Short River Trip

Hit a creek off the James River well below Richmond.  Main target was gar.  Caught 7-8 up to 35".  A few stripers to 20".   Too many little catfish to lower 30".  Lost one decent catfish in the mid 40" range at the boat.  Most on minnows.  Couple hits on silver buddies.  Hoping to go back for that 40+" gar.

Surf, Exploration, and a Lack of Albies

"Go forth

and Catch Fish."

Long story short, we went looking for false albacore down near Harkers Island, NC and found a slew of other species.  Willy Rags led the charge with Tex, Luther Cifers and three others from the YakAttack crew hoping to experience the drag scorching fight of an albie on light tackle.  We were fully aware that they can be caught closer to where we live but historically there are much denser concentrations of them down near Harkers Island.  This was also a chance to explore new water and enjoy what my wife likes to roll her eyes at and call "a boys' weekend away".

Some of the YakAttack crew had little to no saltwater experience, not to mention surf launching.  Turned out to be a trip of many firsts for them.

Nick Kellogg's first of 4 sharks

We also found bluefish, grey trout, black sea bass, lizard fish, needlefish, grouper, sea robins, baby jacks, and I'm probably forgetting a few others.  Most were caught bouncing a diamond jig on the bottom. 

Willy Rags messing with sharks on a bass rod.

Lizardfish

Needlefish grill

Needlefish dorsal

Rags and I got lackadaisical during one of the surf landings and paid the price.  We should have timed the waves better but at least we didn't lose anything but a pair of cheap scissors.  Cory Routh was kind enough to document my "oh $%^" moment :)

Photo credit: Cory Routh

Just before it was time to leave, John Hipsher lucked into what we were after while trolling a 6" RonZ.

Good times were had and memories were made.  Laughs, brews, fishing stories were shared and Luther cooked up an awesome batch of fresh grey trout tacos.  I didn't catch what I was after, but I definitely can't say the trip was unsuccessful.

Recent Critters

I haven't been able to get on the water with Kayak Kevin since last November so I hit him up and the plan was to team up on the fall red drum madness.  If you haven't seen what he's been up to, click here.  It's ridiculous.  Disgusting even.  His moniker, "Drum Jesus", is more than fitting.

The time comes to get together and of course mother nature spews chunks all over our party.  So there we were... the only two kayak anglers in the area who have achieved "saltwater expert angler" hoping to chase monster drum...
but instead
settle for.... 

spot.

Opting for the tiniest rods in our possession, we put on bottom rigs with fish bites and blood worms.  Our thoughts switched from fighting big game fish to grocery fishing for tasty morsels.  Unfortunately we got the attention of a wide array of itty bitties but no spot.  Plus, the current was on turbo mode in the creek we were in.  

At least I got some fun photos and hung out with one of my mentors.  

Black Sea Bass 2nd dorsal fin

Pigfish scales

Stabby little Pinfish

Sea Robin dorsal fin

Sea Robin

Sea Robin 2nd dorsal

Sea Robin

Included in the mix was a baby tautog that ate bloodworm and a 15" croaker which came home along with nine 8"-9" pigfish (aka grunt).  It was my first time trying pigfish, especially since I never catch them over 5"-6".  They are very similar to spot and quite delicious.

38" and 51" Cobia VIDEO

Here's the video of the two cobia from a few weeks ago.

Froggin' and Making Little Green Friends

The decision was determined by the forecast.  Open water pursuits for big saltwater species were put on hold for small creeks protected from the wind.  The game became ripping frog imitations across the surface and Jeff and I had a good time with it.  

 

 Jeff ended up with the two biggest of the day at 18" and 20.25"

The highlight of the day was discovering not one but five little frogs on my kayak.  I'm assuming that one of the patches of lily pads I paddled through produced the hitch hikers.  

Sunrise with Two Trophy Sheepshead (VIDEO)

Here's the video of the two sheepshead from this post (link). 

A Cobia Story

Maybe I should be embarrassed to say how many times I've sat, anchored up, chumming for hours on end or how many miles I've paddled around searching without success.  But perhaps that's also a testament to how difficult it can be to find, hook, and land a kayak cobia in our waters.  This is the sixth year I've been chasing Virginia cobia from a kayak and if I had to guess, there are over fifteen trips that I have not written about because there wasn't much to share.  The long drives back to Richmond let me reflect on what I learned each time, which I kept to myself.

From Buckroe and Grandview, Bluefish Rock, CBBT, to Sandbridge and The Humps, I've seen and chased, helped friends land theirs, and swallowed disappointment after disappointment.  I've tossed bucktails and lively eels in front of monsters only to be rejected.  The amount of money I've spent on chum makes my stomach churn.  Charter trips on boats were fun and helped me understand the fish, but that personal satisfaction of finding them on my own and going toe to toe my way has been a burning desire a long time. 

Last week, that desire was met with an enjoyable 38"er followed by a shit-eating grin.  But the thing is, that desire came back by the time I got to shore.  And it came back burning hotter than before.  By the time the next weekend came around, I made sure everything at home was in good order for me to go on another hunt for Mr. Brown.  

The wind was not in our favor but Jeff and I trekked out anyway.  I resisted the urge to bring sheepshead and spadefish gear knowing I would probably be tempted to cut into my cobia searching.  We kept our eyes peeled the entire time.  At one point, I looked back to see a little 2 footer following just a few feet behind my stern.  I tossed the RonZ but he disappeared.  A few minutes later he was back there again so I tossed a live eel but he disappeared again.  Not too long after that, I found what I was looking for.  Actually about 7 or 8 of what I was looking for.  Before I could react two of the bigger ones came right at me and tucked themselves under the kayak.  Four maybe five of the others were following close behind and one of them ate the eel.  As soon as it hit, it dove straight down then spun me around while peeling off a good bit of line. 

I was already in between piling sets and I tried to keep it that way while regaining as much line as I could.  As the fight went on, it ended up between the two bridges and I finally let out a smile.  The rest of the fight was a vertical tug of war with impressive run after run.  I pulled him up to the surface a couple of times only for it to explode, haul ass back down, and show that power I was hoping to feel.  

After about 13 minutes (I hit record about 10 seconds after the hookset) it was getting tired.  Shortly after, I grabbed the leader, saw that the hook was in a good spot and took the hammer to the dome... a lot.  

Once I got him on deck and saw the spikes on it's back twitching, I hammered some more for good measure. 

Last weeks 38"er made me ecstatic, but this 51"er was more of what I had in mind as the top part of my iceberg illusion.  All that time, sacrifice, disappointment, failure along with the persistence, hard work and dedication mentioned at the beginning is what nobody sees.  I guess only I will really understand the size of that struggle below the surface, but let me tell ya, it feels pretty damn good to show off the tip of this iceberg.  I know it's not a giant, but I couldn't be more happy.

The twisted part is... 

As soon as I started paddling back, I wanted more.  

There it was right in my lap... 

what I've been wanting for so long... 

and all I can think about is when can I get back out again for another.