Holiday Weekend

We had the whole family together here this weekend. We didn't do much fishing from the boat, but always seemed to have a line in the water from the dock. I think Cory caught more than anyone. He was sending me pictures of perch from his cell phone ten minutes after he arrived. I added a few more species to our "caught" list. There are some sunfish nesting in Lake Placid. Cory and Daniel figured them out pretty quick by baiting grass shrimp they caught in the shallows. They then tried that method for bottom fishing off our dock and came up with lots more perch, a small croaker and a catfish. My "big fish" of the weekend came on a piece of shrimp left over from take-out chinese food. I was sitting on the back of the boat about midnight and saw my rod bend double. I set the hook into a very heavy fish and tightend the singing drag. I just knew I had my first rockfish, but the struggle ended way too quickly and the boys got a good laugh when they netted a 15 pound carp. I didn't know carp lived in brackish water. Oh well, maybe I'll get that first rockfish some day! A little later I caught a nice-sized catfish, so most of the new species were very familiar. I fileted and fried up a few white perch. They are delicious. Here's my current list of kinds of fish caught so far, either off the dock, or behind us in the lake:
Chain Pickerel
White Perch
Yellow Perch
Sunfish
Croaker
Catfish
Carp
Dianne has more information and photos of our weekend on her blog. The Saturday house-warming party was a big success. I guess there were about 50 guests. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Sunday we drove up to Baltimore where Andy and Sarah joined us at the Inner Harbor. Sarah is a Herpetologist who works at the National Aquarium. She and her co-worker Rachel provided a us with a behind-the-scenes tour that was very interesting. She even let us hold some of the critters. We had a great time on the boat all weekend. I got a 2-person tube at Bass Pro, and we spent Monday riding it, then cruising down to Annapolis. I think Ella enjoyed her first boat ride! What a great weekend! -S

Tidal Fish Board

Frustrated after a couple more fruitless fishing trips, I got up the nerve to post some questions to the Chesapeake Angler board at TidalFish.com. I was plesantly surprised with nearly 30 responses. Most were welcoming me to the mailing list and the area, and several provided very specific advice on when and where to fish along with tips on specific lures. A couple of guys even offered to take me out with them. Not only that, one kind soul even gave me some info about where to find a Texas Hold'em game in Maryland! I've been reading the fishing reports on TF for a couple of months and comparing them to place names on the Maryland DNR map and my charts - I just wish I'd posted sooner! I took some of their advice out on the Bay last night, fishing between the Baltimore and Sandy Point lighthouses. I didn't catch a thing, but I sure felt better about my efforts! Confidence is everything in fishing and improving to tried and proven methods will hopfully lend results soon! My boys are all coming in this weekend and Dianne and I are preparing for a house-warming party Saturday afternoon. (If you're reading this, you're invited.) If the weather isn't too rough, we hope to get in a few fishing trips before they go back to Tennessee Tuesday. -S

Blue Angels

It's graduation day at the Naval Academy. Boats anchor in the Severn River to watch the Blue Angels celebratory demonstration. The older-looking ship is a tour boat out of Annapolis harbor. The dome in the background is the Naval Academy. It takes about 20 minutes to get to Annapolis by boat. -S

Distracted Driving?

Not me. Just back to the Bay after a trip down to the Sunshine State to see our friends Dave & Mandy get married. Yesterday, we took a drive down Daytona Beach. There was lots to see but I kept both eyes on the road! -S

Big Crabs?

Yesterday, while fishing from the dock, I looked down into the water to find this <above>. I think it's the remains of a molted blue crab shell. Thinking I might be able to finally catch some, I tied a piece of chicken thigh on to a string and hung it off the dock. This afternoon, I came home and checked my string. It was completely broken off just above the water level. It was 150lb test trotline......<insert dramatic pause for reflection> Ummm, just how big do crabs get here? -S

Predicting the Tides

This might seem boring to some, but I seem to making some progress in recognizing tide patterns. This is probably very elementary to those who've spent a lot of time near the Bay, but it's really been a mystery to me. Even before moving to the Bay I found the subject interesting and read everything I could find about it. Still, it wasn't until the last few weeks that I really learned some of the secrets. First of all, I had to stop looking at the on-line tide calculators. It's not that they aren't accurate, it's just the the tides where I live are nothing like those at the closest predicting station which is Sandy Point. The reason is that Sandy Point is on the main channel of the Chesapeake, and our house is about a mile away inside the mouth of the Magothy. I started imaging the tide as a giant flat wave pouring in from the Atlantic. It pours up the Bay and even past our river on up to Baltimore before it reaches our dock. Depending on the size and speed of the wave, we can be as much as a couple of hours behind the channel, even though it's clearly visable. The moon and, to some extent the planets, influence the wave. We get the biggest, fastest wave when the moon is full. Considering only these factors, we get a usual fluctuation of about 18 inches. There is an ebb and flow twice a day. At least at this time of year, the highest tide usually comes in the morning after sunrise.

