Winds have remained steady at 30 knots overnight, but are beginning to pick up now. A gust of 50 MPH was just recorded at the Kent Narrows bridge.  The Bay Bridge remains open, but I just saw a tweet that it will close at 1:00 PM. Storm tracks are narrowing some, but there is still some question as to whether the eye of the Hurricane will pass north or directly over us here on Kent Island.  Considering the size of this storm, I’m not sure it really matters.  Our biggest issue right now is standing water.  The ground is saturated and it’s sure to keep raining for a couple of days.  I haven’t heard of any power outages yet on the Island.  Here’s some shots of Matapeake and Kent Narrows.  Stay safe.

Here’s a seasonably appropriate song I wrote earlier this year with my fishing buddy Chris Bolhm. We spent a couple of days batting some lyrics back and forth before I put it to a tune I had going around in my head. The photos are of the Great Atlantic Hurricane of September 15, 1944.

Kent Island is currently under a state of emergency and a mandatory evacuation order.  We have decided to ride out the storm since the house we live in – one of the oldest on the island – has survived its share of tropical weather. Most of our neighbors are also staying. I thought it might be interesting to pass along what we’re experiencing here on Kent Island as Hurricane Irene passes through.  Reload this page frequently, as I will be posting regular updates along with pictures and video.  Some storm trackers predict we are directly in the path of the storm, but most have it passing east of us, just slightly off the Coast of the Delmarva Peninsula.  I’m hoping for the easterly path, but we are taking the warnings seriously. This is a fishing website, so most of my observations will be about the hurricane’s impact on the Chesapeake Bay.  We don’t live right on the water anymore (thankfully), but we are less than a hundred yards from the closest tidal stream.

The Calm Before The Storm

I fished last night and tonight.  Every fisherman has heard about how good fishing can be before a storm.  Since Hurricane Irene is predicted to be the worst storm in decades, I was hoping for lots of big fish.  That didn’t happen.  Oh, we caught plenty of fish, but they weren’t the big ol’ good ‘uns I was hoping for.  Last night, Rich and I launched out of Matapeake and found breaking bluefish right out in front of the ramp.  Finding no Spanish mackerel or rockfish of any side, we ran south.  I guess we passed a half-dozen pods of breaking fish on the way, but all the fish were small.  I eventually spotted some bigger birds sitting over a drop-off, so we motored over to take a look.  There were no fish feeding on the surface, but the fish finder lit up so we started casting jigs.  Read More!