18 species and some personal bests

[J.A. Veil]

For many years I have spent a few days in late summer in Wachapreague, VA, a small fishing village on Virginia's eastern shore. In the early days, I rode offshore with guys I had met through the Annapolis MSSA. Later I brought various small boats here and fished the inshore waters. I fished several times from kayaks, but for the last few years, I brought my 16' Scout center console with me. John Rentch and I fished Mon-Thurs at many different spots on the bayside, the ocean side, and near the CBBT. Mark joined us for two of the days. We did some bottom fishing and casting. The fishing was not on fire here, but it provided a great variety of species (mostly small specimens of those species).

Over the four days, we caught 18 species:

striped bass
speckled trout
weakfish
silver trout
sea robin
northern pufferfish
black sea bass
whiting (aka northern kingfish or sea mullet)
flounder
blue crab (John Rentch caught several on hook and line)
pigfish
croaker
pinfish
silver perch
bluefish

Here are several of the more notable species:

Mark caught a small grouper -- I think it is a gag grouper
003.jpg

I caught a 3-4 foot sandbar shark while fishing frozen shrimp on small hooks on a bottom rig (it broke off at boatside before a good photo)
IMG_298.jpg

On our last day, we caught only one fish, but is was a worthy one -- a 38" redfish. It was a personal best for me by 11".

0015a.jpg

Many of the species caught by John R. and Mark were new species for them. We were very fortunate that tropical storm Erika stayed south and did not disrupt this week.

[EMSer]

Sounds like a great trip. Congrats to all on the new species and PB's!!

[Slobber Bob]

Way to go on the new pb red!

Sounds like you guys enjoyed yourselves. Wachapreague is a great area. It's so easy to just go exploring back behind Cedar and Parramore and lose track of time. So many places to fish. And the clamming isn't bad either

[Mark]

Many thanks to John and John for sharing a couple of days of their trip with me.

I didn't know that little spotted fish was a grouper until the guys got back to the house and confirmed it with on-line photos. That was indeed an interesting catch. It hit a 1/4 oz. jig dressed with a 3 inch Fat Sam soft plastic that I cast within several feet of a sandy beach. Fat Sam works well for many species. Later I caught specks and stripers with the same sized jig and trailer. It was especially nice hooking some stripers. They've been scarce on my recent kayak outings.

It was also exciting when John V. hooked the shark. But I was a little concerned. I think pickerel are vicious. I wasn't looking forward to sharing boat space with the shark.

Lastly I fished a bottom rig with bait. I hadn't caught a fish with bait in years. I fed a lot of shrimp to croakers but I also got a few (along with some other species) in the boat. That was fun too.

All in all it was a great time and I wish I could have spent more than two days in VA.

One more thing. We were entertained by a pod of dolphins near the concrete ships at Kiptopeke. They were fascinating to see so close. One rode the bow of our boat briefly and two others jumped vertically from the water side-by-side. They slapped their tails in the water and put on quite a show for us and then left us behind. It was almost as if we were on exhibition for them.

[J. Rentch]

Would like to thank John V for inviting me on this trip. Had a great time and learned so much from some great fishing buddies. John Veil and Mark Bange headed out for some serious pullage. IMG_0318 (2).jpg I added five new species to my list, not large but are on my list. My favorite memory was not a fishing moment, but the morning we went into the salt marsh out of Wachapreague. What a beautiful, quiet place. Once we came up on the corner of a sand bar and spoked 100's of Pelicans and Sea Gulls that flew right over us as we motored by. IMG_0322 (1).jpg The most exciting moment was John landing his Red. 10-15 minutes of bedlam followed by pure ecstasy.2015-09-03 10.19.24.jpg

[DanMarino]

That Scout is a fish catching machine!

[Mark]

That Scout is a fish catching machine!

Yes it is.

I think its captain has a lot to do with that!

[Dimo]

Great post, a lot of those species will be new to me as well. I look forward to making a trip down there.

What was the most surprising catch?

[Mark]

What was the most surprising catch?

For me it was the little Gag Grouper hitting a Fat Sam paddletail on a 1/4 oz. jig that I cast within feet of a sandy beach.

That area of VA offers diverse fishing opportunities. It's well worth the visit.

[J. Rentch]

John Vail landing a 38" Red


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dimo]

Excellent, heading down to NC to pick up my new yak. Will look at heading down there for a trip I. The next week or two!

[Fishinfool]

Yes it is.

I think its captain has a lot to do with that!

"It ain't the arrows,'it's the Indians..."