A long story to the sweet smell of victory! The MD bay on 12/6
 

It just took a little effort but we got 'em today. Left the dock at 7:00 with a plan to run south to PLO. With Marty's success there this week and someone on the radio yesterday afternoon saying "the fish are at 65", how can you not go there?? Just south of Point No Point, we came across a couple charters and a ton of birds working. Marks all over the meter! Quickly got 11 boat rods out and just new we hit the jackpot!.... Nuthin! There is no way we couldn't have at least snagged a fish, damn they were thick. Noticed it wasn't long before both charters had picked up and left. It wasn't long before we did the same thing. Just a slight hiccup in the master plan, nothing to be concern about. We're gonna smoke 'em as soon as we get to 65....

A few others were there when we arrived. 65 is right off Smith Point. Smith Point is the damn Md/Va LINE!! :eek: We trolled for about 2 hours marking very little and what we did mark was deep. We worked from 40-65' of water again without a knockdown. The wind was shifting and picking up a bit. That's right, first thing this morning when we needed to run 30 miles South, the wind was out of the SW. When it was time to head home, it had shifted to the NNW so we had a 70+ mile run right into it again :o

So back to the fish, or lack there off. With 65 not living up to expectations, the clock ticking, and a 4 hour run home into the wind, we decided to go back to where we first started this morning. Turns out we were right in front of Buzz's Marina. Birds were still going crazy and a guy in a 17' CC was out there enjoying them all by himself. We slid in and joined him and BAM, fish on!! Meter was loaded, birds diving by the millions, 1 other boat, and only 2 jigging rods for 3 guys :eek: I let the guys have at it while I stayed warm and dry in the cabin for a while. Did I mention there was a wee bit of rain today? We picked at small fish until we got 6 keepers in the box. They did let me catch one and I did it on my Father's Day gift jigging rod from Shore Tackle... FINALLY!!

So we were in 40-45' of water in front of Buzz's jigging larger metal to weed out tiny fish but fished high in the water column. Seemed like most were in the top 10' or so. Millions or billions of birds working so hard to miss "the spot".

At 12:08 we picked up and headed home with our limit of cute little 19"-24" Rock. The wind was bucking the tide and it was a bit bumpy but much like I anticipated, we finally got ahead of the tide change and things laid down around the Gas Docks. It was relatively smooth sailing up the bay from that point on. Once we got above the BB, the fog started easing in a bit. Made it back to the marina, fueled up, and in the slip by 4:00pm.

LONG LONG TRIP- 220 total miles on 104 gallons of diesel. Great time, boat preformed just as I thought it would, fishing was less than desired but better than working. Thanks to all who offered their help and insight to make this trip a successful. Man vs fish?? Today, the victory goes to man!! :D

I have to say, "You earned those fish":eek: Sounds like an adventure for sure:D
5th (Marty)

What ever you do - do not calculate the price per pound of those fillets :D

Thanks for info - and glad you got a few for dinner , you sure deserve them.

It was a fun trip even though the fishing wasn't off the charts. There were lies told, a drink or 10 consumed (back at the dock of course), raw oysters and steaks, fish caught, and everything returned to the barn safely. Now I can say, PLO? Been there done that. The good part is that the guys I took, who paid for everything, are already planning a trip back down in the spring. I guess that means they enjoyed themselves too right?? Sure beats working!