Archive for April, 2010
Friday, April 23rd, 2010 by Mike Halperin
Bay and Inshore Report: Anglers in the know are already enjoying keeper-size flounder that have made their spring presence known by attacking baits at the curve of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. More flatfish will appear and invade area inlets as water temperatures reach and remain above 60 degrees. As a result of this action, local captains are now running flounder charters. Tautog (or blackfish as they are known in the north) have been on a tremendous spring bite. The good news here is that blue crab season is open providing plenty of crab bait. Fiddler crabs will also put tautog in the boat. The tasty togs will oblige at tunnel pilings of the CBBT, at inshore wrecks, and at artificial reefs. Many tautog have been over 4 pounds with some Virginia citation fish (9 pounds plus) already landed, including one 16 pounder! Croaker have also been landed by commercial netters and at piers adjacent to Virginia Beach waters and are expected to appear any day in our inlets and in the surf. With puppy drum and speckled trout already taking baits inside Rudee Inlet, inshore anglers anxiously await the spring run of big red and black drum. Rockfish season is right around the corner, set to reopen May 1 through May 15 with a trophy season for striped bass 32 inches or larger.
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Tags: black drum, Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, croaker, Fishing, flatfish, Flounder, grouper, red drum, striped bass, winter vacations, Yellow Belly rosefish
Posted in Fishing, Living the Life
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 by Tina Fries
 Once you go, you understand why False Cape State Park has been called the “OBX of Virginia.” Situated below Sandbridge at the most southern end of Virginia Beach, it’s in a remote location, undeveloped and with limited access. No cars allowed. You either hike, bike or boat in, or take public transportation provided by the park.
My first visit to False Cape came back in 1999 before kids when my husband and I biked the 6+ miles into the park. It was easy to see why some people call it a “natural zoo.” On the path in we passed dozens of snapping turtles sunbathing on logs, and were greeted by numerous colorful birds. We were just a few miles into the park when we were surprised by a wild horse — gone astray from N.C., we guessed. It rounded the bend near the Visitor Center and galloped off down a trail. We even spotted a wild boar. Once out on the pristine beach, a perfectly formed sand dollar was our reward.
The experience left a huge impression and we vowed to go back.
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Tags: biking, Blue Goose, False Cape State Park, fun for kids, hiking, Little Island Park, nature, OBX of Virginia, Terra Gator, Virginia Beach
Posted in Living the Life, With The Kids
Monday, April 5th, 2010 by Tina Fries
It’s sometimes hard to predict what will jazz a 9-year-old, but the Where the Wild Things Are at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia exhibit has something for the kid in all of us, even my progressive third grade diva who has decided Disney princesses are no longer cool. Wild Things, however, are.
 Where the Wild Things Are is cleverly designed to have mass appeal. I was content to perch on a simulated Brooklyn front porch stoop and read some of the author’s less known works while my daughter had a ball sliding down a colorful 4’ slide into a pretend bowl of chicken soup. The bowl comes complete with large Styrofoam rice pellets, rubber chickens (she held one up by its neck to show me), and fabric carrots which she hugged like a pillow, bringing one down the slide with her on a subsequent run.
It’s pretty wild when you think about it. I was born in 1964, just one year after Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are was first published. My daughter was born 36 years later. Yet we both grew up reading the book. As did two twenty-something guys who wandered in and poured over some of Sendak’s early sketches, notes, photos and first drafts, scrawled onto notepaper.
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Tags: CACV, Where The Wild Things Are
Posted in Living the Life, With The Kids
Thursday, April 1st, 2010 by Mike Halperin
The 2010 Virginia Beach fishing season is off to a fine start on the following note:
New potential state record fish: On March 28, local angler Chuck Fischer lucked into the fish of a lifetime. Fishing in his 17’ boat out of Virginia Beach, he and a fishing buddy intercepted the advance guard of the annual bay flounder invasion. While drifting at the small boat channel of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, the angling duo quickly landed their limit of flounder. Several fish in the 4 and 5 pound range were netted. Just before heading in, Chuck almost had the rod pulled out of his hands. After a prolonged battle, he finally netted a huge doormat-sized flounder. At weigh in, Chuck became aware that his fish tipped the scales at 19 lb., 10 oz., besting the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament record for flounder by almost two pounds! Both anglers were ecstatic but it was apparent that their new record would never be a reality………………
Happy April Fool’s Day from the Captain to You!
Now that I have your attention, on a more serious note, I do wish every reader tight lines and outstanding fishing in the coming season. May all your catches be regal and real!
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Tags: bass, blackfin tuna, Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, citations, Fishing, Fishing Tournaments, Flounder, NOAA, puppy drum, striped bass, Stripers, tile fish, Virginia Beach, yellowfin tuna
Posted in Fishing, Living the Life
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