Recounting the 2013 COW season . . .

So, teacher returns my telephone call on Dec 26 or so and tells me that the COWs came home.  A look at facebook.com and Chris' bait and tackle time line shows more than 40 citations logged on the 26th?  Where was I.  Well, 9 consecutive days of being Skunked, Bill and I left the Sunset Beach Resort and celebrated Xmas with Family.

My theory that a water temp of less than 45 degrees makes for terrible COW fishing.  Bait was there, but the stripers stayed off shore.  The chill from several storms moving across the upper U.S. left lots of snow to chill the upper bay.  Stripers fled from the severe cold and some were caught from buoy 40 all the way down to West of the Cabbage Patch.  Like within a stones throw of the shipping channel.  Not at all unreasonable to expect that the stripers would appear near Cherrystone where there's a deep gut and a shoal where bait might congregate.

Some changes with tackle terminal gear will be made for the coming season.

                                                       Weighted Lines

I like small flashers and colorful skirts as attractors to call stripers to my eel.  Others want it to be a natural swimming eel.  New for this season, I also like the torpedo sinkers with the rubber core that can be fixed on the leader just beyond the ball bearing swivel that attaches to the main line.  These can be removed or added as needed to get depth.  Early in the season, many successful fishermen were making 45 pulls beyond the cork or planer.  Some were going as far as 65 pulls.  Dewayne Lamb, (Captain's Quarters at Smith Mountain Lake) fishes from a boat I named the Grasshopper.  He has the hydraulic stabilizers on the stern that look like grass hopper legs?  He runs up to 14 lines with at least 8 planers, 4 on each side.  I think he uses 1 oz egg sinkers on all his rigs.  He catches fish consistently, so he must be doing it right.  Would be interesting to see him guide his crew using the Accurate reels.  These reels have dual drags, 0 reverse, and are beautiful to use and ponder.  Mike Smedley, Team Old School, loaned two of the Accurate Boss reels to me to evaluate how they perform.  Unfortunately, the stripers didn't cooperate.

                                                   Don't want no weights

Yet, Jimmie Beaty, (Team Teacher) doesn't use weights, rather, keeps it tratiditional and just lets the eels swim down.  He also used the extreme number of pulls this year and boated a lot of COWs.  Along with some brand of camo mono (maybe low stretch) and fluorocarbon leaders.  Think he is using very light lines to allow the eels more natural action.  His new reels are the Shumano Gold.

                                          Pulls beyond the cork or planer?

Previous years, 30 pulls beyond  the cork or planer was adequate over 45 foot water column.  Some went to 45 pulls over deeper water near the shipping channels of the gut off Cape Charles.  Well, truthing, it is necessary to run lines at several depths to find where the COWs want 'em.

                                                     Do or don't use braid?

My use of braid fish line is also a matter of concern.  Many use an overshot of mono that gives lots of stretch and can prevent brake offs.  Yet, I preferred to use lighter drag to accomplish much the same effect.  My lShimano Charter Special TLD 2000 reels have updated lubed carbon fiber drags and sometimes stronger bellevilles to increase the possible drag.  Yet, I like to keep the strike drag near 5 pounds and the full drag max of 11 pounds.  My rods are a mix of 15-30, 20-30, and 30-60 Ugly Stix custom.  I use reel clamps on all reels.  Yes, this old dog can be taught new techniques and make corrections.

                                                  What about High Viz

OK, I break from the wise and use high viz braid and mono.  Others use various camo lines, but with my vision, I need all the help I can get to undo tangles and see where the lines are when deployed.  I use fluorocarbon leaders that are supposedly near invisible to the fish eye.

                                                        Where to launch?
I usually launch at the Kiptopeke State Park as my annual pass cost is $48 and allows use of all VA state parks.  Quite convenient for the Cabbage Patch and buoy 38 or the Latirmer Shoal and beach channel.

If fishing the piles and islands of CBBT, there is a launch near Fisherman's island that will lead near this South Latimer Shoal (beach channel) area from the launch, but will cost $10 a day.  Think it's Seaside Road (route 600).  the channel may be about 5 feet deep and 60 feet wide.  Never launched at this facility, just drove to take a look.

While the Cape Charles launch is a great and free facility where I can fill with alcohol free gasoline, it requires a long run South toward Kiptopeke to run out North to buoy 38 A.  Sometimes up to 10 miles North of Cape Charles..  That is, unless you will take the risk running over the reef with less than 4 feet of depth.  Scares the peegivers out of my prop.  Less so if it's high tide!  Buoy 36A marks the area of the channel at Plantation Light.

Then, there's a launch near Exmore, VA called Morley's Wharf Ramp.  Never launched there, but it  might be best when fishing near buoy 41.  It's about 30 miles North of the Sunset Beach Resort where I usually stay.  Maybe 20 miles North of Cape charles.  Hmmm, 10 miles North of Cape Charles.   To get there from Rout 13, travel to Exmore and take route 183 West to Wardstown (route 606 about 2.8 miles).  Make a right turn and see the ramp about 1 mile.  It is situated on Accohannock Creek that opens to the Chesapeake Bay.  Might not be deep enough for my draft.  Sometimes less costly to haul the boat to a different ramp than to motor over potentially heavy seas.  Yes, the Chesapeake gets rough in a heart beat and you can depend on it happening just when the fish are on the feed.

               If and when a bite comes with braid:

Braid has zero stretch!  Mono is like a rubber band!  What difference does it make?  Well, my study of fishing articles reveals that a migrating striper could do a tail slap to stun the eel.  This would be seen immediately with braid and might go un-noticed with mono.  Grabbing the rod with braid and setting the hook results in nothing as the striper hasn't taken the eel.  The next act by the striper is to come around and take the eel.  Some say there will be a few thumps evident, expecially with braid.  Again, this might go unnoticed with mono.  So, what's the proper approach?  Well, my study says to let the fish take the eel and do what is natural.  The fisherman should not try to set  the hook until he's  sure that the striper is departing and the drag starts running.  This is the time to set the hook with either braid or mono.  Braid is unforgiving as it relates to break offs.  For braid, the pole must provide the cushion matched with light strike drag.  The drag can be run to full on with a lever drag reel, but when the striper is near the boat, the drag MUST be returned to the strike setting.  With mono, there's little need for a light drag as the line provides lots of stretch to cushion the hook from pulling out.  I use circle hooks that almost always set in the corner of the mouth as the striper takes the eel completely and turns away pulling the line through the closed mouth and thus hooks the corner.

