A Memorable Day at Kiptopeke & The Kindness of More Strangers

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I had been longing for this day for the past month.  I had a severe case of tog fever, which included symptoms of sleepless nights, vivid dreams of tog-tabulous days, and twitching muscles in my arm whenever I felt a tap-tap on my work desk.  I even pumped myself up during last week's heavy rain storms by watching videos and reading old fishing reports of tautog at Kiptopeke State Park.  I was ready to catch some tautog!

These were the conditions we went out in.  Not bad at all!

It was 7:30AM Saturday morning when Ryan met Mike and me at the park's boat ramp to fish.  The winds were light, and the sky was overcast - it was nothing like what we were expecting based on the weather reports we had closely followed all week (thank goodness!).  Things couldn't be going any better for us, it was going to be a fabulous day of fishing!  We quickly rigged up our kayaks, split up the blue crabs and shrimp we brought, and got on the water.  Mike and I headed straight for the northern set of ships while Ryan made his way to the southern group.  Mike and I further split up with him fishing the bay-side of the ships and me fishing the shore-side.

Bait stealer!

He wouldn't puff up into a ball for me...

Our enthusiasm and excitement slowly faded away as we went from hole to hole without much action.  I had a bunch of bait stealers steal my bait, but never pulled up a tog.  Mike did slightly better than me on the other side of the ships, but his fish were still too short to keep.  I paddled down to see if Ryan was doing any better, and he reported that he only caught a handful of toadfish (blech!) and some short togs.  Well, at least the togs aren't entirely absent from the area...  I went on the shore-side of the southern set of ships and found a hole where I got at least a little bit of action - 2 black sea bass and a puffer fish.  Though they weren't what I was hoping for, it was still nice to catch something, and the puffer fish was a surprise because I had never caught one before.

Not sure what this is, but I caught it while trying to find some trout or drums.

It was around 11AM, and I was feeling a little less than optimistic about catching any keeper togs this day.  I joked with Mike and told him I wondered if maybe the speckled trout or red drum action might be better...I would go closer to shore to see if I might hook up with any.  I headed toward the beach area, casting some gulp mullet on a jig head along the way.  I saw several boats anchored up right up against the shore, so I headed toward them to see if they might be on to something...  By the time I reached them, they had moved on so I thought maybe it was nothing....but still I tried casting along the beach shoreline and jigging my gulp with nothing to show for it...

While jigging, I saw some movement on the beach...it looked like leaves blowing in the wind or something, but it also looked like a crab.  I couldn't tell from the water, and was interested in seeing them up close.  Maybe I could catch a crab and use it as tog bait?  I beached my kayak and chased after the funny looking crabs.  They are fast little buggars!  I never could catch one, but I did see glimpses of them inside the deep holes they dug in the sand.  As I was playing in the sand like a 4-year old, a family walked by with a bucket of spot.  They asked how I was doing and I told them that the fishing had been slow.  They told me they were going a little further down to try for some red drum with the spot that they had caught.  They invited me to join them, and offered to let me use some spot.  I politely declined the spot, but took their advice on where to fish.

This didn't look fishy to me at all...who would have thought?

I paddled over first and started jigging my gulp to no avail.  I stayed out a little further from shore to keep my distance from the shore anglers.  I then proceeded to watch the family on shore cast out their cut spot and then witnessed all 4 of them hook up with some nice-sized red drum almost immediately.  What in the world???  How did that happen?  I kept jigging in hopes that I might hook up with one too, but came up with nothing while the family on shore got into their 2nd set of fish.  What are they doing that I'm not doing?!?!  I overheard them asking each other for a measuring device to check the size of their fish.  No one in the group had one, so I paddled in and offered to let them use my hawg trough to measure their fish.  While they were busy measuring their fish I tried casting my gulp from shore and hooked up with my first red drum - a 20" keeper!  Then I caught another one, and another one.  In less than 10 minutes I had limited out on red drum.  I couldn't believe it!

Excuse my silly smile...I was too happy.

Mike paddled in from the ships out of curiosity because he saw that I had beached.  He soon saw all the action we were having on shore and tried casting some lures in our vicinity to see if he could join the action.  At first he wasn't getting much, so I invited him to beach next to me and pointed him in the general direction of where I was catching fish.  In no time he had a drag pulling fish on, and then another.  As we fought our separate fish, we just looked at each other and laughed like school girls because we couldn't believe how easy it was to catch these fish, and the fight they put up against our light gear was exhilarating.  After a while, we said to each other "you know...it would be a lot of fun to catch these on our kayaks".  Oh yea!  I went back to the family and thanked them for letting me fish with them, and took back my hawg trough to get back on the water.

