it's your birthday...

it is claud w. somers' birthday so we need to party. come visit me and claud (no, really: don't) in the northern neck and celebrate this infamous skipjack (in the water) at the reedville fisherman's museum...

it really is something to see!

waiting for the moon...

a little too windy for fishing by myself on the bay today, and i couldn't rouse the dog so i busied myself with the honey-do list. now it's sunset. tonight we have a full moon, and i really hope it improves the fishing situation...couldn't get worse!

bluefish derby

i have had zero luck so far this rockfish season, so maybe i will try my line for bluefish...the reedville bluefish derby starts tomorrow and there are 30 different fish classes with prizes totalling $25,000...i am sure i could catch a croaker if i tried: under pressure, i could pull one in.

boats in my hood

at the gas station i saw this hydroplane...not sure where the races were!

point lookout lighthouse

visit the historic point lookout lighthouse today (and every first saturday thru november). oh, yeah: it's haunted.

annapolis-newport regatta

the yachts left annapolis a bit ago and are headed to newport: i do not know if my brother in law is racing. when i find out, i can track him here. the sailors have great weather in the chesapeake today: hope the atlantic is as nice.

boats in my hood

there seem to be a lot of boats around my neighborhood that are old, parked on trailers, and look cool. so, im taking photos! number one is an old day sailer from the 50's-60's.

stormy weather

the weather around here has been a little crazy with extra high tides and electrical storms caused by a constant mass of moist air pushing up through the bay from the southeast. and there's flooding on the top side of the potomac river making it super muddy down where i'm at...i dont know how good fishing will be this week.

top boat names

'guilty as charged' did not make this year's top boat names list...

gill net fishing

last week the dnr police finally raised a 1400 pound gill net near bouy 82 off of tilghman island. the illegal net-which had been in the bay most of the winter-held three tons of dead fish, including 450 rockfish weighing 6750 pounds. please report the a-hole(s) who did this if you know their name(s)...and please sign the pound net petition to eliminate legal nets from our waters...i've been fishing the last two weekends and havent caught a thing...now i know where they went: to the landfill!

foghorn

i grew up hearing the foghorn at point reyes on foggy days and nights, and frankly i miss  its haunting sound. with the advent of radar and gps, i guess most horns have been permanently silenced. here is an article and photos of a few great old quiet foghorns.

warning: revolutionary war re-ennactment activity ahead

havre de grace is a small town but they have a lot of museums: the decoy museum; the maritime museum; the lock house museum. on saturday, the lock house museum is hosting a re-ennactment of the british attack on havre de grace...this event will coincide with the decoy and wildlife festival which began last night.

decoy & wildlife art festival

there is a lot to do at this annual festival put on by the decoy museum in havre de grace. 140+ exhibiters will sell their artwork...there are auctions...people will carve...retrievers will retrieve...prizes will be drawn...other things will happen. starts tonight at 6 thru sunday...

happy cinco de mayo!

celebrate responsibly: if you use the buddy system, make sure your buddy does not have a camera.

modern houseboat

at night the metro-ship looks cool, but in the day time, it just looks like a trailer adrift to me. i don't really understand a houseboat: it can get rough in even the calmest of waters, and those things don't look that water-tight up top.

nice bass!

i didnt catch anything on saturday. but sunday:sunday i had a monster on the hook! then the line broke...i swear: it was much bigger than this one! anyway, that guy won the mssa tournament with this nice 41+ pound striper.

bay bridge boat show

the bay bridge boat show started yesterday and runs through sunday. head to kent island to see the latest and greatest. 

petition to ban nets in the chesapeake

did you know there is a petition to ban pound nets in the chesapeake and its tidal tributaries? i did not, but i think it is a great idea. these gill nets are a navigational hazard and a lazy tool that does way more harm then good.

look out, pirates!

you've been served...

ghost crab

the chesapeake bay's ghost crab pot retrieval program has netted over 28,000 abandoned or 'ghost' crab pots from virginia waters over the past three seasons and the crabs are the beneficiaries...and me.

how to catch a rockfish

good fishing in the bay this weekend at the choptank: hubbard reeled in this nice striper saturday.

how to catch a fish...

