Wild Bill
02-04-2006, 05:29 PM
Chuck and I took his 23 SE south Wednesday to see if there were any bass in the VA Beach area. Went out of Rudee Inlet about noon Wed and headed south. Found birds around False Cape. My first cast netted a 41 incher. Chuck had a good fish soon after. We snapped a couple of pics and went back to catching. Chuck wanted to keep a few. We filled his fish bag with four fish 38" to 41" very quickly. Good start to a great trip.
Thursday we ran 117 miles for a few fish. There were thousands of gannets diving over tons of bunker. The depth finder was so loaded with bait it often gave a false reading. There was only an occasional bass under the birds. Nice day to be out there until late when it started to blow up a little. It was a real challenge to catch fish.
The weather report for Friday was 20 to 25 out of the S/W. Chuck and I both agreed to stick our nose out and see what it looked like. The inlet had a few big ones that lifted us up pretty good. Once we cleared those it was only four footers with fair space between them. Fortunately the gannets were right out front. There were only a couple of other private boats out. Some charter boats were trolling the area. Many of the charters limited quickly and went in.
We found some good fish right off the beach and followed them down past Dam Neck in the morning. Had them all to ourselves. The fish were suspended but jumped assassins worked at mid depths. Also caught with 6" Storm WE's.
By 1 PM the wind and waves calmed down nicely but our bite slowed. Someone asked on the VHF if anyone was doing anything north of the inlet. A fisherman came on and said it was "Wide Slam Open" right out from the Ramada. Never heard that term before but it was pretty clear what it meant.
We easily ran the couple miles and found the armada with everyone catching. It was 70 degrees and so nice out there guys were fishing in jet skis, kayaks and a 16' Carolina Skiff. Some wore only Tee shirts. There were loads of gannets, bunker and stripers. Fishing could not have been much hotter. Chuck's fish bag was full of four nice stripers and we were throwing back 38 inch fish. Left biting fish at 4:30 PM to get to the launch before the crowd came in.
The fish seem to be moving north from NC into VA. Water temps were 48 degrees. Like to intercept them again soon.
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/netter.jpg
Several of These Guys Working the Area
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/birds2.jpg
An Obscene Number of Gannets
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/skiff.jpg
This is How Nice it Got Friday Afternoon
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/chuck1.jpg
Chuck with a Typical Fish
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/41inch2.jpg
Healthy Fish
Thursday we ran 117 miles for a few fish. There were thousands of gannets diving over tons of bunker. The depth finder was so loaded with bait it often gave a false reading. There was only an occasional bass under the birds. Nice day to be out there until late when it started to blow up a little. It was a real challenge to catch fish.
The weather report for Friday was 20 to 25 out of the S/W. Chuck and I both agreed to stick our nose out and see what it looked like. The inlet had a few big ones that lifted us up pretty good. Once we cleared those it was only four footers with fair space between them. Fortunately the gannets were right out front. There were only a couple of other private boats out. Some charter boats were trolling the area. Many of the charters limited quickly and went in.
We found some good fish right off the beach and followed them down past Dam Neck in the morning. Had them all to ourselves. The fish were suspended but jumped assassins worked at mid depths. Also caught with 6" Storm WE's.
By 1 PM the wind and waves calmed down nicely but our bite slowed. Someone asked on the VHF if anyone was doing anything north of the inlet. A fisherman came on and said it was "Wide Slam Open" right out from the Ramada. Never heard that term before but it was pretty clear what it meant.
We easily ran the couple miles and found the armada with everyone catching. It was 70 degrees and so nice out there guys were fishing in jet skis, kayaks and a 16' Carolina Skiff. Some wore only Tee shirts. There were loads of gannets, bunker and stripers. Fishing could not have been much hotter. Chuck's fish bag was full of four nice stripers and we were throwing back 38 inch fish. Left biting fish at 4:30 PM to get to the launch before the crowd came in.
The fish seem to be moving north from NC into VA. Water temps were 48 degrees. Like to intercept them again soon.
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/netter.jpg
Several of These Guys Working the Area
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/birds2.jpg
An Obscene Number of Gannets
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/skiff.jpg
This is How Nice it Got Friday Afternoon
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/chuck1.jpg
Chuck with a Typical Fish
http://home.ptd.net/~bschotta/41inch2.jpg
Healthy Fish