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HRBT-North, Fri
Launched at Ft Monroe and was on the water at 0830 hrs. Mostly sunny. Light breeze, in fact, not breezy enough. It was in the 90s and uncomfortably warm.
Worked the bridge pilings with a bucktails and curly tails for a while. I then went out to Hampton Bar flats, but jigged for only an hour on the flats and deep channel edges because it was too hot. I went back to fish under the bridge for the shade.
Just after 3 pm, dark clouds and a thunderstorm came by. I didn't worry about it because I was under shelter. Thunder and lightning was in the distance. Chops picked up to 1-2 feet. Winds blew at 20+ mph. Rain was pouring down. I continued to fish. At one point I was trying to unhook a flounder and the second hook on the rig from the net. The wind and waves pegged me against the pillings. Chops were splashing on the yak. The banging against the piling was a bit concerning. It was rough. Should I just cut the net? Had to get it loose quick, so I could get back to controlling the yak. No need to cut, I eventually got both hooks loose. The storm got me a little concerned, but I rode it out. It eventually passed, but it was still cloudy, sprinkling, and the wind was 15+mph.
In the end, I caught a blue, about two dozen croaker and nine flatties (12, 12 1/2, 12 1/2, 15, 15, 15, 15, 17, 19 "). Took home the two keeper flounder. BTW, I caught the 15, 17, and 19" flatties within 45 minutes during the duration of the storm.
CBBT, Sat
Met HokieDJ at the launch and we were on the water by 0630 hrs. Turned out to be a nice day. Temp in 80s. Mostly sunny. Light breeze. Chops, at most, were 1-2 feet. Rips weren't bad.
As we headed toward the first island three miles away, we worked the pilings for flounder. In the pm, I decided to try for spades. Hooked up a tandem rig with clams and dropped it along the pilings. Within seconds, BAM, double croakers. After that, it was pesky croaker after pesky croaker. No spades. I quit after an hour of the search for spades and went back to flounder fishing. When we quit, I caught two toads, two skates, black sea bass and probably 50 pesky croakers. BTW, we were on the water 12 hours, a record for me by two hours.
HokieDJ had a field day. He slayed a bunch of flatties and limited out. He had the technique down pat, but the biggest highlight was around mid morning. He'll give you details, but here's how I saw it.
When I looked at HokieDJ at one point, he was reeling a fish in. He was over 50 yards away. No big deal. I continued fishing. A few minutes later, I glanced at him again. It looked like he was reeling in another fish. Maybe he had a hot hand. Again, I continued to fish. Minutes later, I looked at him again, and again, he was reeling in another fish. At this point, he yelled out my name. I figured he wanted to show me a hot spot and maybe a monster flounder (little did I know what was really happening). So, I went.
When I got there, I saw that his rod was bent over silly. He was fighting a big one! (At this point, I'll stop so Dave can tell details of the story). He eventually landed it. He held it up and I took several pictures.
Can you believe that? This was his first time at CBBT, and he slayed flounder and hooked up a big Black Drum. Congrats again, Dave!
Pics from HRBT below. (Pics from CBBT on the next post)
Launched at Ft Monroe and was on the water at 0830 hrs. Mostly sunny. Light breeze, in fact, not breezy enough. It was in the 90s and uncomfortably warm.
Worked the bridge pilings with a bucktails and curly tails for a while. I then went out to Hampton Bar flats, but jigged for only an hour on the flats and deep channel edges because it was too hot. I went back to fish under the bridge for the shade.
Just after 3 pm, dark clouds and a thunderstorm came by. I didn't worry about it because I was under shelter. Thunder and lightning was in the distance. Chops picked up to 1-2 feet. Winds blew at 20+ mph. Rain was pouring down. I continued to fish. At one point I was trying to unhook a flounder and the second hook on the rig from the net. The wind and waves pegged me against the pillings. Chops were splashing on the yak. The banging against the piling was a bit concerning. It was rough. Should I just cut the net? Had to get it loose quick, so I could get back to controlling the yak. No need to cut, I eventually got both hooks loose. The storm got me a little concerned, but I rode it out. It eventually passed, but it was still cloudy, sprinkling, and the wind was 15+mph.
In the end, I caught a blue, about two dozen croaker and nine flatties (12, 12 1/2, 12 1/2, 15, 15, 15, 15, 17, 19 "). Took home the two keeper flounder. BTW, I caught the 15, 17, and 19" flatties within 45 minutes during the duration of the storm.
CBBT, Sat
Met HokieDJ at the launch and we were on the water by 0630 hrs. Turned out to be a nice day. Temp in 80s. Mostly sunny. Light breeze. Chops, at most, were 1-2 feet. Rips weren't bad.
As we headed toward the first island three miles away, we worked the pilings for flounder. In the pm, I decided to try for spades. Hooked up a tandem rig with clams and dropped it along the pilings. Within seconds, BAM, double croakers. After that, it was pesky croaker after pesky croaker. No spades. I quit after an hour of the search for spades and went back to flounder fishing. When we quit, I caught two toads, two skates, black sea bass and probably 50 pesky croakers. BTW, we were on the water 12 hours, a record for me by two hours.
HokieDJ had a field day. He slayed a bunch of flatties and limited out. He had the technique down pat, but the biggest highlight was around mid morning. He'll give you details, but here's how I saw it.
When I looked at HokieDJ at one point, he was reeling a fish in. He was over 50 yards away. No big deal. I continued fishing. A few minutes later, I glanced at him again. It looked like he was reeling in another fish. Maybe he had a hot hand. Again, I continued to fish. Minutes later, I looked at him again, and again, he was reeling in another fish. At this point, he yelled out my name. I figured he wanted to show me a hot spot and maybe a monster flounder (little did I know what was really happening). So, I went.
When I got there, I saw that his rod was bent over silly. He was fighting a big one! (At this point, I'll stop so Dave can tell details of the story). He eventually landed it. He held it up and I took several pictures.
Can you believe that? This was his first time at CBBT, and he slayed flounder and hooked up a big Black Drum. Congrats again, Dave!
Pics from HRBT below. (Pics from CBBT on the next post)
). As my luck goes, I paided a price for this fish. My VT hat and new Maui Jim's now belong in Davy
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