make an early morning outing worth it which is discouraging.
Cobia are reported to be in their usual spots this time of year and sight fishermen on, again, bigger boats with tuna towers, are having a good year. Sheepshead are showing up regularly in the local paper from Mobjack Bay, I suspect the reef, and Wolftrap Light, some over 10 lbs.
Me, I'm lazy as that blue tick hound in the summer, and have finally come to officially hate sweating my clothes wet while fishing.
Me, I'm looking forward to Hokie football.
And me am thanking the heavens above for the invention of air conditioning.
Nothing to report either from the western part of the state. Spent a week here in Abingdon, and even the carp didn't cooperate when I went to the lake.
I know we've got some fly fishers here so I'm hoping I can get some input from you guys - I went Euro Nymphing this weekend and absolutely loved it! Only managed to net 2 small brown trout, but it was still a blast.
I'm now wanting to get my own setup, but since I've never had a fly setup before, I can't commit the $400-500 on a decent rig until I know it's something I'll stick with. I haven't found any nymphing specific rod/kits that are any cheaper, but there are what seem like a few decent general fly setups in the 8'-9' range that would fit my budget a bit better. Obviously a 10' 3wt would be best for nymphing, but does anyone have any experience with a shorter rod? I figure that would also give me the option of dry fly too. I'm new to all of this so I've been doing a ton of research and not sure if there is a sort of a "do-it-all" rod or length that I could be looking out for.
Congrats on the fish! And welcome to the addiction! Before you know it you'll have 10 rods.
Where would you be fishing most often? This will be your #1 factor.
Since you're just getting into it, I'd probably not get a 10'+ euro-nymphing specific rod since that would limit you mostly to that technique. You can try to cast a dry or streamer, but from experience it won't be very enjoyable.
The classic "do-it-all" for trout is the 9' 5 weight, but it's geared more toward larger open rivers. If you're fishing mostly mountain streams here in VA, I'd probably go with an 3-4 weight on the 7'-8' range. Longer would be better for nymphing.
For what it's worth, I learned to euro nymph from a guide who used a ton of splitshot so the rig was literally bouncing off the bottom and you could feel everything. Rod was a generic 9' 5 weight.
Flyguy on here can chime in with specific recommendations on rods. He's an actual guide.
Haha yea, thanks! I'm aiming mostly for brown trout in the smaller MD streams and rivers. The guide I went with last week was great and he took us on the Gunpowder River north of Baltimore. I do live on a lake that has both smallmouth and perch in it as well, so that's really the reason I'd potentially be interested in something that could dry cast a bit. I know it'll never be great if it's not a purpose built rod, but I think "good enough" is what I'm looking for at the moment.
I was thinking of something in the 3/4wt 8'-6" to 9' ramge
Won't recommend rods since there are more informed folks that hopefully will, but if you have a nearby lake, I would heartily endorse popping bugs for bream, especially in May or so when they're on the beds. You can learn almost everything you need to know about casting and have a lot of fun while catching some pretty game fish with a ton of fight to boot. These days, most folks don't bother to eat them, but I grew up catching and eating them and will say they're darned good fried up crispy with cornmeal in Crisco.
Good to know! According to the MD DNR, the lake that's about 100yds through the trees from my back deck has sunfish, crappie, yellow perch, largemouth bass (I thought it was smallmouth as I mentioned above), tiger muskie, bluegill, northern snakehead, and channel catfish, so there's definitely some fun to be had there.
I gotta second that for poppers.
I honed my casting as a teenager that way and had a blast creating outrageous poppers and cool spiders and frogs and such and really had a blast. Any old pond and poppers and spiders and skimmers, etc.
My Mom was always happy to have me come home with a stack of panfish for dinner.
Watch those finless browns in urban areas. They don't work the middle of the water column. Mostly hang out on the surface or hug the bottom.
Gigs is on point with the 9 foot five weight. It's the best all around trout size rod out there. If you are just getting started and want to catch smallmouth and sunfish too, it will work. You're severely undergunned on a snakehead.
Euro nymphing is incredibly effective. It gets crapped on throughout the fly fishing world. But if you can tight line nymph effectively, you can catch trout anywhere in the world.
I have tight lined with my 7' 3 weight for brookies, so it doesn't require the 10 foot rod, though that helps with reach. You will become a more effective fly angler, particularly for trout, if you also learn to nymph fish with an indiciator, mending, etc. The 9' 5 will do all of that. Euro / tight line is more effective than regular indicator nymphing, but you can reach much longer distances with the regular indicator nymphing.
As far as brands go, I still away from Orvis (my personal frustrations with them) and all of the weirdly named Chinese junk on Amazon. Several companies out there offer a beginner combo in the 9 / 5 size. I like Redington, Lamson or Echo. Echo is made by one of the best casters in the industry and they are super good sticks.
If you want to learn everything on Euro nymphing, listen to the Troutbitten podcast.
Your next rod after the 9 foot 5 should be an 8 weight. Then you'll be able to fly fish in the salt and mostly forget about trout.
On the verge of selling my boat again. Really thinking about upgrading to something new just not sure I can afford it. Was dumb/lazy at the dock and clipped my neighbors prop taking a solid chunk of gelcoat out. Suddenly my motor doesn't want to start, maybe every 10 turns of the key it fires. Figured its probably the relay so I replaced the relay and it's still not starting. Spent a good 4 hours chasing every electrical component. Jumped the starter, looks to be firing fine, cleaned every connection, still no dice. Started at square 1 tested my brand new relay and its bad, guess my strategy of using cheap amazon parts to verify a diagnosis before spending OEM money has a minor flaw.
When I lived on Grant Farm Island in Grant, FL, I had this same problem. Learned quick with key components for boat motors use OEM. After I made that decision for key elec components, those type of issues went away.
Yeah I like to get the cheap parts for diagnosis, since I'm not a professional and often wrong. Then I'll go back with the OEM once that solves my problem.
Looks like the OEM relay mostly solved my issues, still probably need new battery as there's still some voltage drop but at least I'm back on the water.
When the lower unit went on my 1998 Tohatsu 120 a couple years ago I had a dilemma. My service guy found the choice of two replacements. A used one that looked about as bad as my blown unit in CA for $600 or the last factory OEM lower unit (still at manufacturing facility) for about $3300... For two years, I had the only 1998 motor and lower unit under warranty again.
To paraphrase an old saw about free hunting dogs........... You can't afford cheap parts.
Amen brother
stay dry this week
25" of rain forecasted between Tuesday and Wednesday I'm just gonna try to stay floating
yeah, I'm looking at that. y'all stay safe
Looks like things are moving along faster than predicted. Hope you all did ok.
Just now hitting the stall but I think it dumped more rain early than expected ended up with 11" through this morning and tornados everywhere last night....I think we'll be getting a consistent dousing for the next 36 hours but it does look like the south and west of the storm have lost all of its moisture so I'm going to guess we end up with a bit less than the 30" they called for and it'll be more spread out hopefully reduce flooding impacts
good luck!
we were right on the edge and it did very little here...gray and breezy...a little over 1"
I feel your pain, obviously. It's stupid, but check your connections at your battery cables. Eventually, you hit so many waves, they will loosen just enough for it to not start. This happens to me every summer.
Me too. I have a tube of dielectric grease that I keep handy, along with some sandpaper and a small wire brush. That has saved me a couple of times when I was ready to bag the trip or call Tow US.
yeah as part of my diagnosing I took sandpaper and a wire brush to every connection, they're all sparkly clean and tight now.
Now, anyway, right? Like lights on the trailer, seems like nothing stays right for very long for electrical stuff on salt water.
