Hawg Trough Improvement

After using the Hawg Trough for a couple of years now, I looked back through my Kayak Wars stats and realized that it's helped me measure and photograph well over 4 hundred fish (including the ones that were too small).  It makes documenting the catch quick and easy.  It's accurate and the numbers show up well in the photos.  It hardly weighs anything, which is great on a kayak, and it stores easily.

However, it does not float.  Last week, I had a fish thrash while it was on the board and normally I can keep control of it, but this time it went over.  It sank slowly, but I was not able to get to it in time and down to Davy Jones' locker it went.  After I caught the next fish, I forgot what it was like trying to measure a fish without it (besides the monster Red Drum and Kow Stripers).  I ordered a new one the next day and started thinking of ways to not lose it.  A friend of mine suggested a retractable cable, and although it's a good idea, I couldn't logistically find a place to attach it to without getting in the way and/or slowing me down.

When I got it in the mail, I saw on the back that there were two groove and the light bulb came on.  I got a roll of 1/2" x 3/8" strip foam insulation and some glue from the hardware store...

...and crammed it into the two grooves...

Ta Daa!

Bath tub tested!  Good to go!

The Hawg Trough is available at Hook1 Kayak Fishing Gear.

York River Toggin'

5:50am.  Hit snooze.  Baby's awake.  Ugghh...

As I rocked Miles back to sleep, I checked the wind forecast.  Over night, it went from just-maybe-borderline-doable to hell-no-you-dun-lost-yo-mind.  So I called Justin to call off the tautog trip to the CBBT first island and passed back out with a drooling baby on my chest.

As I made breakfast the brooding thoughts of big togs in the deep calmness crept into my mind, so I checked the wind again... with no reprieve.  I played with my little stinker-dinker kiddos and their laughter shut the door on fishing, and I was good with that.  My wife reiterated how I deserved to have some time to myself, and she was thinking about taking the kids to her mom's place anyway, so maybe I can do something else.  I said I would think about it (and reminded her how lucky I was).

A few hours later, Justin came up with a brilliant idea that I couldn't resist and since my car was already loaded, it wasn't long before I was on the road.  Justin had caught a tautog on the York River before, but always wanted to try again.  I wanted an alternative place to go when it was blowing at the first island.

We got on the water and the NW wind was not a factor in that area.  When we got to the structure, it didn't take me long to get a hook up...

19.5" Tog.  Photo credit Justin Mayer

However, the action was not "hot" by any means.  In fact we went long stretches with no hits.  Eventually, just before we were about to move to another area, Justin hooks up to a nice one that jackhammers his rod into the water.  He kept the beast from getting into the pilings and when it finally came up, it was a doozie.

Justin's new personal best 22" Tautog

The rest of the afternoon all the way until sunset was very uneventful.  We each had a couple of missed hits as we explored the new area and that was it.  When it got dark we caught a bunch of stripers up to 23" under the lights then called it a day.

Fall Bite in Full Effect

Fishing in the VA tidewater area is really heating up.  Reports of speckled trout are pouring in from all over with various MirrOlures and jighead n soft plastics getting the job done.  I wasn't able to get in on the trout action, but I did find a few other species.

I got out to the HRBT around 1am on Sunday morning and met Justin Mayer and Ash Bishop.  The water had just started moving with the incoming tide and the stripers were lined up thick.  As the current picked up so did their appetite.  My preference for the night was a 3" swimshad in natural bunker pattern, but almost anything would have done the trick.  I lost count after 20 or so with the biggest going 24".  Justin and Ash both had ridiculous numbers as well with their biggest going around 26"ish.  I got off the water around 4:15am and drove over to Oceans East 2 tackle shop.

After blinking my eyes a couple times, I got out of the car around 6am as Kevin was getting into work and he hooked me up with a nice mess of fiddler crabs.  I launched at the base of the CBBT to a sunrise that filled me with optimism.  However, the paddle to the first island kicked my butt as the cross currents pushed hard and the head wind gusted over 15kts... but it was worth it.  Just like the recent speck bite, the tog bite was on fire.  There were times where I couldn't even get my reel engaged before my fiddler was getting destroyed.  Most of them were in the 15"-17" range.

