Cape Charles Fishing Report, 20-23 October: Fish Porn; Yeah, You Know it When You see It

 Warning.  The following material may not be suitable to non-anglers.  Contains graphic catching, extreme netting, smoking.

Days fished: Sunday through Wednesday

Locations: Sunday wade-fishing off Bay Creek, Monday the Mikey D headed up Plantation Creek, Tuesday and Wednesday the Mikey D hit the fish traps north of Kiptopeke State Park

Conditions: outside air temps in the high-60s to low-70s.  Water temps at 64 degrees.  Sunny skies.  Winds calm to light breeze.  Sea state flat.

Terminal tackle: live minnows under popping corks, Dine XL (purple/chartreuse), Salt Strong Skinny Lipper (white), Salt Strong topwater (white), Enrico Puglisi baitfish fly pattern (white/chartreuse)

Highlights: Picked up a slot Red wade fishing Sunday afternnon.  

Monday explored Plantation Creek for awhile, picked up some small fish, hit the creek mouth with the outgoing tide, picked up another slot Red.

Pro guide tip:  If you notice that the motor's cooling water exit port (commonly known as the "pee hole," is not, well ..., that could lead to engine overheating.  The problem may be blockage by sediment picked up when running shallow.  Running heavy mono (80 lb test does the trick) up the hole may loosen enough of the blockage to get the pee hole doing what it's supposed to do.

Tuesday and Wednesday ... JACKPOT.  Based on intel from Capt. Kenny Louderback, we drove down 7 miles from Cape Charles to just north of Kiptopeke State Park to fish what the locals call the "northern nets," two fish traps about 400-500 yards apart.  Tuesday, we fished the north side of the most northern net.  Fish were concentrated in a corner where the net met the beach.

Literally a fish on with every cast for about four hours.  Tides did not seem to matter.  The area was just stacked with hungry Reds

Returned to the same spot on Wednesday but fished between the nets.  A few other boats doing the same, but there were plenty of Reds for everyone, as the fish moved up and down the shore between the nets.  Fished between 8:30 AM to about 12:30 PM.  Again, a fish on nearly every cast.  Most were in the slot limit between 18 and 26 inches.  One went 27.  

Pro Guide Tip #2.  Treble hooks make releasing fish, especially small fish, very difficult, especially if hooked deep, and may kill it.  For Reds and Trout, replacing all your trebles with single 1/0 hooks do not diminish hookups, makes releasing fish easy, and will help prevent an unintended kill.

In short ... epic.  And tasty table fare.  Bounty of the Bay.

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing