# Lynnhaven Inlet 10 July 03



## Va_yakfisherman (Feb 14, 2003)

Fished Lynnhaven this morning. Tried to the right of Crab Creek this morning. Nothing biting. So I took my fly rod, my spining rod and my gudgens to my favorite island. Fished there from about 10:30 to 1:30. Had a nice bite going on the last hour or so of the out going tide. First fish, flounder caught on the fly rod. Next fish, flounder on the fly rod. Next fish, Mister Puppy Drum, damn, he got off at the edge of the island. Ok decide to throw out the spining reel with a gudgen on and fly fish too. Found a new way to fish them little fish. Sorry can devulge my secret but four Puppy Drum in about 35 mins. Could hardly keep the little gugdens in the water. I would throw them out, grab the fly rod and by the time I had my fly rod in the back cast the spining reel was a singin'. So I stuck with the spining rod. So todays total: 4 nice (legal, 22, 21, 21 and 20 inches) Puppy Drum, One healthy (legal, 23 inch) Flounder, and two of the biggest Croaker I have ever caught. Released about as many fish as I caught to. Those were undersized. Oh yea, one 28 inch striper and one Taylor Blue too. Let them go as well. Had a great day on the water and in the kayak.




























Tight Lines!

[excited]


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## wizardude (May 19, 2002)

Sounds like a great trip, whatever a "gudgen" is  

Flyrodder thing, are maybe this is just a "googan" question???


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## Doad (Aug 27, 2001)

*The page cannot be displayed*

Couldn't open your images, Va_yak; not sure why-IE just told me to try later...

glad to hear about your success, and its always fun to discover a new method of fishing that increases the catch rate! Good on ya!

Doad.


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## Va_yakfisherman (Feb 14, 2003)

Pics are back up. Not sure what happened.


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

*I still can't*

get them.  hummmph stupid computer.


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## catfishmama (Mar 6, 2002)

Can't get them either and sure do want to take a look.


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## wizardude (May 19, 2002)

*Bummer.........*

"Forbidden 

You do not have permission to get URL '/groups/g_9601412/Image008.jpg' from this server"


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## Doad (Aug 27, 2001)

*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzttt!! Wrong answer*

STILL NOT ABLE TO READ 'EM, amigo.

Congrats anyway (still!)

Doad


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## dballs (Mar 3, 2003)

You kept 4 of those according to your post and pics.......I could be mistaken but I thought the limit was 3.

http://www.mrc.state.va.us/swrecfishingrules.htm


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

I can't open pic either and please tell me what a gudgen is


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## cocoflea (Aug 1, 2002)

Forgot to give you the error message:

Forbidden 
You do not have permission to get URL '/' from this server.


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## fishyakker (Jul 11, 2003)

I believe Dballs is correct. As of this year, you can only keep 3 fish, and the larger fish are catch & release only. Anything else is poaching. It's nice to see the law change this year. I personally don't know how anyone can kill a puppy drum when they grow to be such a great gamefish, especially if they taste anything like a croaker, but that's me.


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## fishyakker (Jul 11, 2003)

I believe Dballs is correct. As of this year, you can only keep 3 fish, and the larger fish are catch & release only. Anything else is poaching. It's nice to see the law change this year. I personally don't know how anyone can kill a puppy drum when they grow to be such a great gamefish, especially if they taste anything like a croaker, but that's me.


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## The Bucket (Mar 4, 2001)

WizarD & C-Flea,

A Gudgen is a small fish or minnow either similar to or slang for a mudminnow or mummichog and is used for live bait such as with squid on a fluke killer rig which is called giving'em the sandwich  

Sounds yummie :---> 

`bucket


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## Va_yakfisherman (Feb 14, 2003)

. Ok, I was in error. I thought the limit was four. I will make sure that I get a new card, as I did not have one with me, or a fishing partner to ask. I was the only one out on thursday, only saw a handful of power boats go by. I am not one that breaks the law or poaches as you are saying that I was. It was a honest mistake. Please forgive my lack of knowledge of the new regs. I will pull them up on the net and get the current regs. 

