merry christmas 2009

i hope everyone had a merry christmas!

fishing during blizzard 2009

here is a shot of me on friday...and there i am sunday: what a difference. john and i barely made it home alive from kiptopeake friday after some crazy good fishing: it took us 12 hours to get back to maryland and was the scariest ride of my life! thank god we dumped the boat in heathsville before heading up the road. but what a mess! when we arrived at 2 am, john realized his car keys must have been in the jacket that blew overboard. so here his car sits...iced in for the duration.

guilty or not?

i got this misdemeanor ticket for illegal fish possession while down at kiptopeake state park on the chesapeake bay a few weeks ago. my fishing license is issued by the potomac river fisheries commission, and according to the website, is accepted in the southern portion of the bay and allows me to catch two striped bass with a minimum size of 18" and one over 28" during this late fall season...so wtf? why don't they standardize the fishing laws so i don't have to waste an entire day+, not to mention gas and taxpayer $ for court costs. epic fail!

the angry fisherman busted!

this past week I headed down to cape Charles, Virginia with two of my brothers and six friends for some serious rock fishing. first day out: we caught our limit quickly and headed back in at sunset...we were met at the boat ramp by the marine police who asked to review our catch: happily, we opened the coolers. sadly, we had misinterpreted the winter catch limits and all six fish fell into the 'illegal' category- between 24 and 36 inches. as captain, I was ticketed for a misdeamenor and will have to drive the six hours back for a court appearance in February. now I am angry!

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oyster stuffing

the wife does a great job at thanksgiving...sometimes i like to lend a hand: im making oyster stuffing for the turkey she's grilling. yeah: she's going to try grilling the turkey this year. im going to run up to faunce's to pick up fresh oysters: you can order them from j&w seafood.

Saturday riding

no fishing this weekend...I'm headed to meet the boys for some Saturday riding.

maybe we will head to kent island for some crab soup.

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bass pro sale

john's mom brought me this rod a few weeks ago...still havent picked up a reel. headed to the bass pro shop sale to see if i can find something.

bay splash

baysplash magazine is a new discovery, covering lifestyles in virginia's chesapeake bay. some great photos and interesting essays.

tidal potomac fly rodders

im not that into flyfishing because im impatient. but john forwarded this link to tidal potomac fly rodders group on google. seems interesting.

Sunday fishing

we still had really high tides on the Potomac today, despite the calm weather compared to Saturday. I trolled from here down the river then up the bay to the patuxent using chartreuse...tons of fish on the fish finder: not a bite today! should have listened to the wife: she over heard at rw's that people were hitting on white in 50 feet. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

pocket tug boat

saw this mini tug boat while on the way to rw's. the little boat is all metal construction with a stamped steel deck: it's in pretty good shape! reminds me of popeye's boat: very cool!

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rw's sport shop

like a need another rod!

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52-foot buddy davis

you can buy this 52-foot buddy davis from commonwealth boat brokers if you have the $.

taxidermy squirrel fish

the wife sells her jewelry on etsy, who's archrival is regretsy. regretsy found this insane taxidermist on etsy, and the wife did a post on it last night...i will let her do the talking this time because i really have nothing to say.

how to cleanup the chesapeake bay

the environmental protection agency's draft on how to clean up the chesapeake bay (this time) is due this week. sediment samples from the 180-mile long estuary are being analyzed to pinpoint dead zones and help determine where actions need to be taken first. above is a photo of the vessel rachel carson carrying out research for the project by locating dead sediments, which are basically mud with little or no oxygen. Clams and worms and microscopic plants at the bottom of the food chain — down in the mud — need that oxygen and it isn't there. in oxygen's place is extra nitrogen and phosphorous, mostly from sewage, cars and fertilizer. The nitrogen and phosphorous act as food for algae, which eat them and grow into huge floating blooms. oxygen is removed from the water when the algae die and decompose: that's deadly.

read more or watch the video here.

f650 super truck

do i really need to upgrade the f450?

then i might have to get a bigger boat!

gone fishing

heading out to smith point light...looking for rock.
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futuristic boat

futuristic boat built for one of the siberian govenors. hmmm....im sure there's nothing corrupt about that!

fishing from a jetski

last night i did a post on tog caught from a jetski . nice photos, but later i began to think about this: where did he store the fish? how was this jet ski rigged? who was this guy? so, i checked jetski brian out. he came up with a truly custom pwc that can do most any fishing duty.
read his interesting story here.

