January 2012

Last month, in my discussion of speckled trout, I mentioned another visit to the Hot Ditch, with the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) group. Well, I joined the taggers and the folks from the PHWFF and the various Warrior Transition Units for a pretty good day of fly fishing. Before I get in to the particulars of the trip (a second visit was made on Dec. 6, which I couldn’t make), I’d like to give a little background and operational particulars concerning the fly fishers participating.
 
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. Program.
While initially focusing on the military personnel in the Washington, DC area, the Project has expanded nationwide and is offering its services and program to wounded active military personnel and disabled veterans in Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals throughout the country.
 
The Project’s program provides basic fly fishing, fly casting, fly tying and rod building classes, along with clinics for wounded and injured personnel ranging from beginners to those with prior fly fishing and tying experience who are adapting their skills to their new abilities. All fly fishing and tying equipment is provided to the participants at no cost. Fishing trips, both one day and multi-day are also provided at no cost to the participants.
 
Project Healing Waters is unique in that our volunteers are teaching classes on an on-going, long term basis. It is much more than a one day fishing trip. For many participants, particularly disabled veterans, the socialization and camaraderie of the classes are just as important as the fishing outings, and provide them a new activity.
 
The Project relies on Federation of Fly Fishers, Trout Unlimited, and independent fly fishing clubs to conduct the program at the DOD and DVA hospitals across the nation. The volunteer staff and outings leaders include experienced fly fishers and guides, all of whom donate their time and knowledge to support the Project participants.
 
In order to have a viable Project Healing Waters program, three groups must co-exist: a fly fishing club willing to provide the volunteers and organize the program, a DOD or DVA hospital willing to host the program, and wounded or disabled soldiers or veterans willing to participate. Because each of these groups is unique, no two Project Healing Waters programs will be exactly the same. The PHWFF Program information above was extracted from the Project Healing Waters web page.)
 
PHWFF, Inc. Mission Statement
The mission of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing is to assist in the physicals and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings.
 
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. strives to effectively serve the deserving past and present members of our armed forces who have made great sacrifices in the service of our Nation.
 
A typical one-day outing at Dominion Power’s Elizabeth River Hot Ditch Nov. 15
 
PHWFF members, taggers, Dominion Power employees and the co-director of the Virginia Salt Water Game Fish Tagging Program (Susanna Musick) met at the recreation center at Dominion Power, Chesapeake, around 9 AM. There was an ample supply of hot coffee, water, soda, and do-nuts for all.
 
When the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) participants arrived, they settled down with coffee and a snack and a Dominion employee gave the safety briefing. All participants, taggers, and guests were provided life jackets which had to be worn at all times when around the discharge canal.
 
The group then relocated to the fishing area and spread out, with PHWFF members assisting each military (and prior military) participant in tying their fly on to their leader, correcting any discrepancies in their casting and talking them through the proper retrieving of their flies.
 
There were 3 taggers, 9 PHWFF members, 6 WTU participants, and 3 Dominion Power employees. I don’t know the totals for fish caught for the day, but I do know that David Conklin, a WTU member from Richmond, caught the largest fish of the day on the Nov. 15 trip, and I was told that he caught a release citation speckled trout on the trip on Dec. 6. I spoke with David after the Nov. 15 trip and congratulated him on his catch, now I have to double my congrats for a beautiful, release citation speckled trout.
 
A Training Visit
I was invited to the Ft. Eustis WTU to observe an evening’s training session. We all met in one of the conference rooms at the WTU barracks, and the Warriors immediately brought out boxes with fly tying vises, thread, feathers, chenille, hooks, magnifying glasses, scissors and other necessities I couldn’t even describe. Each Warrior was working on an actual pattern of fly and they were all very serious. I later learned they were tying a pattern used in a few of the mountain streams (which is where their next trip would take them).
 
