Fishing Reports

I have a post today that I am working on that I have not been prepared to make. I have sold my Proline and bought a new to me boat , a Sea Chaser. I have been planning for this day for a few years but it doesn’t make it a better day. I enjoyed my Proline for so many years I have nothing but the greatest of memories on that boat. Any issues I have had have long since been forgotten and I now remember all of the friends I have met through this boat and how many great adventures I have had along the way. But a new chapter has begun and I am excited to have an opportunity to go further than before.

It is strange to see “my boat” on another lift but I helped the guys that bought it move it to the Little Wicomico river last week. Every post prior to this one was on the Proline and this thing was a “fish magnet” as Ron always says.

My new boat is a 2018 Sea Chaser HFC 27, made by Carolina Skiff. They transitioned to a new name to designate the blue water boats from their inland series. I am sure they are in the same complex and they just reversed the letter designation from CS to SC. The boat is 27 feet long and approx 10 feet wide center console. I bought it from a family in Fl and much further down if you want to read I will detail out my adventure in getting it to my house.

Some more details about my new boat and the reason I got it. Chuck and I have been discussing for some time now about I really need one more boat before I get to the age where I need to ride with someone rather than drive. We had always decided that would happen this time in 23 and I was content to wait for that day. Main reason I did not want to finance any purchase. Well my friend Rick that fished with me a bunch this year discussed multiple times that he wanted my proline and that I should just go ahead and get it. Well finally I decided life is short lets go ahead and launch.

The good news is I had been looking online to find the boat make and model I wanted for some time now. I even had a spreadsheet called “Boat Dreaming” where I would put examples of boats I liked and write things I liked and disliked about everyone. I went through a lot of research about length and more importantly width and engine details. The one main thing I found out is that not every boat manufacturer is the same and that some old tried and true manf. are riding the past more than I think they should. I’ll add that to this article as well. Anyway I kept coming back to the Sea Chaser, it checked off every item I felt important and so I just narrowed my search to this model.

Here are some things I liked about this specific boat. It has:

• 2 Garmin 7612sxv Chart plotters/fish finder with side view etc.
• Rhodan GPS Trolling and Anchor 84” shaft
• 2 Suzuki 300 HP engines (yes a lot but nice)
• Simard digital gauges
• 2 (3 bank battery)
• Lewmar Windlass
• Nice seating in front and rear. I really like how well built the seating is and they fold away very easily for fishing room
• It is what I call a real 27 foot boat. So many of today’s manufacturers add a little tail section to the back just to the rear of the engines. Now that adds to the measured length of the boat but not at all to the space of the boat.
• Many other just quality items

I took a couple of years to find the kind of boat I wanted and about 3 months to find the one that I wanted.

Link to Photos

Here is the crazy story of how I got it from FL to here. My brother that owns a Chevy dealership got one of his car carriers to bid on getting it put on a trailer then delivered to me here in Reedville. Seemed everything was well planned but the person I bought the boat from said they left without it being on a trailer. The operator said they had changed their mind and were just going to tow it. I argued, heck I could do what I wanted on a trailer. Ultimately, they said that was going to be about $3500 so I said I will do it.

I borrowed a big crew cab 2500 diesel from my friend Jim and headed to FL. I left early in the morning and drove straight through to St Augustine, picked up the trailer and boat and headed home. My intention was to drive until nightfall but I was so hyped up from the nerves of pulling this wide boat I just kept going. At about 10 pm in Kenly, NC I had a tire blow. This is where I know God has me firmly in hand. As soon as I heard the tire an exit was there just as I slowed down. The exit had a huge paved area where I could pull off from traffic and still be on the pavement. I certainly expected to have at least one blowout during the pull so I packed my 3 ton floor jack and all of the tools I needed. I changed the tire but I noticed the front tire was low on air. That front tire low was what caused the rear to blow. So going as slow as I could I head north and within a half mile was a truck stop. I filled all of the tires with air but noticed the front tire had a slow leak. I knew that was a recipe for another blow out so I just stayed at the truck stop in the morning. I had to go to three places before one had the tires I needed but it worked out well. This was an experience that I am glad I had but certainly don’t want to do it again.

Finally got out with my friend Adam and his son Sutton. We have been trying to get together for some time now and it was a good day to get it done. They fish crab pots most mornings so we left my dock in Adams boat at about 8:30 or so. It was a great water and weather day so we set out for the Northern Neck Reef. 

