A good day fishing before it got rough

A couple weeks ago I noticed an increase in the number of people surf casting off the beach. When I found out they were catching bluefish, I got very excited. I have great memories of late summer evenings, heading to the beach or breakwater with my brother and step father when the blues were running. These were large fish with big teeth that were a great challenge to reel in. While our bluefish are much smaller, I can tell you that they taste just as good grilled!

With bluefish on my mind, I ran out last week, and bought my fishing gear. The talk in my house centered around fishing for a few days, and my daughters were just as excited as I was to see what we could catch. Friday was the day. We loaded up and headed out to the beach. As soon as crested the dunes, I knew it was going to be a good day. We hit the tide just right, and you could see schools of bait fish swimming along the beach, and jumping out of the water as predators below were attacking. Within 15 minutes I caught my first blue. It was a pathetic little thing, only about 12 inches long, but good enough for a couple small filets. We also caught several small ladyfish... in fact, while posing for pictures, my 4 year old caught her first fish! A small ladyfish. The whole family is already eagerly awaiting the next fishing trip... and next time out I hope for something bigger.

Even with the great fishing success, there would be no more fishing this weekend.... it was just too rough. The cold front that came through on Friday brought with it nice fall weather, but also by Saturday, a stiff northeast wind. Our Saturday family trip brought us to Fort Sumter, and the ferry ride out there was fun. It was nice and cool, and with the clear air, you could see forever, but even in the protection of Charleston Harbor, it was quite choppy with a 20-30mph wind. By Sunday, that wind had whipped the ocean into a fury. The 5 foot waves were pushing right up into the dunes, the roads along the marsh were under water at high tide, and the rip tides made venturing into the water dangerous.

The cooler area of high pressure that settled in for the weekend was arriving just as an area of low pressure was developing over Florida. The difference in pressure between these two systems was creating all the wind, and since we were right between the two here in the Carolinas, we caught an onshore wind. That wind continues today, but will slowly diminish tomorrow as the high and low move away (in opposite directions).

Also of note with this area of low pressure in Florida.... we will be watching this for tropical development. So far, this has been primarily an upper low over Florida, but the upper low is moving westward, leaving the surface low behind over the Bahamas. The farther away the upper low gets, the better chance for tropical development. If there is any tropical development, expect it to move westward into the Gulf of Mexico, so it likely will not have any impact on our weather.

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