Sick of these dark days for Lowcountry fishing, but there’s plenty to look forward to
A few days back I went on my Facebook page and made a simple statement about my need for clear skies and warm temperatures along with a brief complaint about how this part of winter is the pits.
A day later I checked my page and was surprised at how many folks commented saying that they too share my disdain for February’s gray, windy and rainy days. I’ll bet if I had said I had a bus and was heading to warm southern Florida and did anyone want to go, there would have been a bus load of takers.
Luckily, this year’s winter doldrums began later than usual. Most years it starts around mid-January and lasts until the first part of March. Maybe it was global warming because this year it thankfully waited until the second week in February, which hopefully means I won’t go more psycho than usual before the weather turns around.
Just yesterday I noticed azaleas blooming, plus a number of blue birds and robins that are sure signs spring is preparing to pop.
If you think I sound like a whining little ninny-baby then you are 100% accurate. My slender Southern frame just doesn’t cotton to cold, dreary weather and I double dog dare anyone to tell me something along the lines of, “You call this cold? I moved here from upstate New York and to me this is shorts and T-shirt weather!”
Yep, don’t tell me how you did it up North because I am not all that stable right now. Capeesh?
With that off my chest, I am ready to roll the first calm warm day that comes along.
To stave off those winter doldrums I have kept busy cleaning, oiling and relining most all my fishing rods and reels along with preparing literally hundreds of lures I use for offshore fishing.
New leaders, new skirts, hooks sharpened and as I do every year, use every drop of my creative juices to invent a handful of “Collins Original” lures for blue water fishing. If I had to guess the success rate of these creations in past few years I would put it at around 40%.
I guess it’s like tying your own flies and catching something on one. There is an added sense of satisfaction that is hard to describe when a fish chooses your creation over some store-bought fly or lure.
Most years I fish for shad right about now, but thus far the water level in rivers I fish are almost at historic flood levels. The water is so high even the boat ramps are under water.
But with that said, I am counting down the days before I am able to get offshore and get some much-needed healing.
You might find this silly, but that first trip is kind of embarrassing. How so, you ask? I am not the vain type, but being covered up all winter, my legs, face and rest of my body are disgustingly pale. My legs are hairless from wearing long pants that rub the hair off and until I get some color on them, they look like sticks pulled from white birch tree.
Add to that, my “pretty stage” has come and gone: age spots have me looking like a leopard and every mirror I pass seems to crack. Well heck, maybe I am vain after all!
As for the future, at least I have some things to look forward to. Starting with a wahoo trip or two here, then heading to fish a tournament with my friend Dan Cornell aboard his new 60-foot Viking in Palm Beach and another in Chubb Cay in the Bahamas before we bring the new ride here and, weather permitting, troll up the Gulf Stream the entire way back. I’ve done that before and it’s a hoot.
Run for the Bulls
I have had quite a few people ask me if there will be another “Run for the Bulls” dolphin tournament this year.
It looks like this fundraiser for the Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton is a go.
Still in the planning phase, it will be moved to the newly-renovated Palmetto Bay Marina on Hilton Head Island.
And though not set in stone, May 16 looks like the day. It’s limited to 30 boats, and I will keep you updated as soon as everything is verified.
Hurry up and come spring before I go bonkers.