Reports | Healthy Grin Sport Fishing | with Ken Neill

More Tautog Today, No Big Ones

Posted on March 9, 2014 by admin

We went back after tautog today. No twenty-pounders this time. A bit different from out last trip. We caught a total of 15 tautog. We expected it to be rough and it was a little bumpy at times and we got rained on in the morning. Then it turned much nicer than predicted. I was told that it was blowing inshore but out at the Triangle Wrecks, it was mostly calm.

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Thank You Flounder Bowl Sponsors

Posted on March 4, 2014 by admin

Thank You!

Thank you Flounder Bowl Sponsors. Because of your support, we are able to provide the fishing community with a big money fishing tournament for a very low entry fee. In addition to fishing tournament with high payouts, the Flounder Bowl is a big celebration with great food and beverages provided to tournament participants. Thanks to you, a great time is had by all!

Your generous contribution to the Flounder Bowl has also allowed us to support various worthy causes. Flounder Bowl proceeds have been used to make donations to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, the CCA, the RFA and to support the free Youth Fishing Clinic. $1,000 from the tournament was given to the medical fund for a young lady who required multi-organ transplants.

Without you, none of this is possible. Thank you!

2013 Flounder Bowl Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Thomas E Wilson Insurance Agency

(757) 283-6351

VBSF.net

www.vbsf.net

Yorktown Materials

www.yorktownmaterials.com

Harbor Mechanical

(757) 872-4166

Pomoco Auto Group

www.pomoco.com

Dare Marina & Yacht Sales

www.daremarina.com

Multi-Print Inc

www.multiprintinc.com

Green Top Sporting Goods

www.greentophuntfish.com

Michael Surveying & Mapping, P. C.

www.msmva.com

The Bush Companies

(757) 220-2874

Wanchese Fish Company

www.wanchese.com

Seaford Scallop Company

(757) 898-8512

Bay Propeller

www.baypropeller.com

Ferguson Enterprises, Inc.

www.ferguson.com

C. A. Barrs Contractor

www.cabarrs.com

Parks Orthodontics

www.parksorthodontics.com

York River Electric, Inc.

www.yorkriverelectric.com

M and M Custom Painting

(757) 879-9860

Randy Blanchard, MD

Plastic Surgery Center of Hampton Roads

www.pschr.com

Douglas Aquatics

(in memory of Eric Arnold)

www.dapoolsandspas.com

The Rod Father Bait and Tackle

(757) 224-5860

Mercury Mulch, Inc.

www.mercurymulch.com

Comfort Technology Heating & Air Conditioning

www.comforttechnologyinc.com

Liebherr Mining Equipment

www.liebherr.com

Riverwalk & Water Street Grille

www.riverwalkrestaurant.net

Whitehouse Cove Marina

www.whitehousecovemarina.com

Boat U.S.

www.boatus.com

Auto Solution

(757) 236-9905

Tautog To Twenty Pounds Today

Posted on March 2, 2014 by admin

We went out after tautog Saturday morning. It was rough and cold. The fact that the night before was the PSWSFA Awards Banquet did not help. It was a better morning for sleeping in than for going fishing. We were out there at the crack of dawn, anchored up to a wreck, wind in our faces and a cold saltwater spray coming over the transom. While I was realizing that I was not comfortable, Wes Blow caught a couple of tautog. I asked the guys what they thought about just pretending that we had not gone fishing today and to give it another try on Sunday. Nobody thought that was a bad idea, even Wes. Sunday morning was much calmer and warmer. It did blow up during the afternoon but by that time we did not care. We had a box full of some impressive tautog. We did not do much for the tag-and-release effort this weekend. We did tag some. We did better at the collecting of DNA samples (and dinner). Everyone onboard weighed in at least one fish nine pounds or better. A total of eight fished weighed over nine pounds. The heaviest was a twenty pound tautog caught by Jody Linthicum. Hunter Southall came in second with a sixteen pound fish.

