June 24-25, 2011
June 24 was a true spur-of-the-moment venture. Again the winds were blowing hard, this time as a cool front was moving in. In fact the forecast was such that I had pretty much bagged the idea of fishing. Well, I got off work at 11:30 am and set to work on my daughter’s car, thinking that the job would take all afternoon (I am not a great auto mechanic but I can just do enough to get me in trouble). Good fortune prevailed and I found myself completed by 1:30. Knowing that I had a 9:15 pm high tide and just past the summer solstice, I couldn’t resist the urge and bolted for Deal Island
True to for, the wind was blowing a gale when I got down there. Well, at least 10-15 knots, with gusts to 20. I watched the conditions closely throughout the afternoon and immediately prior to launch time I zipped down to the marina at the north end of the island, which is about ¼ mile from my place. The water conditions looked fine, so I pulled the boat down to Wenona and launched around 6:30. I knew things were going to be dicey as I exited the harbor and the waves began to smack into the bow of my boat. Darn, I should have gone back into the thoroughfare instead. Oh well, too late now so I pushed on, pretty much straight west and crossed the main channel. Starting at about 25 ft depth, I noticed that this was the depth to fish at today. More shallow than usual, not only was it slightly less turbulent than in deeper water but I also caught a fish or two right off the bat. Used the drift sock which held be on my target depth pretty well. Noticed the charter boat captains in the same area but deeper water, and I seemed to be catching more fish than them. These guys, having bigger boats and with hydraulically retrieved anchors, are able to repeatedly anchor in spots in which it is not practical or sometimes even possible for me (I am no longer a fan of hoisting anchors by hand in depths greater than 40 feet). Since the charter boat guys are trying to keep their customers happy, frequent moves and no tangled lines seem to be the name of the game. I only have to please myself, and catching fish is a top priority, next to safety and comfort of course. At around 8:15 the water had settled enough that I chose to anchor at 25 ft, which I did until pulling out at around 9:15. I motored back to dock just as it was getting difficult to see. Calmer waters would have kept me in place into the dark and through the 1st hour of the outgoing tide. I think I kept 8 fish, released maybe 5 or 6. The keepers were decent, again around 11-12 inch average.
Back to the camper, and assessed the weather for Saturday on the 11 pm news. Forecast was for calmer waters, so early to bed and set the alarm of 0630. Woke up, made a pot of coffee, grabbed my bait and headed back down to the ramp. All looked great until I got out around the south end of the island, at which point the blustery northwest wind countered the incoming tide and played an entirely new set of havoc with me. Wow, this was even more rough than the day before. I am beginning to wonder if the wind will ever stop blowing in Tangier Sound in 2011. Started drifting in 25-35 feet of water on the west side of the channel just north of Wenona, and caught a double header right off the bat. So, this seemed encouraging !! However, it turned out to be the highlight of the morning. For whatever reason I had a really rough time getting the hook set on the bites I was getting, like surreal almost. Endured the NW beating until the tide changed at about 0945. Kept 6 fish, one of which was 14 inches. With croaker, when you start dealing with fish 14 inches and larger, they fight REALLY well and are great fun to catch. In fact last summer I had both a 14” and 16” fish on as a double header and felt something “pop” in my right elbow, leaving me with weakness and pain in the elbow that took until this spring to heal. I had begun to believe the damage was permanent, especially since I had known of other people to damage their elbows fishing (Google it- there are a lot of these fishing injuries believe it or not). Bait for both days was squid and shrimp. May score some more soft crabs next trip down, which should be July 1 if all works out.
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