Adventures in the Chesapeake

Where'd he go! - Lauching Chesapeake Light Tackle.com

2007-10-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Since the blog has been mostly about fishing anyway, I decided to make it more official and open a website devoted to my angling adventures. Please check out http://www.chesapeakelighttackle.com Comments and feedback are highly encouraged! See you there.....

"One Bourbon, One Scotch, & One Beer"

2007-08-25T10:29:00.001-07:00

Just to prove it ain't always fishing, last night we were invited by up-the-river friends Rich & Helen to join them in the VIP box at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore to see George Thorogood. Thorogood and his hard-rocking bar band the Destroyers were on top of the charts when I was in high school. I'd forgotten how many of their songs I knew. Inspired by a text message from Daniel, I timed my drink order, Jack Daniel on the rocks, McCallan straight up, and Fordam Lager, to arrive at the moment he kicked off one his best known songs. Thorogood has some age on him, but the show was still entertaining and I had a big smile on my face throughout. Thanks for the memories.

And just in case anyone gets the wrong idea about my pasttime priorities, I fished Thursday evening with Rick Long out of Solomons, MD. Rick has made a name for himself in the fishing world by inventing The Fish Off Glove. It's a velcro, plastic, and rubber combo that makes removing lures from fish much easier. We gave the gloves a good workout, catching over 60 rockfish and blues up to 5 pounds on top-water plugs. We saw spanish mackeral jumping among the breakers, but couldn't catch them. The water is extremely clear and very salty that far down in the Bay. I'd like to fish there more often.

Confirming earlier reports.....

2007-08-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

That the top-water bite is still hot, Mike R. joined me last night for a stormy weather fishing trip over to the east side of the Bay Bridge. Mike and I have been fishing together for a few weeks now and I'm enjoying his company. There was rain and a sustained 17 kt northeast wind all day yesterday. I wouldn't have given us a 2 cent chance at catching fish when we left the dock. But when we reached the pipe, we started marking fish. Miked hooked up right away on a homeade jig. I saw fish high on the FF so started throwing my 6" top-water lure. The waves were so big I couldn't see the plug most of the time, but I did see this fish attack! I thought he was going to be a lot bigger than he was because he fought so aggresively! I've had my best fishing on the Bay in crappy weather. Glad to see the fish are still there!

Montana Stream Fishing Interlude

2007-08-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

I do my best to keep this blog pertinent to the Bay area, but I can't resist sharing this. If you’re inclined as I am to read fishing reports from places you might have been or hope to someday visit, written by a neighbor you barely know and may never meet, you might find it somewhat interesting. Despite all the fun I’ve been having on the Bay I've been going through hot-weather stream fishing withdrawals. I’ve yet to make it up to any of Maryland’s cold-water creeks, but I’m reporting a cool blue fix in and around Montana’s Glacier National Park this past week. Since this was my first time in that area, I considered hiring a guide, but they were extremely expensive with most recommending floating the lower streams or hiking into the high lakes. I wanted solitude and moving water, so I rented a 4X4, bought a guidebook, and set off into the backcountry. Dianne joined me the first day and we spent most of our time exploring and getting our bearings by driving across the park.

I stopped at what is probably an over-fished stream just off 'Going to the Sun Road' and got my feet wet. I didn’t bring a flyrod. I was spin casting a gold 1/16th oz Panther Martin with micro-light gear. I wasn’t sure what I’d caught when I landed my first Glacier fish so I had to look it up in my book. It turned out to be a mountain whitefish. They’re in the trout family but have bigger scales and less color. Based on my hillbilly creek fishing experience, they look like a cross between a redhorse sucker and a creek shiner but with one primary difference - they are delicious!

Looking for less-traveled waters, I found a promising stream just west of the Continental Divide at Marias Pass. The ‘Skyland’ forest fire is burning nearby, making my pictures somewhat smoky. I passed the firefighter's base camp looking for a stream on my map callled 'Bear Creek.' I found a trail disappearing into the woods and followed it. The creek was wide enough to jump across in spots, but there were some deep holes. After a few casts I was rewarded with what back in the warm-water Tennessee hills is considered the holy grail of trout fishing – brookies. The fish were not big, no more than 9 inches, but they were extremely colorful and hard fighters. Bear Creek lived up to its name when I encountered a young black bear on the way out. I didn't stay around long enough to find his mother.