Others might disagree with light drag settings and opt to bring the striper to the boat as quickly as possible and powering it through the set lines.  I prefer to take the lines in that might be tangled and let the fisherman try to direct the fish to the boat.  A 40-50 pound striper is a powerful fish to say the least and sometimes can't be controlled.

Catching sometimes requires some experience that I'm just now learning.

                            What about the drift?

I'm informed by other successful striper fishermen that the wind should always be at the stern of the boat.  Easier said than done, that's for sure.  The Chesapeake current is always outgoing and much stronger than the tide.  Yet, try getting gear through a tide line.  Taking gear in is always a lot of work and I'm frequently reluctant to do so until hours go by without success.  Maybe I should do it more frequently and cover what I consider productive water.  I'm a late arrival on the water due to what ever.  Yet, before daybreak and just before sunset are the next to best times to striper fish.  Some say night is the absolute best, but I have to consider safety and lack of experience on the water at night.  The network I get help from doesn't fish at night, but does both early and late fishing.

Wind from the North, etc. along with the current and the drift will be at 4 knots South..  Too fast for stripers?  Maybe the eel sees much less than 2 knots..  Takes a good trolling motor or a 4 stroke motor to control the direction.  Two strokes and sonar frequently spook stripers.  I opt to run somewhat diagonal in this condition with the trolling motor along the top of a gut.  Though, I leave the sonar running.  I never tried my drift socks, but .  .  .

Wind from the South, etc. pushes the boat against the current, pointed North.  Might be that the best bite in daytime is a 2 hour window around high tide.  The trolling motor certainly can't overcome the current and the boat will deploy corks and planers in good order.  Yet, the GPS shows that the boat pointed North is moving South at 2 knots?  Do I keep the boat moving at an apparent 0.5 knots and drifting backwards?

Do stripers expect bait to be swimming with or against the current/tide?  I think not!  Stripers are an ambush type of creature and will wait for bait to swim  or tumble by.

I think most fishermen will try to drift with the current, regardless of the tide.  And many times will make the drift diagonal to the actual current along the top of a gut as I might..

If there's lots of bait in the water, regardless of the depth, fish the bait throughly with the eels.  COWs frequently sit below the pod and take in the falling baits.  An eel is always more tempting that a bunker or menhaden?  Yet, a live bottom may always be better than.  Stripers usually feed looking up.

Halocline, Thermocline, Pycnocline, and dead zone are terms that may influence where to find stripers in December. Thermocline is where great temperature differences exist in a water column.  Halocline represents where water of different density exists.  Pycnocline is where the salt content of stratified water.  Well, too technical for my brain.  But, the stripers must find a comfort zone that relates to oxygen content, salinity, temperature, etc.  Heavy run off like this December likely had water with too low salinity for comfort and  the stripers were deep, deep in the shipping channels.  Yet, the deep water might not have the oxygen content necessary for striper comfort (the level that bait pods tell the story).  So, some where in the water column, there's a salinity (pycnocline) that is a comfort to the striper.

Ah, too many things to consider:  the dead zone, the thermocline, the pycnocline, the water column temp, and a zillion other things that I haven't considered.  Why do I have fish on when there isn't any bait and no marks?  Suspended at 35 feet over 80 feet of water?  Sitting on the bottom and the eel must smack the striper in the face?  Undoubtedly, there are a hundred other questions to be answered to catch COWs consitently.

 Wanna see some of the catches logged at Chris' Bait and Tackle?

Well, it's easy to look at Facebook and see all the happenings and very satisfied fishermen.

More later as I ruminate over this past disappointing season and come to more conclusions for change .  .  .  Yet, I gotta think Lake Anna, John Kerr, and Smith Mountain Lake along with a snow covered boat.

Nasty Electrical problem plagues Joy T Brew . . .

We had problems in the past with the Lawrance HDS 8 going black-out and it was a surprise when it happened on the water.  Usually the unit can be powered on and runs OK, but this time, it was again the isolated battery that had a low charge.  The HDS shuts down about 11 volts! :(  So, on the water, I pulled the panel and changed the power lead to the reserve start battery.  That worked!  Back in business, but really heavy pound in heavy seas still shut the unit down.  A loose connection somewhere in the HDS, the battery leads, etc.?  My HDS is no longer serviced and to fix it, it must be replaced with a Gen 2 or later at a cost of about $800 to $1500 depending on the display size I would choose.

Bill has his HDS powered by his start battery and it shuts off each time he cranks his outboard.  Have to find a way to keep the low voltage from shutting the HDS off.

Checked the isolated battery during the fishing trip with a load tester and it tested fine.  Not so for one of the two start batteries.  A replacement will be needed soon.  A huge job due to the added installations I made in the hatch.

Yet, my health seems to be worsening and I'm not sure about hobby activities of the future.  God willing, I'll have a few more years to enjoy.

We've been put away wet, cold, and fishless - skunked!

So, my brother left the bay and went home to ice fish.

What a year, the fish didn't come in and only fish moving down the bay ahead of the freeze were eating eels.  A few did come in from the ocean, but so few that many experienced Cow catchers got skunked.  Some caught one a day and others caught several, but didn't happen for us.

My son didn't visit this year and I suppose he was lucky.  My brother, Raymond, came in spite of my forecast of poor fishing and we had a great visit both at my new home near Lake Anna, Va and on the water.  He was surprised how much my technique had change from his first year fishing with me.  Yeah, we caught fish the first year!  So, we had a pleasant visit.

Bill, my fishing partner hates to be skunked and wasn't happy about the situation.  To add insult to injury, the several fish we did catch spoiled when the plug on the freezer was ajar and .  .   .

My brother in his usual i-phone attached to ear mode.  

Or, is it sleeping on the vacation?  Yet, we did get 3 days on the water, and 2 days of doing some needed stuff at the new Bumpass home and 2 days of travel.  Guess we did fill the days, but not doing what the original plan called for. 

The shelves that replaced the coat hanger rod were installed with Raymond's engineering skills.

 The cat door Raymond got cut in still remains unused?

Now time to start getting the gear ready for next year, making boat repairs, tackle replacements and learning how to fish Lake Anna.

Boat parked for a short,  how long will it stay parked?

Home again for a sort while the sea calms . . .

