Summer catchup, 8/8/21

Well one thing is certain, I have become completely delinquent at maintaining this blog.  Which is to my own detriment, as this is really just a journal for my own benefit.

I guess that I could start offering to by just saying that fishing has been great all summer. Generally speaking, I have continued to catch keeper rock fish on every outing, as well as speckled trout on most. Notably, the specks are smaller than in May and June but that's ok, in fact I just fried up an awesome mess of 14-16 inch specks last night and omg they were so good!

Pat C. from WV came down to fish first part of July, and although we battled some winds, we still had 2 good days of fishing. Day 2 even brought me a keeper slot red drum at 20".  Spring Island and the secret magic spot continue to deliver, especially when focusing efforts on the last 2 hours of the falling tide.  

Maryland closed rock fish season the 2nd half of July, so I had an opportunity to pursue a different species- cobia. Capt Derek put us on the spot, about 2 miles NW of the target ship. After immediately losing one, we soon scored a 43" and then a 33" short. And good eating, just like I remember. We have a cobia charter further south planned for later this month. 

In the meantime, i will continue my pursuit of rock and speckled trout, all of which will change soon enough as the days are growing noticeably shorter. Have not done much dock fishing this year, hoping to do some more perhaps at night. 

Until next time, #dealislandrandy signing off.

June 2021 Update- Always the Best !

 I'm starting to see a pattern where the best fishing for rockfish is June, with the fishing getting increasingly better as the month goes on.  Helped by recent cooler temps which kept water temp in the low 80's, the fish were fat, hungry, and aggressive.

As usual, I am weeks behind on this update, having been out twice prior to this weekend and not documenting it.  In general, first part of June I continued to catch speckled trout, although fewer fish.  The rockfish have not disappointed, and this weekend was amazing.  Three weeks ago I tried something different at the secret spot- targeting the last part of the outgoing tide.  And, Mark and I caught nice fish there, but only briefly as within minutes it went slack and so did the fishing.  This time (Fri 6/25, 5pm) we got out there nearly mid-tide to catch the full final 2+ hours of the falling tide.  Within 20 minutes of arrival, it turned on fast and furious.  We caught 21"-24" fish one after another, and then I started catching double-headers on my double bottom rig.  Finally after about 90 minutes and having caught a ridiculous number of fish, I called it game over, but we were still catching fish when we left.  I will come back to this method/time.

Derek and I attempted to get to mid-bay Saturday to fish for cobia (he caught one 53" last wk) but weather interrupted our plan.  As a consolation, we fished my fav spot at Spring Island and quickly put 2 keepers in the live well.  Score again !! 

Hoping to get out next weekend.  Until next time, this is Deal Island Randy

#dealislandrandy

Long absence, but great fishing (21-22 May, 2021)

 My GOSH it has been a long time since I posted.  It was a long, cold, and windy spring- resulting in little to no fishing opportunities for me.  Nearly June and I finally got my boat off the trailer and out on the water.  Enjoyed 3 days of turkey hunting in May, 2 of them deep in the public land woods of Black Road and only one which featured a lot of gobbler noise (and starting at 530 AM).

OK, well time to talk about fishing.  The cool windy spring resulted in great fishing when the weather finally yielded.  Water temps were ~72-73F, water was clear and this made for a hot bite.  I don't think it even would have mattered what time of day, as I didn't launch until 2PM Friday and at high noon on Saturday, both days featuring abundant sunshine and temps in the low 70s.  Even the tides were not optimal, so either the fish were aggressively hungry or I was simply lucky, or maybe a little of both. 

I basically fished three same locations both days, and in the same order: South Marsh Island (by now, you know where), Spring Island (what's left of it, and facing Holland), and south tip of Little Deal Island.  I caught speckled trout and rockfish at every stop.  Five of the 6 trout were 19-21" (the "smallest" was 17"), while three rock were 19-22", with many 15"-18".  Best part is that I didn't have to work too hard for them, although all of the rock at Spring required a precise and powerful hook-set.  That said, the key takeaway from this trip is that the specks are more plentiful than in years past, AND they are decidedly bigger.  I can't wait to do this again and am sad that it may not be this week.  Until next time, this is #dealislandrandy.