Went out on the Potomac River today and fished all day long from 6am until about 5pm. There was a big rockfish tournament going on today out of Cobb Island Maryland, and there were boats everywhere. The first 8 hours, we didn't catch a thing. We were using planer boards and running 8 lines. We had a couple of snaps drop, but they were either false alarms or the umbrella rig hit the bottom. Both times, we reeled in nothing but an empty hook. We could hear a few folks talking on the marine radio about a catch here and there, but nothing spectacular. Then we decided to go somewhere else...where none of the tournament fishermen were fishing...Nomini Bay. After the first couple of hours, it seemed like we had made a bad decision, leaving the rest of the boats and coming to a relatively unfished area. But then, we got a bite. The snap dropped and Kenny reeled in a keeper at just over 29 inches. Since it was the first rockfish that I had seen in live action, Kenny was kind enough to let me take a couple of pictures with it. Thanks Kenny!
After we got that fish into the livewell, we sat back down for a few minutes thinking about how nice it was that we didn't get skunked today. Then one of the snaps dropped and I reached for the pole as the line began to peel off the reel. We could tell right off that this one was a nice sized fish. I reeled it in and got it into the boat. It was a new personal best fish for me and weighed in at 27 pounds and was 40 inches long! It was the biggest rockfish I had ever seen! Thanks again Kenny!!
And since Kenny was nice enough to let me have the photo op with his fish 20 minutes earlier - and since it's his boat and his tackle and he invited me to go along... Here's his photo op with the big cow! Thanks Kenny!!
And finally, I got home with the fish and took a moment to take a couple of pictures with the All in General truck. So here are a couple of them...
And one more time, I would like to thank Kenny for taking us out on the river all day and helping me to hook into my first rockfish!! It was a great day that was turned into an even greater day with that 27 pound monster!! w00t!!