All in all 2018 was a great year, we had pretty good success all year. I will add a paragraph for each type of fishing I did this year even though I may not have an entry. I really started this blog to help me remember from year to year. I am really hoping it helps me more next year as I look back on weather conditions and various aspects of sea conditions, etc. I’ll update you early 2020 to tell you how it went.
Spring striper season (Trophy) – I certainly didn’t catch one but I don’t remember getting out either. If I went at all it was only once or twice. This is the main reason for this blog. I plan to put out information even when I was unsuccesful. I do remember this was not a great weather season especially early. I have come to the point in my fishing lifetime to know that I have been running baits too big for some time. It is hard to come to grips with the fact that you don’t need a big bait to catch a big fish but once you see that truth it is completely obvious. Anyway hoping for better in 2019.
Spanish Mackerel – Had a good Spanish season this year. I did not add enough entries into the blog to represent the season. I did spend much less time spanish fishing because I went more cobia than normal. The one blog entry I did add was when Eddie came into town. That was his first spanish he actually brought it into the boat. He had obviously lost a bunch on the way in which is really easy to do. One change we incorportated this year was the speed at which we retrieved the fish. I think slowing down the retrieval actually helps keep the planner out of the water. Will validate next year.
Cobia – A very good cobia year even though we really didn’t catch any huge ones. The bite was constant and I don’t remember missing any, we brought over board every one we hooked up. The skates were a bigger problem this year than in previous years. I hooked them on every imaginable bait so I don’t know the best way around the skate problem.
Fall striper – By far the best year ever. I am sure going with Captain Ryan on the Midnight Sun last fall and seeing the gear and tactics he incorporates helped with this year. We ran smaller baits and tried some old favorites which turned out the be the best. The old white bucktail with a red neck adding a 4 inch white swim shad by far out fished every other bait. We did have a lot of success with a green and chartruse mojo as well. Basically fish tandems with one running at 10 ft and the other running 16 ft behind various inline weights. The weights ranged from 16 to 24 oz. Mostly let out the lines from 18 runs to 10 runs out.
Measurement controversy – Best part of the argument was how to properly measure a fish. I was completely wrong I guess mostly because during the tournaments I have been in they would not allow the tail to be pinched but I did swipe the contents of Measurements from the Va Marine Resources site. This method makes sense because it is the only way to take out any varible. So of course Scott lost his mind knowing that we did in fact push over some keepers. I don’t really care other than now knowing the truth because we caught tons of fish this year.
Measurements………………..Size limits are in total length. Total length means the length of a fish measured from the most forward projection of the snout, with the mouth closed, to the tip of the longer lobe of the tail (caudal) fin, measured with the tail compressed along the midline, using a straight-line measure, not measured over the curve of the body. Snout means the most forward projection from a fish’s head that includes the upper and lower jaw.