That's my theory, except there's a big problem. Since we moved here, I've seen fluctuations up to 4 feet! How can that be? The culprit is the wind. A steady wind blowing north-northwest or up the Bay can either push the "tidal wave" along and make it bigger, or create its own wave independent of the lunar tide. A southerly wind will have the opposite effect. Normal breezes of 5 to 15 mph (I still haven't made the mental conversion to knots.) don't have much effect. But a steady blow in the 20s will make a big difference in the water level. According to my very non-scientific observations, sustained winds in the 30s can vary the levels by more than a foot. The biggest changes occur when a low pressure system moves directly Southwest of us. Since these system rotate counter-clockwise, (picture the arrows on a weather map) they blow the water directly up the Bay from the ocean. Once the wave moves up the Bay, the water actually stacks up creating much higher levels in the upper reaches. The longer the wind blows, the more it stacks up.

That's how I predicted Monday morning's high tide, the second highest since we moved here. I already knew we had a full moon and that the water would be high. I also noticed that a big low pressure system had stalled out just inside the coast of North Carolina. Even though the winds weren't that strong here, I knew they must blowing hard to our south. Sure enough, we awoke Monday to see the Chesapeake Bay nearly in our driveway. It probably seems silly, but I was very happy to see that my prediction had come true. (I made it out loud to Dianne, so she can verify my story!) But then, driving to work Monday, I nearly spilled my coffee in my lap when I realized something else. Hurricanes are low pressure systems, and when they come in from the Atlantic, they generally move right up the coastline. We might actually be better off to get a direct hit rather than a glancing blow to the south. A storm surge of 2 feet above Monday's high water-level would easily flood our ground floor. Even a tropical storm could do that. I wonder if we can buy flood insurance? -S

Breakin' the drought!

It really didn't seem like a good evening to fish. It's cool after a big low pressure system moved through last night, and the wind just shifted from out of the Southeast to the more usual Easterly. As an aside, I predicted that this morning we'd get the second highest tide since we've lived here - more on that later. I stopped on the way home from work to pick up brake pads for my truck. My Tennessee plates are nearly expired and so the truck has to be inspected in Maryland before they'll register it. After a quick rear brake job, I put some Miracle Grow on my tomatoes, then grabbed my fishing rod. Since it was so windy on the river, I walked around to the dock at the Lake Placid boat ramp to cast a 1/16th bumble bee Panther Martin.

Much to my surprise, my first cast delivered a decent White Perch. I had a great time for the next hour catching one about every 5th cast. The highlight of the evening though was landing my first Chesapeake Yellow Perch. I've heard they made a spring run here, but I haven't caught any yet. I've only caught one or two back in Tennessee. They're pretty fish and hard fighters. I shot a picture then released him back into the lake. I read in the DNR fishing guide that the Magothy is closed to Yellow Perch fishing because they are trying to reestablish a decent population. (Even though fishing commercially for them is allowed lower in the Bay.) But, I'm not sure how one keeps them from biting your hook while fishing for other species. -S

Another Guest Bedroom?

