octopus attacks paparazzi

octopus appear to be too smart to eat.

national saltwater angler registry

i don't know if i did this or not, but as of the first of this year, all recreational fishermen (in my area) must register with the new national saltwater angler registry. the registry is part of the marine recreational information program and is administered by noaa fisheries service to collect and distribute data on all things related to fishing and fishermen, both nationally and locally. the information collected through angler surveys will aid policy makers and government officials in making-or not making-decisions concerning the health of the chesapeake bay...specifically, fishing creel amounts, recreational areas, reserve and preserve locations, as well as data about the amounts and types of fish and fishermen. its the law and i hate breaking the law, so i guess i will do it.

super low tide

this week we have had several super low tides. i could barely get my kayak in and out of the creek. hopefully this weekend will be deeper as i would love to put the big boat in and do some spring rock fishing: trophy season begins this saturday!

damn, it's hot!

last year at (about) this time, we had snow: not today, though.

@tacos el gringo

must be sunday
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big fish face

bob caught a big fish while on vacation. he sent me these great photos but gave me no info...i think it's a tarpon.

looking forward

now that the storms have blown through,

we have had two warm days.

i am hoping this weekend will be the same.

rainbow

storms are ending.

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@ tacos el gringo

 fresh!

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storm watch

i get alerts on my i-phone when anything bad happens or is going to happen. right now, its a flood alert for the potomac river, and that is not good! all of the sand, salt, garbage, asphalt scrapings, car drippings, kitty litter, dog crap, and varied rubbish from the last few months of wintery hell will be washing down the sewers to the creeks and rivers, and finally into whatever water you live near. polluted stormwater overflows into our water supply. here are three ideas from the audubon naturalist society we can all do to try and reduce the toxic stew.

1. fix leaky cars

2. choose organic fertilizers, but don't apply them if your yard is frozen or before the big rain storm. 

3. use CMA-calcium magnesium acetate- for future de-icing ventures

here are ten other very easy household ideas to help our local waterways and reduce your carbon footprint.

the winter watermen are at it again

the winter watermen in maryland are busy in this off-season collecting abandoned "ghost" crab pots from the bottom of the chesapeake bay. last year's program in virginia was a great success.

largest spring rockfish tournament announced

mark rockfish trophy season by entering the maryland saltwater sportfishermen's association (MSSA) 27th annual spring tournament "championship on the chesapeake": you could win $200,000...or i could. the event takes place the first weekend of may and is said to be the largest spring rockfish tournament in the country. see you on the bay!

today's paddle

today the temperature went up to 60°...so i took a paddle with the wife.

first nice day in months.

safe boating course

last year virginia past a law requiring boaters to pass their safe boating class by some date...after dealing with random legal issues recently, i thought it best i educate myself on the laws of the bay and get certified as soon as possible. because the angry fisherman is not likely to sit in a confined lecture hall, i found this boating certification on-line class: you dont pay for unless you pass. sounds like me. the wife is doing it, too.

water tower or light house?

well, yeah: it is a water tower...posing as a light house here in cape charles, virginia.

angry fisherman is exonerated

during a fishing excursion this past december i was cited by the virginia marine police for possession of illegal size rock fish: three fish exactly. according to my fishing license issued by the potomac river fisheries commission, i was good to go at kiptopeake state park ...unfortunately, they have different regulations. the judge told me i was guilty, but he was finding me innocent because i should have been able to rely on the jurisdictions to provide accurate information...and they didnt, so i won.

alligator gar

although this happened five years ago, somebody sent me this photo today. two bow fisherman in texas bagged (?) this 8'-2", 244-lb alligator gar on sam rayburn lake. yowsa! The current world record for the largest Alligator Gar caught on rod and reel is 279 lb. The largest taken by bowfishing is 365 lb.

here is a photo from 1910 of a 10-foot long one.

apparently, people do eat this prehistoric beast.

chincoteague, virginia

fishing boat done for day at chincoteague.

coal burning power plants

doesnt matter how cold it gets: clean burning coal powers through...killing the bay.

winterizing the boat

had new rear lights added to the boat while it was in the shop...picked it up today: it was filled with snow and ice.

digging out

the big dig continued all day. we have received a total of 45" since last weekend's blizzard, phase 1. three vehicles have been dug out: the old white pick up truck is stll parked in the neighbor's driveway, covered in snow; the motorcycle trailer appears to have collapsed under the snow's weight.

our street finally saw a county plow at about 5:00pm today.

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jet ski brian does it again!

congrats to jet ski brian who was featured in today's saltwater column on espn.com

boat yard fire

now that the flames are out, tiffany yachts will start the rebuilding process. a total of four boats were lost as well as two buildings. such a tragic interruption of tiffany's 70-year old-plus great american boat building tradition. above is 'miss nancy', renovated and rebuilt by tiffany's and owned by some friends on the great wicomico river, directly across from tiffany's boat yard. here is some video from the fires with the owners of tiffany yachts.

tiffany yachts blows up!

one of the finest boat builders on the chesapeake bay, tiffany yachts burned yesterday. most of the buildings and -i think- all of the boats were saved by the quick actions of droves of volunteer firefighters from all around the northern neck. the fire burned for over four hours reports the woody boater, and a cause for the blaze has not been determined as yet. a friend reports that debris from the explosion was found on his property about a half mile away, on the opposite side of the great wicomico! glad no one was hurt. photo above by tom ryals of reedsville.

