Nansemond River Fishing with the Hassell Clan- 12 Dec 2007
Lake Meade -Cold weather bass fishing- 28 Jan 2008
Fishing log:
Fish Date-5: 15 Mar 2008
Uncle Dan and I went on the Nansemond River from 11:30-4:30 as the tide was going out. Started at the Driver TX site and caught zip. Moved to the northwest side of the channel at Kings Hwy bridge site. I caught two nice size croakers and one perch as soon as we anchored and a few cat fish. The tide started coming in around 1 pm....moved back to Driver site and caught nothing...moved finally to our site behind the Nansemond River Golf course and we both caught several more catfish. It was a bit windy, sunny in the low 60s....water temp ranged from 57~60.
Total catch of the day for me was: 1 perch, 2 croakers and 8 catfish.
Fish Date-6: 5 April 2008 12:30-1600 Raining and in 60's
Went behind in-laws house in Lake Meade with Mom's John Boat. Used 2 dozen small minnows...went to bridge and nothing....trolled around to Poopee's house and hit pay dirt. As long it was raining and I kept moving, I kept catching fish. I kept 12 large crappie...released a dozen or more crappie, chains, and several small to large raccoon perch.
Fish Date-7: 11 April 2008 / 1 pm- 4:30pm / Sunny-windy-hi 70's / water temp 62
Mom, Charles and I went up to Driver TX site and fished all afternoon. We kept 30 croaker and tossed back many small ones. We caught 4 really big horses! See photos. Also got sun burnt!
Fish Date-8: 3 May 2008 / 3-7 pm / Sunny hi 70's / water temp 72 / wind SW 9~17 mph
Charles and I went out at Brady's at low tide. Saw the damage from the tornado around the golf course and the land as it crossed the river. Lots of debris lines the shore line on the north side and you can see the damage through the trees as it traveled towards Driver.
We caught 28 croakers, small to large....I got a larger skate on my light tackle...took about 15 minutes to get him to the boat.....lots of boats on the water today.
Fish Date-9: 26 May 2008 (memorial Day) 7-1130 /sunny-70/ water temp 67/ windy SW 20-25 mph
Matt and I left Shoulders Hill around 7:15 am and went to south side of Godwin Bridge. Windy and caught a few small Croakers....we left and went to MM Bridge. Wind was at our back, so we could speed right along. Fished up to rocks at tunnel and back towards TCC....caught lots of small Croakers...trolled and no hits. Matt getting a bit quizzy so we left around 1130. Wind now in our face and had to go slow...chop around 1 foot or so. I left rain coat in truck and I got soaked...Matt sat in front seat with poncho and did better. Had fun and brought back 6 Croaker for grand parents.
Fish Date-10: 16 June 2008 Wind southwest 5-sunny/ Temp around 100 at 1300/ smoky from swamp fire
"PD" and put in at 11:45 at Huntington Park in NN, calm and beautiful morning. Went to the MM tunnel and anchored by the rocks on the Suffolk side around 16 feet of water….tide was going out. We kept only 8 croaker and threw several small ones back…got a few big ones. "PD" has a hard time cranking the reels! Got really smoky around 1pm..so bad I could not see bridge or land anywhere…got compass out and got bearings as to get back to landing. Smoke cleared around 2 pm. We left at 4:30 and still nice day….PD went swimming a few times to cool off.
Fish Date-11: 22 June 2008 Hi 90's and sunny/ nice breeze
Went with Lance to Blackwater River around the steel bride in Zuni. Water really low, about 6 feet down judging from the shore line water mark. Got in around 3:30pm and trolled the creek eastward. Some places the boat just made it… he got one Blowfish in the boat, I got one up to the boat and he got off. I also got one little brim just before dark. We caught numerous tree stumps, braches and even trees. Around dusk, difficult to calculate casting distance and would end up in the trees about 6 foot off the bank. Poor fishing even the skitters and deer flies were not biting. We saw a couple that caught a large Shell Cracker on a beetle spin. photo 1 photo 2
Fish Date-12: 25 June 2008 /wind s-sw temp 90's/sunny
Went out to the Chesapeake Light House with Ray and his crew….beautiful day for the 17-mile ride out from Rudy Inlet. We caught a total of 7 Spadefish from 4 pm-830 pm. Little choppy on the way back, but Ray's 25 ft Grady White had no trouble cruising at 24 knots. Camera batteries died after only a few shots and didn't bring any spares.
