I am, well, Josh Kaptur
I'm a california native, Pennsylvania raised, but definitely call Maryland HOME 30 year old government employee. Beautiful wife of almost 10 years and no kids... yet.
I moved here in 2002 to be a high school English teacher and caught my first rockfish ever after I purchased a Hobie kayak at the DC boat show in 2006. It was 2006 Flats C&R season and was trolling a charteuse/green crippled alewife spoon in about 4-5 feet of water. The water was crystal clear and I could easily see the bottom. I trolled over a sunken tree and could clearly see several HUGE (99% of my fishing before this was flyfishing for trout or largemouth/smallmouth) fish hunkering down on it. Figured I spooked them and hand't even heard of light tackle fishing so I just trolled right over without any thought. About 10 seconds later BAAAAMMMM my wallmart-purchased shakespeare doubled over and I was confident I had hooked the tree. I spun the kayak around and was TRILLED to see that "tree" taking off like lighting to the side (the way a rockfish fights in shallow water is extra special). A few minutes later I was able to hail a nearby boat who graciously took a picture of what began the addiction:
3 years later I own a 2007 Sea Hunt 220 Escape w/ Yammi F225, and still occasionally get out in the yak. I'm a certified light tackle junkie, and fish that way 99% of the time... but it will take 50 inches on a BKD or topwater to beat that first rockfish trolled up on a spoon on the flats.
I'd also settle for a Mako or a Tuna on my boat - something we have tried 8 times in the past two years but not done successfully yet. There's nothing quite like sitting on an acre of boiling water 30 miles out of Ocean City watching 100-200 pound tuna completely air out of the water all around you... other than sticking some steel into one of them (or so I'm told)!!!!
I supplement my fishing addicition with participating in triathlons, or some might say it's the other way around. Both hobbies are weekend killers. With church on Sundays (very important to me) that usually means I'm picking between a long bike ride or a long boat ride on saturdays. I do have off every other friday from work, which helps. I often joke I should "summarize" my boat, since it gets used FAR MORE from November to April than from May to October.
Much to my HO's disappointment, I like to wakeboard and waterski almost as much as I like to fish. I'd rather jig up a trophy for sure, but in the summer you're more likely to find me at the end of a tow rope than dunking bloodworms. I think I earn my man-card back in the winter though.
Say "hi" if you see me on the water or the ramp. I love meeting new people and love introducing people to the sport. I have taken more than 30 people on their first ever LTJ trip on my boat in the past two years. All of them have caught fish and all but 4 children did it with light tackle.
