The DNR totally fouls up my crabbing,... Nov 2, 2013

Time to talk about November, before it slips away.  The month started on Saturday 11/2 with a quick trip down with Blair to do some crabbing.  It was a decent warm (68F) day and we got out into the marsh at about 11 AM, only to discover that it had been nearly drained.  So now, I am restricted to using an electric motor, and also there is only about 1 1/2 feet of water tops in the impoundment- just GREAT!  Well, we launched and had no sooner set anchor in the canal (100 yrds away from the ramp) and the DNR pulls up along the road and engages us.  Here’s the deal- I had brought the gas motor also on back of the boat.  It turns out that a new drainage device had been installed, which had required them closing the marsh for two weeks and dropping the level 1-2 feet.  I was also informed that although the new motor restrictions did not specify such, it was not permitted to even have a gas motor onboard the boat.  Again- GREAT ! So, they let me slide since this had not been posted and we proceeded to crab.  After about hour and a half I had a half dozen, and we needed a change of venue.  So, I pushed the boat down the canal painfully slow with my 17 lb thrust motor (so glad I had just sold my 35 lb thrust motor, right!) all the way to the first dike.  And wow I was surprised to see just how badly this had silted in from water coming over the dike into the impoundment.  Anyway, we found a worthy spot on the point about 2 feet deep, and anchored.  Here we proceeded to round out our catch to just over 3 dozen decent crabs.  They were not quite the quality and size of the previous trip, but they would do.  And combined with some fresh oysters, fried of course, they made for quite the feast.

I am totally not pleased about these new motor restrictions, which now limit me from using a gas engine during my peak time of the year for crabbing.  I took the opportunity to communicate my position on this back to the DNR- they had a place online to submit comments on the Wildlife Management Area rules and restrictions.  And here is the text of my comments:

Hello,

I would like to comment on item 28.B. of the proposed WMA Regulations.  First, let me start by saying what a great overall job DNR has done at being a good steward of the Deal Island Wildlife Management Area.  I have enjoyed using this resource for the last 34 years.  My primary uses have been diverse- fishing, hunting, crabbing, biking, hiking, and waterfowl observation and photography.

I am strongly not in favor of the restriction on use of gasoline-powered outboard motors in the impoundment between October and March.  This time of year is historically an optimal time for recreational crabbing in the Deal Island WMA impoundment area.  It coincides with the various waterfowl hunting seasons, and has peacefully coincided with them in the 34 years I have used the impoundment.  The new guideline, which now only permits use of vessels propelled by electric motor, severely limits the range of vessels to a very short distance from the impoundment launching ramp at end of Riley Roberts Road.  My understanding is that this recent restriction was implemented to increase the overall waterfowl hunting experience and to improve waterfowl habitat.

In my many years in using the impoundment during the fall for recreational crabbing, there is minimal overlap between waterfowl hunters and recreational crabbers both geographically and temporally.  Particularly in the cooler weather of the fall, crabbing is only effective beginning late morning  or even early afternoon as the weather cools.  Also, while the waterfowl hunters usually seek more secluded areas where they can lay decoys, etc, the recreational crabber is typically using either the main channel or the area immediately surrounding one of the dikes.

In terms of waterfowl habitat, I do not believe the use of gas-powered outboard motors is dramatically affecting the silting-in or sedimentation of the impoundment salt marsh.  These processes are occurring both by natural growth and decay of marsh grasses and also by past use of the impoundment by waterfowl hunters using “mud-boats”. 

Lastly, the restriction on gas outboards seems unfair to the public at large, as the impoundment is public land managed for a variety of recreational uses and not solely waterfowl hunting.  If the Maryland Waterfowl Association has provided funding toward the Deal Island WMA, that should not buy their interest group preferential treatment in the designation of policies meant to manage this public resource.  Thank you in advance for consideration of my comments.

Getting caught up with October

Just as I expected, after Labor Day I would not return to the island until October.  September was a full month- a mission trip to Guatemala, business trip to Philly, a football game in Baltimore and one in Morgantown WV.  Whew,.....