The next morning while Dianne went off dutifully to a conference, I got an early start on a stream I had spotted the day before. Paola Creek on the map, it was off the Middle Fork of the Flathead River just outside the park’s southwest boundary. I hiked up a steep unmarked path about a mile before I found an area level enough to fish. I switched over to a mini red & white Mepps beetle and ducked beneath the pine bows casting toward the mid-morning shadows. Paola Creek paid off when the first little fish went airborne. I thought I had found more brook trout, but on closer inspection the fish was pinker with fewer spots. Beneath its chin was a bright red blaze. Cutthroat. It turned out the tiny stream was loaded with them. I don’t think the area had been fished much judging by how aggressively they attacked my lure. My guidebook says this variety of cutthroat was once endangered, and they remain a protected species inside the park.

The next day brought the smokiest skies yet. Big fires raged on both sides of town, but not close enough to be threatening. I started by driving north into the Stillwater State Forest. My plan was to hike into a creek I’d circled on the map, but along the way I happened upon a small lake that I couldn’t resist trying. It was too warm for trout, but not for neds. The still water was crystal clear and I could see the fiesty yellow perch darting for the lure long before the strike.

I opted to follow the stream back down toward the river instead of fishing the lake, always looking over my shoulder because of the bear and mountain lion warnings posted on the way in. This is the first time in my life that I’ve fished where there was no visible evidence of human presence - no beer cans beside the trail, no milk jugs floating down the creek, no camp fire rings, nothing but fresh bear & deer tracks in the sand beside the water. The fish were bigger here, but surprisingly non-native rainbows, evidence of stocking earlier in the park’s history. I believe keeping non-native fish is encouraged, and it might even be forbidden to return them to the stream, but I wasn’t equipped to keep them and I didn’t want to encourage the wildlife. I fished until way past sunset.

The next day I revisited some spots I had found earlier along the river. Casting into a deep blue-green pool, I picked up something heavy and started dragging it in. I was surprised to find that I had caught what looked to be a brand-new fly-rod, complete with reel, floating line, leader, and no-longer-dry fly. It had probably been dropped by one of the rafters I’d seen floating downstream earlier. I was happy to find the rod, but a little disappointed that others had recently visited my corner of the wilderness.
Another surprise came later when I added a 5th species to my Montana catch list. With the colors and markings of a rainbow but flashing a red-orange blaze on the lower jaw, this fish is known as a Cutbow. It’s a hybrid, but obviously native and protected like the Cutthroats.

If you’re ever out that way, I highly recommend Glacier and the surrounding area. The town of Whitefish is still somewhat quaint and uncrowded. There are good local brews and most of the saloons have a cash poker game in the back room. The highlight of our wildlife viewing came on our drive out through deep forest in the Flathead Indian Reservation this morning. I was dozing while my wife drove just after daylight. We were about 20 miles from the closest house when she called out, “Look, there's a kitty!” My first thought was bobcat or lynx, but there was no mistaking the cat's long tail as it scampered quickly across the road and into the undergrowth. That kitty was a young mountain lion. I slept most of the way back to the Spokane airport still smiling with memories of picturesque mountains, pristine forests, clear water, and colorful fish. The contrast of arriving back to our area’s asphalt jungles tonight was almost smothering. I’m not certain there’s much real wilderness remaining in this country, but of what’s left, I’m pretty sure I got right up ag’in it!

Bay Fishing Update

2007-08-21T04:43:00.001-07:00

I'm getting grief for not updating the fishing reports, so here are a few of the recent highlights. The top-water bite at the east side of the Bay Bridge has continued into mid-August. I've yet to get anything close to the 40" monster Daniel pulled out of there, but we've caught some in the 28-30 inch range. Here's a shot of Dianne with some fish she caught recently. These two fish, 20 & 21", were caught at the same time on a Heddon Super Spook, one on the front hook, one on the back! She got a 24" fish that evening as well.

I've switched from using the classic Heddon top-water lures to a locally made plug by the Stillwater bait company called the "Smack-It." I prefer the bigger model which goes nearly 6 inches long including the feather tipped back hook. It floats high and chugs hard, so I can really rip it through the water. My choice for jigging remains a gold stringsilver, but I'm also using my home-made rockfish bombs which have been producing some pretty nice fish.