July into August was good fishing for the most part. I had one really wild day when found a school of Drum mixed in with big blues in 5 feet of water out in the middle of absolute nowhere. This is my new favorite thing... pick a spot on a map that is way far away, somewhere I've never fished, and make the run to it and see what happens. Anywho, there were birds working an area and my first few casts with a Spook got smoked by big bluefish but I could see the drum behind them. One the fourth or fifth cast I had a ball of drum smacking the top water knocking it away from each other. I dropped the rod and picked up the fly only to see hundreds of pumpkin orange drum. An immediate cast got smoked by a big blue. From then on for the next half hour, every time I threw the fly in to them a 6 pound bluefish would steal it. I finally got a 30" drum on fly. Ended up hooking a dozen or so blues, at one point I had 3 fly rods and one spin hooked up to them because I kept picking up a new rod to throw at the drum. They invariably chewed through the leader and I only landed half of them. I did finally get an eat from a bright orange, massive old drum that was one of the biggest I've ever hooked on fly, at least 40". At the end of a very long first run the fly simply popped out. I'm still not over it. I hate losing fish to a bad hookset. I got another mid slot fish on a gold spoon and it, along with 5 or 6 other drum, started launching themselves out of the water like nothing I'd ever seen. Right behind them was 5 foot blacktip trying to eat the reds. I opened the bail and let my fish swim off and it spit the hook pretty quickly, or the shark ate it off perfectly without cutting off the spoon and leaving no signs of the red. I ended up catching a 32" on a gold spoon blind casting after the school dissipated, and then blind casting on a drop off caught a 38" fish. It was a wild morning but I am heartbroken over losing that big fish on fly.
I ended up back there the next day with my guide friend from Aspen and her other guide friend from the area whom I had not yet met. The blues and some of the reds were there though it was a very tough wind. Both women got multiple blues on fly over the next two days and each landed a red. It was one of the most fun guide trips I've ever had.
The following week was spent on family vacation in Ocracoke. I went out once in between rain storms from Debbie. Fortunately, all of the rain made me relax and not fish and I got lots of time in with the family and girlfriend.
I'm driving to Sarasota Florida this weekend to visit with my grandmother for a few days. I'll probably fish the Crystal River for a day or two on the paddleboard before heading back north.
30" Drum
Clients fishing
Glad for you and happy that someone's finding fish. Here in the Middle Peninsula, things are not so grand for we who fish the rivers for those reds. Early early early morning when the wind is calm, some drum are cruising the grass flats, most are over slot sized, but once the sun is up, or if the wind chops the water, they seem to disappear. The go to docks in the rivers we fish, however, are nearly empty this season.
I went out with my favorite client from my guiding days yesterday and while we didn't get skunked, it wasn't far from it. We fished the East, North and a handful of docks on the Ware and managed two rat reds, one 10" flounder, a couple of snapper blues and a couple of croaker. We wanted to get out semi-early and he had to drive from Richmond, so it wasn't before sunup or anything, but seemed early and calm, so our hopes were up for some top water on the flats. Then I tried to start my motor. Yeah, somehow my battery had gotten weak despite my "thinking" I was charged up. Took us a bit to figure it was the battery, not the connections we so dutifully polished up. Put the boat back on the trailer and pulled out onto the ramp leaving room for my buddy's honda to drive onto the ramp and position for a jump. Once he got in and revved up his motor, mine started and I ran around to the open pickup door and backed the running engine into the water. Playing with fire a little, I guess, but the Yamaha didn't have time to overheat before it was in the water and after a run around, the battery was back to full charge and no problems. But, the time it took to diagnose, mitigate the problem and then run around at full speed long enough to recharge allowed the sun to get up well and then the wind chopped the water on the flats and topwater just didn't work at all.
Worse season since I moved here 12 years ago, but a continuation of an overall trend around here. The rockfish are not showing in the fall, my flounder honey hole quit producing and when it did for a lucky fellow one day, he got all over Facebook and turned a bunch of kayakers and small boaters on to the spot. What a jerk.
Oh well, I'm stuck here with the wrong boat and right now, not enough fish to really want to get out even though the brutal heat wave seems broken now.
Maybe fall will bring some action into the rivers where there is tons of bait, but when the most entertainment of a fishing trip is watching a bald eagle hassle an osprey out of its mullet and then the osprey and a couple of buddies finally ran off the eagle and everybody ended up losing, a mirror of our efforts.
Oof that is rough. I have friends tell me they find the reds on flats in the Bay, I can only imagine it is around Poquoson. It's a shame that fishery is so far in the toilet.
So.... the old guys down at the Jolly Rogers Pier down here on Topsail have been reeling in the Tarpon. And boy are they having some fun (it sounds like it anyway).
Anyone on here have experience catching tarpon off the pier? I have a basic surf fishing rig (I'm new to all of this down here). Any suggestions?
No experience, but a couple of suggestions. First, find out if they are casting lures at cruising fish or fishing with live bait rigs. This will give you a clue on tackle. Go to the best tackle shop down there and ask the counter person, you'll likely get plenty of info on what's been catching them. Go to the pier and walk around and talk to the old guys, probably at the end of the pier, and see what they're doing.
Good luck.
On a fly fishing trip around nantahala... if you're knife feels dull don't force it to cut what you're cutting you might just cut your hand. Day 1 ER visit gnarly cut, 0 trout.
oh dear
finger count still at 10?
Or flip the knife around and make sure you aren't pressing with the wrong side of the blade.... been there!
Hope you're alright.
wedged it in a zip tie to break it, turned it and it didn't cut it...until it did and the back of the knife slid down the cardboard where it met my other hand, more of a stab than a slice, took a chunk out of my knuckle then into the meat of my thumb with a nice plunge/slice. Doc in the box just poured a ridiculous amount of super glue on it and called it good.
Held and stopped the bleeding until yesterday when the whole glob of glue popped off and now I'm held together with steri-strips since its too late to stitch it properly.
Guy working on my never ending bathroom facelift went after cobia this past weekend. He said they must have seen 50 cobia and they boated 10. He said all were over 30" and several bigger ones to boot. Tossing jigs, he said the fish have been fished and it seemed that you had to get that jig right in front of their nose to get a strike. He knows his stuff and has the boat to do it, with a tower and all that good stuff.
Now, if I could just get his boss to get my job done, I could enjoy the fall!
It was super calm out there yesterday. We rode around for hours but only saw a few cobia. My brother-in-law caught a 30"+ fish that was cruising with a turtle. No shortage of menhaden around. We were able to snag all we wanted for bait, just couldn't find the fish. I did get a nice Spanish mackerel while snagging bait. Fish bit a bare treble hook.
We went out of poquoson and fished for an hour or two on the flats before heading out. I missed a trout on topwater at first light and caught a bluefish but that was it. There was so much bait and tons of mullet splashing around but we couldn't find any trout or reds. But I was just glad to be out fishing for the fish time in a couple months.
Any Mobjack reports? Think that'll be my next trip.
Mobjack fishing has largely sucked this season. Some days, you wonder why you even bother, with no bites on the best docks and flats, and few decent days at all. Worst year in the Mobjack in my 12 years here. I haven't been out as much as usual, for that and other reasons like 99 degree days, but others I know aren't tearing them up either. Have heard of some decent drum action at high tide on a couple of grass flats, but we're talking about a 20-30 minute window at sunup. Bait is plentiful in the river, just nothing eating it. Croakers are around, but smaller than useful for more than bait, and some small to medium spot have been there, but even they are usually dinks. Disappointing year so far, hope the fall can boost things some. Earlier this summer, some rockfish and a trout or two would show and add to a red or two, but lately, the reds are short and small bluefish and foul hooked croaker are about it for dock fishing with Gulp, my usual go to for that.
Really counting on the Hokies to break my summer funk!!
Forgot to mention the one place in the Mobjack that I've heard is holding reds consistently. Guinea Marsh, near Big Island and in that skinny water around there.
Appreciate the info as always!! Hope the bite turns on soon.
Fished the CBBT out of my kayak for the first time ever, caught a few smaller sheepshead and a 23.75" stud. Glad to finally make it happen. Took a bit to get used to positioning my kayak in the current and to get in position to put it on the piling. Something fun to do and switch up from the flats fishing.
STUD Sheepie!
that's a horse...nice fish!
Thanks! There's a good population of the big ones for now. The pressure on them is getting higher by the year so we will see how it holds up. It takes them awhile to get that big.
Man, you do get some good pictures. Nice fish! Fishing the tunnel in a kayak has to be a bit challenging. I applaud you.
Thanks Fish, definitely when it was peak current it got a bit sketchy. There's just something about doing it in the kayak that makes it better for me.
For anyone that wants to fish tight structure, the kayaks with the propeller drives are superior out there on the pilings with the instant reverse. Definitely scraped my kayak more because of not being able to make those minor adjustments.
Nice work! Stud sheep. Can't imagine doing that in a kayak. That current is no joke. I was fishing in a 16' skiff last summer and we almost got swamped while we were both standing on the bow fishing behind a piling at peak current.
