First, a quick catch-up on 2023: fishing started out with a bang in May and contined through June. This year has been characterized by rare specs, and plenty of rock- all rockfish being larger than in years past. Gone were the dominating 17-19" class of fish, and most everything at >21". Smith Island usually produced, as did St Pierre's marsh in tge Manokin.
True lightning in a bottle on Friday 9/1/23. Peter and I headed across Tangier Sound and arrived at the secret spot around 2:45 pm. The tide was already rolling out, draining that marsh and providing the rush of available bait for the hungry rockfish. As soon as we got our lines in the water it was game-on, and the non-stop action persisted for the entire hour we fished. We landed approximately 16 rock in that time, with all but 4 in the 21-25" range. I was rewarded on 1 cast with both a 21" and 25" rock on my double bottom rig. I've had similar hot moments like this in the past, but not with fish this big. Pulling them in against the rushing current was a blast, and we were treated to many jumping out of the water on the retrieve.
Finally after an hour, I decided we just needed to stop. And so we did, embarking on a trip back across Sound to Rumbley. Hoping that next time I can capitalize on karma and light them up in the same way again. Until next time, #dealislandrandy
