For the second year in a row, Nick landed our family's first fish of the year. He caught this one in the exact same spot as the first fish last year. I wonder if it was the same fish too.
This little fishing trip actually took place a couple weekends ago, the same day that we had a pink snow storm.
Just got back from a week in the Outer Banks. We planned the trip on the spur of the moment, deciding to do it the morning before we left and booking the house about 12 hours before we got on the road.
I took a lot of pictures with my Blackberry Storm, which is actually a pretty good camera. Unfortunately, the touch screen is frozen up right now, and I'm going to have to take it to the Verizon store today. I hope to be able to recover the photos, but, if not, I know the photographer in our group took plenty of good ones. . .
Some of the pictures I took were published in previous blog posts. Others were published on my DC Outdoorsman Examiner page on Examiner.com. This is a new writing gig that I got just before leaving my trip, so the first four articles I wrote all focus on fishing while on vacation in the Outer Banks. Examiner.com encourages its writers to post 3-4 articles per week, which will be a little tougher now that I'm home and not fishing every day.
Still, I'm looking forward to the challenge and, hopefully, making some money from it. . .
That's right, Examiner.com does pay its writers. Later this week, I'll do a post detailing how I came to be an Examiner and how you can too if you're interested. . .
Meanwhile, it's back to work today. The whole employment dynamic in our household has changed dramatically over the last few weeks. I wrote about a month ago that I'm starting a business but still haven't gone into any detail on what that business is.
More on that soon too!
My kids, their cousins, my brother-in-law and I fished the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills, NC this morning. It was the first time in about five years that I'd returned to the place where I got hooked on fishing the Outer Banks and the first time I'd taken the boys.
For more on how we did, check out my article on Examiner.com.
Beaver Dam Reservoir is located between Leesburg and Ashburn, with access from Evergreen Mill Road on the Leesburg side and Belmont Ridge Road coming from Ashburn.
I made an early morning trip there on July 3 to do a little fishin' and a whole lot of paddlin'.
Wildlife is abundant in the area surrounding the reservoir, which, although it is located right in the middle of Loudoun County, is operated by the City of Fairfax. Deer practically lined the banks Saturday morning.
Beaver dam is not the world's greatest fishing spot, but there are some nice fish there if you're willing to put in the time. I caught one bass and a couple of gizzard shad. A nice guy who pointed me to the spot where I landed the largemouth said he'd caught a four-pounder and a two-and-a-half pounder earlier that morning.
Something had been missing from my life ever since the 2009 season of Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" came to a close a few weeks ago. Luckily, that void was filled with the debut of the new show "Swords" earlier this week.
This exciting "reality" fishing show focuses on commercial swordfish anglers fishing off the coasts of New England and Candada and on the Grand Banks, made famous in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm. Among the sword boat captains featured on the show is Linda Greenlaw, who was portrayed in the film version of Junger's book and is the author herself of several books, including All Fishermen Are Liars.
Greenlaw and the other captains didn't do so well in the first episode, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they catch the rest of the season. I do have one question though.
The show narrator mentioned that the Grand Banks are the "deadliest" fishing grounds in the world. I just spent several months hearing the narrator of "Deadliest Catch" tell me that the Bering Sea bears that distinction. So which is it?
Maybe it's just whichever show is on...
I've been hoping to get Charlie Hill to write for the Bright Idea Outdoors Blog ever since February when I read Jason S. Rufner's article about Charlie and the Broad Run High School Fishing Club in the Loudoun Times Mirror. Charlie is the founder of the club and quite an extraordinary young angler. He is bound for college this fall and dreams of being a professional tournament fisherman.
Judging by the article below, I'd say he has a bright future as an outdoor writer too. Enjoy!
My Favorite Lure: The Wacky Worm
By Charlie Hill
In my mind, the wacky worm is the greatest fishing technique invented. I really like it and have a lot of confidence in it. I almost always catch fish on it, which can be harmful, because I will sometimes fail to try something else. This is an in-depth look at how I fish the wacky worm and how I have had success with it.
Before you even set up the wacky worm you need the proper equipment. You are definitely going to need a spinning rod and reel. You should use a very sensitive medium or medium heavy rod. My main rod for the wacky worm is a custom built rod. This is the most amazing rod for the wacky worm. I also have a G-Loomis and a Shimano that work great for the wacky worm. As for the reel, most lightweight reels will work. Make sure that the reel is balanced with your rod. I use a Pfleuger Supreme XT and it is very light and smooth which is what I need when I am fishing the wacky worm. The Abu Garcia Cardinal Series and the Okuma Straus are good models that I have used as well. As for line, you are going to want to use monofilament or fluorocarbon , between eight and 12-lb. test. I prefer to use 10 lb. test Stren Monofilament. If I am going to use fluorocarbon, I do not use 100% fluorocarbon; I will use P-Line Fluoroclear. I always put Kevin VanDam line and lure conditioner on my line before and after I go fishing. It allows you to fish more smoothly without wasting time, because you get less line twist and you can cast farther and smoother.
