Living in Delaware we don’t typically see many Red Drum in our waters. Traveling for the opportunity to target these game fish is exciting. Fortunately its only a 140 mile drive south from my home! It’s only a little over 2 and a half hours to make it to the trip to Cape Charles Virginia. I’m spoiled since I have been driving maximum an hour to the water all my life and now it has become my backyard. This drive is worth it though. This is the story of A Fourteen Hour Fishing Trip.

After Work Fishing

Midway through October 2017 and the days have been still warm. I have been getting out after work here and there for the evening Striped Bass bite close to my work. Some good fish but it’s still like summer. The size of the fish is still 30″ and below. Tuesday Oct 10th during an evening on the water I sent Joe H a text giving him a fishing report. He called soon after informing me that he was planning a trip to fish in Virginia for Sunday. The weather looked good so I decided to ask if it was cool if I met up with him there. The trip was on.

The Plan:

Photo by Joe Hosler

Meet up at 06:30 near the Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge Boat ramp Sunday. Then go fishing targeting reds. Simple enough!

The Chesapeake Bay can get rough in this area but I loaded my Jackson Kayak Kilroy as i feel it is the best suited for saltwater creek style fishing. The kayak has a Torqeedo Ultralight 403 installed for those days when you need to get back quick or against a river style current ripping tide. It comes in handy!

Sunday Fishing Day!

Out the door by 3:45 am on the road. It’s still raining and foggy. The misting and fog finally became intermittent around 2 hours in.  I can spot the deer peering into my headlights while passing through heavily wooded areas. Warm coffee and maximum concentration. Thinking to myself how much i love my 2016 Ford F150 over my old truck. Waze on the consul broadcasting the distance traveled and my ETA its 6: 30 to start but traffic light s and such made it more like 6:40.

I arrived and everyone was there gearing up. It was just starting to become light. There was an eerie yellowish cloud as the sun hit it from below the horizon. We hit the water and fished a small creek. It was slow fishing only with a few small Speckled Trout.  So we crossed the channel and begun fishing that area. The tide was on its way out. A few more trout early. Paddling through the shallows I went as far back as I could. There were oysters all over in the sod banks. Not sure if these are edible or if they are even legal to harvest. I found one laying on the bottom and picked it up to examine it. They were pretty small and flat but i put it back and went back to fishing.

There was no water only an inch or two. I circled back and figured id throw some casts at a drop off I saw on my way in.

First cast reeling slowly bump bump across the bottom and bang fish on! Great fight on my bull bay rod paired with the Abu Garcia Revo Inshore casting reel. Peeling drag running towards the kayak and back deep again. A great fight to land a 23 inch healthy Red Drum!

Released him and caught a few more on that drop until there was inches of water left. The clouds had finally broken away to sunshine. It was nice and warm now as everything begin to dry out. The tide slowed to a crawl so did the bite. Managing a bunch of Speckled trout a few more reds and small Striped Bass. At this point it was 12:30. We realized we were now landlocked. We fished for another half hour on a slow bite until finally dragging the yaks across the sand bar to return to the launch.

I took a detour to go take a few photos of a large chunk of drift wood that had washed up on the sandy part of the island. As an amateur photographer I spot these things and have to get there to grab a few photos. This particular piece of drift wood i spotted from a mile away in the morning on the way across the channel. After getting my shots using the Torqeedo I went back full throttle. 6.5 mph most of the way. A following sea made it a bit strange.

Fortunately the drive home wasn’t so bad. I was worried that id be exhausted as I have been in the past coming back from really long fishing days in the summer heat. Arriving home around 5 PM the concluded the fourteen hour fishing trip.  Will defiantly be doing this trip again in the future.

Wrap Up 5th Annual CBKA Tournament September 10th 2016

Another Chesapeake Bay Fishing Tournament in the books. For me it was great to be out on the water with my kayak after two and a half months due to relocating and my truck having mechanical issues. Living now in South Eastern Delaware it was a pleasure to have half the driving distance to the venue on Kent Island Maryland. This was my third year to be present at this beautiful venue.

