JULY 12, 2022 – FOUGNER BAY TO FOLLY’S BAY

The veil has lifted! Slightly, but a marked improvement from yesterday. I can see across the channel, no fog/rain to the deck today. We were ready for a change of scenery feeling so couped up for the past couple of days, going little stir crazy. Fitz Hugh Sound was lovely and glassy smooth and with a hint of blue sky on the horizon was very enjoyable. We decided to pull into a little bay at Folly Island that really isn’t marked as an anchorage on the charts, but looked protected and close to the open water where John wants to fish. It’s a scenic anchorage among the islets and exposed rocks, and best of all….nobody else here. Fury Cove is nearby and is a very popular landing spot for folks either waiting to transit south around Cape Caution, or those that just made the trip from the south. River’s Inlet is just across the channel from us, about 4-5 miles away. After getting settled we were both looking forward to being outside and doing an activity, so went fishing of course. The water was big outside our cove, I wasn’t super comfortable at first. John told me this was the norm for him, he’s fished in the whaler in even bigger water. Anyway, I donned my life jacket immediately and eventually got used to the waves and big swells. We trolled the north shoreline of River’s Inlet which is completely exposed to the Cape Caution entrance and seas beyond, hence the big water. Soon we had “fish on!” and I reeled in a nice ling cod, about 12 lbs. We then hooked up a small red snapper, and damn we forgot our device that allows you to put the fish back down to depth and then release it. If you release on the surface, they have to equalize before being able to swim back down, so in effect are paralyzed and floating on the surface, which is unfortunately where this fish ended up. They don’t call it “eagle eye” for nothing, as soon two eagles came out of nowhere and began circling the poor fish, one finally scooping it up and taking it back to its nest with the other one in hot pursuit. We hooked up a couple other small fish that we let go, then called it a day and headed back to the boat. Naps, cards, dinner, movie, bed. A day in the life of the Maddens.

Glad to see our logs found a home

Loved the expression on his face

Caught the snapper and.....

....worked really hard to fly off with it. One eagle actually came up and snatched it out of this one's talons midflight! Never seen that before either!

My ling cod catch!