This channels mission is to share adventures on the water, educational content and inspire others to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether you are interested in spending time on the water, learning about fishing or just tuning in to see something new please help the channel out and subscribe. I am very passionate about conservation and doing my part to protect the ecosystems we live in for the next generation. My name is Abell, my wife is Jillian, and we are grateful to anyone willing to support this. I will be uploading every week!
Please subscribe! Comment any questions or feedback you have and I will be sure to reply!
Thanks for watching! Im going to do a handful of these gear walkthroughs each year. I think it’d be neat to show different changes I make and new things I start using 🤙🏼
I’m a bit of a fishin prepper LOL. I’ve been thinking the same thing with this winter… content could be tough to make. Been contemplating getting an old jon boat to work on as a side project🤔
Thanks for watching! In my next gear walkthrough I’ll definitely go over the storage cart I made. How I load and launch my kayak solo, and then the truck bed rack I made for carrying my wife and mine at the same time🤙🏼
Informative video on your setup, definitely going to get a strap to attach on my paddle to the yak. I’d probably go down the Facebook marketplace route for a hobie or similar paddle yak
That's a nice rig. I have to paddle my Vive Sea Ghost. It's okay but I want a peddle drive. But I was thinking about getting a little trolling motor to put on my yak. Looks like it's going to be blowing too hard for the yaks this weekend. I'll probably go under a bridge or something.
Thanks man! My wife and I both started out on sea ghosts last year. Absolutely loved the storage and cockpit setup of those things. Very stable too. I think a trolling motor would be a bad ass addition to one. Wouldn’t cost near as much as upgrading to a complete pedal drive kayak, depending on how nice a trolling motor you get
@@1stTide no, I skipped the kayak and went to Grandview on Saturday. We caught some little redfish, grey trout, a short flounder, and a huge croaker. Sunday I went under the bridge near Grandview and we caught little reds and trout.
I'm impressed! Casting a flyrod is pretty tough standing up. From the kayak must be extra difficult. Maybe I'll get a flyrod. I had a cheap one when I was young and didn't catch anything with it because it was too frustrating. Now I'd get a better rod. I'd like to meet up with you sometime and fish together. I live in Hampton near Fort Monroe and I fish a lot. I grew up catching fish in FL and I'm still learning the area. I don't mind helping film for your channel or being on video. I'm sure I'll go Saturday and Sunday if the weather is good enough, hopefully to the HRBT.
Thanks man! The fly rod is a learning curve for sure, after using it for a season I still feel like I’m barely understanding what I’m doing LOL. I won’t be able to go out this weekend but maybe we could link up later in September 🤙🏼😎
The first time you catch a fish on a fly you tied from scratch will give you the same feeling as when you saw a dog for the first time. "THATS REALLY COOL"
Looks like y'all had a great day. I'm thinking about trying for sheepshead at the tall pier at Fort Monroe. I found muscles at the Dollar Tree and I think sheepshead will eat them.
Really enjoy your channel and content! I fish the same turf around the HRBT and Bird Island. Nice job on both the Red and the Sheephead! As for the Blue Fish... they are delicious in fish cakes. One of my favorite dishes actually. I'll never throw back another Blue (unless I've hit my creel limit). I also finally kept and cooked a Ribbon Fish to try it out. Easy to fillet and just fried it on the skin so it wouldn't fall apart. Been throwing Ribbons back in for the past few years... now they'll go in the cooler for sure!
Thanks for watching and I’m glad you enjoy it! I can’t say that I’ve ever had a fish cake. I’m imagining something along the lines of a crab cake and I’m getting hungry thinking about it. Next time I get one and have ice I’ll try it out! I’ve heard from a few people that the ribbon fish are overlooked as a meal, I’ll have to try one of those too! Maybe a throwback catch clean cook with blues, ribbon, and croaker😎
I love you guys. I try to watch all your videos as this is all in my backyard as a resident of the 757. My next boat is a kayak and a penny for your thoughts re this purchase for local waters might be a thought for a future video. The past 2 years have been a wash for me due to a lot of other reasons but there is always next year! Cheers!