I got to see the rods and reels that had been donated to the unit, fly vests, in some cases, waders and creels. I also learned that they spend some time learning to manipulate a fly rod, and fly line, which is truly an art. When we got over to the hot ditch, I got to observe the fruits of their labor. With very few exceptions, each WTU participant handled the fly fishing equipment like a rising professional.
 
I spoke with two WTU members from Ft. Eustis who were shortly to be discharged, and because of what they had learned from the PHWFF, and what they had refined on their fishing excursions, they planned on purchasing a motor home and heading out West to do some real trout fishing. They even spoke of eventually trying to land sponsors to make a professional career of fly fishing. If the WTU members have no particular vocation, I don’t know if I would recommend them trying to turn pro, but if they were financially able, taking a few months to travel around the country, learn the different techniques for fly fishing in different areas, and then decide what their vocations will be.

December 2011

Just about a year ago I received an invitation, along with Dr. Julie Ball and Lee Toliver, to fish the Dominion Power Company Hot Ditch discharge canal for speckled trout and puppy drum. We had a fantastic time and caught many fish.

Shortly thereafter I got an invitation to accompany a few soldiers from the Warrior Transition Unit at Ft. Eustis, to join the Project Healing Waters club and fish the Hot Ditch again. These two trips seemed to peak my curiosity concerning catching these fish outside the hot ditch, in the Elizabeth River area, and a couple spots I had been reporting about on the Peninsula.
 
I also wrote about my first trip on the Elizabeth River with Louis Glaser, President of the Norfolk Anglers Club, and Ned Smith, a club member. Again we caught dozens of fish and I began my learning experience.
 
When fishing the waters of the Elizabeth River and its tributaries, I used the same un-painted jigs (1/8 and ¼ ounce) tipped with several different Gulp and Fishbites paddletail plastics. I caught a few fish, but not nearly as many as Louis and Ned.

They were using the small. Model 17 MirrOlure suspending twitchbaits in a variety of colors. It didn’t take me long to question Louis about the model and color numbers, and then head to Bass Pro Shops and pick up a few of each.

On my next trip I was really ready. We began casting and as fate would have it, I was being out fished three or four to one. Shortly before I was going to take up a different hobby, Louis, with a grin on his face, asked me to compare our baits. I knew we were using the same size and color, but what I didn't know was that Louis and Ned modified their lures by tying buck tail hair on the rear hook.

If I had not experienced getting trounced, I would never have believed that would have made that much difference. Well, another trip to Bass Pro to pick up several two-packs of small, treble hooks with hair, then back home to make emergency repairs to my lures.

My next trip was with George Wojcik, a member of the Mako/Mercury Marine professional staff at Bass Pro Shops, who invited me to fish the skinny waters around the mouth of the York River. My first trip with George produced mostly small flounder and croakers, but since I wasn't getting trounced in catching speckled trout, I was satisfied.

On my next trip with George I couldn't believe our totals. George, being a devout game fish tagging participant, doesn't keep any fish, he just puts them into the live well and periodically stops to tag and release them. We caught fish on several color combinations of MirrOlures; on small jigs, tipped with a variety of sizes and colored Gulp or Fishbite plastic trailers; on top water lures; and on my second favorite speck lure, a popping cork, with a 15-inch leader tipped with a 1/8 ounce jig and various colors of plastic trailers.

At the end of this particular trip, when we took a break to tally up the tagging sheets, we had caught, tagged and released 64 short fish (less than 14-inches) and 36 legal sized fish. On this trip we fished for about four hours and I know we pulled off at least another dozen keeper sized fish.

I fished several more trips with George and although we didn’t match the totals of our previous trip, we managed 27 short fish and 14 keepers on one trip and 36 short fish and 15 keepers on another.

As I mentioned, George is a devout tagger and I was almost in tears from laughing when he told me he was going to have to hold off for a couple days so he could visit Lewis Gillingham, co-director of the Tagging Program, to replenish his stock of tags.

