Spring Run, Rudee and HRBT
By Kayak Kevin Whitley

At right: The author, Kayak Kevin Whitley, poses with a nice grey trout caught at the HRBT

Spring is finally here and I’m looking forward to the return of the summer species. I'm tired of chasing stripers and I want different fish to fight.

When the water temperature hits 50 degrees it brings in the early run of summer time Chesapeake Bay residents. Red drum, flounder, speckled trout, grey trout and jumping hickory shad are on the first wave that rushes into the lower bay in numbers.

There are two hot spots to shake the cabin fever, Rudee Inlet and the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. These are the first to become over run with aggressive winter famished fish.

RUDEE
Rudee Inlet is the only inlet between the Chesapeake Bay and Oregon Inlet North Carolina. It’s the only stop off point for migrating reds in 100 miles of solid beach. Rudee is where I start my light tackle fishing and tagging. According to past tagging data, herds of reds will stage in Rudee then disperse to all the areas of the lower bay. Twenty fish afternoons are not uncommon in Rudee during April. Flounder, specks, blues, croaker and spot stop off in Rudee searching for a meal before entering the bay.

Rudee has every type of fishable structure imaginable in a relatively small area; mud flats, grass flats, creek mouths, marsh grass edges, points, sand bars, oyster clusters, deep holes, vertical bulkheads, rock rip rap, pier and bridge pilings, and inlet jetties. Everything in this small inlet can be fished within a few paddle strokes. There are eight structures to start on within eyesight of the boat ramp.

I use the simple Gulp! and jig head combo. Any Gulp! will work. I use the curly tail or the paddle tail and a 3/8 ounce jig head. This covers just about all situations. For the deeper and current running areas, I’ll tie on a 1/2 ounce.

With the sharp structure, I use 20 to 30 pound leader so I can yank the reds out from the oyster and barnacle encrusted pilings. Reds are mean, no matter how small they are. You got to get'em out fast or they will pull you in. When this happens I brace my feet on the pilings to keep me from going under the docks. If a mad red wraps around a piling, I loosen up on the drag and feel him out. As soon as he is free, I crank on'em!

HRBT
Last April, the HRBT had an epic run of grey trout. At its peak, we watched as the school circled from boat to boat. Everyone was hooking up in rotation. The greys ranged in size from 12 to 20 inches, with an occasional 25 incher in the mix. During those few days they seemed to concentrate in the 'bend' area. At the southern end of the bridge is what we call the 'bend'. This area has a dynamic structure of shoals and slews. Off the Willoughby jetty there is a long sand bar that extends for a half of a mile. A 15-foot channel runs from behind the Willoughby bar, along the inside of the jetty and the beach. This is the Willoughby slew. Another bar curves from the slew to the bridge; this is the bend bar. The rips over all of these sand bars are perfect hunting ground for the early spring predators like grey trout. I cast a Gulp! and 3/8 ounce jig-head up current and up the bar. I bounce it down from the top of the bar and with the current.

Hickory shad are a fun hard fighting, high jumping light tackle battlers that show up with the greys when the water temperatures hit 50 degrees. I lighten up for the shad with 1/4 ounce jig-head or a speck rig to keep the lure shallow. The shad blow up on top, so there easy to find. You will even see them rolling and chasing bait under your kayak.

When the water temperature reaches 55, the flounder roll in by the hundreds. I can easily fill out an entire tagging sheet in one night. These flounder return to the same place every year. Flounder tagged at the HRBT are usually recaptured at the HRBT. When they show up they literally carpet the sandy bottom. Although most of the flounder are way under keeper size, there’s a lot of them and they are very hungry. I recaptured one that I tagged an hour earlier, 100 yards away and on the same Gulp!

I use a 1/2 ounce jig-head and a shrimp or paddle tail Gulp! The Willoughby and bend bars, and the east bar that runs parallel along the east side of the bridge, are great flounder haunts. The middle bar that runs parallel down the center of the two bridge spans will also hold flounder.

Kayaking flounder pounding guru Ray Montes uses his depth finder to find the sharp drop offs. He works the edges around the Willoughby slew. Ray finds the larger flounder at the HRBT; one topped nine pounds!

The Gulp! will get smacked a dozen times as it passes through the flounder gauntlet. If you miss one, remember where he is and cast right back to him. He’s still there and will grab it again. Sometimes they will follow the Gulp! all the way up, often slashing the top of the water. Let the Gulp! fall down behind him; he will be looking for it.

You can set the hook immediately when using Gulp!, not like when using strip baits where you have to feed it to them. When they jump on a Gulp!, they've got it!

A great thing about Rudee and the HRBT is they are perfect for an after work kayak fishing session. You can be on the water an hour after leaving work and fish into the darkness. At the HRBT, nighttime is the prime time.

Cabin fever is replaced by spring fever when hooking up in the Rudee and HRBT spring run. There’s no better or easier way to fish these spring hot spots than in a kayak. Shake off the winter stagnation and GET ON"EM!

For more pictures, videos, and weekly reports, check out kayakkevin.com