Catchin' for kids club challenge

Last Saturday I was invited to fish the catchin' for kids club challenge tourney for TKAA. The club challenge is a little unique because it is a tournament for local clubs and not just individual anglers. The  Out of the 8 teams entered, TKAA was the only non powerboat team and we finished in a respectable 4th place.

Early in the morning I met up with Rob Choi, Seth, and Billy at the CBBT. I launched at the base of the bridge at about 6am. Our targets for the day were sheepshead, spadefish, tautog, flounder, and various other fish that we might get via by-catch. I went to a favorite spot for sheepshead but only managed a small puffer.

After trying for sheepshead for a while I decided to target spades. It was an extremely tough day for them. I spent nearly the entire day searching for some decent spades but only managed 7-8 small ones.

It was about 3pm when I finally found some decent ones thanks to Sea doo Dave. He somehow anchored right on top of the biggest school of spades I had found all day. While fishing right under his sea doo I caught about 5 spades ranging from 13" to 14" (I also lost 2 bigger ones).  I was fishing a little late and was afraid I was going to miss the weigh-in so I asked Dave if he could give me a tow back to the beach. I was lucky to be fishing with such a nice guy because he saved me about 2 miles of paddling! Rob caught a very nice tautog (22.25" 7+lbs) that placed 2nd and I think that either 1 or 2 of my spades placed also (2-3lbs).

All and all it was a fun day and a great tourney. I'll definitely try to make it again next year!

Short trip to the HRBT

I got a short window to fish on Sunday night, so after hearing of some good reports at the HRBT that's where I decided to go. I got there just in time for slack tide which didn't help things at all. I paddled all the way to the island and caught 4 small striper, but then it shut down and I had no hits for the next hour or more. I fished closer to the shore and caught my first ribbonfish on a gulp swimming mullet. They dont put up much of a fight but they are really cool looking! They are like a silver wolf-faced eel. I tried for about half an hour after that with only one small bluefish to show then i decided to head home. Not a very productive night, but at least I caught a new fish to check off the list!

Kayak Kevins new dvd trailer!

I can't wait for it to come out. Makes me want to leave my seat and go fishing every time I watch it!

Private pond bass fishin'

Today after work I got an invitation from my buddy Marty to go bass fishing at a private pond...I said yes :) I sure am glad I did because I ended up catching 8 bass up to 20". I believe Marty ended up with 5 bass or so up to 19.5"  What an awesome pond! I also lost one that was in the 5 pound range but I am ok with that. Not too shabby for 2 hours on the water.

Topwater bass fishing

I had a great time fishing for bass late into the night with Rob Choi last week. We caught 8-10 bass each, most of which were around 15". Rob's Biggest was 16.5" and mine was 20" (I WIN!). Nearly all the Bass were caught buzzing Rage shad and Rage toads on the top. We fished from 9:00pm til 2:45am.

CBBT spades

Wednesday I went fishing with Rob Choi and Kayak Kevin targeting sheepshead and spadefish at the 1st island of the CBBT. The day started very slow with just a couple of croaker caught while trying for sheepshead. Kevin and I decided to try for spades but the current had picked up which made it very difficult for us. I caught 2 tiny spades before I gave up and started paddling around the island looking for big black drum.

The last time I was there the drum were all over the island, but this time we couldn't spot a single drum. After paddling around the whole island I decided to try for spades again. Kayak Kevin lived up to his name as he slaughtered the spades up to 17" while Rob and I struggled to catch them. We ended up with about 10-12 each with Robs biggest going 15.5" and mine about 14". I think Kevin lost count but I would guess he easily caught as many as Rob and I combined.

 Rob's 15.5" Spadefish