Got Her Slimed

Saturday, September 15th:
Got to Wild River Outfitters at 630am to wait in line to get my ticket to put my name on one of their end of the season demo kayaks that they are selling. Got my ticket and had a few hours to kill before they opened the doors. I went down the blvd. to Atlantic Bait & Tackle and picked up a few items. This section of VB needed a Tackle Shop. All the others are either towards the oceanfront or towards Lesner.
Back at the yak shop and the doors opened at 9am.  I was debating on 3 kayaks, Trident 13, Tarpon 120 or the Manta Ray 12. I had it narrowed down to the Trident and Tarpon when I got there but the Manta Ray's seat was like a Lazy-Boy recliner.  I decided on the Trident since it came with the angler version and I really like the mod pod. The Tarpon was cheaper but would have needed to add some rod holders to the nifty Slide Tracks that came standard on the Tarpon. The Trident is about 15" longer and decided if I ever do venture past the protected inlets and rivers, the longer boat will be more beneficial. Plus the mod pod gave me access to the hull to store rods and other gear.
After adding a carbon fiber paddle (I'm a cyclist, everything has to be carbon fiber) and a fishing PFD, the total came out to be $xxxx. (Thank goodness I sold some race wheels and a bike recently)

Of course it was blowing hard on the river on Saturday and my maiden voyage would have to wait another day. I spent the rest of the day rigging her and killed the rest of the night reading all the kayak fishing sites for tomorrow's adventure.

Sunday, September 16th:
I needed a way to get the yak to the river that is 1/4 mile from the house. I could have driven to the boat ramp but it was still a good 75 yards that I would have had to carry across the gravel lot to the ramp. Wild River was still having their sale on Sunday so I got there at noon when they opened to pick up kayak cart. Fortunately, Cory Routh (Ruthless Fishing) was working and he showed me the pro/con of each cart. I also picked his brain on some other equipment and on rigging the yak and chatted about fishing. I was telling him where I was planning on doing most of my fishing and he even gave me a little secret spot to hit.

Got home and decided that the Redskins would not come back and win against the Rams so I rigged up the yak on the cart and headed to the water. It was a slight outgoing tide and the water was not moving much. Overcast with rain forecasted, slight breeze and the water was in the high 70s still. Paddled out about 50 yards, made some seat adjustments and took the rod out. Started tossing a 1/4 red jig with a white Gulp 4" swimming mullet towards the boat docks and got a few hits from small spot or croaker. I decided to paddle more to get use to the yak and trolled the Gulp behind me. Stayed towards the deeper section next to the channel markers but out of the way of the heavy boat traffic on the Sunday afternoon.  On the first drift, FISH ON! About a 16" speckled trout. Now I know why the call it "getting slimed". As I boated the spec, the only land spot was on the mod pod between my knees. She sure got everything slimy. Re-rigged another Gulp and continued my paddle towards the locks. FISH ON! This time it was a dink puppy drum. Not too bad, 17" just 1" shy of a slot. Drum sure fight harder than the specs. Being the first time in this yak, I didn't want to venture too far from the ramp so after a 1/2 mile, I turned around and worked those same spots again. The return rewarded me with 2 more specks 17-18". Repeated the trolling of the section, I'll call "Ace's House" and picked up another spec about the same size as the rest. Got more specs boated on repeated trolls with a few barely hitting 10". I even managed to hook a 6" spot too. After a pack of Gulp were used up, mostly from the little spot and croaker biting their tails off and with the rain starting to spit, I head to back to the ramp. Loaded it on the cart and made the 1/4 mile walk back. The yak feels 10x heavier  on the way back after spending 2.5 hours paddling but it was worth it.

Monday, September 17th:
I had about a 1.5 hour window that I can fish before work so I took advantage of what would be the only time before the winds pick up the rest of the week. Launched about 745am on an incoming tide. The water was glass and was a nice change to yesterday's constant boat wakes. Rigged up the Gulp on a 1/4 jig on one rod and a 3/8 jig on another. I wanted to see if the bigger fish were on the bottom. Made my first troll over to "Ace's House" and immediately hooked up and boated a 18" speck. Not bad for the first 5 minutes. Decided to work inside the boat channel since there were no boats out this morning but didn't have as much luck after a few trolls. Moved back out of the channel but tried to stay on the edge. Boated another 18" speck on the return. Picked up another same size spec and headed to the ramp to start the (work) day.

Thursday, September 20th:
After 2  blown out days of gusts up to 30mph, the conditions (and work schedule) finally worked out. Got out on the ramp at 430pm to an outgoing tide and stiff 10mph E/NE winds. The wind and tide were making the paddle to "Ace's House" a work-out. After about 2 trolls I finally hook up with another average size speck but spits the hook at the boat. After a few more trolls and without any large hits, I decided to start casting the shallows. I was quickly rewarded with a hit or a snag. I thought I snagged the bottom but then felt the shoulders moving. This one was thicker. I immediately thought it was a nice puppy drum in the slot based on the fight. As I got her to the boat, it was a better sized spec. Got her on the boat for a quick measure on the built-in measuring markers on the mod pod...21" and fat. She was only 3-4" inches larger than the previous specs but she had some muscle to her fight. Worked the boat docks on the way back to the ramp but only a few hits from the pesky spots and croakers. The dinner bell was ringing in my head and stomach and put her on the cart and headed home.

After reading other fishing blogs and having a previous cycling blog, I realize that photos are necessary. I have my phone stowed in a waterproof case in the dry box and is too hard to get out for a picture. I will be bringing my digital camera and stowing it my PFD for easy access to get some shots for this blog.

Next trip is on Sunday to venture out to that secret spot that Cory showed me or I may contact an old fraternity brother who's been posting some nice size specs down his way off Lynnhaven and fish with him.