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PSWSFA Awards Banquet

Posted on March 1, 2014 by admin

The Peninsula Salt Water Sport Fisherman’s Association held their annual banquet February 28. This event was a kickoff for the 2014 fishing season and a celebration of 2013. Many, many awards were given out. Of these, none are more important than the special youth awards. Youth receiving awards include: Spencer Elford, Hayden Head, Hannah Elford, Lexi Sava, Caleb Sava, Deven Simmerman, Kylie McCormick, Johnathan Bingham, Lillian Linthicum, Caroline Bingham, Hannah Stratton, Ethan Moore, Gaston Shepard, Morgan Cooper, Adelle Hudgins, and Taylor Simmerman.

Annual awards were given out for thirty-two different species of saltwater fish. Of note, are five new club records. Rick Wineman set new records with a 117-inch swordfish and a 42-inch albacore tuna. Jeff Dail raised the dolphin record with a 64-inch fish. Clair Hillard caught a 34.5-inch false albacore. A 29-inch blackfin tuna, caught by John Hunt, Jr., is the new club record for that species. Each of these fish was considered for the Fish of the Year Award. Rick’s swordfish won. In addition to setting the club record, his swordfish was the heaviest sword weighed in Virginia in 2013. An honorable mention goes out to one of our youth anglers, Ethan Moore. Ethan caught and released a 65-inch tarpon on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. A Virginia tarpon is an impressive catch.

The Masters Golf Tournament has their jacket ceremony. The PSWSFA has its own master jacket tradition. When a member wins the Angler of the Year Award for the second time he earns the title of Peninsula Salt Water Sport Fisherman’s Association Master Angler for Life and he receives a special jacket. Three anglers received their Master Jacket: Dave Boyce, Wes Blow, and Rick Wineman.

Two tournament trophies were awarded. Charles Southall won the Don Forman Cobia Tournament with an 81.5 pound fish. Ken Neill won the Irv Fenton Rockfish tournament with 43 pound striped bass.

Ken Neill won the Critter of the Year Award for a lobster and he won the Dr. Boatwright Annual Rockfish Trophy with a 47-inch rockfish.

The Angler of the Year Award is the top “fishing” award given each year. The 2013 PSWSFA Angler of the Year is Jody Linthicum.

The most prestigious award presented each year is the George Robertson Memorial Fisherman of the Year Award. This award has nothing to do with catching the most or the largest fish. This award is presented to the individual who has done most for others and who has done the most for recreational fishing. The winner of the George Robertson Trophy is Rachel Nelson.

Sponsors of the PSWSFA Banquet include among others: Holland Corp., Guy Harvey, George Poveromo, Sport Fishing Magazine, Multi-Print, Yorktown Transmissions, 1^st Advantage Credit Union, The Pizza Shop, Grafton Fishing Supply and Seafood, Appomattox River Co., Olivia’s Restaurant, Bishop Bait and Tackle, Wilcox Bait and Tackle, Dave’s Sinkers, Golden Creation Jewelers, West Marine, Sea Tow Lower Chesapeake, Andrea’s Italian Restaurant, Sal’s Sicilian Pizza.

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Toggy Weekend

Posted on February 24, 2014 by admin

We spent two beautifully calm days on the ocean this weekend. We fished for tautog both days.

Saturday, we caught a total of 15 tautog. None of them were large with 4 being big enough to keep. 4 fish had previously been tagged. We placed tags in others and collected a fin clipping from each fish.

Sunday, we did a lot more moving around and it was even slower than the day before. We had Dr. Hamish Small from VIMS with us displaying a great dedication to his job. On his day off, he was up well before dawn and did not get home until late into the night to conduct on-the-water research. The rest of us were just playing but Hamish was working hard. He should definitely get overtime pay for pulling up that wreck anchor all of those times.

We did not catch our first tautog until late in the afternoon. From then until we ran out of daylight, we caught 11 tog. All were nice fish with no shorts caught. 3 fish were large enough to earn citations. Steve Martin caught our largest fish at 17 pounds. Stan Simmerman caught the second largest at 14 pounds 8 ounces. We caught some nice sea bass that were released and we had a tautog-blueline tilefish double hook-up. That was a first, the tilefish was real surprise. I had not heard of one being caught in less than 100 feet of water. It was by itself. Two season ago, we had a good catch of cod while fishing for tautog. Last season, we caught lobster. This may be the year of the tilefish. Wes Blow caught the tile and he was sure that he had a big tog on.

