11th Annual STA Father/Son Rockfish Outing

On September 16th Will and I joined a great father/son group from STA on the Chesapeake and came back with our limit of Rockfish (Striped Bass for fellow Northerners) as well as a bunch of Bluefish. Our two boats and great crews were provided by Capt Eddy Davis out of Ridge, Maryland. Will had never been out on a proper fishing boat, and he was thrilled to catch one of the first rockfish. We are now looking forward to the 12th annual outing next year, which for some reason I have volunteered to organize.

Just Waking Up

Jeff will not be too happy about this photo, but it really captures the ride from Capt Eddy’s dock out to the fishing area. We pulled out at 6:00am after waking up in Lexington Park around 5:00am and making a quick stop there for coffee and donuts. What we really needed was a big thermos of coffee for the boat ride.

Fishing Buddies

Actually Will and Ross are much more than fishing buddies. They are starting their fifth year of school together, and were together this summer for their first ‘sleep away’ camp experience. Just by chance on the fishing trip, they both had on their Beauvoir Alumni hats, and their Interlochen sweatshirts.

Ready to Fish

It took about 45min to get from Capt Eddy’s dock to the spot where we anchored to begin fishing. We anchored just before sunrise and enjoyed a beautiful morning.

Blue Fish Hit

A rockfish hitting the bait could be a little subtle and you needed to give them some slack to take the bait fish in their mouth. There was nothing subtle about a bluefish hitting the bait. Either they ended up hooked, or they ended up eating half a bait fish.

Ross Fishing

In the early morning we anchored and fished with live bait for a while and caught our limit of rockfish, then we trolled with lures and pulled in a number of blues. When a fish took the artificial bait, someone, in this case Ross, needed to quickly grab the rod and reel in the fish.

Rockfish

The first mate on our boat did a great job baiting hooks, netting fish and generally helping all of us amateur fishermen. I am not sure if this rockfish was a keeper or not, it looks a little small in the picture.

Filleting

Our boat had 16 Rockfish (the two per person limit) plus at least that many Blues. The mates made quick work of turning the fish into fillets. We ate the fish pan fried that evening and the Rockfish was some of the best fish I have tasted.

Blue Fish Dog

Captain Eddy's family had two Labrador Retrievers and both had a strong taste for fish carcass. This one has recently given birth and obviously needed the extra protein. I have seen dogs eat left over cooked fish, but these were the first dogs I have seen go for raw fish. As the mates cleaned the fish, most of the remains went in the water to feed the crabs, but each dog got its share as well.

Day's End

After a long day on the water, Captain Eddy's crew cleaned the boats and had them ready for another day fishing.