Friday Oct 4, I got out crabbing in the afternoon.  It was sunny and about 70F, a nice day.  As soon as I anchored next to the 2nd dike in the Dames Quarter marsh and got about 5 hand lines out, I began to catch crabs as fast as I could move.  I never did get more than 6 lines out.  Two and a half hours later I was truly exhausted.  The trouble was- 95% of the crabs were female and off limits to us recreational crabbers.  They were nice, heavy female crabs and it broke my heart to throw them back.  The tide was rolling hard into the marsh very quickly, taking the lines with it and making things a bit hard.  So, I ended up settling for about a 1/3 bushel of male crabs, mostly nice but nothing compared to what I was to come into a week later.  Before I move on, want to report that the jon boat trailer I had worked on all summer served well to carry and launch the boat.  Getting it trailed was a little trickier but like all different trailers I think I will get the hang of it.

Fast forward a week, Oct 11.  I came down to work on skipjack Kathryn.   Had a great time working with Mike and the crew, fitting a knee to a frame and rib.  Got out crabbing the next day in the midst of a nor'easter, complete with wind and sideways rain.  Luckily the temps were up enough in the 60's to make it do-able.  Got out to the marsh and instantly noticed these orange signs everywhere, warning me that gas powered outboards were not allowed in the impoundment from Oct through March.  Nice.  So here I am out there in the middle of a storm, loaded and ready to go with my Johnson 9.9.  No one else is in sight, and no law enforcement on a day like this.  So, prepared to plead ignorance I start the outboard and motor out to the crabbing spot.  Tide not a problem today, and have my heavy anchors in preparation for the wind pushing the boat.  So, same scene as last week except now I am catching 85% nice heavy big male crabs.  Jimmies.  Yep, it had changed that quickly.  I filled the bushel without room for even another crab, all in less than 2 hrs.  And man were they goooooood to eat.  

My next trip down would be 2 weeks later, Oct 25 and another Kathryn work trip.

 Had a great time working with the inmates from ECI on Kathryn restoration, love these guys.  The following day I had planned to fish the high tide in shallow water, scheduled for 7:30pm so I am looking at a sunset fish.  The wind was blowing 25 knots plus out of the SW and I am thinking no problem, I will stay near shore.  Big mistake.  I have never had my boat in such rough water.  I literally was half scared just trying to scoot around the south end of Deal Island.  well, my buddy Mark and I made it ok and anchored in 3 ft of water, casting to the same point I had caught rock at back in August.  We bottom-fished for about 2 hrs, braving the wind and upper 50's.  I caught two rock, one about 18 and into the cooler.  The return trip was taken following sheltered water, through this gut following waterman-laid sticks, and back into the harbor.  Next time this happens, I'll bring the jon boat and cut through both ways.

2013 Labor Day Deal Island Skipjack Races

For me, it started back in 1980.  The annual Skipjack Race festival at Deal Island, which occurs each Labor Day weekend.  This is not just a race, this is an entire weekend.  This is a celebration by a proud community, celebrating their heritage of sail-powered oyster dredging.  It marks the end of summer and also the beginning of oyster season, although some watermen will hang on to crab through October.  Despite the festivity of the weekend, it is the departure of summer which makes it bittersweet for me.

Over the years I have been to many of these Skipjack races, enjoying the fun of the entire weekend on the island.  There were a few years I missed- in the army, having kids, etc but for the most part I have made most of them.  Some have been glorious weekends, some have been blistering hot, and there was even one where it rained all weekend to the tune of about 10 inches, submerging my yard under about a foot of water and trapping 10 of us indoors (in the shack) all weekend.  2013 brought us a warm but otherwise gorgeous weekend.

Saturday kicked off with a crab feast down in Wenona with friends old and new.  After stuffing myself with crabs, crab cakes, and some really hot salsa I made- it was off to Shedders', where I sat in on bass with Captain Harry and Crew.  Everyone had a great time and I got a great night's sleep, in anticipation of riding my motorcycle Sunday morning.  I had recently finished building a motorcycle trailer out of an old boat trailer, and I used it for the first time to pull the cycle down to Deal Island. After about a 2 hour cruise down every nook and cranny on the island and the town of Chance, it was parade time.

