I was on the water from sun up to sun down, hoping every moment in between that my quest for VA Saltwater Expert Angler status would come to an end with one last specie citation. King Neptune graced me with a myriad of other species, but my trophy tautog still remains at large.
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| Photo Credit: Jetski Brian |
Keeping my frustrations at bay, I got to enjoy the many colors and shapes theCBBT had to offer.
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| Bergall aka Cunner from the wrasse family (same family as tautog) |
I had several 12″ Black Sea Bass and one right at 12.5″ (keeper size).
Three puppy drum paid me a visit after falling for my tog intended fiddler crabs.
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| Oystertoad |
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| Pigfish aka grunt |
I tallied about 15 togs, most of them in the 15″-16″ range with two going 17″. Chunks of blue crab and live fiddler crabs were the baits of the day.
Jetski Brian on his tricked out ride
also did very good on vacuum packed frozen fiddlers.
At the end of the day,
as the sun smeared breathtaking hues across the mirror calm bay,
it was hard not to give thanks just for the opportunity to be there.
I soaked it all in…
…hoping my next adventure isn’t too far off.
By the way, I saw decent numbers of light line stripers on the way in near the small boat channel. I caught two in the lower-mid 20″range using a 1/4oz jighead and 3″ white Gulp swimming mullet before calling it a (long) day.