ReelTimeCapt
Well-known member
This week, Team ReelTime had the pleasure of organizing a Rockfish Trip for Mr. Hank Rogers, Kent Winquist and Jerry F. of Norfolk, Va. Mr. Carl Lohafer of Virginia Beach served as First Mate (alias “Dr. Fish”). We gathered at the dock around 1100, after the seas and wind calmed down from the weekend’s blow.
Our guests wanted to target "Big Ocean Rockfish" (alias “Hogs”), so we headed off of Cape Henry in search of them. Things were a little slow at first, but we continued to work our spread near the three mile line from CH down to the Golf Ball and successfully managed to put them on some nice rockfish. Here’s a snapshot of a few we brought back:
From left to right: Kent with a 39”, Jerry to twin 30”s
and Hank with a nice 42” Ocean Rock
W.T.G. Guys !!!
The net result is that we returned to the dock with their limit: 6 nice Ocean Rockfish from 30 to 42 Inches.
Here’s a recap of the Afternoon: The water temperature off of Cape Henry was 43.8 degrees and winds were light at 10 from the North. Carl and I decided to run a 5 Line Spread to cover the water column, which consisted of Mojos on the bottom (1 chartreuse and one white), 1 Tomic and a Crippled Alewife out the sides with inline 8’s and one of our New Secret Weapon (shhhh) out the WWB (Way Way Back). Actually, it was a Mann Stretch 30 on that Carl custom painted with his air brush. It’s blue on top and chartreuse below and really productive.
We’ll, now the secret is out… But you’ll have email Carl to find out his exact spec’s and paint type. (I think he sprinkled cat-nip on it, but he wouldn’t tell us.) But anyway, we first deployed our lines in 45 feet of water 2.5 miles east of CH and started a north to south troll.
“Good Karma” - The fellowship was great and we discussed how our guests new each other. Hank stated that we had the right folks onboard and “Good Karma” because he had caught fish with Kent and Jerry before. And what do you know! - Shortly there after, we had our first knock down on the Crippled Alewife. It was Kent’s turn 1st and he landed this nice 39” Rockfish like a Pro:
Picture of Kent with 39 inch Hog and “Good Karma
A around of “High-Fives” ensued and the ”Good Karma” thing seemed to be working... We continued the troll and a while later picked up a 24” Schoolie on the Stretch, which Jerry warmed up with. We released it healthy and we decided it was time to run south to Sandbridge. As we ran south we located “Mega Gannets” spread out between Rudee and the Golf Ball. They were out near the 3 mile line and the USCG was out there too, keeping them company. W.T.G. USCG and Thank You for Keeping our Borders ( and gannets) Safe !!! We marked moderate bait and fish spread out up and down the coast.
No sooner than I finished the sentence with Kent, things broke loose. And Carl shouts “FISH-ON”. This time the Tomic was productive and Hank boated a nice 30” rockfish. No sooner did we boat it and clear the net, BAM! – we had a repeat performance for Jerry. And then a nice 35 and so on... I lost count of who and how and one Chinese Fire Drill left out Port Side Wire Line looking like spaghetti.
Nice Job, Jerry and Kent on these Twin 30’s!!!
There was fish slim on deck, as well as everyone’s hands from the High Fives
and the “Good Karma” thing was working, as well as a few Buds!
I hit my MOB button on the GPS and we continued to work the area near the gannets. The only exception is that I intentionally refrained from running through them, like some folks were doing. I found the fringe area more productive anyway. I can only imagine that the boat noise and heavy traffic has some impact on the lack of fish, as the flotilla repeatedly descended upon each beehive. On our 3rd pass, we were again on a South to North Troll off of Rudee when we had our next knock down.
Carl turns to the crew and says “Fish-On – And it is Big”...This time it was the stbd Mojo and it was Hank’s turn. He did a super job of managing the rod and keeping adequate pressure on this Hog. This was no small task, as she was a head shaker. We had to clear a few lines as she ran port of stbd and back on the first run.
Hank managed to gain some ground and then she ran started running forward and parallel with the stbd gunnel. Line continued to strip out and I kept her aft and behind the mid section of the boat by making a slight pinwheel turn to Port so that she didn’t get in front of us. She never surfaced, but finally we caught a glimpse of her beside the boat. She was getting tired, but down she went again. This was Hank’s new personal best and the crew did an awesome job netting the fish and bringing it on deck.
Hank’s 42 Inch Head-Shaker! Oustanding Job, Hank!!!
Great Job, guys! The action continued and our guests hooked up with several more Rockfish before we called it quits. As we headed back to the marina, you could see the sun setting to the west and the moon rising to the east, both low on the horizon. What an awesome sight: It’s not often that you see a sunset that beautiful coincident that a full moon rising. Both on a canvas of jet blue, orange and amber. The winds were calm. It lets you know the Good Lord is at work. We arrived back Taylor’s around 6:30, cleaned the fish and recounted the day:
Picture of our “Motley Crew: Left to Right - Kent, Hank and Jerry
with “Big Ocean Rockfish” and “Good Karma”
In closing, a great time was had by all. We all enjoyed the action, adventure and as you can tell - the banter and fellowship!