I haven't caught any fish all week. I've tried spinners, flies, even cut up shad, but no luck. I'm not sure if it's just a slow time or bad luck. I've seen a lot of people trolling for Rockfish out on the Bay. Maybe I'll try that this week sometime. I put the boat in Friday night and brought it around to our dock. I plugged in the shore power and turned on the deck an cabin lights, then threw out a line and sat on the back bench seat with a cold Yeungling. Dianne fired up the grill and we had dinner on the boat. The boat will make a great extra bedroom for guests who might be brave enough to sleep aboard this summer. After dinner, our neighbors across the street invited us over so we sat around in their yard and talked until 1:00 AM when it started to rain. Today dawned beautiful, but a little chilly at first. I got up to check on the boat about 7:30 and was suprised to see some sort off swimming race going by. There looked to be about 20 swimmers and they were moving pretty good through the cold water. I spent the early part of the day cleaning up the boat cabin, then installing some permanent dock bumpers. Even on calm days like today we get a lot of boat wakes, so it's important to cushion possible impact areas around the dock. We went out for a while, watching some sort of sailboat parade out on the channel, then exploring a secluded little cove about a mile downstream. Tonight we found a great little water-front seafood restaurant and bar which is easily accessable by boat. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but it's very calm now so I left the boat tied up out front. I've been looking over some charts and planning a weekend trip to St. Michaels. Most of our upcoming weekends are pretty busy though, so I'm not sure when we'll find time for our first over-nighter. Speaking of weekends, we're hosting a party the Saturday before Memorial Day. If you're reading this, you're invited! I'll say more about it in a few days. -S

Weekend On The Water

After a grueling work-week, this turned out to be a fun weekend. I put the boat in Thursday night only to find both batteries dead, the result of a miswired stereo by the previous owner. After charging them overnight, we backed her down the ramp across from our driveway, and set out for adventure. Our maiden voyage took us about two miles out to the Baltimore Harbor lighthouse, the one we can see from our deck and the one pictured in the very first chapter of my blog. I was immediately surprised by the size of the waves and the current in the main channel. Baltimore Light was very interesting. It's a caisson style lightouse located on the edge of the channel, and it looks like a tall, floating two-story house. We didn't stay out long because it was getting dark. I spent the next morning swabbing the deck because we had company coming, Tarren and Anna from Maine. They joined us for an early afternoon voyage out to the Bay Bridge. It was very windy and choppy, too windy in fact to tie up at our dock. The boat handled great in the big swells, cutting right through the smalller ones but bouncing enough that I had to slow down when they got close to 3 feet. Later we were joined by some more friends from DC, and we grilled salmon and drank margaritas. Today, Dianne and I went back out to the Bridge to watch some interesting ship traffic including this large sailing ship. I don't know where it's from or what the story is, but it's a beautiful boat. We circled around watching sailboats for a while, then headed back up the river to a small island with a beach which is not too far away from our house. We anchored down and watched a pair of Ospreys, then Dianne read the New York Times while I retreated to the cabin for a nap. There's something incredibly restful about sleeping on a boat. Afterwards, Dianne piloted us across the Bay and we put the boat back on the trailer. We don't have a boat lift on our dock yet, but it will be nice to get one so we don't have to keep loading in and out - nevertheless, well worth the effort. We're planning a party Memorial Day weekend, so I'm hoping some of our Tennessee friends will make the trip up. Summer is almost here, and things are starting to happen on the Chesapeake Bay! -S

In The Driveway!

Finally! I got a call over the weekend that the boat was ready to go, so I drove out to Pohick Hollow last night to pick it up. Not kidding about the name of the area - there's a Virginia state park there - I'm sure they named it after us, especially now that we have this boat to support! The boat is a Sea Ray 250 Express Cruiser. It has a cabin which is fully equipped with sleeping space, galley and a head with a shower, and there is plenty of deck space for fishing, picnicking, etc. I'll post more pictures when we get her in the water. We're also taking suggestions for names. I'm campaigning for "Knoxville Girl," but Dianne isn't too thrilled. She suggested "WolVOLrene," combining the nicknames of our favorite college teams. Any other ideas? -Shawn

PS: Don't miss Dianne's blog today. Lots of pics from our weekend in Tennessee.

Twenty-Five Dollar Cucumbers?

I spent most of my off-time last week doing yard work. It's been a long long time since I've had a vegetable garden, but there is a space in our back yard that just screams for one. I made yet another trip to Home Depot last Thursday for some landscaping timbers and topsoil in hopes of creating a small but productive garden. The dirt in my backyard is mostly red clay filled with gravels, so I didn't have much choice but to haul more in. I put out tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and a couple of eggplants. I added some basil and I hope to see some green onions coming up soon. It occurs to me that maybe I should've done a cost-benefit analysis first, because of the expense of the soil, timbers, and seedlings. I heard a story on NPR yesterday about a guy who figured he had about 65 bucks in each of his tomatoes. I'm not worried though. There are intangible benefits and I know these are sure to be the tastiest vegetables ever!!
-Shawn