Planned to return to my home as the forecast was for West winds at 17 and 2 foot seas?  OK, Bill got off early, and took his boat home as the planned guests cancelled due to the poor fishing forecast.  My search for lost items took me several hours to find things I should have packed/inventoried before Dec 1.  Found things I looked for weeks!  By the time I got on the CBBT, I looked down and the sea was almost glass like.  What happened to the forecast and why was I on the road and not drifting?  Well, truth is that Raymond was coming in to the Norfolk International airport at 5 PM, not!  Maybe 6, maybe later.  I didn't want to drive city roads at night, so I was on my way to the pick up at 3 PM.  Had to spend some time at WaWa.  Finally got Raymond and back to WaWa for a snack.  The drive to Bumpass was uneventful and arrived about 9 PM. 

At Bumpass, Raymond settled into his engineering mode and installed shelving in what used to be a guest coat closet.  Now, sort of a pantry. Had to drive to Fredericksburg to Lowe's and found a Chinese Buffet that Raymond liked.  So much, that the next day we opted to return for another lunch.

 Then, the cats!  Mel wanted a kitty door so the cats can get to the litter boxes.  Raymond applied his skills again and got the contraption installed.  But, the cats have never used this type of door.  Now Mel has to figure out how to train the cats.  Oh, one doesn't train cats?  So,  the door is still open, the new kitty door remains unused, and boxes  block the dogs from visiting the shit box for a treat .  .  .

Then, a trip to the dumpster to get rid of some boxes cluttering the house.  Unfortunately, Raymond stuck my knife in a box for safety and, and, it went into the dumpster.  When we went back, the refuse had been removed, lost knife.

Return to Kiptopeke will be Wed sometime, as we may be able to get on the water late and resume fruitless drifts?  Sure hope the larger boats come in with some catches to show that there are still COWs roaming the sea.  A stop at Bass Pro caused me to purchase a Coast Guard inflatible vest and a 4 pack of PFDs for the boat.  .  My boat will serve our needs if the bite doesn't improve, it's likely that we will call it quits on the 22 or 23 and stay home for the holidays.  The Mrs. will love that! :)

Eels are still chilled in the 3 bucket system I used for transport to Bumpass.  Gotta keep them critters alive and ready to swim as best as they can. But, many didn't make it as I erred and didn't flush the slime off them and remove the dead eels.  Will do better next time.

Having a very nice visit with my brother Raymond.  But he's very preoccupied with coordinating a family gathering at the ranch is Colorado.  His father in law broke his femur and can't get around well.  So, the family is coming to him.

Another fish day skunk . . . Sat. 14th

Relatively light seas at 10 A M and Bill and I decided to fish West of the cabbage patch.  Lots of bait and marks, but an hour or so of drift didn't produce.  Moved West of the Plantation Light with the same result. Reports of "fish on" came from the shipping channel, another 2 miles off shore.  SE wind continued and we fished on until white caps were numerous and the rain came earlier than the forecast.  Tough return to the launch ramp as the seas were building faster than the ability of my boat.  Slow return with lots of hull pounding against the wind.

The above photo shows the rod holder I mounted on the Sea Pro rail, and  it is functional to store rods on the water some what out of the way.  Can't be left when coming to the dock or loading the boat.

This photo shows the eel tube hanging with the eel tail protruding.  Sometimes difficult to get the eels to leave the tube.  With the eel tube out of the rod holder, the holder can again function to hold rods while running to a new drift start.  The layout and mount works really well.  The 1 1/4 inch PVC is necessary for the Ohner #10/0 hooks? 

Shows the three bucket eel bucket system in use on the stern of the boat giving access to crew on both sides of the boat.  The right bucket is the ice bucket to keep the eels cool, wet, etc. Good idea tow rinse the eels once in a while in the bay to remove slime that may drown the eels.

Well, sometimes ya gotta chow down.  Friday we went to Yak-Yak and the special was a great rack of barbe ribs.  Passed Don Valerios Mexican on the way and it was jumping.  Unlike the laid back Yak Yak.

Tonight, I'm not sure.  I could do Mexican but Bill isn't responding.  Well, it hasn't been my day.

Not sure tomorrow is a fish day, 2-3 foot seas .  .  .

Friday 13 was awful and Joy got skunked again

Yep, Friday the 13th and we tried to fish.  Morning forecast for 2 foot seas didn't happen.  The 5 foot seas laid down to about 3 by noon.  We made the attempt.  The 14 kt  West wind kept up and the drift was at 2 GPS mph.  Boat pointed East, but boat drifting SE against the incoming tide.  Made two drifts and only heard  of one fish in our network boated.  So, we called it a day and quit the 44.9 degree sea.  My experience is that the stripers leave the bay at 45 degrees.

Thursday 12th was a blow out.  So, we did errands.  Bill got his annual VA park launch pass.  I found that 12/13 meant Dec of 2013 and I could wait.  Kiptopeke is a VA park launch.  Then to Cape Charles to get a fuel card so we can fuel on the water or on the trailer.  Card requires a credit card, but the access pin allows fueling any time and at a 20 cents off a gallon for non-alcohol gas, it was a must.  Besides being the only source for about 45 miles distance as the Cape Charles station closed for good.  Another pin to remember!

Wednesday, the 11th,  was a relatively good fish day.  Bill's guest got an almost citation at 39.7 and 44 inches.  Bill had a break off at the boat and boated a smaller 30 pounder.  No more hook ups, so I got skunked.

Now Sat morning and neither I nor Bill are anxious to get on the bay.  Some of our network went home for a few days.   Sent a note to my brother advising that the fishing won't be and he should cancel his fishing plan.  He is to arrive Sunday night from his home in Rawlings WY.  Long trip for no COWS.

My catch back on the 5th of Dec didn't get a photo for Chris's Bait and Tackle "Facebook".  So, proof will have to wait until I get the citation from VA for the 54.1 pound COW.

Yet there's still a week to verify my temperature observations.

The 2013 season count down is on

Okay it's now early morning on December 1, 2013.  I am up all night trying to be sure that I have my stuff ready to load when daylight ones.  I will meet Bill at South Hill, VA  Walmart at 10 AM.  Bill  arrived early in the morning on November 30 to help me load my gear.  At daylight, all I need to do is load the rods on the boat and load a few other items in the truck and I'll be out of here about 8:30.

The fishing report  indicated that the big girls and pigs have not arrived in the bay yet. Most of what is being caught are resident, maybe 30 to 40 inches.  The migration through the Delaware Bay canal haven't made it to the CBBT yet.