The Skipjack parade begins at the school, right next to my camper.  So, some friends came over and we had a little party to celebrate the parade.  My friend Tammy brought her brother, actor Dale Midkiff, who served as Grand Marshal (poobah) of the parade- which we had a lot of fun with.  Well, the parade lasted about 8 minutes this year, it was definitely the smallest and shortest in my memory.  It was emblamatic of the scale of all the weekend official activities, including the race and the festival.  I'm not sure what's up with the organizers but the way I see it, if you are not growing, you are dying.

After the parade, my wife Candy came down to join me for dinner.  It was kind of like icing on the cake and I wish she could have been there the whole weekend but it was not possible (this year).  One of our friends, Mary rented a really nice Italian villa-style house overlooking the water in Wenona.  We all gathered there- Candy, me, Tammy, Steve, Dale, Mary, Ellie, Robert, Ellie's sister Linda, Lex, Stacy, Jennifer, Tammy's dad Tom.  Linda brought a 3 ft long ribeye which we slow grilled, while I had a fry fest featuring rockfish, croaker, soft crabs, and oysters.  It was a meal to remember, one for the decades.  We all meandered back up to the harbor to catch the live band, and they were great !!  The evening ended with a nightcap on the roof deck of the Italian villa, watching the lights of Tangier Sound as the southwest winds blew refreshingly through our hair.

Monday morning was the Skipjack race, the main event.  Some of us gathered at Robert's boat CashFlow II at Scott's Cove, and we picked up the rest of our crew, 10 in all at the main dock.   It was a great race, with mostly heavy overcast skies which cleared just as the race was ending. Chance Skipjack Ida Mae handily took first place, pulling away from the pack after the turn around the Wenona buoy.  It was a great race, and although we had a few brief raindrops fall on us, we all had a great time, and Mary filmed it all in HD.  We were treated to 92-year old Daddy Art Daniels singing over the VHF "When the Star Passes By", which I still cannot locate anywhere on line.  I'll have to ask him about it when I see him next.  I had decided mid-day to stay over until Tuesday morning, something I had not done in years. This was I was able to see all of the workboat docking contest, the awards ceremony and closing remarks by none other than Katherine captain Stoney Whitelock.  To end the day, a little bit of motorcycle cruising, a beer at Shedders, and to bed by 10.

The next day, it was back to work by 11:30.  The Tuesday after Labor Day is always a really weird feeling time for me.  All the crowds have gone.  The friends have all either departed or are worn-out from the weekend and are off the radar screen, heading out soon themselves.  The locals are back to work first light, as usual.  There is little evidence that a great festival has just rocked this island, except for the 5 (of 8 total) remaining participating skipjacks docked in the harbor, and the festival tents nearby.  What I had anticipated for nearly a month is now over, but sure to return next year.  The weather is noticeably cooler, and this happens every year as if God has suddenly turned down the thermostat a few degrees.  I am looking forward to next year's race already, as I am hoping to be aboard the repaired and restored Katherine, which I have literally spilled by blood on.  And of course I am already dreaming of more fishing.  And speaking of which- you thought this was going to be about fishing, didn't you?  Haha joke is on you- I didn't even wet a line this entire weekend.

So, preparing to go to Guatemala on Sunday on a mission trip, then more September trips to Philly, Baltimore, and WVU.  Will not be back to the island until October. SIGH,.....

A change of pace (rockfish) Aug 23, 2013

Hustled down to Deal Island late morning in effort to make a 4:15 high tide.  The forecast had quickly deteroriated   (sp?) to almost certain rain, and the forecast did not disappoint.  The radar showed an ugly mass sliding in from the northwest which was supposed to be gone by 1:30 but which was still threatening as late as 3PM.  I spotted the mass of rain start to part and divide on the radar, and against the advice of some of the watermen with whom I was sharing a soda I launched my boat and headed to Tangier Sound.  As I approached the number 12 buoy, the wind was brisk and straight out of the east.  While this made the water simply choppy, the undesired effect was that it pushed the boat so quickly to the west that a reasonable drift was not possible.  Four ozs. of lead was not enough to hold the rig on bottom, especially with teh light tackle that I use.  I did manage to catch one small rock on the brief time I drifted here.

