Deal Island Fishing, 2000 - 2004

By year 2000 I had gotten pretty good at spanking fish back in The Gut.  I had also begun to notice a steady decline in fish other than croaker, concurrent with a steady increase in the mighty croaker.  Since all things fishing seem to be dynamic, ever-changing, and sometimes even cyclical, I didn't think too much about it.  At least for the next few years I was regularly catching a lot of fish, and getting my limit of 25 croaker was not uncommon.  Early on I even managed to find a couple of spots where I could catch some rock and big white perch earlier in the season.  I was pulling my 13 ft aluminum V-hull down there, sometimes fishing 2 or 3 people out of it.  The catch made it worth it.

Around 2002, my buddy Eric had bought a 19 ft jon boat and started bringing it down to Deal Island.  Not only were we fishing The Gut in this, but it also re-opened the frontier of fishing out in Tangier Sound.  If you read my previous blogs, you will understand that it had been well over a decade since I had fished much out in Tangier Sound.  Well, in that time, things had changed enough that it was really like learning all over again.  For starters, the trout were now about 95% gone and the croaker were the main bottom fish.  And, I came to realize that all of my old spots, my old patterns, my old gear etc were no longer relevant.  Not only had the sea trout left, but the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay had declined so dramatically that everything changed.  What was once easy fishing was now more of a challenge.  But no problem, I am a good student and I enjoy learning anything about fishing.

By this time I had already made a transition from the short stubby rods and open Penn reels to longer, less stiff rods and spinning reels.  I started using really flexible rods, too flexible in fact.  These gave way to the 6' -  6'6" Ugly Sticks I use today, of which I keep 6 - 7 around.  ONE-PIECE ONLY!!!  The medium-heavy (MH) action SPL-1100 series are my favorite, as they have the right feel for these fish.  Also, the rods are tough, and with the threat of a 20 lb skate or ray on the end of your line you had better have a rod that can handle such an assault.  The only weak link on these rods is that some of the tips and eyelets will fail with heavy use.  As for reels, I was using Penn 103 spinning reels, sort of an old clunky classic.  And while these reels are good for this type of fishing, they tend to fall apart with time and also they don't stand up well to braided line.  Speaking of which, by 2000 I had completely ditched monofilament and gone exclusively with braided line, my favorite being good ol' Spider Wire, the 30 lb test version.  Only a big ray will ever break your line and it can last 4-5 years, not bad.  For reels I have been using off-the-shelf cheap Quantums, yes I am talking about the kind you buy in Kmart for $18-22.  They do the job just fine, last years and when they finally fail you thrown them away, no tears shed.  Lately I have started going with the Quantum Optix OP30 and OP40 reels.  They are the perfect basic reel and you can grab them on Ebay for $15.  With bottom fishing, it's not about your fancy gear.  It simply requires the right basic gear, everything else is about position, timing, and sometimes bait, all of which I will get to later.  Last the bottom rigs, hooks, and sinkers.  I buy all of this stuff at Rose's, a cheapo department store which we have here in town.  The rigs are your basic bottom rigs which split the main line for two hooks and a weight.  The rigs can get bent with after catching some hefty or contrary fish, but more often you will lose the entire rig before it becomes un-serviceable.  My buddy Eric makes his own rigs totally out of mono, but I think mine work better.  Hooks, I tend to use a variety but my preference is for a 2/0 steel hook, and it must be sharp.   The salt water takes a quick toll on these, so when they start to rust up, I change them out.  The same size circle hooks work well, but I find them more difficult when removing the fish and for baiting, and since I frequently fish alone or at night (or both), keeping it simple works well.  For sinkers, I use lead bank-type sinkers (when they start casting them out of steel I will buy them).  The 2, 3, and 4 ounce sinkers are all that are necessary.  If you need more than 4 ozs of weight to hold bottom, the tide is moving too fast for the fish to bite anyway.  Back in The Gut, its usually 2-3 ozs, and in Tangier Sound its usually 3-4, and I always use as little weight as is necessary.

With the decline in health of the Chesapeake came a corresponding increase in prices of soft crabs.  What once cost $3-4 dozen had now ballooned to $10-15.  And since soft crabs don't stay on the hook very well, not only was it inconvenient but it had become terribly expensive.  Enter, the squid.  Eric had introduced me to frozen squid and I must say that I was rather impressed with it as a bait. Sure it smelled terrible, but it was (and still is) cheap, it works pretty well, and it stays on the hook better than anything else I have ever tried.  For a number of years I went with nothing but squid, but I have to realize that even the voracious croaker can at times get picky.  As a result, I tend to carry at least 2 different baits, sometimes three. In addition to squid, I always have shrimp on-hand, the small cooked shrimp that you would put on a salad and can buy in the grocery store.  Third bait I might carry is soft crab, mainly because it ALWAYS works and also because I love to eat them and will freeze whatever I don't use for a later meal.

The other major thing that I learned from my buddy Eric is about drifting vs. fishing anchored. For me, this really changed everything, and I will discuss this further in my next post.