Old Favorite Spots

[BrokenolMarine]

Fishing has always been a passion for Miss Tina and I, and we had our Favorite Spots when we lived in Virginia. Since we have moved here to Oklahoma, we have intended to go often, but one thing or another has kept us off the water since our arrival. We HOPE to start this year, and have heard of this lake and that one, this river and that one and plan to hit them as often as possible.

With all the negative news in the spotlight these days, I thought I would share some of our favorite spots in VA and some of our past successes, until we can make some new ones. Hopefully it will inspire a few of you to share yours. We can live thru others until we can all get out and fish again.

First up? Tina and I often fished a private farm pond in the middle of a Black Angus Farm. Arriving at the pond meant crossing three pastures, going thru four gates, fording a stream... but the trip was worth it. The farm pond was loaded with trophy fish. From citation crappie and bream to monster bass. Tina is holding a 25-1/2 pig in this picture.

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In the heat of the summer the pond would get covered with duck weed turning it a slimy looking green. A pond mouse fly or a Ribbet Frog teasingly introduced across the top would cause a citation fish to come OUT of the water and slam down on top of the bait. What fun.

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We also liked to fish Salt Water down in the VA Beach area. This Redfish was caught in Rudee Inlet near the Museum.

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We would also go down and fish the shadows cast by the lights on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. Called "fishing the light line," It involved paddling or pedaling your kayak around the point and under the bridge and holding in the current to cast into or out of the shadows, and pulling your bait thru the shadow line cast by the lights on the bridge. Blue Fish, Striper, Flounder, Sheepshead and many other fish awaited your attention.
The HOBIE was the kayak of choice as you could pedal bow into the current and hold your position with both hands free.

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Hooking a decent striper or blue would give you a nice free ride until the fish tired. We called it a sleigh ride.
You could keep a certain number of fish, a few kept ONE if they were planning to eat it, but most followed the CPR rule. Catch, Photo, and release.
My First big striper, many more followed over the years.

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The Tupperware? It held the camera I used taking the picture, and as soon as the picture was shot, the camera went back in the box leashed to the kayak. A rogue wave or wake could catch you off guard and roll the kayak. Big ships passing off in the dark would send a large wake rolling silently in... boom... there before you knew it. Norfolk was right across the water.


Of course there were many more favorites and many more fish, but how about you guys...???

[BrokenolMarine]

We went on vacation to Destin Florida back in 2010, having heard that the Reds and Kings were running in the channel. My folks live not far from there in Pensacola, so we scored a nice house for rent on Home Away for a week, on a private canal with ocean access with a dock. The vacation would extend over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Got a call just before we were scheduled to leave and the owner of the house said that she would be unable to rent us the house we had put a large deposit on, because a lawyer from Jersey had rented it the week before... and rather than use the house for he and his wife and friends as he said, had allowed his college kid and HIS friends to use the house for a two week break. They had trashed the house and the property, doing about 40k in damages.

She had a solution, but it was unusual. The family had a house they NEVER rented. It was a family home in a gated community, but since I was a Disabled Vet, career LE, and currently employed by the State Police, she felt they could trust me. This house was NOT on the water but two blocks off the beach and two blocks from Destin Bridge where we intended to fish. I was a Hacienda with a three car garage, indoor heated pool, three bedroom, and fully furnished. They would honor the price they had quoted on the previous rental. The lawyer was going to cover the damages on the house to keep those kids out of jail and the loss of use for the two months for repair... "Enjoy your vacation."

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We arrived at the house and it was everything we expected and more. We got settled in and headed with the kayaks to the bridge. The fish had been "Running" for a week, and they had been reporting excellent catches and huge fish. Then, the night before we arrived, the temps dropped twenty degrees and the bite turned off like someone threw a switch.

We headed out anyway. We drove two days to fish Destin Bridge and we enjoyed the kayaking aspect anyway. It was beautiful.

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We saw a couple huge reds and a couple other large fish, then I saw a torpedo pass under my kayak. I knew what it was and was excited. Tina missed it, but on the next pass, she caught sight and turned for shore. "A freaking Shark!" she yelled, "and it's huge."

"Ah, it's a dolphin," I laughed, "Dolphin... it's flipper."

"UP yours," she said, pedaling hard for shore, "I know a shark when I see one. A fin broke the surface beside her kayak and then PHHHHHST. Blowhole.....

"Sharks don't do that...." I said. The dolphin rolled and looked up at her, the dove.

More showed up, two pods, about twenty in all. They were fascinated by the Hobie's Mirage Drive system. They would swim under the Hobie and roll on their backs and look up at the fins moving side to side. They started to play with us and we began to draw a crowd on shore. (Okay, for a chilly Florida day.)

I took hundreds of pics of them, and they would charge at us and dive below the kayaks, zoom away full speed then return. We got a number of classic flipper jumps...

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A tail walk....

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If we lost track, they would pop up and signal us to let us turn to follow the pods...

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They played with us for over an hour. We noted that there were two distinct pods. The one was mostly more mature, larger dolphins, and the second were the younger, sleeker members. There was a pale, almost albino dolphin that was huge. He seemed to be in charge. After about 90 minutes and some 300 pics, he suddenly popped up and started chattering. He dropped under the water and thru the hull of the kayak I could hear his commands to the pods and they all turned and at high speed they headed as a large group out under the bridge and were gone.

We had stopped fishing, but had played with the dolphins for over an hour. I suddenly realized my legs felt like rubber. We were done.

What a day.