# Two spots 1st come 1st serve - Boat striper trip out of Rudee



## Heaver (Feb 7, 2001)

Got two spots open for Friday morning 0600 Dec 29, 2006 on my boat 25' Pro Sports Cuddy. Trolling for stripers Cape Henry and Oceanfront. Most likely 1/2 day be back in early 1-2pm.

Bring yourself, some munchies, fuel donation accepted but not necessary.

Call me on my cell 472-FISH (3474) before 9pm tonight Thursday.

PS: Bring your own rod encouraged, but not necessary. Do bring a casting rod just in case we run into schooling fish on surface.

Lou
aka Heaver


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## JimInVA (May 17, 2005)

Helluva an offer... wish I had the time to do it. Thanks for the open invite!!!

Jim


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## AL_N_VB (Apr 3, 2002)

Dayum Lou!!!
If I didn't hafta work, I'd jump on it!

You going out on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday?...

Fellas- Lou is a hell of a surf caster- and a hell of a fishin Captain....can't gaurantee he'll find tha fish but will werk his butt off to find tha bite.

Lou- Call me if you got anymore open dates.


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## RACN35 (Oct 17, 2004)

every lot was full by 0800 today ....must have been 3000 trollers out there today....hope you get em early buddy


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## RedskinFan228 (Jun 28, 2004)

Nserch4Drum said:


> Dayum Lou!!!
> If I didn't hafta work, I'd jump on it!
> 
> You going out on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday?...
> ...


Lou I to would be available for a Sunday Monday or Tuesday trip. I would even be willing to fish with that guy Al. I know it would be pure hell  but for a boat trip I can suffer a bit LOL. 375 6063

Ken


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## RACN35 (Oct 17, 2004)

head south away from the parking lot at cape henry- 4 man limit of 8 fish yesterday - all over 40....i was a HO not the Capt !! lol fun that way too !! throw in 25 for gas and no clean up,towing,launching.....mine sat home in the drive way !


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## HawgHvn (Jun 4, 2003)

Dang, Lou, wish't I'd read this thread much sooner! Otherwise I wouldn't have had to write THIS Friday report!

If Necessity is the Mother of Invention, Desperation is the Sire of Stupidity.

I don’t know if it was because SWMBO ran out of cheese to go with my whine or maybe she just got tired of me flopping around on her living room floor like a fish out of water (It’s a beeeeyoutiful day! I should be fishing! I bet the bay is flat as a pancake! Maybe I should take the boat out of winter layup! Striper fishing is hot along the CBBT right now, I should be there!)

Anyway, my desperation caused HER to do something that caused ME to do a stupid thing. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying SHE is stupid. It was an act of pure love on her part. She reserved a half-day striper trip on a head boat for me. I won’t say which one, or which marina. Part of my story would be embarrassing for them, otherwise. When SWMBO first told me, my initial reaction was “Thanks, but no thanks!”.

Um. Did I say that out loud?

Apparently I did. Anyway, after about an hour of consolation and toe licking I managed to get back into her good graces once again. And I still had a reservation for a half-day striper trip on a head boat. I’m reminded of the saying “Never Say Never”. I had. I had said I would never go on a head boat for striper ever again. I was, apparently, wrong.

And so, out of desperation and the desire to show SWMBO just how much I really do love her, I left Williamsburg at zero-dark-thirty and headed for Virginia Beach. The drive was uneventful. Even the traffic at the tunnel and the lights on Shore Drive cooperated. I did drive by the Virginia Beach launch at Crab Creek and remembered chuckling at all those boat guys lined up clear out to Shore Drive waiting to get into the water as early as 6:00 a.m. Ha, Ha, Ha! None of THAT mess for me! Park the truck. Pay for my ticket. Walk on board. Leave the driving to them!

What? $35.00? Cash or Check ONLY please? PLUS another $5 for a rod? PLUS $2 for a white bucktail? The last time I went out on the “XXXXX XXXX” it was $23, the rod and bait was included, and I had said then that I would never . . . Never mind! Toss in $20 for truck gas and a few more for sustenance and this trip is WAY too expensive and we haven’t even left the dock, yet. And we still haven’t even left the dock, yet. And we are still sitting by the dock. And they haven’t even started warming up the engines yet. I have watched 483 boats go out the channel to go fishing, the sun has been up for two hours, the outgoing tide is almost over and done, and we still haven’t left the dock. 

