Thursday, July 16, 2015

A Change of Pace


We all have our premier destinations we'd like to travel to. The ones that we day dream of at work or when releasing our ten thousandth eight inch trout. Most of mine involve an exotic saltwater locale, far off in some other ocean, with huge fish that decimate gear. These include GT's, triggerfish, permit, queenfish, milkfish, and the list goes on. One's mind can easily slip off to the Seychelles, Oman, or Papua New Guinea where these monsters reside. Alas, some of these places are just out of reach at the moment, or put on hold for later in life. Most of us average joe's are stuck with what we have in our own backyard. In my case, I've been ignoring my backyard for quite a few years now, content with my comfortable routines of trout, carp, and steelhead. In reality, my backyard offers some premier fishing destinations and dare I say it, "world class fisheries". So as the summer doldrums set in, I've been venturing out to see what I've been missing all these years.






My boat...


Acrobat


I was hearing reports about a good bluefish run nearby and I never really paid the species any attention. Most striper fishermen always told me about what a nuisance they are. My girlfriend Katie, was leading a horseshoe crab survey in the area so we decided to hit the road and make it a beach weekend. By the time we made it to the beach, I had about an hour of an outgoing tide to paddle out to a channel and catch my first bluefish. Beginners luck I suppose, but I was impressed with the take, fight, and those teeth clicking off my pliers. I am definitely looking forward to Fall. 



Evening high tides during the new and full moons look like this...






I also made it a point to hit up some summertime striped bass across the Chesapeake region. During summer, the striper bite can be inconsistent but once you find them, the fishing can be pretty amazing.   My good buddy Tyler Nonn of Tidewater Charters knows when and where they're at. We had a few banner sessions fishing with white deceivers and also on top with a pole dancer fly. When they weren't interested in the fly, we bait and switched them for some epic takes. 








I even drove most of a night to go hit up a saltwater bay for puppy drum. My expectations were sky high after spending quite a lot of time on google earth and reading extensively on the internet. However, those high hopes were bound to be disappointed. I fished all day in ninety degree heat and paddled a few miles to see absolutely nothing. Not a single tail. Nonetheless it proved to be a fun day checking out some new water that looked super fishy but was devoid of any fish.


All I needed was some tail...


A few Redfish flies...


Cobia treats...

Last year, I got a chance to fish cobia with Tidewater Charters and we laid the hammer down on some nice fish. This summer, my goal was and is to catch one on fly. Tyler, his buddy Dave, and I spent a day out on the water landing two and missing several chances in less than ideal conditions. Things would have been a lot better with some sunny skies rather than clouds but we made the best of our situation. The next few days, the conditions were perfect and Tyler and his clients wailed on them. Conditions can often mean the difference between having only a few fish and a few fish at one time repeatedly throughout the day.


A scene from a guide trip that boated 30 cobia...









My backyard can be fun, I just need to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. Timing is key and I look forward to continuing these salty excursions to expand my repertoire. It's the best I can do to keep my mind off those far off locales and exotic fish that haunt my dreams at night...


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