Posted on June 1st, 2025
Happy June everybody!! Today is the first day of the new minimum length of 17.5″ for summer flounder in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. The creel limit is still four fish per person and the season goes through December 31.
Captain Jason Mumford of the Lucky Break got out on the water this afternoon and put his anglers on some nice catch and release rockfish action.
Captain Marc Spagnola of Dusk to Dawn Bowfishing had a nice day for his shooters today putting them on a pile of southern rays in the south bay.
Mike, Jake, Cade and Maddox had a good day at the route 50 bridge with bluefish up to 30″ on Roy Rigs and dredges.
Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star had some challenging conditions to start, but he managed some big sea bass with some limits on today’s trip.
Owing a favorable forecast and Saturday’s cancelation I ended up with a few folks aboard today – a lot more than the two anglers I’d originally had scheduled for sure.
Breaking their streak of 7 good forecasts, I saved a screenshot of yesterday’s forecast for today. Originally west at 10 to 15 – this morning that was upped to 15 with gusts to 20.
Ugh.
A few more knots makes a big difference.
Had a right salty bunch aboard though, some with barnacles growing between their toes, I believe. (Haven’t actually checked, seems likely though much as they’re out fishing and crabbing – especially David)
As promised yesterday, seas were indeed flat calm on clearing the inlet.
They did not remain so.
Began a new block drop site today – unit #1 at Crystal Ann Brinker’s Memorial Reef Group where we’d put twenty-some pipe units made for the spring of 2024’s major deployments. I picked two cabled-up units that were close together for this first drop. Not going to spread these units out amid the whole reef group – want to see if it’s possible to stack em high.
First on ‘standby’ then ‘Mark!’ – Big Jon & deck alumnus Vic sent today’s 25 block unit by the rail.
Guarantee this: in fifteen years (& maybe a lot less) there will be many more units & mad corals growing all around there.
As ever, after the block unit deployment we pressed on – but not before I’d made a pass with the sidescan. You can see some of the pipe units; and, in the enlarged snap, see today’s reef unit in between and slightly out front.
An odd day to choose going to the Flemish Cap, but we did get an early start. . .
Had I any inkling what a pain in the neck (ehh; elbow, kneecap – pick any part of the anatomy you think approriate) ..any idea what a pain anchoring would be today I’d have surely done different.
Truly a once in a decade set – single anchor into a fair breeze? Cotton candy..
Normally.
Cept today’s current was ripping–pushing me off to north or south depending any fickle notion of fate. Even standing the helm & kicking her this way & that with engines offered no real control.
And when she was where I wanted? Nice fish, real nice – but not many of em.
Well, except for a lady angler I’m right fond of; Shelly had 5 jumbos before many had their first.. (Might have to marry that gal. Only way she’ll teach me to fish!)
I had plenty of skilled jig fishermen aboard but we’d only had three fish on jigs the first hour or so. Bait was so required that even my old mate Vic switched. I cannot recall him fishing a high/low rig with squid – at all!
Current ripping, wind blowing; swinging back and forth in long arcs made a mess of things
..but with good fish.
Spot #2 was nearly a repeat of the first. Anchors were so hard to cipher I even botched a double anchor set – had to pull em both and reset before they even came tight.
Oyyyyy… Good day for blood pressure meds.
Still, some folks had a nice day’s worth in the cooler when the boys hauled anchors before a third and final stop (that put us waaaayyyy into overtime!)
Conditions had calmed quite a bit by then – sea bass, apparently, appreciated the change as well. They put on a feed; soon we had some limits in the boat – Shelly’s first among them.
Good thing I’m not a betting man – I’d have let it all ride on Vic having the first limit of sea bass – even against David Confair (Cornflour to his many friends) and Lady Luck her dern self. But, you know, I think Vic’d prefer I not write about that number..
Nearly everyone in double digits, but for the trifecta? Big Jon. He won the pool with a mac-daddy bass, won our daily reef raffle & nearly limited. Not bad for a rookie!
Left early, stayed late – not so late the CG was already looking for us (close maybe) but definitely late for dinner!
Running with open spots for quite some time while June Bug season plays out (high school graduates invade OC = June Bugs.)
(Last two pics are a beach ball – often seen in hard westerlies – and traffic on my way to work this morning.. We also saw a bluebird way offshore. Youngster? Couldn’t catch him. Doubt he’ll ever make it to shore again..
Have good news & bad for reef building..
The bad: Had a grand plan to call for volunteers Saturday who’d help load trucks & trailers with terracotta & block – run em down near Norfolk to a busy marine yard and load em on our 77x44ft barge bound for Marci’s Ringmaster Reef Group.
It was all GO when ol’man Murphy (you know, good friend of Hurricane & now Sea Bass Bob too. Having authored Murphy’s Law, he’s in charge of all things jelly side down. I heard a rumor he may have been working with the National Weather Service lately too!) ..anyway, the wharf our barge was made fast to was suddenly needed for emergency repairs — a brand new barge was leaking.. Sounded like maybe the big boss wasn’t real happy?
The good news though is that they removed all the tires from the barge before moving it — can bring her north as soon as scheduling allows.
Been a long dry spell. Need to put some reef on the bottom. While a barge all by itself becomes wonderful reef; better still if we add complexity via block and pyramid drops. When anything breaks the flat surface of a submerged barge’s deck – growth is accelerated.
Perhaps some seriously great news (if on a distant horizon time-wise) we have two 225ft barges that will likely become coral substrate. Not right away – they’ll serve as temporary breakwaters a while. But when construction is finished?
..I love big barges and I cannot lie!
Cheers!
Monty