Off to a new location.  My target was shallow water on the south and east sides of Little Deal Island, as the MD DNR fishing report indicated that the shallow water fishing in the area was really heating up.  By the time I got to my destination, it was slack high tide- I had hoped to get here sooner but this was what happened.  Fishing with soft crabs exclusively,  I anchored off a small point in about 5 feet of water and threw to the bank.  There was a lot of grass here, and all I seemed to catch was a bunch of grass.  So, I moved to another spot that looked, well, simply fishy.  It was a nice tight point with a protected little cove to the south side.  Immediately I started catching rockfish, and this continued for about a steady 45 minutes.  They were small, ranging from about 12-16 inches but fought quite nicely and of course I did not keep any (LOL).  I caught 9 before it quit as quickly as it had started.  Among the flurry of rock was also the biggest croaker I had caught all year- 15 inches and what a nice battle it gave me in shallow water.  Fishing in overcast, drizzly, and cooler (72F) conditions had really turned on these fish.  I am absolutely aching to try this again, but unfortunately I am literally running out of time.  Next weekend is Labor Day and I suspect I will not have opportunity to get out and fish.  Following that, I leave for Guatemala on Sept 9.  Then a brief business trip, followed by 2 consecutive football game weekends.  October will likely be my next time down.

I did manage to finish building the boat trailer I have been working on since mid-July.  as soon as I can get the boat loaded on it, I should be ready for crabbing. !!!

Wrapping up The Summer of Kara- August 17, 2013

Well, I mentioned in one of my previous 2013 posts that this summer would be focused on my daughter Kara.  After starring in her high school musical, prom, graduation, and the college send-off (which we organized), we arrived at the grand finale: Kara's departure to college.  On 8/15 we left with a fully loaded mini-van for Morgantown, WV- home of West Virginia University.  Yes, Kara would be following her older brother and attending our alma mater. The morning of the 16th, we moved Kara in to Towers, same dorm I lived in 32 years ago.  Funny, it even smelled the same.  After Kara tweeted the Mountaineer mascot to come help, we were stunned when he actually showed up in full Mountaineer garb, including musket.  I managed to conclude the day without becoming emotional.  I think I'm saving up for a secret daddy cry-fest,....

Saturday August 17 I headed to Deal Island, as I had agreed to take my brother Ross and one of his young boys, 8 year old Owen, fishing.  After mowing grass and working on my boat trailer for a few hours, my brother showed up at about 4 pm, a bit late due to his 5 hour drive to the beach.  Our target was a 5:05pm low tide.  While we managed to dodge the previously forcasted rain, we couldn't avoid a pretty active NE wind.  Had we been without the young boy, we would have gone out into Tangier Sound.  Instead we played it safe and fished Laws Thorofare, a.k.a.- the gut.  Only able to catch the final 45 minutes of outgoing tide, we still managed to put 9 pretty decent fish into the cooler.  And, young Owen did a pretty good job- reminding me totally of his father when he was that age.  I'm glad we got to go.  Hadn't fished with my brother in years- we used to fish together all the time.  He had never been on my boat.  And I had also never fished with his son (Ross's older son Adam is not yet too fond of boats).

Well, the summer is truly winding down.  Labor Day is in two weeks, then all of September is wrapped up in a mission trip, a business trip, and two football games.  I hope to have the jon boat trailer rebuild completed just in time for crabbing.

Stinky fish- August 11, 2013

For the first time this summer I was able to get my youngest son Blair out on the boat with me.  He passed up numerous opportunities early on, before he got a summer job.  Now, as summer is quickly fading, he realized that he may not get a chance, so I scheduled a vacation day from work and we headed down to the camper after church. 