Crockett is getting better at finding fish. I started getting him excited when I got on fish last fall, and really urging him on in the breaking fish this summer. He's just now getting to where he'll go on point when he senses fish. He's good down to about 20 feet, but he's not picking them up much deeper. Still, I expect he'll be more effective than my fish finder soon! Here's a shot of him in his classic fish pointing pose & another of his "no fish around" look.

Wish-A-Fish Annapolis, 2007

2007-07-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

I heard about the Wish-A-Fish Foundation last year about this time through the Tidal Fish web site. (Read about it here.) I didn't know enough to volunteer then, but this year when the call for captains came out, I jumped at the chance. The Wish-A-Fish Foundation's mission is: "to provide a little relief for a family from the daily stress of having a child with “special needs” such as a live-threatening illness, or a mental or physical disability, by taking the entire family out for a day of fun and fishing on the water."

My "family" included Camden, an 8 year old cancer survivor, and his father. His mother and brother were also there on another boat. I think there were more than 30 boats in all. After getting our gear at the headquarters at Sandy Point, we followed the rest of the fleet out to the oyster beds for some bottom fishing. Camden caught his first fish, a 6 inch spot. I had two hooks on his line and he caught a little perch at the same time. I showed him how to use the radio, and he announced to the rest of the fleet, and the world that "Camden is catching them two at a time!"

We had some fun with the little fish for a while, then I asked if they wanted to try for rockfish. Both Camden and his dad yelled a big "YES," so we turned toward my fishing hole north of the Bridge. Fortunately, there were a few fish around, and Camden landed a healthy 20 incher. I never saw a kid so proud. When we got back to the dockside picnic, he carried that fish around to show everyone. The Maryland DNR had a table set up to give the kids a certificate for their first fish. I think they were surprised when Camden told them about his rockfish. Everyone involved seemed to have a great time. I know I'm hooked on Wish-A-Fish now, and I'm sure to be doing it again next year.

Drink Canada Dry

2007-07-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

My buddy Mike from Knoxville was in town last Thursday. He was visiting relatives in DC, but decided to skip a baby shower in favor of a few hours here on the Bay. I was happy to see him. I picked him up at the closest Metro station and we were out on the Bay within the hour. Unfortunately, the Bay was a bit choppy that day. We ran into four foot swells just North of Sandy Point. We were soaked from the waves and spray, but couldn't resist casting a few times. When it comes to fishing, Mike's one hell of a tennis player. Still, he served up a pretty nice sized rockfish. It was really too bouncy to fish, so we scooted in to Annapolis, picked up a couple of cans of Yuengling, and cruised the city dock and surrounding harbor area. Afterwards, we met Dianne at the bar at Deep Creek for dinner, then topped the evening off by sitting on the deck with a bottle of single malt and BSing until 3:00 AM. Neither of us were too happy to see morning roll around, but I had to work so I loaded his limp body into the truck, and kicked him out back at the Metro. I looked in my rear-view to see him stumbling toward the train. I'm not sure what happend after that.... Hope he survived!

Rockfish Breakfast

2007-07-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

Here's another report from two weeks ago...

My nephew Jake flies back home this afternoon. Last night before we went to bed he asked, "Uncle Shawn, do you think I can catch one more rockfish before I leave?" He didn't have to ask twice. I looked at the tide tables and decided our best chance to match the low light/high current pattern was daybreak this morning. The tide turned at 5:40 AM, so we were on the water by 5:00. There were some small fish around the sewer pipe but we found some bigger schools up near the outside edge of the dumping grounds. A few fish started breaking just about the time the sun came up over Kent Island and the charter fleet arrived. We chased the breakers for a little while, but they were skittish and scattered, so we settled-in to jigging a school of 16 to 20 inch fish farther inside. We had fun for a while, but I hoped for something a little bigger so we moved even farther back to the 12' mark and found better fish. Jake wanted to keep a couple so we threw a 23" and 24 incher into the cooler. The current waned, so we headed back. We were off the water by 7:30.

When we got home, Dianne had the grease hot and the biscuits started. Jake asked to learn to clean a fish, so I showed him how to handle an electric filet knife.

I chunked up the rockfish, egg washed it, then rolled it in a dry batter of white grits & Martha White corn meal mix seasoned with salt & Old Bay. It fried up nice and golden brown.

