Today is the Captain's Meeting for one of the largest kayak fishing tournaments in the world. Today marks the day of most of the competitors trekking down to the Tidewater region and most importantly our Maryland Kayak Fishing crew as we plan to come down and win all their kayaks and bring them back home to Maryland!!! And it's a charity event so all in all if we don't win anything, that is okay too!! Hope to see you there!!
Dizm's new ECO line is 100% biodegradable. I know the idea is to not lose your shades, but if your prone to dropping them in the bay, then check these out so your not hurting the ecosystem!! I will have a review on these shades below in a few weeks!!
They always said in school growing up to "not read a book by its cover", so with this title above I'm sure a lot of different things are going through your head wondering what's this post gonna be about this time.
1. Actually finding a big enough spot for kayak wars.
2. Puppy Drum in the Severn
3. Specks in Delmarva
4. Who knows what else, you probably have a more creative mind than myself
So I'll start you off with this, I fished a place yesterday that will be given the pseudonym "Oasis" to protect its secrecy for the fellow fisherman who was gracious enough to allow me to join him. These two fisherman will also remain nameless and will go by the alias "Rock" and "Fish" to aid in telling the story of a great day of fishing.
The story starts with me being about 30-45 minutes behind Rock and Fish on the road and getting to the water. When I finally made a quick unload and hit the water it took me about 20-30 minutes to find them on the water and they were alreadying bailing in fish every other cast. We used the typical assortment of gulps, jig heads, hawg shads, and attempted to use some peeler crab.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you we were fishing for speckled trout!
I'll let the pictures tell the story....
1st fish on 1st cast
6 inch flounder
Puppy drum completes my TKAA Slam
So that wasn't a picture of every fish I caught I wouldn't want to bore you all that much. I finished the day with around 14-15 specks all keepers that were released for another except one that was gut hooked and was most likely not going to make it... so I took it home to make some tacos today.
Of course the story isn't over yet... Rock was fishing two rods at once making a slow drift/troll when he got the 1st hit.... while reeling in the 1st hit.... BAM Strike 2 and this fish ripped the rod out of the rod holder and started pulling the rod instead of pulling the drag. Rock courageously dove in after the rod (a rod and reel he just bought 2 days ago) and was able catch it, while holding on the other rod too. He came up from under the water with 2 rods high over head and bent meaning both fish were still on. Fish rushed over to grab one of the rods. They were both able to land the fish and the fish that ripped the rod out of the holder was a FAT 23 incher.
Also, towards the end of the day I made a cast with a pink Hawg Shad w/ a red jig head.... on the drop a 10" striped bass... Next cast to the same location BAM.... on the drop a big hit... I fought it for a while and eventually was able to see what it was... A FAT Trout... I kept it fighting and below the surface so it wouldn't jump and spit the hook, while Fish was rushing over with the net.... I led the fish to the net!!! We were in the money!!!!!!!
24.5" 6lb Citation Trout!!!!
BOOM!!
I also caught a striped bass around 22" on a topwater lure before the wind picked up too much, but I lost it boat side... I was pretty pumped because it would have been my 1st keeper striper of the year, I just haven't targeted them at all.
The day was a blast!!! Thanks to Rock and Fish for letting me join and I can make it out there to the Oasis again soon!!
Check out Rob's Newest Blog Post about the awesome fishing day they had yesterday!!!
Angling Addict: Going Big in the Wide Open: T he mindset was that if we were lucky, one of us might get a shot at a cobia. The five of us knew going into it that finding mister br...
Was a little busy yesterday yelling at my fantasy football players who were under performing, so I just got a chance to do the drawing for the DIZM Eco Polarized Johnny Johns..
I wrote everyone names on a piece of paper and folded them.... tossed them in a Hobie hat and BOOM....
The Winner is Brandon Barton!!! Congrats and thanks for following!
I get in contact with you so we can get the shades down there for some Florida sun!!
Again everyone please support Dizm Eyewear, great company, people, and shades!!