Overcast skies provided much needed relief from the August heat, but with them came the threat of rain.  We persevered and launched anyhow at 3pm targeting a 6pm high tide.  Winds were 5-10 mph out of the SSE, darn near perfect.  We tried several spots just south of buoy 14, on the west side of the channel- mostly because the rain appeared to be off to our south.  We managed to dodge that bullet as well as several passing showers, feeling only a few sprinkles.  However, although conditions looked great the fish were not biting here.  So, we moved back down by buoy 12 and this is where we found some decent croaker.  Our drifts carried us almost perfectly NW, and this worked well for targeting the biting depth of 38-44 feet.  Anything outside of that was dead (dead zones?).  Blair seemed to have lost his touch from last year, and only put one in the cooler.  I was happy to catch many while he simply watched, and I ended up putting in an additional 12.  The biggest was 13”, and the ratio of throwbacks to keeper was about 2:1.  Succumbing to our hunger, we called it quits right around slack tide and went in for some dinner.  I’ll give Blair this- he continued to fish the entire time, in contrast to last year in which he would frequently quit after an hour.

Next morning (Monday) I got up early and cleaned the fish.  It was an insufferable morning dominated by relentless 95% humidity which made it feel like 100F.  I then proceeded to cut grass, clean my boat, and then continue working on my boat trailer- about 4 hours worth of work (I thought I came down here to relax?).  When Blair finally awoke around 9am I gave him one job to do: pack the contents of the refrigerator into the cooler.  Simple. Probably took him 5 minutes. Fast forward to Tuesday.  I get home from work and am ready to vacuum seal my fish prior to freezing.  Well, no fish anywhere to be found.  And if they weren’t in my house. There was only one place they could be,…. Ughhh.  Yep, Blair had left the fish at Deal Island, in the refrigerator, in the camper closed up and with power on.  Instantly I knew that this had to be dealt with  ASAP, and any delay increased the likelihood of disaster.  One time 25 years ago, we had a fridge fail down there (in the shack), in which we had loaded the freezer with crab bait.  After two weeks, the fridge had become so rancid that we had to haul the entire unit out of the shack immediately and without opening the door. Back to the present, due to a prior commitment I was not able to go down to find the forgotten fish.  Luckily Candy bailed me out and made the trip.  And while what she found wasn’t pretty, it was caught in time before it became catastrophic.  Note to self: next time, double check when Blair empties the fridge and packs the cooler.

Finally, good weather, good fishing- Aug 2-3, 2013

Friday August 2- it was warm and sunny, but a nice 5-10 mph SW breeze made for nice calm 1 ft waves.  Launched at 3PM to catch the 5:15 low tide.  Based on reports from the week before, targeted deeper water than I usually fish.  And, that's where they were.  Used both squid and soft crabs at the same time.  In 2 hours time, I put 25 hardhead in the cooler, reaching my legal limit.  By 6 I had the boat on th trailer headed back to the camper.  The fish were caught just WSW of buoy 12, in 56-64 ft of water.  Outside of these depths, the fish quit.  The throwback ratio was much less than the rest of the summer, with probably 5 keepers to each throwback.  However, upon filleting them, I had to ask my self why I had kept a few of those fish.  Maybe I was hungry,...

Next day, I launched at 4PM with one of my Deal Island neighbors, Mark.  We were targeting the 6:15 tide change.  The direct sun and heat of the day had just given way to overcast and a welcome cold front.  and fortunately, the accompanying wind didn't show up until the next day.  We went to the same general area but took the lead of one of the party boats and stayed more shallow.  Cooler air and water temps (80.5F) suggested this to be a good idea.  And right away, I started catching some nicer fish (10-13").  Bait was soft crabs only.  We didn't fish too long, and I put 8 in the cooler, while Mark added two.  Things tailed off as the tide slacked.  I always enjoy schooling my fishing partners.  I think the difference is attributable in part to the sensitivity of the 6ft Ugly Stick strung with 30 lb Spider Wire.  I also like the 2/0 top hook with the #2 flounder hook on the bottom.  But, what do I know??  Anyway, finally starting to put some fish in the freezer. But without my croaker eating partner daughter Kara around this year (going to WVU), who is going to help me eat these fish.