Gone Fishin'

My friend Lee invited me to go fishing last Saturday. An old family friend of his in-laws runs a fishing tour boat in the Chesapeake Bay and offered to take them out for a trip, and I was lucky enough to be invited. While waking up at 4:30 in the morning to meet the boat by 6 AM was slightly intimidating, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Sleep be damned.

The weather was fabulous, and it was also my first opportunity to get to know my new camera, a Nikon D60. Our guide, Sean, was a charming fellow and taught all us rookies the ins and outs. We ended up catching 24 bluefish and one rockfish. Technically, I caught the rockfish, though I can hardly take credit for being the one who happened to be standing next to the "china line" at the time something bit. While we mostly were fishing with rods and reels that were thrown out behind the boat at various lengths, some with heavier weights to bring the lures near the floor of the bay. But the rockfish was caught with a simple line that was just dropped behind the boat and tied around a cleat at the back. It was weighted heavily to keep the lure on the bottom below the back of the boat.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. The rest are here on flickr.

Predawn


Sunrise


Learning to Fish


Lee Gets A Bite


Fighting Fish


Reeling Him In


End of the Trip