Thanks! I was able to go closer back to shore when the current started cranking and that made a big difference. Or could have gone out to the island and hungout. The cross current from either wind or ship wake is what got it real interesting.
I will admit to doing some crazy stuff back in my youth in my canoe, and a couple of times wading. I put my life in danger more than once to get an edge on those finny creatures, stuff I wouldn't do now for any amount of money or any big fish I might have a shot at. I've fished the CBBT enough to know those currents can be deadly, and we were also in a fairly small center console Sea Hunt and fishing in the dark in the hours that hardly anyone else was out there. I was a little nervous all the time, but anchoring up on the 9' shoals and soaking bait for big reds during the hard running tide scared the bejeezus out of me.
Ahhh, the things we do for love.
I have a good amount of self preservation so don't push things too much. Although, I've been in some rough water where I got sketched out. It was light wind out of the south so nothing too crazy.
Once, I tied up to a bolt protruding from a concrete wall just to the side of the baffles of the Claytor Lake dam after slipping under the warning wire while it was generating power. I was in a canoe, and kept my trolling motor running slightly hoping it would help if things went south. If I had gone into the water there, I'd definitely not be here typing this. All for a few stripers and some big cats. On the karma side, I suppose if the turbine outflow caught me just right, they'd have had time to chew on me before anyone was the wiser.
What a freakin' idiot!
Boat woes continue - now just rewiring all of the battery cables. Steering module on my trolling motor is gone 1 month past warranty.
Cain't have nuthin'!
Just dropped the trolling motor off at the shop said they'd be done with it today and will either be $400 or $600. I need to get in the trolling motor business.
Seriously. I last used mine back in June. It worked fine all week then on the last morning of our trip of course it started acting up. The remote buttons weren't working correctly. I'd press "right" and it would speed up. Or "anchor" and it would turn left. Figured it was just batteries or even worse the motor was fried. I've had them run out on the water before so I swapped in the extra set while out there. Didn't fix it. I was assuming the worst.
Finally got around to messing with it a couple weeks ago and the remote wouldn't even connect. Batteries were melting inside. $150 later for a new remote and it's working fine. I'm thankful that's all it was, but $150??? Ridiculous.
Also it was super difficult to locate a new remote in stock anywhere. Found some random place in Iowa.
Now that I'm typing this, I'm sure the trolling motor will burn up next time I use it because it can hear me complain.
I'm assuming it was either saltwater intrusion in the remote or I just shouldn't leave it it the molten lava hot truck console. I only used to store it there cuz I was always paranoid I'd leave it at home when going fishing.
I remember years ago when folks were talking about, and lamenting, what they considered "planned obsolescence". 1 month after the warranty expires? Hmmmm...
Between you and Fly Guy, makes me love my kayak more and more
I tripped over my trolling motor sitting in my basement last night. Fucking Minn Kota. If it worked, it would be on the boat.
I wonder if the fish are biting
Boats back running went out Sunday before the rain. 3 different creek mouths full of fishing tailing over oysters against the incoming tide. Lost a small trout on top, random giant shark broke me off then went to artificial and just smoked the tailing reds. Kept a single 22" and fried it up for dinner.
Fishing is hot right now but I drew a gator tag and the season opens Saturday so probably shifting gears here for a minute.
Gator tag? Tell us more!
Seriously though, what do you do with that gator?
SC draws ~1000 public alligator hunting tags a year, I was fortunate enough to get one. Pretty wild hunt you basically spot them at night and get them with a giant snag hook, secure a few lines to them and then bring them boat side to be dispatched, more of a dinosaur tug of war.
I've got a local processor here, he'll make all the tail meat into bites, the leg meat can be low and slow smoked and is pretty good, hide gets tanned and I'll send it off to some leather makers to get various things made depending on the size.
Here's some of the gear:
357 bang stick
12/0 3oz snag hook
Harpoon tip, goes on the opposite end of the bang stick
Wear a GoPro!
I have one I never use, I might do that. Probably won't get too much useable video it'll be pretty dark.
Does it have infrared capability?
Went scouting yesterday and found a bunch of gators and then my boat luck followed me onto my buddies jon boat. Way back in a cypress swamp quite a few gators around, fires the motor up and throws it in drive and we go no where.
Luckily with my extensive recent experience breaking everything on my outboard I was able to pop the cowling and get us in gear. Gear shift cable snapped in half.
What else can happen to us here. If we're a microcosm of the boating/fishing world...maybe Tech could consider a new curriculum. Bound to be a lucrative endeavor.
LOL.
I've always wanted to be a college professor
I've got a different gator story. One where we were glad we didn't see any, in an area notorious for BIG ones.
Back in Brevard County, FL, around 2007, wife and i got a call from her brother whom has a nice airboat, that a brevard sheriff that does private airboat tours as a side gig, has sunk out in Lake Washington, and has the emergency signal out for help. He wants to know if we want to go w him and the rest of the airboat club on a rescue mission. It's 5pm. So we meet him and the others at the eau gallie ramp into the canals that drop into the lake at 6pm. It gets dark in 1.5 hours, we have a train of airboat heading into Lake Washington. We find the boat w the sheriff and his 2 customers half sunk at dusk, all are safe, but VERY nervous, and now relieved.
Now we have to get this airboat floating so all can return. The trick is u have to get the gunnels all the way around above water so the pumps will pump the water out and the boat will again float and then everyone can head home safe. The only way to do that in this brush filled area of the lake is for many of us to get in the water (it's about 5 ft deep) and push the airboat up while the pumps do their thing. Remember it's now getting dark, and we are in DEEP gator territory and saw several BIG ones on the way in. Our plan is that numbers keep them away.
So, myself and about 10 other guys are in the water pushing the airboat up and letting the pumps work. We r in the water for about 15 minutes up to our neck, at dark, with lizards jumping across our arms, heads, spiders about, etc. getting this airboat floated. The water is black, we have lots of lights, but its all very unnerving. It seems like an eternity, but finally it's floating.
All 10 of us jumped as fast as we could back into our respective boats. Success, all are safe!
Now a long 1.5 hour trek back to the ramp. The number of eye pairs we see on the way back is surreal.
Glad we got those people out of there, would have been a long night for them.
A lot of late night beers that night. A great memory NOW, was crazy in the moment.
I would have left the other boat and the sheriff could have arranged for its rescue the next day. The people were the important thing.
That's not how the airboat community in Central Florida works.....
Sure, focus on the people (why we were there!), but the boat is coming out if its in shape to be floated, started, and driven - which it was. And we had an Armada!
That's a good story Mike
Doesn't touch any of yours, but it was an interesting evening. Tight lines!
Didn't get after them near as much as I wanted to.
First 10 minutes of the first trip I hooked into an 8' but lack of experience and he came unbuttoned at the boat. After that I saw an 11' and locked into hunting that one. 4-5 trips hooked and released several 5-7ft and the big ones got smarter every time. Helene blew the pocket of water i was in from 3-4 feet to 10-15ft and pushed all the gators back into the cypress. Unsuccessful season I'll think about it for the next 4 years waiting to draw again.
Late with this report but Labor Day weekend I went fishing with my dad out of poquoson. He finally caught his first saltwater inshore fish! A puppy drum on a popping cork. He also caught a few small trout. I got a big bluefish on topwater that I thought was a trout. Then we went cruising for cobia but I pulled the hook on our only shot at one. Also, pro tip, If you ever feel like you're too tired to drive home after getting no sleep the night before a fishing trip, just plan to drive home during a Hokies game when you can listen to them storm back from the depths of defeat only to give away the victory. The excitement-anger rollercoaster of emotions is more powerful than drowsiness.
Then this past Saturday the dog and me went out in the Mobjack. Fished some new water and had some success. Found a nice class of trout with 2 over 20" and a few 17-18" fish. All on topwater. Also got a 22" red on topwater. Then came back at high tide and got 2 more 24" reds on a popping cork. It was overcast until almost noon so it was a blast fishing topwater all morning. I of course missed a few blowups. And so much grass it was wrapping around the TM prop. Wind forecast was also off by a bit so the ride out and back were pretty rough. Glad to see the bite turning on with the cooler temps.
Went out this morning, wind kept us in the East. We caught a bunch of fish, but only one keeper sized fish, a 22 red on topwater. Paul caught two rockfish, first he's gotten in 6 weeks. I, on the other hand, proved to be king of dink trout and reds, and my favorite, lizard fish. I caught 'em on the bottom, I caught 'em on popping cork, but at least I got bit. We got dock reds on Gulp swimming mullet, Paul got a couple of fish on a fluke, including one of the rockfish, but did well enough on topwater to stick with that while I dinked away with the cork.
