4-day fishfest recap

Yep, I fished for 4 days straight.  I'll try to be succinct in my synopsis.  Two common threads to the entire adventure: 1) it was stinking hot, and 2) the fishing was great.  Here's a short video I made of how to fillet and de-bone a croaker:

Day 1- June 30, 2012.  It was >98F, even at 5pm. Bagging the early tide change and targeting an 11:42pm nite-fishing high tide.  Had planned to fish with one of the locals who claimed to know where the speckled trout were (Holland Straights). So, planned to launch at 8pm and croaker fish for a little on the way out.  Since a storm was rolling in as I was ready to head out, my partner cancelled (name withheld to protect the chicken).  So I put off at 7:45pm solo and planned to fish off Wenona as long as the weather would permit. And this didn't turn out to be all too long, as the storm pushed close in earnest Round 9pm.  So, I got in an hour of nice hot-action fishing and put 10 nice hardhead in the cooler before I had to bail.  The wind was 5-10 mph out of the South, and I caught the fish on the 40ft flat south of buoy 12, all in about 48-48 ft of water. 

Day 2, July 1.This was the hottest day I have EVER fished, period.  99F at launch at 4pm. Breeze only about 5pmh.  Great, bugs too.  The only thing that eased the agony was that the fishing was outstanding.  I put 20 hardhead in the cooler and probably caught twice that that I threw back.  This was in the same general area as day before, but more like 48-52 ft.  Finally after having caught so many stinking fish, it was time to try something different, so I headed to the edge of South Marsh Island to try catching trout with soft crab (all hardhead fishing now with squid).  This was a beautiful sunset scene, albeit a but buggy.  Unfortunately, no trout.

Day 3, July 2.   A few degrees cooler, maybe 90F at 5pm launch.  My youngest son Blair joining me for teh final 2 days.  Again, fast and furious fishing but a different scene.  The wind was 5-10  mph out of the north, and I found the fish biting north of buoy 12 in the 40-50 ft zone on  the east side of  the channel.  It took awhile to find this but once on it was non-stop.  We put 22 in the cooler, really nice fish and many in the 14-15 inch range.  Actually I think I put 20 of those in.  The fish required an aggressive hook set.  Sometimes  they catch themselves but not tonight.

Day 4, July 3 and last day.  Again about 90f at the 6pm launch for the 8:18pm low tide. With the wind out the south, I finally found them biting south of buoy, same place as day 2.   They didn't turn on until about 7:45 and at about 36-40 ft of water, but for 30 minutes it was steady harvest of 14-15 inch croaker, which I had to handle myself since Blair had given up.  These were the best quality fish of the week.  In summary, a good 4 days of fishing and far exceeding the fishing of the last couple of years, especially here in mid-summer.  The freezer is nearly full of vacuum-sealed fish.  And, it's not over but my leash seems to be growing shorter.