I ran over to the Eastern Shore this morning to fish for tarpon, watching the meteor shower on the way over. Got set up at sunrise and had my first bite soon after. I had a tarpon jumping around at the end of my line. It took most of my line so I had to come off the anchor. The thing towed my boat around for a while before letting me get a hold of it. Being my first Virginia tarpon, I brought it in the boat for a measurement and a couple of photos (actually a couple thousand as the Go Pro was taking photos every 2 seconds throughout the entire fight). I released the fish, retrieved my anchor and ran back home. I made it back before any of my family had gotten out of bed. This Virginia tarpon fishing is easy. That is what I thought 3 years ago when I first tried for a tarpon in Virginia. Charles Southall and I chartered Capt. Blake Hayden, www.righttidecharters.com . I had one hooked up first thing that morning also. That one got away as did the one Charles had jumping later that same day. That was OK, with getting bites like that; we would just catch one the next trip. Boy was I wrong. Three years of trying all kinds of things, even spending all night over there with a swordfish light and chunking bunker and butterfish in between swatting bugs and I finally catch one this morning fishing just the way Capt. Hayden taught us. Thanks Blake.
Another fishing report concerns another of our area’s best fishing guides, Capt. Jorj Head, (757) 262-9004. The Chesapeake Bay Cobia Cup was held this past weekend. Fresh off his win of the Wallace’s Bait and Tackle Flounder Tournament, Jorj followed it up by taking first place in the cobia cup and winning the big-fish Calcutta. Jorj was back at it again today. When I spoke to him, they had already caught 10 cobia today. I don’t know what the final count was yet.