Thank you for the support! A kayak is an excellent choice to fish the Hampton Roads Area. I am planning on doing a gear review / update series of video's where we go in depth on our setups, kayaks, rods & reels, gear, etc... If you have any questions or want any advice on kayak setups etc.. I'd be happy to help as much as I can. Shoot me a DM on facebook our send me a email at 1sttide@gmail.com 🤙🏼
My advice is to get a peddle drive. I have to paddle and it is really frustrating trying to stay in position. Also get an anchor, I use mine a lot when I want to focus on a particular spot.
Triggerfish are very good to eat. And they're tough to hook. I used to catch them in FL and I caught a couple big ones trolling the Caribbean side of Costa Rica on the reef. They're always welcome on my table. I keep grinding for flounder. Saturday we went to the HRBT and we caught some shorties. Yesterday I went to Grandview and I caught 4 flatties. One was 20.25" and the other 3 were of course short. That's only the 3rd keeper and I've probably caught 70 or so this year. I was pretty stoked. One of these days we'll bump into each other out there. I'd be out there now but it's pouring.
Right on I agree Trigger Fish will always be welcome in the cooler! Congrats on the keeper flounder! They have definitely been a grind for both of us this summer haha. Persistence is key, I keep an excel sheet with info on depth, tides, winds, etc that I log all my catches on too. Only been doing it a few years but it should help me understand patterns a little bit better.
@@1stTide the pattern I have found is that the flounder are near rocks or pilings where there's a drop off. Yesterday I found them at Grandview by the rocks. If I cast 10' past the rocks I didn't get bit. Up next to the rocks is where they all were. I've found the same thing under the hrbt around the island.
Absolutely agree. Being right up against structure is key, and excepting you'll lose a few jigs in the process haha. I've been suspecting the bigger flounder have been in deeper water too with the hotter water temps. Maybe 15' +. Exception to this theory was the cooler water temps we had after the cooler week following hurricane debby. I was finding keepers left and right in places that I had only caught shorts in all summer. I think those colder water temps might have brought them up from deeper structure nearby?
@@1stTide yeah we've had cooler weather and I think it moved the fish around. This is only my second summer here and I'm still learning what the fish do. I caught a lot more this year than last, and bigger ones too. Yesterday I got that keeper in shallow water, 2-3'. But that spot has deeper water close. When the tide got lower they were gone or quit biting. I figure they went deeper or maybe farther down the line of rocks. I'll have to explore over there more at Grandview because it's good when I can't get out in the kayak. The old lighthouse rocks look really good but they're too far from the beach to really fish. But the rocks to the right when you hit the beach are easy to fish around. There might be flounder around the stumps at high tide too. And I haven't tried the sand bars there much. But it looks like a great spot when the conditions are right. I need more places to go from shore because my buddies don't go in the kayaks as much as I want to go. And it's nice to just fish after work without unloading the boat and loading it later.
Hello I live Norfolk love to fish. Not good at but I would love to help your video. please take this senior fishing. I fell in the water 💦 so they told I can't go by myself anymore. Yet no one wants to go with me.p
Thanks for watching! Beginning of the video was on the Lafayette off of that public boat launch by the bridge. The Jetty's were at little creek inlet, I launched from public beach access🤙🏼
Triggerfish are super tasty. They're also hard to hook and weird to clean. But definitely worth it. I lost 2 tubs of Gulp tails yesterday under the HRBT and only caught a few short flounder and a bunch of sea bass and croakers. I fished from the beach under the bridge for a little while to stretch my back and I watched bunches of 6" flounder tearing tails off my Gulp. The babies are great for the future but right now they're brutal along with the other tail biters.
AGREED It was delicious! Yes cleaning it was different, required a bit of youtube research before attempting LOL. My wife & I were out there yesterday too! Fished the Norfolk side and same result as you. We did watch a boat of young guys catch a handful of keepers about 50yd off the rocks on top of the tunnel. Maybe the keepers moved back into depths of 20+ feet? Maybe you have already tried them but I live by Zman Plastics. Even the blues struggle to bite the tails off, very very durable! Tight lines!🤙🏼
@@1stTide I'm glad you got some keepers yesterday. We missed the good tide. I like the Hampton side because it's closer to the bridge, I've only tried the Norfolk side once. Do you get as many bites with Z Man as Gulp? I have a whole bunch of their stuff and Salt Strong soft plastics too. Even with ProCure or Dr Juice I don't catch as many fish. But maybe it's worth a few less bites if you're catching keepers. What kind are working for you?
