While it rained a good 1/2" an hour from when I got on the water at around 6pm Saturday until we got off at 9:45pm, the fishing was good if not great. While it was warm and humid outside, the rain was falling in big fat drops and it stung a little bit when it hit the face so I decided against running the 12 miles or so to my go-to spot and went to one of the inlets to the bays to fish. The rain was very good for one of the most important things to have in my book and that is quiet. There were no boats anywhere and even less people fishing the shore however there were at least 3 people fishing the gut I was at.

The rain came down steadily however with no wind and an incoming tide it made for pretty easy and stress-free fishing, and like I mentioned earlier, having absolutely NO boat traffic was a dream. I know in my time, the inlet I fished might never have the conditions that were present Saturday evening and if not, I won't mind as the fishing was superb.

I had 6 eels and my relatively new Quantum Boca PT inshore rod in a 7 footer along with a Boca 40 spooled with 14 lb test, the standard B/B barrel swivel, 30lb floro and a 5/0 Gama-K Octopus, not circle, hook. My girlfriend was with me, this spring/summer has been her first time ever fishing and so far she has been able to catch a nice fluke on a drift with squid along with some scup, last week she got her first fish casting and retrieving a lure, a Yo-Zuri and bluefish, which like most of us, we love to cast and catch the fish on the retrieve, so she is hooked on fishing.

I slung out my eel and on the first drift I had 3 good pulls, however being rusty from not having caught any fish on an eel since last season, I did not hook up, however on the second cast I was tight and boy did it feel good. I just love that short tap, then the long tap, dropping the tip down and watching the line pick up off the water and straighten out then sweeping the rod up, setting the hook and watching the rod bend gracefully towards the fish, it is what we live for. I was on and letting it run a few times as the drags on my new reels is like no other I've ever used after having been used to Penn 6500's all my life, the new reels just pay out so smoothly and make a sound that is so pleasant to the ears. 24" bass to start, it is still raining, there are no boats in the bay, none on the way in or out and still only the same soul in the water fishing away. I got one more fish on the next drift, almost as soon as the eel hit the water so my ever observant girlfriend watched and was learning what I was doing and doing right, after I was sure the second fish was hooked tight I let her reel it in, telling her to let the fish run if it wants to run and to not pull against the fish, and how to either lift the rod tip up or to the side to gain line and then reeling down to get the line on the reel which she did very well and it was another nice fat mid to upper 20's fish.

I put an eel on her line and she set to casting. Because for the past month, month and a half of casting, she was already decent at getting the lures out past the boat so she was able to get the eel out enough to get the fish. Our drift was still perfect, I didn't realize how hard it was raining, I just knew it was raining, but after I had dropped 2 or 3 eels on the deck was when I noticed that there was a literal stream of water flowing down the sides of the deck on its way back to the drains, it was really coming down but the fish were biting, they were literally stacked up in the channel and the incoming had us drifting right down the center of the channel and with no boats and no people and a nice, steady, warm, big-drop rain. She had casted about 5 times and I had a fish on right on my first cast, of course I'm good and the fish were definitely in the water but she could feel the fish picking up and running with her eel but when she would go to set the hook she was either too early or too late, but finally, one time, she pulled back and the fish was on, stuck to the hook. She played it well, of course as a beginner she wanted to reel in even while the drag was spinning, and she took notice every time the fish would bear down and double the rod over and make another run, but when all was said and done and I had my fingers in the fishes mouth as I forgot the net, she had her first bass which was a nice fat, well-fed fish. She had more takes on her eel and I was on to more fish however with the rain not letting up and despite having on good foul weather gear and with night approaching and hungered, we struck for home, still the only boat out on the rainy but calm sea.

All in all, I'm pretty sure that even at the height of the hot season there might be fish in that channel, I'm not sure that all the boat traffic would keep the fish stacked up like they were or if the increase in temperature would hold the fish there, but I do know one thing, it was nice to only have to run 5-7 miles and have a nice, private little place to fish in the rain for a few hours or so, and to actually have fish and a smooth, mostly stress free place to drift with eels before nighfall and have one's significant other be able to take her first fish on an eel is precious.

Already I can't wait for this Friday and to be able to fish from the 1st to the 4th of July, summer, ahhhhhh.