[Thrifty Angler]

Very crowded with I got there.
Sept 25: Set up crab pots but didn't catch much...just 4 in an hour or two. Strong NE wind and strong current pull btw.
Way too much combat crabbing going on. Still, glad to be back on the pier.
Packed up the pots and headed towards the end of the pier. Was able to get many different fish types. Not big enough to keep though.
Fish tally in catching order: 1 pigfish, 1 perch, 1 croaker, 1 roundhead, 1 bluefish. 1 mini skate, i medium skate, 1 large skate. Son hand lined each of them up and got them off the hook for me. Decided to pack it up and while heading off the pier, dropped the pots back down when I got near the shoreline. Caught some more crabs to add to the others...total came out to 8 crabs. Hmmm......lot of that combat crabbing stiill going on.

Sunday June 26: Got back on the pier, dropped the pots among the combat crabbers. Yep...still a lot of that going on. Didn't catch more than a migraine. Way too busy for me in that area. Took a headache pill just before packing the pots up. The wind had subsided so I moved towards the end of the pier. Came across a spot that was way serene. Started pulling crabs up in good numbers. After a while, I decided to set up one of my fishing rods. I caught an undersized trout, some roundhead, and a medium size skate. Was on my own so I had to "woman up". Hand lined the skate up all by myself being careful not to let the tail whip under the rail as I was pulling it up. Laid it down and put a small cooler over to tail. Got the hook out and picked it up by the tail, not with my bare hands though. Got it back into the water. Whew...I did it. Didn't even give it a second thought. You guys would be proud if you saw me in action. Fishing was done for the day. Didn't want to risk getting a ray...someone already had hooked into one. Crabbed just a short while longer.
Decided to work my way off the pier. Combat fishing session seems to have ended. Well, all except that one guy that was tending to 8 crab pots. Hmmm. Seems the other in his party had left for a break. Thought for a moment I was back on the CBBT.
Had a great time. Totally worn out. I can type. Every other area of my body is totally sore, stiff, or otherwise too tender to the touch.

The trout was caught using cut bluefish. The other fish and skate were caught using shrimp and squid.

 

[fishinbob]

Thanks for the report. That pier can get very crowded. It's impossible to fish from unless you're way down near the end of the pier.

 

[OrangeCap]

Great report! I like the "combat crabbing and fishing" lol. That is why I don't like to fish piers as much as use to. Nice job on the skate. Now you have to move on to the ray and shark.

 

[Thrifty Angler]

Now you have to move on to the ray and shark.

Who?....me??? Wouldn't be a pretty site to see old Thrifty sporting chicken feathers.
It'll be line cutting time...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I so can't believe I caught all those fish and skate on a partially rusty high low leader and the same hooks that were left on it from about 2 years ago. Maybe I should think of it as my lucky rig. I did have to change out one of the hooks after my skate de-hooking session. I bent it every which way but loose many times. Oh well, I'll save it to remember my first solo skate de-hooking.

 

[Bayluvnnrse]

Good reading, Thrifty! I'm a really late starter this year...haven't fished YET!!! Can't believe it myself! But I'll be out there sooner or later. Glad to hear you at least got something to take home from Lynnhaven (crabs).

 

[Fish'n Phil]

Have heard of combat fishing but not combat crabbing! Didn't realize it was that tough to crab there...sounds annoying. One person with eight crab traps? Thought you were only allowed two traps per person. The NE winds made crabbing tough every where.

 

[rwh]

You are definitely dedicated. From the sound of it, you have good patience. Last time I tried a pier, I went to Denbigh pier and was the only person there. I was on one end of the T fishing toward the channel then decided to cast a few lures behind me toward the shore. A guy came on to the pier, came to the corner I was fishing and proceeded to set up right here on that corner to fish the channel. It's a tiny pier and I could no longer even cast toward shore because he was in the way. I left and that was the last time I'll ever try pier fishing.

 

[Thrifty Angler]

Have heard of combat fishing but not combat crabbing! Didn't realize it was that tough to crab there...sounds annoying. One person with eight crab traps? Thought you were only allowed two traps per person. The NE winds made crabbing tough every where.

