Thursday evening November 8th the phone rang. It was Captain Joe Shelton. “Can you be at Captain Billy Pipkin’s Ingram Bay Marina at 5:30 tomorrow morning?” he asked. My response was an immediate yes! I was excited. Here comes the new material to replenish the Northern Neck reef.

This reef first established by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) in 1993 using funds provided by the recreational fishing fund was becoming somewhat silted in by the waters coming out of the Potomac River and the Tangier Sound.

The Virginia Charter Boat Association (VCBA) had brought this fact to the attention of the VMRC reef manager Mike Meier and Mike – after a fishing trip on Joe Shelton’s boat to the reef to experience and see the reef’s condition- agreed to start the process to replenish the reef. After Mike Meier received approvals from the Commission, went through the bidding and contracting process and did some on-site diving on the reef he called Joe with the good news! Joe Shelton (who was heading up the project for the charter boaters) got word that on Friday November 9th a 150 foot Ireland Marine tug boat White Hill would be moving up the Chesapeake from the Elizabeth River to deploy 2000 tons of concrete pipe. All of Joe’s persistence and Mike’s steadfast efforts were paying off!

Thanks to the Hanson Pipe and Precast Corporation of Chesapeake, Virginia who donated the pipe and the Virginia Recreational Fishing Fund managers who allocated $124,000 for the project, the Mid-Chesapeake fishermen will continue to have great catches of stripers and the fish will have an improved environment.

Not only did the arrangements for the new deployment take a lot of hard work but also the actual deployment involved a long working day. From way before sunrise when the tugboat White Hill moved up the bay until well after dark as the Ireland crew headed south, the Captain and crew moved up and down a 600 foot line moving the new material off the barge with fork lifts. Meanwhile a few Northern Neck Captains and the VMRC boat under the guidance of Joe Kalista and Mike Meier monitored the material placement.

Captain Shelton set up a meeting at Captain Billy’s dock that morning to get input for the deployment. Captain Eugene Pittman, Captain Junior Fisher, Captain Billy Pittman, Captain Joe Shelton, Tony Morales and myself all agreed on the placement that would provide the best access for the most anglers considering the tides and the strong currents that come out of the Potomac River. Thanks to calm seas and the efforts and cooperation of all, the deployment went very smoothly.

You can get information on the exact placement of the new and old reef material by going to mrc.virginia.gov and clicking on recreational fishing; click on recreational license development fund website with recreational fishing information; artificial reef program. Select reef sites on right side of the screen.

Tips for fishing the reef
Consider the tide and wind carefully before you anchor up at the reef. Look at how the other boats are laying and anchor so that you will not be drifting through others chumline.

Be careful to avoid getting your anchor in the pipes. The object is to anchor so that your baits will drift back directly above the reef. Above all else be safe and courteous and thankful for VMRC’s artificial reef program!