This one was on the larger end of the range of fish we were catching.  My largest was 26".

Mike and I got back in the water, and we put a little bit of distance between us and the shore fishermen so that we wouldn't interfere with their catching fun.  The family was really nice about us fishing near them, and another boat even came by and joined in on the fun.  Mike had also called Ryan up to tell him to come join us if he hadn't been catching anything.  So there we were...a family of 4 on shore, 3 kayakers, and a boat with 3 anglers.  All of us were fishing in an area about the size of a football field, and we all were hooking up with fish left and right.  These fish were also not the shorter-than-legal red drum that I was used to catching - every single one of them was in the legal slot range.  The fight that these fish put on was a lot of fun on our light tackle.  Almost every cast yielded a fish, and every fish gave up drag pulling runs that pulled our kayaks in all directions.

It's nice to fish close to other boats without bad attitudes or feelings.

In the middle of our fishing fun, I saw an older angler on shore who could obviously see us catching fish, but was not catching anything himself.  I felt a bit of compassion for him, it must have been killing him to see us hook up every minute while he couldn't participate in the drum festival.  Since we had all limited out by this time, and were just catching and releasing, I took the opportunity to take the next fish I caught to offer it to the old man.  I paddled to shore and asked if he would like it, and he gladly accepted.  While I handed him the fish I gave him some pointers on what he could do differently, and also suggested he move down a bit closer to us, because it seemed like the drum were concentrated in a specific area.  I didn't stick around much after that so that I could get back to fishing.  After a while, another shore angler who saw our success moved in to join us.  I am glad he was able to join the fun, because he was kind enough to further assist the older angler.  I watched him convince the old man to move closer in toward us, and even cast out for him.  Eventually the old man got the hang of it and hooked up with a few nice red drum himself.  I couldn't help but smile as I watched that act of kindness from another angler, and also the old man hooking up with these strong fish.

Me boating my fish, Mike fighting a fish, and Ryan probably about to hook into a fish.

Caught this guy on a 6" BKD on a large bucktail.

In the meantime, Ryan, Mike and I proceeded to pull up fish after fish after fish.  That was great for Ryan, because he picked up over 300 points for his kayak wars tournament.  That's pretty awesome.  After a while we started changing things up to make things more interesting by trying different lures - ridiculous looking lures, lures that we love but have never caught anything on (you know you have some personal items you love, but have been useless to you...), ridiculously large lures, topwater lures....and the funny thing is that we caught fish on all of these (except when Mike tried fishing a whole blue crab on a hook).  We could not believe what we were experiencing... I think if it had been any other commonly schooling fish like bluefish or perch, it wouldn't have been such a big deal.  However, these were slot-sized, healthy, red drum...these fish fight harder than the average fish.  This was what any average middle bay angler would dream of!

My thumb at the end of the day from holding open the red drum mouths for unhooking.

After 2 hours and what was probably around 70-80 fish between the 3 of us, the bite stopped and the action was dead.  That was probably a good thing because my elbow was hurting from all the reeling, and I needed to head home soon to rest up for Sunday service the next morning.  We paddled back in to pack up and head home.  While packing up we continued to talk about what an amazing trip this turned out to be.  If we had played it safe and stayed home, we totally would have missed this unforgettable day of fishing.  The gamble I took the day before really paid off!  I caught my first light line striper and my first (30 or so) keeper red drum.  Oh, I did also catch my first speckled trout, but it was a dinky 12 incher that went back in the water to grow some more.

Those colors....beautiful.

The 4-hour ride home was a blur...I just daydreamed about and reflected on the past 2 days - the light line striper, the family that shared their fishing spot with me, the old man who I gave a fish to, the gentleman who helped the old man, the many drag-pulling redfish I caught, the two trusty guys who took the gamble with me and shared the reward, and my awesome wife who let me go out on an overnight fishing trip.  I am one lucky kayak angler.

Kiptopeke, HRBT

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Pre-Trip Planning
Virginia Beach wasn't really on my fishing list for this year.  I thought it was too far, and planned to wait until next year to fish it.  But with all the reports I had seen lately from the area, I started thinking about how I could make it down this year.  I originally took a Friday off from work to go down to Rudee inlet to fish for those elusive speckled trout that I couldn't catch in my last outing. However, Hurricane Sandy came through and messed up that plan.  I didn't want to go down for a recreational fishing trip while the rest of the town was cleaning up and recovering from the storm.  And I could imagine a situation where I fell overboard and needed to call the coast guard away from their work to rescue me.  That would be horrible!

