12/23.. Plo
 

anyone fishing?

Anything to report from yesterday? I'm hoping to fish on Friday 12/26. Give me something to get excited about :D

All I know is I woke up around 7:30 am and it was foggy. I had a couple of buddies come over around 10 am and it was still foggy. We hit Clyde's Bait and Tackle and then Bass Pro Shop; and it was still foggy:eek:

I don't have radar on my boat, so I was glad I wasn't sitting in the parking lot at PLO still waiting for the fog to lift:D

Best of luck on the 26th.
5th

Fishing sucked for me! I have my Friday trip cancelled in hopes of seeing good Friday reports before driving all the way there for a Saturday trip.

We left PLO just after 7am and the plan was to run down to 65 and catch and release before going over the line to play for keeps. We hit the fingers by 65 and after about 15 min of looking in the heavy fog we found a pod of fish. We ended up catching one fish fairly quickly that was close to 30" on the only 10" BKD we were using (released MD waters). However I had a sick member of the party (flu) and they asked me to run him home as I started the boat for another drift through the marks.

It took about an hour to run the gentleman to the dock and get back to 65 in the heavy fog where I had marked some pods on the GPS. (visibility was less than 1/2 mile, maybe 1/4) By then, I couldn't find the fish again. There were only small pods of bait around but we were marking fish just off the bottom but couldn't get them to bite.

We ran down to smith point and searched from the shallower water by the light house (where we found our fish last time) to the deep water. We found bait in the deep water and started casting out, letting the bait sink, and retrieving up through the column. Two guys got hit on the first drift and one guy didn't come tight and the other broke the 15lb test braid on the line before we got the fish in the boat. We moved around a number of times again without a tap and didn't see the trolling boats catching eith.

Got word of a bite last Sunday on the south side of the Potomac across from the PLO state park. Like a bonehead, I chased an old report and ran up to inside Potomac from Smith Point. We found ZERO marks in the Potomac so we ran back to the channel edge looking for fish with no luck either.

Hindsight, I should have just kept running south as a buddy had better luck down by the mouth of the rapp.. (but you know what they say about hindsight).

It was a very very discouraging trip for me as I had a party on board and did not have good success. I made a poor decision of not continuing to run south, had to have my eyes buried in my radar all day, and spent too much time running and not fishing.

I did hear of a decent trolling bite up the Potomac in the deep water. However that was second hand info. The bite certainly was tough for most as I talked to several people and other than the one guy, everyone came up empty. There were a few guys who trolled back at the ramp empty handed too.

We had 41-42 degree water all day and zero visibility.

Not my best experience chartering.. The guys on board were a good group of guys though.

Certainly sounds like a tough day. Don't beat yourself up about second guessing your decisions; we all have days like that:D
5th

Some days it just doesn't gel. Sounds like you kept your party safe and dry in some less than stellar conditions. I hate running by radar and looking at the fog all day, it takes a toll on your eyes. People that have never run a boat in those conditions will never know how much concentration it takes.
By the way, was the guy with the flu still on the pier when you returned at the end of the day :eek:

I certainly had a headache at the end of the day. Between the stress of not finding a good bite when it had been on fire the last month +, staring at the radar screen all day, and driving nearly 2 hours each way towing in the rain on the way down, etc. I am still frustrated today.

I hope to hear that the sun and hopefully some warmer temps will turn the bite back on so I can end the year on Sat with a good trip.

Catch them up Friday guys so I can go into Sat with hope. If not I may cancel the trip.

At least you were fishing, that's more than I can say. We've all been there.....coulda...shoulda :D Even when fishing is decent but not great, I still second guess myself thinking I could have done better in another location. Unfortunately in the PLO area there is SO much water that, unless you get some help from the birds, it's tough to know where to fish.

