First boat trip

This past weekend Danielle's mother and step-father came for a quick visit. They never seem to want to stay too long. I think they think that they are imposing on us, but it is nice to have them around since they do not get to see Paul very much. They live in Alabama so our visits are always few and far between. Anyway, while we were still planning their visit I mentioned, as a joke, that my father-in-law should bring some rods so we can go fishing. Well, that set off a firestorm of activity! Here is how it all went down...

I worked a little harder than I wanted to on the Boat US Foundation Boating Safety Course for Virginia. That thing was a lot harder than I expected! Keeping that in mind I completed the course so that I could go to the MWR Outdoor Recreation Office and be able to rent a boat. I reserved the last sixteen foot jon boat they had left. So while the girls and Paul were headed to Colonial Williamsburg my father-in-law and I went to pick it up Friday early afternoon and took it out a little later after we ate lunch. We put in at the boat ramp on Mill Landing Road and went up Nanny Creek. It was blowing a little harder than we wanted to stay out in Back Bay so we headed up the creek. We found quite a bit of places that just looked “fishy”. There was a  tree that was sticking up out of the water that just looked particularly enticing. I tried a Texas-rigged craw, but came up with nothing. Then I tried a shallow running crankbait and that seemed to be the ticket. I hooked, and fought, a smaller White Perch, but if came off right at the boat. Then, a couple of casts later, I hooked into something that had a little more pull. I fought, and landed, a nice Largemouth Bass. It was a little over 2 pounds and was 16 ½ inches long.

First bass on Nanny Creek.

A nice fish I must say. Unfortunately that was the only fish of any size that was caught. My father-in-law never even got a bite and the only other fish that was hooked was a fingerling that was about twice the size of the crankbait I was throwing. Other than that we just drifted and/or motored around hoping for something. That creek looks amazing and it is a wonder that we didn’t hook into anything else.

So, with our heads hanging a little lower than we wanted, we headed in and planned a trip for the next day – Saturday – to Lake Rudee for some light salt water action. Unfortunately the winds picked up over night to a level that we were not comfortable with. So we called the trip and just stayed home spending time with the rest of the family. My in-laws left Sunday morning heading home so that was the end of the fishing, for this trip, with my father-in-law. Hopefully, in the nearer-rather-than-later future, there will be another fishing trip with him. It was a lot of fun!

Sunday morning, though, after they hit the road the decision was made that Danielle, Peyton, Paul and I would head back out to Nanny Creek to try our hand. I made quick work of getting all the rods and tackle bags ready while Danielle and Peyton got both themselves and Paul ready. They got some snacks ready while I changed my clothes and we were off to the boat ramp. I realized this trip was going to be different on the drive down the road to the ramp because it was obviously high tide as there was water over the road everywhere. It made the launch much easier, though, so we got everything and everyone in the boat and headed up the creek. Because of the higher water level the fishing was less than stellar to say the least. Couple that with copious amounts of “tree fishing” by the girls the trip turned into just a boat ride. That was fine with me because it allowed me a chance to learn even more of this new-to-me body of water. We made it as far as we could go and had to turn around at the bridge at Nanny’s Creek Road. On the way up the creek we saw a huge doe and a rather big fawn with her. We looked, they stopped and looked, and then they headed off into the woods never to be seen again. That was pretty much the highlight of the trip so we headed back to the ramp, loaded up the boat, and headed home.

I must say that after obtaining the Boat US Foundation Boating Safety card I hope to utilize it more in the future. I do love my kayak for a myriad of reasons, but the boat was a nice change of pace. It allowed all of us to go out on the water in one place and spend time together as a family. Not separated on the water “doing our own thing” in our individual kayaks. That is still a good time, but with Paul being as young as he is; our time on the water is limited to his tolerance of being confined. None the less it was a good time had by all.

Playin' catch up...

A lot has happened since my last post. My daughter, Peyton, arrive on July 2nd for a while. It has been a long time since I have seen her so this trip is much needed. She settled in okay after a horrible day of travel. Too many delays for the last leg of the trip meant that she finally arrived after Paul's bedtime. Oh well, such is life I suppose in today's air travel world.