...or a train...looks like a snakehead to me.

can not wait for trophy striper season?

i cannot wait for trophy striped bass season to begin this saturday in the chesapeake bay! apparently, nine other people really could not wait and got busted after surveillance by dnr while fishing in the choptank river, a designated striper spawning area. having been sited myself (in season), i feel for the fishermen and fisherwoman who were charged because the fines are hefty and the marine police dont play, so know the regulations (they are different for virginia and maryland) and respect the fish!

google tsunami info

google has set up this page for all things tsunami including ways to help the victims.

tsunami

living on the water can be treacherous:

get prepared.

boat show

the weather isnt great, but that wouldnt keep me off the water this weekend...what will are the crazy high tides and super muddy waters. there is a boat show: the 16th annual national capital boat show is this weekend...maybe i need something.

get ready to rock!

rockfish season is still a few weeks away, but you can never be too prepared. tristate marine down in deale has assembled the pros to help you out this weekend.

fishing and boating flea market

we've got 50 mph gusts right now, so don't plan on heading out on the water this weekend...point your low-profile vehicle toward pasadena, maryland for their annual fishing and boating flea market. find crazy rare shiz...get your knife sharpened...win prizes...

oyster seminar

the chesapeake bay oyster is slowly coming back due to extensive restoration projects and slight improvements in watershed runoff. join the director of the oyster recovery partnership at the annapolis maritime museum thursday at 7pm for a seminar and discussion on recent efforts.

freezin for a reason

you have til 7 tonight to register for the big polar plunge in virginia beach. why would anyone do this? to support the special olympics, of course. 

boat show

i am not sure what happened at last weekends boat show in baltimore as we were still without power and there were many many tree limbs to be removed due to the snowmeggedon a few days before. the atlantic city boat show began yesterday despite the nationwide snowstorm of yesterday... if you can navigate the black ice, you should go!

my new boat

naw...i wish, but there's only one left and i dont get paid til next week.

Snowmagedon: Deja vu all over again

I took this a few hours ago... Now it's 8 inches deeper, dark and the power is out! ahhhh...winter!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

shipwrecks

i knew there were ship wrecks and sunken submarines in the chesapeake, but i did not know there are over 2400 of them! national geographic has recently published a shipwreck map detailing submerged vessels and their locations: i couldnt believe how many are in my own backyard! i am not surprised though: a few years back, i was zipping around a local creek i hadnt explored before when we came to an abrupt halt having snagged on some hidden object below the murky surface: we were lucky no one was hurt! it could have been a stump or ghost pot, but if it was an ancient wreck, that would be cool!

school of seamanship

fishing season in the bay is over, and that's ok because the boat is in the shop...thinking about heading to annapolis this weekend to take a marine diesel basics class at the annapolis school of seamanship.

chesapeake bay rockfish head chowder

the quick fire challenge on top chef tonight involved using fish 'trash' to make a delicious dish...if you want to do the same challenge at home, check out this recipe for chesapeake bay rockfish head chowder featured on npr the other day.

love love, not

my only question is 'why?' here is some contrived explanation...

winterize it!

with fishing season in the bay and river closed for the season, i took the boat back to jett's for winterizing and a few other adjustments. this time, the only parking space left in the yard was next to this duck blind boat-not that i minded or anything! couldnt tell what it was in for...learn to make your own here.

last days of fishing

this friday at midnight marks the end of rockfishing in the chesapeake bay: so sad...

i will be out there, catching my limit til new year's...might head back to the tunnel/bridge.

the river is frozen

double digits below normal temperatures for seemingly weeks on end has caused the potomac river to freeze...the boats in it are stuck for now...that is a shame because fishing season ends friday night at new years.

serious fishing

the ramp at kiptopeke was out of control...cleared out when the gusts reached 40kph...

