Norfolk man wraps up kayak tour of the Bay

The adventure is over.

Kevin Whitley completed his two-week tour of the southern Chesapeake Bay last weekend.

And he did it in a kayak.

Whitley, known in southeastern Virginia fishing circles as "Kayak Kevin," completed the 200-mile journey in good shape despite one week of oppressive heat and another of high winds.

"A couple of the crossings, over to the Eastern Shore and from the Eastern Shore to the mainland coast, were pretty tough," said Whitley, 37, a Norfolk resident. "The trip was something I've been wanting to do for a long time and I'll do it again. I'll just do a few things a little differently."

Whitley said, instead of making the 12-mile crossing from Smith Island to Smith Point, he likely would go a little farther north and make what there is a 6-mile crossing.

"I was using a compass and you couldn't see the other side," Whitley said. "There were some pretty strong tidal currents and winds and it was hard to tell if I was heading right for the light there or not.

"Once I could see the light, I was OK."

Whitley spent nights along coastal beaches and brought all of his food and water with him. Despite the reputation of the Eastern Shore, he said the bugs weren't as bad as he expected.

"Winds helped, but there were a few times when I had to fight them off until time to sleep. But nothing bad," he said. "There is so much undeveloped beach along that route. It was so beautiful."

This was the fifth lengthy tour for the accomplished kayaker. His longest journey was an 1,800-mile, 41/2-month tour that took him from Pensacola, Fla., to Virginia Beach.

Friend Lee Williams crossed the Chesapeake Bay with Whitley as a safety precaution. But Whitley did the rest of the tour in solitude - except for the unexpected visit from two Northern Neck Kayakers Club members who surprised him on the western shoreline of the Bay.

"It was a cool surprise," Whitley said. "They said they had been keeping up with my progress online and decided to come out and see if they could find me. It was pretty rough that day, so a couple of kayakers was the last thing I expected to run into."

Friends and the curious followed Whitley's trip on his Web site, KayakKevin.com

He used SPOT, which uses GPS (Global Positioning System) and EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon), to put 10-minute location updates on his Web site.

Whitley already is planning next year's adventure. But he doesn't want to say what it's going to be.

"I'm still trying to line up a few sponsors," he said. "But it's going to be big... really big."

Record confirmed

Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament director Lewis Gillingham has certified Aaron Sledd's 56-pound, 8-ounce golden tilefish as the state record.

Sledd, of Virginia Beach, caught the giant tilefish June 10 while deep-drop bottom-bouncing along the edge of the Norfolk Canyon. He was fishing with Capt. Steve Wray on the Ocean Pearl.

The fish eclipsed the previous record of 53-8 caught last September by Charles Maresh. The world record is a 59-3 golden caught in 2007 off the Maryland coast.

Wray said he thinks the world record will soon fall.

"We've had a few tough ones that broke our lines," Wray said. "In the old days (before the fish was eligible for world-record consideration), they used to catch fish around 100 pounds.

"Those fish are still out there. It's just a question of getting lucky enough to have one not break off."

Bassin' updates

Professional bass fisherman Curt Lytle of Suffolk is closing in on earning a spot in the FLW Tour's Forrest Wood Cup national championship.

Lytle sits in 35th place in the overall standings with one qualifying tournament remaining. That event will be held July 10-13 out of Detroit.

Lytle finished in 36th place in the last FLW Tour stop, held last weekend on the Tellico Lakes in Tennessee. He won $10,500.

He said he thinks he can do well enough in Detroit to keep himself in the standings' top 40 - the cutoff position to make the Cup.

"It could go as high as 45 or 50 since quite a few people in the top 40 already have qualified for the championship in other tours," Lytle said. "I've spent some time in Detroit trying to overcome a few weaknesses of mine. I'm not good at Great Lakes smallmouth fishing. And finesse fishing with spinning rods isn't my forte.

"I think I've licked the spinning rod problem, so now it's just a matter of dialing in on these smallmouth. They are more different on the Great Lakes than anywhere else I've ever caught them."

David Dudley, who has homes in Lynchburg and Manteo, has qualified for the championship. Dudley, the FLW Tour's top money winner, put $125,000 more in his account by winning the Tellico Lakes stop. He is fifth in the overall standings but already earned a championship berth through the FLW Series Eastern Division Tour.

More bassin'

Despite a 53rd-place finish in the third of four stops on the Women's Bassmaster Tour, co-angler division competitor Barbara Gaskins of Suffolk moved up a spot in the overall standings.

Gaskins was in 18th after the second tour stop and moved up to 17th despite her finish on Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee.

The top 20 advance to the women's championship. Gaskins was second in the co-angler division at the last championship.

The final tour stop is

Sept. 18-20 on Clarks Hill Lake in Georgia.

The championship is Oct. 23-25 in Hot Springs, Ark.