Mobjack was too choppy and the Bay swells were indication of the wind further out, so we stayed close and while we didn't get size, we did have pretty constant action with Paul tagging anything over 12" except the stripers which I think are not legal to tag. Comfortable at last, water was 78 and if anything, the wind made it a bit cool beating the heck out of the summer's temps and humidity. Saw a lot of bait...I mean a LOT of bait. Schools of menhaden, jumping mullet everywhere in the shallower water. Have credible reports of bigger fish on the type of water we were fishing, but we didn't find them other than the one red.
Heading out again tomorrow morning, hoping to try different water, wind permitting.
Glad you got on some fish! Good to hear that much bait is around. I've been busy doing other stuff so haven't been out on the flats since late July.
Great report! Hope tomorrow is even better. Nothing beats topwater. There was a big school of menhaden right at the ramp last Saturday.
As an update to my entry to the fly world - I bought myself a Cortland rod for my birthday along with a bunch of other misc. stuff (leaders, tippet, flies, etc.). It should be delivered either tomorrow or Saturday, so maybe I'll be able to get out next weekend sometime around golfing and the VT game!
POPPING BUGS FOR BREAM. You're welcome.
yellow or chartreuse, red eye, rubber legs
Black tail.
Orange with white legs, black hackle and chartreuse tail.
Went out again today, stiff wind, good cloud cover, reticent fish. We got a few, I got a 19.5 and a 23 red to go with a 15.5 gray trout. We each got a couple of rat reds and Paul was able to tag a short flounder. Last drift of the morning hoping for flounder despite the wind tunnel we were trying to fish, I got a pickup on my Gulp swimming mullet on the bottom. Fish took off for the Potomac and acted like I didn't exist. I lost half of my braid before it finally broke off, but I never did anything but hold on and my drag was set so tight I had to pull hard to get line. It wasn't a ray, I've caught my share and know how they fight. This fish ran so fast that we couldn't get up the trolling motor before it was fifty yards out and not slowed a bit. I only wanted to see what it was, darnit, but it finally snapped 15lb braid like it was thread, but it was pretty clear to me that regardless, we were sorely outclassed. The thing about fishing salt water with the Bay so close, you just don't know what the heck is in the water, and once in a while, you get schooled and spooled and never know what it was. Big red, cobia in a strange place are the most likely culprits, but who the heck knows. The speed of the run, to me, negates a big black drum, and even a foul hooked ray can be handled with less tackle than I had not to mention the speed and length of the run. But I guess that's one truism of fishing...if you're lucky, you have several "one that got away" stories to go with the ones that didn't. Keeps you coming back.
OK folks, here's a topic for you. We all try to hook 'em fair and square, but how about when you are the one that got hooked?
Between fishing for 65 years and guiding for 10, I have several fish hook hooks man stories. I'll not bore you with a recall, but only one of those instances ended up in the emergency room, a musky hook in a clients hand that was just too deep and near tendons for me to become "Dr. Perch". The others I dealt with myself and with a variety of approaches depending on the location of the hook, and the location of the hookee.
But a couple of days ago, I had my first of the type of extraction when I got hooked in a finger by a treble on a Slammin' Sammy topwater bait. Luckily, it happened at home, but when I tried to back it out, my usual approach, I mean, it went in, it'll come back out, but it hurt so much, I wasn't ready for that pain. I could have numbed it with ice first, also my usual approach if ice is available, but then I noticed once I wiped away the blood, that the point was sticking out a little more than a quarter inch above where it went in. Inspection showed that the barb was not very far from the point so I decided to finish the job and poke it on through. By that time, while it hurt, I wasn't in agony so the little extra twinge when I popped it out wasn't noticeable. I then had to use my left hand to work with awkwardly, but I was able to get my needle nose with a cutter at it and clipped the hook point and barb off. The rest of the hook slid out the entrance wound with little effort, and while my finger was a tad sore, I fished yesterday with no problem. I consider myself lucky, but it also underscored that sometimes it is better to push it on through and cut it off, which your doctor would likely do with a similar situation after numbing. Obviously I was lucky that the hook wasn't imbedded straight in, but it was still a bit of bother I'd have been happy to avoid. If nothing else, I destroyed a treble and should get a tetanus shot.
But today....GO HOKIES.
My old doctor worked on a government study for thirty years monitoring the effectiveness of the tetanus booster. What he told me was that after thirty years the government stopped paying because they never saw a decrease in the effectiveness of the booster. However, the diphtheria part wore off and the threat of tetanus kept people getting the shot regularly.
I'm not too far over the 10 year tetanus thing, and while Medicare won't pay for it unless you have an injury the doctor recommends the shot for. Me, while I am up to date on all of the shots I should have, I'm not in any hurry to get stuck again. The hook was in a plastic bag on a lure I haven't used in well over a year, so I doubt I'll contract lockjaw anyway.
Always depends on the angle for me, the braided line snap works most of the time otherwise I push it through and cut it off.
I've done the braided line loop thing, and while the hook came out each time, it hurt like hell and frankly, I could have done the same by backing the hook out the channel it made going in by forcing it out at the angle it went in. This is the first time I had a hook actually come close enough to the point coming out to push it through. I do worry about tendons and ligaments and possible damage, but other than the one client with a musky hook deep in his hand, the hookings have been in the meat and with relatively small hooks. Add a wriggling fish on one treble while the other is buried in a hand, and that's when it gets fun and you thank heaven you have a buddy along to help out....once he gets the canoe out of the small rapid paddling from the front and gets us pulled in to shore. Ahhh, the fishin' life!!
Does a veterinarian count as ER?
was wade fishing alone along the Trinity Bay east shoreline (near Houston). a small shaker trout helped me get the tiny treble hook on a "cheater" jig stuck (https://www.hhlure.com/products/cheater-jig) in the leathery web of skin between my thumb and index finger. I had a hemostat and tried to muscle it out but was in there for good. At least managed to bite the lure in half so the lead head wasn't tugging on anything. Waded back to the boat and went back to the ramp.
I worked for USFWS and there was a wildlife refuge office in nearby Anahuac and they knew me. So I went there and asked if there was any kind of doctor nearby that could get it out. Nope...but there was a veterinarian about a block away! So I went there; he numbed it up and sliced it out!
Any port in a storm, eh?
I was fishing with my brother and his friend years ago. We were casting big plugs for freshwater stripers. It was just the 3 of us kids on a summer weekday morning, so no adults/responsible people around. My brother, of course, somehow snagged his friend in the middle of his forehead. The fish were biting too. I caught a couple more after the incident before we left. I can't remember if it was just one or two trebles but it was in there. And these things were not the regular pliable thin metal, they were thick. He just had a giant lure hanging off his forehead on the boat ride home. When we got back to the house, we made the decision to not try to rip his forehead open with the barb when trying to back the hook out. We had to just push the hook through. We cut the treble shaft with bolt cutters to get the lure and other trebles out of the way and began surgery. Maybe it was just him, but the skin on your forehead is surprisingly stretchy. I really struggled to pry the hook through with a pair of pliers. It took what seemed like forever but we eventually succeeded so he somehow only ended up with a couple of holes in his forehead. I'll never forget when his mom came to pick him up, I was expecting a wrath of anger for surgically removing objects lodged in her son's forehead, but she was surprisingly excited/thankful.
Also, moral of the story, always wear sunglasses when fishing especially when fishing with someone. If he wasn't wearing any, it may have been way worse.
This is a lesson you learn quick rowing rafts on the New with people in front and behind you casting on a relatively small boat. I've taken so many Rapala DT-4s to the side of the head that I'm amazed I didn't get more facial piercings, quite a few actually broke.
Also I always keep split ring pliers on me because its a lot easier to continue the day with just a hook in you and not a hook attached to a lure.
Amen, brother. I was glad to have the room I had in my raft which was almost 16 feet long and six feet wide, but I still dodged more than once.
Got this in this weekend.
Campus Emporium seems to be only ones with the L/XL size in stock. It's from Columbia.
Now that's a fashion statement I'd proudly wear. Thanks Rob.
