Capt. Pete Ide, Charter Fishing, Solomons, MD

It was a rude welcome back to fishing season on Saturday. Thirty-knot plus winds and heavy thunderstorms raked the bay, whipping seas to seven feet plus. I lost both trips on Saturday, but managed to get out Sunday afternoon. The weather was great and the fishing was decent. We caught five nice big fish. I’m sure fishing would have been much better had it not been for a crazy tide. The hard southeast winds of Friday and Saturday pushed tons of water up in the bay and on Sunday, aided by westerly winds, the water attempted to recede, but was confronted by the incoming astronomical tide, making for a lousy fishing tide. Under such conditions, I was glad we had the five fish.

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I have relocated the boat from the old slip down by the Tiki Bar. The crowd at the marina bar there was just downright dangerous. There were constant fights, dangerous driving, and even a stabbing. I implored marina management to do something about it and my pleas were ignored. Another reason I left there is the presence of one of the most flagrant poaching charterboat captains in Virginia Beach. This is a guy who fishes illegally down there virtually every day and has yet to be caught. Honestly, I can’t stand the sight of him. If you want his name, I’m happy to provide it off the record.

The new location of the boat is the Comfort Inn in Solomons, MD, just up the road a little bit. The Pelican is located on G-dock, and I’ve posted my sign at the end of the pier next to the parking lot. When you come to the end of Lore Road, drive straight past the hotel and you should see my sign and the sign for G-dock. It’s a much nicer facility than the old place and staff there are eager to address customer concerns, which is a very refreshing change. There are some picnic tables and grills in the shade there, so if you want to get there early for an afternoon trip, feel free. The Comfort Inn also provides great rates for our customers, so if you’re planning to stay there, be sure to ask for the charterboat rate.

The weather is starting to improve, grudgingly it seems, but it’s improving nonetheless. Opening day of Trophy Rockfish season is April 16. The phone has been ringing a bit, but I still have lots of prime dates available. Give me a call and let’s go fishing!

Here is a Baltimore Sun article concerning today’s events.

Hello Everyone! I have survived yet another winter.

It sounds like some big news on the poaching front in Virginia Beach. The details are sketchy at best, but I’m hearing there has been a lot of activity today on some number of boats which were amongst the most egregious violators of fisheries laws down there. I will update the site with any and all confirmed details. This comes as great news! I guess they’ll never stop the poaching completely, but hopefully we are seeing the beginning of the end of one of the most despicable chapters in the history of the striped bass fishery since the recovery of the ’80′s and ’90′s. For years, the same captains have fished illegally, virtually every day, all winter long with impunity. They target the biggest members of the species, the spawning females, which in late winter are heavily laden with eggs and are the future of the fishery itself. It will be interesting to see what happens. Apparently no Maryland boats have been targeted yet, but I’m betting the habitual violators are going to have a pretty hard time sleeping in the weeks to come.

More soon…

Well, gang, that’s it. It was definitely a disappointing late fall this year. Fishing overall wasn’t bad at all, but it was a weak showing for the big migratory fish. I canceled my trips in VA Beach this year as well. Due to the extremely cold weather in December, the fish will almost exclusively be beyond the the 3-mile line. As most of you know, it’s illegal to possess striped bass in the ocean past three miles from shore. I agree it’s a dumb law, but the law it is. If you go fishing down there this year, look out. There will not be many legal fish caught at all and if you’re on a boat that gets busted, the passengers  as well as the crew may be subject to prosecution. The penalties are potentially extreme, and the offense is potentially a felony.

Enough of the heavy stuff! Thanks to all of you for making 2010 a great year during very tough economic times. My family and I really appreciate your continued support and patronage. My first year of fishing on the Bay was as a mate at Scheible’s Fishing Center in the summer of 1981. That means 2010 was my THIRTIETH (30th) year. It’s been quite a journey. The lines on my face are getting deeper and my joints are not nearly as resilient. I still find a lot of joy in my work, however. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is the many great relationships I’ve formed over the years with my customers. I sincerely want all of you to know how much I appreciate each and every one of you. It’s not cheap to go fishing, and I realize most of you work very hard to support yourselves and your families. That is why I have dedicated myself now and even more so in the future to working as hard as I possibly can to make sure every trip you have with me is the best that I can make it.

