Davis Trip

On last Saturday, my old friend Jesse Davis went fishing with me.  He has been working very hard over the past few weeks finishing up his new house in time to move in by Christmas, but decided to take break and get off of the land for a day.  As usual, we left the dock early and went out into the bay  looking  for striped bass.  Again, we headed south and kept our eyes peeled for any signs of rockfish working on bait. Unfortunately we didn't see any signs of fish working on the vast quantity of bait that we saw, until we made the turn into the Rappahannock River.  As we went further up the river, we started marking more and more rockfish, so we decided to put our spread out.  We caught a few fish pretty quickly, but unfortunately they weren't large enough to take home.  We kept changing our spread throughout the day until we found what the fish were looking for.  Once the tide changed, the rockfish got together and finally decided it was time to eat.  After straining water for sometime, we picked up some legal sized fish.

  Because of the long trip we had ahead of us, we picked up our spread at 2:00 and headed home.  It was a great day on the water, and the last trip that I had booked for the 2013 season.

All in all, this was a good first season of fishing on the Three Sons.  I had many good compliments from customers on my boat, and honestly she has performed very well this season.  I had great opportunities to fish with wonderful people, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  I want to thank everyone that fished with me this year, and I look forward to having you back in the near future.  Unfortunately, the fishing has not been terrific this fall, but I have a good feeling that this spring will be a different story. 

Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope that all of you enjoy a great holiday with your friends and family!

Joe   

Moreland Trip

When my Father, Captain Fred Biddlecomb first started carrying charter trips for a living, one of the first groups that he booked was put together by a man named Jerry Moreland.  Jerry booked dad for one of the first Reedville Bluefish Derby tournaments in the early 1980's which at that point was quite an event.  Unfortunately they did not win that tournament, but that weekend started a lifelong friendship between Jerry and my Dad.  From that point on, Jerry, his friends and family fished with Dad every year in that tournament and numerous other times during the year until he was unable to because of his health.  Unfortunately, we lost Jerry several years ago, but his three sons Jerry, Michael, and Mark still take trips with Dad and I several times per year.
Today, Michael, his Son Hunter, Brother Jerry and 3 other friends fished with my Mate Michael Sisson and I.  Although it was overcast, the early part of the day was beautiful, we had light southeast winds and the rain held off until later in the day.

 We ran waaaaay down the bay looking for birds working on baitfish and hopefully some striped bass working on that same bait.  Fortunately, there is no shortage of Menhaden fish in Chesapeake Bay despite what some groups may say to the contrary,

however in the locations that we covered today, legal sized Rockfish were scarce.  

We strained water all day, but finished up with less than stellar results.

Thank you Morelands and friends for fishing with me today.  As always, it was good to see you!  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and I look forward to fishing with you this spring.  

Joe