VKFA fishing/paddling trip on West Neck Creek,  July 31,  2004

I paddled West Neck Creek in Virginia Beach on Saturday July 31st with some folks from the VKFA (Virginia Kayak Fishing Association).  Larry Hatch and his son Nathan put in at West Neck Marina.  They were joined by members Tina and me.  It was a nice day but there was a threat of some nasty weather much later in the day.  Larry and Nathan had put in before Tina and I got there.  They did not like the way the wind had kicked up since they had been out and breakfast was calling Larry.  They paddled a bit with us before heading back to the ramp.  Tina and I headed up North for some fishing.  I don't believe that they had any luck fishing that day but we were optimistic about our chances.

Tina managed to get the first and only fish.  A catfish on a lure.  A.....well I guess I'd better not say since that is her secret.  It was a nice fish.  Suddenly I was excited about freshwater fishing.  She caught this pretty soon after we started fishing.  Maybe 1/2 hour at the most.

10" Catfish?  Maybe longer.

We fished mainly in the first mile South of the Indian River Road bridge.  There are lots of little areas that are more protected from the wind than the main creek.  Even so we found out just what not having an anchor means when kayak fishing.

A huge tree that caught my eye.

So I back paddled a got a better shot of it.  It stood out from the others.  You can see a few dark wispy clouds moving through.  It sprinkled for about five minutes and that was it.

Tina checking out another little area where fish might be looking for a meal.

Somehow I managed to take this picture 4 times.  I guess my camera must go into rapid fire mode if you hold the button down too long.  It didn't even turn out that great.  I took it because it was one of these little spots that just looked like fish would be holding up in there.

The sun hung with us all day long.  Surely there must be hungry fish here!

A nice gravel pull out to stretch our legs,  get a snack and a drink.  That is Indian River Road crossing over the creek there (can barely see the bridge pilings on right).

We fished the area just to the North of the Indian River Road bridge but no luck there.

The wind had really picked up throughout the day and the paddle back promised to be hard work since the wind was coming from the direction we were paddling towards.

The bridge was a welcome site.  The paddle from where we fished to here was hard with the wind in our faces.  We stuck with it and set a pretty good pace.  The marina is less than a 1/4 mile from the bridge.  Almost there.

Tina pushing the final distance to the marina after a long paddle.

I pulled the kayak out of the water and put it on the dock as to not hinder any boats coming in after me.  Time to unload.

Tina's kayak.

Getting ready to load my kayak and taking the last pictures left.

A communications tower to the left.  This connects to West Neck Creek.  Going left from here (towards the tower) will take you out to the North Landing River.  Going right leads to the bridge (West Neck road) and North to Indian River Road and eventually to Princess Anne Road and Dozier's Bridge.

West Neck Marina's shore fishing area.

The very next day,  Sunday.  Robert,  another VKFA member,  fished West Neck Creek with a buddy and caught some bass and some panfish.  Maybe next time we'll get the chance to fish with him and hope some of his freshwater fishing prowess will rub off on us.