July 17, 2012- Looking for an opportunity in the clouds.

July 17, 2012- Looking for an opportunity in the clouds.

Went down to the camper to do some fishing and also to celebrate my buddy’s birthday.  Waterman Capt. Danny Benton turned 50, and we celebrated Deal Island-style.  I deep-fried a mess of croaker fillets for the crowd at his party, and they seemed to be a hit, particularly with the locals

Inclement weather was the name of the game, as a cool front had moved in and brought frequent and intermittent rain with it.  Came down on a Friday afternoon hoping to catch a break in the rain, as it rained all afternoon.  It didn’t time well with the tide, but sometimes beggars can’t be choosers.  Finally, it stopped raining at 4pm.  I checked the radar, and it looked like I had about a 3 hour window of no major rain.  So, I launched just shy of 4:30 pm.  Wind blowing out of the west gently (5mph), water temp at 84F,  and tide running out (change was at 3:15pm), I set up my first drift just south of buoy 12 in about 42 ft of water.  This actually worked reasonably well for quite awhile as I was able to drift from 40-52 ft of water, which is where I caught all of my fish.  Theywere not to be had outside of this range.  Caught probably 50 fish on squid, and threw back all but 12.  Of these 12, the biggest was probably 13 inches, and I stretched my personal cut-off down to 10.5 inches for a few.  So, the size quality was definitely decreased from recent past, but this is the typical late summer pattern. 

Would like to have hung out and fished until sunset.  However, a big piece of ugly sky rolled in, the wind picked up and shifted 180 degrees, and it was time to call it quits.  The big rain never did hit, but of course it is better to be safe than sorry.  Maybe next time,….

Summertime patterns prevailing

I’ll start by just saying- I have caught more fish and better quality fish this spring/summer than any in the last 5 years. Compound that with the simple fact that I have also had the grace and liberty (afforded by my understanding wife) to fish more frequently, a newer camper, and most importantly a newer and more reliable boat. This all adds up to a freezer that is nearly full of vacuum-sealed fish. Speaking of which, my newly acquired vacuum sealer has made it possible to stuff the freezer with fish while only taking up half the room. After smoking some of these fish with my new Big Chief smoker, they take up even less room. Progress, yeee- ha!


This was a “quick trip”- I fished on Friday July 13. It was a very pleasant 84F out, with a gentle 5-10 mph breeze out of the WSW (in contrast to the forecasted ESE). Blair and I launched early, around 2 PM in order to catch the 4:20 low tide. Water temp has now settled into a summer standard 84F. Chop was less than 1 ft, and it was simply spectacular on the water- something I haven’t seen often this year. We started north of buoy 12 and drifted different depths. After picking up a few fish at 45-50 ft, it became clear that they were in this deeper water. So, we moved the show to south of buoy 12 where there is a nice extended 40-50 ft ledge which runs north and south. This ledge permits a prolonged drift at just the right depth, although the wind chose to push us landward and we had to constantly re-adjust, but that is part of the game. Using squid, I ended up putting 12 decent croaker in the cooler, with probably another 20 or so returned to the water. Most released were in the 10-10 ¾ range, but at this point I am in a position to be selective. Oh, and add one small kingfish, which are so good to eat. At about 5 pm, everything changed, including the tide. Additionally, the wind shifted to the SE and was now suddenly blowing 15-20 mph. This made the drifts unreasonably fast, not to mention that our nice calm waters were churning 2-3 ft. So, with an acceptable cache of fish in the cooler, it was time to call it quits. The larger croaker that I had seen on previous outings were sadly absent, and I don’t know if they would have shown up later in the evening. And I still haven’t gotten a piece of this speckled trout action that I keep hearing of, but then again I’m not getting much dusk fishing in. Maybe next time,……

4-day fishfest recap

Yep, I fished for 4 days straight.  I'll try to be succinct in my synopsis.  Two common threads to the entire adventure: 1) it was stinking hot, and 2) the fishing was great.  Here's a short video I made of how to fillet and de-bone a croaker:

Day 1- June 30, 2012.  It was >98F, even at 5pm. Bagging the early tide change and targeting an 11:42pm nite-fishing high tide.  Had planned to fish with one of the locals who claimed to know where the speckled trout were (Holland Straights). So, planned to launch at 8pm and croaker fish for a little on the way out.  Since a storm was rolling in as I was ready to head out, my partner cancelled (name withheld to protect the chicken).  So I put off at 7:45pm solo and planned to fish off Wenona as long as the weather would permit. And this didn't turn out to be all too long, as the storm pushed close in earnest Round 9pm.  So, I got in an hour of nice hot-action fishing and put 10 nice hardhead in the cooler before I had to bail.  The wind was 5-10 mph out of the South, and I caught the fish on the 40ft flat south of buoy 12, all in about 48-48 ft of water. 

Day 2, July 1.This was the hottest day I have EVER fished, period.  99F at launch at 4pm. Breeze only about 5pmh.  Great, bugs too.  The only thing that eased the agony was that the fishing was outstanding.  I put 20 hardhead in the cooler and probably caught twice that that I threw back.  This was in the same general area as day before, but more like 48-52 ft.  Finally after having caught so many stinking fish, it was time to try something different, so I headed to the edge of South Marsh Island to try catching trout with soft crab (all hardhead fishing now with squid).  This was a beautiful sunset scene, albeit a but buggy.  Unfortunately, no trout.

Day 3, July 2.   A few degrees cooler, maybe 90F at 5pm launch.  My youngest son Blair joining me for teh final 2 days.  Again, fast and furious fishing but a different scene.  The wind was 5-10  mph out of the north, and I found the fish biting north of buoy 12 in the 40-50 ft zone on  the east side of  the channel.  It took awhile to find this but once on it was non-stop.  We put 22 in the cooler, really nice fish and many in the 14-15 inch range.  Actually I think I put 20 of those in.  The fish required an aggressive hook set.  Sometimes  they catch themselves but not tonight.

Day 4, July 3 and last day.  Again about 90f at the 6pm launch for the 8:18pm low tide. With the wind out the south, I finally found them biting south of buoy, same place as day 2.   They didn't turn on until about 7:45 and at about 36-40 ft of water, but for 30 minutes it was steady harvest of 14-15 inch croaker, which I had to handle myself since Blair had given up.  These were the best quality fish of the week.  In summary, a good 4 days of fishing and far exceeding the fishing of the last couple of years, especially here in mid-summer.  The freezer is nearly full of vacuum-sealed fish.  And, it's not over but my leash seems to be growing shorter.