Our tomatoes have come in good now, and they went nicely with Dianne's biscuits & gravy. Breakfast was delicious. We used to have fish in the morning a lot when I was a kid. I don't know if it's a Southern thing, or an Appalachian thing, or just a fishing thing, but it's a tradition I hope to renew. Now, I'm gonna take a nap.

From the farm to the Bay

2007-07-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm way behind in blogging. I'm still fishing as much as possible. I've been lucky enough to stay on the fish pretty much all season except for two weeks in May. My nephew Jake was in town a couple of weeks ago. He's never fished for rockfish before, most of his fishing experience has been in the ponds around his farm in Michigan. He took to jigging right away and landed some very nice fish including this one which went about 28 inches. I caught a couple that day too! -S

Interlude - Sunrise, Sunset

2007-07-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

We interupt these fishing reports to bring you another reason why I love spending time on the water. The first shot is sunrise over Kent Island taken Saturday morning about 6:00 AM. My nephew Jake and I were almost too busy catching fish to look up when the sky started getting light. But I'm sure glad we did. The second is sunset behind Sandy Point Lighthouse. We were heading back home after a Wednesday evening fishing trip when the sky just lit up. The oranges and yellows framed the red lighthouse perfectly. I shot about a dozen pictures but I think this is the best. I think the water looks like pure gold.

Topwater Smackdown! - One for the record books.

2007-07-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

I worked on July 4th so I had Thursday off. Both Daniel & I did a little too much Independence Day celebrating, and we weren't feeling great, but we couldn't resist what looked like a windy but decent fishing day. We've been on the fish pretty good this week, so we started about 11:00 where we caught fish Wednesday afternooon. There were no fish where we left them, so we hit some pilings, then the eastern shore bridge rockpile.... nothing. Time for plan B which was livelining. We scooted over to the oyster beds, anchored up and grabed the bloodworms out of the cooler. Uh oh, they spent the night under ice water and were ruined. I had some FishBites and Gulp strips, so we tried them. I caught one spot in 15 minutes and he was too little to use. Daniel looked at me and said, "Let's go. I'd rather be not-catching rockfish than not-catching spot." He had a good point, so off we went to explore.

After hitting several humps and ledges between the BB & Love Point we still couldn't find anything but little fish. We headed back south in 3 footers and it's a good thing we did. It was raining a little but rock and bluefish were breaking in an area about a half mile square. They weren't all over the place, but here and there. Daniel started walking a pink headed Zara Super Spook, and I chugged a red & white Heddon Lucky 13. (I love the tried-and-true classic plug styles.) Slam! A 20 incher nailed Dan's lure on the first cast. I hooked up right away too. From then on it was non-stop. The fish were hitting our lures so hard they sometimes knocked them 3 feet into the air! On several casts we'd have a fish on, and we could see two or three more swirling around trying to take the plug away! Better yet, they were almost all keeper-sized rockfish! There is nothing more exciting than top-water when the fish are very agressive. My hands are still shaking just thinking about it!

The action slowed a little so we moved in to where we saw some birds working in shallower water. Since it was only about 7' deep I expected the fish to be smaller. Boy was I wrong. Daniel slung his Super Spook out about 50 yards and had just started walking it back when, WHAM.... biggest explosion I've ever seen on a top water plug. He set the hook into what he said felt like a shark! He was using one of my lighter rigs with 15lb test line and the fish was taking line like crazy. I thought it might be a ray, but then I noticed the head shakes on his medium lite rod. He tighted down on the drag a little, and fought the fish to the side of the boat where I netted her. My Golden Rule wasn't long enough to get an acurate measurement on the fish, and I don't have a scale on the boat, but I put her in the 25 to 30 pound range. She holds the record as Daniel's personal best, and the biggest fish so far to come over the side of my boat. After we took the pictures he put her back in the water and we watched her swim away. We finished the day with about 40 fish between us, at least half would have been keepers. Did I mention I'm still shaking!!

Hooked Up!

2007-07-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

Daniel fights a nice fish on the bow of Crockett's Reel against an indigo Chesapeake sky.

