June has historically been a really good month fishing at Deal Island. The larger croakers are usually on-hand and the weather is typically pretty decent. June 12 brought very hot (95F+) and extremely windy, so I thought that taking the jon-boat back into the Thorofare would be a good idea. Never mind the apocalyptic profusion of biting green-headed flies. Motored back to me favorite deep hole and managed to catch one eel and plenty of skates. Seeking a change of venue, I motored back to the Manokin and anchored, Another bust, so I headed back to my original spot. I had noticed the outboard running a little rough but chalked it up to it not having been run in a year. As I pushed on I became aware that the outboard was losing power. Suddenly, the outboard rapidly lost power, started smoking, and promptly quit, never to start again. And as has happened all too many times in the past, I was forced to beg for a tow back to the ramp. I've got a picture, but in the interest of maintaining my dignity will refrain from posting.
OK, certainly the next day my luck would change, right? WRONG !! Launched the center console out of Wenona and headed toward Buoy 12, where most of the charter boats were anchored. Fished the swing low tide, expected magic. So, teh nice breeze that I had enjoyed when launching died, completely. To nothing. And it was >95F, again. and the flies were biting. and the largest croaker I could land, except for two outliers, was 9 inches. After about 2 hours of this nonsense and feeling particularly miserable and discouraged, I called it quits and returned to port. At least the boat ran well. I seriously considered whether I would ever fish again,....
Candy suggested later that next week that I try fishing again. Well, we had plans for early Sunday so I knew that this would be a one day venture. I don't do these one day trips much anymore, it is enough of an effort to pack up, head down, clean up, pack up and head home that it makes more sense to cluster days together. But, the weather looked to be good s off I went to see if I could change my luck. Launched out of Wenona later than I usually do, reaching Tangier Sound only 1/2 hour preceding peak high tide. Picking a few small few fish around buoy 12, it was time to head for the other side of the channel, and about 1/2 mile north. I have fished this particular shelf many times, often with good results. It is a particularly steep shelf too, with rapid drop from 30 to 80 feet. I chose a spot mid-way between two party boats. I wanted to see where they were anchored anyway, which looked to be about 50 feet. I pushed west to about 35 feet, and used the west wind to push me across the shelf and into deeper water. I caught a few small fish at first. And then suddenly, everything changed. At once, the fish started flying in the cooler. I'm trying to manage 2 rods, and it was difficult. Squid was doing the trick too, so the soft crabs stayed in the cooler, so I could eat them another day. I continued to repeat these drifts, knowing full well that things could change at any moment, while picking up 2 - 4 fish each drift. Finally, I knew I had to pause and take count, not wanting to exceed my limit of 25. Wow, I had 13 in the cooler. Onward ho!! One interesting thing was that every time I drifted across the 60 foot mark and quickly headed to too deep of water, I would catch a really nice fish (12-13 inches these days). In short order, I was up to 23 fish in the cooler. The tide was really starting to roll out fast, and I began to wonder if I would hit that magic limit. Suddenly. a hard tug on the line. and when I got it in- double header!! I had my 25-fish legal limit and was done. Did a little bit of trolling for rock around Little Deal Island on my way in, but no dice. time to call it a day, and now I was again excited for the next opportunity to fish.
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