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Water and Me

Tag Archives: Deal Island

The Day Before the Stay at Home Directive

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, Trails

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Tags

Deal Island, Hiking, nature, Snakes, turtles

Kathy and I kind of guessed that our hiking days would be put on hold for a while and even though the weather looked bleak, we decided to head out. And we were right. On March 30, 2020 Governor Hogan said it was no longer a suggestion, that it is now a Directive – Stay at Home.

On the 29th we drove to the Deal Island Wildlife Management Area. Down the one path and back is about 4 and 3/4 miles. The other path is about 10 miles. We will bring our bikes for that one.

From the map you can see that it is pretty flat and a lot of marsh area. A nice trail though. We may bring our kayaks here one day. There is a boat ramp to the right, a few hundred feet over.

Molly leading the way

It suddenly turned from a management area to a Refuge.

Not a lot of wildlife to be seen. A few geese, a bunch of Red Wing Blackbirds…

And a couple snakes on the trail.

Also a possible mud turtle?

We did come across some wild asparagus, which Kathy had me taste, just in case we need to go into survival mode in the near future. Heck with that Bear Grylls crap! I will use my cell and have food delivered!

Not sure about these guys. There were hundreds of snails on the shore and low on the grasses. Looking close at the middle one, I see eyes or something…

Big bird house.

Nature camera.

In the first photo you will notice the telephone poles. We followed these all the way to the end. And that is what they did – ended.

I spent a few hours looking at old maps and Googling Lodges and Oyster Houses on the Manokin River and Broad Point, but had no luck. This electric and the below well pump stand, had to be to something…

I did not see any building foundations but we did see a pier.

Up close and from Google Earth it looks like there once were boat slips here.

Of course, as we were heading back, the sun started to come out.

A nice day for our “Last day to hike in the parks” We now take strolls around our neighbor hood.

Fishing Off Tangier Sound

15 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Family, fishing, nature

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Tags

Boat, Charter fishing, Crisfield, Deal Island, fishing, Rockfish, Tangier

Whoa! Who the heck gets up at 4:30am to go fishing!? Apparently I do now! But before I tell you about this great day of fishing, let me give you a little back story…

The last time I ate fish was April 20, 1993. That was the day my daughter Jules was born. Best day of my life and I thought it was going to be my last. Hungry and tired after a long day, with both her mother and Jules resting, I went to the cafeteria and ordered fish. I never eat fish in hospital cafeterias, but I did that night. After a few bites I started choking on a bone, got up and ran to the nurses station and struggling to say, “Fish! Bone! Choking!” Well, she got the gist of it, reached over to a used dinner tray on a cart and handed me a piece of someone’s dinner roll and said, “Here, eat this!” And I did and the bone slid down my throat. I swore off eating fish that night and haven’t had any since, until a couple weeks ago. A friend of Kathy’s had some trigger fish and her and Kathy’s family persuaded me to try some. Did so and I really enjoyed it. So now I am headed to be the great fisherman of the Eastern Shore!! Ha!!

Back to the story at hand – Up early and headed to Deal Island, Wenona for a fishing excursion. Started in the dark.

Our Boat The Lady Katy

The moon setting and the sun coming up over Fairmount.

1st cast of the day (Kathy photo)

I forget who tried to catch this huge skate – Gail? Well, he took everything when he was cut loose.

Gail did good, catching quite a few trout. but Kathy out did us all with her 19-1/2″ Rockfish.

Kathy, a rock and a Captain

I didn’t do too bad. The Captain kept coming over to give me some pointers (Damn City people!) He told me, “You’re doing pretty good – almost.” WTH! No, actually the Captain was very helpful. He kept re-baiting our lines and then removing the fish for us. Half the time he would unhook the fish and throw it back over the side. “Hey, I wanted him…” He was trying to make sure we had good sized fish for our limit.

Me and my trout

After a few hours out there, somewhere between Crisfield and Smith Island, it was time to head back.

Our catch for the day: 1 rock fish, a few Trout and 3 Spots. We caught a bunch of Spots and most of those were used for bait. Also caught a couple Oyster Toad fish and Croakers, which do make a croaking noise.

Time for cleaning.

Kathy’s mom asked what I was doing? I was supervising!

Great day with great family!

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