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