Cobia Time!

Busy Busy, Busy so I will keep this post short! Cobia are starting to show up and are actually ahead of schedule compared to other years. While most big fish are still being caught by those chumming around york spit and Grandview a few nice fish have been seen cruising the surface.


The first few waves of cobia have finally shown up in the Chesapeake Bay and these brutes are ready for battle. Went out Sunday with super glassy calm seas. Saw 4 fish while sight fishing but we did manage to get this 50 inch fish to take an eel.  after a 15 minute fight and multiple times boatside only to take off again, we got him next to the boat.  The swing of the gaff fell true and quickly i pulled the fish in the boat. Home we headed to clean and prepare our catch!

Come on Virginia, Let's Step It Up!

I found this article on a great Chesapeake Bay website called ChesapeakeLiving.com about Maryland's Oyster management. I cannot say enough great things about Maryland's effort to restore the bay to ists former glory. It's time Virginia steps up and joins in the plan! Keep up the GREAT WORK MARYLAND!

http://www.chesapeakeliving.com/maryland-oysters-doubled-since-2010/

Photo Credit: Maryland DNR



Spring Puppy Drum on the Chesapeake Bay

I have been neglecting my blog here lately so decided it was time for some fresh content. In between watching my 1 year old grow and work, I have had less time to fish but still finding time to get out there when I can. So far this spring's big bite has been from red drum. These fish are hard fighting, grow quickly, and many of them winter over in the bay instead of migrating south like so many other fish in the bay. This makes them a great target for early in the year.



 Last years class of fish and huge numbers don't seem to be affected one bit by the unusually cold winter we had this. It seems like there are more drum roaming around this year than I have seen my entire life in my neck of the woods. We have caught them just about everywhere from around the lower York River and Poquoson area to Fort Monroe and surrounding waters.

There are many ways to catch them but I prefer a popping cork with a 18 inch leader (40#) to a 5/0 circle hook. For bait live minnows and peeler crab are the go-to's but shrimp will also work in a pinch. The other way I fish fro them is using a 1/4 oz jighead with a 3 inch DucknBuck paddletail minnow. With just these two rigs you can almost guarantee a few fish in the cooler. Last but not least is on spoons. Red drum love a spoon especially one with gold colors on it.

Few tips to catching nice drum:

• Fish shallow flats preferably with some structure if possible. THEY LOVE OYSTER BARS! These fish will often be seen cruising in water so shallow their back and tip of the tail will be out of the water.

• Make sure to check size limit each year as they use a slot system for drum. Only fish 18-26 can be kept as of writing this post.

• Drum tend to school so if you catch one make sure to fish around that spot for a few to pick up any of his buddies.



Easter Sunday Bucket Mouths

Got up early Sunday and spent the morning with family celebrating Easter. After cooking a huge breakfast at the parent's house we came back hoe so Jackson could get a nap in.as soon as he was down, my other half decided she would try and sneak a nap in too so I took the opportunity to slip down the street to a local pond and try for a few quick largemouths.  I have been pouring some soft plastic baits and i wanted to make sure they actually caught fish before I started selling them so I grabbed three worms and headed out the door. The pond I was at was an old sand pit so the water was crystal clear. As soon as I walked up I spotted 3 fish mulling around 2 on beds. I quickly rigged up a High- Sea Blue colored wrinkle worm, pitched it just a little past one of the fish. It didn't even touch the bottom before a little one pounder came buzzing along and inhaled it. FISH ON!

 

After that little guy, hooked another one about 2 lbs on the next throw. Being clear water they all have some very beautiful marking on them opposed to the pale fish you see from stained, murky waters. I was getting ready to leave and I happen to see a pretty fish slink out from under an over hanging bush and go back inside it again. I knew this fish had to be bedding. I flipped my lure right outside the opening to where he just disappeared and watched as it sank. I could see the fish clear as day at this point just giving it the stare down. nothing.... I plucked the line like a guitar a couple times to keep the worm in place but make him wiggle a bit. It worked, this big guy sucked it in and headed for the bushes. I waas able to turn him around and get him landed. for reference I found a beer can to lay next to him..... so no in case you are wondering..... not my Natty!