Yep...combat crabbing. Imagine finding a spot to stop at. Then getting you crab gear out and baited up....only to have someone from the other side of the pier pick that exact moment to hurry over and drop their net down right next to where you are. I do mean literally right next to you. They got so close, I thought it was my son walking up on me...til I looked around. Was thinking WTF when I turned around only to see some "I assume desperate" person was tying off their pot's line instead. And to add insult to injury....having someone that was not quite set up yet, come right next to "that first desperate crabber" and drop their numerous pots in tandem.
Pots were nearly touching rim to rim when you looked down at the water's bottom. Hmmm....
That's my version of combat crabbing. Not having enough room to move your elbows comfortably when checking you pot....cause you're trying not to knock elbows with the crabbers next to you....or get elbowed in the eye if you happen to been shorter than them. And trying not to give them the elbow to the jaw cause you're taller.
All in all.....about as rude as spot anglers lined up three thick in the autumn of the year.
And yep....eight crab pots. I couldn't believe my eyes. Got a flashback of the situation of the numerous rods that use to be lined up and tended by just 1 person on the CBBT. Those pots never moved from Saturday thru my return on Sunday. Same string...same string holders...just different faces attending them. I'm thinking they just swapped out when one person got tired, another from their "what ever it's called" came back to the pier to relieve them. And so on and so forth. Check out the first bench to the right as you walk onto the pier.
I had crabbing as my main priority when I chose Lynnhaven Pier this past weekend. Didn't need that circus atmosphere. I get enough of that in the apt complex I live in.
Didn't take long for me to get the heck out of dodge and mosey on down the road aka pier..... towards the end of the pier.

That NE wind...well that had the crabs coming in droves. They were coming over the rail every couple minutes for most pots. It was the better of the 2 days to crab. The second day had lower winds. Crabs were there but not nearly in the numbers of the previous day.

 

[Thrifty Angler]

Good reading, Thrifty! I'm a really late starter this year...haven't fished YET!!! Can't believe it myself! But I'll be out there sooner or later. Glad to hear you at least got something to take home from Lynnhaven (crabs).

Took me a while to finally make it out. Had been planning for many weeks. Preferred to go on a Monday to do the buddy thing. Hot Weather, those many many days of nonstop rain, or the tide being not right held plans at bay. Couldn't resist that NE wind. It was calling my name.
Hope you make it out soon. Nothing beats just finally getting there. The effort is the hardest part. Walking onto the water made me wonder why I didn't just "do it" sooner.

 

[Thrifty Angler]

You are definitely dedicated. From the sound of it, you have good patience. Last time I tried a pier, I went to Denbigh pier and was the only person there. I was on one end of the T fishing toward the channel then decided to cast a few lures behind me toward the shore. A guy came on to the pier, came to the corner I was fishing and proceeded to set up right here on that corner to fish the channel. It's a tiny pier and I could no longer even cast toward shore because he was in the way. I left and that was the last time I'll ever try pier fishing.

I feel your pain. Have had that happen many times. If it is conversation or company they are looking for....all they get from me is nothing. Ask me a question...my response is "huh" what did you say, I didn't hear ya. That usually does it every time. Don't like it when folks crowd in like that. It's rude in every sense of the word. Sorta like seeing a boater pull up near the pier to fish. All that space to choose from yet they decide to pick that one particular spot.
I'm glad I still look at fishing as relaxing....not just a meal seeking mission where it's do or die. I'd rather go home with squat....than reduce my self to muscling in. No reserved spaces on the pier means if someone else is already in one's preferred spot, it's time to check out some new real estate aka find another spot on the pier.

 

[Croaker D]

Exactly why I bought a kayak! Thx for the report!

 

[Fish'n Phil]

Thrifty,
The exact same thing happened to me at Lynnhaven Pier a few years ago during spot season. Except in this case the pier was not crowded. I was all by myself and caught a couple spot. Suddenly this guy comes from the other side of the pier and casts right next to me. I said I can't believe you just did that. He then proceeds to get his other rod. Then a lady casts right to the other side of me. That's when I packed up and moved down the pier. They didn't catch anything any way. I didn't go back for a long time.

Last year I went to Lynnhaven Pier once. Stayed all night and caught about one spot an hour. Then when the sun started to rise they started biting like crazy. Filled a cooler in a few hours and left them biting. I don't mind combat fishing as long as people behave.