jetski fishing on the chesapeake bay

these are sweet tog! caught on the bay near the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel yesterday, this guy fishes from his jetski. he also caught some rock...check his photos at the hull truth.

clearing skies

yet another stormy weekend...clouding up the water: the fish remained hidden...and it gets dark so early these days! looks like its clearing up for the work week, though: figures.
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nomura's jellyfish capsizes fishing boat

a japanese fishing trawler capsized when its three-man crew tried to haul in a net containing dozens of huge nomura's jellyfish: they were rescued by another trawler. the local coast guard office reported that the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident.
relatively little is known about this huge jellyfish, such as why some years see thousands of the creatures floating across the sea of japan on the tsushima current: 15,500 reports of damage to fishing equipment was reported in 2007. in 2008 there were virtually no sightings. experts believe weather and water conditions in the breeding grounds, off the coast of china, have been ideal for the jellyfish in recent months. they also believe that one contributing factor to the jellyfish becoming more frequent visitors to japanese waters may be a decline in the number of predators, which include sea turtles and certain species of fish.
hope they dont make it to the chesapeake anytime soon!

best last minute halloween costume ever!

got some red plastic cups and plates? you got a (cooked) lobster costume, apparently.

small craft advisory

fantastic up-cycling of lazyboy love seat. comfy and romantic, too! from the always funny thereifixedit.com.

oysters for sale!

j&w seafood out of deltaville have york river oysters on sale just through halloween: they ship everywhere! i sent soft shells from j&w to the west coast in june: they arrived icy and were delicious. good stuff.

young of the year

for the past 50 years the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has sampled the same 22 locations in the chesapeake bay for the health of the "young of the year" striped bass survey. biologists identified and counted more than 35,000 fish of 49 species, including 1,039 young-of-year striped bass in this year's survey. DNR has monitored the reproductive success of striped bass and other species in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay annually since 1954. 22 locations in the four major spawning systems are visited monthly from July through September, collecting fish samples with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine. The index is calculated as the average catch of young-of-year fish per sample. the 2009 results were announced last week, and although the 7.9 catch per haul was lower than the long term average of 11.7, it is still within the 'normal' range. read the full report on chesapeake bay news.

i love local commercials

there are angry people every where...i think this guy forgot the purpose of a commercial is to entice people in to doing business with you. oh, well...painfully honest and funny.

million dollar fish ?

well, this big girl is definately a world record bass catch @ 25.1 pounds, but the question is whether the way the fish was caught qualifies her for the title. i guess we will see: dont go buying anything yet, boys.

chew on this 500 pound fish

that is a big fish...could feed an entire neighborhood. glad they released him though: the goliath grouper has been on the critically endangered species list since 1990.

sunday is for fishing

lonely day fishing for rock on the chesapeake

waiting for the storm

fished at the channel marker this morning...brought her in before storms blew down the Potomac river.
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text updates for blue crabbing regulations

Because there are so many changes in regulations for the commercial harvest of blue crabs throughout the season, Maryland Fisheries Service has set up a program that will send text message reminders to your cell phone. A day or two before a regulation change goes into effect you will receive a reminder about things like changes in the female bushel limits and closure periods as well as changes in male and peeler minimum sizes. There is no charge for this program from the Fisheries Service, but there may be charges from your cell phone service provider so check with them for details. To sign up, click this link and enter your name, cell phone number (numbers only, example 4431234567), select your service provider and then click the subscribe button - it's that easy and you can unsubsrcibe at any time.

monster pike

wow, that's a big one.

north east storm

crazy tides this weekend. decided to not drop the boat.

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st. mary's oyster festival

i had planned on getting the proline from the shop and driving it today across the potomac today or riding my new busa to the st.mary's oyster festival, but the flu combined with a nasty storm has made both impossible. think i will stay in and watch the speed channel...and nap.

no'easter causes super high tide

low pressure off the coast caused the boat ramp to disappear under a very high tide- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

1989 82ft Custom Cockpit - Motoryacht

this 82-foot custom motoryacht is so awesome, and its for sale right down the road in richmond. my boat-broker brother-in-law says i should offer half of the asking price from the bank.

