Memorial Day Weekend 2019- a big red drum to remember

I had always been told that large red and black drum move into the shallows of Tangier Sound for a brief period right around Memorial Day.  And I've always been told that soft crab was the way to catch them. I've tried in years past to make this drum connection.  Last year I even bought and tried some super large hooks specifically for this purpose.

Saturday May 25, 2019- after a late night, I rendezvoused with my buddy Mark and our new friend Peter.  The plan was to launch out of Wenona on my boat, and try for a few hours to catch some rockfish.  Getting a late start, we launched out of Wenona into about a 10-152 mph SE wind, not too bad but a slightly bumpy ride across Tangier Sound.  The wind was forecasted to quickly increase, so I knew we had a limited window, and I also wanted to get us into an area somewhat protected from the wind.  The archipelago of South Marsh Island served this purpose well, and we anchored of the NW edge of the island.  We were not 5 minutes into fishing before we lost 2 rigs due to snags.  This would continue to plague us for the next several hours.  And when we weren't getting snagged, we were catching skate after skate after skate.  Mixed in were a few small rock and one small speckled trout.  And then Mark's line started to peel drag.  

Mark knew immediately this was something different.  He said that he could feel the fish's tail hit the line.  Mark was using a small spinning reel, 6'6" Ugly Stik, and 30lb braided line, just like I use.  The game was on.  Mark fought this fish for 5 minutes before I thought to pull out my phone and start shooting video.  Here is that video.  The battle lasted another ~7 minutes, during which the fish circled the boat 4 times, all without getting caught in the anchor line (we were sitting among too many pots in shallow water to pull anchor and let the fish pull us.  The fish surfaced early during the video, revealing that Mark had a large red drum on the line.  The next challenge was figuring out how to land the fish without a net, as I tend to not carry one on my 18 ft center console since it takes up valuable real estate.  As you can see toward the end of the video, I grab the fish with my bare hands and swing it up onto the boat.  After measuring it at 42 inches and taking some photos, we quickly released the beautiful fish (slot limit is 18-27").

Not yet finished, about a half hour later Mark caught this beautiful 24" speckled trout.

The next day was just Mark and me on his boat.  Conditions were completely different- it was hot, and there was little wind.  This trip was mostly about Mark showing me some of his spots, and about discovering new ones.  I'll show you one new spot below on the south sid eof Bloodsworth Island that I will return to, since I caught a keeper rock there and tossed a few shorts back.

I'll continue to explore and report on these other spots throughout the summer.  Until next time, this is #dealislandrandy

2019- a new year

Oh man, it's been 5+ months since I've updated this blog.  There hasn't been much to write about except unfulfilled outings.  Well, let's start out with turkey hunting.  I did hunt 2 days during the winter turkey season in January. And while it was great to NOT be at work, I should have just stayed home- as I didn't see anything.  Moving on to Spring gobbler season, I got into the woods a few days in April, and this was more productive.  I hunted 4/25 and 4/26, saw turkeys both days.  Both encounters were in the woods, not in the field, which had been freshly plowed.  The first day I had two toms run past me, about 60-70 yards away, and I could not draw them any closer to save my life.  Second day was a closer encounter but a lone hen.   And then on 4/30, my Dad passed away.  Having just turned 85 on the 25th, I knew he would have wanted me to be out in the woods on his birthday in stead of at the nursing home.  I snuck out one more day on May 3 just before we buried Dad on the 4th, with full military honors.  There was a lot of gobbling at sunrise and again at 9:15, but no sighting.  I got one more shot on May 17, but this was a bluebird day and a total bust.  I did take my new hen decoy into the woods on the last day, suspecting I could have drawn in the huge tom using her on 4/25.  So bummed I will have to wait until next year to try again.  I also bought a mouth call, but that isn't going as well as I had hoped.

I finally got my boat in the water on 5/18.  The spring was dominated with never-ending chores, including my work trying to establish electric at the camp, which has been 3 steps forward, 2 steps back all the way.  I have the conduit buried and the pedestal built, now waiting on the electrician.  So, launched from Wenona on the 18th, first time fishing with my buddy Mark, while has become my catfish fillet hook-up.  Blue catfish have dominated the spring catch throughout the bay, as the bay has been inundated with an influx of fresh water.  Things seem to be just starting to return to normal.  Based on some local intel, we decided to try the rock piles lining the NW side of Smith Island, just north of Ewell.  We tried a number of areas along the rock pile casting lures and with soft crab, and nothing.  It was incoming tide and between 10AM-noon.  Next, we found a new spot to which I'll return-a small funnel creek which drains much of the wildlife preserve.  It is a neat little ditch running about 15 feet deep, and I know at the right time and tide must dump baitfish out into the sound.  Mark caught a nice 19-inch rock (using soft crab), while I caught a small one and a turtle at the same time (yay!). 

And then out of nowhere, the calm wind flipped to 20-25mph, so as the captain I decided to take us to Tylerton for lunch.  I've been dreaming about returning to Drum Point Market for quite sometime, as they make one of the best and freshest crabcakes I've ever had.  We had a great lunch, tried a few places on our way back home (out through the east end of the island), and called it a day.  Boat ran great, and I'd finally finished waxing it the day before.  Hoping to get back out onto the water soon.Until next time.  #dealislandrandy