Jumbo Red

Another big ol pig from the beach.  If you are interested in hitting the fish from the sand I am offering guided trips!  Also, a reminder I will be moving my boat the the Elizabeth River on November 1.  Thanks for checking!

Blood Red Moon

The Big Reds have been around for a couple weeks now, but so has the rough conditions and NE wind.   We finally got some SW wind and a window to launch the kayaks and chase a big drum.  Matt and I launched off the beach at avalon with our heavy spinning gear, fresh spot, and some fish finder rigs.  We drifted for about 45 minutes and I finally came tight on my first big one of the season from the kayak.  It felt good to get back in the kayak for a sleigh ride!

Last night, my buddy Patrick and I headed up north to fish them from the sand.   We kayaked the baits out and locked into a couple studs!  It got a little breezy so we wrapped it up after we got what we needed. Beautiful evening with the bright full moon. Thanks for checking!

Phew!

I had a morning trip that started out SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.  I was actually getting a little nervous.  I couldn’t find my pet drum. . .  I think we went 2 hours without a bite.  They pulled through for us though.   Finally got on them and put our limit in the box and released a couple more.  We saw alot of fish that wouldn’t eat.  Wonder how many we didn’t see that wouldn’t eat????  Thanks for grinding it out guys – glad it came through for us!

Bens Monster Drum

Ben came down from PA to visit the Outer Banks as well as join me for a few guided fishing trips.  We hit the sound a couple times and caught a few puppy drum.   The bite was OK at best, and I was hoping for better.

The last mission of the trip turned into a hunt for monster drum.   When we talked a couple months ago, I told him the timing of the trip was spot on to try to get one from the sand.  Well, it really hasn’t started yet.  Alot of resident fish have been caught on the piers during hard NE blows, and a handful have been caught in Corolla.  The big push from Virginia hasn’t really happened yet.

I told him it was a long shot  – but we gave it a go anyway.   The conditions were doable at best. NE wind 10+ and some 1-2ft chop.  You really want a SW wind to fish Corolla.  When I paddled the first rounds of baits out – I was dropped them in a big pod of bunker.  That was a huge confidence boost. We soaked them for an hour and reeled them back in.

Put another round of baits out and soaked them for an hour as well.  Reeled those back in without a bite.   Finally, we decided we would run one more round of baits out.  I was starting to lose a little hope – I just didn’t think it was going to happen.  We hung in there and grinded it out though.

After about 10 minutes one of the rods finally jumps.   It wasn’t the typical screaming run of the clicker. It was a slight bend in the rod and a couple clicks off the reel.  Ben was standing right there to bring it tight and bury the circle hook.  The whole fight I was saying in my head “shark shark shark” .

Finally got the beast in the wash and I saw the first glimbse of the big ol beautiful red.  I was ecstatic and so was Ben. What a way to cap off his trip.  I knew this mission was going to be make or break for his trip down – and the plan came together!  What an awesome afternoon!

Thank you so much Ben , I thoroughly enjoyed your company and look forward to a lasting relationship.  Here is Bens 45″ beauty.

Multi-day report

Been running a few trips lately – the fish are still chomping…  We have been mixing in the speckled trout early morning before heading to the drum beating grounds.   A few shots from some of my recent trips.