 

Anyway, on the fourth I got a chance to go fishing with a friend of mine. Rob met me at the Lotus Garden and we spent a few hours trying our best to get anything to bite. I finally ended the day with only three White Perch that weren't even as big as my hand, but they hit my spinner bait pretty hard and that is all that matters. Rob did not catch a thing all day. Just a hot, tiring trip any way you cut it.

 

Then a couple of days later Peyton and I went out to Lake Rudee to try our hand at some light salt water action. I checked the tide table and the solunar information to see when we needed to be out there. We finally made it to the ramp about an hour later than I wanted to, but we made it none the less. After a quick pep talk and introduction to what we were looking for we paddled out to the grass island and anchored up. Peyton was on one oyster bar on one side and I was on the one on the other side. It was bright and a little warm, but there was a nice breeze blowing so it wasn't too bad.

 

We were there for only a little while before Peyton mentioned, rather nonchalantly, that she thought she had a fish on. She gave it a little tug and the rod bent over! She struck first! After a brief fight, and reeling it in too far, we were able to get her very first Red Drum (Puppy Drum) into the net. We just sat there admiring it in all of its shiny glory! I helped her get the hook out and measured it. Legal keeper size in Virginia is 18 inches. This one only measured 17 ½ inches. Missed it by that…much! We released this beautiful fish and kept on fishing. Then she started killing the Speckled Trout! She caught two of them before I even caught my first fish of the day!

 

Then we hit a drought for a bit. The first one to strike to end the drought was Peyton. She hit another Speck. Then I caught a 16 inch Flounder. My card said that it was illegal to keep. The legal length, according to my card, was 16 ½ inches. That card was dated January 2013. A friend of mine at work produced a card dated March 2013 that said 16 inches was legal to keep. Oh well. You live and learn. I released that fish and kept on fishing. Peyton caught a few more Specks and then the dinner bell stopped ringing. We waited around for a few more minutes and then called it a day.

 

It was my first time fishing with Peyton in over 15 years so all in all it was an outstanding day! I look forward to doing that a few more times before she leaves.

Father's Day 2013

Saturday was a perfect day! We all went out on a fishing trip in our kayaks to Lotus Garden/Ashville Bridge Creek. We launched around 1100 and started our meander down the creek. It was a nice, bright, sunny day with low wind and lots of birds singing. The fishing started slow, but Paul was content to just ride along with Danielle and watch the world go by. Then we got down to the oxbow. That's when things heated up.

I could see, and hear, some fish chasing schools of bait fish. So, since I had a crank bait tied on one of my rods (Danielle still gives me grief for taking "so many" with me), I started throwing. I thought I knew what was doing the chasing, but it was all confirmed once I got my first Long-nose Gar in the boat. Those things are vicious! And hard as a brick! This one was about 18" and about 3lbs I estimated. I put it back and kept on throwing. Not long after that I caught 2 more, but they came off right at the boat. I'll count that as a catch anyway. They were bigger, too. About 20-21" long. One of them even made a torpedo run right by the kayak!

Paul was getting restless so we moved on down the creek. We ran into a guy fishing from a bass boat. He said he was actually participating in a tournament and the pickings were slow going. We bid him good luck and moved on towards Danielle's goal, Blue Pete's Restaurant. That place did not disappoint, either! With a dock out back that we could tie-up to, we did just that and went inside to relax, eat, and cool off for a while. Lunch was very good as was the water and iced tea. So we stayed a while, fed the "hungry monster" in Paul's belly, and started making our way back to the truck still parked at Lotus Garden. That's when things started heating up!

