Hindsight may be 2020, but even Steven Speilberg couldn’t have written a more outrageous script than our country experienced this year.
Amidst a roller coaster of events and emotions, one slice of normalcy was found in an all too familiar realm – Fishing.
Looking back…
While attention turned to COVID and the catch phrase became “social distancing,” people flocked to the water for recreation. We all know anglers never miss a good opportunity to fish.
During May, inshore and bottom fishing began to ramp up and by June, cobia arrived on scene. With a variety of other species available, including some of the best spot action in years, the summer offered very productive fishing and life was good.
As October unveiled cooler nights, two species stood out above the rest – speckled trout and bluefish.
Speckled trout catches improved greatly with sizes ranging from 14 up to 26 inches. This inshore action offers enjoyment for small boat and kayak fishermen.
Bluefish of uncharacteristic size made a strong presence in our region. Our charters have landed bluefish up to 10 pounds during this welcomed run. Over the past two decades, the norm has been 1-3 pound bluefish which we refer to as ‘snappers’ The current 3-10 pound specimens are considered ‘Taylor’ blues but are now rendering up memories of the historic ‘chopper’ blues of the 60’s and 70’s which often exceeded 16 pounds.
Looking forward…
Cooler water temperatures typically signal the arrival of striped bass (rockfish). Although they have begun to exit the upper rivers and creeks, the bulk of these fish have yet to gather and school. At this time, some are being landed along shorelines and inshore channel edges. The Virginia rockfish season opened on October 4, yet I don’t expect the fishery to heat up until late month. It should continue to improve into November and December as the larger fish join the smaller schooling stock at the mouth of the major rivers and in the bay waters.
Overall, this has been a fantastic year of fishing with improved variety and sizes of fish. Will this trend continue? We may need 2021 vision to find out.
Until next time…Fair winds.
Capt. Billy Pipkin is a fishing columnist who owns and operates Capt. Billy’s Charters and Ingram Bay Marina located in Wicomico Church. 580-7292. www.captbillyscharters.com
