Healthy Grin Sport Fishing

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I ran over to the buoy 10 area with both clam and crabs for bait. I put out all crabs except for one clam bait…so I would not have to deal with too much by-catch. A clear-nosed skate and two big cow-nosed rays later, the clam came out of the water and I was only red drum fishing. I had one of those on but the hook pulled and the seas had picked up so I called it a day. Hunter Southall got out there after me and anchored up near me. During an even shorter trip than I had, they caught two black drum before the wind made them head in.

Wes Blow and I went out after work yesterday evening. We targeted black drum. We caught dogfish, clear-nosed skates, and Wes caught a nice cow-nosed ray. The ray was part of a double he fought. The other ended up being one of the larger dogfish. I just took photos of him managing that excitement as I had already caught a 48-inch black drum. Wes did get into the drum after he had enough of the sharks and rays. When we got back, there was a worm explosion going on around my dock.

While we were after drum, Bill Pappas, Jr. fished Rudee Inlet. He caught a 36-inch bluefish on 8-pound test line with no leader!

JT Hale fishing with Wes Blow. Yesterday in the bay.

Freeman Volunteer of the Year Award

This award is named for Robert Mallory Freeman, a former VIMS Council member and supporter who passed away in 2004. Bob was chairman of Signet Bank in Richmond until 1996. He was active with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia Environmental Endowment, among many other community leadership activities. At VIMS, Bob was interested in oyster restoration, advancing research with cutting-edge scientific equipment, and helping to leverage resources through his many generous donations.

This year’s Freeman Award goes to Dr. Ken Neill, a Yorktown dentist, for his exceptional efforts to promote fisheries research and the education of VIMS graduate students.
Dr. Ken Neill (right) with VIMS Dean and Director Dr. John Wells.

When not attending to his dentistry practice in Yorktown, Ken is on the water as captain of the Healthy Grin. An expert angler, Dr. Neill has been an invaluable collaborator on several VIMS studies that use pop-up satellite tags to study post-release survival, habitat use, and movements of marine sportfishes. Dr. Neill has donated weeks of his time to assist with tagging studies of billfish off Venezuela, and has provided VIMS faculty and students with opportunities to collect samples from the Healthy Grin.

Ken is a great teacher and his expertise and love of fishing is infectious. He has helped at least seven VIMS graduate students with their thesis research, taking them aboard his vessel for a unique educational experience, teaching them how to fish, and introducing them to other captains willing to help them with their field work. He is truly deserving of the Robert M. Freeman Volunteer of the Year Award.

Congratulations, Ken!

http://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/service_awards/freeman_volunteer_award.php

http://www.chesapeake-angler.com/AnglerMay2013web.pdf

We went back to Fisherman’s Island yesterday evening. We had a few crabs crushed, a couple of pulled hooks, and we landed a pair of big red drum. Hunter’s fish was 48 inches long, Charles’ was 47 inches. Ric Burnley was over there again, fishing earlier in the day than us. He had caught 4 drum when I checked in with him.

Ric Burnley and Matt Shepard caught 3 big red drum in the Fisherman’s Island surf yesterday. They lost a couple of others.