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Slow Tautog Day

Posted on February 16, 2014 by admin

We ran out to the Triangle Wrecks yesterday. It was cold and rough early, calming down as the day went on. It was our slowest trip yet. We only caught 7 smallish tog, all tagged and released with DNA sample taken. We had clam, hermit and Jonah crabs for bait. All of the fish were caught on clam.

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Chum Line

Posted on February 13, 2014 by admin

PSWSFA CHUMLINE FEBRUARY 2014

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Tautog 2-9-14

Posted on February 10, 2014 by admin

We ran back out after tautog yesterday. The action was slower than a couple of days earlier but the average size of the fish was better. We did not match out 14 pound 8 ounce fish of the previous trip but the ratio of keepers to throw-backs was better. We caught 18 tautog. I caught our two largest at about 8.5 pounds each. Danny Forehand and I each lost a “real” one. We know where they are living and will try to do better next time.

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Tautog 2-7-14

Posted on February 7, 2014 by admin

We made a short tautog run today. We had Dr. Hamish Small, from VIMS, with us for some on-the-water research. We caught nearly 30 tautog. Lee Williams caught our two largest tog with his largest weighing in at 14 pounds 8 ounces. Good quick trip. Dr. Small collected a DNA sample from each tautog we caught.

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A Fishy Weekend

Posted on February 3, 2014 by admin

Tricia and I flew down to south Florida to attend the 30th Annual Banquet of the IGFA. It was held at the IGFA Hall of Fame & Museum. It was a very nice event and the museum is a place all recreational anglers should visit, especially if you find the history and development of sport fishing, fishery conservation and fishery science interesting: www.igfa.org . I got to visit with a number of people that I have not fished with in awhile. Guy Harvey was there (IGFA Trustee and the featured artist of the banquet) so I was able to thank him personally for his fabulous donation to the upcoming banquet of our fishing club.

The next day, I went fishing. George Poveromo told me that we were right near his home inlet and that I should fish with Capt. Skip Dana, “If there was a sailfish around, he will find it”. Skip owns a pair of “drift boats”. We would call them head boats. Skip said that was how he earns a living, sailfish are more of a passion: www.bluewatermovements.com/captain_skip_dana.php . I met Skip in the morning. He said that the sailfish bite was on fire last week but was really slow this week, it was too calm. He said they needed a stiff NE blow to turn them back on. Sounds like some cobia fishermen I know. We gave them a try and Skip made a “long” run to where he thought the bite would be better to the north. We were putting lines in after a 10 minute run. He had just got the first kite up when the first sailfish was on. It was a nice one and mean. About 30 minutes into the fight, another sailfish ate a kite bait. It was a smaller fish and close to the boat. I put the first rod in the holder and went and fought the second sail. We released that one in about 10 minutes and it was back to the first one. That fish just did not want to behave but I eventually got it to the boat for the release. We had a couple of other encounters, caught some bonito, and had some king bite offs but those were the only sailfish hook ups of the day. We were right off of the beach on a sunny, 83 degree day.

Meanwhile, back in Virginia:

Wes Blow fished a coastal wreck for tautog on Saturday and then he fished the Elizabeth River Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, they caught 25 tautog. He was fishing a wreck where we had tagged a lot of tautog previously and he caught a number with tags in them. He placed tags in the fish that had not been tagged and he collected a DNA sample from each fish for VIMS. Several fish had significant wounds that had healed. On Sunday, Wes caught speckled trout. Wes tags and releases almost every speckled trout he catches but he kept this 10 plus pound gator.

Hunter Southall fished the Elizabeth River Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning having great success catching both speckled trout and puppy drum. On Sunday, he had William Goldsmith with him. Willy is one of the newer grad students at VIMS who has been fishing with us. He got his undergrad degree at Harvard and he is a passionate New England angler learning to fish Virginia. He was on the James catching blue cats the day before. Over the two days, they caught speckled trout to about 27 inches and puppy drum to 33 inches. They caught fish on both live bait and artificials.