When we got there it was likely 30 boats working the area so we fell right up in there as well. We did pretty good really the whole morning. There was a steady amount of work putting the lines out and catching fish. Sutton was a world class observer and always told us when one was on. We caught a bunch and he was ready to try his hand. Sutton pulled in I would say five or so and easily caught the biggest one. Adam driving the boat, me working the rods and mom taking a peaceful ride in the bow seating. 

Really turned out to be a great day and I was glad we finally got everything together to go. We had to get back early but we had such a good day it was time to come in anyway.

Here is Sutton with his 3 lb Spanish. We were getting gas at Buzzards so we weighed this guy to see how much it weighed.

September 3, 2022

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	85.0 °F	71.1 °F	77.9 °F
Dew Point	74.0 °F	58.6 °F	70.2 °F
Humidity	95 %	43 %	79 %
Precipitation	0.00 in	—	—

	High	Low	Average
Wind Speed	9.8 mph	0.0 mph	2.9 mph
Wind Gust	12.5 mph	—	3.7 mph
Wind Direction	—	—	East
Pressure	30.89 in	30.84 in	—

I had scheduled a day to go Spanish fishing with my friend Adam and one of his friends. He ultimately had something happen and was unable to go so Scott and I ventured out. We left the dock at about 7:00 o’clock. We decided to just immediately go to Red 62, we have just not heard of many people catching anything east of the shipping channel. Also, we had pretty good success at 62 a few weeks ago.

Well the decision to go deep turned out to be a great decision. We put in about 500 yards West of 62 but pretty much as soon as we got there the screen was full of bait. It did not take long before we started pulling them in.

We switched lure color various times during the day so I can’t say anything did not produce but I think without a doubt a simple plain silver 00 spoon likely caught the most. We had two on number 1 planner and two on number 2 planner with the number 2 doing more of the catching. Here is how I fish for Spanish.

The water was great all day, it was likely 1.5 to 2+ in the morning but laid down during the morning into the afternoon. The water was very clear on the east side of the cha but was a strange rusty color on the west side of the channel.

We caught a bunch and we had one really nice one, this one was just shy of a citation.

August 20, 2022

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	84.6 °F	71.4 °F	78.6 °F
Dew Point	76.4 °F	68.6 °F	72.7 °F
Humidity	93 %	71 %	83 %
Precipitation	0.00 in	—	—

	High	Low	Average
Wind Speed	8.3 mph	0.0 mph	1.9 mph
Wind Gust	11.2 mph	—	2.5 mph
Wind Direction	—	—	ESE
Pressure	30.81 in	30.74 in	—

Well let’s say it was my first day this year of the Spanish Mac season. The morning was calm and Scott and I took off the dock around 6:30 to see where we may run into the rascals. Cobia has slowed but we expect them to be back in the stories soon but this day is for Spanish.

We had a good day, the seas were calm in the morning and steadily got worse as the day went on. We had to be back at the dock and fully cleaned up by noon so we knew we needed to get busy. We stopped and put in the first set a just west of Green #3 in the GW. I generally run 2 #2 and 2 #1 planners. Again generally, we add 4 different colors until we see what the color de jure was going to be. 

We took a right and headed south at #3 to follow the dropoff ledge that goes to the Asphalt pile. It did not take long before we got two on. One Spanish and one Bluefish, they were definitely mixed together all day. I know the rule about speed of the boat but I have ample evidence that if a blue wants it they will get it no matter the speed. I think they are less likely to want the bait at a fast pace but if they do you are not going to tell them differently. 

During the day we landed 16 and likely had 8 that got off. We certainly caught nearly as many Blues as we did Macs but I didn’t count or keep those. We were so busy we reduced the number of rods to just 3 and as the water got more rough I was not as able to help as I should have. We needed our friend Trey that was scheduled to be there but couldn’t make it at the last minute so we just did the best we could.

Overall a good day for 4 hours of fishing in tough conditions. Definitely back in the groove pretty quickly on the Spanish front.

Summary
July 30, 2022

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	87.4 °F	71.7 °F	78.7 °F
Dew Point	76.7 °F	60.9 °F	68.7 °F
Humidity	97 %	46 %	74 %
Precipitation	0.00 in	—	—

	High	Low	Average
Wind Speed	11.2 mph	0.0 mph	1.9 mph
Wind Gust	14.1 mph	—	2.7 mph
Wind Direction	—	—	NNW
Pressure	30.83 in	30.60 in	—

You should indeed bring some spot with you on your next trip out for cobia. I think now at this time I have been out probably for 25 hours on the anchor and fishing and I may have forgotten a run with an eel being taken but I think all of the runs have been on live spot. I will get more into this later but for now the story of the day.

