HRBT Sunday Striper

So, Sunday I get a call from my good friend Jason asking me if I would like to join him and Eric out at the Hampton side of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel to try and find some catch and release schoolie striper.  Considering I hadn't been fishing in a week, I decided to go ahead and meet up with them. 

Now let me start the actual trip part of the story by letting everyone know that I have never seen Jason be on time to anything...ever.  So when he said that we would meet out there at 7:30 PM, I made the mistake of getting there at 7:30.  So after waiting around, getting the kayak off of the truck, putting my waders on and all that good stuff, I finally decide that I'm going without them.  I launch the kayak to beautiful calm seas and a solid incoming tide.  I instantly head for the small boat channel on the west bound bridge and start looking to see if I can spot some fish. Nothing.  So off I go towards the island.  I get up to the island and just start drfiting and blind casting lures back down the bridge.  Once I get back to the small boat channel I see the lights on Eric and Jason's kayaks off in the distance and decide to paddle over to them and tell them what I had seen.  We shot the breeze a little and then headed back over towards the bridge.  This time I decided I would try the east bound bridge small boat channel.  I paddle up really slowly and just look around for a bit, but see nothing.  I decide that since I'm there I might as well just cast a few times to see if they might just be a little deeper.  On my third cast I feel just the slightest tick on the end of the line, and my instincts took over and I set the hook into a small 19"er.  I'm as happy as I can be at this point.  I let Jason and Eric know that I got one and then decided to cast in the same area for a bit longer.  Four casts into this I get another small tick and set the hook into a meaty 20"er.  I tried a few more spots but couldn't really find anything else out there, and decided to call it a night.

All in all it was a great short trip, calm waters, light breeze and even a few fish to boot.  Of course both fished were released strong and healthy to fight another day.

Stay tuned to the blog folks, Friday will be the next podcast and this week I have Kayak Kevin.  This one should be a great listen.

Tight Lines
Chris Story