HOW-TO Make Catfish Jugs

For an upcoming trip to some fishy waters while  waterfowl hunting we rigged up some catfish jugs which are very simple to make. I thought it would make a great post to share on the blog. They are a fun project to make and work really well.

1. Take an old crab pot buoy or anything else that is buoyant. I use old washed up crabpot buoys because they last forever, can't sink and easy to spot. 
2. Paint them a Really bright color that contrasts with water and shoreline.
3. Tie 20 to 40 ft of heavy monofilament fishing line to it and attach a threeway swivel to the end.
4. Put a 5 ounce weight on about 24 inches of heavy mono on one of the 2 connections of the swivel. Put a big hook on the other empty loop on the swivel.
5. Make sure to write your name and address on the jugs or attach a tag so that you are legal.

I Always have a pretty good supply of old crabpot buoys perfect for making these. If you would like purchase any, feel free to message me or check out my Etsy store at

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SeafordSeashore

Virginia Fresh Water Trout Mission April 2014

Every year I head into the Blueridge in search of some of my favorite fishing. This year I was armed with a new secret weapon, my very own handmade spinnerflies. Being that I like to use every part I can of a hunted animal, I make them out of duck feathers and animal fur from animals I harvested during hunting season.  Here is one of the many different ones I used.

I left after work Friday afternoon around 6pm and was pleased to find all the Friday traffic had passed making for smooth sailing all the way to camp. I didn't end up having a co-pilot so I opted for a seasoned companion... my dog, Sandi!

 

We arrived at camp around 10:30pm to join my buddies Chris and Meghan. After a few beers and alot of fishy talk we called it a night.

Saturday morning we woke up and posted up on the edge of George Washington National forest for the first hour to see if we could find a lucky turkey since it was opening day. We did not.... so switching gears we headed back to camp, cooked a little breakfast and hit the road for a couple of new spots that I had researched and wanted to try fishing.

First spot did not produce anything but a couple lost lures and almost stepping on a water snake... Back on the road again for us!

Something amazing about driving through winding mountain roads to find a stream in the middle of nowhere that you have never seen just hoping to find fish..... and we did.

Upon arriving at our second destination, we were pleased to find a stream unoccupied by oodles of fisherman, none to be exact. We offically had a beautiful section of mountain stream all to ourselves. From that point for about the next 3 hours I managed to hook into a pile of fish and had misses on just as many.  On days like that it is hard to pull yourself away but it was getting to be afternoon and the gang was hungry so we called it a day. I had my 6 fish limit and caught a total of 15 trout and one river chub ALL on my own DucknBuck Lures.

 

That night we gutted our fish, seasoned the ouside of them with curry powder, cayenne, black pepper, garlic, and salt. While I was doing this Chris was cutting us a few sticks to hang the fish over the fire. Being our first attempt at cooking trout directly over the fire, we weren't sure how they would turn out. We were pleasantly surprised! The seasoning soaked through the skin but kept all the ash from getting on the meat. Probably the best trout I have ever prepared hands down!

After copious amounts of alcohol along with dinner and smores for dessert, we devised a plan to an early morning but after calling it a night at around 3am no one was stirring until at least 8am. I packed camp and made my way towards home scouting a few new spots on the way home.A Great trip everyone should try at least once!

Some tips to making your experience the most enjoyable:

 

• Make sure there isn't heavy rain a few days before or during your trip. This will lead to HIGH water that resembles super fast flowing chocolate milk that is completely unfishable. Plus camping in the rain is no fun anyways.

 

• Always carry a spare reel, plenty of lures, and a spool of replacement line. When casting into fast moving water all day line twist will happen and eventually you will need to respool your pole. SMALL INLINE SWIVELS ARE A MUST and will greatly reduce if not eliminate twisting.

 

• Look the at the DGIF website prior to going. They have some great resources to make your trip a success. There is a whole guide to trout fishing VA on there as well as when and where they have stocked trout.  While you are there buy your Trout stamp. That money is what goes into making the program work so do your part if you want to partake.

 

Remmington Rifle Recall

Hey saw this and wanted to pass it along in case anyone owned a remmington rifle.