Vacation week adventure

[Miles Offshore]

Hey all- Verrrrrry Looooong Post, - figured I would fish for the elusive (to me) sheepshead and cobia yesterday but i ended up getting a late start cause i decided to sleep in,lol. Anyways I left Lynnhaven solo around 10 or so with some crabs, clams, fiddlers , frozen [sad] menhaden, and one eel left over and still kicken in the bucket from last fall !! (no trace of the other 10). Kicked the old girl in the arce into a fresh nw breeze and headed to my favorite spot on the shoals to an outgoing tide that was a smokin. This part of the story goes quick- had one run and caught 2 critters after 2 or 3 hours until the tide slowed enough for me to go try and catch a sheepie. Pull my chumtube up, get all squared away and go forward to pull my anchor and what do i see rolling around, playing and I think laughing at me just 10 feet off the bow- yes mr brown suit- argggggg!!!! So I run back aft to grab my always ready white bucktail on my casting rod ( which I had just a few minutes before pulled the white bucktail off to put my spade rig on) and by the time I get back forward the fish is gone. darn. a few cuss words directed to the fish and a couple of blind cast later , i go ahead and pull anchor. Next I run on over to the bridge and fish several spots trying to catch a sheepie but to no avail. I was doing the pull on the other side of the bridge and drift to the piling chinese fire drill trying to get in position without kissing the pilings. After a couple of succesful attempts at this type of anchoring with nothing to show for it in the way of sheepshead i was physically worn out and said frack it- the tides still slack, ill go on over to the fourth island and give it a whirl there. Long boring darn post eh? Get over to the island and change anchors over to my wreck anchor and get hung in my favorite place. So I set up now for double duty and have a fiddler on one line down on the bottom and clam on the other about 10 feet down. With bass assasin on spinning reel I start catching bluefish and life is good (beat sitting several hours drowning bait ). Now my rod with the clam starts zinging- bam- croaker, goes in the box with the bluefish. Rebait it back up and bam, zing zing zing- hey this doesnt feel like no croaker, get a few turns on her and starts screaming line off the baitcaster headed towards the open sea,lol. A few minutes later what looks to be the new world record croaker appears on top !!! It was not of course but was a pretty little 15 or 20 lb black drum. Netting this fish was a challenge with the small casting rod in one hand and the net in the other but I got-er-done. damn, that was fun- who said blacks were not fun, especially on lite tackle? Took a pic and back to the water she went, a couple minutes of coaxing and down she went to fight another day and maybe end up as the main ingrediant in some of Al B's fish chowder. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Quickly I put some more bait on and look back at my bottom machine and it is still lit up like a cristmas tree. Drop the bait back and barely get it back in the rod holder before it is going off again- bam, 42" black drum, bam- spadefish, bam- rockfish, bam- another spadefish. holy sheet- awesome- hurts so good!!!! well it finally slows down a little as i notice the tide has turned and the current has started to move back in. Its about 4 o clock and Im pretty tired, hot and sunburned. Ive caught a little of everything,except my two targeted species, sheepies and cobes. So , I really dont have to be anywhere (family is all down at Pirates Cove, Id rather be here fishing than there so I stayed), and put my gps on "Red Drum" and headed back to my favorite spot and got set up again. By now the water was just glass and the wind had layed out to nothing with the current moving not to fast but looked to be perfect and if i couldnt catch a cobe then a red one would be a good possibility. It happened pretty quickly as i almost immediatly hooked up and saw the smallish cobe come to the surface. Made for short work on the tld-15 as this fish was pathetic I thought coming straight to the boat. So as I grab the net in my right hand and try and let the fish drift back into the net the little fella decides he wants no part of that and heads on back under the boat. *&*#@#!!!!. Drop the net, chinese fire drill again- now on the other side of the boat but with net in other hand and off he goes again. Played this routine seveal more times until I finally get the fish in the net and in the boat. Cool, finally- my right arm now feels like uh- its sore. (rotator cuff). got her laying on the floor, measure her at 41" and time to get a picture before I release her. Turn the camera on- beep low battery turns off. repeated this several times(just charged the batteries in the morning) and said the hell with it , need to put her back in the water. cute little fish but no pic. after about a minute of holding her in the water my other line starts off on a run but I still have the other fish with one hand on her and the other holding the net reviving her. So i worked to get the cobe fresh enough to go off by herself with the other line still peeling and throw the net down up forward so I can grab the other rod. Yee-haw- hooked up again and this feels to be a nice fish !!!!! Nice fish for about another 30 seconds until the hook pulls. Bet it was that 100 pounder[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. Quickly rebait and sit back down. Sun is quickly setting ,virtually by myself- a couple of boats in tight with the bridge but dont seem to be doing anything. I got to have me a budweiser and reach into the cooler and pull out an iced cold one. Man that thing tasted good!!!!! Ate a ham sandwitch with all kinds of fishy smells all over my hands but it sure tasted great also. Man Im tired now but sitting back and really enjoying the whole experiance- slick glass water, lots of tuna birds, seagulls and one mystery bird in my chum slick stretching out a mile or more, sounds of small bluefish or trout popping water and schools of porpoises cruising through. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, the serenity broken again- rise out of my chair and amble over towards the rod and the fish drops the bait- it wasnt to be. The lights on the bridge coming on now and thoughts of a red one when the tide slows down a little now come to mind. 2 blacks , a cobe and maybe a red one?? Not citations but a small slam just the same???? Naw- as the sun-burn on my shoulders, the aching in my shoulder and the pain in my lower back remind me, I am old and broke. Back in the day maybe but its time for me to leave. One last time on the anchor- clean and pull the chum tube- retrieve and stow all my rods, secure all the other "crap" I have laying all over the place from all the "carnage" that has taken place in the last few hours. The ride back across the slick bay on the moonless night was uneventful (thankfully), thinking about how great a day i had and how truly fortunate I am to even be able to do experiance what we do considering my situation vrs someone who lives in a 3rd world country or someone else who just doesnt have it as good as we here do, and then I arrived back in Lynnhaven around 10 and proceeded to unload the rinse down the boat and load the truck for the short ride home.. Im feeling it now,the pain, the burn thats for sure.( and damn if I dont stink like hell also)I sure am glad taco bell has the late night window (1100 is late night for me,lol) well thats about it, sorry for the long post but i thought i would go ahead and tell the whole story instead of the 2 drum, 1 cobe, some spades and rockfish and bluefish line. got a couple of pics before the camera died- still have 4 days left of vacation but the weather isnt looking so great but I hope to find some more pullage as soon as my body heals a little. peace- craig- ( my prayers go out to the victims and their families in the blast in london this morning)

world record croaker-lol


2nd black - not paper but a lot of fun on trout tackle



terns and stormy petrels in chum slick





thats all folks! craig

[Abe's Rocket]

excellent post...enjoy the rest of your vacation.

[Doghouse4x4]

Great day Craig! I'll wave at you from the bridge next time I go by! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Miles Offshore]

thanx guyz- be there again tomorrow graham!!!!