And the rough waters persist- August 18/19, 2011

There’s simply no escaping it for 2011.  Wind. Small craft advisories.  And now, finally- violent thunderstorms.  Thursday August 18, since I had already taken off work and made my plans, I braved the small craft advisory and 3-4 ft waves.  Launched out of the harbor on the north end of Deal Island, just to give myself a back-up option in case it got too rough.   And good thing I did.  After getting my brains beat in for about an hour just northwest of Wenona and only catching one nice hardhead, I decided to take up plan B, and sped back to Law’s Thorofare, the sheltered creek behind the island.  This has historically been a real large croaker hot-spot, particularly late in the day and timed with the peak high or low tides.  But this evening, fate would not have it and the place seemed to be infested only with skates.  I was fishing two rods and naturally could only hold one at a time.  The first of the 5 I caught, I nearly lost rod and reel.  Decided to make a meal of it too.  Had tried cooking skate in the past but hadn’t been too pleased with the outcome.  I didn’t like them deep fried, or broiled like I do a hard head.  Anyway, caught and kept another but released the final three after eviscerating them.  They really are a pain to handle on the deck of a small boat solo, not to mention they monopolize the space in a 54 qt cooler.  Furthermore, they are a total pain in the butt when it comers to cleaning them.  They have a thick hide so are tough to fillet, and then you are left with a huge and heavy carcass to dispose of.  You are able to cut a really nice hunk of fillet off of each wing though.  More about eating them later,..  After the skate cleared out (and little else bites when they are active in this creek), I did manage to catch a few decent spot and even one small sheepshead- a species I hadn’t caught here in about 8 or 9 years (see pic).

The next day brought calmer waters (for awhile) but a never-ending threat of late day severe thunderstorms.   I launched around 2:45 pm for a 6pm high tide, hoping to get some fishing time in before the storms took over.  Spent most of my time fishing around buoy 12 just southwest of Wenona, and caught 4 nice croaker (12-14”) drifting between 30 and 42 ft of water.  Never could find a pattern though.  Shifted to the west side of the channel, a little farther north- where I often turn to for making a change.  I had maintained my VHF weather radio on the whole time, as there were a never-ending string if storms coming across the bay.  They are spot-on accurate for telling me when one is headed my way, and if anything they are a little too conservative.  So when the warning came that there was one headed to Tangier Sound and the inland waters of Bloodsworth Island, and warning boaters to get off the water and seek shelter- I did just that.  Crap, foiled again.  This was my last shot for this trip, as I would be cleaning up and departing in the morning.  Later that evening, after the storms never hit- I crossed the Deal Island bridge just at sunset and looked out at beautiful and calm water.  Figures.

Parting thoughts- I scored some nice hard crabs off my friend Captain Danny Benton.  Brought them back to Millsboro and enjoyed them with my favorite crab beating buddy, 83-year-old Miss Pat from next door.  Wow they were good.  And for the skate-  I just finished eating them and they were FABULOUS !!  Followed a recipe I found online (http://www.aboutseafood.com/recipe/zesty-grilled-skate) and grilled them.  Had cut the meat into one inch cubes, and it literally fell apart as I pulled it off the grill.  My next experiment- smoked croaker.  My buddy Bruce Davis just gave me a Big Chief Smoker, and as soon as I get time enough to set it up and run it, I am going to smoke some croaker,…. Took my first hot shower at the camper using my new water heater.  It was great and looking forward to many more.  And so, the next trip and perhaps final bottom-fishing venture for 2011 is scheduled for Thursday, August 25.  The following weekend is Labor Day and have not finalized my plans, although my son and I plan to be down at the island.  The crowds are pretty heavy and I’m not much into waiting for the boat ramp, but we’ll see.