A Little Spring Tease

For late February, it was surprisingly warm on Sunday.  I joined Jeff Lockhart (fellow Richmonder) and Billy Nicar (from GreenTop) on the Elizabeth River along with a fleet of others who welcomed the tease of Spring.

A couple of stripers (18"~19") started off the action but after that it went kaput.  Every spot we went to had the same story; boaters and kayakers alike had virtually nothing all day.  Eventually, near where we started, I caught a fairly nice sized hickory shad, then right around sunset, we finally got into some specks.  Jeff spotted big swirl in 3-4 feet of water and hooked up first with a nice 23" trout.

Not too long after, just as I was saying to myself that I really needed to leave, I hooked into a nice scrappy fish.  After some impressive runs I had my first trophy of the year come over the gunnel of the new Predator 13.  

 

Even though the bite was getting hot, it was time to go.  I promised Kev that I'd come by to broadcast live with Lee Williams for an episode of a Kayak Kevin Podcast.

Here's the recorded version.

Friendly reminder: Don't forget your sunblock or face mask/buff.

Specks, Schoolies, and a Long Paddle

It felt like an eternity.  The leaves gathered on my kayak for over a month as work and family priorities overshadowed my angling desires.  But as soon as my slate was clear, the familiar feelings of my Werner gliding through the water and fish putting that certain curvature in my rod ignited my senses.  

My immediate desire was to look for togs, but that mean four letter word kept me from venturing too far from shore.  North at 15-20 kts was just too brutal so speckled trout became the target.

I met up with Jack Daughtry from Maryland out on the Elizabeth River.  My first cast with a skitterwalk got two blow ups, but no hook up.  It was promising. Unfortunately, those were the only two blow ups I would get.  Being stubborn, I wasted a lot of time trying to make the topwater work as Jack was hookin' up left and right on MirrOlures.  I eventually gave in and switched.  We trolled around exploring new areas and getting reacquainted with old ones as well.  White, chartreuse, silver, and natural colors worked well.  All in all, Jack probably out fished me 2 to 1, maybe more, but it was nice to catch up with him and finally get back on the water.


My next outing came 24 hours later.  My little brother had been wanting to get on the water with me but our schedules never seemed to line up.  So I was super stoked when we finally had the chance.  I had described the lightline striper action to him many times, but for him to actually see it... was more than special.  

Charlie with a nice HRBT schoolie striper

After a little rockfish sashimi with Thanksgiving dinner we went out again on Friday morning.  This time in search of the not-so-schoolie stripers.  We met Kevin and Lee over on the Eastern Shore and went on a super long drift.  After dunking eels for almost 15 miles, Lee was the only one to hook up.

Lee's 32"er

It was a long day, but I'm sure it was better than shopping.

Back in the Saddle

Itching with anticipation, Friday night couldn't come soon enough.  At 10:30pm, HRBT was the first stop where I met up with Justin.  I paddled out, keeping my eyes peeled for the welcome sight of a striper silhouette.  I was paddling over a small one when a voice greeted me out of the darkness...   "dude, there's a big one right in front of you".   I thought, what a nice way to greet a fishing buddy, as I caught a glimpse of the massive shape slowly sinking then fading.  We guestimated it to be in the upper 30" range and it was the only big one we saw.  Fish were scattered here and there and not wanting to commit.  They would follow the lure to the boat then take off.  I started twitching the lure once I got their attention and then they would strike.  Unfortuantely, I had several poor hook sets and the fish would get off.   It wasn't too long before the current stopped and I only landed one at 25" while Justin landed several.  We were off the water by 1am.

It wasn't the greatest night, but after an agonizing 31 days of kayak fishing deprivation, it felt great to finally  get back in the saddle.

I found myself at the Elizabeth river by 7am looking for big speckled trout.  I tried everything from topwater, soft plastics, to various MirrOlures, slow to fast and everything in-between, from deep drop offs to shallow flats, the infamous party cove area and a few oyster bars with little luck.  I managed one 20"er and called it the first kayak fishing trip of the year.

Last Minute Trophy Trout

I wasn't planning on going, but I got invited to a screening of Kayak Kevin's new DVD which was on the way to the spot.  At the last minute, I figured that I might as well strap the kayak on the rack.  All my stuff was still in my car from the last trout trip, which made the decision even easier.

I left Kevin's party a little early and headed down to the southern branch of the Elizabeth.  I launched a little after 10pm to a breezy river with dramatically lower temps than last time.  The action wasn't quite as good as Tuesday night, but I still ended up with 4 fish.  Three on topwater and one on the jig.  I could of had 6 but I dropped 2 right at the boat.  18.5", 21.75", 19.5" and the release citation I was looking for at 24.5".

I was walking-the-dog in the light of the half moon when I saw it quietly suck the lure under.

Nice night, off the water at 1:30am.

Topwater Trout Action on the Elizabeth

Justin and I were tempted to try the infamous Hot Ditch area of the Elizabeth River.  But part of me was also interested in trying some of the other areas on the E.  Lucky for us, Matt Anderson was feeling generous and agreed to take us to one of his spots.  It's not often that a speckled trout fisherman is willing to share.

We launched into the Southern Branch around 9:30pm and I quickly picked up a 16.5" speck on a Marshworks 3" Bayou Thumper in "croakain" color on a 1/4oz jighead.  I love the hard thumping action on those lures.  We were working the flats and drop offs and it wasn't long before Justin got a nice one that went a little over 20" on a purple MirrOLure.  I stuck to working the bottom and hooked a pretty decent trout that got off right at the boat.  It was probably around 18-19".  After that the action died off.  It took a while, but Justin came up with the right idea.  Topwater.

Just over 20"

Justin preferred the Super Spook Jr. and I worked a Rapala Skitter Walk in "speckled trout" color.  Though, I think any walk-the-dog style lure would have worked. 

21"

Matt joined in on the fun and we all had numerous blow ups.  Many of them missed the lure, but it still got the excitement level up.  Sometimes they would explode on the lure just as we were pulling it out of the water.  It's pretty startling when the dark calmness is suddenly shattered as the black water detonates way too close to you.

The action would come and go and we would change the retrieval cadence.  A lot of times we would get them to hit on the pause.  After a great night of great topwater trout action we called it a night around 2:30am.  Thanks again, Matt.

21"