Today the water was too rough early this morning but I did know of at least one person that went out early and caught. For me I was content to stay inland and wait it out. So Rick and I headed out about noon. Honestly, once we got out there we could have left a bit earlier but I never want to take that kind of chance. We went to the same exact location and why not after it being so active there on Monday. Got set up on anchor and got our two live spots in and two live eels. There was zero action while we were in the tide change but we were at least not fighting the rods and we didn’t have to reset the lines nearly as often. Really just a bait check or two was all we had to do but hope for the big one to swim by. I always say I am hoping we get two dumb ones by my boat. 

After the tide changed we were still a bit slow but then the weather changed. There were storms brewing inland and the wind changed direction to S as opposed to E all day and it picked up speed. Rick got one big screamer on his side and as I was trying to clear the lines from my side of the boat his leader broke. A 50# true purchased this year’s leader, not just some line pulled off the spool. I was surprised for sure but we came up with the idea after the hook was set we did need to release the drag more. I have a lever drag system on my reels so it is fairly easy to do.

About 20 min. later I had one scream on my side. Did I say that screaming sound of line ripping on my reel is one of my favorite sounds ever. If anyone has a ring-tone with that sound I would love it. Anyway, we finally had a cobia on the line and in only about 5 min we had him in the boat hoping for our next one. 

About another 20 min I had another screamer which turned out to be a skate. I have always thought that skate would not take a live spot (really anything live) but that is not true. I have never seen them take a live eel but I have plenty of evidence from this year that they will in fact take a live spot. 

The weather turned even harder, the wind from the south was getting later in the day so we left the grounds at about 4:30 pm. No question that location off Chesapeake Beach is in my chart plotter saved and I will be back next time I go out.

This fish turned out to be 42″ and weighed 26.5 lbs. I caught him on a spot with a 7/0 J hook. I use a standard dead drop with about 6 feet of leader.

July 13, 2022

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	87.2 °F	71.7 °F	80.0 °F
Dew Point	77.7 °F	68.1 °F	73.6 °F
Humidity	94 %	64 %	81 %
Precipitation	0.00 in	—	—

	High	Low	Average
Wind Speed	7.4 mph	0.0 mph	1.3 mph
Wind Gust	8.9 mph	—	1.9 mph
Wind Direction	—	—	WNW
Pressure	30.58 in	30.48 in	—

Finally, at last, we finally got a keeper cobia. My friend Rick and I left from my dock at about 6:30 this morning. We had plans to head to Chesapeake Beach for a cobia fishing day. I have been there many times and it does hold a lot of cobia. Today was not an exception. We ended with 3 in the boat but only one that was legal size. 

I don’t remember ever catching this many shorts in a season. Maybe that is just luck but for the most part of my cobia career they have been at 40 or over (up to 55 my largest). We still caught our share of shorts today but thankfully got one for dinner.

It was a tough day of fishing. We chummed the anchor for most of the day. What I mean by that is the tide was incoming and the wind outgoing. So the chum the baits the lines and everything was running towards the front of the boat. In those conditions the boat is really never settled on where it wants to be so you have to keep setting the lines to keep them from tangling. 

Another fun thing (not) about it is the fish seems to always go toward the anchor. I don’t remember hooking anything that did not get tied in the anchor. Both shorts got in the anchor as well as a few good runs that broke the line in the anchor and ultimately the one we got to keep was also wrapped around the anchor. 

The waves were about 2-3 this morning and as soon as the tide turned it layed right down but of course that is when we needed to leave. Anyway a great day of fishing and I think Rick was happy with his catch.

We released the 39 and the 25 inch to fight another day, both thankfully were in good shape when the left the boat.

July 11, 2022

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	81.6 °F	65.2 °F	73.3 °F
Dew Point	67.5 °F	56.7 °F	63.8 °F
Humidity	93 %	45 %	74 %
Precipitation	0.00 in	—	—

	High	Low	Average
Wind Speed	11.6 mph	0.0 mph	3.0 mph
Wind Gust	13.2 mph	—	3.8 mph
Wind Direction	—	—	NE
Pressure	30.63 in	30.57 in	—

Best fishing times for Great Wicomico River Light today Today is an average fishing day

Major fishing times

From 5:09am to 7:09am

Opposing lunar transit (moon down)

From 5:47pm to 7:47pm

Lunar Transit (moon up)

Minor fishing times

From 2:44am to 3:44am

Moonset

From 6:17pm to 7:17pm

Moonrise

Got back on the water Saturday with my friend Scott and two new friends Sammy and Cameron. I got the bait early again this week so we could get out on the water early. Went to Dameron Marsh near Reedville Va. just like most days and set up for a good day of fishing. Weather was perfect on the water, perfect temp, winds, waves were a foot or less, the day you all dream of for a day trip.

