Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
Stop the presses and hold the phone! Not because I am late getting this article in (although I am by several hours). Something much more important happened and I need to share the news with the world! For the first time since Christmas Eve and for the first time in 2018…. I WENT FISHING!!!!! Woohoo!!!
This past weekend I scampered to the west and took part in a Chesapeake Bay Trophy Rockfish Season trip aboard the charter boat “Maverick” with Capt. Andrew Aus out of Queen Anne Marina on Kent Island. The “Maverick” is a well outfitted, 46- foot Markley that is perfectly set up for harassing rockfish (and other species) on the Chesapeake Bay. I have known Capt. Andrew for a few years now and I have always been impressed with his laid back demeanor. He is a younger man than I am, but he has been fishing the Bay his whole life and started working as the first mate on the “Maverick” (actually a previous incarnation of the “Maverick”) in 2004. He purchased the boat from his captain in 2012 and has been the owner and operator since then.
During Trophy Season, the mate aboard the “Maverick” is none other than my numero uno amigo, co-captain of the “Last Call”, Mr. Chris Evans. For those of you that do not know Mr. Evans, he is pretty laid back too, so it is a very casual atmosphere aboard the “Maverick”, and that is just the way I like it. Joining me on this adventure were my favorite ladies, my wife and hardcore fish slayer Jen, the sister I never wanted (and also spousal unit to Mr. Evans) Missy, and the keeper of the peace at “Last Call Charters” and my favorite angler…. my mother Maddie. We also had a special guest mate for the day, Captain Andrew’s lady, also named Jen. We had our quota for Jen’s aboard the boat that day.
We were fishing the afternoon half-day trip aboard the boat. On their morning trip they had caught a few rock, but had some bad luck with a few getting away that shouldn’t have, and they also missed out on the best part of the morning bite because their anglers showed up a little late. Don’t let Andrew’s laid back personality fool you, he wants to fill the boat with fish and I could tell that he was a little peeved that his party was late. They did manage a few though, and when Mr. Evans was done changing out of his stinky, fish-blooded clothes from the morning trip (he had to be spiffy and not as stinky as usual since his bride was on the boat), we tossed the lines and made our way out to the grounds.
Andrew has a large network of friends running charters on the Bay and he got a good tip that there was a decent bite further south than where he had fished in the morning, so we made the run further down the road. Once we got down around Bloody Point (my Jen was a fan of that location for some reason), Chris and Andrew set to the task of deploying the spread. The name of the game during Trophy Season is trolling with planer boards. The boards are designed to run a hundred yards, or more, off to each side of the boat on heavy monofilament cords. The baits are run down the cords on release clips with carabiner shackles. Those of us that are used to fishing on the ocean side where trolling quickly spreads of six to ten rods are the norm, find out that the technique on the bay is a little more involved. It is not unusual for boats to troll 15 or more rods at one time! Andrew and Chris put out a spread of twenty three. Yup, that’s right. Twenty three rods. We were pulling rubber shads on umbrella rigs, tandem parachute lures with rubber shads and even a trusty old spoon. I figured the fish didn’t have a chance!
We were fishing just long enough for me to ask Chris a few stupid questions about waterfowl that are indigenous to the Chesapeake Bay (I believe I was inquiring as to whether cormorants mated for life and also wanting to know why some were flying east and some were flying west) when we got our first bite. One of the rods on Andrew’s side was ripping drag and my wife semi-quickly donned her fighting belt and it was GAME ON! A short while later the oversized landing net was securely wrapped around a 42 1/2-inch rockfish. Jen was quite thrilled to have harvested such a beautiful fish. Andrew reminded us that in trips gone by we had named our catch, so we quickly dubbed Jen’s fish with the moniker of “Fingers”.
A short while later we had a missed bite, or so we thought. Chris cranked in the lure so he could reset it in the spread only to discover an undersized rock had come quite peaceably to the transom. It was that fish’s lucky day and it was set free to grow up and hopefully meet us again in the future. Some time after that we had another solid hook-up and this time Andrew’s girl was on the rod. We figured it was fitting for our second fish to go to the other Jen on the boat. When the spray settled we had another 42-incher in the fish box. Following tradition, other Jen named her fish. “Tacos” had joined “Fingers” for the ride back to Kent Island. We only had one more bite and Maddie was hooked up briefly to what, by all indication, was another decent rock. Unfortunately, the rubber shad had fouled around the hook and provided a quick escape route for what we all planned to be the most majestic rockfish of the day. “Imperial” had gotten away.
It was an awesome day on the water. I enjoyed some cold beverages with good friends. We had tasty snacks and brought even tastier snacks home with us! Fishing wasn’t red hot, but it was good enough. And I learned that Chris has no idea about the mating habits of cormorants or their flight patterns.
Good luck to everyone fishing the 9th Annual Marlin Club Memorial Day Tournament. Since I am writing this more than a week away from sign-ups, I can only hope for good weather and great fishing. The tournament benefits the Catherine and Charles Kratz Memorial Park and Scholarship Fund (www.kratzmemorialfoundation.org) and signals the start of the 2018 OCMC Tournament Season. You can check out more details at www.ocmarlinclub.com I hope to see y’all at the scales!
Capt Franky Pettolina is Co-Captain of the charter boat, “Last Call”, owner of Pettolina Marine Surveying, Inc. and multi-term President of the Ocean City Marlin Club.