Fishing with the kinfolks

2007-07-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

This week my cousin and her family came up to visit. Kris, Danny, and Colten are from Social Circle, Georgia. They like to fish and spent quite a lot of time catching perch and spot off the dock. It was windy all week but we managed to get them out for a couple of rockfishing trips. The first day we tried livelining and caught a few. Danny caught two and hooked a big fish but it broke off after tangling around the sharp rocks. The next day Kris went out with us just "to watch" as Daniel and I fished. We found a big school of fish near a pipeline north of the Bay Bridge. After we caught a few, Kris decided to try her luck. She promptly landed the biggest fish of the day, along with a couple more keeper rockfish. She held it up for a shot with her camera, but we couldn't get her to hold it for any more pictures. Here's Daniel with 4 of the fish we kept.

Making a rockfish jig

2007-06-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm way behind in my blogging, but I'll try to get caught up in the next couple of days. I recently learned that it's relatively easy to make rockfish jigs using an in-line lead sinker. Since trolling is very popular on the Bay, all the tackle stores sell them. Even though I'm not much for tying flies, I have carved a few top water plugs back in the day, so I know how satisfying it is to make your own baits. This afternoon I stopped by Anglers Bait & Tackle on Rt 50 and picked up some one and two ounce in-line sinkers. Anglers sells them for 25 cents an ounce. I also got some Mustad hooks, split rings, powdered lure paint, and stick on eyes. I checked in my old bass box and found some Colorado blades and crappie jigs. Here's my experiment:

1. Arrange supplies on wife's copy of Sunday's New York Times.

2. Heat sinker with butane lighter.

3. Dip in charturse paint powder (available at Bass Pro and many bait shops).

4. Atttach hook with split ring.

5. Add accesories. I got a little carried away and included stick-on eyes, a Colorado blade, and crappie jig for hook dressing.

6. Admire finished product.

7. Drop in Bay, catch fish.

Okay, so it's not a very big fish, but I swear he hit it on the first cast. It was a tough bite tonight. Water levels in the upper Bay are still very low and there's virtually no current. I managed 4 fish in about 90 minutes fishing the outgoing from 7:00 until 8:30 PM. The biggest was barely 18 inches. By the time the water started moving the light was nearly gone. I missed a lot more bites. In review, I need to revisit my hook dressing as those crappie jigs slide off the hook too easily. I used a 3/0 hook which may be too small. The Colorado blades are purty, but didn't make any difference in the bite and increased instances of the hook tangling with the line. Nevertheless, I have to say the experiment is a success since I only had about a buck a piece and less than 10 minutes invested in each lure, and by-gawd, they work. In the future I will look for gold and silver paint, and I'll experiment with different types of in-line sinkers. I'll keep you posted on how they work out.

Rock n Rollin' @ the Rockpile

2007-06-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

The sky looked threatening, but I'm out of town for the next few days, so couldn't resist heading out about 6:00PM last night. 4 ft rollers met me at Sandy Point Light and I had to slow to 5 knots. First time my little Sea Ray actually climbed up swells. I put on my PFD. (To a formerly landlocked hillbilly, those are dern big waves.) Outgoing was rolling pretty good, and the wind was coming up the Bay, so I could hang over the sweet spot fairly easily. Crockett climbed up on the seat and went on point right away. Maybe he just liked the wind and the waves, but I dunnoo........ I'm just sayin'. First drop produced this 21" and I was bailing them in the 17 - 22" range for the next 20 minutes.

Two boats using "bent rod radar" headed my way when they saw the fish, and one guy even pulled up and asked what I was using. He had his kid on board so I was happy to help, and I showed him where the fish were. He hooked up right away, but then the rain blew in. Everyone left, but I didn't hear thunder so I hid behind the big concrete piling and waited it out. Crockett got down in the cabin, but I had to stay out and keep the boat from hitting the bridge.

After it slacked off the wind got up, so I had to do more drift fishing. There were still bites on every pass. If anyone was around listening they probably thought I had Tourett's Syndrome because I missed or lost a lot of fish. I think Crockett felt sorry for me, cause he gave me a big kiss when I landed this 26 incher. Then, he decided to kiss the fish too! I lost count, but probably had 25 or 30 fish. I think there were only two that wouldn't have been keepers, but they all went back. This was the best night I've had yet at the rockpile. I've caught bigger fish, but not consistently this size. For someone who loves to fish like I do, this is about as good as it gets!

They're still biting!

