New to the site and just starting to get into saltwater FFing. Located in Richmond for better or for worse...2 hours from more brookies than I can shake a stick at in the SNP and associated environs (oodles of fun on the 2wt), 1.5 hours from what is shaping up to be durn fine fishing in the salt. So good and bad as I try to justify my desire...nay, need...to flyfish in the face of the rising cost of getting to the honey holes! FWIW I'm a research biochemist and my wife is a medical resident. So we're pretty much broke but we have 3 edible-sized dogs in case the going gets really tough.
Been fishing for most of my life - which is currently 31 years strong - and flyfishing for about half of that. A year ago I would have considered myself a trout stream addict, especially when it came time for us to move here from Baltimore and I was up in arms over leaving the Gunpowder River, a blue-ribbon steram that was less than 30 minutes from our doorstep. But now I find myself being swayed by the incredible variety of gamefish in this lovely area! I am not a self-proclaimed tough guy - there's an amusing story behind the screen name which could occupy an entire thread on its own.
After a month of great shad fishing locally I got my mountain trout fix last Friday in the SNP and decided to boogie down to the HRBT yesterday with a buddy who lives in Hampton (not sure if he's on this forum or not, but he turned me on to VCFA). Had a great evening playing with near 20 flounder up to 15", a pair of shad and a handful of smaller croaker thrown in the mix.
So here are a few shots of a few fish and the cowboys who rustled them up (that's my buddy in the first two shots and my forearm in the last - please pardon the poor quality cell phone camera pictures...I promise to do better in the future!).
Just chompin at the bit for my next chance to make the trip again!
Marty