Start of the Bull Red Run

My 2013 bull red season was without a doubt one of the best fishing seasons I have ever had. With 8 Virginia release citations and 2 fish going over 50+"'s it was going to be hard to top. Or for that matter, even repeat. Catching just one of these citations in an entire season is a feat in itself.

The main goal for 2014 was to just catch one! My first trip out to the Eastern Shore of Virginia we were going to have near perfect conditions. Awesome water clarity and low winds should equal a good day of drum fishing. Today our hopes were high. Today we were going to get it done!

I was joined by my good friends Richie Bekolay and William Ragulsky. Our goal - get out to the shoals and find the fish! Richie has a rough 2013 Bull Red season going 13 or so times without a fish.

He worked extremely hard last year to find these fish and for whatever reason it just wasn't his time. This year was going to be different, he kept telling me (and himself). And sure enough he made it happen on his first trip. Richie landed this awesome Bull that measured at 46" - His first Virginia Bull Red Release Citation!

Photo Credit - William Ragulsky

  Congrats on the awesome fish buddy! Check out his full report here Monkey Eviction

As Richie was fighting his fish I stood up and noticed the huge school moving off to my left. I made several casts with multiple fish on then off again. I made another long cast and a fish exploded on the bait! I was in for my sleigh ride. As I went back and watched the GoPro video I giggled like a 12 year school girl the entire time. Just shows you how exciting it is to catch one of these beasts of the Chesapeake Bay!

Photo Credit - Richie Bekolay

Photo credit - Richie Bekolay

The last couple of months I had a quite a few people tell me that I had a "Lucky" 2013 red season. At first I was a little offended by the comments because I did work hard. But then one of my friends posted something that helped. "The harder you work = The luckier you get!" Another one of my favorites is "Work hard to put yourself in a position to be successful!".

Do your scouting - Watch the video's - Check out past reports. But most importantly. Go out and create your own reports. Don't just wait until you get one because by that time it might be too late....

HOOKED UP

Breaking in the new rods...

When I arrived home from work on Thursday, there was a unexpected surprise waiting for me. It was a package from Bill Merrick and Chad Hoover from ALL PRO RODS. It included 3 APX Graphite Pro Series Spinning rods, 7' med and 7' med/light. Check them out at www.ALLPRORODS.com.

With my new rods in hand, I needed to try and hit the water soon! I called fellow APR Pro Staffer Richie Bekolay to see if he was available to fish Saturday morning. And he was game (as usual)! Although, it is a tough decision this time of year with deer season underway.

I met Richie at the ramp before light to see if we could get on the early bite. Just as we were leaving the ramp, a fellow kayaker greeted us. This wasn't just any tall, sleeveless man at the ramp. This was Forrest Short! For those of you who don't know this man; he's the local Speckled Trout Master. He has 30+ Virginia Citation trout this season alone! Not to mention all the Freshwater citations!

We all arrived at the vortex trout fishing hole (Forrest's nickname for this spot) together and pulled the kayaks up in the grass. When your fishing with a guy like Forrest, you let him pick his spot first and then span out from there. It didn't take him long to show us how its done. First fish up was a beautiful 26" citation! Forrest continued to teach us how it's done with two more citations, 24.5", 25"! He kicked our butts! And it was great to be able to fish with him for a few hours. It's amazing what you can learn from watching such a great fisherman.

 I finally got on the board with a 17 1/2" and 23 3/4" trout, just short of citation.

 

Photo by Richie Bekolay

A few weeks prior to this trip, I had a huge trout launch completely out of the water and missed my Skitterwalk. I had the image of that trout in my head for weeks. So I left Forrest and Richie to head over to that spot. I know that it's ridiculous of me to think that that fish was going to still be in that area, but I had to try.
I made it over and quietly and pulled the kayak up on the bank. I grabbed my 7' APR Pro Series rod and made my first cast and nothing. On the second cast I was retrieving my Mirrolure, when I felt just a slight bump and set the hook (now that's why you want a sensitive rod). My reel started peeling out drag, and I knew this was a better fish. After only a few runs, I thought maybe it was a good red fish, but then I got a good look. This was a stud of a Speckled trout at 26 1/4"!

Photo by Richie Bekolay

Photo by Richie Bekolay

Photo by Richie Bekolay

Could this be the trout from a few weeks ago? I'll never know but I'll take it! I put the fish on my lip grippers and made my way back to the guys. Richie was in the middle of landing a nice fish himself, a 25" striper. The day ended with us landing 4 citation speckled trout and a couple of nice stripers. A great way to break in the new rods! Thank guys, we have to do that again soon!  

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