Well, John took Justin out fishing in the Chesapeake for his 5th Birthday. Once again, Justin reeled in the only keeper of the day. Striped bass were hitting real well, but all seemed to be just under the 18 inch minimum. Justin is shown below with a 21 and a half inch Rockfish (striped bass) that he caught. It also just happened to be delicious.
Uncle John invited us (Justin and his Dad) to join him fishing on the
Chesapeake Bay again... perhaps for the last time. John and Don caught
nine fish between them, but Justin caught eleven. John and I
caught perch and spot (up to 9 inches), but Justin caught 2 perch, a
flounder, a bass, an elway, a toadfish, two of the biggest spot I've
ever seen (12 1/2 and 13 inches) and three sea trout (13, 16. 17 inches, but they have to
be 14", so the short one was released.) Justin caught all the keepers. Things
were still going pretty good up until shortly after Justin put his third fish in the live
well, and observing his Uncle bring in a fish, was hear to say,
" Oh, Uncle John, did you catch another little perch??? "
John was heard to mumble something about the anchor .....
It wasn't untill after we had eaten the fish that we discovered that both of the
spot were eligible for certificates in the state of Maryland. Actually spot over 10 inches
get a certificate, and spot over 12 inches get a patch. Needless to say, be were
disappointed that we didn't taken them to a registration station for Justin. Pictures to
follow (if Aunt Linda's camera worked)(Still waiting)
The next weekend Justin racked up a lead of 16 to 4 as his Dad tried to keep up with the
four year old at catching bluegills and sunfish in Bowie's "Allen's Pond!"
Justin is now intent on scoring a tiger muskie from Lake Artemesia. Lake Artemesia rules
say you can't keep the muskies till they're over 36 inches. Justin is already
casting confidently with a couple types of reels, puts his own bait on the hook, and
decides when he wants to use lures or live bait. He is now working on his
presentation of artificial frogs and mice across the Artemesia lilly pads. Pictured
are a couple largemouth bass Justin caught last weekend while pursuing his muskie. He also
returned a couple smaller fish to the lake. Score for that short late
afternoon trip was Justin 4, Brother Mike 0, Dad 0.