A report from Eric
Here are some pictures of the fish we caught on Majuro. I used some of the lures you sent and caught a few of those jack-looking fish. There's also lots of medium to small size papio (jack crevalle).
The crabs were in a store we passed so we think they eat these things.
The Marshall Islands consists of 29 atolls and 5 individual islands totaling about 1,225 islands and 870 reef systems scattered over 750,000 square miles of the Central Pacific. After almost four decades of U.S. administration as the easternmost part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free Association. Marshallese is the official language but English is taught in the schools and is widely spoken. The local currency is U.S. dollars.
We also went to Kwajalein but could not fish there because we had no orders or permission from the military to stay there.
Kwajalein is one of the world's largest coral atolls as measured by area of enclosed water and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world. Kwajalein Island is the southernmost, and the largest, of the islands in the atoll chain. The second largest, is Roi-Namur. The population of Kwajalein island is approximately 2,500, mostly Americans and a small number of Marshall Islanders and other nationals, all of whom have permission from the U.S. Army to live there.
We had to spend the night on Ebeye and it's kind of bad there. Ebeye is the most heavily populated island of Kwajalein atoll chain. It has a population of more than 12,000 crammed onto 80 acres of land. With crowded living conditions, an inadequate school system, and scarce clean water, Ebeye has been known by the unofficial title of "Slum of the Pacific."
GETTING THERE: Continental Airlines services Majuro and Kwajalein with three weekly flights from Honolulu, Hawaii. There's also Air Nauru with twice a week flights from Brisbane, Australia to the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Majuro, Tarawa and Fiji. Once there you can use Air Marshall Islands between Majuro, Kwajalein and the outlying atolls.
June 1, 2007
Cobb Island, Charles County, MD
The weather was hot and we expected the croaker bite to be the same. Paul and I motored out from Cobb Island on Neale Sound on his 26-foot center counsel Grady White Thursday evening and set up across the Wicomico River for some night fishing.
A red full moon rose into the night sky as we dropped our lines into the water. Paul fished this area a few weeks ago and had non-stop action all night but after two hours we had no luck. Not even a crab had touched our bait so we returned to the dock and decided to try again in the morning.
Friday morning was humid and hot. Some of the locals advised us to try fishing the 'Dolly Partons'. I'll leave it up to you to figure out what the geographical features of this area look like. It was a beautiful area and fish were jumping out of the water around the boat, but none were in the mood to bite so we lifted anchor and moved to Ragged Point. Along the way we fished breaking schools of menhaden but couldn't connect with whatever it was that was pushing them to the surface. One thing that was missing in all this action were the birds. Usually you'll find tons of birds dive-bombing the baitfish as they turn the surface into a froth trying to escape the predators below but throughout the day, at every breaking pod we fished, the birds were absent.
After we set anchor at the poing, on my first cast out of the boat, I hooked up with a croaker. After that it was good, steady catch and release action for a few hours. A surprise catch of the day was a medium sized catfish! We followed the croakers around Ragged Point for the better part of the morning then turned to trolling around the breaking menhaden schools. We marked lots of large targets below the schools, but none were in the mood to take what we were offering. We used medium sized spoons, Mann's diving lures, Storm shads and bucktails but no luck so it was off to St. Mary's Island for more croaker fishing.
We anchored up in various spots along the back channels of the island and found lots of croaker and spot although none were really outstanding specimens. We called it a day late in the evening and overall it was a decent day. The croakers we landed were of a uniform size (medium) except for a big one Paul caught off Ragged Point but all of them put up a good fight on light tackle.
EQUIPMENT: Paul used a commercial multi-hook wire bottom fishing rig on a medium-heavy spin rod. I used an ultralight action 6-foot rod and a spinner spooled with five-pound Stren monofilament. I rigged a three-way swivel with a 1/2 ounce lead dropper hanging off 18-inches of four-pound flourocarbon; main #4 baitholder hook tied on six inches of six-pound flourocarbon. Cast, let the rig sink, reel in excess line until you can just feel the lead dropper touching the bottom. This should put your main hook right in the strike zone.
LOCATION: Cobb Island is a small inhabited island located in Charles County, Maryland, at the junction of the Potomac River and the Wicomico River. It is located approximately 45 miles south of Washington, DC. Cobb Island is separated from the mainland by Neale Sound, and connected by a 300 yard long bridge. Approximately 500 residents live on Cobb Island. Cobb Island is approximately 1.5 mile long, and 0.5 mile wide
September 3, 2007
Striped bass and bluefish, Westerly, RI,
A report from Jin
We met our guide Ben DeMario, (striperbass40@aol.com; phone: (401) 474-5095) at Westerly Harbor, Rhode Island, just before dusk and set out on a four hour charter to the rips outside the harbour. I was joined by my father in law John, who has done very little fishing.
After about half an hour we arrived at the spot. The tide was ripping and there were the occasional fish feeding on the surface. We tied on a chartreuse clouser and on my first cast, a blue ate the fly on the swing. Blues put up a good fight. It took me five minutes to reel the fish in. I landed my first striper on a fly and couple more blues before I broke my 9 weight Sage rod trying to muscle a blue fish from under the boat.
I switched to a spin rod and landed couple more stripers and more blues. We moved around to several other spots but they were not as productive as the rip we fished first but my father in-law landed three fish including a striper. However, he lost at least six other fish he had on.
Final count: Bluefish-1; Sage Z-Axis-0.