I received my next offer to chase specks from Louis about a week later. We fished Little Creek and again, we had tremendous luck. The majority of our fish were taken on twitch baits, but I did manage to catch a couple on the popping cork, and a couple on a 4-inch Gulp mullet on a 1/8 ounce unpainted jig.

We were fortunate enough to bring in 16 keeper fish on this trip (10 fish per person possession limit). We would have easily had our limit of 20 fish, except we pulled off several right at the boat, and I using my expert netting skills, knocked three of Louis’s nice keeper fish off the hook, right at the boat.

By this time I am about ready to convert to chasing specks all the time. This is as close as anything I have tried yet, to fresh water bass fishing. I am slowly building up my selection of lures, jigs, trailers, popping corks, and a supply of pre-tied trailer hooks for each new MirrOlures.

The Project Healing Waters folks are going to fish the hot water discharge canal on the 15th of Nov. and I have been invited to participate. I hope to get some good pictures and add another chapter to my speckled trout adventures.

Saltwater anglers are reminded that the Chesapeake Bay fall striper season ends on December 31. After that, all stripers caught inside the Bay must be released.

Get out on the water. The Bay temperature is slowly dropping and the stripers are becoming more and more active. I have contact with several charter boats that are eager to get you on the fish. Call me at 757-874-4970 or email me at suthrncstm@aol.com.
Tight lines, sharp hooks and strong knots.

October 2011

Fresh Water

One storm after another is causing a lot of confusion in the recreational fishing community. Two days after the recent hurricane, my son and I visited a couple of private ponds in Isle of Wight and found that the water was just slightly high, the clarity was surprisingly good and the water temperature was in the low 80’s.

We have a favorite area for largemouth bass and when we worked our way there, we found the bass still cooperating. It was around noon, with a bright sun, and no clouds, and we found the larger fish in very shallow water. I fished a worm for a while and had only one pick-up, while my son was fishing a #3 Mepps, with a red and white spinner blade and white bucktail on the hook.

He hooked two, really large bass but we didn’t land either. I had given him a small snap swivel, which opened and released the first fish as we got it beside the boat and the second one parted the 6 lb. test line we fish with. Using the same model and colored Mepps, I boated one fish, weighing about 2-1/2 pounds and we then called it a day.

Fresh water reports from many of the ponds and lakes in the area have been pretty scarce. Some areas had lost power and were closed. Others had tree-falls and debris throughout and were closed to clean up. Most all the area lakes were reporting their waters were at full pool, slightly stained (from the run-off), and with temperatures running from the low to high 80’s.

Just as we get back to normal from the first storm, another ‘tropical depression”, dropping a ton of rain, and forecasting much of the same for about a week, has dampened the spirits of many of the fresh water enthusiasts.

Salt Water

Salt water anglers are back at it as if nothing had ever happened. Several of our Chesapeake Bay species were really hitting before the storm and had folks wondering what the break in the weather would bring. Before the storm, Buckroe Fishing Pier was giving some of the best catch reports of the year.

Crabbers were filling buckets and coolers with their tasty prey; day and night customers were catching big spot, two at a time, until they had their coolers full; croakers, small bluefish, Spanish mackerel and grey and speckled trout were all being caught. At night they had runs of small Spanish and sand sharks.

The pier lost their handicapped ramp and the front stairs were damages, but they got the ramp repaired and were open in time for the holiday weekend. Even though the numbers have dropped off, anglers continue to catch yellow bellied spot, medium sized croakers, small Spanish mackerel, an occasional keeper flounder, mixed in with numerous throw backs.

As the weather subsided, reports of big, yellow bellied spot, began to come in from the York River, Rudee and Lynnhaven Inlets, the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel (M&M), the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT), around the lower Bay inlets, and from most of the piers. The area around the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge, looked like the Spanish armada had arrived on Saturday, Sept. 10. The wind was fairly calm and as long as the current was moving, the fish were biting.

