We took advantage of a very calm sea and motored across Tangier Sound to the spot Mark and I had recently found on the NW side of Smith Island. A small cut, edged in breaker rocks, drains the wide inner marsh of the Glenn L. Martin Wildlife Sanctuary, and serves as a perfect funnel for bait fish and awaiting rockfish. We caught the tail end of the outgoing tide, and the first few hours of the incoming. The action started almost immediately. We caught a lot of rockfish, estimated 50 or so fish. I put two legal rock in the main cooler, and we caught a number of heartbreakers in the 16-18" range. Speckled trout also showed up, I think we caught 4, one of which landed on my line and being the legal minimum of 14 inches. A few spot rounded out the picture.
The fish seemed to be stacking up on the North bank (the cut runs East to West) opposing the incoming tide, and we caught 90% of our fish here. There was never any need to move, as the action was steady. Now, the part I haven't told yet is just how many skates and cownose rays we caught. This has become the norm when fishing with softcrab, and we are now eviscerating most that we get to the side of the boat, since they proliferate so profoundly and with no predators. Until next time,.... #dealislandrandy