The wind will cooperate sun-tue, so we may find some success.  

November 28 and headed to Norlina to dine with Bill Fowler as he invited Joy and Mel for the T Day event.

Hauling gear from the new  house in Bumpass and correlating the gear at Scottsburg is near impossible.  Have a freezer and fish cooler on the 14 foot utility trailer ready to travel this morning.  It's a 3 hour trip to Bill's and the first hour is over roads that are hardly secondary.  No curb white and faded center and barely wide enough for sub compact autos, let alone a huge trailer.

Mike Smedley UPSed two reels to my Scottsburg residence to give them a try.  He will also bring two rod/reel combos.  The Accurate reels are powerful and have a narrow spool without a line guide.  One is already spooled with 30# big game mono.  I'll spool the other with a couple  hundred yards of 40# braid and a topshot of 30# mono.  Mono has stretch and I'm told it will aid to prevent breakoffs.  Yet, I keep my reel drag weight about 5 pounds for the strike and full drag might be near 12 pounds.  A neat feature of a lever drag Shumano also the Accurate reels.  

Most of my rods are Ugly Stix and have a varied weight range for the 10 rods.  Some are 15-30, some 20-40, and some 30-60 all the custom that have many more line guides.  A powerful rod that has handled 55# cows thus far.  We always try to play the fish so it comes to the boat somewhat exhausted and not ready for a new run.  But, the best laid plan doesn't always work.  A fish that comes to the boat with little fight can be a monster drag screaming run that can break rods.  While the 50+ pound Cows are powerful, the 40-50 # pigs can be much stronger and provide a tougher fight.  We try to keep the same style reel on all rods to help those fishing know how to handle the equipment.  Bill says he bought two new Shumano lever drag reels, but didn't install the graphite drag washer.  All my reels have this update.  We will see what difference it makes.  

Several of my reels came from EBay and had seen severe service with West Coast salmon.  The cloth drag washers were burned and the reel level wind was damaged and/or creased.  Took some effort, but I got er done.  A description was written earlier about this activity.

We'll have two boats this year as we have guests that might crowd our boats too much to be pleasurable.  My brother Raymond Hansen and his son Brennon arrive on Dec 15.  My son Hawley Hansen arrives during this week, but hasn't said when?  Bill has a nephew, Matt that loves fishing the bay when it's glass like.  Bill may have his Mrs. and another friend during the month.  

Bill hasn't done the Kiptopeke season with his boat and I made the planer holders, had extra planers, made an extra 3 bucket eel container, Bill is tusseling with the purchase of an adequate net for the big girls.  Bill's boat has a 4 stroke and elimintates the need for a trolling motor.  The 2 stroke spooks the stripers just as a sonar may.  But the stripers don't seem to spooke with the 4 stroke.  Fishing with Yogi verified this when Bill and I went on a refresher learning trip with him.  We both had fish on withing minutes of setting the planers.  

By the way, Yogi also introduced us to the Walleye Planer boards that have a spring pin keeper.  The planer board can't get off the line unless the line breaks.  The release clip up front is a problem that I haven't solved yet when using braid, but the instructions tell how to get it done.

Teacher is on the bay as are others making the attempt, but looking KayakKevin's website shows that the anyone on the bay would be blown off unless in a much larger vessel.  Think the cold and gusts to 45 mph sent Teacher and others home for T-Day?

Really anxious to converse with my mentor fishing Kiptopeke and Kerr for stripers.  I enjoyed fishing with Greg Patterson on Kerr, but didn't realize that he taught Mike Smedley about fishing Kiptopeke in December.  Both are great fishermen and share their knowledge willingly.  Guess there are now hundreds that owe their Kiptopeke fishing successes to these guys.  

As for me, I'm about to start a new blog adventure Fishing Lake Anna.  This blog will begin in earnest this coming spring.

Then, there's Black Drum, Red Drum, Cobia, etc. at the CBBT arena of Chesapeake.  Bill may have crab traps to provide a feast.  Maybe the two gentlemen from last year will again provide bushels of clams and oysters .  .  .  

Teacher says the  big girls are in the bay coming in under the CBBT.  Others have been migrating through the Delaware Canal and were at Mid Bay a few weeks ago near the Solomans.  Mike Smedley says his buddies are still boating stripers off New Jersey and they are feasting on Sand eels.  

Yet, the weather reports seem to say the bay is at 51 degrees.  This recent cold might send the stripers back out to sea where the water is more to their liking.  My experience is that they skat at 45 and are completely gone at 40.  Other experts have a different opinion.  Likely better fishermen!

Stay tuned for pending fishing reports and photos.

OK, the 2013 COW Season is here . . .

OK, the 2013 season is finally here.

Teacher (Jamie Beaty) and Adam are already at Cape Charles and tell me that they are settled in and .  .  .  no reports of fishing success yet.  But, I know Teacher and his CPR stuff will occur shortly.  Likely too early for the fall striper run, but they are pushing South and now reside off Long Island and New Jersey coasts.  The 40 degree weather today off the Northeastern shore will certaily help get them headed South.  But for now, I suspect that Teacher and Adam will be fishing the CBBT island 4 and the pilings for resident schoolies with jigs tipped with sand eels or 6 inch BKDs.  

JTB is just trying to get his junk at Gainesville packed and also get down to Scottsburg to ready some things for my travel to Kiptopeke, Sunset Beach Resort.  The move is coming along and the house closing seems to be on track for Nov 15, move in on Nov17.  My new blog: JTBs Lake Anna blog will tell of my experiences and other aspects of learning to fish a new lake for striped bass.

This year, my brother Raymond and two of his sons will be coming in from WY to fish with me for the week of Dec 15.  My son Hawley will be coming in during the same week.  Bill Fowler may bring his boat this year just in case we have an overflow crowd.  He'll be bringing his nephew Matt and another fishing friend and maybe his wife, Lidia.  Last year was an awesome year with very pleasant weather all the way to the end of the season on Dec 31.  Reviewing the archive posts of this blog will show that it was almost like living the dream.  Not like Teacher and Adam, but for us it was a dream season.  My brother's first trip had us boating 5 stripers with one a CPR citation for Raymond.  We had 5 fish on simultaneously with only two of us on board.  What excitement!  Of course, the big one pulled drag for more than a hundred yards when it was turned and line was recovered.  Unfortunately, the fish decided to make another run and the gil plates cut the line, excitement over.  So, the family guests are back to relive their dream catches.

