For those interested; that's charter trip in reverse
.
I've spent so much time on "Patent Pending" as Capt. John's mate, I decided to turn the tables today and have him on my boat out of Buzz's
. I had reports (thanks guys) that the bite was on, and if I wanted to get in on some big fish, I needed to trailer south.
Last night I was worried that we would be greated this morning with dense fog; but the stars were shining on me (literally) when the alarm went off at 3:15 am. Allen (just chillin) and Bruce (my friend from Hancock,Md) met me at my house at 4am and we headed for Deale where we were to meet Capt. John at his resturant (South County Cafe). John had agreed to bring the food for four of us as his contribution toward the trip.
The Judge pulled in to Deale around 5am and John met us with sandwiches, drinks, chips, cookies, nature bars, and muffins. We always joke that his boat is the only boat you could get lost at sea for 6 months; and have gained weight when finally found
.
We arrived at Buzz's Marina around 6:30 and launched to a beautiful sunrise. Still no fog and smooth as glass water; I hope our luck holds for the rest of the day
We exited St Jerome Creek and found ourselves north of red 70. I dropped to trolling speed and Bruce, Allan, and John set lines. It was good to see Capt. John working on the back deck
.
We trolled south and found little bait
. As I approached red 70, I saw nice bait on the screen. I was showing John how my downscan/sidescan displayed the bait, when a board line popped and a nice 40 inch fish was boated by John. I had asked Allan to bring his net (I usually use a gripper) for todays trip. I had to laugh, Allan's net is HUGE. Not only is the mouth extra large, but the handle goes from one side of the boat to the other. We all laughed because as you began the "dipping" process, I would yell "duck" so the handle wouldn't hit you in the head.
Another fish hit a deep umbrella with 24 oz. weight back 75 feet. As we were bringing it in, Bruce laughed and said, "Do you remember what's on that umbrella"? Mike (garlien) has been hot with his rattle traps on smaller fish in the upper bay; so just for s_its and giggles, I put a "tomic" lure on an umbrella and sent him a photo of it. It wobbles like a RT and it has a rattle in it like a RT, and I have NEVER caught anything on one before. We took a photo and sent it to Mike
Another fish hit the other deep umbrella and took enough drag as to get wrapped in TWO other lines. I could see getting wrapped in one line, but two? I steered the boat as the "crew" kept saying things like, "I think this rod goes over that rod, and then this rod comes under that rod". I sat at the wheel and chuckled as I told John that he just failed his "mate" test. Once they got the lines correct (which entailed cutting some lines), Capt John said, " put me back behind the wheel where I belong". No way, I was enjoying this toooooo much.
Our fourth and final "over" came at 10:30am on an unweighted umbrella back 200 feet. My crew got even with me as they let me
bring in this fish.
We played C/R with some more fish before heading back to the dock. As another fish took drag from a reel, Capt John grabed the rod from the holder. He had the fish well hooked and was gaining ground nicely. He took one hand off the rod and while in the act of lowering his hand, he hit the lever and put the reel into FREESPOOL
Luckily, only a small birdsnest was formed, but the fish got off the hook
. No worries, a new nickname was born. The next time you go into South County Cafe for a bit to eat, ask to talk to the owner, John "Freespool" Whitman
.
It was a fun day with 7 fish landed; or 8 if you include John's quick release "freespool" fish
If you aren't looking for a good time fishing, stay off my boat. We always have a good time, even on those rare occassions when fish don't hit the deck.
Best of luck to everyone, it was a beautiful day to be on the water.
5th (Marty)