Went out July 2, 2012 to check out the ODU Reef off Ocean View. We parked at the side lot to Ships Cabin Restaurant and walked out to the beach. From the beach looking straight out toward the 10 o'clock direction you can see the bouy about a mile out.
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Buoy marking ODU Reef
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Took my oldest son out on this trip. It was his first time fishing from a kayak and he got hooked even though he did fall out once. LOL. It took us 30 min to get out there and even with 2 ft seas the way out was a nice paddle. Our weapons of choice were bottom rigs with live bait and cut squid and also poles rigged with jig heads with shrimp gulps. Right away we started getting hit but nothing hooking up. My gulps kept getting pulverised and bit off right behind the hook. Then my son hooked up with a disturbing looking fish that people call a Toad Fish. Ugly looking thing with some teeth and? a big head. I got some bites and hooked up with something a good size then lost it. That went on for about an hour with bites then hookup loss when all of a sudden the son hook up something good this time.
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| Sons Shark (Bob) |
I thought he was jokeing at first but then started to hear his drag take off for a bit. Pulled up next to him and when a 2 to 3 foot shark surfaced. He was so excited he yelled out "My first shark and his name is Bob!" As I was trying to help him get the shark off the hook with my pliers I told him to bring it closer and he practically used his rod to flop it in my lap.
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| Son and I |
Let's just say a little quick maneuvering on my part thanks to him flopping the little jaws toward my jewels almost sent me in the water but quickly grabbed the line and got a good hold of the shark to remove the hook safely and send the fish on his way. After that we stayed another hour with no more bites.
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| Harbor Patrol |
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| Anchor made for trip out to the reef |
While I was out I was able to test out the new anchor I made for this outing and it worked perfectly. I was able to anchor up on the structure without hanging up or worry about loosing it. Thanks to Rob Choi for posting his picks which made me make mine in a similar way. The paddle back we ran into Harbor Patrol and traded our stories for the area and also seen the video from the shark he caught. All in all this is a fishing spot I will recommend to all.