You can tell that I'm anxious and excited .  .  . unfortunately, I'm not prepared!

oK, December 1, and 2 came and went without boating a fish.  The third took the skunk off the boat as Bill caught a 30 or so dink when we shadowed Teacher.    The net forgotten at the dock and the lip gaff weren't there and Bill lip boated the dink.  That was it for the day.

The 4th was socked in fog, but light seas, so we went fishing.  Though Teacher shared the info that the Texaco wreck off Cape Charles was the place, we didn't find it until after the fog lifted.  Lots of bait and sonar marks, but no hits .  .  That is until Bill boated another dink.  I went to repair tackle from a tangle when Bill said "fish on".  Reluctantly, I took the rod and with great difficulty we boated a 54.1 # COW.  

The 5th was a low off in the morning.  We hesitated and decided too late to launch.  Bills wife came in on Thursday evening and a visit was in order as she was to provide a home cooked meal, camp style.  Fri continued really heavy seas for my boat and we did tackle repair and boat maintenance in the 70 degree heat.

Sat was a blow out again and we did tackle and Bill went shopping with his wife. Wanted to clean fish, but it turned bitter cold, too cold to handle an icy fish.  

Sun seems like another blow, but the east wind can be fishable.  Of courser, Bill and I are not into punishment and don' challenge Mother Nature. 

Constructing a windscreen for the SeaPro

Thanks to Mike Smedley, I have been able to construct a wind screen for the Seapro that I will be completely functional.  But trying to use the voice recognition to type and find the appropriate options for adding photos to the blog seems impossible.  I may have to wait until I can use a desktop computer to connect with blogger.com to add this post.

Okay, I think I am able to post photos in the blog using the iPad. But many of the options available in a desk top to organize the blog are missing.

Unfortunately, it's the nature of clear plastic to hide in a photo.

This photo shows the wind screen deployed for use on the water.  The red straps at the top retain the rolled up windscreen when hauling on the road.

This photo shows the wind screen rolled up and secured for hauling on the road.

The red web strap on each side help hold the windscreen in place and are in addition to the vertical Velcro that is secured by adhesive to both the plastic and the stainless steel upright.

They sell adhesive Velcro is held on the stainless steel upright with stainless steel cable ties.  They are visible above and below the T top brace nuckle.  There are cable ties at each end of the Velcro to be sure it stays in place while deploying the wind screen.

This photo shows how the end of the wind screen looks when it is rolled up or travel.  The short section of rope in the photo is used to hold a pulley that is necessary to life COW stripers when a photo is needed.  A clear plastic hammock to hold the fish horizontal will be a future project.  Bill is in favor of a crane to lift the COWS on board.  The point is that Bill and I cannot lift a cow striper for a photo with out some kind of mechanical help.

Thanks to Mike Smedley's constant reminder that keeping it "simple is better", I was able to complete this project.  Of course, I haven't tested the windscreen on the water to be sure it will be completely functional. I will make a test run on the water in a few days to be sure everything stays in place at full speed.

I think this is the after "living the dream" catches, a new beginning!

Teacher, Jimmie Beaty and his first Cobia.  No specifics about the catch available at this time.  Still living the dream, lucky guy.

July 23 and I got the reel drag washers replaced with carbontex by Somooth Drag.  Pull even from the start with smoothness.

Here it is July 10, 2013 and the effort to get ready for Kiptopeke 2013 continues.  Here you see the 9 Shumano Charter Special 2000 LDs that are to be placed on the rods shortly.  Only two have mono as the terminal line.  Others have mono as backing and loaded with 40# braid.  In the background, two 1K meter spools of line color at 10 meter intervals.  For now, I'll just change the terminal color of 30 or 40 feet to help deploy baits.

Need a photo of the planer cork I'll be using to help separate the baits that do not have planer boards to pull them apart.  Mike Smedley uses planer corks for his fishing and gave me two small ones for Kerr a long time ago.  I stopped live baiting with the T.M. and strictly drop live bait on the Stripers heads after finding them with the Ray Jefferson Sonar.

Can a fisherman ever be ready for "living the dream"?  Bill Fowler is getting around great after his hip replacement surgery.  I'm still trying to get over my lower back pain and now doing physical therapy for my rotator cuff surgery.  December is coming on fast and hopefully our healing will be complete before then.

Have the v90 thread, clear vinyl, white canvas, and will shortly purchase 3/4 inch web and buckles so I can have my cousin fabricate a wind/spray screen for the T on my Sea Pro.  Very much needed when cold rain and it's needed to get back to the launch as the seas rise.

OK, enough for this moment.

An after thought .  .  . I found the forum at Shumano Charter Special reel maintenance dealing with reel repair and maintenance (tutorials) to be a great resource for my use maintaining the Shumano charter Special 2000 lever drag.  Ordering parts from Shumano seems economical, simple, and delivery is rapid. The shematic makes this possible. Smooth Drag washers and greases offers the upgraded drag washer and special grease mentioned in the forum.  

Guess I'll have to fabricate my own planer corks as I don't like the release offered on the commercial products.  Something else to ponder over the summer.

New information about RediRig TOS Planer Floats

                            

Well, Mike Smedley sent the RediRig TOS Planer Floats and I'm impressed.  Mike says they will pull moderately to the side to separate the eels, yet are large enough to float the eels.  The left huge cork was my idea of what would be needed.  The red and green Planer Floats are colored for the starboard and port applications.  The signal orange cork to the right is just for example and could be used in place of the 3" round corks I usually employ.  You can be sure I'll put them in their paces, or is it places?

Still working on reel maintenance and waiting for Shumano to restock pinion gears.

Shumano parts indicates that the gears will be available in mid September.  Can't do more than wait.  The reels I want to try new pinion gears are usable, but feel like a bit of sand in the gears when cranking.  Replaced the end cap spool shaft bearings, so that's not the problem. Gotta be the pinion gear.

Got two more graphite drag washers from SmoothDrag and I'll get the last reel modified shortly.

Will also add TLD 15 crank handles to several of the Shumano Charter Special 2000.  Fishing friends tell me that the new crank handles really do make a difference.

Whew, 99 days 'til time to hit Kiptopeke for COWs!

Getting ready for the 2013 Kiptopeke Cow season

Hey, hey, time to start planning for the Kiptopeke Cows for the December 2013 Season.  Got the room at the Sunset Beach Resort, hopefully room 145 again.  During the interim, I'm recovering from  rotator cuff surgery and Bill is recovering from hip replacement.  So, not much to do other than get gear ready for the coming season.

