This Fall was remarkable in that the summer continued right up until this weekend, Oct 13. In fact, I arrived wearing shorts and a t-shirt, with the temps at home in the mid-80's the day I departed on my 350 mile (each way) journey. Add to that one of the rainiest years on record, and trees had not yet even begun to change color (this was very soon to change). This made for very tricky hunting, and the 22-sharpshooters (most of the guys) had to adjust somewhat to finally outpace the shotgunners (me) on the 2nd day. Day 1, I hit three in the morning, one of which stubbornly became forever lodged in the bark of a tree. And between 10 and 2- nothing. After 2pm, the squirrels became active once again and I quickly put 3, 4, and 5 in the bag. Squirrel number 5 died suddenly with an acorn tightly wedged between his sharp teeth- a fate I have observed once before with these same guys. Squirrel #6 came late in the day, around 4pm as I was making my way back to where I had started.
By the way, we actually hunt in WV, the cabin being very near the border. So, counting the one that got stuck, I killed 7 on Day 1 (limit is 6). Day 2, already exhausted, was windy, like- crazy windy. This does NOT make for good squirrel hunting. I killed one around 8 AM, and then proceeded to be taunted by several others that were quite adept at dodging the 16-gauge lead I was slinging at them. Having committed to cooking seafood for these WV hillbillies, and an early dinner at that, I called it a day around 1 pm, not willing to wait another hour for the possibility of seeing some more. On the menu was fried oysters, fried softcrabs, and blackened rockfish. These guys never see softcrabs, and never fresh oysters or rock so quite a treat for all. Incidentally, yes I eat the squirrels (later). Admittedly, I'm still searching for the magic approach at cooking them. Saving only the hindquarters, my next attempt will be to cook like chicken wings- deep friend and then crock pot conditioned with my favorite Carolina wing sauce.
The following weekend, (Oct 19), I had a brief opportunity to get my boat out in the morning before the ensuing small craft advisory at 2pm, and subsequent gale warning for the rest of the weekend. I launched at 8AM, and quickly began casting a couple of my favorite jig options. First location up was the jetty just outside Wenona harbor, where I caught several in short order. Wanting to quickly engage the sheltered coves (SW winds) around north side of South Marsh Island, I moved across Tangier Sound and began casting. As soon as I rounded the northeast point of the island, I began hooking up. These were really nice fish, all 15-18" and great tasty pan size but too small to legally keep. This continued all they was up to Gunbarrel Point, at which point the incoming tide had ended. The end of the tide coincided with the escalation of the winds, and although I continued to cast, this was the end of today's harvest. I don't know how many I caught, maybe 15 or 20. There were other boats around too in the same area- this obviously was no secret. but I caught more than I saw being caught. The successful lure of the day was the DOA 4" shad tail, in Day glow with a chartreuse tail, mounted on a 3/8 oz white jig head. See pic below. My buddy Mark had better luck, getting his 2-man limit of 4 keepers, and he used softcrabs. At $35/dozen and hard to find, I'll stick with casting. I know I'm going to convert Mark yet. #dealislandrandy
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