I you haven’t already, make sure you add a Kayak Fishing the Chesapeake Bay 2 to you kayak anglers Christmas list! Kayak Kevin’s newest DVD hit the stores this week and by the looks of the trailer, has all the tips and techniques to help you land your next citation fish. This DVD focuses on the warm water species in the lower Chesapeake Bay but is still full of a ton of hard core kayak fishing action.
This past weekend I met up with Chip Gibson and his son Brad, as well as Greg Becker and his son Robert for some kayak fishing in Cedar Key. The plan was to get the kids on some big Black Drum and possible in the IGFA record books for Catch, Photo and Release. Chip had purchased the official IGFA measuring device, so all we needed was a Big Ugly.
In the saltwater kayak fishing community of Virginia, no other kayak angler has achieved what Kayak Kevin has. Many avid non-kayak anglers find it very difficult to do, but he reached "expert angler" status in the Virginia Saltwater Tournament, not only once, but twice (2006 & 2007). Catching 6 citations (trophies) of different species in one year all from a kayak is no easy feat. But on Tuesday, July 5th, he brought yet another goal into realization and I was privileged and honored to be a part of it.
Cedar Key is one of those areas, nestled in the “Big Bend” of Florida’s Gulf Coast. The area offers a wide variety of species to choose from, but two species stand out over all others: Red Drum, or Redfish, and their bigger cousin the Black Drum. Sitting just below the Suwannee River, Cedar Key is the largest island of many that make up this area. The old-fashioned fishing village is now a tourist center with several regionally famous seafood restaurants and the village holds two festivals a year, the Spring Sidewalk Art Festival and the Fall Seafood Festival, each of which attract thousands of visitors to the area.
Well, Myself, Norm, Shamus, Dustin, DaveR and Uncle Tommy made a pilgrimage to the promised land that is the Big Bend. Thursday found DaveR and Dustin beating Norm and I up there, so they got on the water way before us. All told, they had a pretty good day with a bunch of redfish. But the catch of the day belonged to Dustin with a huge Black Drum, caught on of things, A Spinner Bait.
First let me apologize, it’s been way to long since my last report. Work, travel, weather have all conspired against me, keeping me off the water. Did I mention the weather? The dog days of summer are fully here. Oppressive heat and humidity are at a point where you just don’t feel like going out of the house. But if you’re like me, the call of the water is just too strong. So you load up the kayak and off you go.
Sun rise over Tampa Bay.
Day 1 “Anticipation”
Wow, where do you start when you spend three days in paradise? I guess you start at the beginning. My good friend Dave Robinson had planned a camping trip to the Big Bend area for some time, I met him on the road in Crystal River and we formed our two vehicle caravan the rest of the way to our campsite. A couple other friends, Tom and Justin would be joining us later.