Richland Bouy

This past weekend, Kendra and I went fishing near Richland Buoy, which lies about 2 mile from Hoopers Island. We had an awesome day, as we found fish chasing bait on the top of the water. Fishing does not get any better than that on the Bay, as you can see the schools of fish attacking the bait:

This picture more or less shows what a freeding frenzy looks like. It does not do the scene justice though. The predators herd the bait to the surface, and then go to town on them. Often, the fish are jumping out of the water chasing the bait. Its an incredible scene. The gulls get in on the action as well, picking off scraps. For a fisherman, there is no better sight then seeing 10 or 15 birds wheeling around in circles, you know the fishing will be excellent under those birds.

We caught countless bluefish and rockfish. Kendra caught the biggest bluefish I have seen in many years. It was easily a ten pound fish. Unfortunately, just as I grabbed the leader to pull it on the boat, the leader snapped, and the fish escaped. Technicaly, touching the leader counts as a catch during fishing, however, that did not suit her. Here she is looking at me with disgust for not pulling the fish on board.


She did catch a keeper rock though, which was good for me as she pretty much forgot about the fish I lost:


I was able to catch my first ever Spanish Mackerel in the Bay. These are a fish that enter the Bay in late summer. They are fun to catch, and make excellent fish tacos:


I also caught my biggest weakfish to date:


Here is my creel for the day, all good fish.