[fish militia]

I am glad to be here and look forward to participating with you.

My reports will not be huge or drawn out unless I do something out of the ordinary.

My reports are pretty basic. Business's and websites to run and a family to take care of leaves me with my own time limits I spend on the internet anymore.

If you have any questions I'll be glad to put in my 2 cents, but other then that I stay clear of a lot of the " how do I and what do you think" threads in the kayak forum.

Kayak fishing and rigging is all about what works for you. What makes you comfortable.

I can't re-invent the wheel. There are tons of kayak info, videos, and websites out there.

I got into this sport towards the end of 2007 after Wilderness sent me a couple yaks as a sponsorship, when I still had a local fishing show.

I tried them out and realized this was awesome and I loved it.

Ric Burnley had been pushing me for years to try it--knowing I would probably fall for it. He was right.

I've chased fished from the planks of Sandbridge to Avon, fished the surf from Carova to Ocracoke and caught many a fish from the different fleets on the Outer Banks. I've shot underwater video in some precarious situations in depths exceeding one mile. I know no fear of the water, but I have alot of respect for it and what's in it.

This was a natural progression for me, as this has been some of the hardest fishing I've done.

After 6 months of picking up a paddle I started guiding. I had already chased fish all over the Banks in many different arenas, with the area's best fishermen and now I just needed to apply those skills to the plastic.

Within 14 months of picking up a paddle I organized the first East Coast Gulf Stream mothershipping adventure.

Myself, Ric Burnley, and several others split up between 2 boats and headed out into the deep blue.

We had a few people who had never kayaked or fished before with us and everyone caught that day. It was awesome.

This gained me a few local, regional, and national articles and even a nod from the a hardcore kayak inventor, Jim Sammons.

Since then I've done this quite a few times.

In 2010, I spent over 100 days in Diamond Shoals perfecting my hardcore skills.

I put down citation drum, cobia, and a ton of other fish that year in one of the East Coast's most hostile enviroments. I punched out on days when most wouldn't have launched the sound--and I caught a lot of fish.

In the winter of 2011, I tore my Achilles tendon twice in a 90 day period. The resulting time spent on crutches lead to me herniating a disc in my neck, which was a huge nail in my physical coffin for the year.

I ran 2 guides last year.

By the fall of last year I hit the gym and began to train for 2012 and I am happy to report that I am back in the saddle in full force.

I've already run close to 75 people this year and I've lost that many and then some to the harshest summer weather I can remember in almost 12 years of living on the Banks.

My books look good through October, so I hope to get most of them out.

That's it..not much more for me to say.

I am glad to be here and I hope I can help.

 

[dudeondacouch]

That's a lot of carriage returns.

 

[AL_N_VB]

Rob you failed to mention hosting a top notch Striper Tournament. Best of luck with your new endeavors!

 

[Shooter]

I can't think of who might not know Rob of Fish Militia but if by chance you have never been to the Outer Banks let me warn you. Rob is one tough, mean, over the edge fishing machine,,, what I mean by all that is he will do everything in his power to get you on fish and ensure you of having one of the best times of your life.

Rob, I am glad to see ya on board and if there is anything we can do to help just give me a shout.

 

[dirtyhandslopez]

Best of luck Rob.

Sure was a lot of camels on that blue water trip and seeing Dave playing with that dophin was the business.

 

[River]

Rob's one tough fisherman and Kayaker, glad to see him healed and back at it - Congradulations P&S for a great addition, I have personally witnessed what I though was the end of him on two occasions, one at Cape Point when he was surf fishin and the other at Cape Point in a Kayak - he's like a Cat, 9 lifes - Best of luck Rob ! River

 

[fish militia]

Thanks guys..

It's not a new endeavor.

I did real well in 2010 running people, but last year's injuries took me back to scratch.

It sucked cause I had a profile article in Kayak Angler Magazine and the phone was ringing, but I couldn't run them.

In 2010 I had a stupid amount of articles on what I was doing and the phone rang non-stop.

But, articles don't last forever.

So this year I hooked-up with a professional advertising consultant, who knows a lot about the Banks and followed her every word.

It has paid off greatly.

Most clients are not kayakers and are hardly anglers.

But they are individuals looking to try something new on the their vacation.

Like Real Watersports or Kitty Hawk Kites-- I just need to provide them with something new and very different.

I wish I could've been in the ocean more this year, but most all of my clients just want to catch something under the mildest conditions possible.

The rest of the more advanced kayak anglers I got have fallen victim to weather and I've still been stuck chasing fish in the sound.

But all seem happy and i am too.

I hope that I continue to grow.

 

[jmadre]

My wife and I fished with Rob several times during the summer of 2010. We caught big fish (3 citations: Red Drum, Spanish Mackerel, and Bluefish) and everyone of them had a great story to go with it.

As I recently stated on another forum about kayaking with Rob, you know you had a good time when you tell the stories as they happened and realize that it sounds like you're full of --it.