Fish Date-13: 28 June 2008 /wind SW 5-10/ water temp 77-80/ temp up to 100 sunny & hot
Larry and I launched in NN Huntington Part (NNHP) around 6:30 am and went to the MM. Little choppy and could not run throttle up. Fished behind tunnel rocks on Suffolk side. Kept 18 small croaker and tossed back several small ones…. repaired pole broke after 2nd cast…will retire it. We left at noon and took longer to get back due to being choppy. Larry's back looks like a lobster!!
Fish Date-14: 4 July 2008 /wind SW 10-15/ water temp 78-81/ temp hi 90's sunny-hot
Mom and I launched at NNHP around 7 am and attempted to go to the MM, but had to turn around at NNSS due to waves getting too big for the Tracker. Went under the hi-rise at the JRB....I caught 8 croakers before Mom got a bit. I was using 5 poles too. Wind died down and around 10 we went to the MM and fished there on the Suffolk side for about 2 hrs and caught a few small ones. We left at noon for the ramp.
Fish Date-15: 8 July 2008 / wind SW 10-20/ water temp 83/ temp 70s'-90's cloudy-turned sunny
Mom's 71st birthday, we launched at Brady's around 6:50 am and made it to Driver TX fishing hole. Caught several croaker for awhile...went to Kings HW for awhile and caught a few more...went to fishing hole behind Golf Course till noon...tried under 58 Bypass bridge for a few minutes before returning around 1230. We kept 16 and tossed back several too small.
Fish Date-16: 12 July 2008 / wind NE5-10 / water temp 83 / sunny 90 /tide coming in
First Mate Lynn and I put in at Brady's around 2:30 sat afternoon...she got a new life vest at Sam's. We fished at Driver and Kings HW...kept 8 croakers and tossed back many...she caught the biggest of the day. Dept around a 6pm.
Fish Date-17: 19 July 2008 / wind SW 2-5 / water temp 83 / sunny 90's /
PD was First Mate for the day and we launched in Hampton at the Dandy Point Ramp around 7:30. Fished around the inlet marker for about an hour....wanting to go to the Windmill Point Reef, but didn't know which way to go....lots of boats going somewhere...finally we followed a large John boat...figured he was going to the reef. Well we got out there at least 4 miles to the yellow buoy and plenty of boats all around. There was part of building floating around....also found a cammo color life vest that contained two personal hand held flares. Fairly calm all morning till around 1330 and wind changed to south and got choppy. PD pulled the anchor in and we headed for the ramp....had to stop once and let a school of Porpoise pass. We kept 19 Croaker and one Blue that I caught on a Rattle Trap. Caught several small sharks and sea bass...one skate. Beautiful Day
Fish Date-18: Friday- 25 July 2008 / water temp 84 / sunny hi 80's
Mom and I launched at the Blackwater Landing in Franklin, Va. around 7am. We trolled down past the steel bridge on South Quay Rd. and around 11am got one line snagged on the bottom…in the process of going forward and reverse…the trolling motor caught on fire!! There was smoke coming out under where the batteries and fuel tank are located. I opened the cover and the cable ignited into flames….I splashed water on the wire so I could disconnect the cable. Got the fire out and wires out…the wires almost melted the fuel line, which could have been a disaster!!!