Big croaker, weighing up to 1-3/4 pounds, were caught around the pilings of the HRBT by anglers offering Fishbites, bloodworm scent and squid. As with most of the species, a moving current seemed to produce the better fish.

Flounder pounders, who had their fingers crossed during the hurricane, were fairly happy with the bite taking place after the water cleaned up a bit. The areas around the 3rd and 4th Islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel have been producing for both live bait and flounder rigs drifted along the rocks and deep water channel edges.

The most exciting action after the big blow has come from the Speckled trout crowd. Although the fish are on the small side (which could result in a great bite next year, if they survive the winter), measuring between 7-1/2 and 15-inches, the numbers are fantastic. Jon Lucy, the former Co-Director pf the Virginia Game Fish Tagging program, reported one angler tagged over 100 fish in two days of fishing while Jon and a partner tagged 55 in a 3.5 hour period another day. Some larger fish, weighing up to 6 pounds, were reported, but the locations of the catch were strangely missing from the report.

It appears that the cobia and red drum are preparing for their departure from the Bay. Big schools of big drum have been sighted schooling around the pilings of the CBBT and around the oceanside buoys, while the cobia, although their numbers are fewer, are holding around the Baltimore Channel buoys and some are moving along the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

One encouraging bit of cobia news, was that quite a few “yearling” cobia have been caught and with each little one brought to the boat, oftentimes there have been several other little ones beside them. Like the speckled trout reports, the sighting of many, many small cobia could provide for an exciting season next hear.

The trollers, from the Cell/Buoy 42 area down along the Western side of the Bay, to the coastline along Virginia Beach to the inlets throughout, are reporting loads of Spanish mackerel that are attacking small spoons trolled around 6 -7 knots. The reports are saying that while trolling the spoons, if you are catching Taylor bluefish, you need to increase your speed. The Spanish are after the “fast” baits.

The kayakers are reporting catch and release stripers at the M&M and HRBT tunnels at night. By the next magazine report, we should have some super action.

Keep a weather eye out for thunderstorms and high winds. The fish are around their normal haunts, be polite and make sure you have a designated driver if you have alcohol aboard.

I have a new web page (thanks to Capt. Alan Alexander) and would like to invite everyone to check out www.fishingtidewater.com.

Until next month, tight lines, sharp hooks and strong knots.

MAY 2011

With the Tidewater weather raising havoc with the fishing, both fresh and salt water, the actual "catching" news has been very scarce. Nevertheless, there has been fishing related activities taking place which might be newsworthy.

Saltwater Fishing
For the previous month, the water temperature in Chesapeake Bay has ranged from a low of 44.1 to a high of 51.1 degrees. Just as the waters began to warm, the ever popular cold front moved in and the temperatures were lowered to the extent that the fish that were starting to bite, namely flounder, got lockjaw. Yet, those anglers who were able to get out for short periods of time, between blows, seeking the spring run of tautog, were having excellent luck. Clams and pieces of cut crab were the most productive baits, along with fiddler crabs when available.

One recent report that has stirred a little salt water activity is the reporting of local hook and line catches of flounder. Anglers working a pier on the southside reported catching croaker measuring as long as 16-inches, while Buckroe Fishing Pier customers, fishing at night, report catching buckets full of ¾ pound croakers under the lights beneath the pier.

Last month I wrote about my experience in fishing the Dominion Power's section of the "Hot Ditch" open to Dominion employees, retired Dominion personnel and a select few anglers having a pass, and the success found there. Then came the Spring Fishing Classic at Bass Pro Shops where Louis Glaser gave a talk on using big baits to catch big flounder.

After his seminar, I had the pleasure of speaking with him at length about his speckled trout prowess around the hot ditch. During our discussion I commented about not having much experience with keeper sized specks (14-inches or longer), even when fishing in the "hallowed" Dominion waters, and he immediately said he would contact me to go on his next trip to the Elizabeth River area.