It's about damn time... I've taken two friends out kayaking multiple times trying to catch a puppy drum and of course I didn't catch one, but they did!!
My hope came true today... Went fishing with Shane "Reelaxin" in Weems Creek in Annapolis, MD. We caught a lot of perch, dink rocks, and A 14.5" Puppy!!!!
"Triggerfish are delicious but are notoriously hard to filet. A guy showed me how to clean one once so I gave it a shot and its the easiest way I know of! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves..." ~Kanvery
Good thing I'm going back to school in the spring for my 2nd degree!!!
"Professional kayak angler pioneer Drew Gregory has announced the launch of College Kayak Fishing (CKF) – www.collegekayakfishing.com. Gregory’s latest endeavor is the first and only tournament organization to bring kayak anglers together from universities across the nation allowing teams to compete in a league format for prizes, scholarships and a chance to claim a national title. Prior to becoming a pro kayak angler, Gregory worked in college recreation as the director of campus recreation at Lander University for four years. “I’ve always had a passion for college students and miss being a bigger part of this demographic. That is why I decided to start CKF,” Gregory said. “I can’t wait to see how the sport of kayak fishing will grow through CKF with this fun demographic that desperately needs to get into a sport that coincides with what’s in their wallet [not much], and their spirit of adventure!” Matches consist of teams competing against the schools within their region. Teams from each school will be comprised of at least five anglers, and colleges may submit more than one team. Scoring is done via the catch-measure-photo release method. CKF will provide college teams the choice of competing within two different divisions – Bass Series or the Salt Water Slam Series. In the Bass Series, anglers are allowed to catch any black bass to register their team’s scores while the Salt Water Slam Series permits teams to catch redfish, sea trout, snook or flounder. Registration and scheduling will be held during the fall ’12 semester with matches starting in spring semester. The playoffs will be held throughout May/June, with the national championship decided in late June. Championship winners will be awarded scholarships along with prizes from CKF sponsors, most notably premier sponsors such as Jackson Kayak, GoPro, Sperry Topsiders, Bending Branches and Hook1 Kayak Fishing Gear. More information can be found at www.collegekayakfishing.com. About Drew Gregory:Known as “BasserDrew” to many, Gregory is a professional kayak angler and an expert in bass fishing America’s rivers and creeks. Gregory hails from Atlanta, Ga., and currently resides in Charlotte, N.C. He has been river fishing since he could handle a rod and reel, but for the past 10 years has been pioneering the sport of kayak fishing in freshwater rivers. Standing up and fishing out of his signature series kayak, The Jackson Kayak Coosa, for smallmouth, largemouth and shoal bass is his passion. Gregory also helped create thre new kayak designs released this year by Jackson Kayak – Cuda 14, Cuda 12 and Big Tuna. The agile angler has logged more than 750 river kayak fishing trips and is the co-founder of RiverBassin.com. Visit www.DrewGregory.com for more information."
It was a long year of hardwork since the 1st Annual Tournament last year and it finally came around full circle for us this past weekend for the culmination the 2nd Annual CBKA Bay Bridge Tournament at Camp Wright in Stevensville, MD. This tournament is completely for charity supporting Make A Wish Foundation and Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland.
This year we had high hopes to really put on an excellent tournament and grow much bigger right along with the sport of kayak fishing itself. I'd like to think we succeeded... 69 Registrants, more than double the amount from our 1st tournament a year ago. The weather held off for us just long enough to allow for some decent fishing. It was a super windy day, pushing 25 mph in the early afternoon and during the awards dinner and raffle we were serenaded by a fast moving storm with 70mph winds.
Metroman's Video of Storms coming across the bay
Alot of fish were caught on Saturday, but not too many big ones. That has been the story this year in the bay.... lots and lots of small fish, especially the striped bass.
For the 2nd year in a row no one caught qualifying fish for the SLAM (Striped Bass, Perch, Bluefish) ... and for the 2nd year in a row I was the only one to Catch Photo and Release these 3 species, but my Striped Bass was 1.5 inches too short to qualify for the prize. :(
Oh well... but I was fortunate to catch the largest Bluefish, which wasn't big at all measuring 12 inches but I'll take it!! And it was the same category I won last year, so it was cool to defend my title.
