Launched from Wenona 1015 AM on Saturday, Oct 12 2019 amidst a freak flood caused by an offshore Nor'easter combined with full moon that pushed a ridiculous amount of water into the mid-Atlantic region. The pier/walkway at the boat ramp was under 3 inches of water when we departed, 8 inches when we returned after high tide. We didn't plan on this, or the lack of true tide changes associated with it. In fact, we were counting on the regular and dramatic outgoing tide, which never really happened. What we did receive as planned was a gorgeous sunny October day that started out rather cool but soon had us peeled down to our t-shirts and shorts. Water temp was 67F.
We headed over to the west side of Smith Island, returning as we had vowed last Spring to cast lures along the numerous rock jetties that are now installed and protecting that side of the island. What I like about these jetties is that they hold nice deep water (normally 6-7 ft) their entire length, and when I first scouted them, I know they would hold fish later in the year. And so they did.
No bait on the boat today. We cast various iterations of bass assassins and storm lures, 4-5 inches w/ and w/o paddle tails (I prefer the paddle tail), either pearl or chartreuse, or some combination of the two- and threaded onto either 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig head (white or chartreuse). Dan had monofilament leaders with swivels rigged onto the ends of his braided line, while I use simple 30 lb braided line (I prefer Spiderwire). I like Dan's rigs , but at the end of the day I don't think it mattered in catching fish. We fished a good long while, catching probably 40-50 fish, all rock except for one keeper speckled trout (15 1/2"). Almost all of the rock were 15-18 1/2", except of course for the one keeper that got away (I swear I had this joker right up to the side of the boat before he shook his broad shoulders, spit the hook out, laughed, and swam away). Had we had a good outgoing tide I think we would have done much better, but the tide was nearly still, even 1/2 hours after high tide.
Candy has designated next weekend as "No Fishing", and the following weekend is squirrel camp. So, I'm hopeful to get out maybe one or two more times, provided the weather cooperates. Until next time, #dealislandrandy
The wind was forecaster to be around 12-13 mph out of the NE. I felt that if that held true, we could get out for some shoreline casting if we put some land between the boat and the wind. To that extent, Artie and I launched out of Wenona right at high tide. The wind had been howling for days, and I could see by the water level at the ramp that it had blown a lot of water out of the bay. And the water that was left was a mess- completely dirtied up by the wind and waves. And we quickly found that the true wind was more on the order of 20-25 mph, which didn't make for friendly casting conditions in shallow (3-5 ft) water. Keeping the boat positioned was of course a never-ending task. Water temps varied from 72 to 68F.
We stayed true to our commitment to cast lures and kept the bait in the cooler. Tossing 4-5 paddletails, mostly white or green with a touch of pink, we were able to score some fish once the tide started rolling out. We fished the jetty outside the harbor and picked up one, but most of the rock were around the protected side of Little Deal Island. Crossing Tangier Sound was out of the question, so we were seriously limited.
We didn't hook up with any of the specs we were hoping for, but we did catch a fair number of small rock. The two nicest, around 16-17" were right near the end of our time at 12:15pm, but by that time I was beat and we called it a day. Hoping to get out a few more times before it is all over. The weather had been so unbelievably cooperative all summer long, and I'm really hoping for some similar cooperation into the Fall. Until next time, #dealislandrandy.
