Thursday, May 21, 2009
A 10-year-old's first turkey and prime drum fishing in Virginia
Bill Cochran
Recent mail
BILL: Joseph Begin shot his first turkey last Saturday, a nice jake. Joseph and his dad saw a group of turkeys moving through the woods, set up quickly and the dad started calling. When the birds got near, they saw that one had a beard. Joseph waited for the birds to get close enough for his 20 gauge, and when they did he shot.
The bird jumped straight up in the air and landed on his feet. Before it could blink, Joseph pumped another shell into his gun and shot him again, and left the bird flopping, his first kill.
Joseph and his dad have been hunting together for almost 5 years. Joseph just turned 10. I’ve been hunting on youth day with them three different times. I’ve seen Joseph sit on the edge of a field watching turkeys with snow stinging his face, not shooting because the birds were too far away. Three different days he wouldn’t shoot because the birds were too far away and he didn’t want to wound them. I watched Joseph pattern his gun and I know that he knows his effective range.
This young man is quite a sportsman, and his dad his done well. As much as I missed being with them on that special day, this is the way it should have been -- father and son.
BILL: Other fishing destinations boast about their excellent drum fishing. But folks from those parts would die for drum fishing like we have here in good old Virginia. Not only do we have both black and red drum, there are lots of them and they are huge.
I know it is prime drum time. The water temperatures are right and the full moon cycle is upon us. I was frustrated with the daily evening thunderstorms and itching to go. When I saw the forecast with light winds and no thunderstorms I made some last minute calls and managed to get up with Bill “Gordy” Knapp. Capt. Skip Feller was a special guest. He has never caught a drum. So the plan was set. We were shooting for reds first, but from experience, had a full complement of clams for blacks.
We pulled out of the Virginia Beach Fishing Center in Rudee Inlet at about 6:30 p.m. and headed for the Eastern Shore area with light southerly winds and no thunderstorms on the radar. A few buddies on the radio informed us of the black drum bite going on, so we decided to flip the order -- go for blacks first, then reds.
We set up for back drum in about 18 feet of water with an incoming tide, and put out clams for bait. Within 5 minutes the bite was on. Gordy and I stood back and grinned when Skip hooked his first black drum. He was tickled pink. I think he had a new appreciation for these gentle monsters. We had a fish on almost constantly, with a few doubles, for about an hour. These fish were huge. We left after seven fish, and they still were biting. Five of our fish were citations, with the biggest 51.5 inches.
We scooted over to the shoals for the reds. The moon was gorgeous on the water. We set out crabs in about 6 feet of water for another hour. We had one run, a nice 49-inch drum. Once the tide turned, we gave it 30 minutes and then headed in with a content crew. Eight beautiful big drum in 2.5 hours. That happens only here in Virginia, of course.
The bird jumped straight up in the air and landed on his feet. Before it could blink, Joseph pumped another shell into his gun and shot him again, and left the bird flopping, his first kill.
Joseph and his dad have been hunting together for almost 5 years. Joseph just turned 10. I’ve been hunting on youth day with them three different times. I’ve seen Joseph sit on the edge of a field watching turkeys with snow stinging his face, not shooting because the birds were too far away. Three different days he wouldn’t shoot because the birds were too far away and he didn’t want to wound them. I watched Joseph pattern his gun and I know that he knows his effective range.
This young man is quite a sportsman, and his dad his done well. As much as I missed being with them on that special day, this is the way it should have been -- father and son.
JAMES RIGGS
Norfolk
Norfolk
BILL: Other fishing destinations boast about their excellent drum fishing. But folks from those parts would die for drum fishing like we have here in good old Virginia. Not only do we have both black and red drum, there are lots of them and they are huge.
I know it is prime drum time. The water temperatures are right and the full moon cycle is upon us. I was frustrated with the daily evening thunderstorms and itching to go. When I saw the forecast with light winds and no thunderstorms I made some last minute calls and managed to get up with Bill “Gordy” Knapp. Capt. Skip Feller was a special guest. He has never caught a drum. So the plan was set. We were shooting for reds first, but from experience, had a full complement of clams for blacks.
We pulled out of the Virginia Beach Fishing Center in Rudee Inlet at about 6:30 p.m. and headed for the Eastern Shore area with light southerly winds and no thunderstorms on the radar. A few buddies on the radio informed us of the black drum bite going on, so we decided to flip the order -- go for blacks first, then reds.
We set up for back drum in about 18 feet of water with an incoming tide, and put out clams for bait. Within 5 minutes the bite was on. Gordy and I stood back and grinned when Skip hooked his first black drum. He was tickled pink. I think he had a new appreciation for these gentle monsters. We had a fish on almost constantly, with a few doubles, for about an hour. These fish were huge. We left after seven fish, and they still were biting. Five of our fish were citations, with the biggest 51.5 inches.
We scooted over to the shoals for the reds. The moon was gorgeous on the water. We set out crabs in about 6 feet of water for another hour. We had one run, a nice 49-inch drum. Once the tide turned, we gave it 30 minutes and then headed in with a content crew. Eight beautiful big drum in 2.5 hours. That happens only here in Virginia, of course.
DR. JULIE BALL
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach
.....Advertisement.....