Two days later I received the invitation from Louis and that started one of the best learning experiences I've had related to inshore saltwater fishing. Not knowing exactly what type of gear to use and what variety of lures to take I called George Wojick for suggestions. George brought me a few soft plastic lures and 1/8 ounce jig heads he uses there and I immediately went to Bass Pro shops and got a package of each.

My selections were Berkley Gulp, Nuclear Chicken , 4" Mud Minnows; Fishbites, 3" Electric Candy (Pink), and Fishbites 3" Chartreuse sassy shad bodies. My equipment consisted of two 5'-6" Medium Light weight spinning rods, one with a Penn 2000 light spinning reel spooled with 6 lb. test mono, and the other with a Diawa Sweepfire-A 2000 light spinning reel, spooled with 8 lb. test mono.

I met Louis and his fishing partner Ned Smith at Top Rack Marina, located on the Elizabeth River, and we proceeded on our way. We stopped at several spots along the Elizabeth River, dropped the anchor and proceeded to cast. Louis and Ned were casting small Mirrolures and I cast the Nuclear Chicken Mud minnow.

Ned caught the first fish and the "catch" was on. We caught several specks at almost every stop, admiring the beautiful animals and releasing them all. I got a lesson in nautical geography, in that I had no idea that Deep Creek was a branch of the Elizabeth River, and I got to fish the other end of the real "Hot Ditch", when we anchored in the mouth and continued casting.

The mouth of the hot ditch was our last stop on my first trip and there is where Louis made a believer of me when he began to close the gap for the most fish of the day. As a matter of fact, when the totals were counted, Louis had climbed from second to first place with a total of 25 specks, Ned was second with 16 and I brought up the rear with a total of 14. Our totals that day were tremendous and although I have made several more trips, and we all caught fish, there hasn't been another day like my first.

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the flounder and of both red and black drum. Louis indicated that he spent considerable time seeking these fish and I am hoping to get my first citation flounder.

New Game Virginia Fish Tagger Orientation
On Tuesday, April 5, at 6:00 p.m., at the Bass Pro Shops Training Room, 27 new taggers met with the VIMS-VMRC folks for the 2011 orientation-tagging practice. Registration took place from 6 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. and from 6:30 until 7 p.m. the new taggers were welcomed by Lewis Gillingham from VMRC, and Susanna Musick from VIMS, co-directors of the 2011 Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program.

Those in attendance were given the background and history of how the data received is used; exactly what data is needed; and the proper method of entering the data on the forms everyone received in their Taggers Package.

The second stage of the training took place from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. This is when the folks were divided into 3 groups and were rotated through 3 stations to practice: the first station showed the T-bar tagging gun and tags, used on smaller fish and the SS tags and applicator, used on medium to large sized fish.

Fish collected from local commercial fishermen were provided for the new group to practice on. Finally the most critical part of the tagging program, the forms used to record the tagging data and the importance of the accuracy of the data forwarded was discussed and all questions were answered.

The taggers were advised to forward the recorded data as soon as possible after each fishing trip. Not to wait until the form is filled (13 entries on each side of the record sheet). Also, in order to make the data entries run smoother, each tagger was requested record the tag number on the sheet prior to leaving home.

At the end of each fishing trip where tagging occurred, copy the data from your form and FAX it to VMRC or mail it to the tagging headquarters (the address and FAX number is at the bottom if each form.

CITATION TOTALS COMPARED
In an effort to justify my assumption that so far in 2011, the catch totals concerning the number of species, are lagging far behind. This year, as of the April 6 report, we have citations reported for 4 species: Blueline Tilefish, Speckled Trout, Striped Bass and Tautog. Last year as of this date, there were 9 species citations recorded: Blueline Tilefish, Flounder, Gray Triggerfish, Sea Bass, Speckled Trout, Spot, Striped Bass, Tautog and Bluefin Tuna.

With the current warming trend predicted to continue, the fishing around the Bay should get better and better. Be safe, get out, catch all you want, but keep only what you intend to use.