FISH ON! and on and on and on......

After two unproductive fishing adventures at Northwest River, I decided to head to my favorite little piece of heaven West Neck Creek. After a quick stop inside the marina to say hello, I was armed with a drop shot plastic worm and a 3/4 spinner lure and ready to go!

I was about to hit the creek when I looked up and saw a bald eagle soaring overhead, being hurried out of the area by a nervous Osprey.

 OK, I'm finally on the way! Perfect conditions today on this beautiful creek and I'm hopeful that today is going to be a successful day. The winds are 5mph from the SSW and I'm headed straight across the creek to my first stop. A point I often catch small mouth bass on, a few casts in and I've already had two strong bites and two fish get off the hook right before I got them in the boat.

I quickly head off south down the creek to one of my favorite coves in the area. There are days I can fish this one area exclusively all day.

 After a few casts towards the cord grass I landed a heavy bowfin. He put up quite a good fight pulling my boat around for a few minutes before I finally got him in the kayak. FISH ON! This day is already off to a good start! Headed slightly north I remained on a float with the wind and landed a striped bass,

and then another,

and another,

and another,

and another!

The stripped bass were on a feeding frenzy and the spinner bait was their food of choice.I decided to take a break, this was a little overwhelming, and my favorite thing to do around lunch is to head back to West Neck Marina to get some of Steve's (owner of Blackwater Trading Post Catering) homemade bbq. As I approached the point entering the marina cove, I decided to cast a few on the shore line and hooked up with a beautiful large mouth bass!

I was close enough to the marina that I decided to keep this big guy alive until I got back so I could find someone to take a picture for me. As I glided into the ramp I was greeted by an incoming fisherman who began to tell me about his bad luck fishing today and I had to break his heart by asking if he would'nt mind taking a picture of me with the bass. He was gracious enough to help me out.

I immediately let this guy go for someone else to catch him and I was headed off for lunch. Before long I was already ready to get back on the water to continue this epic day on the water fishing.

Nothing much had changed since I left the creek. I landed at least five or six more stripers in the first thirty minutes back on the water.

My poor spinner bait was taking a beating today but holding strong! Mary Page called and after hearing about all my success she was headed down with our daughter to spend her afternoon with me on the water. I headed back to the marina once again we staged a tandem perception kayak and headed back out again. As we headed south down the creek, same bank, same result, another largemouth!

Farther south, once again striper....

striper.........

striper!

 Well, I could sit here and catch these hungry fish all day but its time to end the day by paddling down to the intercoastal and watching the sunset on a beach there.

We have arrived!

Once you experience a sunset on a beach of your own, you will realize why there's no life, like life on a kayak.

Well, we are headed back to the marina. A truly epic day fishing to say the least, and spending the afternoon watching the sunset, with loved ones is priceless. Another day well spent,taking the world on, one day at a time with a paddle.

Change of Plans

Standing on the cold September sand at the North End end of Virginia Beach early in the morning, I was watching the dolphins swim by as I had to make the call that the North winds were still creating havoc with our days plan to run a Ocean Adventure. So after calling the clients to reschedule, I was headed home to regroup. On my way back I started to wonder if the leaves at Northwest River were beginning to change and thinking it would be a perfect opportunity to grab my rod and cast for a few hours. Within thirty minutes I went from my toes in the sand, to my toes sinking in the coffee colored mud of the launch area of Bob's Fishing Hole.

Heading off to the right, I slowly slide through the mirrored surface of this dark cypress river, passing under the old railroad bridge, I was ready to get my spinner bait wet.

After a very short paddle here you are completely "off the grid", its raw nature, not a sign of civilization to be heard or seen.

The sun was just beginning to shine onto the river and clearly i wasn't the only one soaking up the warming rays.  

After fishing a few points on the interior islands I decided to make a U turn and paddle my way back under the railroad bridge and head to the main part of the river. Once i arrived I was greeted by the same amazing scenery. The changing leaves, orange, red and green, formed the perfect early fall pallet.

 As I worked over downed trees, and overhangs, I came along a site that made me rethink the agility of the common turtle. I mean how did he do that?

Just like every adventure on the water, I was not wanting this one to end. Even though I hadn't got a single bite for hours, the perfect temperatures and conditions made me want to continue paddling for hours, but sadly it was time to turn around and head back.

I took time to take in the view for the final time as I headed back to the launch area.

As I closed in on the launch area, I passed a Great Blue Heron that was probably having much more success than me at catching fish today.

Well I'm back! Today I went from cold September sand, to warm cypress mud in between my toes. Life on a kayak! When one door closes, another is sure to open when you your taking on the world with your paddle.