Mike Smedley made a wind/spray screen for his CE Smith T-top that I may be able to copy.  My cousin Tom Williams, now in TX has upholstery equipment for the sewing.  Got 30 gauge vinyl used for jeep tops and some heavy duty zippers.  Now need some UV tape/piping and thread and appropriate needles.  Sure appreciate any suggestions/information that might be useful for this project.  Mike has a couple of youtube videos about Team Old School fishing stripers in Raritan Bay in May of this year.  Shows a neat bait cutting board, chum grinding, and a grill for some on board cooking.

Still trying to get in contact with Dewayne Lamb at Captain's Quarters (Smith Mountain Lake) to find out what he's up to.  Have some contact with Teacher (Jimmie Beaty and Adam) to encourage getting ready for the season.  Have to get with Bill Fowler to make contact with other Kiptopeke Cow officianodos.

DIDN'T GET TO THE EASTER EGG ROLL AT THE WHITE HOUSE, BUT GOT SOME EGGS .  .  .

Egg sinkers cast and powder coated.  A pretty nasty looking bunch of lead weights, but the proof will be in the water in December.

Have a few white/red and chartreuse/red just for fun.

So you want to service your own reels?

I wonder if it will ever work like factory?  Purchased off E-Bay, found that it was slightly abused, and well used.  Left cover cracked and level wind shaft cover damaged.  Think some parts are missing.

Shown here is the drag friction washer that runs against a titianium disk.  Must really get hot in operation.  The black disk is a new carbon fiber drag disk that is supposed to run smoother under all conditions.  The Kiptopeke cold puts the Shumano Charter Special to the test as wide variances in temperature make a pronounced difference in the drag.

OK, here is shown the reel in pieces along with my first attempt at changing the drag washer shown above.  Lots of parts and this well used reel seems to have some of the washers missing from the spindle shaft.  Tried to follow the Shumano schematic shown on a web site, but somewhat difficult.  Back together, it works OK, but only a "fish on" will know for sure.  On the right, you can see the bent drive shaft cover that doesn't allow the guide to move properly.  That will be straightened next assembly activity when the reel is lubed.  The interior gears are brass, stainless and it can handle the 65# adversary during the 2013 December season.

Don't have a reel clamp for this reel yet.  A must have for my quarry at 65#s.

Teacher usually sends me a note to remind how many days until fishing.  Now 136 days!  The start of Bill and my reservation at the Sunset Beach Resort is Sunday, the weekend following Thanksgiving.  Would like to arrive at the fishing ground on the 29th .  .  .  maybe wishful thinking.

Just what is "The Cabbage Patch"?

So, I went to cabbage patch and found that it consists of 36 double "T" beams that are 60 feet long.  These are stacked to for a waffle structure 2 beams  high.  then, there are 28 concrete slabs and 187 tons of concrete sinkers along with 1000 tons  of concrete block.  The location is given as 37-10.344 N and 76-03.006W.  Hmmm, to this novice, what does this mean.  Can I locate the location with my Lowrance GPS?

It's my opinion that ya can drift the area around beach channel buoy 18 to above the Northern concrete ship at Kiptopeke and boat stripers at about the same frequency as if ya travel long distances.  Yet, the area right off Cape Charles (Plantation Light) can be pretty productive.  The water column can range from 30 to 110 feet.  Personally, I find the area just beyond the top of the gut (trench) groin, or what ever it is called is productive and holds big stripers.  Sort of like the current moving mostly South washes feed up the slope to the fish waiting at the top for an easy meal?

Even small humps on the flat can serve as a hiding place for big stripers and also push bait up toward the suface as the water passes over the hump.  Really hard to understand what's going on as the tide passes from high to low that is normally associated with a direction.  But near the mouth of the Cheasapeake, it seems the current is always very strong and the tide .  .  .?  Yet, the stripers don't feed much if the tide isn't moving (full high and low).  Got to be moving!  Also, while fish are caught all day long (usually infrequent take downs), the early morning and late afternoon seem to be great.

Some fishermen do great during the day near buoy 36 and the yellow can.  The best depth seems to be about 45-50 feet of water and the stripers can be caught throughout the water column.  Yet, I find this area to be filled with schoolie/male stripers that are likely about 15 pounds.  They aren't large enough to take a large eel and there are frequent break offs that are typical of a small striper clamped on an eel.  Ha, ha, I'd rather the fish be much larger and has the capability of inhaling the largest eel.  Yep, my goal is to catch the largest striper I can.  I don't fish for numbers.  Rather a smaller striper ignore my huge eel presentation.

Oh, what's all this got to do with Chesapeake Bay structure similar or identical to "The Cabbage Patch"?

More ruminating about the past

Well, 2012 was a great fishing adventure and Bill and I almost got to live the dream of a lifetime catching cow stripers.  So, this photo reminds me of the calm Chesapeake with planers running smoothly and I'm not sure what I was thinking.  Maybe about a 60 pounder?  Maybe about the 2013 season plan.  I am guiding the boat with the i-Pilot in my hand as it takes constant attention to keep the boat on course.  Contrary to reported ease of use of the i-Pilot to run true to the settings.  Maybe I need a new  trolling motor with updated features.

         Eel tube problems noted during the 2012 season.

I'm thinking to take the eel tubes off the rail, put a cap in the top end, and run a narrow slit from the bottom and half way through the cap.  With a large bead ahead of the hook, no pressure would be on the eel and it would just hang inside the tube.  The slits on the existing tubes are too wide and let small eels slip half way out.  Others, the line pressure tears the hook out of the eel snout.  So, there must be a better way.

The eel tube is schedule 40 PVC 1 1/4 inch and about 12 inches long.  It is held to the rail with a stainless steel cable tie.  It sets just below the rod holder .  The rod is placed in the holder, the eel/hook is slid into the tube and the line reeled to hold the eel in the tube.  Four observations: 1) The slot is extra wide to allow easy insertion of the hook.  2) Smaller eels can slide out the slot.  3) The hook pulls directly on the eel and can tear through the eels flesh.  4) Sometimes difficult to get the eel started in the tube.

At the end of a drift, the eels must be protected and kept from coiling on the line/hook/themselves.  The eel tube does this and also keeps the eel moist.  Elapsed time is critical, as is ease of use so more time can be spent fishing.