 Over all I must of caught over 30 or so togs.  No that's not an exaggeration.  I admit, some of those were under 15", but several were over 17" with the biggest going about 20".  Each additional inch brings a whole 'nother level of fun (insert "that's what she said" joke).  One of them ended up thrashing so hard as I was measuring it that I lost my hawg trough (the normal measuring device I use to take photos).

I had an occasional oyster toad or baby black sea bass, but the majority of the bites were definitely from togs.  A few other boats were having good luck using cut blue crab as well.  If you've been wanting to try for togs, or if you're just bored of messing with spike trout, and you're willing to deal with the paddle out, now is a great time.  A 16" tog will put up a surprisingly good fight for it's size and a 19-20" will definitely test your tackle.  I had two break me off around a piling and one pull me into bottom structure, but I ended up getting it out, minus my sinker.

As my fiddler supply dwindled, I decided to try a different spot along the bridge that I never tried before.  I wasn't expecting much and since I was already exhausted, I was thinking of leaving soon.  But I felt a hard thump and when I set the hook I immediately knew it was a much heavier fish than I've had all day.  It was an intense fight and I couldn't help but hope it was the citation (23") tog I've been after.  But I wasn't upset when it turned out to be...

Release citation Sheepshead

Reference

The last thing left in my bait container was a big fiddler claw that had broken off, and I figured why not.  I tried one piling over from where I caught the sheepshead and within a minute, I had another tough fighter on the line.  This one fought harder than the last and each nerve punishing drag run had me praying that it stayed hooked... and my imagination kept making the potential tog bigger and bigger.  But once again, I can't be upset...

Another release citation Sheepshead
I know it looks a lot like the other one, but I swear they're different.

Mean looking thing

Long, but great day

And remember to send ASMFC the prewritten email about the menhaden issue before November 2nd!

H E L P!!!

Free Stock Photo

Normally I try to avoid anything that might make my readers feel like they have to choose sides.  But this time, I have decided to throw down the gauntlet.   If I lose followers because of it, then so be it.

I feel like if we don't do something, we're going to lose what is quite possibly the most important fish in the Chesapeake Bay, which in turn will affect fishing all along the entire east coast.

Menhaden... bunker... pogy... the more I research the subject, the more upset I get and the more urgent the matter seems. 

One fact regarding Atlantic menhaden is not in dispute: the coastal population has declined 88% since 1984, and now stands at a historic low point. The latest Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s assessment confirms that. -    www.ccava.org

One single fleet harvests about three-quarters of the entire East Coast annual catch of menhaden in Virginia.  They harvest more than 100,000 metric tons of fish from the bay and surrounding coastal waters... The overall population of Atlantic menhaden is near historic lows while the population of young menhaden has been at an all-time low for more than a decade. Predators that depend on menhaden as a food source, most notably striped bass, are showing signs of ecological stress. A high proportion of striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay are suffering malnutrition and poor body condition. More than half of the striped bass sampled are infected with mycobacteriosis, a sometimes fatal disease, which typically appears in fish under stress. The survival rate of striped bass has been declining due to natural causes.  Menhaden are important to the overall health of Chesapeake not only as prey, they are also filter feeders.  They are second only to oysters, which are already grossly depleted, and feed on plankton and decaying plant matter. - www.recycledfish.org

Free Stock Photo

I can regurgitate pages and pages of info I've found.  If you want, do your own homework.  In the end, I'm just asking... do you like to fish?  Would you like to keep fishing for a long time?  Do you want your kids to fish?  If you answered yes, you need to do something about the raping of our waters.  For a long time I was furious with Omega Protein, but after listening to Beau Beasley speak at a local meeting, I realized that being upset with something that was perfectly legal is futile.  We need to have our voices heard and make a change.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is taking public comments until November 2nd on the DRAFT ADDENDUM V TO AMENDMENT 1 TO THE ATLANTIC MENHADEN FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN.  Right now is the first time in the history of the menhaden fishery that the commission is thinking about implementing regulations to stop overfishing.


Visit http://www.menhadendefenders.org/ and simply fill out your zip code then your info to send your the prewritten letter to the ASMFC.  

Plus, check out this site to see how we do our part in reducing the use of Omega 3 that come from menhaden.

Also, if you can spare a few packs of Gulp, join your local Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) chapter and help them push the lawmakers into making the right decision.

