Gilmer Trip

My Mate, Nathan Altaffer and I  had the opportunity to fish with one of my old friends from Capital One today.  Thad Gilmer and his family are spending the long Thanksgiving weekend on the Northern Neck, and decided to book a fishing trip with me today. 
When we got started out this morning, the weather was absolutely beautiful, there was very little wind, and the sun was shining bright.  After pulling away from the dock, we made our way out into the Chesapeake Bay, where we quickly ran into birds working on bait.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find the fish that we were looking  for, so we headed south for a few more miles.  Luckily, we found birds and bait working not too far away.  Nathan and I got our trolling spread out again and started working on schools of bait.  Fortunately, we managed to pick up some nice sized Rockfish fairly quickly, because the weather took a turn for the worse.  By 12:30, we had Northerly winds of 15 -17 kts. and the seas picked up quickly.   After taking several four foot seas, I decided that it would be better for us to head back to the Great Wicomico River.  On the way home, we managed to duck in behind one of the other Carter Boats which gave us a better ride, and everyone was able to stay warm and dry in the cabin. 
Hopefully, over the next couple weeks we will see a migration of larger rockfish coming up the Bay from the Atlantic Ocean to take advantage of all of the bait that we have in this area. 
Thanks again for fishing with me today Thad!  I look forward to doing it again soon. 

Sublett Trip

I had the pleasure of fishing with Jerry and Zachary Sublett and their friends yesterday in the CNR Memorial Rockfish Tournament. 

This tournament is held in memory of my Cousin, Casey Rogers and benefits a scholarship fund that awards funds to Northumberland County High School Seniors who have participated in varsity sports and will be attending a four year College.  This is a very worthwhile event, and one that has produced a tremendous amount of benefit to our local community.

We left the dock early Saturday morning in hopes of being out in the bay and on the fish in time for the 7:00 lines out.  Unfortunately, we had to deal with ~20 kts of northerly wind which slowed us down, but we managed to find a tremendous amount of bait shortly after 7:00.

I put our trolling spread out and we strained water for the next two hours.  Unfortunately, the only thing we had to show for this is one short bite, and a couple tangled lines.  

We picked up our lines and headed down the bay and quickly ran into birds working on bait fish.

With our spread out again we began trolling between places of birds.  We were fortunate to pick up this nice rockfish, however, we were not in the money for the tournament.

 

Thanks again to Jerry and the rest of his group for making the best of a tough day.   I hope we get to do it again soon!

Curran Family Trip

I had the great opportunity to fish with Master Chief Mark Curran, his Wife, Son, Grandson and two of his close friends on Saturday. We left the dock early and headed out into the bay.

 

 

Unfortunately, the weather was less than optimal as we made our way through some rain showers, but everyone managed to stay dry in the cabin. 

After a short run, we were lucky to find some birds working on bait.  My Mate Bucky and I got our trolling spread out, and over the next 3 hours we managed to land some decent sized rockfish.

 

 

 

Once the bite ended, we moved to one of the local artificial reefs and caught the rest of our fish chumming.

 After the weather cleared, it turned out to be a beautiful day out on the bay, and fishing with a great group of people made it that much better. 

 

 

 

We saw lots of bait in the bay this weekend, and with the temperatures dropping, more and more good sized striped bass will be moving into the area during the next couple weeks.
Check back often for more fishing reports.

Joe

Practice trip

On 11/9/13 I had the opportunity to fish with a great group of people from Reedville, Va.  My oldest son was home from boarding school and wanted to get out on the bay to catch some fish before we had to take him back to Charlottesville on Monday. We all packed up and headed out early, which  worked out well because my first "official" trip is on 11/16, and I needed to get out and make sure everything was in working order before next weekend.

 

 

The weather was absolutely beautiful Saturday morning and we were able to get to our spot quickly.  Once anchored and setup, the fish started biting quickly.  Within two hours we had all the rockfish that we could keep, and had released many more.

 

There were A LOT of fish out there this weekend, and we sure had a GREAT time catching them.

 I can't help but think that these fish know that cold weather is on the way and they are eating everything in sight trying to put on weight to get ready for it. I have seen posts from my friends in Sag Harbor NY, showing catches of large striped bass in the past week. This tells me that the fish are making their way down the coast as we speak, and will be in the bay before we know it.  So, if you are considering fishing the bay this fall, call soon to book your trip, I have a few dates still available before the end of the year and would love to pencil you in.

 

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all whom serve and have served our country in the armed forces!

Joe

Sag Harbor to Reedville part one

On Aug 12, my Father, Father-in -Law, and Mother -in-Law left Reedville at 3:00 in the morning in route to Sag Harbor, NY to bring the new boat home.  The trip north was uneventful, and quicker than I expected, we arrived at John F's house by 2:00 that afternoon.  From there, we went straight to the boat and loaded our tools and supplies for the long trip that we had ahead of us.

After getting loaded, we went out for a short cruise out of the harbor to get a feel for the boat and to plan our route.  After our short boat ride, we returned to John's home where we had dinner and went straight to bed.  The next morning, everyone woke up early and went down to the dock.  We got underway by 8:00 & went by the lighthouse marking the entrance to Sag Harbor by 8:30.

 

 

 

                                     Within an hour, we had gone between Plum Point and Orient Point and then entered Long Island Sound.

 

 We had a great ride for the next few hours.  Long Island Sound is a beautiful stretch of water, with Connecticut on one side of us and Long Island NY on the other. During our trip down the sound, the water was like a sheet of steel, and other than a couple small rain showers the weather was great.

 Within a few hours, the skyline of New York City was coming into view, and by lunch time we were entering the East River.

  We were lucky enough to fall in behind a tugboat pushing a barge through the City so we were able to pay attention to some of the sites, rather than being focused strictly on navigating our way through the river.

 I have to say that New York City is a neat place, but I sure am glad that we were just passing through.

 After passing through Hells Gate, we went around the south end of Manhattan and into New York Harbor where we had to dodge between all of the commuter ferries.

 

We were within a mile of the Statue of Liberty, when our first bit of fun happened.

  Since we were an  unfamiliar vessel to this area, one of the numerous Coast Guard patrol vessels picked us out and boarded us. The two young men in the boarding party were very professional during their inspection, and luckily they did not find any infractions.

 

 

 

 

 

  After 30 minutes or so, we were free to continue our trip.  From there, we continued around Sandy Hook and then South to our first stop in Manesquan NJ.

 

 

We arrived at Crystal Point Yacht Club Marina by 6:30 that evening, where we had dinner and turned in early.

 The next day was going to be the longest part of our trip in open ocean between Manesquan and Cape May, needless to say I was a little nervous.