Great Fall Fishing for Rock, Oct 12, 2019

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