May 25 and "fish on" !

Finally I get to report in on catching some fish.  The month of May was pretty much a wash for as far as bottom fishing goes.  Everything started late due to the cold winter and spring.  And this coolness persisted all through April and May.  And then the wind blew, as usual.  Finally, on Sunday May 25 I got out mid-day (not my preferred time) for some bottom fishing.  Although I had received word of speckled trout being caught near the shore, my quest here was for the sure-thing, and middle of the day I nMay, that would be croaker.

I started out near Buoy 12, just out of Wenona.  And while marking fish on my depth finder at 30 feet, which is where I had been told by a party boat captain the fish were holding, I was not able to get any action.  About 2 hours before tide change, I was ready for a scenery change, and I motored across the channel to the west side, about a half mile farther north, and began drifting through different depths to see where I might hook-up.  It didn’t take long to figure out that 45-55 feet of water on the oncoming tide was the ticket.  The fish were plenty, and they were happy to be ripping off my softcrabs, shrimp, and peeler.  However, they were small.  I probably caught 40 fish but kept only 13.  And of those that I kept, most were around 10 inches, with a few at 12 being caught in clusters right at 50 ft. 

As I write this, I am planning my next adventure.  This upcoming weekend, the weather and wind are forecasted to cooperate both Friday and Saturday.  Furthermore, I’ve got a 9pm high tide on Friday, and a 9:49pm high tide on Saturday.  Stay tuned,… I’m going to shift some of my focus toward sunset fishing for trout and rock.