I got out Saturday morning with a buddy and we braved the wind on the Rap. He caught 2 upper slot reds before sunrise on a dock light and then nearby on topwater. Fish were popping everywhere. I got a rat red on topwater. Then we moved to some flats and I got 2 keeper reds on topwater. He caught a nice red on a fluke on a drop off. I missed something nice on a suspending twitch bait. So I fished that at a different spot and missed a nice trout twice. Hit it, so I set which popped the bait up to the surface, then the fish hit it on the surface again so we got a good look but didn't hook on. We then found a nice school of reds and caught 6 or so before leaving. All reds, besides a couple rats, were 22-24" fish. There were a couple small trout mixed in too. It was a great morning fishing some new water.
Latest project is a 13' gheenoe (hull only)...1997...really good shape...highsider...original 3 seat layout. It's going to inherit a 9.8 and trolling motor, and a new trailer is on order.
Challenge right now is what to do with the tiny middle seat while I wait on the trailer (I'm leaning toward removing the seat altogether sometime down the road...but not today). Original owner used it as a baitwell/or live box and plumbed a hole through the bottom. See photo
What you see is the exterior of the boat. I'm inclined to remove the plumbing and glass it over. But I've never done any fiberglass work and I'd appreciate any advice and suggestions. I know some of you have quite a bit of experience in this sort of thing.
Sounds right up Heuplek's alley
Remove it and patch it with glass, super easy and a great spot to get comfortable with glass work.
I'll write up a more detailed approach to this but basically you'll have 2 patches of chop fiberglass, on for the top one for the bottom. You'll make these patches by layering chop the size of the hole to slightly larger than the hole and binding with polyester resin. From there you'll just need to fair and gelcoat and paint.
If you've ever done paper mache as a kid you've basically done fiberglass work it's not very complex
thanks! took the fitting off this morning. 1.25" hole
1) Remove plumbing
2) Grind a bevel around the hole on the inside and outside of the hull.
3) For glass I think you'll be fine with a 1.5oz or 2oz chopped strand matt. I prefer to go lighter and layer more as opposed to using some thick and structural (like 1708/1208) for such a small hole
4) Think of it as building a really flat tiered cake- your "top" is going to be cut to the size of the hole the "bottom" should be 3-4inches wider than the hole. Top down view:
5) You'll make two of these the combined thickness should be roughly flush.
6) Start by saturating the smallest piece in poly resin, adhere it to the next largest piece: continue until all pieces are done. Build these on a piece of parchment paper
7) Resin has a tacky stage between cured and wet, this is a good stage to put them on the boat. You can do just one "cake" at a time so you're not fighting gravity too much. Just flip the parchment paper into place and wet with more resin. You can choose to add one more larger layer of glass here but its not necessary usually on circle cut holes.
8) Once these both cure you're good to go and the rest is just finishing it
9) Wash the cured area with water and dawn.
10) Thicken some resin with a fairing additive (west systems 410, totalboat microbaloons) and apply to an area larger than the patch
11) Sand – this part sucks.
12) Now you're ready to paint or gelcoat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPHprEiuAaE this is a pretty in depth guide, he does a lot of extra steps because his hole is not a perfect circle.
Stick a cork in it on the inside
We think exactly alike on this one. After reading what you'd have to do to glass it and all, the cork would definitely be my first thought. Stick a couple extra in your tackle bag for emergencies and go fishin'.
I've put fiberglass skid plates on my old canoe when the black was showing, and it wasn't pretty, but it wasn't hard either.
But still, I'd start with the cork.
too late now, lol. Not pretty...not yet anyway...but it's not going to leak!
I actually considered 5200 around a threaded cap. But that's just putting off the inevitable and it will be begging to get clipped off on an oyster bar.
This seat is either going to be a dry box or get removed altogether next summer.
How about FLEX SEAL?!
I'll see myself out...
applied with a spurtle
edited:
repaired and first coat of new paint on the bottom (still wet)
many, many thanks to Mr H for the tips
I'm currently planning to paint a strip of smooth truck bedliner (in white) as a keel guard as well the edge where the sides meet the bottom...i.e., where a high % of the contact/chips occur on a gheenoe
Pretty work! Still need to find myself a mistreated barn gheenoe to mess around with They're great boats.
this is a well treated, 1997 warehouse gheenoe. first owner kept it in a warehouse he had for his business. the wear on it was from sliding it in and out of his pickup...no trailer, no motor...ever.
second owner (bought it a year ago) kept it in his 3 stall garage. wish the second guy (the one I bought it from) hadn't painted it a light cream color. would have much preferred repainting with the original dark green so scratches wouldn't show. But the white looks good.
When the trailer gets here (a few weeks), I'll flip it over, paint the sides, and post some pics of the interior...really good shape
Great find.
I find the people with well kept gheenoes are aware of how sought after they are hence my desire for a rougher shed find that I could get cheap
I've checked craigslist every couple of months since the pandemic looking for a 13. I'll find one once in awhile but it's grossly overpriced, has something attached to it I don't want to screw with (i.e., wrong motor and/or shitty trailer), or...my favorite...there is obviously something sketchy going on/the seller is crazy. That last category actually happens a lot more than it should.
Lots of 15-4's pop up around here but I hate that hull and wouldn't recommend it. If that's what someone wants, they should get the LT 10. It already comes with the mods that every 15' 4" should have had to begin with.
Well Dave, rather than keeping an eye on the weather from up here, I thought maybe you could enlighten us on the weather to expect Friday night, or even if there will even be a game. I know Miami is south of the predicted worst, but I'm wondering how the team will even get there? Are you expecting trouble where you are?
Fishing is improving up here, but the weather will shut me out for at least the beginning of next week, but right now I'm more concerned with the Hokies.
wind will be dying down during the day tomorrow. should be less than 10 by game time. rain, if any, shouldn't be a show stopper
for us, models say sustained winds in the 30's and not much rain. two or three brief squalls so far. fingers crossed
Thanks Dave. Glad you won't be too impacted and nice to know the Hokies won't have miserable weather to go with what could very well be a miserable game.
I agree the white does look good. Nice job.
in our old 'hood, it will likely come down to whether a tree takes out the power...low tide is at 1130 tonight and that should be our peak impact...flooding unlikely.
Best of luck. Batten down and button up.
late evening storm sport...pruning the rogue crepe myrtle branch that's slapping the second floor porch rail and driving us nuts
yup; lost power at 10:35.
I can see lights across the cove a couple blocks away so just a part of of our neighborhood. FPL map says we're in a 1-500 outage cluster
a chunk of one of our big water oaks came down...fortunately it missed the house
will get the generator connected and do a little recon when the sun comes up
This thing stayed a bit more east than I expected and caught me way off gaurd got barrage by 3 tornadoes immediately around us at about 2am and have had sustainded TS winds with gusts into the 70s since. Got not power, no gas for the generator, whoops.
same here...did zero prep. but i do have gas for the generator...and the chainsaw...when the sun comes up
sounds much worse where you are
Sun seems awfully slow to come up this morning, lol
Flyguy, you had one of these. How did you handle the layout with regard to your gear? Or is that why you got rid of it, lol? Very tempting to turn those seats into hatches/storage.
I left it as is. The middle bench already had a hatch if I recall correctly. Fly rods went on the sides and I just set my stuff in the boat.
I got rid of it because it was too big to quickly and easily use like my kayak and too small to really hardcore fish out of and run any distance.
They are also kind of tippy when it comes it poling and standing on the seat and fly casting. I thought they would be more stable. They DO NOT handle boat wakes well. That was sketch as hell.
thanks!
They DO NOT handle boat wakes well.
yeah, this is my boat for narrow and often shallow creeks...there are a handful of them nearby where I don't have to run the ICW.
Had a fun trip in the Mobjack with 3rdGen yesterday. We got a dozen reds, with 8 mid slot fish. A good call on location and a fortuitous cast by 3rd put us on them until tide and wind changed the situation and the fish shut down. Few small specs and one 16, a lizard fish, dink croaker and foul hooked sand perch rounded out the catch.
