Fishing in the past 2 weeks has been pretty slow for me...really slow actually. The day after i proposed Alice and I fished a private pond with Forrest for a couple hours. I caught 3 bass from 15"-18" Alice caught her first chain pickerel! I've managed to go to Beaverdam once for about 30mins and a private pond for 45mins. Got a few hits at Beaverdam but no hook-ups and i caught 2 small bass on a topwater frog at the pond. That sums up my last 2 weeks of fishing...LAME. I need to try harder!!!

Proposal!! Saturday 5-15

Alice and i went down to nags head for my friend Jimmy's wedding. It was a nice reception on the beach and a great party till late in the night. Saturday started off a little slow but eventually we made it down towards Oregon inlet and launched the kayaks at Bodie island lighthouse. We paddled around the creeks and didn't have any luck other than one bluefish that Alice caught just seconds before i PROPOSED TO HER! i don't really have to explain because here is the video!

Long Friday 5-7

The goal was to hit the Fisherman Island shoals for reds but the 15mph east wind made me think twice so me and Ashley hit up the ships for some catch and release tog. We caught 3 a piece biggest going 16" and I also caught 2 sea mullet. After 2 hours of nothing we left and went to oceans east to get some flukes and other freshwater stuff we didn't bring so we could try Smith lake. I bought a Daiwa coastal baitcast reel (nice smooth drag and casts great) and my first fish on it was a 21" 4+lb bass. caught 1 other bass about 15" and ash caught one about 12". We left the lake around dark after missing a couple topwater strikes and headed home. I was ready for a shower and some sleep when all the sudden...Forrest calls..."Wanna try the HRBT Justin? you'd be stupid not to!" so we paddled out into the 20+ mph winds and fished till around 1am. Ended up with 5-6 schoolies up to 24ish. I would have got precise measurements but if i took the time to measure them i would have ended up at the CBBT in 1.72 mins. Awake from 630-3am or so. 14+ hours of fishing! I call that a good day!!!

HRBT 5-4-10

I had another fun night of schoolies at the HRBT on Tuesday. I went out to meet up with my friends Rob Choi, Jeff, and Jason. As i was crossing the bridge i saw at least 4 kayakers on the water then 3 more at the boat ramp. I paddled out with Jeff and Jason who both had Hobie kayaks with the mirage drive. Those things are fast! I managed to keep up, though i think they were holding back some. I picked up a couple small croaker soon after arriving then gave up on the bottom to look for some light line action. Just like clockwork the tide started ripping and the striper started to show in full force. I tossed my >insert any lure here< in the light line for a while and caught around 20 schoolies. The 3 biggest were 26", 26", and 27". Unfortunately I also caught 4-5 bluefish but hey you cant avoid them forever. All in all it was a pretty fun night. Everyone got fish and i met a couple cool hardcore dudes that drove down from around Roanoke for the night! Can you imagine driving over 4 hours to fish the HRBT then drive back home???? Sounds crazy, hardcore, and awesome!! If you ever meet Jared Key or Joe Lackey give em' a high five for being hardcore!!

harwood mill skunked again

This time was slightly different though! I hooked a 4lb+ bass and it jumped right in front of me. Then it let go and I didn't have another bite. I only fished for about 2 hours thought. At least i know there actually are fish in there:)

Friday 4/30

Forrest and I fished a private lake in Smithfield for a few hours. It was a clear blue-sky day. Despite the vast amount of heat and sunlight i still managed to get some top water strikes. Ended the day with 7-8 bass and 1 pickerel.
20.5" 4+lbs

The fattest 10" bass I've ever caught

Thursday night 4/29

Good times at the HRBT light line. Forrest and I fished from 11pm-4am. It seemed like it was 2am or so when we got back but then we checked the time...it sure does fly when you are having fun! I caught my first flounder in almost 3 years. Don't ask me how i haven't caught a flounder in that amount of time. After the flounder it was kind of slow for about an hour but then the light line lit up and we were on the fish for the rest of the night/morning. I paddled around the line to look for the bigger ones and i managed to get about 15 striper in the mid 20" range along with two-three 28"-30" Forrest caught the biggest. It was around 33". I also picked up 4 hickory shad on a bare jig head. It was like a washing machine out there and we probably paddled 20 miles but it was a fun productive night.
Striper in the light line

32" Striper

17.5" flounder

30" striper caught on white gulp swimming mullet