Today, a couple of fishing buddies and I decided to take a trip over the bridge and spend a day on the Eastern Shore. We first went to Jim's (Boe Marine) where I spent some time with Jim going over the Lowrance HDS 7 and 8. Finally made up my mind and spoke to Jim about a possible instalation date. Then we went to Chesapeake Outdoorsman and poked around the store and picked up a few things. I've been wanting to look up the custom rod place and finally found a small store just in front of the "Fisherman's Inn and Crab House" where he's located. To our surprise, Bill O'Brien sells custom lures as well (
www.shoretackleandcustomrods.com). He also carries a host of other things from scotty clips, sunglasses, and fishing pliers to repairs on rods and reels. We had a blast talking to him and a Charter Captain (Mark Galasso of the "Tuna the Tide"
www.exploredelmarva.com). We compared notes from last years livelinning bite off Poplar Island and also talked a little bit of trolling. Bill had two items that I thought were pretty neat. First a custom rod that unscrews the butt from the blank; making a 6'6" rod easier for travel or easier to fit in the cabin. Agreed; custom rods are expensive, but if you can afford one, why not look into the one that you can disasemble. The other item was an Okuma trolling reel for $75 (now your in my pocketbook range) that looked like it was well worth the money, sorry I forgot the model number. It had a larger gearbox than a penn 330 and it came with a power handle (the penn doesn't). We talked about the quality of different brands and not to put any brands down, Bill thought the Okuma reels were increasing in quality while some others were heading the wrong way. We must have spent 45 minutes in the shop just BS'ing and picking his and Capt. Galasso's brain. I felt badly because I had spent all my money at the previouse tackle shop, but Bill made us feel right at home anyway.
We eventually made our way to Holley's for a late lunch and headed back across the bay looking at whitecaps and windy conditions. Looks like a lot of icy water in the shallows, and boat ramps are probably iced in for most of us. If you get a day to yourself and you are looking for something to do; hit a few tackle shops in your area, pick up a few things and talk fishing. Then treat yourself to a good lunch. Throw in a couple of buddies and make a day of it. I can't wait for the fishing flea markets to start!!!! 5th (Marty)