My winning Bluefish, I won a $100 gift certificate toPaddlehouse Outfitters in Ocean City, MD
Thank you to Andrew for being one of the sponsors.
The largest perch I was able to snag.
And my largest of about 35 schoolies I caught while fishing in the 25 mph winds and waves directly out of the south.
Thank you to all the sponsors that I worked with personally as well as the others that my counterparts interacted with the tournament was a great success the raffle was great and a lot of people won some really cool prizes, including a 2012 Hobie Revo 11 donated by Backyard Boats.
CBKA Directors with the lucky winner and newest member of the Hobie Darkside of kayaking
About 75 tickets were sold for the kayak raffle at $20 a pop generating a great amount of moola for our charities. The coolest part about this story was that the winner didn't even own a kayak and was borrowing a friends in order to fish the tournament.
Michael, John, Make A Wish Director, and Myself (a little sun burnt)
All in all it was a totally awesome event again. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. So now I'll take a few weeks off and then I'll be back on the sponsor grind for next years tournament!! If you know any companies that you think may be interested in supporting our cause, please let one of us know!
Also don't forget aboutDizm Polarized Sunglassesgive away a few post below... you have until the 14th to get your name in the hat..
Full results:
We had 10-11 species taken! Rock, perch, MD blue crab (thanks to MOC), croaker, bluefish, spot, sunfish, speckled trout, flounder and redfish. I heard of a cow nosed ray as well. Nice!
Striped Bass Divsion - Sponsored by Easton Cycle & Sport
1st- Richard Souder 24" - $300 gift certificate
2nd- Russ Hewitt 21 1/8" - $200 gift certificate
3rd- Chuck Chambers 16 3/4" - $100 gift certificate
Perch Division - Sponsored by All Tackle
1st - Jonas Williams 13" - $100 gift certificate
2nd - Tom Beach 12" - $75 gift certificate
3rd - Ryan Altenburg 11 3/4" - $50 gift certificate
Blue Crab Division - Sponsored by The Crab Deck Restaurunt on Kent Island
1st - Shane Clift 7 1/2" - $100 gift certificate
2nd - Kevin Corbin 6" - $50 gift certificate
3rd - Tom Brown 5 3/4" - $25 gift certificate
Largest Bluefish - Sponsored by Paddlehouse Outfitters
Matt Baden 12" - $100 gift certificate
Female Angler Largest Fish - Sponsored by Appomatox River Company
*He had a sixth species too, but it flopped out while getting picture... fortunately for me because it was bluefish that was larger than the one I caught haha
The blog has been a great experience for me since I started it earlier this year. Thank you to all of you that follow regularly and take the time to read my posts. I really appreciate your support and our common bond for the great sport of fishing and especially kayak fishing.
Hopefully, the blog will continue to grow along with my other endeavor, Chesapeake Bay Kayak Anglers, Inc. which is hosting our 2nd annual tournament September 8th!!!
Also, I promise to continue to support the great small and large companies that support us fisherman. Including those I have already been fortunate enough to get a chance to work with:Hobie, Bust Em Baits, Dizm Eyewear, and Astral Bouyancy !
As for the give away, I have a pair of Dizm Polarized Sunglasses up for grabs!! They are the ECO Johnny Johns, which are 100% biodegradable and perfect for us environmentally conscious and stylish outdoors men and women.
This is the actually style and color!!
Now for the important stuff.... How do you get entered?
1. Comment on this blog post "That you would like to win" and if you have a Facebook please share the post. I would really like to spread some love for Dizm all over so lets get this trending on the FB. They are an awesome company that is ready to make a splurge in the kayak and fishing scene.
2. Comment on this blog post "That you would like to win" and if you don't have Facebook then you better tell some friends about the contest and Dizm!!
The winner will be chosen randomly on September 15th, 2012. Good luck and Thank you Dizm Eywear for the opportunity to work with you.