2007-06-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've made a couple more trips to the Bay Bridge rockpile. Can't say that it's every cast, but there are some good fish hanging in there. Here's my report today:

I got out in time to catch the end of the outgoing this afternoon. Tide was ripping when I arrived at the bridge, it looked like class III rapids swirling past the rock pile. Got a good strike on my first drift, then hooked up on the next three. Fish were in the 17-20 inch range. Mostly keeper size but nothing to sell the farm over. I thought I was gonna tear 'em up, but it slowed down for a while, then picked back up a little as the tide waned. Actually, I think the fish were always there, they were just holding on a spot the size of a truck bed and it was nearly impossible to hit it consistently in that kind of current. Once again, I hooked and lost way too many fish. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, this is something that just started - lost all the heavy fish I hooked. I ended up with thirteen, the biggest about 22". They all went back. I met a fellow TFer from Chestertown, and saw my friends in the coast guard. This time they just waved. Either my boat is a police magnet, or they're racially profiling hillbillys, because last night I got checked twice by two different DNR officers in 5 minutes!

Big Fish at the Bay Bridge

2007-06-17T11:48:00.001-07:00

Friday, I got back out to the Bay Bridge to try some of the things we learned last weekend. The bite was red hot. The best lure was a gold stringsilver with the treble hook removed and replaced with a chartruse feather-dressed single hook. I bounced it off the bottom on the current side of the rockpiles. I caught 6 or 8 fish including a 23" & 24". I had a lot to do yesterday, but still found a two hour window to fish. I was wondering if it was worth it because it was fairly windy and the Bay was crowded with pleasure boats. I fought four foot waves near Sandy Point Light but was pleased to find no other boats on my fishing spot. The first drop produced a nice 24" fish. A few minutes later I hooked into this fat 28 incher. He tested out my 12lb test line pretty good, but I had the drag set loose and just let him run until he was tired. I ended up with about 10 fish in those two hours, all but one were over 18". I was so excited to be on big fish that were biting so welll that my hands were shaking and I could hardly feel my lures. The action was so hot at one time that I got crapped on by a seagull, but waited through two more hookups before I wiped it off! I'm going to wait until the weekenders get off the water, then go back after them this evening.

Fishing & Cruisin' with the Family

2007-06-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

I have several things to catch up on. All three boys along with Tiffany & Ella came up last weekend, staying until Tuesday night. We spent nearly the entire time on the water. They had a late Friday flight and Saturday was very windy, so we slept in, then decided to bounce across and cruise up the Chester. There was a 3' chop on the main channel, but the trip was fun after we got into sheltered water, and we saw two bald eagles. The Chestertown dock is under construction, but we found a place to tie up. We got kicked out of the first restaurant we walked into in Chestertown. The lady said it was after lunch hours, but I think she was worried she didn't have enough to feed us big ol' boys. After lunch in Chestertown we headed back and found some late-afternoon birds over breaking fish. We caught 30-40 little ones before finishing the day with Ella's first crab feast at Waterman's in Rock Hall. I think Ella liked the wooden mallets more than the crabs. She also liked the band and even tried out her moves on the dance floor before we pointed the boat west for a moonlight crossing of the Chesapeake.

Sunday was a better fishing day. We went down to the Bay Bridge and fished hard before we finally figured out a pattern, the right combination of location, depth, current, presentation, & lure. The bite wasn't red hot, but we managed a few fish. Not bragging, but there were several other boats around that were not catching. We hit a few other spots, then finished cruised back home where Dianne had cooked up a delicious rockfish dinner.

Monday, we decided to cruise up to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We stopped at the knolls for a while where we saw lots of marks, but couldn't catch anything despite many bites. I downsized to a Gotcha Lure and jigged up some nice perch. We docked right downtown after hailing the harbormaster for permission. On the way back we trolled over Snake Reef and snagged a big cow nosed stingray. I don't care who you are, it's hard not to get excited when one of them big ol' winged critters makes a drag scream. After a 15 minute struggle we were able to get it boatside and retrive our trolling lures.

Tuesday took us over to St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore where we visited the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. I was very impressed by the quality of their material and the hand's on nature of the displays. I decided to purchase a membership thinking we were likely to go back, and because it comes with docking privleges. I also might take them up on their offer to apprentice for a day on one of their boat building or restoration projects. The kids seemed to enjoy it and we all took turns watching Ella as she climbed aboard as many boats as she could. By the time they caught they're flight late Tuesday night, we were all exhausted. All in all, a very fun weekend on the water.