Well, I had a second chance when I got a message from Ryan and Mike inviting me to join them on their trip to Kiptopeke for some tautog this past weekend. I hadn't really planned on fishing for 'tog this year, but it sounded like fun - I've heard they fight hard and taste good.  Ryan suggested getting some rigging tips from Rob Choi's blog, which has some excellent diagrams on what to do.  I went to Dick's Sporting Goods in the middle of the week to pick up some hooks, and wasn't really sure if I should get the Gamakatsu bait-holder hooks, or the octopus hooks.  I usually just get eagle claw snelled hooks for baitfishing... They both seemed like they would work so I just got both in size 3/0 to try them out.

While checking out, the cashier asked me "so what are you fishing for?"
Me: "I'm going to Virginia beach for some tautog..."
Cashier: "Tautog! What the heck is that? Some kind of foreign fish or something? Tautog.  That's a funny name. Tautog! Hey! <Other older guy's name>, have you ever heard of a Tautog? Tautog!"
Me: "No...it's not a foreign fish.  I told you I'm going to Virginia Beach.  Here's a picture of one."
Cashier: "EWW!! Why the heck do you want to catch one of those???  Well, have fun on your trip..for some Tautog. Tautog! Hahaha..."

So I leave the store slightly annoyed by the guy, thinking to myself that this dang fish better live up to its reputation!  Anyway, I brought the hooks home to make some rigs for the trip.

Tautog Rigs.

I had enough patience and swivels to make 8 rigs for the trip - I hoped that was enough because I didn't want to make anymore!  I used Rob Choi's tip of wrapping the rigs around some cardboard and put them in ziplock bags for easy replacement on the water.  All set!

Kiptopeke
Saturday came around, and I left home at 3AM for the 4.5 hour drive to Kiptopeke state park.  That 5-hour energy stuff works pretty well!...or my excitement about the trip kept me wide awake.  This was my first time in the Virginia Beach area, so just going through the bridge tunnels was an interesting experience for me.  It's pretty wild driving over the water for 10 miles...

The sunrise while crossing the CBBT.

While driving over the CBBT, I saw how calm the water was, and I knew it was going to be a great day - regardless of whether I catch any fish.  I rolled into the launch area at about 7:30AM to find Mike , who was already rigging up his kayak.  I quickly scarfed down my McDonald's breakfast and set up my kayak also.  I usually fish with 4 or 5 rods on my boat, but I decided to take 2 rods for this trip since I would be brushing up against the concrete ships a lot, and since I was going to fish exclusively for tautog.  That turned out to be a good decision, because I was beat around pretty good later in the day when the winds picked up.

Tog Food.

During the week we had arranged for Mike to pick up some blue crabs, and for Ryan to bring some shrimp and squid for bait.  Mike and I picked out our crabs from the bunch and prepared them for bait!  We de-clawed them on land so that we wouldn't have to fight them on the water, where I probably would tip over from trying to avoid getting pinched.  We saved the claws to drop down for chumming - I'm not sure if it really worked...but it sounded like a good idea. While we were rigging several others arrived and fished with us - Grilled and OBX_Rat from the MKF forum, and also finally Ryan.

One of the holes in the concrete ships.

I had seen pictures of the concrete ships on the internet, but seeing them up close was pretty neat.  It's crazy to think that these things ever floated.  Concrete Kayak, maybe?  This was my first time here, so Mike gave me a quick lesson on togging.  Find a hole in the ships, drop your bait down, feel the tap-tap, set the hook.  If you catch one, stick around because there will be more. Sounds simple to me!  I looked for some holes on the shore-facing side while Mike tried the other side.  After checking out two holes, I felt the tap-tap!  I missed the hookset, and came up with an empty hook.  Sneaky little fish!  I tried again, and after a couple missed hooksets, I finally hooked up with a 15 incher - 1 inch short of a keeper.  I didn't care though, I caught my first tog, and it gave a nice fight!

My first tog.

I followed Mike's advice and sent down another quarter-piece of crab, and soonafter caught my second fish of the day.  A nice fat 18 incher!  This one gave an even stronger fight than the first one, and it took a little while to bring it up.  I think I would say it gave a fight comparable to the 17 inch red drum that I caught last month.  They are both some good-fighting fish.

First keeper tog!  That blood on my finger is mine...don't put your knife next to your stringer in the boat. 