On the way back I thought I would try a Texas-rigged crawfish imitation. That was the ticket! We "tree hopped" back to the truck with a stop at the oxbow and one other spot. By this time the "hungry monster" went to sleep in Paul's belly so he did as well....for a little while. Anyway, at the oxbow I hooked the biggest fish I've ever caught. This Long-nose Gar was easily over 40". It tore up my crank bait pretty badly as well! It broke off one of the hooks on the front treble hook and started straightening out one of the ones of the back treble. That thing was plain old mean, but the fight was fun. I never got it in the kayak. I tried, but I couldn't get a good grip on it and it was too big for either of our nets. The Fish Gripper I have wouldn’t have worked either because of the way it was hooked. The crank bait had its mouth clamped shut so that was out of the question. So, as I was trying to get it in the boat without slicing me up on the lure and/or its teeth, it jerked one more time and......off it came. *sigh*

Anyway, back up the creek we found this one tree where I caught 4 bass. One of them was just over 14". They all fought like they were way bigger than they actually were, but they were a lot of fun. We stayed and tried to get one for Danielle, but Paul had other plans. Those plans were for mommy to NOT catch a fish. So, he came over to my boat for the rest of the trip so mommy could concentrate on fishing and not Paul wrangling/wrestling. A couple of bends later she hooked into a good one! But it came off right at the boat. *sigh*

We looked at the clock and realized we had been on the water all day! Paul was a trooper, too! We started heading back at a slower pace. We hit up one more spot on the way out. That's when I caught my last bass of the day on the crank bait. Once I hooked him he came running right straight at the boat like a freight train! I could barely keep up. Then I switched over to my 1/8oz spinner bait and caught my first ever Yellow Perch. It was a small one, but he was fun to catch. Paul seemed to like it, too. I finally got my Pungo Triple!

Then....it happened! Danielle FINALLY hooked AND LANDED her first bass in her kayak! She caught it on another 1/8oz white Strike King spinner bait. The look on her face after she got the hook out and held up that bass was priceless! I'm so proud of her!

Danielle worked SO HARD for this fish!

The rest of the day was spent heading back to the launch site listening to the bullfrogs. They were really loud! All in all a really good day! I hope to do that again sooner rather than later.

Nothin.....

I took my son Paul out fishing today so mommy could finish up some work to end this never ending school year. We went to Lotus Pond for a couple of hours. We saw quite a few & heard a lot of commotion back in the grass. But they just weren't biting anything. Oh well. Better luck next time I suppose. The water was really high, though. Maybe that had the fish all confused. Who knows.

 *sigh*

One more try....

This isn't my first attempt at writing and maintaining a blog. I had one before, but through a comedy of errors it fell by the wayside. This one most likely will also so don't get your hopes up.

Anyway, as I stated in my "introduction" I am a father that is trying to make it through life without too many huge mistakes. I have already made enough of them in my lifetime and I don't want to repeat them. But, I most likely will. I guess you just never learn.

Things have changed for me in recent years. I have the greatest gift a loving wife could ever give to a husband. I have Paul, our 2 and a half year old terror. I also have my unbelievably strong daughter, Peyton, who lives with her mother in Washington State. I don't get to see her as much as I would like to, but that's the way life works sometimes I guess.

I get the privilege and honor of sharing my life with Danielle, the strongest woman I know this side of my mother. We spend too much time chasing after and attempting to clean up the aftermath of our little bundle of tornado. He just really does not realize just how much of a bulldozer he is. Nor does he realize how smart he is. There are times when we look at each other and know, deep down inside, that we are totally and completely screwed! He's way smarter than we are!

When we're not chasing him around I like to fish....a lot! Not near as much as I would truly like to, but I am the luckiest man on earth in that Danielle likes to go with me! We take Paul out with us as well so it becomes a giant family affair. Those trips are way too short because Paul just can't sit still that long. Oh well....that will come in due time.

We're both USA Cycling officials and really enjoy giving back to the sport we love. The time away from family is the only negative, but the time with our friends is well spent. It is good to catch up with them from time to time.

I attend Regent University and am pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Pre-Law. My hope and goal is to finish this degree, my second, before I retire. Then go on to, hopefully, get my Juris Doctorate degree and become an attorney.

Other than that there's not too much else to talk about. We go to work, we come home, we do our best to corral the monster, as I like to call him, and we crash every night. You know...the American Dream!