We then cruised down to the Nottaway River to Dockside and used the Portia-john at their ramp. We returned to Franklin around 1 pm….. We both got a bite each, but no fish….besides catching the fire, I caught a condom on minnow….well it was on the hook! This was one of worse places I have fished, however, the bass were hitting the surface everywhere…didn’t want anything in my tackle box.
Note: Signs at Franklin boat ramp warns eating fish here most likely contain Mercury!!
Fish Date-19: Friday- 1 Aug 2008 / water temp 81 / sunny hi 90's /wind N
Mom and I launched at the boat ramp at Lynnhaven Inlet around 7 am. We fished around the bridge on the in coming tide for about an hour and no bites….so we followed a Bass boat out to the channel marker about 1 mile out in the bay. We immediately started catching roundhead aka sea mullet, kingfish, and whiting. Sometimes two at a time and tossed many back, we kept 18 good size ones to eat. We also caught a few spots and one blue that I used for live bait. Caught most of them on fishbites…some on squid and shrimp.
The bass boat that we followed out was in the channel and the larger boats didn't slow down and I noticed his motor was up and the three fishermen were eyeballing it for a long time. So we hauled up the anchor and went to see if they need help. Sure enough they had a line rapped all around the propeller. All three had on life vest and most likely could not swim….so I jumped over board and cut away the line.
After that we went back to the bridge and were going to anchor near the bridge and fish the out going tide. Well Mom couldn’t get the anchor caught and once she did it, we were to close to the bridge pilings and were about to get banged up. I circled all around the anchor rope and could not get it loose so I got Mom to cut the anchor rope.
Since we now had no anchor, we then went and fished around the grass in the inlet near tennis court and I caught a few small Flounder and that was it for the day. We toured down the inlet site seeing all the nice homes and boats…stopped at the fuel station for Mom to use the restroom. We then headed back to the ramp and was about 2pm when we departed the parking lot… nice boat ramp with 2 ramps for launching and 2 for recovery. Nice facilities and only $6.00 for launching. Will return soon!
Fish Date-20: Friday- 8 Aug 2008 / water temp 83 / sunny hi 80's /wind NE/N 10-15
My cousin Charles was my first mate today. We started by going to Hampton at Dandy Point and we tried to go out to Windmill Point Reef and launched at 7am. We got out about 2 miles and just too rough….1-2 ft chop with the bass tracker at it's limit…so we went back to the inlet and fished for about an hour or so and I caught several small croakers. The wind was from NE and getting stronger, we departed around 9:30 for the JRB.
We launched at 10 at the JRB and anchor behind the concrete support at the hi-rise section of the bridge…we caught several toads while Charles caught 5 croakers that were keepers and once two at a time. With the wind from the North around at least 10-15 and water getting really choppy…we left for the boat ramp.
Fish Date-21: Sunday- 31 Aug 2008 / water temp 83 / sunny hi 80's /wind E 10
First day with new / used Trophy-center console 19 ft Bayliner. Lynn, Cristina and Matt were fishing mates. We launched from Shoulders Hill around 1230 pm and returned 5 pm. We fished all around the MM and only caught a few tiny Croakers and Sea Base…one nasty looking el. Used about half a tank the entire day. The boat rides well and fishes great too.
Fish Date-22: Friday- 12 Sept. 2008 / party cloudy hi 70's low 80's /wind SSE 8 mph
Larry, Charles and I launched at Dandy Point (Fox Hill Boat Ramp) in Hampton around 9:30….I tried to find the Back River Reef. We trolled around on the left side of the main channel makers and never could find the yellow reef maker. We anchored and fished some and only caught tiny croakers, sea bass and some speckle trout. Got really choppy and went in around noon and fished the inlet till about 4pm with only two keepers. Larry and Charles caught some big Skates. After we got the boat secured, I went in the bait and tackle shop and spoke to the owner…..we didn't go quite far enough out. We should have crossed over the shipping channel heading on 60 degrees and we would have ran over the yellow buoy!!
