It definitely seems like all the local migrations are happening earlier this year. The warm water temperatures are expediting the process and I, like most kayak fishermen, am not complaining. The magic of this time of year is more than welcome, as many of the popular sport fishing species enter our local waters and get our juices flowing.

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.

Friday night couldn't come soon enough – I was itching from anticipation. At 10:30 p.m., the first stop was HRBT, where I met up with Justin. I paddled out, keeping my eyes peeled for the welcome sight of a striper silhouette. I was paddling over a small one when a voice greeted me out of the darkness: "Dude, there's a big one right in front of you…"

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.

My previous article "Help!" outlined some of the issues and on November 9th, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission held their meeting in Boston. By a vote of 14 to 3, the ASMFC approved a new addendum to cut the annual harvest limit on the Atlantic Menhaden by 37%.

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.

After using the Hawg Trough while kayak fishing for a couple of years now, I looked back through my Kayak Wars stats and realized that it's helped me measure and photograph well over 4 hundred fish (including the ones that were too small). It makes documenting the catch quick and easy. It's accurate and the numbers show up well in the photos. It hardly weighs anything, which is great on a kayak, and it stores easily.