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I wish I caught them all. *They were caught by kayakers close by.
I didn't think I could fish while working during the Labor Day weekend. *Saturday in the morning I could fish the local water while some jobs were running for 8 hours. *So I went to Breezy Point Marina for possible Spanish mackerel. *After driving for an hour and 10 minutes, at the Tyler's Tackle and Baits, *I saw a flag on a high pole. *The wind was over 20 knots I thought. *So I made a U turn and came back home.
I finished my work earlier than predicted in the Sunday night. *When I got up at 1 AM on Monday, I changed my mind because the wind was down. I decided to fish CBBT. * After taking out light tackles, I loaded the truck with the same tackles I used weeks ago. * I usually perform tackle maintenance after each trip. *But not this time. *I wasn't supposed to be fishing. *I postponed the maintenance. Anyway what I forgot was that I needed to replace the reel (Abu Garcia) because the handle was a little loose and I felt the gears inside were slipping during the last trip. *While driving to Ocean East tackle and baits, I thought the reel would be OK for one more trip.
I arrived at Ocean East at 5:20 AM, and bought the last dozen of fiddler crab and clams. *Later I found that only a few locals had plenty of fiddler crab and the rest of us had clams only. *I thought the locals bought fiddler crab days before. *
I met about 6 kayakers. *And 4 of them and I fished nearby.
Early in the morning, I broke a rod tip (Shimano Tescata) by running into a bridge column. *So I fished the rod with the bad reel.
Two guys were live-lining croaker for cobia whole day. *They caught 3 red drum @26, 28 and a 52-53 incher. * My fiddler crab lasted for an hour due to toad fish, black sea bass and pig fish. *So I fished with clam for sheepies.
My first sheepie hit the clam 6-10' below the surface when I was retrieving the rig mindlessly. *It was a real big one. *My reel, Abu Garcia, broke that time. *The nuts for handle and a bolt securing the nut came off. *And the gears inside the reel were slipping. *I couldn't crank the line in when the sheepie was on. *What a perfect timing I cried. *The sheepie wrapped around a bridge column eventually, and the leader got cut off. * So I assembled a new rod and reel combo (ShimanoTrevela S and Pflueger Supreme - (a $90 reel but it's been a workhorse)).
A guy caught a small sheepie @19-20". * *One kayaker fishing for spadefish, landed a trophy sheepie on a #4 hook and a clam that was aimed for spadefish. *He said he could land it because the sheepie hit the clam 5' below the surface and he could get away from the bridge pilings. *So I learned that sheepie do hit few feet below the surface. *So next time, I am planning to bring up the sheepie rig slowly all the way to the surface expecting a strike in the entire water column.
I landed a black drum on clam. That was my high light. *This year I am having a huge issue with landing fish almost every time I fish. *I will change the trend next time.
Regarding traffic on 64 and 95 when I came back:
I left the launch site at 6 PM and the traffic was actually lighter than Saturday. *I thought everybody left for home early from VA Beach. There were 30 minute delay between Exit 130 to 495 (Wash D.C. Beltway) on 95. *I was pleased. *From now on, after Labor day, the traffic will be lighter when I come back from CBBT.
Fishing log:
Joe
I didn't think I could fish while working during the Labor Day weekend. *Saturday in the morning I could fish the local water while some jobs were running for 8 hours. *So I went to Breezy Point Marina for possible Spanish mackerel. *After driving for an hour and 10 minutes, at the Tyler's Tackle and Baits, *I saw a flag on a high pole. *The wind was over 20 knots I thought. *So I made a U turn and came back home.
I finished my work earlier than predicted in the Sunday night. *When I got up at 1 AM on Monday, I changed my mind because the wind was down. I decided to fish CBBT. * After taking out light tackles, I loaded the truck with the same tackles I used weeks ago. * I usually perform tackle maintenance after each trip. *But not this time. *I wasn't supposed to be fishing. *I postponed the maintenance. Anyway what I forgot was that I needed to replace the reel (Abu Garcia) because the handle was a little loose and I felt the gears inside were slipping during the last trip. *While driving to Ocean East tackle and baits, I thought the reel would be OK for one more trip.
I arrived at Ocean East at 5:20 AM, and bought the last dozen of fiddler crab and clams. *Later I found that only a few locals had plenty of fiddler crab and the rest of us had clams only. *I thought the locals bought fiddler crab days before. *
I met about 6 kayakers. *And 4 of them and I fished nearby.
Early in the morning, I broke a rod tip (Shimano Tescata) by running into a bridge column. *So I fished the rod with the bad reel.
Two guys were live-lining croaker for cobia whole day. *They caught 3 red drum @26, 28 and a 52-53 incher. * My fiddler crab lasted for an hour due to toad fish, black sea bass and pig fish. *So I fished with clam for sheepies.
My first sheepie hit the clam 6-10' below the surface when I was retrieving the rig mindlessly. *It was a real big one. *My reel, Abu Garcia, broke that time. *The nuts for handle and a bolt securing the nut came off. *And the gears inside the reel were slipping. *I couldn't crank the line in when the sheepie was on. *What a perfect timing I cried. *The sheepie wrapped around a bridge column eventually, and the leader got cut off. * So I assembled a new rod and reel combo (ShimanoTrevela S and Pflueger Supreme - (a $90 reel but it's been a workhorse)).
A guy caught a small sheepie @19-20". * *One kayaker fishing for spadefish, landed a trophy sheepie on a #4 hook and a clam that was aimed for spadefish. *He said he could land it because the sheepie hit the clam 5' below the surface and he could get away from the bridge pilings. *So I learned that sheepie do hit few feet below the surface. *So next time, I am planning to bring up the sheepie rig slowly all the way to the surface expecting a strike in the entire water column.
I landed a black drum on clam. That was my high light. *This year I am having a huge issue with landing fish almost every time I fish. *I will change the trend next time.
Regarding traffic on 64 and 95 when I came back:
I left the launch site at 6 PM and the traffic was actually lighter than Saturday. *I thought everybody left for home early from VA Beach. There were 30 minute delay between Exit 130 to 495 (Wash D.C. Beltway) on 95. *I was pleased. *From now on, after Labor day, the traffic will be lighter when I come back from CBBT.
Fishing log:
Joe
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