Hawg = one really huge bass (preferably a striper)
Hvn = the only place to be
VA = Virginia Beach, Striper Capitol of the World
Fishing was "turribull", but, as Charles puts it, the conversation was GREAT!
You probably wouldn't want to see THIS group too close or too clear anyway!
l - r: "Butch", "Mike Mike", "The Old Man", "Charles" and "JJ".
(Not in the photo: Robert, his son, Mr. & Ms. "Roadrunner"
JJ had one bait-sized croaker in the cooler after being on the pier for about 23 hours. When I first got there at 2 p.m., to hear him tell it, it weighed about a pound. 20 minutes later it was up to "a pound and a half". About 3:30 p.m. with a new group of tourists on the pier it weighed 2 pounds. By 5 p.m. it was a 3 pounder. I finally asked him if he had ANY lead left in his tackle box.
But, I forgave him. After all, he DID drive all the way down from Richmond. He IS originally from the left coast (San somewhere he said, not far from San Francisco). He said the catch rate was 1 every 24 hours. I told him he was leaving too soon, that the fish were going to start biting "ANY MINUTE NOW". But he was looking forward to that drive back to Richmond and wanted to start that fun part of his trip right away.
Anyway, the bite finally turned on. Witness the other photo. A DINKY croaker, but the FIRST of the new season! And I was only 3 1/2 hours in. Maybe my catch rate was better than JJ's because I'm a local?
TO: JJ & Mike from Richmond; Roadrunner(s) from Chesapeake; Butch & Charles from Virginia Beach; and Robert & his son from Chesapeake
The Old Man and Yours Truly THANK YOU ALL for the wonderful experience of TERRIFIC COMPANY and good-natured CONVERSATION to make a "poor" fishing day a truly enjoyable experience. Just check out that sunset. The only way it could have been better would have been to have caught that one that . . . .