                                         Plan for 2013 eel Tubes

The new tubes will correct problems encountered in the past with the 2012 and earlier versions of the eel tube.  The new tube will pull on the hook eye rather than pull on the eel.  The eel will just hang inside the tube.  The narrow slot will prevent the smaller eels from slipping out.  The tubes will not be mounted on the rail; rather, just stowed in a handy location until used.  The rod line will pass through the rod holder and the eel tube will hang free.  It will work as long as the eel is completely inside the tube.  If even a tiny length of the tail is exposed, the eel will pull itself out of the tube - big mess!




































OK, got one test eel tube constructed and shown here with the hook assembly on a leader and ready to guide into the tube.  Keep in mind that an eel hooked through the lips would be hanging.

Hook assembly started in the eel tube.

Now for the actual hook assembly ready to put eel tube on.

And so, the eel tube hangs as planned and will be functional.  I'll keep a few with 1" PVC, but most will be 1 1/4 " PVC.  Note the Sufix 50# orange  fluorescent braid.  

OK, tried the 1 inch PVC and it worked, but the #10/0 Oner circle hook is too large for this size tube.  For smaller hooks, it will be OK.  But, for the big hook, the 1 1/4 inch PVC must be used.  Still have to figure out how to prevent the hook barb from hanging up on the end of the tube.  

       What's for with eel handling while fishing? Eels revisited.

Likely described long ago in the archive of this blog, it might be worth while to refresh the process in the mind of viewers.  First, eels are expensive yet tough.  In December, the only fish in the water that eats eels is the striped bass.  Usually 30+ pounds to take a rod down hand stay on.  Smaller stripers do try, but usually result in a break off (the fish drops the eel).  So, ya don't need more than about 18 on board for a day's fishing.  It's critical to keep the eels alive.

I keep them alive on shore with the 3 bucket system.  I didn't invent this, IMHO, it's widely used.  The top bucket with 1/4 inch holes across the bottom is filled with ice.  The ice bucket nestles inside a second bucket with identical drilled bucket bottom and the eels reside in this bucket.  The bottom bucket catches the melting ice and eel slime.  I used rope through the side of the buckets in 3 or 4 locations to maintain separation of the bucket bottoms if necessary.  The eels must never be in direct contact with the ice or with the run off water.  I haven't tried using a wet cloth on top of the eels, but it may help keep the dripping ice water dispursed over all the eels.  Change the ice as needed and dump the run off and near 3 dozen eels can be kept for weeks.  On the water, I sometimes put the eel bucket overboard to wash out the eel slime and freshen the eels.  Remember, eels need to breathe.  They can breathe air if the eels are kept moist.  If they are in water, the water must have vigorous aeration.  A final caution, elevated ambient temperatures are lethal as is freezing.  December brings both high and low temperatures.  I find it best to take the three bucket system into the motel and place it in the tub.  Leave the bottom bucket off if ya can wash the run off down the drain before it odorizes the room.  Remove dead eels!

        Shown here is the  assembled 3 bucket eel keeper.

            Showing the rope through holes in the wall of the ice bucket.

Shows the interior walls of the ice bucket with ropes to keep the ice off the eels below.  The holes are too large to use for eels.

Bucket level for eels with holes small enough so small eels can't squeeze through.

Chris' Bait and Tackle and Ocean's East #2 both have eels during the season.  Some bait shops have a dozen already counted in plastic bags.  It is absolutely critical to get the eels out of the bag and into something where they can breath!  The temperature of about 50 or less degrees is critical.   I would prefer to have the shop catch the eels from the tank and put them in my 3 bucket system.

On the boat, keep in mind that you can handle COLD eels easily with a relatively dry towel or better yet, a paper towel.  If the eels knot on the line, put it on ice for a while.  Some slam the knoted eel on the water and the shock knocks the eel out for a moment and sometimes the eel is freed.  If the eel has knotted on the hook/line for some time, it's best to cut the leader off and put the eel on ice for disposition later.  Better to have an eel drifting than on board.  Besides, my cold/old fingers don't do well at correcting tangles.

Eels with a tiny amount of movement in it's tail are still striper bait!  With long sessions under ice dripping ice water, eels can look as they are dead.  Maybe put the suspects in a bucket of bay water for a few minutes to be sure.  Take used eels off the hook and put them back in the eel bucket.  Many will survive for another day's fishing.

Since Bill and I try to stay at Kiptopeke for the entire month, it's usual for other fishermen to give us eels that they cannot use before departing.  Ha, ha, be at the dock as fishermen are pulling out of the water and headed home.  Yet, chance meetings at the motel also afford opportunities  for gift eels.  Maybe a second 3 bucket eel keeper should be at hand?

Some fishermen buy bulk eels and try to use their bait tanks.  This is a tough maintenance task.  Ya gotta keep the temperature correct, maintain aeration, change the water, remove dead eels, and maintain the filter system.  Most bait tanks are 12 volt and require a substantial charger/power supply or battery. When ya buy 2 dozen from local sources, the bait shop does all the work and has the tanks to keep the eels frisky.  I'd rather pay another quarter each and let the bait shop do all the work.

When we leave for several days and return to our respective homes, the Three Bucket system can travel with us and can be maintained at home.  Just add ice as needed and empty the catch bucket.

The 3 bucket system WORKS!  You'll have to trust me.  4 years of experience worked good for me!

                                   How do ya clean a Shimano Lever Drag?

First, a reminder about rod and reel care when used in salt water.  You must rinse the rod, terminal tackle and reels with water to remove the surface salt.  Don't over do it or plunge the reels in water.  The rinse on my boat usually happens when washing the boat down after a day on the water.  I let the reels dry, put them in my rod cart, and then spray them individually with Real Magic or WD 40 and let them air dry, followed by a wipe down if necessary.  Some of my reels had not been opened over the 4 seasons of use at Kiptopeke.  The outside does not have corrosion and the bearings, etc. inside were clean.  Your mileage for a star drag may be different.  Yet, both types of reels must have some periodic maintenance.

So, I removed all the reels form the rods and I'm in the process of beginning a real cleaning/lube of the reels.  this is not just a matter of twisting the retaining ring on the rod.  All my reels are held on the rod with reel clamps. For interest, I bought  the carbon glass Penn reel clamps from an E-Bay store for $9 each including postage. Each has an eyelet for use of a tether if needed.  Maybe not critical for COW stripers, but I think great insurance.  This year was hard on the tackle because the boat rinse was not convenient and happened infrequently.

