Six hours for six keepers
Saw the forecast last night - north at 5-10 , then checked the current. Predicted slack at 8:15 - then an outgoing current. Current going same way as wind is best when fishing on the anchor.
Other then having to fish on a Saturday - decided to give it a try with my dad and son. Just fishing with them makes for a good day.
Grabbed bloodworms from Angler's and surprised we were the only trailered boat there at about 8:00 am. Got to Sandy Point - only about 50 trailers. Getting out of truck - wind seemed a touch more then 5-10 but had more west then north.
Launched and noticed tide looked low - should have been higher. Oh well , headed out to find Spot. Found a pocket of them near the bridge ( west side shore ) in 12 feet. Most were on the small side but a few were the perfect size we prefer ( 6-7 inchers ). We dropped to # 6 size hooks - missed too many on the #4 size. Had a lot of tiny 3-4 inch Perch plus a few worth keeping at 9-10 inches.
Current was out going nicely and wind had picked up and shifted to NNW. This made Podickery Point not a wise choice so we ran ESE to look for Rock and found some in 28 feet. Dropped anchor and put out Spot. We used a split shot with the bigger ones and a 1/4 - 3/8 oz egg sinker on the smaller ones. Larger Spot were hooked with a # 3/0 and little ones with a # 1/0. Eagle Claw model # 084 - bronze hook - my favorite.
I also put one Spot on bottom - off the wall shot at a Flounder. We were set up nice and seemed to be a way point for every large boat cruising south. Not sure why they did not use shipping channel - some of the wakes could have been bad for smaller boats. The Grady just rolled over them on her anchor line.
I got first hit but missed the Rock. Did reel in the mangled Spot though - we hoped fish was still hungry. Dad was reeling in to check his Spot and got hit. He set the hook on a fat 26 incher to start the day. It was about 10:30 - max current predicted at 11:40. Tyler got next fish - barely legal and lightly lipped hooked - we let it go to get bigger.
Dad got next keeper - 22 incher. Wind was shifting and we swayed on /off the edge. My deep rod started to sing - love bait runners . Before I could get to it - line took off way too fast for a Flounder or even a Rock. Spot came back crushed - I'm guessing a Red Drum - perhaps ???? Sure was not a Bluefish and did not hit like a Cownose Ray.
We set another rod deep as current began to slow. We were low on live Spot so decided to run back to look for more. Searched deeper water were it goes from 25 up to 18 feet on an old oyster bar. Anchored on the marks and had a slow bite but Spot were better size. Only draw back - 5 to 1 ratio with 4-8 inch Perch. Current began incoming and wind was gusting to about 17 at times. We swayed on the anchor - some times almost bottom trolling but Spot continued to hit.
It was now about 2:00 - we ran back to look for Rock. I told my dad - hope we get four more keepers. He looked at me funny - he thought we had three in the cooler. I reminded him we released the 18 3/4 one Tyler got. Dad reminded me - bird in the hand vs two in the bush.
Anchored as best we could but current against a shifting and gusty wind makes it tough. The cruisers were gone but now we were a magnet to sailboaters - they were loving the breeze. Good thing - they glide by with no wake or noise. Luckily - frisky big Spot cover a lot of errors and soon I got a 23 incher. Dad followed up with one about the same size. Tyler got a 22 that looked 25 - it was a football.
The deep rod got hit and line ran off at a normal pace. Dad set the hook on our 6th keeper Rock - about 21 inches. We pulled anchor and ran back to Sandy Point just as white caps began forming. Tied up and boat next to us asked how we did. Told them we got 6 keeper Rock but took a long time. Guy said he and his wife got a bunch of Perch and a just short Red Drum. He also got a Rock but said it was 1/8 inch too short. Complimented him for being an honest sport fisherman - then went to back trailer down while Tyler put rods down.
Got home and started to clean the fish. Dad and Tyler were up to no good but I did not know what was brewing. I had five Rock cleaned and dug among the ice and Perch for last Rock. Their laughs told me some thing was wrong but I was 100% sure we had six Rock in the cooler.
Well , we did when we got to the dock but not when we left. My dad gave the man we had talked to his larger Rock when I was walking to my truck at Sandy Point.
I thought that was a nice gesture on my dad's part and made a good ending to a fun day.
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