Little trouble getting started, I apparently have a fast power drain and after fully charging the battery and testing it the day before we went, I left all the wires hooked up overnight and the motor wouldn't start at the ramp. Hauled it out, jumped it on the ramp until the motor started and then got it in quick, just like my last trip out. I know I need a kill switch to make it easy, and always unhook all the positive wires when I'm done rinsing and flushing the motor after fishing, but always hook them back up the night before we go. Cannot for the life of me figure out the drain, though I know there's a clock mode in my instrument panel that keeps the time, but in the past, that's never been much of a problem unless I left the wires hooked up for a couple of weeks. At any rate, I won't be hooking up those wires until I'm ready to launch until I can deal with it properly with a kill switch and hopefully that problem will be solved. A half hour delay, but we got it going and had no more trouble with it.
Always a pleasure to fish with you. Those reds were fired up for that hour.
Amazing catches! I am glad you guys were able to get together and find them thick!
Just had to ask French this question. Have you been to Mason's Lobster rolls yet? I know how much you love lobster rolls and figure if you haven't, you plan to. The article in today's Richmond Times almost makes me want to head out now for the hour and a half drive. Almost. The pictures alone made me drool.
I haven't had Masons, but they are a chain that is up around DC. The Cousin's Lobster Roll food truck (something that came out of Shark Tank) comes to Glouchester on occasion. But, close to you, A Bite of Maine around Lynnhaven is the best one (and most affordable.)
Hey how was the Maine trip? Did you make it to Helen's in Machias?
Sadly no. I got sick after eating some clams that didn't taste right at Aunt Carries in Rhode Island. I recovered enough to enjoy a delicious roll from McLoons, but I had almost no appitite for a couple of days.
Lobster roll ranking:
1) McLoons (by a long way)
2) A Bite of Maine (food truck at Portland Head Light)
3) Lobster Landing in Clinton CT (they had the best chowder though)
4) Aunt Carries (got sick, could have been a conincidence but other than the clam cakes I didn't think it was good.)
Sorry to hear that. I was never a big fan of Aunt Carries. I much preferred Champlain's and George's down in Galilee or Captain Jack's in Matunuck.
At twenty bills a pop, I'm not eager to travel far for a sandwich, lobster or not, but Mason's write up did include some delicious looking fare. Since they're in Richmond now, I may give it a try.
For you guys that are interested in a Gheenoe, the old 13 that I had is available for sale via my buddy who owns it. It's in Richmond. He says he also has a good motor for it. Let me know and I'll get you guys in touch
It's been nearly two months since I landed a Red. Finally broke the bad streak and got one on Monday. There were schools chasing shrimp and tailing on a flood tide. I've never seen it before, generally they are singles. Got my fly in front of one group and one of them obliged. My buddy caught a second and then we had to go because his very soon to be wife demanded they needed to get the marriage certificate.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA2RdSmtr6d/
We will have a cold snap this upcoming week and that will likely push them off the grass flats for the season. I'm sad, I really don't want it to get cold. I'd like to keep chasing them on the grass when it's hot as shit out.
Albies are in thick but they just don't do it for me like the Reds do. Guess it's earring tying season for the holidays.
Edit... photos added.
Damn man, those reds do pull don't they? Definitely my favorite these days. Hope to get a few more days in before they head south.
Thanks to Helene for knocking down the first layer of loose tree limbs. Way less to clean up after Milton; though this widow maker is right over the door of my mower shed
Yea, that's a big one. Plans for getting it removed without damaging the shed?
It's doable.
I debate taking that tree down every winter. It was overmature when we built the house 11 years ago and the top is starting to die back. As you probably know, laurel oaks grow fast and don't last that long around here. It lost a decent limb in Helene as well. It is also the biggest storm threat to the house if it toppled (while actually providing shade primarily to the neighbor). Most importantly, Mrs is in agreement, so...
Big expense now to avoid a bigger one later sounds like a good plan.
Just think of all the outdoor burn pit parties she will be able to have. When I built, I debated trees around house for shade, or removing everything that could fall and hit house. Removal won.
I have been negligent. I made two OBX runs on northeasters in September. I managed to do ok catching spot at Buckroe both times en route, but didn't manage a drum. First trip some yearlines (over slot, under 40) were caught. Second trip, I saw about a dozen big drum get caught, but no runs for me. Just one much bigger than I am accustomed to sandbar shark (45-50 inches). I caught a bunch of smaller pompano while trying to catch spot.
I am going to try again this month, but a wave of unexpected expenses (had to replace a wheel kit due to a bad anti-lock braking sensor and rust in my trailblazer- $500 followed by the AC compressor failing in my Forestor $800) made the budget tight. Then I got sent to Michigan out of nowhere this week, so no-pre storm fishing under the northern lights yesterday.
How small?
September seems early for Pomps in the OBX. When is the good Pomp fishing time in the OBX? In my experienced area for Pomp fishing - Brevard County, FL - the target is 68 degree water, pretty clear water (but not crystal), and typically December and sometimes January, and then again in early March.
Anywhere from 6 to 10 inches, with most being closer to six. They were hitting bloodworm fishbites (I was targeting spot) and I caught ten pompano for every spot. It was very rough water and I always thought pompano preferred clean water. It was a surprise to me.
Fished the Mobjack yesterday morning. Got out there before first light. It was quiet-no bait popping or fish eating on the flats. So we went to the mouth of a creek after seeing some shrimp scurry and fish swirling. Turns out they were stripers and 16" puppy drum feeding in 2' of water. They were very shallow picking shrimp out of the grass line as the tide was falling. We caught ten or so on topwater and subsurface. One striper was 22", others were 18" or so. I pulled the hook on a nice trout a little while later on a nearby point. Then we found a bunch of schoolie trout and a gray trout near the same creek mouth. My buddy also pulled the hook on a nice trout at the boat. At slack low we decided to drift the flats with the wind back toward the ramp and found a school of overslot drum. We hooked 3 or 4 but they came off near the boat. They were feeding aggressively and if one missed, 3 others were there to eat. The school disappeared but we found another school of slot fish and picked up one. Then caught the last one a few minutes later on a topwater blind cast and we called it a day. I haven't fished the Mobjack enough to know for sure, but yesterday's low tide seemed very very low. Way below the grass lines and mud was exposed in a lot of areas. Saw a few dry creeks/coves.
progress on the gheenoe project...painting done, new trailer, new TM mount, 1/4" transom plate
Looks real nice, what paint did you use?
EZ Poxy polyurethane
That's always my paint I recommend. It's not the hardest by any means but its damn easy to work and gives a great finish. Strikes the right balance of quality and ease of application for DIY projects.
I used a cabinet grade 4" roller and it did real well from a self-leveling aspect...no brush or roller lines at all
here we go...
Looks awesome! Good work Dave!
thanks! and it runs, lol!
looking forward to getting it on the water...and no longer have an excuse not to fish Guana.
Hotness. Those trout are in trouble.
I'll be ready for some gator trout pics with you holding them this time.
I guess the pressure is on, lol!
I'm confused. Why is it sitting on the trailer when you have that water just across the road?
That water looks close enough to launch with a lawn tractor.
are you suggesting a lack of commitment, lol?
(in all fairness, it was whitecapping in the ICW about 300 yds downstream of that view)
but yes, there are 2 ramps on the street, a small one on the creek (the farthest water you can see in the pic) and a larger one on the ICW. when the wind lays down, I'll give it a proper shakedown. motor was purring this morning : )
the creek, and other similar ones fairly close by, are why I got the 13 footer. but it's also why I previously bought the nucanoe (that Back2VT found a use for) and subsequently a 15' 4" hull for which I found no good use. so I'm hoping 3rd time is the charm.
in the creeks here, you either anchor up and chunk bait (not my idea of fun); or you get a rig that will operate in tight spaces with enough stability to walk around and enough foot pounds on the front for control...at least that's what I'm telling myself.
are you suggesting a lack of commitment, lol?
Haha no I'm just giving you shit. Hope that boat works out for you! If not, you may need to go kayak.
I guess I've just gotten so tired of fishing in canoes that in my case, I would never, ever go kayak. Yes, I know times and watercraft have changed a lot, but I dislike being so low to the water and the lack of actual room to get up and move my aged and damaged knees a lot. On the other hand, I've yet to meet the fishing boat that covers all the bases. Skinny water, moving water, big water...I used to say if I were rich, I'd, etc., but the fact of the matter is that if I were rich enough to afford all those boats, I'd just bag boat ownership totally and hire guides often. I dream...
On the other hand, I've yet to meet the fishing boat that covers all the bases. Skinny water, moving water, big water...