Squalls & Rainbows

2007-06-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

I'm fishing pretty hard this week looking to find some promising spots for this coming weekend. The boys are coming up from Tennessee and I hope to put them on some fish. Here's a couple of pictures from Monday evening. I got caught in a rain squall up near the Seven Foot Knoll area. Visibility went from about 5 miles down to 50 feet in just a few seconds. I was underway at the time but had to stop and wait it out because the rain was so hard I couldn't even see my GPS screen and I wasn't far off the shoals. Afterwards there was a nice rainbow down near the Bay Bridge.

Dinner with Barry

2007-06-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Today the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry made it's way up the coast. Our weather forecast was for light rain and 10-15 mph winds. So far we've had 40kt gusts and nearly 3 inches of rain. You'd think I would've learned by now to do my own storm and tide prognosticating. They've recently posted coastal flood warnings, but I don't think we'll get too much of a surge. I just hope Barry isn't a harbinger of worse to come. We made the best of it by watching Pirates of the Carribean DVDs and steaming up the crabs we caught yesterday. They were DELICIOUS!

Deadliest Catch - Chesapeake!

2007-06-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

Despite the risk of falling into 4 feet of churning 74 degree water, I donned my protective clothing and stepped up to the edge of the dock to haul in the traps. A lesser man might have used mechanical assistance, but I toughed up the crab traps with raw muscle power. No guts, no glory, and my rewards were great. Maryland Jimmies are going for about 60 bucks a dozen right now. I caught 14 the first day I dropped the traps. I also managed to land this nice Jumbo softshell which, when dressed and fried, could make one manly man-sized sandwich. Softshell crabs are classified by some interesting names. From small to largest they are Mediums, Hotels, Primes, Jumbos, and Whales. Tonight, I may take the risk of dropping my deadly catch into a red hot kettle of steaming Natty Boh laced with Old Bay. It's a Dirty Job, but someone has to do it.

Refining the perfect margarita

2007-06-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

Warm weather has finally arrived to Maryland's western shore. Through the winter I've been refining my margarita recipe. Here's this summer's original version which is dry and refreshing. I think this drink needs a name because I'm not sure it still qualifies as a margarita. Don't diss it 'till you've tried it!

Juice of 2 limes
Juice of 1 grapefruit
6 oz club soda
1 tsp superfine sugar (or to taste, I often skip the sugar)
8 oz Cuervo Gold
2 oz Grand Mariner
Squeeze juice into large cocktail shaker, add other ingredients and shake lightly (you want it to froth, but not bubble over). Rub a lime slice around the rim of a pint or highball glass and dip in salt, then add cracked ice. Pour frothy liquid over ice. Drink responsibly! (Make two drinks.)

Angels over Annapolis

2007-05-31T20:04:00.001-07:00

I'm just getting around to posting last week's photo of the Blue Angels show over Annapolis. They're in town for the U.S. Naval Academy graduation. It's a good show. The planes fly right up the gut of the Severn River, sometimes just over the masts of the sailboats. There are literally thousands of boats anchored in the river to watch the show. As usual, there are plenty of accidents among the boaters, but the air show went off flawlessly. I kept "Crockett's Reel" well out of the way, but still close enough to see all the acrobatics.

Pirates of the Magothy

2007-05-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well, not quite. I was surprised today to look out our guest room window to see an 1812 era dual masted clipper privateer. She's the Pride of Baltimore II, and can usually be seen at her anchorage in the Inner Harbor. She is returning from the Richmond area where she met the queen and helped celebrate the 400th aniversary of the English landing at Jamestown. I guess she arrived a day early and decided to spend the night with us here on the Magothy. It's a beautiful ship and I hope to see her under sail tomorrow.

Topwater Bite

2007-05-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

I've been catching a few fish at Mountain Point, the mouth of the Magothy River. The conditions have to be right, but on a calm evening with a good tide, there are usually some pretty good fish hanging out around the rocks and pilings at the point. It's a lot of fun to see them hit a topwater lure. I've also found breaking fish across the Bay at Love Point. So far, they're all pretty small, and all rockfish. I haven't caught any bluefish yet, but I've heard that there are a few around. We've had an algae bloom or something in the river which has turned the water orange. It was a deep chocolate brown earlier in the week. I haven't seen any crabs so far, but that might be because I haven't put in my traps yet. The water temperature is still barely 70 at the dock.