Saturday was a different animal- overcast and breezy out of the south. Because the temps were cooler and thunderstorms were forecasted for later in the day, I opted to fish starting at high noon. Launched and tried the same spot as the day before. Caught 3 right away, then nothing. Moved down to buoy 12, nothing. Noticed there was a charter boat about 3/4 mile south of buoy 12, so headed down there and began drifting. With the outgoing tide and a southerly wind. I drifted perfectly due east, which was fine. Caught fish starting in 50 ft and they continued down to 42 ft, at which point I had to move for a new drift. This went on for quite awhile and I ended up putting 22 croaker on the cooler (one kingfish too). Same as yesterday, only one throwback but these fish were a slightly smaller class, 10-11 inches period. Here's a weird twist- caught a pretty decent size shark (sandbar shark?), about 2 1/2 feet. Not sure what to do with these, if they're good to eat or what or even if you're allowed to keep them. Anyway, he had a mouth full of teeth and I wanted no part so I cut the hook and said "adios". Wind picked up and it got rough as snot. Finally left at 5:30 PM because it was so rough I was no longer able to set the hook, despite still having frequent bites. I can say that next day (Sunday) my elbow actually hurt from catching so many fish and holding a rod so long. Hoping to sneak back next weekend for a Friday fish, but have to return Saturday due to a commitment : (
Sunday, July 17, 2016
The fish FINALLY show up, July 16-17, 2016
I have never EVER had to wait until mid-July to simply begin catching fish- but this was THAT year. Well, the croaker finally arrived and without any further delay let me tell you the details.
Friday July 16 was hotter than the hinges of hell. One of those 92-95F July days with stifling humidity. So how that I actually used my bimini top. Along with me was my cousin Darko. Well, he's not actually my cousin but I'll claim him as such. Darko had never fished with me, and also had never caught hardhead. We launched around 330PM, it was calm waters and oh did I mention it was HOT. We started on the west side of the channel out of Wenona, where I had so much success last year. We picked up a couple of fish right away. The falling tide was pulling us straight down Tangier Sound (north to south), and it was quick drifting, to just 1/4-1/2 mile north of buoy 12. We caught almost all the fish in 34-40 ft of water. The water temp was 85F, a full 7 degrees warmer than a few weeks prior. Squid was the bait of the day, and we used almost a whole box. We fished until nearly sunset, and put 50 fish in the cooler- 49 croaker (one shy of our collective limit) and one kingfish. The croaker were all in the 10.5-12 inch range and nice and plump. Only tossed one fish back in the water. Darko seemed to have a blast. I had mounted my Chinese GoPro clone on the center console and captured some cool video of Darko catching his first croaker. If you have an extra 5 minutes, have a look.
Saturday was a different animal- overcast and breezy out of the south. Because the temps were cooler and thunderstorms were forecasted for later in the day, I opted to fish starting at high noon. Launched and tried the same spot as the day before. Caught 3 right away, then nothing. Moved down to buoy 12, nothing. Noticed there was a charter boat about 3/4 mile south of buoy 12, so headed down there and began drifting. With the outgoing tide and a southerly wind. I drifted perfectly due east, which was fine. Caught fish starting in 50 ft and they continued down to 42 ft, at which point I had to move for a new drift. This went on for quite awhile and I ended up putting 22 croaker on the cooler (one kingfish too). Same as yesterday, only one throwback but these fish were a slightly smaller class, 10-11 inches period. Here's a weird twist- caught a pretty decent size shark (sandbar shark?), about 2 1/2 feet. Not sure what to do with these, if they're good to eat or what or even if you're allowed to keep them. Anyway, he had a mouth full of teeth and I wanted no part so I cut the hook and said "adios". Wind picked up and it got rough as snot. Finally left at 5:30 PM because it was so rough I was no longer able to set the hook, despite still having frequent bites. I can say that next day (Sunday) my elbow actually hurt from catching so many fish and holding a rod so long. Hoping to sneak back next weekend for a Friday fish, but have to return Saturday due to a commitment : (
Saturday was a different animal- overcast and breezy out of the south. Because the temps were cooler and thunderstorms were forecasted for later in the day, I opted to fish starting at high noon. Launched and tried the same spot as the day before. Caught 3 right away, then nothing. Moved down to buoy 12, nothing. Noticed there was a charter boat about 3/4 mile south of buoy 12, so headed down there and began drifting. With the outgoing tide and a southerly wind. I drifted perfectly due east, which was fine. Caught fish starting in 50 ft and they continued down to 42 ft, at which point I had to move for a new drift. This went on for quite awhile and I ended up putting 22 croaker on the cooler (one kingfish too). Same as yesterday, only one throwback but these fish were a slightly smaller class, 10-11 inches period. Here's a weird twist- caught a pretty decent size shark (sandbar shark?), about 2 1/2 feet. Not sure what to do with these, if they're good to eat or what or even if you're allowed to keep them. Anyway, he had a mouth full of teeth and I wanted no part so I cut the hook and said "adios". Wind picked up and it got rough as snot. Finally left at 5:30 PM because it was so rough I was no longer able to set the hook, despite still having frequent bites. I can say that next day (Sunday) my elbow actually hurt from catching so many fish and holding a rod so long. Hoping to sneak back next weekend for a Friday fish, but have to return Saturday due to a commitment : (
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