This is why I love my Redfisher 18. Short of floating down the New, it will do all of it. I've run it from Hopedale LA, 35 miles across the Gulf to the Chandeliers. From Key West to the Marquesas Keys. Fifty plus miles from Cape Lookout to Cape Hatteras, on the outside. In December. Then I'll pole it in a foot looking for tailers. It does it all.
Well, my Scout will run over to the Cell and back, but while it might take 45 minutes to go over, if the wind and waves get up, it's 3-4 hours home. No thanks. What my boat can do and what I will do with it are two different things. I could run to the CBBT and back, same issue. Wet and severely bumpy rides are a young man's game, I guess, and it's just not worth it to me at this point in my fishing life. My Scout was a "mistake" I got for the wrong reasons when I first moved to the Bay and then couldn't afford to reset. Also, the fishing has changed here from more offshore to more inshore fishing and I could now really use a boat with a trolling motor.
And since you mentioned the New, I can say that I hit most of the goals with my Maravia Williwah II raft, but even then, I had to float through and needed a shuttle. A jet boat with trolling motor made more sense for short trips or for winter fishing, but again, money money money money.....MONEY!
So, next best thing to just hiring guides or owning three boats or more? Friends with boats.
oh, I know : )
wind is supposed to lay down tomorrow, so...
yeah, a redfisher is very, very hard to beat. but it's too big for the backwaters where I'm taking the gheenoe. I kept the Scout for when i have to make a 40 mile round trip in the ICW (unless I have 3rd Gen aboard; then it's 6 miles one way 'til the motor dies!)
Hahaha we will have to give that another try when I'm back down in Florida sometime.
you bet!
After a full summer of this boat pissing me off I made the decision to put a t-top on it. Really hope I've figured all the engine bugs out cause its looking better than ever.
Logic checks out. Man that's pretty. I've heard adding a T-top ensures no engine problems for at least 2 years /s
Engine not running and I'll be clinching my butt cheeks driving the trailer back on the highway for an hour.
At least I'll have some shade if I blow a bearing/tire/axle/leaf spring/upright on the way home or if I get stranded miles from the ramp...again.
Trade ya! The t looks great and the rod holders are nice, up and away from the deck. I get boat envy around here quite often, but that boat is sweet.
quick shakedown this morning. mechanically, everything was spot on
took a couple tries to get it balanced/trimmed nose to tail...wound up with TM and 55 lb battery in the nose, 3 gal gas tank in front of the middle box, and me sitting on an ice chest butted up in front of the back seat.
with that layout, the manual tilt pin on the outboard was in the second lowest hole, and I probably could have gotten away with it maxed out. the third hole (which was the most efficient setting with the 15'4") kept the bow way too high...it was slow to plane and porpoised badly once it did.
On Friday, I headed up to Ocean City Maryland for a weekend of chasing tautog and striped bass on an annual guys trip with my buddies from the old Pier and Surf forum. It didn't go entirely as planned. I arrived early in the afternoon with a plan to load up on green crabs and sand fleas, get dinner, and then head to the bridge to catch stripers before my buddies arrived. Well, the tackle shops had plenty of crabs, so I got eight quarts ($80 GULP.) But, while my buddies do better with crabs, I prefer fleas as they seem to stay on the hook better when nibbling togs and black sea bass are around. I went from spot to spot looking for live sand fleas, but I struck out and found myself really hungry after driving and hunting bait through the lunch hour. I decided to hit up Outback, and within a matter of an hour, I was sick to my stomach. Instead of fishing the night bite on the bridge, I went to the room and worried that I would be doomed for the weekend.
One of my buddies and his daughter got to town that evening around 9:30. My stomach had settled down a bit, so I touched base and told them I wasn't going to head to the bridge that night, which they were fine with because they were focused on togging. We agreed to meet for breakfast at 7AM on Saturday.
Saturday morning came and we were on the bridge at eight AM. A marathon was running across the bridge, so we got a show while we struggled with a heavy incoming tide that made sticking close to the pylon pretty tough. The high tide was supposed to be at 10:18AM, so after seeing a boat angler catch two nice stripers, I went prospecting with a swim bait. I walked the length of the bridge (about 3/4 of a mile each way), but no takers. As the tide slowed, I worked my way back to the channel where my friend and his daughter were set up for togging. When I returned, he informed me he had caught two fish even though the tide was still moving inbound despite it being past the high tide mark. I rerigged with my tog gear (4 oz sinker and a sinke dropper loop with a 3/0 octopus hook, 7'6 heavy conventional- a discontinued Larry Dahlberg Temple Fork rod, and a Penn Squall low profile) and started fishing next to the channel on the north side.
Even though the tide kept moving inbound two hours past the supposed high tide, the fishing was red hot. Between two of us, we were catching tog consistently and getting bites every drop. Tog (and the small black sea bass that school with them) are savy bait stealers, so we burned through a lot of bait. Around 1:30, two gentlemen were leaving the bridge and offered us their live sand fleas. Bazinga! On my second drop, I caught a 17 incher, and we had meat in the cooler.
The rest of the day was a highlight reel. I got 27 tautog and a plethora of small black sea bass, but generally my size of fish were smaller than my buddy. He had a day for the ages, landing 78 togs, but none over the keeper size. He had at least two dozen within an inch of the 16 inch size limit. We walked off the bridge looking like two broken old men, hunched over and walking like we were wearing broken glass sandles. We got a warm dinner at the 28th Street Pit and Pub, and headed back to the hotel to wait for our other friend to arrive.
Well, things changed. My friend got a call that he was needed back home, so he left. My other buddy arrived at 11:00PM, and we made a plan to follow the same gameplan in the morning with the same tide times (hour fall back.) Well no two days are the same. We got the same spot on the north side, and the togs were happy to cooperate again, but things were a bit slower and the fish weren't getting as close to keeper size. The tide turned outbound faster and with more current than the day before, and fishing seemed to slow around lunch time. On a whim, my buddy moved to the south side where there wasn't an eddy. Violating every rule of togging I know, he immediately got a 17 incher. Next drop, he got a short. I moved over to join him, and soon we were getting togs on almost every drop, yet once again I seemed to be clearing out the short fish while he got the bigger class of fish despite out lines fishing within inches of eachother. Shortly, he caught a second keeper, just over the 16 inch size limit. He was so fired up. Sadly, I had to leave in the middle of the bite (4 hour drive and a film review), so I left him. He reported that the tog bite slowed down, so he headed home with two fish in the cooler. On the way he stopped at Kent Narrows and added to his haul by catching 28 white perch using a speck rig.
Great fishing with good people. The bad news? I spent today with a yoga roll under my back trying to get everything back in alignment. It gets tougher each year to handle the wear and tear.
Tide- end of incoming tide, four hours of outgoing
Bait- Green crabs cut in half, cut off the legs and remove the topshell, live sandfleas, frozen sandfleas (all got fish)
Line- 30lb braid
Terminal tackle- single dropper loop with 30lb flurocarbon and a 3/0 octopus hook, 4 oz cannonball sinker worked most of the time. Sometimes had to go up to 6 and 8 oz.
Rod- 7'6 Heavy fast action Temple Fork Outfitters Big Fish Series conventional rod (two piece)
Reel- Penn Squall low profile
Picture of my keeper: https://x.com/french60wasp/status/1852777872982696138
Sounds like...well... And,broken glass sandals?
Finally a reminder of why I have a boat. Got out this morning, knew where I wanted to be but got there a bit early. Boated a lower slot drum while we waited crept into the hole and just sat and threw artificial picking up a fish every couple casts. Everything in slot. Had our 4 fish instantly and just sat there a wore them out.
Only thing that didn't work on the boat was the speakers which I'll trade any day of the week.
Those are days you don't forget.
Great tail color on the 1st pic.
Interesting side note. My occasional fishing buddy, Hokie Paul, has now had 10 tagged fish recovered this year. Reds and black sea bass, no trout recovered. All of them were caught locally. Now, hard to say why, but I wonder at the available pool of fish here in the Mobjack. Paul and his regular buddy are tagging machines, but that's unprecedented in his tagging career. They tag more trout than anything else, and don't target the sea bass, so it's interesting that the trout haven't been recaptured at similar rates. Not for nothin' I guess.
I suspect our fishing has changed into near winter mode which means primarily, or exclusively really, the stripers. With the declining population of them in the Bay, I don't think that'll be so great.