Preparation:

It was the first kayak haul for my new 2016 F150. I took the Friday off from work which worked out as I was able to get my new truck bed cap installed at the ARE Dealer, Trick Trucks in Millsboro DE. Previously had removed the Thule rack in anticipation of installing it on the new cap asap. It took me around an hour to drill and bolt on the rack to my new cap. It was now pretty set for kayak hauling. I loaded up and let around 3:50 PM to arrive at the venue around 6:00 PM.

Arrival:

Upon my arrival meeting up with Joe Hostler. Checked in and received my captains bag stocked with goodies. Then awaited the captains meeting. After sitting trough that went to the field to set up my tent. The day was a scorcher at 95 degrees and high humidity. As the sun set during the potluck dinner which I provided some tuna mac with crab salad. All of the potluck food brought by others was excellent as always. Joe’s mac salad was amazing along with various other items such as jalapeno poppers, chicken wings, and a crab mac & cheese dish.

As the evening set in the temperature leveled at about 86 degrees as the humidity shot through the roof. The conditions were not the best to be camping but made the best of it. Sat in the truck air conditioning for a bit. Finally going to the tent around 12:00 am. Some of the guys were still up hanging out and apparently were until around 3 am.

Tournament Day:

The morning came fast. Sounds of alarms and others waking from camp. It was still dark but not for long. I went over and met Joe at his cabin grabbed some coffee and rigged up a few rods. We were probably the last to launch but it worked out because driving to the drop in was simple. Rather than loading up the kayaks and walking then there on kayak carts. Hitting the water we immediately started fishing for bait. In these areas Spot are an excellent source of bass bait. Spot can be gathered using a small 1/0 Octopus hook a small bit of weight and a fish bite or small piece of blood worm.

After about a dozen or so spot and catching small white perch at the same time we trolled over to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in search of solid fish marks on the chart plotter. By this time the wind had kicked up from the southeast and it was rocking and rolling out there. Live lining for bass was non eventful after a few hours. The stripers just didn’t seem to cooperate on the live bait.

Attempted trolling for hours catching one small striper around 17″. We went back at catching perch with an attempt to place in that category but could only manage fish up to 8″. We fished the entire time and missed the weigh in but were sure we had nothing that qualified for placing in the tournament anyway. It was a great day to be out on the water doing what I love the most.

The awards ceremony commenced and as always is very well put together. A representative from the make a wish foundation was present and spoke a little bit about the charity followed by a tear jerking video of a boys wish to take a trip on a US aircraft carrier. They really do amazing things for these kids whom unfortunately endure a lot of pain and suffering. This is what we do it for!

If you have never attended the Chesapeake Bay Kayak Anglers tournament come next year and check it out. Hang with a bunch of friendly kayak anglers.

Wrap Up: 2016 Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing Classic

Every year the tournament season opens with the Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing Classic. This year the tournament brought together 330+ anglers to fish one of the best locations for the chance of catching large stripers, weakfish, and bluefish. The fluke season had not opened yet so being illegal to even target the species it was omitted from the tournament. The absence in abundance of weakfish over the years has made the tournament more challenging. If you catch a weakfish the chances of completing a slam or grand slam and placing in the competition become very high.

This year was to be a kind of special year as a majority of the crew I used to fish with were planning on fishing the tournament. It had been 2 years since Lunchbox last fished it and longer than that for some others. It was set to be a good ole time with practical jokes, camping, and excellent food along with a few brews.

Arriving on the Floyd Bennett Field tarmac around 11:00 PM on Thursday May 12th. The moon in its third quarter onto waxing gibbous was on its way setting in the west against the orange glow of the night urban sky.  The city that never sleeps rustling and bustling. The camp was pretty quiet besides a few loud conversations here and there. Everyone else had gone to sleep early in anticipation of early morning fishing. Captain Jim, Gary and Kevin were still fishing Mill Basin. They informed me that fishing was slow so instead of gearing up I went to take some night photographs. Night settings on a DSLR camera are one of the most enjoyable times of photography for me. Long exposures create the ability to capture low ambient light. After a few photos of around the tarmac i drove down to Mill Basin to get a few photos of the bridge at the basin and my friends as they cane in.

