December 16, 2009
- The seas for the last two days have been as calm as it gets... if only everyday could be like that this time of year! We had little surface activity, so we pounded the pilings with fly & light tackle and caught lots of stripers including a decent number of quality fish. With the wind gusting to 30kts as I write this report, I can't wait to get out there and do it again!
December 10, 2009
- Family obligations have kept me busy over the last few weeks, but I'm finally getting a minute to make a report. The biggest news has been the poor weather. It has either been rainy or windy more days than not. On days that mother nature gave us permission to fish, we've experienced mixed results. With winter just around the corner, striper fishing will become more consistent as their numbers increase around the CBBT. I ended up losing lots of pictures on the camera - sorry guys!
November 17, 2009
- The Nor'easter kept me from fishing for far too long. Finally, we hit the water yesterday for my first charter at the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel this fall. I don't think that I could have drawn up a better day. It was perfect! The weather was warm, the seas glassy and hardly another boat in sight. Oh and the fishing... non-stop! My two fly anglers were literally hooked up the entire trip and probably landed a total of 100 stripers of which many were between 28-33 inches. Besides the daytime action on the pilings, we had an awesome topwater bite at sunset where countless fish exploded on hair brain poppers. To wrap up the trip we tangled with fish under the lights of the bridge. It looks like things are shaping up for a great season at the CBBT!
November 10, 2009
- With the high winds forecasted for the next few days, it looks like my Middle Peninsula season has come to an end. I am moving my boat down to Little Creek in Norfolk/ VA Beach for my Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel season. We wrapped up the fishing over the last week by catching an average of 40 stripers in the shallows per trip including a 36 incher. Overall, fishing was great during my stay on the Middle Peninsula and I logged over 110 charters during that time. Let's hope for big fish and calm seas at the CBBT this fall and winter!
November 9, 2009
- False Albacore fishing at Harkers Island, NC has been fantastic this year. As luck would have it, I had the opportunity to slip down there for a few days during a good weather window. We tangled with many of these swimming rockets during our short stay and got to see lots of the crew during the pig pickin'. Good times!
November 1, 2009
- We continue to work the shallows for stripers, but the quantity is below average for this time of year. A couple rockfish over 30 inches have come over the gunnels with the largest taping out at 35 inches. Battling a big fish in a couple feet of water will get your heart pumping!
October 25, 2009
- We took advantage of the idyllic weather and caught up to 50 fish per morning in the shallows. At times we had stripers busting and birds working in two feet of water!
October 21, 2009
- Poor weather, computer problems and the addition of a puppy to the family have kept me from making a post in a while. We've had decent striper fishing when the record breaking cold & windy conditions permitted us to fish. Of course, today is the first day in a month that I've not had a charter scheduled and the weather is perfect! My daughter, Evie, is 20 months old now. One of her favorite games is jumping off a stump in the backyard. Our 8 week old puppy is a Brittany that we named Jasper. Now I have a daughter & dog to potty train!
October 6, 2009
- I stopped by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to drop off two striped bass that we caught which had been tagged for a study on the effects of micobacterious. "Mico" is a disease that attacks internal organs and causes external lesions on infected fish. Results from the study are showing that once a striper contracts mico, it will die in about 3 years. For a species that can live up to 20 years, the disease is having a large impact on the population of the species. Until about 15 years ago mico was very rare in wild rockfish, but the prevalence of sick fish has skyrocketed since then. One of the main contributors to the disease is believed to be malnourishment caused by the historic low numbers of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay. Without the high protein nourishment of bunker, striped bass are unable to fight off disease. The cause of the menhaden decline is due to unregulated overharvesting by the menhaden industry in VA. We must continue to fight for conservation of striped bass and menhaden to preserve this wonderful resource and jobs like mine that rely on it!
October 2, 2009
- The rockfish continue to be abundant and there are a decent number of puppy drum around. The largest speckled trout of late was a 25 incher landed by my father, but overall fishing for them has been slow for this time of year.
September 30, 2009
- The fish are hungry as they fatten up for fall. The only open dates remaining from now through mid-October are the 8th, 13th & 14th. Don't miss out on the action!
September 26, 2009
- Autumn has arrived! We wrapped up the summer season last week catching loads of stripers and some nice redfish on fly & light tackle. It was a fabulous summer of fishing with exciting shallow water action. Countless stripers, quality redfish and trophy speckled trout kept rods bent and anglers happy. If you weren稚 able to fish this summer, be sure to check out my Summer Fishing Report to see what you missed out on! August, in particular, was great. During the month, we landed 6 of the 9 citation sized specks we caught over the summer.
As we head into fall, hopefully we値l be rewarded with a few more citation trout to add to the list. Our best shots at the reds (aka puppy drum) will be from now through early October. The numerous stripers present this summer will remain in the shallows of the Middle Peninsula until I leave the area and move my boat south to Little Creek on November 15th. Once I知 down at Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, I値l be focusing on the mass migration of stripers holding around the structure of the bridge tunnel. During the day we値l cast around the structure of the rock islands and bridge pilings as well as to breaking fish under birds. At night, we値l fish for stripers stacked up in the light line under the bridge lights.
Fall is a very popular time for charters. Please contact me soon if you are interested in spending a fun day on the water!
