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I have been going to every TKAA charity tournament for the last 5 years. Every time I had a great time, and this year was no different. It is a busy and a fun time, and I had learned my lesson years ago, that I would spend the night at a hotel the night of the award dinner. It is just good to relax and have a hot shower after lots of driving and lots of fishing, a full belly, and great company with fellow kayak anglers. This year I decided to go down on Thursday September 27th, so I could pre-fish the surrounding tidewater areas. I met Rockchaser at the Lake Wright Hotel. He also went down early to pre-fish. We decided on fishing the Rudee Inlet at night for three hours. We hoped to run into some large night time specs, but no large ones were to be found. We fished the entire Rudee Inlet. We even ventured out of the inlet into the ocean for an hour. Fishing the ocean at night can be a little unnerving, with the rolling waves and current. In the ocean we only caught the famous baby croakers, so we moved back into the inlet. Rock chaser did manage to land one small spec. I ended up finding some decent size croaker. One of which measured 14 inches that ended up in my cooler. Rockchaser noticed some lightning in the distance when we were out on the water. I thought the storm looked like it would pass us so we kept fishing. Then an 45 minutes later I saw lightning in the distance over the ocean myself. Well, maybe Jim was right. Maybe we should head back in since it was after midnight and we plan to fish Broad Bay in the morning. Well, it was Jim's turn not to want to go. Why may me ask? Well, he was catching fish, more hefty croakers ....LOL. Needless to say, we finally headed back in and made it to the hotel around 2:00am. So much for the three hour time limit on fishing the Rudee Inlet. I did manage croaker, a pin fish, a few puppy drums and a spot.
The next day we hooked up with Echo5oscar, Medicyaker, and fished Broad Bay at First Landing State Park. We had a good day on the water. I caught dozens of pups 12 to 16.5 inches in length. I caught small croakers and three small specs. If I could locate a flounder it could have been a TKAA Slam, but no flounders were found in this body of water. We did not encounter any large specs over 12 inches. The locals told us that you may run across one, but the water is still too warm. They said that the spec fishing will improve once that water begins to cool. The water was still over 70 degrees.
After fishing Broad Bay, we met up with other MKF members at the Captain's meeting. Last year I think we had 15 MKF members at TKAA. This year we ended up with 18! Way to go MKF! At the Captain's meeting I got a pleasant surprise phone call from Pinch. He told me that he was able to make it to TKAA after all. He told me that he was coming down with Matt and a few other and would be a few minutes late. I tried to hold some chairs for them, but could only muster up two, since most of the MKF members were sitting in proximity to each other.
After the Captain's meeting, several MKF members were going to head out and fish the HRBT at night. My mind wanted to go, but my body said rest for the tournament in the morning. And rest I did with several and several night caps with John Foley, Nathan, at Rockchaser's hotel room. I guess I would only have a few hours of sleep, but it was fun. We always have fun with Jimmy.
Fishing Kipto was on my bucket list to do one day and a dozen MKF members decided on Kipto, I took advantage of that opportunity despite the lack luster reports from Metroman and other MKF anglers who fished it that morning. With just a little sleep, I met up with Rockchaser at the nearby tackle shop. After picking up some supplies for Kipto, we headed across the CBBT to the Virginia Eastern Shore. During the morning I would run into HokieDJ and Tufnik at Kipto since they said that the CBBT was too rough to fish. The weather was overcast with occasional light drizzle. Around 11am, the wind and chop picked up. It began to rain some more to the point that I forgot that my cell phone was in my shirt pocket. It got a little damp which was enough to kill my phone.... oh well. I decided to head to shore and call it a day. Fortunately, I brought my job's cell phone with me too, so I was still able to make cell calls when needed. I also have insurance on my phone, so I will be getting a replacement on Tuesday in the mail. At Kipto I hooked up with a nice flounder, but he got off near the yak. I could see that he was not hooked. He was just clamped down my Gulp Swimming Mullet. As soon as he saw me, he decided to let go and drift back into the depths near the concrete ships. I also caught three more 13 inch to 14 inch croakers, several pin fish, small spots, and a few small black sea bass.
Later that day at the Award's Dinner, many of the MKF members sat near each other again. We had several tournament winners and raffle winners in the ceremony while Pinch provided comic relief. Once again, way to go MKF! Pinch (Jack) came in third in the Speckle Trout Division, and our own BigFluke45 (Robert) winning the Flounder Division. Several of us won some raffle prizes during the evening, however, it was the luck of the draw. We cheered on when one of our own won a prize or we thought that they would win prize. It was a good time. That night I went out with Robert, Shield and his friend, and Echo to fish the HRBT. I got several huge oyster toads, a 15 inch flounder, dozens of snapper blues up to 14 inches, and a few gray sea trout, small croaker and spots. It would be another night of only a few hours sleep. We agreed to meet up at 7am at Lake Wright for breakfast and to head out and fish the Back River. At the Back River, Robert did it again by landing a 19 inch flounder to take home. I fished some guts and grassy areas, and lost two more flounders ....ugh. I also caught more small spots and croakers. By 1pm we headed back to shore to begin the drive home. It was a surprise to run into Rockchaser heading out on the water to meet up. His Hobie Mirage Drive was damaged and the day before, so we did not expect to see him, but as fortune may have it, he had spare parts in his vehicle so he was able to repair his Mirage Drive and try to join us. He ended up fishing with Robert for a few more hours after we left.