Definitely pick your days for Norfolk side, it can get dicey going to and from the Island with a strong tide. Honestly, Zman is usually all I have in my kayak. I load them up with pro cure pretty frequently especially for flounder. For flounder I prefer the curly tails, jigging & crawling those on the bottom seems to get there attention. Ill use paddle tails and jerk shad style for flounder too but mainly use those for reds or trout. Mostly fish marshes for those but they have worked well even in deeper waters.
@@1stTide thanks! I'll try some Z Man curly tails when I go out this afternoon. I'm stuck on land today because none of my buddies want to launch the kayaks and it's too crazy alone. I have some chartreuse and some white Z Man curlies to try.
@@DeathSmoke-dk1fk don’t get discouraged! This was my first time fishing this area and it took me 3 hours to find a school. Cover as much ground as possible, I fished probably 4 miles of shoreline🤙🏼
What kind of fish was that? Sorry I live in BC and haven’t ever caught croppys or walleye or bass or bluegill or nothing, just salmon, trout, sculpin, cod, rock fish, halibut, sand shark and one time a seal stole a fish from me and I had that on the hook for a bit until it peeled all my line out.
@@gekkoukasane this a red drum👍🏼 also called aka red fish, reds, & puppy drum. They get up to 50” long! The slot size here in Virginia is 18”-26” so this would have been a good to keep and eat. They make excellent table fair too!
It's interesting to see you catching fish out away from the bridge and rocks. I fish around the structure a lot. My buddy and I are supposed to paddle over in the morning and I'll have to try out away from the bridge some. I know a couple pilings that usually hold flounder and I'll try them too.
I have heard they make good table fair. Just don’t look to appetizing 🤣 maybe I’ll keep a few of those and a few croaker and do a catch clean cook with fish I usually don’t keep
I’m staying in Reedville for the weekend any tips for fishing? been kayaking and throwing some swim baits and crank baits haven’t caught anything really other than croaker
A 3.5-4” paddle tail will catch just about everything in the bay. If you’re using a heavy line you could be spooking off a picky redfish or trout, maybe try a light leader or thinner mainline. Also look for choke points where fish can sit near structure and ambush bait being moved around by the tide🤙🏼
I post every spring about wearing a life jacket. Cold weather especially... Hypothermia hits you fast. Love to hear others put it out there! Nice trip!
Thanks for watching! And absolutely safety is no joke, I’ve been fortunate enough to never have flipped my kayak. I know if I do it long enough it’s just a matter of when, and I want to be prepared!
Me too! Im sure the commotion doesn’t help for keeping the bigger reds around but the flounder don’t mind. Even caught a few on the drop offs that have been made from dredging or the big boats prop wash
@@1stTide I’ve been talking with a long time kayak fishing buddy, he hasn’t seen any decrease in the amounts or quality of fish, if anything it’s gotten a bit better…maybe from all the bottom being stirred up exposing bait!
@@rickiesorenson551 could be! Maybe the bottom disturbance kicks up micro organisms that in turn draws in the filter feeders etc etc? Very interesting to think about
Thanks man, I’m speculating the water temps brought the bigger ones up from deeper water. I marked 77 degree water out there compared to 2 weeks ago in the mid 80s
New sub here! Nice videos, enjoying the straight to the point fishing content! Keep it coming! Never been fishing there, I have a small jon boat, is there a boat ramp around cow island?
Thanks for subscribing and I’m glad you enjoy the content🤙🏼 there a few launches at the marinas around that area. Can’t remember the names. In a jon you can reach out and get to the bay side marsh systems on plum tree which hold TONS of reds.
Awesome video, I live in Virginia Beach and I'm about to buy my first fishing kayak, any suggestions or advice would be super appreciated. What type of kayak, what size? Where do I put in to go hrbt, where for cbbt?? Thanks 👍
@@peterwheatstraw7080 Thanks for watching, I’m glad you enjoyed! I wouldn’t go shorter than a 12 foot yak. If you have the funds to get a pedal drive either Hobie or old town. I have the Outback and I absolutely love it, my wife has the salty 120 and it’s just as good if not better in rough conditions. Shoot me a message on FB and I can give you more info on yaks and launches in the area 👍🏼