When we finally do get out, we head straight for a flock of birds (and about 30 boats working them). Now, I’ve always been taught to edge up to the bait ball, not drive into the middle of it. No surprise then, that of the 27 people on board about half a dozen dinks came in and then nothing. Pull up and we’ll move. 
After 3 or 4 of these maneuvers, the bait ball is no more. Head to the bridge. Even now, there is hardly any wind or water flow. I pass gas and stand in my own cloud for several minutes. At least I now have a few inches of room not too far back from the bow to try to reach a piling. With a ¾ ounce white bucktail. With 26 other lines all coming out of nowhere and crisscrossing my space. And guys casting that probably never have ever held a rod before today. Including the one that tried to flip a 12 pound yellow bucktail to the pilings and back-flipped it behind him, over the top of the boat, to the fantail. Just what DO you say when you do that? Fore? I think he yelled out “Watch It” from the bow to those in the back. Yeah, right. Like they heard him. And like they had the TIME to “Watch It” before it GOT THERE!

As it turns out, for the day, about 25-30 18 ½ inch stripers were caught, and 3 really nice flounders (one going 21 inches). Most fish were caught by green & yellow bucktails. The head boat only provides white. There’s something wrong with that. And the mate? Nice enough guy. Really helpful. Things are slow. He’s casting to the bridge. With a green bucktail. Catching fish. “Just trying to increase the count!”

I’m sure, somewhere, I’ve read that it is illegal to give striper to someone else. I’m not sure of the exact wording of the law, but the mate is running around the boat with a lipped fish (more than once) and asking do I want it. I finally told him, “Look. If I don’t catch it myself I don’t want it. And the first one I keep will be over 40 inches. So, no, I don’t want your fish or anybody else’s fish, either.”

Well. I never kept that 40 plus inch fish. I never caught it to keep it. I never got a bite by it to catch it to keep it. Nor did I have to worry about throwing back anything smaller. Anything. And I felt really bad for the guys from Jersey, PA, MD, NC that were raving about how great the fishing was because they caught that one (or two) keeper(s). Yup. 18 ½ inches IS a keeper. Never saw anything over 22. One guy was bragging about his two 19 inchers that he has caught so far this season. Well, at least he has SOMEthing to brag about, I suppose, when he gets back to Elizabeth City.

There should also be a law about the way these head boats advertise their fishing times. I mean, I realize that a fishing trip must include SOME boat maneuvering time. But, when you leave at exactly 8 a.m. and don’t get the first line into the water until 8:20 or 8:30, and you spend another hour (or more) moving around the bay, and stop fishing at 11:20 to get back by noon (or a couple minutes earlier). Well. Add insult to injury. The Captain gets on the bullhorn on the ride back. “I’m sorry the fish weren’t cooperating any better, but it’s been a beautiful day. I hope you all had a good time! There were reports of quite a few large fish being caught off the beach side of Virginia Beach, but once we kept a few of those fish under 28 inches we couldn’t go out there to join them.” Well Duh! You also saved a lot of gas which made the trip much more lucrative. Let’s see. 27 times 35 and we only puttered around the ocean side of the bridge for a couple of hours when smart fishing would have said go straight to the lunkers. Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! wins out.

The return trip, at least, was more eventful. I did swing by Little Creek to see where my name is on the list. And there was a bad accident at the tunnel which left me sitting on 64 at 4th view for an hour and a half longer. And my bladder was full cuz I was sucking down cola figgering I’d get home in an hour. And there still wasn’t a breeze blowing and with the car sitting still and my gut still reacting to something I ate . . .

I've been trying to hook up with Jamie for forever, but bmail me if you ever have another open seat. I've got the munchies, the rods & reels (including 2 Penns), a tackle box full'o'stuffs and a $20 bill.


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## RACN35 (Oct 17, 2004)

Dont listen to him Lou !! Its not our fault he dont dial a phone or sign on here more often.

we got plenty of time anyway - its only Dec31st and NOV/DEC filled my freezer already- last year we didnt even fish until mid Jan ! 

*how did you guys do anyway Heaver man ??? *


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## HawgHvn (Jun 4, 2003)

Actually, I been waitin' for Racin' to finish installin' the curtains and heater on the Happy Jack - always wanted to know what it's like to winter fish for stripers from an easy chair by a fireplace in the den! Ya got that 42" flat screen & dish TV installed yet, Jamie?


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

i feel for you HAWG...i paid for 8 family members to fish the CBBT on a head boat...called the night beforeto make sure thats where we were going...they said YES...asked at check-in and they said YES...left the dock(30mins late) and went right under the dang bridge and kept going...i asked the mate...WTF and he said the capt. would put us on fish...we ended up within casting distance of HARRISON's PIER...we ended up with 63 croaker(that i had to clean) and paid $25 per person when we could have gone to the pier and stayed longer for $7 each...no more head boats for me unless its free or the destination is guarenteed in writing...


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