Albies (or not) and Tropical Storm Hermine

SO I got a few goods report that the albies were in off the West Wall. Naturally, with Tropical Storm Hermine bearing down, I had to go see for myself. I put the word out that I wanted to go fish in a storm, and my buddy Jim decided to join me on his first surf fishing excursion. I told him that the whole idea was a crap shoot, with 10-13' seas forecast for the Block Island Sound.

We arrived around 8:30 a.m, a few hours before the predicted high tide, and while the surf itself was as predicted, the water beyond was fairly smooth. Winds were maybe pushing 20-25kt. We fished for about 45 minutes with no luck and no visual signs of fish. The day's excitement came as three individuals decided to head in, having to cross the low section that was beginning to wash over. As they tried to run across the wet rocks to avoid waves and to stay dry (incredibly stupid), they were caught unprepared by the first of a large set sweeping the jetty. All three disappeared, with one surfacing 20' off the rocks in the water. As they scrambled and swam back to the rocks, attempting to retrieve gear, they were swept by a second wave and all ended up off the jetty. From our location, all we could do was watch and hope they could swim. They managed to get back to the rocks and across the section, minus all of their rods, coolers, buckets, jackets and more that was drifting out to sea. Jim and I decided that waiting too much longer, risking getting caught with another 1-1/2 hour of incoming, wasn't worth it, so we also headed in. Crossing the section with Korkers and a little common sense was much easier.

We checked out some surfing, the Charlestown breachway, and had lunch at Jim's Dock https://www.facebook.com/Jims-Dock-125058440878262/?fref=ts, before giving it another shot on the outgoing tide. While the surf dropped, the wind picked up to 45-50mph gusts. A few albies were breaking past the fish traps, but the point was still getting buried by large waves. We threw in the towel.

Good fishing or not, I love just experiencing the raw power of the ocean in a big storm. Whether or not this blows in those albies, or sends them shooting right past us, has yet to be seen. Here's hoping for the latter!

First shot - break in the jetties were the three guys would later be swept off.
#2 Surfing off Green Hill
#3 Charlestown beachway