esfishdoc
Well-known member
Hey Folks,
Karen and I left Willis Wharf around 130 at a mud sucking low tide. The winds and water were favorable. The sun was shining. We had a bag full of stinky sea clams and a destination.
When we arrived at the drum spot I was happy to see that no one was in my place. I call it my place because it is marked on my GPS. There were about 5 other boats anchored up. I think many people call this place South End because it is at the south end of Hog Island. On the other hand it could be called North End because it is at the north end of Cobb Island.
We settled in and got a few lines in. I tied some new #9 hooks with some 80 lb leader and sent some stinky clams to the bottom. We were in 21 feet of water with a temp reading between 65 and 66. There was a fair amount of mud and grass as the tide was flooding and picking up speed.
During the first hour we caught some grass and a handful of smooth dogs. A few other boats arrived. I didn’t see anyone else hook a drum and I started to think ahead to when the tide would slow down.
Right at an hour into the project I decided I needed to de-weed one of the 3 lines in. This is how I catch fish. I pick up a rod to either check the bait or clear weeds or sometimes go home and there is the fish. As I picked up the rod I could feel a few mild bumps and I did a gentle but firm retrieve. I felt some weight and kept going and in return I got a few quick nods that made me think shark. Then there was a heavy authoritative run of something very big and not the least bit worried about my drag on a TLD 20. I had 85lb braid and good swivels and good leader. This is when I hope I made good knots.
It seemed like the more I tried to get line the further this thing went out. After 5 minutes or so I was about convinced I was fighting a very large ray. At about the 10 minute mark I was convinced from the way it was still pulling it was a ray just messing with me.
I finally got it close enough to the boat to get a look and was delighted to see it was not a ray. Karen has very little experience with a big net and after one failed attempt she managed to slide it right on in. We both grabbed a side of the net and hauled it in. What a fish!
We stayed a little while longer and bailed a few more sharks. We had one hope of a big drum turn out to be a tail wrapped shark that was just a load in the current.
There were a couple of other drum boated but the action certainly wasn’t fast. Karen suggested we go on in. It wasn’t that important to her to catch one. When we left I was starting to hear drumming from down below. We probably left just as things were going to turn on.
All in all a great day.
Our first drum of the season.
This couple pulled up as we were boating the fish. I’m sure they did the “I think this might be a good place” decision.
Some others…..
I think this might be a Tidal Fish member…..
Getting ready to put one on the Rooster…..
Karen on the ride home……
My way of offloading fish…..
I’ll be up at 4 AM to go out and talk to the turkeys.
Later,
Richard
Karen and I left Willis Wharf around 130 at a mud sucking low tide. The winds and water were favorable. The sun was shining. We had a bag full of stinky sea clams and a destination.
When we arrived at the drum spot I was happy to see that no one was in my place. I call it my place because it is marked on my GPS. There were about 5 other boats anchored up. I think many people call this place South End because it is at the south end of Hog Island. On the other hand it could be called North End because it is at the north end of Cobb Island.
We settled in and got a few lines in. I tied some new #9 hooks with some 80 lb leader and sent some stinky clams to the bottom. We were in 21 feet of water with a temp reading between 65 and 66. There was a fair amount of mud and grass as the tide was flooding and picking up speed.
During the first hour we caught some grass and a handful of smooth dogs. A few other boats arrived. I didn’t see anyone else hook a drum and I started to think ahead to when the tide would slow down.
Right at an hour into the project I decided I needed to de-weed one of the 3 lines in. This is how I catch fish. I pick up a rod to either check the bait or clear weeds or sometimes go home and there is the fish. As I picked up the rod I could feel a few mild bumps and I did a gentle but firm retrieve. I felt some weight and kept going and in return I got a few quick nods that made me think shark. Then there was a heavy authoritative run of something very big and not the least bit worried about my drag on a TLD 20. I had 85lb braid and good swivels and good leader. This is when I hope I made good knots.
It seemed like the more I tried to get line the further this thing went out. After 5 minutes or so I was about convinced I was fighting a very large ray. At about the 10 minute mark I was convinced from the way it was still pulling it was a ray just messing with me.
I finally got it close enough to the boat to get a look and was delighted to see it was not a ray. Karen has very little experience with a big net and after one failed attempt she managed to slide it right on in. We both grabbed a side of the net and hauled it in. What a fish!
We stayed a little while longer and bailed a few more sharks. We had one hope of a big drum turn out to be a tail wrapped shark that was just a load in the current.
There were a couple of other drum boated but the action certainly wasn’t fast. Karen suggested we go on in. It wasn’t that important to her to catch one. When we left I was starting to hear drumming from down below. We probably left just as things were going to turn on.
All in all a great day.
Our first drum of the season.
This couple pulled up as we were boating the fish. I’m sure they did the “I think this might be a good place” decision.
Some others…..
I think this might be a Tidal Fish member…..
Getting ready to put one on the Rooster…..
Karen on the ride home……
My way of offloading fish…..
I’ll be up at 4 AM to go out and talk to the turkeys.
Later,
Richard