Our goal as always is to get everyone in on catching a big monster cobia but that was not going to be the case today. We were not out there very long before we got a good run and hooked our first cobia. Sammy got the reigns of the rod and did a good job keeping him out of the motor, trim tabs, etc. As he got closer to the boat we could tell he was likely going to be a “short”. We got him in the net, in the boat and that’s when the fun happened. It was a blast to see Sammy try to pick up that cobia. They are not easy on any day but if you could have seen the spectacle that we saw you would still be laughing. All in good fun, we got a picture, got the hook out safely, and put him back in to grow more so next year when he comes by we will have him on the “BarBe”. 

Next up was Cameron, I didn’t write down the time we landed either of them but I would think it was another hour and half before we landed the second one. Much less drama getting the picture but still fun.

We did get one other run that did not hook up. Whatever it was, it took the bait and as I went to set the hook it bit half of the Spot but not the half with the hook in it. Well that’s fishing and a bit unusual as well, they generally take the entire bait so we are somewhat thinking it could have been a skate.

We did accomplish what we started out to do which was to meet new people, have fun and spend time away from the clutter of the world for a few hours. Meeting great people like Sammy and Cameron is the best part of fishing! Having time to get to know others without many distractions is a great way to spend a day.

June 25, 2022

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	82.4 °F	65.8 °F	75.2 °F
Dew Point	72.3 °F	60.9 °F	66.9 °F
Humidity	97 %	58 %	76 %
Precipitation	0.00 in	—	—

	High	Low	Average
Wind Speed	7.8 mph	0.0 mph	1.4 mph
Wind Gust	10.3 mph	—	2.1 mph
Wind Direction	—	—	WSW
Pressure	30.81 in	30.73 in	—

Welcome back to fishing. It has been a long-time coming but I am glad to tell you I went fishing today with my friend Scott. We went cobia fishing, certainly one of my favorite times of year is the cobia start. 

I had gotten all of the fishing supplies yesterday so we were ready to head out at first light. We stopped by our best Spot fish location and landed 3 of them for bait. We also had 8 eels, whole bunker for chunking, and chummed up bunker, along with Menhaden oil. 

We ended the day with one cobia on board that measured 41″, legal size but very small so we let him go. We had a few others hooked but one ran under the boat and got tied up in the trim tabs and prop (in about 2 seconds) so we lost him and one other one that broke a 50 lb leader so the big one gets away yet again.

We got those 3 fish on live spot and eel. We caught two mullet while on anchor and used those when we finished out the spot but mullet did not get a bite. For location we were at Dameron marsh, basically where everyone else was and in about 30 ft of water. We fished most of the outing going tide and just a bit of the incoming.

When we left the dock it was mostly calm, maybe a foot or less. The weather otherwise was windy but nice. The waves got ridiculous so we left before lunch.

I did find a new tide chart program that I am liking. Tide Chart this particular link is for the area of the Great Wicomico light. I do like the way it works. It is a clean interface and not too busy which is a big plus. Check them out sometime.

Current weather in Glebe Point (Great Wicomico River)

Weather

Partly cloudy

Cloud cover 28%

Temperature

68°F

Min 64°F/Max 73°F

Wind

25 mph

Wind gust 27 mph

Humidity

53%

Dew point 50°F

This time of year when things start blooming and I see Osprey in the air and fish jumping in the creek I get excited for the upcoming year. I try to hold my enthusiasm back just a bit but I start hitting RWs a little more, Green Top and Bass Pro when I am in the Richmond area and looking at all of the boats listed for sale (not that I am going to buy anything, just boat dreaming is what I call it).

I have started cleaning up all of my equipment, trimming the last ten yards or so of line off all reels, cleaning the boat, and making final preparations for a better year. I have always heard that fishing tournaments are won on the dock, not in the water. I believe that for sure, you need to be prepared for success when the big one hits, it’s way too late to start doing equipment checks on the water. So take the next month going through all of your equipment, fishing and safety equipment to ensure you are ready for the day.

I don’t know when my first adventure will be but I am getting ready. One way I see the NNK Fishing group (https://northernneckanglersclub.com/) is having a seminar. I plan on attending and I will certainly invite all of my group. These people do a great job for the fishing community and I ask that you support them as you can.