As for keeping the fish. I only keep what I eat and release all others. If you read, I released as many as I kept. If I were a poacher I would have kept them all. I did not. All fish (puppy drum, flounder and croaker) were legal size. If I were a poacher, I would have kept the nice 28 inch striper too. I don't keep fish that I am not suppose to. I make a mistake and now the masses are coming down on me. If you are trying to help me with the new regs, great, but don't slam me for an honest mistake. I am sure that you have never ever made a mistake in your life. If you want to help me, then go fishing with me and make sure that I don't do things wrong. As it often happens, I fish alone and do not alway remember what the rule are, but I will try and find a card or something that I will carry to help me. Where might I find this card with all the size limits and keeper limits on it????


For all of those that want to see the pics, email me at [email protected] and I will send you the pics. Trying to psot them somewhere else and relink them. Will try angain soon.


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## Tom Powers (Aug 2, 2001)

In the spirit of helping with the new regs. Red Drum 3 fish 18 to 26 inch slot limit.

Oh and another name for gudgens (sp) is mud minnows. It is interesting that they were working so well I may try some on the flats and near the shore line soon.

Tom (The glad that he did not catch a 34 inch cobia as up until a week ago that is what I thougt the minimum size was. BTW I have only targeted them once on someone else's boat who knew the rules)


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## Doad (Aug 27, 2001)

*http://www.first-nature.com/fishes/gobio_gobio.htm*

Its a baitfish (minnow) we locals use for flounder fishing often. They can be caught fairly easily this time of year by castnetting wherever you can wade and wherever there might be appropriate cover (grassbeds, etc) for smaller fish to hide. I've caught lots of gudgeons in less than 6" of water in Lynnhaven inlet, and I remember one time when the inlet flooded the roads on the Island, they were swimming everywhere-in the garage, in the back yard and the front yard of my (then) boss' property! Kinda cool...


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## wizardude (May 19, 2002)

The Bucket said:


> *WizarD & C-Flea,
> 
> A Gudgen is a small fish or minnow either similar to or slang for a mudminnow or mummichog and is used for live bait such as with squid on a fluke killer rig which is called giving'em the sandwich
> 
> `bucket *


Those little buggers got more names than anyother bait I think.
Thanks for the reply, I usually refer to them as "Killies" or Mudminnows"..........I guess I've probably caught and uses at least a couple pickup loads in my years


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

In Florida we like to call them bull minnows.


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

In fact I caught some at the PAX NAS in Md last year and used them in the salt water for flounder and then turned around and used them in fresh water for bass! Them little suckers stayed alive for a long time in the fresh water. Long enough for me to catch a few bass.


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## fishyakker (Jul 11, 2003)

Hey yakfisherman, I believe you made a mistake, but it's all or our responsibilties to monitor the regs. A lot of them change every year. Apparently the term "poaching" struck a nerve, but all it means is to fish illegally, whether you keep an extra fish or you keep 20 stripers. And as for helping each other, yes that is correct, this board is designed to give help and share tips. On your original post however, you just seem to want to brag while refusing to reveal your "secret" technique. That sounds real helpful to me.


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## Va_yakfisherman (Feb 14, 2003)

Ok, Thanks to all for the "Help." Good or bad, I have to take it. Yes it is better than a ticket. And I will take it for what it is worth.

Now for my new secret to fishing Gudgens, mud minnows or whatever you call them. It may not be a secret to you but I happened upon it purely by neccesity. I was fishing the standard rig for using the gudgens or at least the way I was taught to use them. A three way swivel and a weight and a circle hook. Well after catching a couple of fish and poor planing on my part and rocks that took the few weights that I took with me, I was out of regular type weights i.e. bell or triangle weights. I was left with small spilt shots. So I put the gudgen on the circle hook and a few split shots on the line in directly without any three way swivel or anything. It was light but with the gudgen and a few spilt shots I was able to cast a good bit. It was not even a minute and the line went tight and took off to the right. Fish on. Puppy Drum. Ok, cool. Never thought it would happen that fast again. So another gudgen and out it went. Went to put the rod in a holder I found in the rocks and as I was setting it in, off the line went, another Puppy Drum. This went on time after time, again and again. So thats my little secret. Not a big one but it worked for me. The tide was moving and had about an hour before slack. So it was just barely enough weight to hold the fish, but the gudgen was able to move well. Smaller type circle hooks and these split shots worked that day. Will try it again soon. 

Again, thanks to those who helped me with the regs. Sorry I got so defenseive. I will try to be a better, more knowledgable fisherman in the future.


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## cookieman (Apr 7, 2002)

Hey Va_Yakman, 
What you describe the way you rigged up with the split shot almost sounds like a carolina rig using the split shot without using a leader of any sort.


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