monster rockfish tournament

get your boat to the bay for the biggest rockfish tournament of the season: you could call it a monster tournament, even! the fishing starts today, but the celebration runs all weekend in hollywood.

Barcolana Regatta 2011

that's a lot of boats!

the 22nd barcolana regatta ran a couple of weekends ago with 2000+ boats in the water.

how to catch a rockfish

apparently it is as easy as dropping my line...this week! after a long, hot summer, the fall striper action has been sweet. now these arent trophy fish, more eating fish. i cut out the filets and the wife grilled them with olive oil and salt and pepper: delicious!
(that's a blue above, which were also running heavy.)

today's problem: sinking ship

this chinese-built $2.5 million yacht sank its first time out on the river!

cross that item off my christmas list!

boats in my hood

this cool chris craft has not seen the water in years!

happy hagfish day!

let's all celebrate the hagfish today!

how to make a cocktail

now that's upcycling!

today's problem: how to count rockfish

thankfully, counting the rockfish in the chesapeake bay is not my problem: its v.i.m.s.

united states powerboat show

the united states powerboat show began yesterday.

boats in my hood

this boat sat covered all summer.

clearly a georgetown alumnus.

house boat

i don't live on calm waters, so this floating scenario is an impossibility, but, wow, looks pretty nice!

san francisco marina

 on a recent visit to san francisco the wife and i visited the marina.

 it was a beautiful day and rather late so all the working boats were in.

do they call them skipjacks on the west coast?

 we watched as a class of middle schoolers boarded this 1886 square-rigged ship for the weekend.

the steam tug, hercules, built in 1907 was awesome!

great wooden steam powered paddle tug boat.

fishing report

the weekend fishing report from the chesapeake bay appears to be good! the wife grilled rockfish filets with olive oil, salt and pepper: delicious!

united states sailboat show

the united states sailboat show started yesterday in eastport.

seafood

this is the last weekend to participate in the maryland sea food dine out festival. participating restaurants are located from philadelphia to northern virginia: if you dont catch your own, take a ride...

rock fish

although the river is still muddy and warm (about 70°) from september rains, the cooler weather has brought the fish back!

health of the bay

how healthy is the bay? i don't know....but v.i.m.s. does. catch a ride on the alliance to find out the facts.

oyster bar

oysters are making a come-back in the bay-i have seen their resurrection myself- so learn about oysters today and consider becoming an oyster farmer this summer.

got grass?

learn why seagrasses are so important to the bay on the schooner alliance today at 2:00pm.

boats in my hood

spotted this one underneath the weeds...hasnt been moved in a while.

jellyfishing with plankton

if you are a fan of spongebob-and i know you are- take a ride on the schooner 'alliance' to learn about jellyfish and zooplankton in the chesapeake: i'm ready!

fireworks schedule

here is a list of fireworks scheduled around the chesapeake bay starting tonight thru this weekend

MARYLAND

Annapolis, July 4, 410-263-7958; www.annapolis.gov/Government/

Departments/Recreation/CalendarEvents.aspx

Baltimore, Inner Harbor, July 4, 410-837-4636; http://bop.orgindex.cfm?page=events&id=42

Cambridge, July 4, 410-228-4020

Chesapeake Beach, Rod 'N' Reel Restaurant, July 3, 410-257-2230; www.chesapeakebeachresortspa.com
Chestertown, July 4, 410-778-0500; www.chestertown.com

Crisfield, July 3, 410-968-0925; www.crisfieldchamber.com/events.htm
Georgetown, July 4, 410-275-1200; www.kentcounty.comevents/kent4th/ctown4th.htm

Havre de Grace, July 3, 410-939-2100; www.hdgtourism.com

Herrington Harbour South, July 2, 301-855-8435
 
Middle River, Eastern Yacht Club, July 2, 410-687-1002

North East, July 3, 410-287-5801

Oxford, July 3, 410-226-5269; www.oxfordmd.net

Rock Hall, July 3, 410-778-0416;  www.rockhallmd.com

St. Michaels, July 2, 410-745-9511; www.stmichaelsmd.orgCM_events.html

Solomons, July 4, 410-326-1950; www.solomonsmaryland.com/solomons-calendar.html

 

VIRGINIA 

Cape Charles, July 3, 757-331-2304; capecharles.orgrec.htm

 

Colonial Beach, July 4, 804-224-7181
Deltaville, July 2, 804-776-6461; www.deltavilleva.com
Dumfries, Tim's Rivershore, June 25, 703-441-1375; www.timsrivershore.com
Fairview Beach, Tim's Rivershore II, July 9, 540-775-7500
Hampton, Fort Monroe, July 4, 757-788-3151
Irvington, Tides Inn, July 4, 804-438-5000; www.tidesinn.comactivities.asp
Mathews, July 3, 804-725-1488; www.visitmathews.com/CALENDAR/MONTHS/jul.htm
    
Newport News, July 4, 757-926-1400; www.newport-news.org
Norfolk/Portsmouth, July 4, 757-441-2345; www.norfolk.gov/Independence_Day/default.asp
www.virginia.orgsite/description.asp?attrid=51423
Poquoson, July 3, 757-868-3588
Reedville, July 1, 804-453-6529
Smithfield, July 3, 757-357-2291; www.smithfield-virginia.com
Urbanna, July 4, 804-758-0464; www.urbanna.com
Yorktown, July 4, 757-890-3500; www.yorkcounty.gov/Default.aspx?alias=www.yorkcounty.gov/fourth

Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument grounds, July 4, 202-619-7225

$300 million yacht

please take note: recently added to my birthday 'wish list'...

turtles for lunch

join the crew at v.i.m.s. every wednesday from now through the end of july aboard the schooner 'alliance' for some education on all things chesapeake bay. today's subject are the endangered sea turtles...maybe you'll get lucky and see one of the babies released by the national aquarium this past weekend.

biggest fish

it is an official record: the biggest catfish was caught in virginia last week...awesome, but what do you do with that much catfish? i know what my daddy told me, but here are some alternatives.

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!