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Sunday, October 30, 2016

October 29, 2016- Rockfish

I finally found a spare day in between my business traveling and everything else going on in my life to get the boat out again on Tangier Sound.  This late in the year, you never know when it might be your last shot.  As I crossed the Deal Island bridge on a sunny and relatively warm Saturday morning, the winds were completely calm- a.k.a. "slick cam". Two and a half hours later at target launch time 1030, it was blowing 15-20 mph out of the southwest.  This was indeed forecasted, but it was supposed to be a little bit later and a little less intense.  As I exited Wenona harbor and had a look at Tangier Sound, I made a judgement call not to proceed across to South Marsh Island, where I had caught plenty of fish 2 weeks prior.  As it turned out, this was a very good decision which I'll get to in a bit.

Plan B was to cut back behind Little Deal Island (a.k.a. Lil' Island) and troll the endless banks around Lil' Island and the back of Deal Island.  With high tide at 1:45, there was at least plenty of water to troll my swim shads.  It wasn't until about an hour later and well into the troll on back side of Deal Island that I finally had my first fish.  I had a couple of hits before that, and was puzzled as to why they let go.  Anyway, fish# 1 was around 18".  Heading back toward my old croaker hole in Law's Thorofare, I hung another fish, the first keeper at 20", right at the mouth of the creek drawing out of the back end of Pinky's.  Focusing on this area for several more passes, I caught two more fish, the larger being about 19".  Heading back toward port, I hung the last fish not far from here, and this one was the largest at 21". 

I was astounded to find deep pockets in the trough that comes out of the Thorofare, and was equally surprised to see fish stacked up in them, suspended just above the bottom.  I got my jig rigs out and worked it for a few minutes, but the increasing winds and narrow channel to work in made this very difficult.  I'll try this again however.  I never did get to use my new top water popping cork rigs, but I've got these ready for future use.  Anyway, I was planning to troll all the way back to port.  However, winds had picked up by this time to 20-25 mph, and I was dealing with 3-4 foot seas in the shallow water of the Manokin River.  This was no fun, so I concluded fishing efforts and focused on just trying to stay dry the rest of the  way back in.  Once I got back behind Lil' Island, I was protected from the S-SW winds. I can't wait to do this some more.  I've never been a big fan of trolling, but there is something cathartic about it, something very relaxing.  All i need now is more time.  Time, precious time,....

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Finally, back on the Bay- Oct 14-15, 2016

After traveling for business 4 out of the last 5 weeks, I couldn't wait to get back on the water.  This time things started with my first attempt at crabbing since spring.  Unfortunately, since it was October I was restricted to electric motor only in the impoundment.  This limits my range, with one battery.  Note to self- bite the bullet and acquire a 2nd battery for next year.  Anyway, gorgeous mid-70s sunny October afternoon.  Water was a little low in the Dames Quarter reservoir, and rather clear.  I was frustrated to watch the crabs swimming past my baits without being very interested.  Crabbing from 1-3:45 yielded about 13 decent crabs.  Maybe next time.

Saturday was magical in Tangier Sound.  Winds out of the west at about 5 mph, I set up two trolling rods and pulled my sassy shads in avg 4-6 ft of water around South Marsh Island.  Started at 11AM on the northeastern side of the island, I was frustrated by grass fouling the lures and no fish.  Things changed suddenly once I rounded the north end of the island and started hugging the massive and highly contoured northern edge of the island.  It was pretty much one rockfish after the other. After 8 total, I called it quits.  Four were keeper eligible(>20 inches), while the other four were 18.5-19.5 inches, very close.  

One noteworthy thing was the boiling mass of baitfish being mauled in 3 ft of water by schools of rock in one of the coves.  Oh how I wish I had my new popping cork rigs which I used a few weeks back in North Carolina (Oriental) to catch this nice 38-inch red drum.  I'll be ready next time. Although, trolling through this feeding frenzy was fruitful too.