The next morning out of the camper by 7 AM we all had decided to sleep in. It was to be the best day weather wise so instead of waiting for the guys to go to the tackle shop and come back I went out fishing. Trolling SP Minnows for hours looking for bait and fish marks. Also learning and modifying settings on the new Lowrance Elite 5 TI. About 2 hours of fishing finally hooked into a fish. It ended up being a big bluefish at 28″ which I took a photo of and released. Before i knew it I was surrounded by Hobbies which is incredibly annoying but they actually didn’t stick around this time. The winds were increasing and the clouds building and building. The front was about to hit within an hour so I was going in.

Many were still going out. I advised some newer guys that were paddling they may want to stay in and wait out the front. It was good advice that one fellow thanked me for.

About 30 min later the front was upon the area. Heavy rain and winds I hung with the guys of The Kayak Fishing Store. They were all setup for the rain. Brews and a heater blasting from the trailer door! It felt like camping! Good times hanging out with the crew.

A few hours later the rain had passed. A good fishing buddy of mine Brian was on his way to the camp. Once he arrived we were set to go night fishing. It was a cool calm and clear night.The water was like glass. We launched at the Floyd Bennett field ramp and trolled across to ruffle bar. Along the way trolling 2 rods a fish took my SP minnow and ran with it. The reel screamed. I grabbed the rod from the holder and set the hook. It fought like a bluefish and upon fighting and reeling it in. It was a big bluefish. 30″ + with acrobatics!  While attempting to boga grip the fish it was able to escape the grasp. Again after that another fish hit screaming reel. Spinning my kayak around. The fish jumping and then off.

Fishing became slow but the fish finder revealed fish everywhere. Jiging trolling casting baits. Nothing mattered. IT was now 2 am. The moon had become a yellow hue as it became larger setting in the west. The hill was getting to us. Trolling back into base Brian hooked up. Another blue to close out the early morning. Landing around 3:30 am we rinsed down our gear and passed out.

An hour later however it was time for everyone to get up that was fishing the morning. At this point sleep had ceased for me. As they left I decided to zippp out of my sleeping bag and capture a few photos of the sunrise. It wasn’t the besst sunrise due to low lying clouds of the front from the previous day but was able to take some great photos! It was a spectacular launch from the ramp with over 100 Hobie’s and Noriel with his Big Tuna commanding the launch.

After the sunrise I put the camera into my Dry Case bag and wheeled the Big Rig to the ramp. Fishing was on! I immediately got on the radio once on the water. Looking for my buddies. I should have been fishing the entire time but meeting up with them was important to me. I was trying to find Capt Jim but after texting him for his location he didn’t get back to me. To learn later he dropped his phone and Romano’s camera in the drink. Dropped Something.

Fishing wasn’t good in the area we were fishing. I saw a swirl in the shallow water but was looking for my buddies. Finally finding Charlie ‘LUNCHBOX’ Labar his son and Bob ‘Mullet’ Miller. Fishing was no good unfortunately. Gave it a few more hours and Capt Jim said he was calling it a day and going to grill up some steaks. On the way back in trolling we marked a few fish and decided to give it a shot. Capt Jim ended up with a blue and that was it for the day. I remained skunked for the daytime fishing.

An hour or 2 later the wind kicked up again and made it pretty much un-fishable for the rest of the day. A few showers blew through as most of us took a power nap to later get up and grill up some chicken. The might didn’t last long with the cold wind i was in bed by 11:30.

Sunday morning was very windy and the Tournament Director cancelled fishing for the day. A majority of anglers had already packed up and left the night before as many were leaving in the morning.  I hung out to help with anything needed at the camp then ended up leaving by 11 am.

Looking forward to next year! Jamaiaca Bay is one of those locations every kayak angler should fish one day. I hope to see you and everyone again next year!