Now to set up the wacky worm. You have two options for hooks. You can either use a Size 3 Gamakatsu Octopus hook or a 1/0 Gamakatsu Strait Shank hook. Not only is their a size difference between the two, but there is also a difference in the way that you set the hook. I will explain the hook setting later. You are going to need some 5” worms. There are three companies that I believe have the best worms, Zoom, Shaw Grisby’s Baits, and Gary Yamamoto’s Custom Baits. You do not need every color to catch fish, there are a few colors, however, that are must-haves. I would get a black, a white, a watermelon with black seed, and a pumpkinseed. These are the colors that I use the most.
Now that you have all of the materials, you need to set the rig up. If the water is really clear then you should use the octopus hook and if it is at all dirty you should use the straight shank. You need to tie the Gamakatsu hook to the line with a REALLY tight knot. I either use the clinch knot or the Palomar knot. You do not want to lose that big fish, because of a poorly tied knot. No matter what the water color is, you can use a black, white, green pumpkin with black seed, or pumpkinseed. They will all work, you just have to find which one is working that day by throwing each one of them. Then you need to cut off between half an inch and an inch of the worm you choose and put the hook straight through the middle of the worm.
You have water in front of you and you are ready to fish the wacky worm. Find structure that you usually fish like downed trees, mouths of creeks, grass, sunken objects, rock piles, eddies, points, and other obstructions and current breaks. These are just some of the examples of places you should fish the wacky worm. It will work almost anywhere. If you find a bass on a certain type of structure then you need to find that same structure somewhere else on the body of water and fish it. There always has to be a similar structure nearby. You ALWAYS need to cast the worm upstream and/or up current so that the bait can naturally come back to you with the current as you retrieve. This produces a more natural presentation. Cast to a target where you think a fish will be and hit that target dead on. Do this with as little splash as possible. The initial fall is when you will probably catch a fish, so do not mess up. Let the worm fall to the bottom with only a small twitch or two. When it hits the bottom let it lay their for a little while, then twitch it again and let it fall to the bottom again. Twitch it and then bring you rod tip up, raising the worm up the water column. Now, let the worm fall again like you did on the initial cast. Repeat this process until you bring the worm back to shore or to the boat. Most of the time you will catch your fish on the initial fall, but always do as I said and repeat the process all the way back to the boat or shore, because you will sometimes catch a fish on a spot that you would not expect, like right next to the boat. This will help you to develop a pattern so that you can catch more fish throughout the day.
Now you actually have to catch the fish. To do this you have to know what kind of hook you have on the line so that when you detect a bite you can set the hook without losing the fish. When you are using a straight shank hook set the hook hard. I lower my rod tip so that the fish cannot feel me on the line. The fish will often drop the bait if they feel you on the other side. Make sure that the line starts to move, and when it does it means you have a fish. So real in the slack line and then set the hook hard, bringing the rod tip up to at least the 12 o’ clock position. With the octopus hook you have to set the hook with a sweeping motion. If you set it hard with an octopus hook will become looser, and sometimes it will actually come out of the fish’s mouth.
Now that I have told you how to fish my favorite lure, the wacky worm, I suggest to go out and try it. Nothing beats time on the water. It is an easy thing to fish, but when you master it and learn to fish it in the best way possible, it can be deadly. Practice, and gain confidence in the wacky worm and you will then have a deadly bait in your fishing arsenal. I have taught many people this technique and they have always really liked it. Most of them use it as their go to bait as do I.
By,
Charlie Hill
Email me your comments to bassattack1@live.com. I would love to hear from you.
-Charlie Hill
"Life is Good, Fish Often!"
Here are some more fish pictures from our '09 Outer Banks vacation.
I pulled this 18" flounder out of the surf near our Kitty Hawk beach house.
The Captain and I caught these red drum from his boat at Manteo Harbor.
Maybe if he eats enough fish, his footprints will be as big as mine someday!
Gar fishing is not for everyone, but for the staff of Bright Idea Outdoors it doesn't get much better than hauling one of these pre-historic monsters over the rail of the vessel known as the "Chieftain." These are leopard gar, caught near Manteo Harbor during our Outer Banks beach vacation last week.
For the record, the guy in the picture with me is the one who caught the gar. I was the only angler to get skunked on the gar grounds. We managed to land some edible fish on our trip too... should have some pictures later this week.
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