The weekend of my 40th birthday I decided to reward myself for a job well done and do some fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. I found a head boat that was nearby in Solomons Island and arrived at about 5:30 in the morning. Too bad the boat wasn’t going out. The name of the place I went to was Bunky’s Charter Boats and the people there were really nice. So I got to talking to the guy inside and the talk drifted to their private charters.
Now, since I had contacted a number of charter boats in the area I knew that most were booked already. But we got to talking (fishermen just love to talk) and I asked about the charter prices and how the fishing has been. When I heard that people had been catching rockfish (striped bass) I was intrigued. Now, maybe the gods of the committed fisherman were smiling on me. I was standing at the counter when I was told that a cancellation had opened up a morning trip on Sunday.
Interesting…
If you have never had the pleasure of visiting the Chesapeake Bay area I would suggest doing so. It really is a beautiful area of the country. The heat and humidity can be a bit oppressive at times, but when the weather is nice, well, it is gorgeous. I have had the pleasure of working on the Western Peninsula for nearly two years. In all that time I just could never make time to go out fishing. Work and more work was the order of the day. So, as I entered my 4th decade I figured the time was at hand.
The charter company I ended up at is called Bunky’s Charters. They are going to get some plugs here since I was so happy with them that I will definitely be planning trips in the future with them. They are less than a mile from the bridge into St.Mary’s County. If you are coming from St.Mary’s in fact, you take the first exit after crossing the bridge and head south. You can’t miss them. They have a number of boats and when enough people are there run a headboat open to the public. While that is nice what I want to talk about is the charter boat, The Red Osprey and Captain Simon Dean. This combination turned out the best fishing I have done in quite some time.
This time of year is very good for Rockfish (Striped Bass) trolling as well as bottom fishing for White Perch and Croaker. The weather is good and when you are on the bay the heat seems to be much more bearable. Now, fishing is much more fun with a group of people that love to fish. Since the flat rate for the boat is for six people I offered a trip to friends I’ve made working here. Even with the short notice, I found some takers. We all were getting excited and were at the dock at 5:30 Sunday morning. We tortured ourselves standing next to the Red Osprey and waiting for the OK from the captain to board.
The equipment is provided, the bait is provided, all that is left is to get out on the water. We were standing there looking and waiting. The anticipation was building. While the skies were still a bit odd looking we had high hopes that it would clear and we would be on our way. Soon enough Capt. Simon showed up and gave us the go to board. We passed our coolers from the dock and climbed aboard.
WE ARE UNDERWAY!
Christine…
Great site! i\’m looking forward to reading more….