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Book
a Charter With
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Up
to 6 anglers. Bait and Tackle Included. Out
of Hampton Roads, Virginia
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2008 DATES: June 24-27 (Booked), June
30-July 3,
July 14-17, July 28-31, August 4-7, August 18-21 |
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Chesapeake
Angler Magazine's
FISHING SCHOOL FOR KIDS 12 AND OVER One student & parent will be chosen to fish with the Chesapeake Angler Fishing Team during a fall rockfish tournament in 2008. |
Each camper will be able to bring a guest for one of the four days! Cost
-- $400 for |
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Days of Instruction * Boating Safety * * Fishing Regulations * * Fish Identification * * Hook Removal * * Rigging for Various Species * * Fish Protection & Catch & Release * |
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Camps running Monday thru Thursday all summer long. Departing from Marina Shores Marina, VA Beach & Sunset Boating Center, Hampton, VA. Cost is $400* for four days of instruction. Bait & tackle provided. Call Captain Max King to book your week now. 757-650-3176. Or send Max an email. |
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Sponsored by these fine companies. Call Max King for sponsorship information. |
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| For two years now, I have been hearing from my nephew, Mike
Curtis, amazing and exciting fish tales of his adventures in the Chesapeake
Bay. I have heard all about his friend and mentor Max King, The Chesapeake
Angler Magazine, and lots of other fine folks who have befriended my now
favorite nephew. I have always envied those guys who have pictures of
themselves holding big lunkers. I wanted my own picture. Finally my opportunity
came to go striper fishing with Mike and Max.
I arrived Wednesday evening January 3rd and Mike took me to meet Max King. He had been out earlier in the day with a couple of other guys and told me it was one of the best days ever. The weather had been exceptionally warm. This had been keeping the stripers (a.k.a. rockfish) close to home. "Insane, wide open" were the words Max used to adequately describe the days' events. As we prepared his yellow Contender for another day of action on the Chesapeake, I fantasized about what would be in store for me tomorrow. I hardly slept a wink that night. To say the least I was excited. But I was also nervous. I consider myself to be a pretty good bass fisherman…in Indiana that is. But this was going to be different. A lot different. Random thoughts clouded my head like what if I jinx the day, what if I hook a big one and can't pull it in, how do I put an eel on, what if I get sea sick, what if I embarrass Mike, and so on. Thursday morning finally came. There were five of us on the boat. But Mike and Max did not fish. It wasn't long before I caught my first fish. Yes! Got a big one. Got it in the boat! Didn't screw up! I'm finally gonna get my picture! As Max unhooked this 22 pound monster Mike readied the camera. Just as I was about to take my prize from Captain Max he said "too small, no picture" and threw the fish back in the water. I could have cried. But there was no time for that. For we had drifted over a mess of bait fish. Gannets were diving all about us, and I was about to experience the time of my life. The three of us caught about fifty stripers on Thursday. The smallest was around 19 pounds and the biggest was over 47! Max and Mike baited the lines, netted the fish, and unhooked them for us. The fish came in flurries. Several times throughout the day, four and five reels at a time screamed with hungry stripers. Often times, all three of us fishermen were busy reeling in fish when other lines "went off". Max and Mike darted from bow to stern grabbing unattended lines, setting the hooks, passing off rods to someone else and then grabbing the net to pull in yet another one. It was insane. It was wide open. My largest fish of the day was 34 pounds and I got my picture. I only screwed up once… or twice, three times tops. I slept well Thursday night. Nephew Mike wanted me to earn a citation (a fish over 44 inches, I think). For him, that would have made the trip truly successful. To me, the trip had already been a success. So when Friday came, and we set out again to catch big stripers, I felt relaxed, and confident… even a bit cocky. It was more of the same insane wide open fishing as the day before. This time there were four of us fishing. Three striper veterans (Friends of Max and Mike) and me, no longer a rookie now elevated to novice status. When the flurries came our captain and first mate were once again pressed into action. Often there was no one available to take the unattended lines which allowed (or perhaps forced) them into landing fish as well. Insane, wide open. At times our lines (with fish attached) got tangled with one another. All six of us regularly found ourselves scurrying about, tripping over each other, passing under or over one another's rod, making our way from bow to stern trying to land stripers. At one point I assumed the role of first mate and helped net fish. I had to. Everyone else was too busy. We must have looked like the Keystone Cops. What fun! Fridays' total must have been around forty fish. But to tell you the truth, we were too busy to keep count. Again the smallest was around 19 or 20 pounds and the largest…well that would be mine. Forty six pounds and 47 inches! I got my release citation. For me it was the fishing trip of a lifetime. I will relate the events over and over again for many years to come. And I'm sure there will be those who doubt the numbers I claim. I'm not even sure if people here in the Midwest can fully and accurately imagine what it was like. Thanks Mike for insisting that I come out. Thanks Max for befriending and mentoring Mike. And thanks Chesapeake Angler for allowing me to share my experience in your magazine.
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