Exotic Species Day

       Today was one of those days when you see things you didn't expect to see.  The morning started off easy enough with 2 schoolie bass coming in on the fly rod, but it took a turn in the unexpected direction rather fast.  I was cursing along a really nice section of rocky shoreline.  I thought fishing it would be better than blowing right by it, so I rigged up a Rebel swimming plug.  I trolled it behind the boat about 100 ft staying in 8-10 FOW.  In front of my I noticed something in the water.  It looked like a turtle getting some air.  Guess what?  It was a turtle.  I was able to get a look at it as it swam away from the boat and it was a rather large Diamond Back Terrapin.  I have seen these in the western part of the sound but not this early.
      Also, I came into the fortune of a new clam fork.  The fork is a Razor Back fork.  It is very heavy and would be great for digging a trench to mine steamer clams or digging in beds which have a lot of rock.  As I was digging several 3 inch lobsters were struggling in the mud.  On closer inspection they were not lobster, but little Mantis Shrimp.  I have seen these in the stomachs of filleted bass but not in person.  They were all about 3 inches long.

     On the return trip, I stayed on the troll.  The water was very clear and I could easily see the rocky bottom in 12 FOW.  As I was trucking along I saw a fish on the bottom.  It was a really nice Blackfish!  Probably one of the bigger Blackfish I have seen in the last 5 years.   It was good to know some have survived fisheries mismanagement.
   I ended the day loving my new clam fork.  I saw some cool stuff and now have a ton of work a head of me to make some stuffed clams.
Clam Video