Fishing Hurts

You might have noticed that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been occasionally running an ad in the Google Ads section of my blog. Titled, "Fishing Hurts," it depicts a distressed dog with a fishhook in its mouth. Now I've never really had anything against PETA. In fact, I'm a big fan of their "naked women in cages" campaign, but they're barking up the wrong tree with this ad. I really hope they didn't hook that pup on purpose for the picture, but I've heard they've done worse. At the very least the photo itself is evidence of cruelty because it would've taken about 5 seconds (less than the time required to get a camera and take the picture) to snip off the barb and pull it back out of the dog's mouth. But the bigger point is that most fishermen I know are strong advocates for conservation and the environment. I'd easily wager that more animals have been saved by conscientious recreational fishermen than have been harmed. Nevertheless, I've decided not to block the PETA ads. It exposes and confirms the over-zealous and reactionary reputation the organization has earned. It's unfortunate, because if not for that, I might even be a member. -Shawn

Busted on New Years Eve!

Well, not really, but I was boarded by the Coast Guard. I guess one of the winter trade-offs to having the best fishing spots all to myself is that I'm also the only game available for law enforcement. I saw them coming and got a quick cell phone picture, then fired it off to the boys and kept fishing. They pulled alonside and asked if I was anchored. I thought it was a dumb question since I was only about 30 yards off the rockpile at the bridge in a raging current. I told them that I was just drifting and fishing, then they asked when was the last time I was boarded. I told them that I'd been checked by DNR two days ago, but that wasn't good enough. I don't think these guys have been on the Bay too long because they wanted to jump right on, but we would've drifted into the rocks in less than 30 seconds so I asked if we could back away. They agreed and came aboard after we were clear of danger. Fire extinguisher, throw cushion, life jacket, flares, stickers, horn, registration, driver's license, oil discharge sticker, and engine compartment all checked out okay. They gave me a copy of their report with the box "No Violations" checked and told me to keep it with me and they probably wouldn't board next time. I was curious about the process so I asked a lot of questions. About that time my son Cory responded to my cell phone message with, "hope they don't find your meth lab." I couldn't keep from laughing, but thinking they might not see the humor, I quickly clicked off the phone! They left me with a cheerful, "be careful, captain," and went on to other pursuits. Despite the 20 minute delay to my fishing, I don't begrudge the boarding at all. I know those guys are just doing their job and I may need them sometime. -S

So I took the wife fishing .....

I asked Dianne to go fishing with me today. It was cold and a little windy, but she agreed if I promised not to stay out all afternoon. She did everything wrong. Used the wrong lure, fished at the wrong depth, casted to the wrong places, held the rod wrong and worst of all, completely out fished me! She hooked a fat 14" rockfish on her first cast and didn't stop until she'd also landed one of the biggest white perch I've seen lately. We stayed for about an hour then she decided to make the proverbial, "one last cast." Sure enough, she reeled in another nice rockfish. -Shawn

More Holiday Rockfish

I'm still finding rockfish down at the Bay Bridge. This post is actually recycled from a fishing report I just did for the Tidal Fish message board. I'm a big fan of that discussion list because it's where I've learned a lot of what I now know about fishing the Bay. I decided to post the report in its original form here. -- A light day at work put me on the water by 2:00PM. I was at the east rockpile at 2:30 with a waning incoming tide and water temp around 45 degrees. Nothing on my FF so I motored over to the west pile and caught a little 12" rockfish right off. No other bites so back to the East rocks I went. Don't ask me what changed, but this time my FF looked like this!

Obviously, this time I remembered to take the camera. I also had the cam on my cell phone so shot the same pic as the one above and fired it off to my wife since I'd said I might be home early to join her for a shopping trip. Her text message response, "I'll see you after dark." There was only one other boat around, a couple of guys perching out of a Carolina Skiff. Looked like they were having a blast, doubling up almost every cast with their top & bottom rigs. I stayed on the rockfish verticle jigging a redheaded/white Gotcha Lure. I'm really liking this lure lately. Replacing the trebles minimizes the tangles and snags and, unless the current is really ripping, it'll get on down to the bottom. It reacts erratically when jigged which is what I think generates strikes. I hooked up a fat 15 incher on my first drop and the catching was on. Crockett's barking let the guys in the other boat know whenever I hooked up.


At 3:45 sharp the tide turned. I had been motoring down to the lower end of the pile and drifting back, thanks mostly to the wind, but now there was hardly any drift at all. Things really slowed down and the FF showed no marks, but I was still managing a fish once in a while. As the current began to pick back up, I moved up to the north side of the rocks. Fishing the pressure side of the structure is a tip I learned here on TF and it almost always pays off. More marks on the FF told me you guys were right again! About one out of three fish were over 15" with the biggest of the day about 20". I hooked that fish just as a DNR boat pulled alongside. I didn't hear her coming and must have looked startled. I showed her the fish before dropping it back in. She was very nice, asking questions about the size of the fish and making sure I wasn't keeping anything since rockfish are out of season. She even had a dog biscuit for Crockett! She motored off and I got back to fishing. By this time Crockett wasn't too excited about the fish, but couldn't resist an occasional sniff if I brought one over the side.


The bite continued until dark. Actually, as the current increased, even more fish moved in. Unfortunately, that increased the dink ratio. I thought it might be fun to get out the fly rod some evening because, when the currrent started ripping, smaller fish began feeding on the surface. I stayed until well after sunset and left them biting. Cruising by the Christmas lights at Sandy Point I thought how I'm having just as much fun now as I did fishing the breaks back in the Fall. I sure hope this winter action continues! -Shawn

Winter Solstice and the fish are still biting!

Since I'd finished my workday and the sun was still up on the shortest day of the year, Crockett and I decided to go fishing. There was no wind and temps were in the low 50s when we fired up the Sea Ray and motored toward the mouth of the Magothy. There was strong current at Mountain Point, but no fish, so we headed out into the Bay to the shelf at Podickory Point. Once again, no marks on the fishfinder. I decided to cruise on down to the Bay Bridge.

The water was beautiful, very flat, clear, and smooth with not another boat in site. I pulled up beside the big rockpile that anchors the suspension cables on the East side of the channel. The incoming tide was ripping around the rocks. I idled into the current and let the boat drift back while watching the fishfinder . It marked fish everywhere, from top to bottom in the 53ft channel. I dropped over a redheaded Gotcha lure and started jigging. I hooked up in a matter of seconds.

Crockett noticed my excitement and jumped up in the backseat for a better view. He barked as I landed a fat 15" rockfish . The current had swept us off the spot, so I fired the engine and repositioned the boat. Once again, as soon as I dropped the lure over, wham, another nice rockfish . The pattern of idling up and drifting back kept up until dark with two or three fish on every pass. The biggest was 22" with most in the 12" to 15" range. Rockfish are no longer in season here, so it was all catch and release. Crockett really enjoyed the trip. He'd jump up on the edge of the boat, then start barking in anticipation as soon as I hooked up - just the reaction I was hoping for. It won't be long before it's too cold to keep the boat on the water, so I felt lucky to get in this trip before the holidays. -S