snow on the chesapeake bay

big snow storm saturday...we got fifteen inches in heathsville, i heard: i wasnt there this weekend. this photo from st. mary's, across the river from us, shows they got a little!

dog vs. killer whale

friends?

boat crash flips captain onto beach

Boat Crash Flips Captain Onto Beach - Watch more Funny Videos

not sure what this guy was thinking...or doing.

how to catch a world record catfish

apparently, with halibut pellets!

it is reported that the lady in the above photo caught this 214 pound catfish while on vacation in spain. the big fish measured over 8 feet long and took 30 minutes to land. after a photo session, the beast was released back into the ebro river.

wow.

old wooden boat

drove past this great boat under restoration last weekend.

how to winterize your boat

i dont know how to winterize my boat...well, i do. but i dont feel like doing it: its been bitter cold. so i dropped it off at jett's marine where they work indoors. i drove by last saturday: it was still in the yard, but had moved closer to the garage doors.

mid-atlantic rockfish shoot-out

jet-ski brian is so crazy: he entered the mid-atlantic rockfish shootout on his super-modified yamaha pwc...with passenger in tow: his brother. they covered 84 miles, burned 27 gallons of gas (the jetski holds 21) and caught one sweet 33" rockfish.

more photos and details on atlantic anglers.

super foggy

after the rain, the fog moved in to melt the rest of the nasty snow.

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waiting for rain

nice day for now

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taco stop

a quick taco stop: I really wanted fish tacos... but what about tongue? or tripe!

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now that's a house boat!

after henry ford's boat, the benson ford was decommissioned late in the 1900's (remember them?), a couple purchased it, separated the front from the rest of the structure, and made it into a house on south bass island.

high tides

the chesapeake bay's tides have been a little out of whack this year, with some really high ones and others crazy low: different from what my tide app says it should be. everybody knows the tides are regulated by the gravitational pull caused by the rotation of the sun and the moon: their interaction with the earth have caused these tidal anomalies. 

chesapeake bay clean up conference

the baltimore sun reports The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to enact new rules to curb pollution from development and large-scale animal farms to help restore the Chesapeake Bay, the agency's chief announced today. EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson said the rules governing storm water and farm animal waste would serve as a "backstop" to pollution control measures that Maryland and other bay states are expected to take over the next two years. She made the announcement in Washington at a bay cleanup conference that ends Tuesday.

While the storm-water rules would apply nationwide to new development, Jackson said the agency would consider writing even more stringent requirements for the six-state bay watershed because storm water is a significant and growing source of pollution fouling the estuary's waters. EPA will weigh imposing new mandates to reduce storm water in existing communities and on redevelopment projects as well as new construction, Jackson said.

EPA already regulates waste handling at hundreds of large-scale chicken and animal farms in the bay watershed. Jackson said the agency may expand its oversight to smaller farms and demand even more stringent controls of polluted runoff from them. But the agency will hold off on imposing those rules, she said, as long as states enact equivalent measures to reduce farm pollution.

The storm-water rules are expected to take two years to draw up, and the animal-farm requirements three years. The time lag bothers environmentalists, who otherwise hailed the agency's move to expand federal regulation. "The bay needs immediate attention," said William Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Jackson noted that EPA may well act sooner. The states have to submit draft plans by this summer for reducing bay pollution, and then must spell out by the fall what they intend to do to meet their cleanup goals. EPA has warned it may impose sanctions on the states, including possibly blocking permits or diverting federal funds, if they fall short.

jones brothers marine

drove to morehead city to drop off a boat at jones brothers marine. we took a tour of their nice facility. had hoped to drop a line, but it was only 37° with a stiff wind...

headed back to dc.

marine recreational information program

State officials say all Maryland recreational anglers must register with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before fishing in 2010.

The requirement is part of a federal initiative to help ensure the long-term sustainability of America's fisheries.

Although the survey is focused on saltwater species, some ocean fish travel between salt and fresh waters, so anyone fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries and coastal waters must register.

Anglers must provide their name, birth date, address, telephone number and the regions they plan to fish. Registration information is available online athttp://www.countmyfish.noaa.gov.

State officials say they expect to make the annual registration part of the Maryland fishing license application process starting in 2011.

happy birthday, elvis!

the king loved a boat: happy birthday, elvis!

video of Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil rammed by Shonan Maru

back in august i reported on the earthrace bio diesel boat that broke the round-the world record by over 60 days. after the race it was renamed the ady gil and employed by sea shephard to pester whale hunters the whole world over. today one of those whale hunting boats split the vessel in two. apparently, nearby boats did NOT rush to save the 8-member crew as the boat sank. they were eventually rescued by another anti-whale hunting boat. whoa!

war ships

the naval war ships from oceania naval base cruised past us as they headed out to sea.

last days of rock fish season

the last days of striper season proved to be fruitful. john caught this (legal) specimen while i worked the pilings down at the chesapeake bay bridge and tunnel week before last.

ultra light craziness

my neighbor is seriously crazy: he flies around under a kite with an ultralight backpack engine keeping him aloft...super bird's eye view of the northern neck!

three old dogs on new year's day

new year's day has gone to the dogs.
this year has started with cold-but nice-weather.
i should have put the boat in,
because today is crazy-cold with 40+nph winds.

happy new year?

how can I be happy this new year's day when fishing season is over? that's why all the boats are sitting in the yard this foggy day...happy new year?
I don't think so.
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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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