October rockfish roundup, #DealIslandRandy

So, with the boat engine now repaired and running well, I've been out a couple of times.  Nine were anything to write home about, but I'll certainly write about them.  First up was Friday October 6, my fishing buddy Dan, his friend Brian, and I headed across the Manokin river out of Wenona on a gorgeous but windy afternoon.  Happy to say that the boat ran great after my repairs (water pump, thermostat, heat sensor and exhaust manifold) but it was a choppy ride, with Dan taking a piloting lesson from yours truly. After much searching, we finally found the spot at mouth of Teague Creek, where buddy Bruce had slayed the rockfish the evening before.  We anchored up on the falling tide and just after peak high, and we fished it hard. Unfortunately, not much to show but a few undersize rock, one 6" speckled trout, and one angry turtle.  Note to self- location from Wenona is just beyond the red channel marker heading up the Manokin toward St Peters Creek.  2nd note to self: this is a good 30 minute ride back to Wenona in a decent chop on my boat- we got in just at dark.  The next day I spent at the Deal Island Peninsula Project meeting on shoreline erosion, which was fine because it was too windy to boat Tangier Sound.

Oct 13 I took a trip to Mountain Grove, VA to meet up with the WVU college boys and do some serious squirrel hunting. We shot 70 squirrels among us I believe, in 2 days. Using my trusty Remington 1100 16 gauge shotgun, I only took 3 each day.  These guys are serious sharp shooters, and I got seriously schooled in the woods, but had a great time.

October 20, and its still 75F out, good reason to take a 1/2 day VAC and go fishing.  Dan and I headed over to South Marsh. I was certain we were going to troll up some keeper rock.  Unfortunately, the warm weather and accompanying 70F water temperatures had kept the region full of eel grass.  Our trolling rigs were quickly fouled, and we soon switched to casting bass assassins on jig heads.  Also, the forecaster 9 mph winds were more like 19 mph, we got beat.  We managed to get 4 small rock to the boat, all within a brief amount of time.  One bright point was the new Yeti cup holder Dan gave me, customized with the WV logo on one side, and my trademark Deal Island Randy on the other.  Thanks Dan- super cool and I love it !!

Lastly, my buddy Bruce called on Sat Oct 21 and invited me to launch out of Wenona with him the next day.  He had caught nearly 60 fish, and I was anxious to repeat that.  We launched at 4 pm, with only 2 1/2 hours of fishing time, but it was so gorgeous out and high tide had been at 4 PM.  We alternated between the outside of the jetty just outside Wenona harbor, and the shoreline of Little Deal Island just beyond the stumpy area.  After catching a small rock on my first cast, I thought it was going to be game-on.  Unfortunately, things fizzled after that.  We brought probably 20 fish to the boat, all undersize. Some we caught on bucktails trailing a 5-6" white Mr Twister-style plastic.  Bucks had green hair of course.

Busy the next two weekends, next time out will be November 11 if the weather cooperates.  May finally catch some crabs too.  Until next time, this is #DealIslandRandy.