With the frosty morning Wednesday, it was icy on the porch. Me and the dog took a hot-second ride all the way across the boards. Always check for that ice you can’t see on the porch. Send the dog out first, they have those toenails for traction. We are obviously not in cold mode yet.

The woodstove is cranking a little to keep the chill out of the shop. The heat is also in the tools to chop the wood. It’s the best time of the year. We also have free cardio workouts, just bring your own ax and lunch. Stack your workout wood neatly by the pole barn, please.

The fall fishing should kick in a little more with the temperature drops. The red drum are still around Assateague. David Moore said, “We are still catching some, but you have to put in the time. Our last trip was a solid 26 hours for six fish. Sand tigers are still around, too. Picking through them for big reds can be exciting.”

Putting in time means just that — staying out for all hours, usually through the entire night, or picking through up to a hundred “by-catch” in the way of your target species. That is putting in the time. There isn’t a sign that says, “Red drum bite here only.” Otherwise just go throw out a line and see what happens. The name of the game is ... fishing. We are fishing for fun because if it were fishing for food we would never do it this way, or we would starve.

White perch action is good in the creeks. It’s time to load up the table and fry up some fish. Bloodworms are the preferred bait but also grass shrimp. You just have to catch the shrimp. A few scrapes on a bulkhead surface with a net should get enough for an afternoon. Use small pieces of squid or fishbites. The fast-acting formulas (red package) will work in the cooler waters as it gets closer to winter.

The resident striped bass are feeding around our waterways. That action on light gear is fun this time of year. Casting a lot keeps me warm. Even if we are bait and wait, I’m casting for heat. I prefer the lure action fishing anyway. But always do both at the beach, because you just never know what they are chewing that day.

There are still spot, kingfish and the like in the surf. Try jigging for flounder. Bluefish are hitting mullet rigs and spoons. The weather is just not fun for most anglers. Break out the wet gear, it’s that time of year.

The cuts and drains are still rather pronounced. There is a lot of exposed manmade structure in the beach towns to fish as well. Check those areas out before they are buried in replenishment. Hopefully that doesn’t start until well after the fall run.