Capt. Pete Ide, Charter Fishing, Solomons, MD

More great fishing at The Beach! We trolled around out front for a while today and after an hour or so, picked up and ran south about 5 miles and found a big bird show at Sandbridge. When we arrived, the gannets were pounding the water and we dropped the lines in at 23 feet. The first pass we hooked four singles and a doubleheader, which we had to stop the boat to wind in. The next pass produced two singles and another doubleheader! The biggest fish was 25 or 30 pounds. Ten fish filled my 320-quart cooler half way, which is about 200 pounds. Fishing is really heating up. It seems the foul weather of the past couple of days has pushed some of the fish onshore.

If anyone is interested in weekdays in February, I’m happy to work a deal. The fishing should be good and I have quite few holes I’d like to fill.

Fishing is great in Virginia Beach. In three trips so far, we’ve caught the limit (two big fish per person) every time. We had to go a long way yesterday, but we caught them. On the way home we saw two huge whales. It was slick calm and they were right in near the beach. One of them showed its tail flukes nicely, but I didn’t have the camera ready! The fish are acting a little funny. The ones south of the inlet are feeding on anchovies and they are harder to catch than usual. Hopefully another shot of cold air will push the bunker down the beach and the rockfish will follow. There are still tons of big rockfish in the Bay!

Once again fishing was great this weekend.  We caught 11 fish Saturday and 16 yesterday. I’m hoping the guys who went out will send me a few pics so I can post them on here. I’m supposed to fish out of Solomons this coming Saturday and head to VA Beach on Sunday. It sounds like fishing has been good down there, but this cold wind should turn the fish on even better.

Plenty of big rockfish still this weekend. The water temperature in the Bay has dipped below 45 degrees but there are still loads of big rock as well as menhaden (bunkers).  I couldn’t believe the amount of bait I saw this weekend from the Cedar Point Targets to the HS Buoy. Some of the boats ran into schools of fish and loaded their lines with as many as 11 fish on at one time. We never had that but we easily caught our limit early and threw a few back. Lots of gannets (large sea birds that dive on menhaden) have shown up in our area as well, but we haven’t seen a big-time bird show like down at Virginia Beach. I’ll be hanging around Solomons as long as possible, so if you want to squeeze in one more trip before I head to the Beach give me a call. My first trip down there is December 29. I still have some availability on weekends in January.

I am offering a discounted rate at the Beach in February and I have plenty of weekends available.

Check out this 40-plus incher caught by Jeff McGregor and company!

The weather finally got the best of us today. My guys didn’t want to go as the forecast was calling for 35-knot winds. Some boats did go out and Jamey on the Kelly D reported that fishing was good right out front before the wind started howling.

Yesterday morning the fish bit for about an hour in the morning and then completely quit. We caught a couple and lost a couple and had a few other bites. It was very frustrating. I had a second trip, though, and we went right back out and caught six fish in an hour and a half. That’s fishing I suppose. Other than yesterday morning, fishing has been great. I still have the weekend before Christmas (Dec. 20 & 21) available if anyone wants to sneak in one more trip at Solomons before I head down to Virginia Beach. I have had some reports from VA Beach and it sounds pretty good down there right now.

By the way, now would be a good time to start booking your spring and summer trips for 2009. The book is open, so call asap for the best selection of dates.

These are some pics of Extreme Rockfishing. Check out all the spray as we chug home in 30-knot winds!

Fishing is still good. We struggled a bit Monday. The fish bit good in the morning but they completely quit around 11. Tuesday was good. I ran around looking for bait fish all over the place and finally just put the lines in and caught 7 big fish in 2 1/2 hours. Pretty good fishing.

Fishing was great this week if the weather was not. The north to northwest winds howled every day, gusting upwards of 30 knots. We caught our big fish and little fish today. The little fish in the river are fat!

Fishing was much better Sunday. We caught 10 big ones and one 26-incher as a bonus. The wind howled again, but we stayed close to home and had some protection to the northwest. The planer board rigs were popping!

Fishing was also good Monday. We had 7 big fish and 3 little ones by 10 o’clock.

There seem to be more fish for this time of year than there have been in a 5-6 years.

Fishing was not great today. The wind from the south howled and it was rough. We did manage to catch one big one, though. Fishing was much better yesterday, but unfortunately my memory was not. I forgot the camera! Tomorrow is another day.

The blues are just about gone now. We’re still seeing a few sassy shads come up with the tails nipped off, but not nearly as many. We haven’t seen any of the big migratory fish yet, but anticipate that some will be caught this weekend. I may try to put the big spread, planer boards and all, out on Sunday. Other than that there have been plenty of small rock around, with a few in the 10-12 pound range.

ON A SERIOUS NOTE: Last Saturday, on a particularly splendid fall day, I had the honor of being able to take out some war vets with some pretty serious injuries. It was part of a retreat that took place at Greenwell State Park in Hollywood, Maryland. It was a very moving experience. When I would hear about some IED going off in Iraq or Afghanistan, I might have heard “Two killed and four wounded” and think to myself, ‘at least some of the guys survived.’ Well, these folks are the survivors. They are fighting to regain the use of shattered parts of themselves, besides having to deal with all life’s everyday struggles that can get us all down sometimes. I don’t know how they do it. I was awed and inspired by their courage; their apparent willingness to go on with no outward signs of anger or bitterness. It made me feel quite guilty for letting my petty troubles get the best of me on occasion. As the sun yielded to the evening that day it left in its wake a dazzling array of orange, yellow, pink and blue. It occurred to me how much I take for granted the safety and comfort most of us enjoy here in the United States.

Monday is Veterans’ Day. I ask anyone who reads this to remember that it’s not just a day off. Whether you are a flag-waving patriot or not, whether you support the wars or not, I ask you in these troubled times to consider what you can do to help this certain group of people. I ask you to find a good organization dedicated to helping injured vets and make a donation. I have seen what good these organizations can do. It is amazing.