Fishing with Dad and an old friend on Eastern Bay

Type: Chesapeake
Region: Eastern
Location: Eastern bay

Many years ago, in late October 1985, I went on my first Chesapeake Bay fishing trip (I was 10). My Dad and I were invited to fish with an Eastport/Annapolis legend Art Tuers for rockfish just before the harvest moratorium went into effect. Of course, they were pretty scarce back then, so all we caught were bluefish, some quite large ones, which were frantically feeding on a bunker school off Tolly Point. I was absolutely amazed at the attacks taking place all around me, and the incredible strength of an 8lb bluefish. In addition to the fishing, Art was and still is a novel trapped in a person�s body. I loved the stories he told me of �older times�, fishing, hunting, crabbing and oystering on the earlier days of the Chesapeake on the trip. It certainly was a memorable experience. I truly have to say that it�s certainly one that helped set the stage for my current career path.

Wow, well its 2011, and how things have changed. Of course, we are all 25 years older now, we are all a little slower, a little wiser, but at least there are more rockfish now (I do still love the pull of bluefish though)! I love the opportunity to re-pay the favor to Dad and Art and take them out whenever I can. I still love the stories that Art tells, it helps pass the time when the fish are uncooperative. We had some great fishing the week before with the croakers in Eastern Bay. That would be our intended quarry. Given the success of last week, I was dumbfounded when a dozen drifts in a 2 hour period over several oyster bars were fruitless. Not even a nibble from a perch! I truly have never experienced this before in the summertime on an oyster bar. With about an hour of light left, we ran to a spot in 20� of water that I fish sometimes. Again, bottom fishing there was fruitless, except for the lowly oyster toad that took a peeler bait. Fortunately, I was able to locate a small group of stripers casting a plastic, and we caught a few nice legal fish in a matter of minutes from the spot. It�s amazing how a couple of nice fish late in the day can �save� a trip.