Fishing Friday

We met my friend Bernie at 0600 on Monday morning for a day of fishing in the Chesapeake Bay. Bernie has a 20 foot center console fishing boat. I had invited my friend Bob and my pastor John to go as well. We got to the ramp a little after 0700 and quickly got the boat in the water. The wind was blowing around 15 mph steady with stronger gusts. In a small boat like Bernie's we were bobbing up and down quite a bit. I could tell after a while that John wasn't doing too well. Bob had taken a anti-motion sickness pill the night before and again in the morning, so he was doing okay. It wasn't too long before John was feeding the fish over the side of the boat. Oh well, it happens to the best of us.

We had four rods out and were trolling across the main channel of the bay. We were soon marking lots of fish on the fish finder, but apparantly they all had lockjaw. Until. One of the rods on Bob's side of the boat got hit and he was into his first rockfish. We netted the fish and measured it. It was a little over 20 inches and thus legal. The minimum size is 18 inches during the regular season. Not long after that, one of the rods on John's side of the boat got hit pretty hard, but the fish didn't get hooked.

By this point, John was noticeably green, but didn't want to surrender just yet. We continued to troll, but still no more fish. John fed the fish three more times and when he sat down on the deck of the boat with his chin on his chest, Berrnie asked if we should head in. I said something about discretion being the better part of valor and we pulled the rods in and began the ride back in. In a small boat with three foot seas we got a little wet on the ride home. Thankfully, I had my rain suit with me. On reaching the ramp, John got out and kissed the ground. I don't think it has deterred him from future trips. He'll be sure to take a motion sickness pill when offered the next time. Even though it was a short day on the water, it was a good day and sure beat going to work.