First up was Labor Day. I went out fishing once and drew a blank, which seemed to match the current experience of everyone else fishing the area, including the charterboat captains. Apparently, some pretty heavy gill-netting in the area put a major whammy on most fish in Tangier Sound. Oh well. A last-minute invite to sail aboard skipjack Kathryn, the boat that I've been helping to restore the last 3 years was quite a surprise and I jumped at the opportunity. It was a beautiful day for a skipjack race except for the fact that there was absolutely NO WIND, a real bummer in a sailboat race. So, 2 1/2 hours into the race Captain Stoney Whitelock joined most of the other captains and called it a day.
My next trip to Deal Island was the following weekend, but I only came to run in the 2nd annual Skipjack 5K, and of course mow the grass. Proud to say I finished 2nd in my age class, and so what if there were only 3 of us. With a business trip the next week, the last week of September Candy and I got on a plane for our long-planned trip to Hawaii. It was a great week seeing the island and visiting Kara, and I ended up putting all fishing on-hold for month of September. We left Hawaii on a gorgeous Oct, with 86F and warm winds, only to land in Philly a day later with 50F and a Nor'easter blowing through. Yuk,.... Finally, Oct 9 and I absolutely had to get down to the island and at least cut the grass. Saturday was not so warm, about 63F and time to try crabbing. The marsh level was high and the water felt chilly. I caught two crabs in two hours, mirroring what everyone else out there was doing. Pretty certain the nor-easter had put a temporary whammy on the crabs. Sunday was a nice 73F day and I managed to get the boat out and do some trolling. It was worth the effort after putting two 20-inch striper in the boat. This was from trolling west and north side of South Marsh, near high tide, and using swimshad.
The following weekend was squirrel camp. When I was younger and mostly before kids, every early October I would join some of my college buddies, the ones that taught me to hunt, in southern VA/WV at one fella's hunting camp near Warm Springs in Bath County VA. It was always a fun time, roughing it (VERY remote, no running water), a great wilderness hunting experience, and lots of just having fun back at the campsite. When I moved to Delmarva, the 6-7 hour drive became overwhelming during the years I was raising kids. So, now that that season has for the most part passed, I was able to re-join the guys in Oct. It was a clear but chilly weekend, waking up to temps of 22F the last morning. I limited out on squirrels Day 1 using my 16 gauge Remington 1100, but not so well day 2 on a windy day. The squirrels out there are wary, not the playful tame squirrels you see in your neighborhood. And, as time goes by I realize I am not becoming a better shot, especially with the little to no practice that I get in.
Ok time to wrap up this entry with a quick overview of his past weekend. Oct 23, got down to the island and had enough daylight left to do some switcharoo with the gasoline in my outboard (external tanks). Boat had run rough the last time and it sure seemed like bad gas, hesitating, coughing especially when cold. I transferred the old fuel (probably 2+ months old now) to my truck and put 5 gallons fresh fuel in the tank. Boat ran rough at first, probably until it burned the gas in the line, then smoothed out nicely. This ethanol fuel really sucks. Anyway, at the suggestion of Capt Harry (Nauman), I decided to bottom fish in ~52 ft near buoy 12. Drifting and within eyesight of Harry, I caught zip, zero using frozen soft crab. I remember him telling me to get bloodworms, which is what he was using, but I didn't listen. Instead, I watched as he caught a few sea trout, some perch, and many small kingfish. This was quite a turn from the usual, and I was humbled at least for today. Next day (Sunday) went crabbing. It was overcast and 62F, but not too breezy. Water level was low in the Dames Quarter impoundment and I almost didn't go out. Glad I did. Caught 1/2 bushel (21 crabs) of really nice sized crabs, mostly 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 inches, all male, mostly heavy. Didn't stay too long and was hungry, so steamed them up down there and that was dinner. Even forgot to take any pictures- DARN.
At this time of year, not sure of when I might go down again. It won't be this coming weekend. Need to be ready to spring into action at the forecast of a heavy freeze so I can drain the plumbing on the camper. Maybe Nov 8???
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