I think they're rather cute...

2 fish out of the same hole!  Mike hadn't caught any by this time, so I invited him to give it a try, so we switched spots for a little while, and he soon pulled up his first of the day - a 16 inch keeper!  I thought I found my honey hole for the day, so I stayed there for a while.  However, things got slow, and I didn't catch anymore for a couple hours.  I tried hole after hole after hole, and the tog just didn't want to eat!  I even tried going inside some of the ships to check them out, and it was interesting.  You have to be careful paddling around the ships though, because there are rusty spikes everywhere.

Bayside view from inside a ship

After several hours of unsuccessful fishing on the northern set of ships, we moved to the southern set of ships to check things out there.  By this time the wind was also starting to pick up, and the water was getting a little choppier.  It didn't matter though, we needed to pick some more fights with these tough fish.  We eventually found a spot where the tog were somewhat active.  There were 5 of us there, and we were catching fish pretty frequently.

My kayak getting scratched up.  Ryan's on the other side.

At one point I put my rod down to take some pictures and I hooked up with a tog!  Unsatisfied with the picture I missed, I set my rod down again to get another picture, and I hooked up with another one!  This one was almost a keeper at 15.75 inches.  No matter how much I massaged its body and pulled its big old buck teeth forward, I couldn't get it to meet the 16 inch mark on my ruler.

Pretty fish when you look at them from behind.

By 3PM I was exhausted from fighting the fish and fighting the wind.  Everyone else around me were peddling hobies, while I had my rod down on the boat as I paddled in place to stay put.  By this time I had caught my second keeper at 16 inches, so I was content that I had some fish to take home to taste.  I headed in with everyone else coming in soon after.  In the end, most of us caught 2 keepers each, and Ryan had a 19 inch keeper red drum.

All the peddling hobies in front of me.

Before the launch, Ryan asked me "are you ready for your first togging experience?"  I replied with "I am! I just hope I catch some."  I caught about 9 or 10, with most being just under 16 inches.  They were a blast to catch, and fishing the concrete ships was a fun experience.  I don't think I can do the 9 hour round trip thing very often....but maybe once a year during tog or speck season might be good =).

By the time we all packed it up, it was around 4:00, and we stood around discussing what to do.  Ryan was going to check into his hotel and take a nap, because he had a late night flight home the night before and drove straight to the park without any sleep.  The rest of us tossed around the idea of fishing at HRBT for some stripers.  I drove 4.5 hours to fish the area, why not get the full experience, and do the light-line as well??

The sunset while crossing the CBBT.

HRBT
After a quick stop at McDonald's for dinner, Mike and I went to the Willoughby Harbor Marina to fish the HRBT bridge.  It was only 6:00 or so, but since it's been getting dark sooner, we launched in the dark.  I had no idea what I was doing, and I couldn't see any shadows of fish in the light that I had read about.  I just tried techniques that have worked for me elsewhere, which included trolling an X-Rap parallel to the bridge, and jigging some Bass Assassins from under the bridge.  I did this aimlessly for about an hour and a half with nothing, and Mike hadn't caught anything either.  We decided to call it quits around 7:30, and paddled against a moderate south wind back to the launch area.

The light line.  Can you see Mike?

I think it might have just been bad timing...there was no current, and we couldn't stick around for it to pick up.  It was still a neat experience to see the HRBT, and it's always fun to get out in a kayak with a buddy (thanks, Mike!).  It was a little after 8 when I headed home, and I made it home just before midnight.  I was exhausted, but I managed to stay alert on the drive home.  Maybe that 5-hour energy stuff really works, because I gulped one down just before I left the parking lot.  Or maybe my mind was kept busy reflecting on the great day I just had, and planning when I can go back next.

Tog Taste Test
So how did it taste?  Delicious.  While at Kiptopeke, I asked Ryan "So how do you cook this?"  He replied "Any way you want.  It's delicious however you cook it."  I've heard of people deep frying it, eating it raw as sashimi, baking it, etc.  I decided to fillet one of the fish to fry with some breading for dinner Sunday evening, and clean the other one to steam next week when my in-laws come to visit (hey, my mother-in-law gets fish again!).

Tog with cornmeal

Tog with seafood batter

My 2 year old and 1 year old sons loved the fish fried with corn meal, while my wife and I enjoyed the fish fried with some flour-based seafood batter.  My wife's previous favorite fish was some blue catfish I had fried from my Mattawoman trip, but tog might have topped it.  She liked it so much she suggested I go back next week when her family comes to visit.  We'll see....