Satisfaction At Last!

After hearing about Skunk, Jimmy, and Kevin's recent tog shenanigans, I've been feeling left out. So I took Friday off, drove down from Richmond pre dawn. Met up with Jimmy and Skip and made it out to the island to find Skunk showing off his recent catches. It was a pleasant paddle out, but as soon as we get there, the wind picked up dramatically. It was one of those days that seemed like nothing was going right. I had to pull anchor and reposition over and over again. At one point, the tide and wind were going in opposite directions so I felt like it was impossible to stay where I wanted. I must have lost about 7 or 8 rigs and had nothing to show for it. And to make it worse, Jimmy pulled up tog after tog. I think Skip pulled up 2 or 3 as well, one that had to be close to citation. About 10 minutes after Jimmy and Skip leave I get a call from DV8 wondering how things were going. I vent my frustration, hang up, and WHAM! FINALLY! A nice 19 inch tog.


I tried for a few hours longer but nothing. Part of me felt like "at least I caught one" and another part of me was like "what the hell am I doing wrong? I know they're here"
The paddle back SUCKED! 11+ hours on the water and only one fish and a wicked sunglass burn. I was contemplating going out to the HRBT lightline, but that paddle back kicked my ass.

Beer, pizza, done.

I spent the night at my parents and got up pre dawn again. Picked up some more bait to go with what I had left over the day before. Met BRB and launched at 7:15 headed towards the island. After a nice smooth paddle out, I hooked up quickly. Poor Thom lost his anchor right off the bat. The current can be scary fast. I continued to fight the togs all day and ended up with 15 to 20 ranging from 13" up to 20.5". I even caught one with a tag. I called it in and released with the tag still in.

It turns out that Kevin's friend Zach had caught that fish two week ago and was tagged then. Amazing!

I only lost 2 rigs and only had to pull anchor 2 or 3 times. The wind was nice until we started coming back. It was a great day, worth the wait. I'll be in S. Korea for the next two weekends (grandmother's 80th birthday), so I HAD to get my tog fix.

Satisfaction at last!

The 2010 Shad run has started

So I was dying all weekend to go out to the first island for some togs. I was checking out the water temps online and was pretty sure they would be biting. My hunch was confirmed when I got the call from Jimmy telling me it was ON! I heard Kevin in the back ground... "where ya at Rob?!?!" It was killing me. I promised the wife that I would do the family thing this weekend. We went to the aquarium and yes, I did enjoy that. However, the rest of the time, I just couldn't get the togs out of my mind. I was constantly scheming of a way to get out on Sunday. But to no avail, I ended up back in Richmond without my tog fix. So I decided to get out on the James for a couple of hours and see if the shad were in yet. They are. It's just starting, so it wasn't on fire like it will be in a couple of weeks. I caught 4 in about 2 hrs. And they are fun, too. Especially on the flyrod. They call them "poor man's tarpon".



The togs however are still calling my name.

Soon....

Tidal James success

A couple friends have been wanting to join me on the tidal James and try for the big blues. So I picked a day and let them know. It was cold and rainy, but sometimes... that makes for some good fishing! Two of the guys that followed me didn't have the appropriate cold rain gear so they took off after an hour on the water. That left three of us on the water. First to hook up was me.

36lb Blue Catfish

I had another one at around 10lbs (not photo worthy).

Thom hooked up next with this 32lb 38" Big Blue.

T'was good times.

On the way back to the ramp I spied this beauty.

More cats

A new fishing buddy Justin Mayer came up to Richmond from the tidewater area to give it a shot at the big cats. It wasn't the most productive day, but at least he beat his personal record.

Oh, and in case you didn't know already...

NW river Ring Perch

I launched out of Bob's Fishing Hole in Chesapeake and went toward the NC border. It took a little while, but when I found them, they were thick. Used blade baits (silver buddies) and live minnows.



Tasty River Chicken n Slabs.

Kippy Kow Print

Finally, after two snowed-in weekends I finished touching up a couple of Kow prints.










Here's a video too, for size reference. Natalie is my 15 month old daughter. My wife is in there for a brief second and so is my dog.

More Bald Eagles than Fish

I took my friend Thom Mattauch out to look for some kitties on the James. We launched from Deep Bottom and covered a lot of water. I haven't been skunked on catfish in a while, but some days.... it's just the way it goes. I didn't even get a hook up. Thom had two hook ups and lost both (one right by the boat). On the way back in we saw 4 or 5 bald eagles and several great blue herons.

Thom, sorry I couldn't get you on some fish. Maybe next time.