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Sunday, July 1, 2018

6/29/18- hot, muggy, buggy, and some rockfish

June was an overall bummer in terms of attempting to go out fishing.  My one key opportunity mid-month ended at the boat ramp with another blown-out brake line on my truck which nearly sunk my truck.  The 2 weeks leading up to that were dominated by over 16 inches of rain.  Fathers Day I got the boat out on the water, but only to take the family to dinner in Rumbley.

Friday June 29, after doing some plumbing at the camper and cutting grass, I waited until until 4pm to launch with my buddies Dan and Rhett.  High tide was 3:15, so by design were catching the first part of the falling tide  Taking the short-cut through the jetties behind Deal Island out of the Wenona harbor (caution- only do this on high tide AND if you know which side of the bamboo "channel markers" to stay on), I found a nice little pool that has consistently held evening rockfish for me.  But, it was hot, really hot and had been hot for days.  I was concerned about the 85F water temp in only 3.5 - 4 feet of water.  For some reason, the rock seem to be able to overcome this and feed in these warm shallows.  Soft crab is always the ticket here, and if you are lucky enough to avoid the cownose rays and the skates, I almost always am able to put something in the cooler. 

Five to ten minutes into it, I hook the first rock.  Nice, and in the cooler it goes.  Ten minutes later, I have another, slightly larger and he too goes into the cooler.  Another ten minutes, Rhett lands what would be the largest fish of the evening at 23 inches.  Soon after that, Dan has one hung and loses it ten feet away from the boat- hard to tell but it could have given Rhett's fish a run for its money in terms of length.  Dan soon redeemed himself and put a nice fish in the cooler.  A good 20 minutes plus would transpire before the next action, and this time it was me on the receiving end of one of the biggest rays I have ever seen.  Determined to save my rig, I fought this stupid fish for the next 15 minutes, only to ultimately lose the battle. Time to move,...



After a nice ride across Tangier Sound to South Marsh Island, we turned to casting in hopes of landing either a nice rock or a speckled trout.  The wind was whipping pretty god from the NW, and we had no protection from it. With the boat broadside to the waves, we bounced pretty good until later in the evening.  The turbulent water also served to uproot a lot of submerged grass, now letting loose with the decreased water clarity.  In retrospect, an east or south-side location may have been a better idea.  Anyway, around 7:30 or 8 the wind laid down and the bugs landed en masse. With no action, it was game over.

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