Last Charter of 2014

Earlier this week, Nathan & I ran our final trip of 2014 with Gregg Palmer.  As you can see (thanks to my new GoPro) we had an absolutely beautiful day to wind up our season.

Days as pretty as this one are not so common this late in December, but this one was certainly welcome.

We ran down the bay looking for signs of life, but this late in the season the fish have been harder and harder to find.  We put out our trolling gear out and started straining water.

Luckily, we were in the right place at the right time as a school of fish came together close to us and we has them to ourselves for a while.  Luckily, we were able to pull some legal size fish out of the many shorts that we caught.

I would like to thank everyone who fished with us during 2014.  I had a great year and had opportunities to fish with great people.  Fortunately, we had good fishing this year.  From the trophy Rock Fish this spring, to the Cobia, Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel his summer and the good number of Rock Fish this fall the fishing was great, and I have high hopes for 2015.  

In the next few weeks, I plan to do some Duck hunting, some maintenance on the Three Sons and then it will be time to get caught up on my HoneyDo list before it is time to get ready to fish again next spring.  

Take care of yourselves.  

Curran Trip

For the second year, Mark Curran, his family and friends took a fishing trip with me.  Fortunately, we had a beautiful day after having nearly an entire week of BAD weather. 

We left the dock as soon as the group arrived, and headed down the bay to a location that had produced fish for the past few days.  When we arrived, there were no birds working on places of fish  like we have been seeing in the past couple weeks, so we had to find the fish on our own.  Nathan & I got our trolling spread out and we started straining water.  Within an hour or so, I stumbled on a small place of fish, and we managed to pull a few fish out.  Unfortunately, this school of fish fell apart fairly quickly, so I picked up and started looking. 

Luckily, I ran into a good looking group of birds working the water.  We got our lines out again and started working.  Fortunately we managed to pull some more keepers out of the water before it was time to go home. 

We certainly had to work hard for the fish that we caught today, but it was an enjoyable day for sure.

Thanks again Mark for setting up the trip & I look forward to doing it again.

!!!!!THIS FALL HAS BEEN GREAT SO FAR!!!!!

Unfortunately, I have been WAY behind on my fishing reports lately, but I am happy to say that fishing has been AWESOME this fall.  Unlike last year, I am happy to say that the Chesapeake Bay is FULL of Striped Bass right now!

Over the past few weeks I have had GREAT trips with GREAT people, and I can honestly say that I am having a lot of fun doing this.

 With the exception of one trip, we have had good weather, and fish catches have been consistently good for us.  Fortunately, the bay is full of "peanut" sized menhaden which is the perfect food for Rock Fish. These fish are really "strapping on the feed bag" and eating everything in site so that they fatten up for the upcoming winter. 

I wish that this fishing would last all year, but unfortunately we only have a few more weeks left. 

If you are interested in fishing this season, please contact me soon to get on the schedule! 

Phenomenal day on the Bay!

On Saturday, my Mate and I had the opportunity to fish with the same group that fished with me during the Reedville Fishing Derby back in May and we managed to follow up a phenomenal fishing trip with another phenomenal fishing trip!  We left the dock early and had beautiful conditions once we got out into the bay.  On our cruise out, I noticed a lot of birds heading east as the sun was coming up, and when we got across the shipping channel we found out what they were after. 

When we got over to Tangier lump, there were acres of birds working with plenty of striped bass under them.  Nathan and I got our trolling spread out as fast as we could,and almost instantaneously we had fish on.  We chased these fish for an hour or so, catching many fish but a lot of them were small & had to be returned.  Unfortunately, these fish played out quickly so we ran a little further east and found more birds working.

 

Again, we had great success in the new location.  These fish were as thick as I have seen in a long time.  Many times we went through the schools of fish all six rods hooked up at the same time, and several had multiple rockfish on.  Luckily, these fish were larger than earlier, some were up to 30"

 

I'm guessing that we caught +80 fish during the day, and we had our limit of legal size fish by 9:00 but we finished out our day catching and releasing fish until everyone was worn out. 

The quality and number of fish that we had last weekend makes me really optimistic for the upcoming fall and winter.  The fishing activity is really starting to heat up in the Chesapeake Bay right now, and as the water temperature continues to drop, the big fish should be here in force very soon.  Luckily, there is no shortage of bait for these fish to feed on.  

We still have some weekend dates open during PRIME fishing time this fall.  Give me a call at 804-436-3241 to book your date soon! 

Fall Dates Available

October 4th is the opening day for Rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay, and this season stays in until December 31.  So far, I have been fortunate to book a good number of trips for this season, but I still have some prime weekend dates available during the time that BIG Rockfish are typically in the bay.

If you are considering making a trip to the bay this fall or early winter to go out after rockfish, don't waste any time getting your date reserved on my book.

The Bay is full of bait right now, and as the water cools down, the rockfish will make their way into the Chesapeake Bay to fatten up, in preparation for the time that they spend out in the Ocean.  If all goes well, we will have a great fall season, and we will be seeing sites like this on a regular basis soon.

 We would love for you to come fish with us this season.  Call me at 804-436-3241 to reserve your date soon before someone else does.

Team Heme Trip

Earlier this summer, my Mate Nathan and I spent the day fishing with Dr. Iqbal Hamza and the rest of Team Heme. 

