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Charles Southall works to hoist his behemoth 57-pound rockfish from the net. Saturday's Lower Chesapeake Bay trip saw three saltwater fishing tournament trophy citations earned by the boat. |
THE 46-INCH, 41-pound rockfish flexed as I tried to steady it for photos. It was easily my biggest rockfish ever and would be returned to the water, earning a trophy release citation from the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.
The fish didn't know that, however, and strained to slip my grasp as Ken Neill focused the lens.
As Neill snapped the shots, a rod tip to his left popped sharply downward. He grabbed the rod and quickly handed it to Charles Southall, then promptly told him to back away from the starboard gunwale so that we might record my fish being returned to the water.
The amiable Southall took a couple of steps back and resumed his winding of the reel whenever the obviously big fish at the terminal end of the tackle yielded.
Adrenaline can warm you on even the coldest days and it became abundantly clear our celebration might be prolonged when the first swirl of Southall's fish appeared 10 yards from the boat. A second look confirmed this was one monster rock.
Neill stowed his camera and stretched forward with the net. Southall coaxed the fish in and the duo lifted the prize into the boat. And what a prize it was: 52.5 inches long, 57 pounds by the boat's scale. This wasn't a fish; this was a sea monster!
My tagging along on this expedition last Saturday was an afterthought. Neill and I had talked about making a winter offshore trip, deep-dropping for lunker black sea bass. Extreme fishing for sure, but the tasty rewards pulled from hundreds of feet deep in frigid waters makes it worthwhile.
Neill, a Yorktown dentist by profession and fisherman by passion, advised weather would be marginal and suggested postponing, adding he might go rockfishing instead.
Winter Rocks
Trophy rockfish get big in the spring as they travel up the Chesapeake Bay to spawn in its many tributaries. Winter fish, though, are the real hogs, bulked up for cold weather. Most 50-pound fish come during winter seasons, either in the Lower Chesapeake Bay or along the ocean coast, where fishing is legal inside a three-mile limit.
Winter fishing can test both your resolve and your gear's capabilities. Braving near-freezing temperatures, cold precipitation and harsh winds is part of the game.
The day dawned mild and the run across the bay from Yorktown's Dare Marina to the southern tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore was swift in the calm seas. Sweatshirts and unzipped jackets were the early order, but that changed after sunrise when winds shifted to the north and barreled down the bay at 10-15 miles per hour.
More than 50 boats were working the same areas as we were Saturday, many fishing in a one-day rockfish tournament staged out of the Eastern Shore. Among them were intrepid anglers in open skiffs. These guys battled the winds and a healthy surface chop on the water while waiting for a fish to strike. At least we could get momentary respite from the winds in Neill's sport fishing boat.
When you're after big winter fish in the Lower Bay, trolling isn't the answer, Neill said. You'll catch your biggest fish by drifting live eels.
Five rods and reels, spooled with heavy monofilament and even heavier leaders, were baited with slithering eels. I've never liked handling eels, but grasping them with a towel made gripping easier.
We set up drifts near the Concrete Ships, a popular fishing area near a breakwater of sunken and partially submerged World War II vintage ships. Our goal was to cover the water column. Three setups sported bobbers with lines set 15-20 feet deep. Two free lines were also set, with one configured to let the eel stay shallow, the other equipped with a weight to position bait closer to the bottom.
The Oracle Speaks
Radio chatter from boats near Cape Henry on the other side of the Bay Bridge Tunnel reported anglers catching fish over 30 inches. Neill said fishing eels for big fish could be slow and he was right. We'd catch a fish, miss a couple halfhearted bites or short strikes and then go hours without a bite.
One radio soothsayer announced in late morning that he had a couple of fish in the ice box and was heading in, advising that the fish would turn on at 1 p.m.
We chuckled at the prognostication. Everyone has an opinion in fishing.
With two fish brought to the boat in nearly five hours of fishing, Neill decided to relocate shortly after noon. We moved north, closer to Plantation Light, and set out the lines.
The tide had changed. We slowly drifted across a 70-foot-deep channel into an area of water 30-40 feet deep when our baits fortunately crossed paths with
Dissecting the situation later, we noted that the big fish had indeed decided to feed soon after 1 p.m. "The guy was right," Neill said.
By midafternoon, tournament anglers were off the water and at their weigh-in. Neill lined up for one more drift and minutes later a fish slammed an eel. Neill took the honors with this bite, first boating and then releasing a 44-inch rock, also qualifying for a release citation.
What a day of rockfishing! We had two release citations and Southall got a weight citation for his 57-pounder, which was kept for official weigh-in for the Bishop Fishing Supply/Peninsula Saltwater Sportfishing Association Rockfish Tournament, which runs through December.
Southall's fish currently tops the leader board for that tourney. He also has the lead in the bluefish category with a 21.5-pound fish taken earlier this winter. Neill is the association's 2008 past president.
Neill didn't enter his boat in the one-day tourney that we found ourselves fishing among Saturday. He later told me a 55-pound fish
Sea bass will still be out there. This was one weather delay that proved a big winner.
Ken Perrotte can be reached at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, by fax at 373-8455 or e-mail
Email: outdoors@freelancestar.com.
