July 3, 1998
" Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; in Thy right hand there are pleasures forever. " - Psalm 16:11
Today the Capt. would have aboard his creek ship, his bride of 23 years, Cynthia Marie. ( A teacher at Cumberland Christian School ) A flounder fishing trip to Ludlum's Bay was planned. The crew needed an early start to miss the big July 4'rth crowd.
Captain Willie and Mrs. Captain were up at 3:00am and getting ready for an adventure. The Capt. was awakened by his natural fishing trip instincts. Mrs. Captain was awakened when the Capt. fell over their nightstand, causing a large fan and the stand to crash to the floor. " Good Grief !" said the Capt. "I hope that is not a sign of things to come, that was clumsy! "
The Cyn~Mel~Sue and crew arrived at the Sea Isle Boat Launch well before first light. It was a picture perfect morning. The happy crew along with Brittany the English Springer Spaniel coasted under the Sea Isle City Bridge. All was quiet and calm, the Capt. opened up the throttle to full Intra Coastal Waterway speed and headed for the happy fishing grounds.
The creek ship and gang landed at stop number 1. Mrs. Capt. had never been fishing with the Capt., only crabbing. The rookie fisherwomen and Capt. baited up and dropped their lines.
This late in the season the bigger flounder are harder to come by. They are all over the place in the spring starting around April. In the summer however, they are not such aggressive bait takers for some reason. There are not as many keeper size flounder (15 "minimum) around either. Maybe because the Capt. caught most of them earlier, or they moved out to the ocean.
Within 10 minutes Cynthia Marie had hooked something heavy and fighting. She reeled it to the surface, where the netman Capt. was waiting. Problem is, the netman had a small crab net. The Capt. had failed to load the fishing net. Mrs. Capt. brought the fish to the surface, it was a huge flattie, a keeper! The Capt. netted the monster, but in her excitement, the rookie fisherwomen lifted the flounder up with the pole. The crew's dinner leaped out of the net, off the hook, and back to his home. " Whoops " said Mrs., the Capt. then gave a short lecture on how to keep a fish in the net. He did not mention till later that he had brought the wrong net and this would have not happened if he had brought the right one. He kidded his better half a little about the fish, but this would catch up with him later.
The morning was perfect, a light breeze meant no bugs. The crew watched the sun rise off the Atlantic Ocean. The surrounding picture the crew fished in changed minute by minute. The sun grew larger, the sky brighter, and the outgoing tide exposed small meadow islands. Ludlum' Bay is right next to and has outlets to the Atlantic Ocean. The humidity was very low, and the crew relaxed as they drifted along the channel waiting for fish to attack. The Capt. nailed some small flounder, then landed a keeper.
Cynthia Marie nailed a couple small ones and was learning to feel the difference between the bottom of the channel and a fish bite on her line. The crew tried several areas as they fished the early morning away. The Capt. nailed a huge fluke near an outlet that leads to the Atlantic. A few throwbacks were caught, then the crew decided to tour and picnic.
The crew hoisted the Cyn~Mel~Sue colors (green and blue) on a big beach umbrella, and sailed toward the Atlantic. The creek ship cruised passed some docks and boat rental areas and then under the bridge that leads to Ocean City, NJ. Once under the bridge, the water opened up, and the ship headed to an area never visited by the Capt. before. Around the bend the crew found themselves in a small cove that opened up into the ocean. The small cove was mostly surrounded beach sand bars and tiny little sand islands. Just a few yards on the other side were large waves breaking onto the sand. The crew stopped in the cove and did a little fishing. The Captain caught a huge skate, and the crew began to get hungry. The Cyn~Mel~Sue beached herself on a small sand island. The crew was now on a deserted island having a picnic in the Atlantic Ocean! Other little islands and sand bars were all over and easy to walk to in the shallow water. Brittany frolicked in the waves. The Capt. and his bride walked from island to island after eating some baloney and cheese sandwiches. The canine also had a sandwich and some of her dogfood. It was a beautiful area to visit. The Capt. and Mrs. were standing by the boat when the Capt. asked her if she wanted walk with him out deeper into the breakers. Mrs. wasn't sure, the water was a tad chilly. She started to climb aboard, when she slipped and took a great tumble backwards. The last thing to submerge were her feet !! The Capt. roared with laughter, and the Mrs. came to the surface smiling. It was a funny moment. Now soaked and laughing, the couple walked out into the breakers and enjoyed the ocean. What a fun picnic !!
After the picnic the crew went back to fishing business. The Capt. hit on something huge, he battled a huge fluke to the surface, he could not net the fish, the net was just to small. He tried in vain as the fish fought him near the surface, a big boat drove by, and it's wake rocked the Cyn Mel Sue, the fluke broke free and the Capt. Watched as the catch of the day hesitated on the surface, then swam away. Mrs. Capt. of course had a good laugh at this. She had lost a big one earlier, but certainly not as big as this one. The Captain admitted the losses were his fault, he had forgotten that big fishing net. Well, all was not lost, the cooler contained 2 very nice fat flounder for dinner. The gang fished on for a couple hrs. Cynthia caught another throwback, but the fishing was slow. It was a wonderful day on the water. The crew headed for the dock, then on to landbase. Then flounder supper !!
After cleaning the fish, the Capt. got a message on the computer from the Broad Street Bully, the Bully and wife, along with his brother and friend Drew had nailed 56 Sea Trout in only 2 and a half hours. That means he has some fish to share. The Capt. didn't even shut off his computer or lock the door, he dove into his pickup and headed for the Bully's fish cooler !! Now it would be a Sea Trout and Flounder Dinner at the Captain's Table.
Captain Williecrab,
Creek Explorer !! (
Netless In Sea Isle )
Williecrab@aol.com