Shutter Happy

That fickle temptress, Lady Luck refused to play any role in the last several attempts to achieve my recent objective.  Big red drum have been caught by several kayakers this spring, making my failed endeavors that much more exasperating.  

However, some of those unsuccessful fishing days did turn out to be great "nature days".  Putting my angling frustrations aside, I took the opportunity to get shutter happy on the local wildlife.

First up is a rare shot of a posing Rob Alderman.  Normally seen in the Outer Banks area, it is a rare sight in these neck of the woods.

Next, Lee Williams got us all excited while pointing out a big...

"made you look."

And I guess I shouldn't complain too much since I did find a few bluefish in Rudee inlet and some decent flounder up to 18" as well.

I also had an amazing experience with a dolphin.  As I was trolling along, one breached on my starboard side a little towards the rear.  It came up about 15 feet away.  Then again about 10 feet away.  Then again.  I kept paddling along as it cruised up beside me.  You know you're close when things get all slow motion and you can see it's eyes looking back at you... checking you out... I can almost hear it in my mind... "wutcha doin'?  Ain't no red drum here, dude".  Then Richie Bekolay, who was trolling on my port side, reminds me that I should have my GoPro on.  Of course, it was the day I didn't bring my remote and by the time I reach forward, turn it on and start recording, my new buddy was gone.

The highlight of nature day was this bald eagle. 
(Click photos for larger view)

 I was grateful to Kevin and Lee for pointing out the majestic creature.  He had been munchin' out on a 47" almost dead striper that had washed up on the marsh.

And speaking of local wildlife, there's a good chance you'll run into this guy on the Eastern Shore during this time of year.  His annual migration to this area has been well documented over the last several years.

Impromptu Bronzebacks

Timing is everything.  And as of late, my struggles to get that timing right have resulted in me being stood up on my last 4 dates with Big Red.  The Eastern Shore can be so unforgiving to some, but my persistence will be rewarded... eventually.

This weekend, between bleach, caulk, birthdays, leafy gutters, weed, and mommy-daddy time, I found a couple of hours to look for smallies on the near by James River.

I muttered profanities at the wind on several occasions, but the elation of connecting with quality smallmouth overshadowed that quickly.

In two and a half hours I managed 6 smallies.  

19.25", 19", 16", 15", 13", 12"

All on a white/chartreuse spinnerbait tossed around current breaks.

Rigging the 2013 Ocean Kayak Trident 13 (with video)

This is basically a revisit of my last rigging post that I did two years ago (link).  It's been an evolution but somethings stayed the same.

The video is a little long with shaky camera work and weird nasally audio, but the info comes across.  Hope you find it helpful.

If you need some rigging supplies, 

check out HOOK1 (www.kayakfishinggear.com) 
and use code 
ANGLINGADDICT 
for 10% off!

Clown Car Toggin'

The new kayak got a proper CBBT hazing as I banged and scraped pilings from sun up to sun down.  During the 13 hours out on the water I dealt with a fast outgoing current, slow incoming, and another fast outgoing current, along with light winds at first then the big fan in the sky whipped white caps across the bay.  My search for citation specie number 3 took me to a wide range of different areas and depths along the bridge. 

It started off slow with only two little togs.  As the day progressed, more yakers showed up with a few having fair success.  When the wind picked up, everyone else decided to leave.  It stayed slow until I revisited one of the holes I tried earlier.  The tide had changed and I guess the togs crammed themselves into a tight spot.  If I missed getting the bait into the small 2'x2' hole, I got no hits.  But if my fiddler made it's way in there, it got hit immediately.  I pulled 8 togs out of that little hole in no time.

This one must have wedged himself in pretty tight.

10 total were tagged and released.  

18", 18", 17.5", 16", 15", 15", 14.5", 14", 14", 13".

After Work Bottom Chunkin'

The shad fishing was slow, which is a little unusual for this time of year.  But I'm sure it'll pick right back up.  We managed a few white perch and decided to chunk up a few a little ways down river.  The catfishing was slow too, but I lucked out with one blue at 37.5". 

Not a monster by James River standards, but still good times.

Quick Report: Shad and Smallmouth

After launching from the 14th street takeout we got into a decent number of hickory shad as well as a few American shad.  Everything came on a 6wt flyrod with 250 grain sinking tip.  Purple and greens, pink and greens, as well as a few other shad flies did the trick.

Clayton with an American Shad

Afterwards, I switched gears and managed one 14.5" smallmouth.

Fell for a light colored spinnerbait.

James River discharge Link

As of late...

Since my last post...

CBBT

I took the risk while knowing

it's a heck of a long paddle out for a slim chance in the cold.

And the paddle back without a single tog bite

blows.

The HRBT light line held no love for me, neither.

And the kitties wouldn't come out to play.

Some RVA shad found their way to my fly

But then over in Forrest Short's fish bowl of gators n cows

 I laid an egg.  

Forrest didn't do very well either.

So you know it was a tough night.

Biggest shad went 2lb 2 oz.

And then I retired that kayak.

And got a new one.

Which is basically the same kayak as before, just different colors.

I promptly paid Luther Cifers a visit at YakAttack Headquarters

and within 22 hours of being picked up

the James river was getting some grime and slime on the new Trident 13.

It was a little windier than I'd prefer, but it was still a nice day to be out and about.

Muskrat

Seth Goodrich and a few friends confirmed a hunch earlier in the week that the bigger smallies should be active.  However, this time the jig n' pig wasn't get the job done.  With the water warming up, I decided to pick up the pace and put on a bright skirt n' willow blades.  It took a while, but I finally found the right current break.

The ambush came and it hit with a vengeance.  I was treated to two awesome aerial displays and a fight worthy of the smallmouth reputation.  

19.5" new personal best smallmouth bass

 Shortly there after, the sun dipped behind the trees and Seth scored on a lipless crank. 

18.5"

Smallmouth are a blast, but it is time to introduce the new kayak to my favorite pilings.  The CBBT awaits and as bay temps climb so does my need for tog.

A post on how I rigged the new kayak will be out soon.