From their website “The club is hosting a fishing seminar on April 23rd from 8:30 to 4:00 at the Lancaster Community Library. The Event will feature charter boat captains and local anglers from around the area specializing in targeting NNAC tournament species found in the waters of the middle and lower Chesapeake Bay and tributaries. There will be door prizes and raffles, and refreshments will be on hand. The event is free and open to the public. Come with your fishing questions for the quest speakers or for other anglers on hand. There is limited space available so get there early to ensure your seat!”. Hope to see you there.

This year I will start out with my year in fishing and move to more about me as I go. Hopefully the format will work for those precious few that only know me through my fishing blog and only want to hear those stories.

Well first things first I had a blown motor in my boat that had to get replaced so I fished with friends early. Got my brand new drop in all inclusive motor package from Michigan Motorz. I have to say I have been well pleased with the motor and my experience with them. If you have to get a new inboard/outboard engine I would say you should at least check them out.

First major fishing adventure was tuna fishing with Captain Ryan on the Midnight Sun. We didn’t get into any tuna this year but got plenty of Spade Fish. 

I don’t think there is any argument that this was our best cobia year. We caught more, more consistently than ever before. Definitely caught the biggest cobia of my life with Vince. We through trial and error and maybe luck found out some new and I would say far better approaches to cobia. 

Next comes Spanish mackerel. I would say we had an average spanish year. If they were out there in great numbers I never found them. Yes we would catch 8 – 10 but we had to work for them. Generally, in what I would say were normal years you would find a very large group and catch until you wanted to finish but that certainly was not the case. We did get a few other people out that had not gone out before so that is always exciting. 

Now when it comes to fishing everyone around here including me is waiting for striper season. Honestly, it took this look back to truly understand how good a season we had. Expectations have grown because we have learned so much about striper fishing that it was easy to overlook all of the times we caught fish, caught limit, had an easy time of it, and just had success. 

I have been trying this year to share what I have learned about the different types of fishing and the skills needed to catch as opposed to fish. I have stated this in other blog posts but I am confident that landing fish is a summation of various items and how many of those items you get right or at least how you score each of those factors ultimately determine the outcome. That of course is the reason that we all know of at least a few people that are dramatically better sport fishermen than we are currently. Think of it as scoring for the olympics, each person is scored on various different aspects of the sport. Fishing is the same so as we all learn and share we all become more likely to be successful.

Conservation is key to our sport. It is in fact a sport because as I have said to everyone I know the most expensive fish you will eat is the one that you catch. The fish we do take is almost always for others or for cookouts with family and friends. We are not there to just fill the freezer (I buy a cow for that reason). But we are not out there to survive but to thrive in life’s adventures and comradery with every person on the boat. There are precious few times you can spend more quiet and quality time with a few close friends than on a boat. We rarely have the radio on, but that does not mean there is no music out there, we sing every song we grew up with (even if it is only 10 words per song). Yes everyone should be exposed to this at least once. 

From a personal perspective 2021 was still a hard year. We left 2021 with worse Covid news than what we started with. I think that surprised most people and it certainly surprised the people we are counting on for guidance. I lost a dear friend in Patsy, we together lost a lot of people that made our world a better place to live. My prayer is that we learn to live in a manner that would honor their lifestyle. It is imperative that we help this younger generation that all is not lost. All is not for naught. 

I was asked to become a deacon at Fairport Baptist Church. Well I am as mystified as you are, well not really, the Lord has a way (His Way) of putting us in a position to be the person he wants us to be. I may not be ready to take on this role but I do know God equips those that are called as opposed to calling those that are equipped. I will definitely be doing everything I can think of to be the kind of person God needs me to be to take on such a role.

I have still been active with our Young Life group in in Northumberland. I still very much enjoy the people and the kids that come to learn about how they fit into the world of crazy and how a relationship with Jesus will be a grand benefit for them as they travel through life. If you have those same questions I beg you to come to Fairport Baptist Sunday mornings at 10:00 and ask them to me or our pastor Neale Schools.

I do thank all of the people that have been reading these blogs. Honestly, I started writing things down because I could not remember from year to year when or how we fished. After doing it for a while I realized I at least like doing it regardless if I am any good at writing. I do this more for a good mental exercise and I hope you keep enjoy reading. I have thought about opening it up for comments but I would not want to read all of the hateful people that do nothing but complain so if you know me you are always welcome to come by and give me some pointers.

One other thing I don’t think I have ever done is show you my boat. It is a 1998 Proline 251. If you see me on the water you can call out for the Mythical River.

I will likely update this as I go this week so come back later.