Thanks again for everything and I hope to see you again in 2011!

Peace- Capt. Pete

We’ve caught some nice fish this past week, but the season has never lived up to expectations. There have definitely been some good days, but we’ve really had to work hard for the fish we’ve caught on most. We’ve had fall trophy seasons like this in the past; some have been worse. Yesterday started out very cold and windy. We fished hard all day, coming up with only two fish. The guys never gave up and their patience was rewarded. The wind finally stopped, a hard flood tide abated and I located a huge pile of baitfish. I didn’t get too excited because we’d been looking at baitfish all day with little results. Finally the call came out from the stern “Fish on!” Whew, ok, well, we had a fillet for everyone anyway. I kept circling the bait, and two more rubber bands popped and as we netted fish number 5, one of the deck rods sported a severe bend and we had our 6th fish for 6 guys. Even though it was a long grind, it was a very satisfying way to end the trip. It really is a lot of fun when the fish cooperate. Relying on a free-ranging wild animal for a living can be very difficult at times! Anyway, here are some guys who had some good luck. One of the fish was 46″ and was between 35 and 40 pounds.

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Well, it’s been a ‘rocky’ (pun definitely not intended) fall trophy season thus far. We’ve caught some nice fish and more have shown up recently, but overall it’s been a disappointment compared to the last few years. The good news is that the weather has been very nice and on most days we’re still able to produce a limit of smaller fish with some nice ones mixed in. The fish are very fat this time of year and that helps. There is still a huge amount of bait fish (bunkers) in the Bay. It has me thinking the fish will show up eventually. In past years when the fish have been late, many people gave up on them and December ended up being very good fishing with not many boats out there. Hopefully that will be the case this year!

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Great news! We have caught a few big fish this week and I have heard of more being caught in the area. Hopefully this means they are finally showing up. They are late this year and everyone has been sweating whether or not they will show. I spoke to the eel man this morning and he said he’s still selling a bunch of eels in New Jersey, which means there are likely still a bunch of rockfish up there.  Apparently the fish are dragging their fins getting here.

A lot of people have been asking me about Virginia Beach. I am accepting reservations for trips down there, but if it gets cold and it looks like the fish will be offshore, there is no sense in going. If you really want to go catch a big rockfish, come see me in Solomons, where we can do it legally!

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Hello again!

Well, it’s time for fall trophy rockfish. Apparently nobody told the fish as they have yet to show up in significant numbers. We have been fighting some really lousy weather, though. Yesterday we had north winds gusting to 30 knots and the Bay wasn’t really fit to fish. Hopefully next weekend will be better. Fishing has been excellent for 18-24 inch fish. I did some commercial hook and line fishing the past couple of weeks to fill in the gaps and it was pretty darn good. I thought everyone would like to see the stomach contents of a couple of particularly hungry fish I cleaned recently. Check out the spot, little crabs and and what might be a baby red drum. I will be fishing in Solomons until December 15 and I have quite a bit of availability so call and book a trip today! Also, check out Nick and Britta on their anniversary fishing trip.

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Finally! A new report…

Well, if you haven’t noticed, it’s been pretty hot. I have been primarily night fishing for croaker, and that’s been pretty good. We are fishing up near the mouth of the Choptank River and we’re catching some of the biggest croaker we’ve seen in years. Some nights are better than others, but it’s generally been pretty good.

Rockfish have been pretty dependable recently. The past several years we have been live-bait fishing by now, but that hasn’t been consistent enough this year, so we’ve stuck with trolling. Most of the rock are between 18 and 24 inches or 2-4 pounds.

The spot are practically nowhere to be found so far. It’s a bit of a mystery. Perhaps we won’t have them at all this year.

There are plenty of blues around, especially in the evening, if people want them.

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