Last weekend, I guided a friend to his personal best blue catfish. This weekend, I decided to play a little role reversal, and called local legend Forrest Short. Chain pickerel remained unchecked on the proverbial list, and Forrest's invitation to try his spots had stood for too long.

By no means would I call this a definitive guide to rigging a kayak for photos and video - more along the lines of some personal preferences I have acquired over time. I'm sure they will evolve as fresh ideas emerge and innovative new products serve the needs of this ever-changing sport. For now, I'd like to share the setup I used to shoot footage over the past two years, along with some new items that I've acquired. I will use scenes from my last video, Addiction: Kayak Fishing, to refer to some of the angles I talk about. Although it was a lot of work putting it together, I found it very rewarding to look back, relive, and share those cherished moments on the water.

For a while, I didn't realize how much I loved my kayak paddle. I knew it was a big step up from my previous paddle, and I really liked it, but never felt like I needed to write about it. An opportunity came along recently that sparked a long chain of events, and really got me thinking. I was fickle at first - perhaps a little wishy-washy-but I can honestly say now that I made the right choice... Werner.

Sometimes, my brother and I don't talk for a while. But when we finally do, we pick up right where we left off... joking around, talking sports, and generally reaffirming how awesome it is to be a Choi. But, one thing we haven't been on the same page about is fishing. So all year, I've been trying to get him out on the water. It finally happened on Black Friday.

Justin and I were tempted to try the infamous Hot Ditch area of the Elizabeth River. But part of me was also interested in trying some of the other areas on the E. Lucky for us, Matt Anderson was feeling generous and agreed to take us kayak fishing on one of his spots. It's not often that a speckled trout fisherman is willing to share.

The forecast just looked too good.  I took the day off, crossed my fingers in hopes that the forecast stayed good and made the trek to Virginia Beach.  I paddled 3.5 miles along the CBBT (Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel) and as I arrived at the 1st island, I was greeted by 7 other kayak fishermen who all had the same thing on their minds... beautiful Thursday morning... TOGS.  It felt like I had just made a pilgrimage to the promised land to be with my people.  It was awesome.  The weather was perfect with minimal winds and warm sunshine.

As I rocked Miles back to sleep, I checked the wind forecast. Over night, it went from "just maybe borderline doable" to hell no you dun lost yo mind. So I called Justin to call off the kayak fishing trip to the CBBT first island and passed back out with a drooling baby on my chest.

Fishing in the VA tidewater area is really heating up.  Reports of speckled trout are pouring in from all over with various MirrOlures and jighead n soft plastics getting the job done.  I wasn't able to get in on the trout action, but I did find a few other species.

So I was sitting there in my office, being productive, getting my work done, feeling good after the recent tournament, when I decide to give Kayak Kevin a call to wish him a happy birthday. When he picked up I could tell he was excited about something. It turns out he had a 46" red drum in his lap! My palms instantly got a little sweaty and my mind started racing (I know, I have an addiction). I immediately wanted to be out there fishing for those powerful bulls. He went on to tell me the story, which I'm sure he'll share on his website, then hung up to chase some more. He was under the CBBT fishing for sheepshead when the reds showed up. About 10 minutes later, I get a call from Kevin's buddy Lee Williams and he says "dude, I was on your piling fishing for sheepshead when I hooked into a massive red!".

It had been raining on and off all day. My hands were exceedingly pruney, my hat was soaked all the way through and I was yet to feel a fish on the end of my line. Other tournament anglers started heading in and many of them asked about my luck. Every one of them had either a perplexed look or thought I was joking when I told them I hadn't hooked a single one. I was running out of time so I decided to make one more pass by my favorite spot in the inlet as the rain got heavier. I was trolling a MirrOLure when it got crushed...