Last day of the season was comical; fish everywhere, but anytime we saw you pick up and run, we threw the binoculars up to see what bird action you were headed to:) We could find a different group to check out on our own, but we most of the time knew where you and Greg were:eek:

Our last group of fish were so nice that I called Greg over, however, he had just run threw them trolling and picked up several overs out of the group we were jigging:):)
It's nice when we have a couple boats to scout the area; like you said, that's a lot of water down that way:roll eyes:
5th

It's a tough deal taking folks money when the fishing sucks, but it's the nature of the business - it has happened to everyone and it will happen again.

I have been on expensive trips to Canada, the Great Lakes, the Keys and Costa Rica when the fishing sucked - the Captain/mate/guide busted their asses but sometimes you're the windshield, somedays your the bug.

Don't beat yourself up over it.

I give you credit for trying and being understanding about running a " sick " person back.

99% of charters would consider that the end of a trip - from # 65 to ramp is decent run.

Got to love it when guys insist on bringing their own gear - then break off a fish :eek:.

Few more years of chartering and you'll understand why older captains talk to themselves , drink heavily , stare off at the moon and try to bite their own nose. :D

OR; have a mate to deal with the customers:eek: If it was a good group, John was chatty, if they were a pain (either drunk adults or bored kids) I dealt with them:(
5th

Retired people are very patient and are supposed to be good with kids and drunks:rolleyes:

I think Captain John's favorite passengers were kids (6-10 years old) who kept running in and out of the cabin and slamming the door:mad:

I think he ground his teeth down several inches on those days.

I didn't mind the kids so much. I would grab them and start games like tossing 9 inch shassy shads into a five gallon bucket from ten feet away. I'd get them into a little competition. What really aggravated me was the parents. They would sit back and watch the kids run around the boat, opening drawers and cabinets, and making a pain of themselves. It was as if they thought, "I paid for the boat for the next 6 hours, I own it".

I could never hire my boat out:D Even some of my friends wear tennis shoes with black soles:eek:
Which reminds me, I need to buy some more Mr Clean Magic Erasers:roll eyes:
5th

My crew was great that day. I was just frustrated between running in the fog, the lack of bite, and the difficulty locating even good marks. Plus I was frustrated with myself that I didnt stick to my own game plan of continuing to go south. Running back to the ramp after finding a bite was a bit frustrating but the guy didnt look good. He evidently had the flu with a fever all weekend.

I didnt discount the trip due to a lack of action, which I wasnt sure if I should have done. After all I ran A LOT more than I planned burning a lot of fuel, plus the nerve racking headache of running in the fog all day under radar (I do have very very good radar with MARPA). My one buddy who charters said I shouldnt have discounted given the effort as he has been to the Orioles games and they have been blown out before without getting a discount. It was just a disappointing trip after having such HUGE success after the last month plus down there. (it was easy fishing though.. Just follow the birds).

The parties I dont like are the ones more interested in drinking first, fishing second. I am trying to weed my way out of those groups. Most my parties at this point are repeats, especially in the summer live lining so most my parties are great. Heck I had one group who went with me 5x this year and another 4x. I bet around half went 2x this year with me.

My kid trips are mostly live lining. Let them catch the stuff out of spot and perch and watch them swim in the livewell while the parents go for rockfish. Seems to work well.

That's awesome! Repeat customers are happy customers!! They are also more forgiving on your bad days because "well we nailed 'em last trip". :D
Being a boat without a mate, repeat customers also means people that at least have an idea of what the drill is = easier on the Capt/mate ;). I don't charter, but always try to have someone onboard that knows what's up, especially when running boards!! (God bless Margaret!!!):D

Keep up the good work Greg! Actually I'm doing some math right now and I might sell everything and become a "semi-knowledgable" repeat customer for someone.... Any package deals for a guy and his wife that want to book every Sat and Sunday?? (I won't have to clean, paint, or maintain the boat though right???) :p

You should just keep 6 pairs of T.I.T.'s on board to give to your black soled friends:D

Great idea. I just bought some to keep on the boat. I hope my buddies like them:)
I bet they remember non-marking soles next time!
5th

Thats 2/3rds of our business. It all pays the same and the drunks tend to tip a little better ... send them our way :D