I removed all this seasons terminal tackle.  I'm thinking to powder coat some of the egg sinkers, either chartreuse or white to help attract the stripers to the eels.  Lanny Parrot mentioned that the smaller and light green colored eels produced larger and more fish.  I'm thinking to polish the hooks and spinners to remove some corrosion and do the powder coat thing.  That powder coat is really tough stuff and simple to apply and cure.

In my opinion the braid fishing line  is best for the reels.  The mono tends to loosen on the spool and is very difficult to run out enough to reload.  The braid doesn't do this, but has other problems.  Tangles in mono seem easy to handle. Tangles in braid seem to require cutting the line or lines out.  The mono being larger diameter pulls the baits up and the braid being so small a diameter lets them run deeper at the same speed.  Ha, ha, I'm trying to get the baits higher in the water column and easier for the stripers to see an easy meal.  With braid, it's critical to keep the spool filled.  I use mono backing and  usually 150 yards of braid.

Cleaned the reels, but didn't mess with the drag disks in the spools.  Read some notes that claimed that high tech grease would harden in low tempeatures and mess up the reel operation.  Yet, I used both Reel Butter and Quantum Hot Sauce as grease and AbuGarcia Silicote on the reels.  So, I put the reels in the freezer to see if there was a difference.  Nope, no difference in effort to reel. BUT, I noticed that the drag is very temperature sensitive.  In fact, at 4 degrees F, the drag was missing!  I thought I could set it and forget it, but now know I must check the drag when there's a significant change in ambient temperature.  Something learned about my lever drags that can be critical.

Getting the lines out quickly for a drift is necessary for efficient use                           of the fishing time.

I'm thinking that I can splice different color braid to help determine the amount of line deployed beyond a cork or planer.  The uni-uni is a tough knot for braid and the 50 pound line I use will never be stressed with 5-8 pound drag.  Yes, it takes a bit longer to boat the striper with lighter drags, but the hook isn't pulled for a break off as with heavier drag settings.  The stress on the fish is another issue.  The stripers we boat are really exhausted.  If we decide to release, it takes quite a while to be sure the striper is breathing and ready to be on it's own.  Well, this is the subject of another post.

                 What's a fellow to learn from a network?

Jimmie Beaty (Teacher) has all the secrets to boating cow stripers.  Well, others do also.  Hope I can learn, if there's time.              

                   Seems like all I do is ruminate .  .  .

Over the summer, I'll need to change tires, check bearings/seals, find out if water entering the bilge is from a leaky cockpit drain hose.  Always a worry because a bilge pump must be checked so frequently.  Lucky for me, the service last year determined that the bilge pump was inoperative.

Also need to figure out a way to install cameras so I can see where/what about the boat when backing.  The camera used for the hitch works really well, when it works.  Think I need a spot light on both sides of the boat and well as a camera on both sides.  Means at least 2 or 3 displays in the cab.  Seems that much of the boat loading and launching occurs during darkness.  Lots of competition and the backing must be more precise than I can do without visual help.

Only 321 days 'til he season begins.

Yet, there's a plan to do the Susquehanna Flats in a couple months with Tom Hughes to learn jigging?  Well, might delay it until the new season.  If the season gets off to a slow start, Bill and I will do the bridge pilings and the islands.  Yep, the plan has begun.

                 Where do we camp for the  2013 season?

Now if we can find lodging?  Thinking of the Sunset Beach Resort again, but maybe a suite if the price can be right.  The continental breakfast saves $10 for each day, the cleaning station (boat wash too), and parking the boat right at the room is great.  This past year, it was $1200 for the month.  If we can get the suite (actually has two rooms) for the same price, it's a go!  Get to meet lots of fishermen, exchange lies, etc.

The closing of the Kiptopeke Inn caused havoc for many.  Near Sting-Rays is the Peacock, newly renovated with ample parking and boat wash.  Don't know about fish cleaning.  So, the following is a really short listing.

It is possible to rent a camper space in the park next to the Sunset Beach Resort.  Rates for full hookup might be in the $300-600 monthly.

Too bad the VA state park facilities are either closed or very expensive and avoided by most.

The Sea Shore Motel across from Sting-Rays was a great fishermen lodging in the past.  But, the facility regs and high cost/month were intended to discourage fishermen in December.  Think they only cater to oystermen, maybe.  Passing by frequently in December will see the parking lot empty.  Did the owners shoot themselves in the foot with the huge list of "don'ts"?  Rates are likely  in the $160 per night.  Nice facility, but not affordable for the usual fisherman.

So far, it's the Sunset Beach Resort or the Peacock Inn to consider for lodging.

          Here's places we have dined and find satisfactory!

Ya can google these eateries, but please disregard the ratings.  Try 'em and make  your own opinion.

The Sunset Beach Resort operates a beach restaurant that serves snacks and booze.  Limited menu, expensive, but sometimes convenient.  Of course, the continental breakfast at the Sunset Beach Resort is very convenient, sometimes well stocked, and not always free of them 4 footed mousy critters.  Never put boiled eggs in the microwave for more than 20 seconds.  Longer will produce a big bang and mess.  Don't ask me how I know.

BTW, Sting-Rays (757 331 2053) will cook yer prepared stripers and serve for about $10 a plate.  Not sure all that's provided, but at least one party of 20 or so did this.  Bill provided a 35 pounder for the event.  We didn't attend because we had a previous dinner plan.  But in the end, our dinner plan fizzled and we missed what was likely a great event.

We noticed that many restaurants have raised prices considerably.  Had to give up Kelly's Butter Nut Pub for that reason.  Sometimes terrible service.  Even Sting Rays seems outrageously over priced.  Think Yuk-Yuk & Joes in Eastland was OK with reasonable Pabst beer prices and some great eats.  Weekly specials include 5 pounds of hot wings @ $20 (www.yukyukandjoes.com).  But, the service is unpredictable.

McDonalds (quick breakfast on the way to the Cape Charles marina) is usually crowded with locals and fishermen, Food Lion (groceries), and Top China (carry out) are in a shopping mall near 22487 Lankford Hwy.  If yer into VABC, there's an outlet next to Top China.

Then there's Don Valero's Mexican19035 Lankford Hwy has great food and atmosphere.

A bit distant from the Sunset Beach Motel is The Great Machipongu Clam Shack (6468 Lankford Hwy, Nassawadox, VA)  Maybe make the trip when ya get blown off the fishing grounds.
.
More later as the plan and accomplishments materialize.