the national data bouy center

its getting chilly and that means rock season is heating up! but boating on the bay and counting on good weather is a crap shoot, as noted in the weather channel's "epic conditions": 40 people die each year on the chesapeake bay. so the national oceanic and atmospheric administration set up the national data bouy center, which monitors weather and water data for water areas throughout the country. additional monitors have been installed in the bay to create a grid of buoys, 1.5 miles on center, to keep on eye on all micro climates the bay has to offer. use it in good health.

house, boathouse, boat

this is a sweet setup designed by Sluijmer & van Leeuwen Architects.
via contemporist

Wal-Mart Bass Fishing Lague Regional Championship on Potomac River

hats off for Steve Miller of Mechanicsville, Virginia who won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Potomac River Regional Championship this past Saturday with a three-day 15-bass catch weighing 48 pounds, 8 ounces. for his efforts he won a Miller Ranger 198VX boat with a choice of a 200 horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha motor and a Chevrolet 1500 Silverado. he also qualified for the 2010 BFL All-American to be held in Davenport, Iowa, May 27-30, 2010, on the Mississippi River where he could ultimately win a top prize of $140,000 and a trip to the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.

done fishing

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chesapeake bay sunset

pro-line is still in the shop...too lazy to take out the zodiac...cast off the pier and caught the neighbor's pier...sunset was awesome.

st. croix saltwater rod

john's mom grew up near park falls, wisconsin. she made a visit back home last week and picked me up a new saltwater rod from the st. croix factory...john got three.

chesapeake bay clean up

the bay journal reports that u.s. senator ben cardin has introduced a bill to speed up the mandated chesapeake bay cleanup by five years earlier than the 2025 deadline. it would also make the executive order issued by president obama legally binding so it couldnt be overturned by a future administration. cardin's proposal includes stormwater system upgrades, construction and development regulations, a moratorium on commercial menhaden fishing in the bay, classification of asian oysters as "a biological pollutant" to prevent their release into the bay, and increased nutria eradication efforts, among other things. the final version is due out this month. anything for more (healthy) fishing!

record muskie caught!

i only know about muskie fishing from my ifishing iphone app and i know they get large, but damn: that is a big one! this michigan-state record muskie was caught last week near traverse city. they look a little toothy! can you eat them?

laptop and iphone skins

my macbook pro has a few scratches after two years of abuse, so i've been looking for a cool cover. my favorite -so far- is this awesome painting-turned-laptop skin by artist vinnie myers, via weburbanist.

cruising the zodiac

the big boat is at the shop having the trailer adjusted, so i took the zodiac out for a spin. it's a really great little boat! it's also for sale, if you are interested.

crabbing in october?

every year i can mark the advent of fall when i don't see crab pots anymore: this year most were pulled up by mid-september. no crabs=no summer, or so i thought! saw this pod on current tv (even though it is a couple of years old) and thought it was interesting and great: i like the size of those crabs!

extreme kayaking in the chesapeake bay

as i reported earlier, this past weekend was too windy and rough for fishing...or boating, so i thought! those crazy kayak guys are at it again!

giant jellyfish invasion

i thought we had it bad in the chesapeake, but japanese fishermen have been overrun by Echizen jellyfish who are taking advantage of the over-fished waters.

stormy skies

it rained really hard this weekend, and the wind continued to blow resulting in muddy water and white caps equalling no fish. i put the boat and trailer in the shop for a few days. a random torential downpour popped up west of smith island.

not fishing today

super windy today: not going out. tidal fish reports that once the wind dies down, i can look forward to spot, speckled trout, and puppy drum. say "good-bye" to summer favorites such as flounder, cobia, and red drum as they stage to head out.

how to eat soft shell crabs

the wife is a great cook! last night she made soft shell crabs for dinner, and thought they looked so good, she snapped a photo. nice work!

planning for bass fishing...

we booked the cabin at kiptopeke for our 2nd annual end-of-season fishing competition (amongst friends and family) for large rockfish. brutally cold last year...someone shot a video: here it is.

endless bluefish

no fishing til the weekend, but my neighbors caught blue all day.

2009 Maryland Fishing Challenge Grand Prize

i wasnt at the 2009 Maryland Fishing Challenge awards presentation on friday @ sandy point state park because i was working...i wouldn't have gone anyway, but the winner of the grand prize (from perryville) is sure glad he showed up this year! he took it all with a 40.8" striper hooked near calvert cliffs on mother's day weekend: that's my hood, and i havent caught one that size since may.

breaking news: diamond jim is still on the loose!