Good Luck, Tight Lines and See You on the Water,
Captain Fletcher Dunton
Our guests wanted to target "Big Ocean Rockfish" (alias “Hogs”), so we headed off of Cape Henry in search of them. Things were a little slow at first, but we continued to work our spread near the three mile line from CH down to the Golf Ball and successfully managed to put them on some nice rockfish. Here’s a snapshot of a few we brought back:
From left to right: Kent with a 39”, Jerry to twin 30”s
and Hank with a nice 42” Ocean Rock
W.T.G. Guys !!!
The net result is that we returned to the dock with their limit: 6 nice Ocean Rockfish from 30 to 42 Inches.
Here’s a recap of the Afternoon: The water temperature off of Cape Henry was 43.8 degrees and winds were light at 10 from the North. Carl and I decided to run a 5 Line Spread to cover the water column, which consisted of Mojos on the bottom (1 chartreuse and one white), 1 Tomic and a Crippled Alewife out the sides with inline 8’s and one of our New Secret Weapon (shhhh) out the WWB (Way Way Back). Actually, it was a Mann Stretch 30 on that Carl custom painted with his air brush. It’s blue on top and chartreuse below and really productive.
We’ll, now the secret is out… But you’ll have email Carl to find out his exact spec’s and paint type. (I think he sprinkled cat-nip on it, but he wouldn’t tell us.) But anyway, we first deployed our lines in 45 feet of water 2.5 miles east of CH and started a north to south troll.
“Good Karma” - The fellowship was great and we discussed how our guests new each other. Hank stated that we had the right folks onboard and “Good Karma” because he had caught fish with Kent and Jerry before. And what do you know! - Shortly there after, we had our first knock down on the Crippled Alewife. It was Kent’s turn 1st and he landed this nice 39” Rockfish like a Pro:
Picture of Kent with 39 inch Hog and “Good Karma
A around of “High-Fives” ensued and the ”Good Karma” thing seemed to be working... We continued the troll and a while later picked up a 24” Schoolie on the Stretch, which Jerry warmed up with. We released it healthy and we decided it was time to run south to Sandbridge. As we ran south we located “Mega Gannets” spread out between Rudee and the Golf Ball. They were out near the 3 mile line and the USCG was out there too, keeping them company. W.T.G. USCG and Thank You for Keeping our Borders ( and gannets) Safe !!! We marked moderate bait and fish spread out up and down the coast.
Then about 4:30, I glanced at the Sonar and pointed out to Kent that we were “Covered-Up” top to bottom and port to starboard on the SONAR. I told him I had a” really good feeling about it…”
No sooner than I finished the sentence with Kent, things broke loose. And Carl shouts “FISH-ON”. This time the Tomic was productive and Hank boated a nice 30” rockfish. No sooner did we boat it and clear the net, BAM! – we had a repeat performance for Jerry. And then a nice 35 and so on... I lost count of who and how and one Chinese Fire Drill left out Port Side Wire Line looking like spaghetti.
Nice Job, Jerry and Kent on these Twin 30’s!!!
There was fish slim on deck, as well as everyone’s hands from the High Fives
and the “Good Karma” thing was working, as well as a few Buds!
I hit my MOB button on the GPS and we continued to work the area near the gannets. The only exception is that I intentionally refrained from running through them, like some folks were doing. I found the fringe area more productive anyway. I can only imagine that the boat noise and heavy traffic has some impact on the lack of fish, as the flotilla repeatedly descended upon each beehive. On our 3rd pass, we were again on a South to North Troll off of Rudee when we had our next knock down.
Carl turns to the crew and says “Fish-On – And it is Big”...This time it was the stbd Mojo and it was Hank’s turn. He did a super job of managing the rod and keeping adequate pressure on this Hog. This was no small task, as she was a head shaker. We had to clear a few lines as she ran port of stbd and back on the first run.
Hank managed to gain some ground and then she ran started running forward and parallel with the stbd gunnel. Line continued to strip out and I kept her aft and behind the mid section of the boat by making a slight pinwheel turn to Port so that she didn’t get in front of us. She never surfaced, but finally we caught a glimpse of her beside the boat. She was getting tired, but down she went again. This was Hank’s new personal best and the crew did an awesome job netting the fish and bringing it on deck.
Hank’s 42 Inch Head-Shaker! Oustanding Job, Hank!!!
Great Job, guys! The action continued and our guests hooked up with several more Rockfish before we called it quits. As we headed back to the marina, you could see the sun setting to the west and the moon rising to the east, both low on the horizon. What an awesome sight: It’s not often that you see a sunset that beautiful coincident that a full moon rising. Both on a canvas of jet blue, orange and amber. The winds were calm. It lets you know the Good Lord is at work. We arrived back Taylor’s around 6:30, cleaned the fish and recounted the day:
Picture of our “Motley Crew: Left to Right - Kent, Hank and Jerry
with “Big Ocean Rockfish” and “Good Karma”
In closing, a great time was had by all. We all enjoyed the action, adventure and as you can tell - the banter and fellowship!
Good Luck, Tight Lines and See You on the Water,
Captain Fletcher Dunton
