Special Olympics fishing event

[bhl]

I participated in the Special Olympics fishing event Saturday out of Middle River. I have done this in years past and it is a great time. 40 Special Olympians with varying handicaps and their parents come to the event and are treated to breakfast, fishing trip (perch fishing mostly) and then a cook out and the awards ceremony. Had 20 or 21 boats to take them all out including "Rockin Robin" and family all the way from Annapolis. Most fish were 6" perch but these guys don't care how big it is, they just love being out and taking a boat ride. Pic's attached.

[5th Tuition]

That's great Bruce; and it's nice to see Jason teaching his boys a valuable life lesson.

Kudo's to Hook 'Em and Rockin Robin
5th

[Chessie27]

I'll Second that! Well done gentlemen!

[Skip]

Well done - might not be a big deal to those of us who get to boat / fish a lot but giving others a day on the water is huge to others.

[Tawn]

I knew the first time I met you that you were a gentleman and had class - this just goes to prove how smart I am

[Mako mike]

Please let me know the next time this event is held. I would love to volunteer boat to take families out and/or any monetary or labor that would be needed to pull off such a event. Had the kids out this weekend in the bay down the ocean hon for the kids classic benefitting the wish a fish foundation between cast netting spot to bring back to the bay for live lining and trying to catch the elusive yellowfin tuna

[Rockin' Robin]

Thanks for introducing us to this event, Bruce... we all really enjoyed it! Before we left the boys asked if we could do it again next year. We also did the Annapolis Police Camp and Wish A Fish for first time this year. Such a joy to see the boys' empathy for our guests and watch the enjoyment they get from teaching and entertaining our guests.

The ride up to Middle River was very rough with 2-3 footers... thankfully we had a following sea. Bruce greeted us at the dock and we went in for donuts and met our guests. With an eye on the sky and the radar we headed out shortly after 9am and were told to stay close to port as there was a line of storms coming. 5 minutes out we got on edge of a shoal and dropped 4 lines with bloodworms (Thanks to Bruce for providing). We quickly got into the school of massive upper bay perch and our athletes were ecstatic to be pulling up perch sometimes 2 at a time. OK, they weren't actually massive, but tiny would be more appropriate... 3-6.5". I have never seen such small perch! Fortunately Robin insisted that we keep them anyway... we didn't see other boats catching anything (maybe they were using the provided nightcrawlers, dunno) and she wanted to make sure we weren't throwing back the winning fish! So into the live well they went. After about an hour of fishing, with lightning on the horizon the call came for all boats to head in. We got tied up, took some photos, and got our guests off the boat before the sky opened up. My boys pulled the perch out of the live well and put them in a little bucket and took the live perch for weigh-in. Each of our athletes had caught a 6.5" perch that weighed in at 0.15 pounds each and to their joy, that was good enough to earn them tie for 7th place and some nice trophies! After a nice lunch and DJ and dancing, they gave out the trophies and we headed home across much calmer seas than the trip up! It was interesting exploring the upper bay on the ride home and looking for some fish to drop spot on, but never found any action until we got to Bay Bridge, and jigged just a single 21 incher and then went for a swim off the boat close to home, ate dinner, and headed in after a great day.

[bhl]

Originally Posted by Tawn

I knew the first time I met you that you were a gentleman and had class - this just goes to prove how smart I am

Tawn,
That must have been after more than a few Crown Royals at the Harbor Shack in Rock Hall.

[bhl]

Originally Posted by Mako mike

Please let me know the next time this event is held. I would love to volunteer boat to take families out and/or any monetary or labor that would be needed to pull off such a event. Had the kids out this weekend in the bay down the ocean hon for the kids classic benefitting the wish a fish foundation between cast netting spot to bring back to the bay for live lining and trying to catch the elusive yellowfin tuna

Will do Mike. They always need captains and mates.