There comes a time when you can choose to do something that might change the course of history.  Instead of idly standing by, letting the good fight blow past you... do something.

The Last Three Trips

Thursday October 6th, got off work and went lightline striper hunting at the HRBT.   I fished the slack then most of the incoming tide and ended up with several decent size croaker and eighteen stripers between 21" and 24.5".  Other species that ended up on my line included grey trout, baby bluefish, oyster toads, and black sea bass.  Lures/baits for the night included chartreuse gulp, gotcha 3" dark green grubs, fishbites bloodworms, and 4" calcutta swimbaits in natural bunker pattern.  I met Matt Anderson out there and we stayed out til nearly 5am.

Monday October 10th.  After work, I met up with Marty Mood and tried for the big red drum under the CBBT.  The bluefish were thick and there were good numbers of schoolie stripers... but no reds.  Oh well.

Thursday October 13th.  I got the urge so back to the HRBT it was.  I started off with a small speckled trout, a dink flounder, then got into the stripers.  I caught about a dozen with the two biggest going...

24.5" 

and

26.25"

They're definitely out there and hungry for anything that swims by.

Get out and be safe!

CBBT Bull

So I was sitting there in my office, being productive, getting my work done, feeling good after the recent tournament, when I decide to give Kayak Kevin a call to wish him a happy birthday.  When he picked up I could tell he was excited about something.  It turns out he had a 46" red drum in his lap!  My palms instantly got a little sweaty and my mind started racing (I know, I have an addiction).  I immediately wanted to be out there fishing for those powerful bulls.  He went on to tell me the story, which I'm sure he'll share on his website, then hung up to chase some more.  He was under the CBBT fishing for sheepshead when the reds showed up.  About 10 minutes later, I get a call from Kevin's buddy Lee Williams and he says "dude, I was on your piling fishing for sheepshead when I hooked into a massive red!".  He continued to tell me how it came undone, then he had to take off to go to work.  By now, I was standing out of my office chair, with both hands grasping my hair, mind racing even faster, completely incapable of doing work at that moment.  I had to go.... SOON.  I immediately checked the weather forecast and tides then called the one other person that I knew Kevin wouldn't mind if I told.  The news had a similar effect on Justin Mayer.  We called our respective wives and the plan was set in motion.

We launched around 9:30pm after a full days work and an hour and a half drive.  We fished the CBBT lightline for schoolie stripers on the way out to the target area.  We each caught 4 or 5 and as the current started to slow down, our anticipation grew.  We both put two rods out with whole crabs on fishfinder rigs and jigged a 6" chartreuse swimming mullet Gulp on a 2oz jighead.  Justin got a hit first.  One of his lines with a crab started peeling off, he engaged, and just as his kayak started getting pulled, it came unbuttoned.  About 10 minutes later I suddenly lost tension on my jigging rod.  I reeled in the slack and instinctively set the hook knowing that something picked it up and moved upward.  The ensuing headshakes and screaming drag run quickly made me realize, this was a big fish!  I was very lucky it didn't go straight through the set of pilings that were near by.  Instead the beast pulled me in between the two bridges then did a 360 and ripped drag back toward the pilings.  Luckily it veered away again, and after about 7 or 8 more minutes of tackle testing drag runs, I leg lifted the brute red over my gunwale.

Heavy 48.5"
Citation Red Drum

Those were all the bites we had. I got home at 5am feeling tired, but still buzzed from having caught my biggest fish thus far.

2011 TKAA Charity Tournament

It had been raining on and off all day.  My hands were exceedingly pruney, my hat was soaked all the way through and I was yet to feel a fish on the end of my line.  Other tournament anglers started heading in and many of them asked about my luck.  Every one of them had either a perplexed look or thought I was joking when I told them I hadn't hooked a single one.  I was running out of time so I decided to make one more pass by my favorite spot in the inlet as the rain got heavier. I was trolling a MirrOLure when it got crushed...

by a big...

fat...

nothing.

Yet, for some reason, I was still smiling, happy and had a supreme sense of satisfaction as I drove to the weigh-in/awards ceremony.  The confused looks and "you're kidding, right" statements continued there, but I went on to explain to them that I had a different goal that day.