striped bass

i wish i was out on the bay tonight, fishing under the full moon during a full lunar eclipse: it would be so awesome! but, the reality is: i'm not...last weekend-during the day- we slaughtered 'em...i mean we caught our legal limit (2 each) but hooked a lot more...

sail with santa

cruise owl creek with old saint nick today at 11 and 12:30...other activities are planned for this annual event put on by the virginia aquarium in virginia beach...

guilty as charged

this year i prepared for our annual kiptopeke fishing challenge by tagging the boat appropriatly: word!

post turkey day fishing

i fished yesterday...i fished today: i didnt catch a thing...the fish finder said they were there, but they really werent. still had fun.

the grand illumination

norfolk will host the grand illumination of the tidewater to kick off the holiday (read: shopping) season. be there tonight @ 7 for the festivities.

another fish kill

Recent fish kills at Kerr Reservoir and Briery Lake in Virginia have been linked to largemouth bass virus (LMBV) by Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologists. LMBV has not been implicated in fish kills nationally for nearly a decade. However, the Virginia incidents are a reminder that the organism may still pose some risk to largemouth bass populations. LMBV poses no risk to humans. read the full press release here...

DNR Fisheries Service biologists offer the following guidelines to reduce the spread of this and other more disruptive invasive or pathogenic organisms such as zebra mussels, which have recently been found in the lower Susquehanna River, and Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS), which is a fatal fish virus found in the Great Lakes and some upper Mid-Western states waters:

• Never transfer live fish from one body of water to another
• Never discard fish parts or unused bait in any body of water
• Drain water from live wells, bilges, engines, bait buckets, and hoses and pumps before leaving the launch area and clear mud, vegetation and debris from trailers.
• Disinfect live wells daily and particularly when moving between bodies of water.
• Spray or wipe all surfaces with a chlorine solution, let sit for 5 minutes, then rinse with clean water and flush through lines and pumps.
• Bleach is very toxic to aquatic organisms. Discharge the solution in a grassy area where it will not immediately drain into streams or ponds.
• An effective chlorine solution can be prepared by placing three tablespoons of household bleach in one gallon of water. Use the chlorine solution to clean trailers and other parts of the boat – just be sure to rinse well with clean water.

LMBV may reduce a fish’s tolerance to stress. Anglers can increase the chances of survival of fish intended for release by following these guidelines: 

• Handle the bass gently and return to the water as soon as possible, especially when the water is over 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Maintain good water quality your livewell by keeping the water aerated and recirculated at 3 to 5 degrees cooler than the ambient water. Add non-iodized salt to livewells at a rate of one tablespoon per 10 gallons of water, or use one of the commercially available products for maintaining fish.
• Do not overcrowd bass. One pound of fish per gallon of livewell water is a good maximum ratio.
• Stage tournaments during cool water months, particularly in areas where LMBV has been noted.
• Report dying or dead bass, or bass that are swimming poorly in circles near the surface of the water by calling the Maryland Department of the Environment at 800-285-8195 M-F from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or 877-224-7229 after hours.
• Report a largemouth bass kill with DNR Tidal Bass Manager Dr. Joe Love at 410-260-8257.
MD DNR biologists will host an LMBV and general bass fishing discussion at the 2011 Fishing Expo and Boat Show at the Maryland State Fair Grounds in Timonium at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 15. More information about LMBV in Virginia is available online at www.dgif.virginia.gov/news/release.asp?id=269.

grand national waterfowl hunt

plan now to attend the grand national waterfowl hunt in cambridge this weekend...it kicks off with a grandtastic jamboree friday night featuring music, door prizes and of course, all you can eat! be there by four.

let's celebrate pirates

i have seen pirates here on the potomac river...learn about their activities in the upper bay at the lock house museum's pirate weekend by the bay. the festivities are both saturday and sunday and hopefully involve some form of booty.

oyster roasting

saturday 2-5 is the reedville oyster roast at the reedsville fisherman's museum...its all you can eat with music, dancing and such: you better get there early! if you cant make it, you can have your own oyster roast at your leisure.