Edit: All of those fish were tagged this summer and fall.
interesting, my buddy tagged a big trout and his buddy caught it again a month later 200 yards away. So some definitely stay in a general area for awhile in the summer but others could move up farther in the Bay and be a quick stop in Mobjack.
Went out on the Gunpowder River north of Baltimore again today. Fly fishing with a Euro Nymphing setup with a tag and dropper. Started out hot at around 7:30am with my wife and I both snagging multiple 10-12" brown trout and me landing the catch of the day which was roughly a 14" rainbow. Probably had another 4-5 that spit the hook before we could set it.
Moved spots a bit further upstream around 9:30 and things considerably slowed down in the wider flat water with just a handful of smaller 6"-8" brown trout. Switched to fishing a single fly indicator rig and around 11 started getting a ton of hits from chub (fallfish). Ended with a total of 9 trout and 8 chub between the two of us over a 5 hour period.
Well done. I don't do it, but Euro Nymphing can be extremely effective when done correctly
Yea, I actually like it quite a bit. Still trying (and mostly failing so far) to learn to throw dry flies/streamers/poppers and regular/roll casting too, but EN is definitely a good bit of fun!
Gorgeous trout
Thanks! I was surprised to find a Rainbow on that river. They're only stocked there (I believe) about once per year at most and only a few hundred, so it's pretty rare. He was a pretty big guy too so I'd guess hes been around for a bit. We saw about 4 Redds in about a half-mile stretch of stream while we were out, so hopefully that means some good numbers next year!
Possibly my last report this year- Ocean City MD 11/15-11/17/2024
I arrived Thursday evening and was able to procure five pints of sand fleas and 10 quarts of green crabs for tautog fishing. With rain approaching, I chose not to fish the nighttime tide change and instead chose sleep.
Friday- I had a work call in the morning, so I got to the bridge at noon. I immediately got into a hot tautog bite, getting two 16 inchers and 20+ shorts. I prefer to use sand fleas, and my buddies were not arriving until the evening, so I burned through two pints of fleas in two hours, all on outgoing tide. While I was there, two astute fishermen were casting into an outgoing current with large swimbaits and reeling up the slack as they drifted back to the bridge. They were fishing a very specific moment in the tide cycle- the time of low tide on the tide chart, even though the tide didn't slack for another two hours-each day, and each day they caught a couple of 30 inch class striped bass and then left. They were using silver/white colored swim baits and I just had nighttime colors (blurple, black demon, pink) and I couldn't replicate their success. However, they got on them every day at the exact same window of tide. I have never had success there in the daytime for stripers, so it was humbling to witness.
My buddy Jiro arrived at sunset, and we set up for fishing the slack to incoming transition. We had a brief flurry. Jiro got a 25 3/4 incher, a 24 and a 23 in about 30 minnow. I got a 24 where I botched the photo and a 21 incher in the same window. My fish came on a 1 1/2 oz swimbait jighead and a pink shad assasain. Jiro got his on a Z-Man Diezel minnow.
Saturday we started at 8AM, and it was tough fishing with a sustained 18 mph NW wind all day. We started with togs, but while we got good numbers (20+ each), the fish ran small and were difficult to find. We saw some really big ones caught by locals who had crabs on heavy bottom rigs well away from structure, but we didn't replicate their success. I caught more six inch togs than I knew existed. When the "striper window" came, the same two gentlemen came out on the bridge, and I was ready with a white Tsunami swim bait. Once again, they got a couple of fish and a keeper, but I didn't get a hit. For the record, I hate fishing a heavy outgoing... the feel just isn't there. That evening, Jiro and I tried the same strategy for stripers on the slack to incoming transition, but the fish no-showed.
Sunday was beautiful, but my back and feet were killing me after two straight days walking miles up and down the bridge. The fishing was slow for me (we used up the fleas, and my buddies had a better feel with crabs as bait than me.) I caught a few shorts, and Jiro and Peter each got a keeper while I was there. I had a long drive back, so I headed out after noon. They each got two more keepers each at the slack-incoming transition right before sunset, and they reported that the same two striper guys got into a hot bite and landed a dozen fish with a half dozen being keeper sized during the outgoing to slack transition just before sunset.
For me, I ended up with 44 tautog, two striped bass, one strawberry bass, and more annoying baby black sea bass than I can imagine. We burned through over $100 in live bait. I still hate green crabs.
caught fish AND you learned a new fishing strategy!
just get a 3 pack of Storm wildeyes in your target size/color
and keep it in your tackle box
perfect stocking stuffers
Agree on the Storm. I've caught more stripers on them than anything else, but if I'm jigging in depth and the fish are near the bottom, I do like a Spro jig with a trailer. For night fishing, I like the Storm croaker color, for daytime, depending on the cloud cover, I like the chartreuse, and with the Spro, I like the white green or white chartreuse jig with a contrasting curly tail trailer. Like you said, though, I almost always have a pack or two of Storm in the bag just in case. It's also good to have a couple of different sizes as well. Sometimes, you need a heavier jig for tide management, and sometimes they're keying on small bait and a bit smaller bait can catch even the bigger fish. Calcutta makes an excellent pre-rigged swim bait, and I've used it to catch stripers and walleye also. They have raised gill covers and maybe a bit more action or vibration than the Storm.
i put a small glass rattle in the belly of the Storm...deadly
Cheater!!
and? lol
i've seen that work too many times not to do it, especially the slower you fish it
I need to get you guys to take me fishing.
where do you live?
Trying to remember the last time the redfish bite was like this and I'm coming up blank it's been 4+ weeks of just pick how many you want to catch. Caught at least 50 today and didn't move more than 300 yards, 13-30" kept 3 let the rest swim
Wow, where? I'm not asking for exact, just what area around u. That's great, congrats on a stellar day.
Port Royal sound. I don't know if I'm just finding them every time or not but they're everywhere I look. Cruising banks in groups of 2-10 throw pretty much anything in front of them and they take off. Going to bring my 8wt out next time I can get on the water
We have visited Beaufort several times and been at the sand beach point in Port Royal w our pups. Hiked the beach at Hunting Island state park on an extreme low tide w our pups as well. We love that area. Nice work and thanks for info.
Its a beautiful area I've lived in Beaufort for 2 years now just hoping it keeps its small town feel through its recent expansion. I've fished from Murrells Inlet to the Savannah river and I find the Broad and Beaufort Rivers are the best inshore fisheries in the state.
The reds have become extremely rare here the past few weeks, leaving us with some schoolie sized stripers as about all there is to go after. I've caught my share of stripers and don't really care that much to fish for them this time of year unless they gang up as they prepare to exit the Bay and that's been slim pickin's the past few years. I basically refuse to troll for them like most around here do though I'll drag a jig as I move from one pod to another if they're schooled up well. Our reds and trout are mostly headed for the 757 and on down to NC for the winter. About the only time I miss living in the mountains is the availability of winter fishing. Smallmouth, walleyes and trout are pretty much available year 'round and they aren't to be found around here.
Heading down to Blacksburg next week for work and was thinking of taking my fly rod. Anyone have any experience fishing either Stroubles or Craig Creek in Blacksburg or the Roanoke River in Christiansburg? Anywhere else I should potentially try? Those look like the best spots for some potential trout based on the DWR map.
Go to little stoney creek at the cascades. Brook trout willing to hit dry flies (I don't think it's too late especially if it's warm next week?). Caddis and adams were the two dries that always produced but it's been a while since I fished there regularly... Caught a lot of nice brook trout on tiny red midges as a dropper too. There are also wild rainbows in the stream. You can fish as soon as you get to the parking lot. Or you can hike up a bit and start fishing. Always caught more/larger rainbows downstream and more/larger brook trout upstream.
This guy does a great write up:
https://flyfishingswva.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/little-stony-creek-giles...
Little Stoney is where I really learned to fly fish. I rarely ever saw anyone else fishing even though there were always so many people there to hike.
Also, I think they finally now have a credit card machine and it's still $3 to park.
Its not gonna be starting Friday through at least next Wednesday - no daily high above 40 in Christiansburg. That part of Giles will be colder.
CK Special nymph or something similar. Dismal creek in Giles/Bland can be interesting. Wherever, personally I'd be fishing a nymph.
Awesome, might have to check that out if I get the time! I always go stay overnight when I make a trip down there, so my best time would be the in the morning before heading back to MD. I've hiked the cascades many times, though, so I know exactly where you're talking about!