Every year there's a group of people that take some veterans from the near by hospitals and gets them out on the water to fish during the tournament.  I decided to be a part of that group.  At the end of the day, Ben Swenson of Virginia Wildlife Magazine wanted a quick interview, so I obliged, and most of the questions were easy... was this your first time volunteering for this... yes... do you think you'll do it again... yes... but there was one question that I couldn't answer very quickly.  "Why?"  "What made you decide to do this?".  My mind was running so fast...  I'm usually a very competitive person and I love these types of events... so why did I decide to forego the enjoyment of competing?  Why would I use that precious time away from my family and personal fishing endeavors for something like this?  I don't have any strong connections to the military.  I dislike politics.  I just didn't have an immediate answer for him.

Maybe I just wanted something cool to write about on my blog.  Maybe I thought it would make me look like a "good guy" in the kayak fishing community.  Or maybe it was the perfect opportunity for me to really help someone by sharing the passion I have for this sport.  And not just anyone, but someone who has put his country before himself...  someone who did what our country as a whole needed him to do and now he's stuck in a hospital.  I know if I was in his shoes, I'd love it if someone took me fishing.

Maybe I volunteered because I've always felt like I owed a debt of gratitude to the veterans of this country.  I was born here, grew up here, and enjoyed the freedom my entire life.  My parents came here from South Korea back in the mid 70's, not only because this country opened its doors to a certain number of immigrants from there, but also because of the veterans who fought the Korean war.  The outcome of that war would obviously be very different if it hadn't been for those veterans and I would not be here today loving life to the fullest, and you would not be reading this. 

Maybe I didn't have an answer for Ben Swenson because I didn't know how to bring up the subject of my wife's beloved grandfather, who recently passed away last month.  He served in the United States Army and was awarded a Combat Infantry Badge and three bronze stars for his service in Korea.  You can imagine the sense of gratitude I have, especially when I was around him.  Here I am, in the greatest country in the world, enjoying all the freedoms that come with it because of the service and sacrifices made by him and the other veterans of the Korean War.  And to top it off, I got to marry his granddaughter.  I made sure he knew that she was in good hands with me, and he was many times the recipient of a fillet or two from my outings along with the treasured visits from his great grandkids.

I know this would have made him happy and proud.

Mark Lozier gives a few pointers to the veterans

I took Lance Corporal Israel Ramirez out to Rudee Inlet in my Redfish 12.  He had been to many places including Greece and Lybia and now had several pins in his right hand along with a cast.  Knowing that I shouldn't push him, we started off pretty relaxed.  I just wanted him to have a good time on the water.  But after chatting and getting to know him, I realized he was pretty mission driven and today's mission was to catch a fish.  It's something he had never done before and it was my goal to help him achieve that.  His casting got better as the day progressed and his paddle strokes got stronger.  He couldn't quite grip the paddle all the way and I told him to let me know if his hand was bothering him and that we could take a break.  But like a true marine, he told me "pain is weakness leaving the body" and trucked on as I nodded and smiled.  Shortly there after, I got him to hook up and I was ecstatic when he caught his first fish ever.

He caught 2 more spot (bigger than the first) and a nice pinfish as well.  When we got off the water for lunch it was obvious the vets were all glad to have gotten a little therapy on the water and it did them good.  They had so much to talk about and at least for a short while, their minds were away from the heavy burdens they accumulated through their previous experiences and long stays in the hospital.

Later on, Israel came up and told me that his buddies from the same hospital couldn't believe he caught 4 fish.  The others enjoyed themselves on the water, but were not able to catch anything.  That added a certain level of satisfaction for me, knowing I helped him get those bragging rights!

There's definitely something magical about powering yourself though the water.  Add the lure of angling and the therapy is undeniable.  For more information about the program helping the vets, check out the Heroes on the Water page and Project Healing Waters page.

All the proceeds from the tournament went towards those programs so even those that didn't fish with a veteran still helped out.  They are two great organizations that definitely deserve our support.  If you live in the mid-Atlantic, enjoy kayak fishing, and have not attended this event before, please consider trying next year.  The camaraderie is second to none and the raffle is out of this world.  Here's a link to some more info about the tournament and the results.

On a side note, after the weigh-in and award ceremony, I ventured back out to the HRBT for a few more hours of personal fishing time.  I quickly picked up a 19" flounder, 5 schoolie stripers and a few good size croaker.