With our passengers being Professors from University of Maryland, University of Utah, University of Georgia Athens and Harvard Medical School, Nathan and I were certainly on the bottom of the mental ability list that day.

That morning started out nice enough.  During the night before, we had a strong southerly wind and when we got out into the bay, we still had a decent swell from that direction. Other than the sizable waves, the conditions were fishable.  On our way out, we stopped and trolled around an artificial reef with limited results.  We opted to pick up our gear and head east to a spot that had been producing fish for me pretty consistently during the weeks before.
As soon as we got our anchor set, we started a chum line and got our lines out, in short order we started getting bites.  The first fish that we caught were bluefish, but within an hour or so we hooked into a few Cobia.  These fish had become extremely tackle shy, and as a result we were forced to use the lightest tackle that we could get away with to get hook-ups.  During our stay there, we managed to get several fish on the line, including one that walked us all the way around the boat and just out of gaff range 6-8 times before pulling the hook. 

I sure would have liked to bring these fish home with us, but at least we had the opportunity to do battle with them. 

Unfortunately, the wind picked up and the seas did too.  With one of our group looking a little "green", we decided to take a trip into Tangier Island for lunch and a quick tour.  Once we tied up at Parks Marina, we went up the street and had a great lunch with Jamie Parks at Lorraine's, and then the group took a short tour of the island.

Earlier that week, when I spoke to Iqbal to set the trip up, he had indicated that all of the guys that would be fishing with us that day had an interest in Tangier Disease http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier_disease (which is named after the Island), and they refer to it during their class room instruction, but three of them had not had the opportunity to visit.

During our stay there, the weather became unsettled.  I could see several thunderstorms building up to the west,so we opted to run back to Reedville rather than fishing any longer.  Our trip back across the Chesapeake was fairly uneventful with the exception of running through a couple rain showers and one wave that made its way over the cabin and into our open hatches.  By the time we arrived at the dock, the storms had passed and the sun was out again.

Thank you again for fishing with us this summer.  I hope you had as much fun as Nathan and I did, and that we can do it again next year.  

Kenny Lee Trip

I had the pleasure to fish with Kenny Lee, his Son and four of his friends from the Winchester area last Saturday. These guys came down and stayed in our bunk house on Friday evening and spent some time pre-fishing on our dock that evening.  Based on what I saw, I could tell they were serious about catching fish!  I'm pretty sure that they terrorized every fish in Cockrell's Creek that night, and had a great time doing it. Saturday morning, we headed out into the Bay and set up on some good looking bait marks.

 

We set out our trolling spread and caught a few fish pretty quickly, but the fish played out.  Luckily I got a call from my Cousin telling me that he was on the fish 7 miles away from us.  We hauled our gear in and hauled it in his direction.  Within a few minutes of arrival, we were on the fish in a big way.  Many times when we passed through the school, all six rods were hooked up with fish.  With all of the chaos going on, we managed to land our limit within 1.5 hours.

 

 

 

With a box full of fish, we opted to pull away from the big school of fish and troll toward home.  We trolled our way toward the dock while Joe Lucas and I cleaned all of those fish and we still managed to catch and release another 15 a 20 fish.  Needless to say, we had a phenomenal day of fishing, and we got to share it with a GREAT group of guys.  Thank you for fishing with us last weekend, and I look forward to doing it again in November!

Kaczenski Trip

My Mate Joe Lucas and I had the opportunity to fish with Chris and April Kaczenski, their Daughter and two of their friends on Saturday.  We had some wind when we got out in the Bay, and as a result it was a little rough when we started fishing, otherwise it was a pretty morning. 

Joe& I put our trolling spread out as soon as we found bait.  After we strained water for about an hour, we found a nice area of Spanish Mackerel.  These fish show up for a few weeks every summer, and give us some great action.
Luckily, we were in the right spot at the right time and we had consistent catches all day long.

 I really appreciate you guys fishing with Joe and I this weekend.  We had a great day and look forward to doing it again next year. 

Jerry and Michael's Trip

Jerry and Michael Moreland along with the rest of their group got out on the water with me last Saturday and had a great day.  When we ran out into the Bay that morning, it was a little rough, but as we made it  further east the seas laid down, and as the day went on it  got even better.
When we finally got to where we were heading we got our trolling spread out, and after a few tackle malfunctions we finally got straightened out and started catching fish.  As the morning went on, lots of bait fish started showing on top, and along with them were plenty of nice size Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel.
By the end of the day, we managed to put a good number of fish in the box.

Thanks again for spending the day fishing with Nathan and I last Saturday!  I look forward to doing it again very soon.

Blessing of the Fleet

Many coastal towns all over the country, whose economies depend on fishing have the tradition of asking the blessing of our Lord for a safe and productive season with a Blessing of the Fleet service.  For many years, my home town of Reedville, VA has also had this tradition.  Every year on the Sunday before the opening day of the menhaden season, several area churches join together at the site of the old Morris-Fisher plant and historic Stack http://savethestack.blogspot.com/ in Reedville to participate in our Blessing of the Fleet. 
Since this was the first year that our new boat was in the area (in a long time), my family and friends made a point to be  present to accept our share of the blessings.

 Graciously, Rev. James Godwin offered the following blessing for our new vessel.  I don't think that anyone could have done a better job, and I am eternally grateful for him taking time to perform this blessing.