Fish Date-23: Sunday- 14 Sept. 2008 / sunny 90's /wind SW 15
Lynn and launched from Brady's about 3 pm on "LOW" tide…..the water level got around 2.5 feet near the duck club. I had the motor tilled up as far as I could and still maintain control of the boat…the wind made it somewhat difficult. We anchored near Kings Hwy and only caught 2 small croaker just as the tide started to come in…we left at 6pm.
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We have been on vacation at Pirates-Cove on Roanoke Island in Manteo, NC. From Sat. 20 Sept thru Sun. 28 Sept. There are only three fish dates due to the windy and stormy weather all week. The winds were up to 50 mph and rain from Sunday thru Thursday.
Fish Date-24: Fri. 26 Sept. 2008
Mom, Matt, Cristina, Lynn and I fished around the islands at Bodie Island and Wanchese just east of the channel. The water was about 8-10 feet and wind out of the NNE. We were 5 miles south of Pirates-Cove/bridge in the Roanoke Sound Channel. We had a few bites and a few small fish….we also got awakened by the speedy yachts as they pass without slowing down which leave a wake of 4 feet. So we decided to head towards Oregon Inlet. Matt and I were reading the map that showed the water depths and the channel makers as we ran up on a sand bar. We were going slowly so the motor just popped up and ran wild till I cut it off.
We all got out in ankle deep water and pushed off the sand bar back into deep water and went back to the dock since the sky was looking dark.
Fish Date-25: Sat. 27 Sept. 2008
I started by myself around 10 am by the Bride next to Pirates-Cove in the channel…in eye few of our condo.
I caught a keeper round head and croaker…Matt called me on the radio and was ready to come out too. Matt, Cristina and I fished for a while and I caught several large Skates. Matt caught a rod with reel…. that is another story I'll leave for him to tell. We eyeballed a boat that went around to the Causeway bridge….we water is really shallow outside the channel. We proceeded and the water was as low as 2.5 feet before we got to the bride. It was around 10 ft there and it was high tide. I caught a 12 in speckle trout on a gulp casting bait. Cristina caught a round head and a croaker that we kept. We made it back without any events!
Fish Date-26: Sun. 28 Sept. 2008
Mom, Matt, Cristina, Lynn and I fished around the Causeway bridge from around 2pm till 4 and I caught one 11.5 inch grey trout and threw him back…Cristina caught a round head and a croaker that we kept. Matt caught a minnow, while Mom feed the grabs, Lynn just watched and cheered us on. Since only thing that was biting was the flies, so we left there at 4 and went to the main bridge and fished the channel for an hour and only caught one small one. Departed to the ramp at 5 just in time to beat the rain.
Fish Date-27: Sat. 4 Oct. 2008
Larry and I launched at NN boat ramp around 7:30am...went to MM and fished for Stripers from around 8-12 around the bridge. Folks were catching Stripers on both sides of us and all we caught were one blue-croaker and a bunch of oyster toads. We trolled over the tunnel and nothing. We tried for an hour or so around the JRB and nothing there for us. Tide was coming in all day...nice and sunny.
Fish Date 28: Mon. 13 Oct. 2008
Lance and Charles didn't make it this morning so I went by myself. I left home around 6 am and when I got around McD's on 58 I kept hearing a bump on the trailer….then I remembered I had swapped trailer hitches to move the Bass Tracker. So I eased on back home and traded the 1.7/8 ' ball for the 2' ball.
Launched at 8.am at Fox Hill boat landing in Hampton….going to the Back River Reef. Rode around for about 30 minutes before I found the yellow buoy. It is on a 60 degree heading 3 miles out…..fished from 9am to 4 pm and didn't catch much. Three blues and two croakers and one spot that I kept…..tossed back two small Flanders.
Beautiful day….high in the 70's… wore shorts and no shirt starting at 10 am. The water was flat with very little no breeze from NW. I saw a few Porpoise on the way out….the tide was going out the entire time I was fishing.