It was a good time. I wish I caught more keeper size fish, but that is why it is called fishing. It was just great being with like minded kayak anglers, both male and female for the Tournament. I will be there next year and one again, I will stay at the Lake Wright Hotel. Staying there is convenient and is the same facility as the Tournament. Many MKF members stayed there, such as Echo, Mediyaker, Shield, Wingman, Rockchaser, BigFluke45. just to name a few. A good time was had by all.
The next day we hooked up with Echo5oscar, Medicyaker, and fished Broad Bay at First Landing State Park. We had a good day on the water. I caught dozens of pups 12 to 16.5 inches in length. I caught small croakers and three small specs. If I could locate a flounder it could have been a TKAA Slam, but no flounders were found in this body of water. We did not encounter any large specs over 12 inches. The locals told us that you may run across one, but the water is still too warm. They said that the spec fishing will improve once that water begins to cool. The water was still over 70 degrees.
After fishing Broad Bay, we met up with other MKF members at the Captain's meeting. Last year I think we had 15 MKF members at TKAA. This year we ended up with 18! Way to go MKF! At the Captain's meeting I got a pleasant surprise phone call from Pinch. He told me that he was able to make it to TKAA after all. He told me that he was coming down with Matt and a few other and would be a few minutes late. I tried to hold some chairs for them, but could only muster up two, since most of the MKF members were sitting in proximity to each other.
After the Captain's meeting, several MKF members were going to head out and fish the HRBT at night. My mind wanted to go, but my body said rest for the tournament in the morning. And rest I did with several and several night caps with John Foley, Nathan, at Rockchaser's hotel room. I guess I would only have a few hours of sleep, but it was fun. We always have fun with Jimmy.
Fishing Kipto was on my bucket list to do one day and a dozen MKF members decided on Kipto, I took advantage of that opportunity despite the lack luster reports from Metroman and other MKF anglers who fished it that morning. With just a little sleep, I met up with Rockchaser at the nearby tackle shop. After picking up some supplies for Kipto, we headed across the CBBT to the Virginia Eastern Shore. During the morning I would run into HokieDJ and Tufnik at Kipto since they said that the CBBT was too rough to fish. The weather was overcast with occasional light drizzle. Around 11am, the wind and chop picked up. It began to rain some more to the point that I forgot that my cell phone was in my shirt pocket. It got a little damp which was enough to kill my phone.... oh well. I decided to head to shore and call it a day. Fortunately, I brought my job's cell phone with me too, so I was still able to make cell calls when needed. I also have insurance on my phone, so I will be getting a replacement on Tuesday in the mail. At Kipto I hooked up with a nice flounder, but he got off near the yak. I could see that he was not hooked. He was just clamped down my Gulp Swimming Mullet. As soon as he saw me, he decided to let go and drift back into the depths near the concrete ships. I also caught three more 13 inch to 14 inch croakers, several pin fish, small spots, and a few small black sea bass.
Later that day at the Award's Dinner, many of the MKF members sat near each other again. We had several tournament winners and raffle winners in the ceremony while Pinch provided comic relief. Once again, way to go MKF! Pinch (Jack) came in third in the Speckle Trout Division, and our own BigFluke45 (Robert) winning the Flounder Division. Several of us won some raffle prizes during the evening, however, it was the luck of the draw. We cheered on when one of our own won a prize or we thought that they would win prize. It was a good time. That night I went out with Robert, Shield and his friend, and Echo to fish the HRBT. I got several huge oyster toads, a 15 inch flounder, dozens of snapper blues up to 14 inches, and a few gray sea trout, small croaker and spots. It would be another night of only a few hours sleep. We agreed to meet up at 7am at Lake Wright for breakfast and to head out and fish the Back River. At the Back River, Robert did it again by landing a 19 inch flounder to take home. I fished some guts and grassy areas, and lost two more flounders ....ugh. I also caught more small spots and croakers. By 1pm we headed back to shore to begin the drive home. It was a surprise to run into Rockchaser heading out on the water to meet up. His Hobie Mirage Drive was damaged and the day before, so we did not expect to see him, but as fortune may have it, he had spare parts in his vehicle so he was able to repair his Mirage Drive and try to join us. He ended up fishing with Robert for a few more hours after we left.
It was a good time. I wish I caught more keeper size fish, but that is why it is called fishing. It was just great being with like minded kayak anglers, both male and female for the Tournament. I will be there next year and one again, I will stay at the Lake Wright Hotel. Staying there is convenient and is the same facility as the Tournament. Many MKF members stayed there, such as Echo, Mediyaker, Shield, Wingman, Rockchaser, BigFluke45. just to name a few. A good time was had by all.
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