Monday, October 11, 2010

Gone Fishin'


Once upon a weekend, Chesapeake Bay Woman and a small party boarded a vessel called the Seagull and went fishing.

The captain and crew headed out on a chilly Saturday morning that later turned into a spectacularly warm day.

Below is a shot of the calm waters as the optimistic party headed out of Queens Creek to points beyond which included the Mud Hole, Fishing Bay and the Spike.

Yes.  The Spike.



 Now CBW had heard of the Mud Hole, near the mouth of the Piankatank River, and Fishing Bay, which hugs the Deltaville side of the river.  But when Cap'n D (shown below) said they were going to go to the Spike, CBW wasn't sure she had heard correctly.

In fact, CBW was so confused she thought maybe he said they were going to "get some spike" as in a particular type of fish called spike, even though CBW wasn't sure any such fish existed at all anywhere on the planet, much less in the Piankatank River at this time of year.

Still, she kept an open mind. And she also kept all these questions to herself.

CBW's mind is a very, very confusing place to live, but you already suffer her rambling writing so you know that of which she speaks

Of course he wasn't talking about going to get some spike, whether or not such a creature exists.  Rather, he was talking about a fishing spot called the Spike, known to everyone in this hemisphere the 804 area code except for CBW.

So, the happy party dropped anchor amid a very large number of party boats at the mouth of the Rappahannock River, at a spot where the depth drops from 15 to 30 or so feet.

It's important for CBW to clarify that in this instance "party boats" refers to chartered fishing boats which may or may not have people aboard who are partying.




The Seagull was very well stocked with pretzels and beer  every possible fishing contraption, gizmo or gadget.  Below are some of the fishing poles, one of which CBW ended up breaking ( the rig anyway) when The Big One got away.




There were lots of other boats in our midst that day, and many beautiful vistas.  Below is one of the many sailboats out enjoying the perfect weather.



Of course, there were some not so pleasant vistas as well.

Below is the cutting board for bait.  CBW steered plenty clear of this for about the first hour and let someone else bait her hook and pull off the hundreds of fish she caught.  After a while, though, she finally warmed up to the whole worm on the hook thing.

Everybody else was doing it, why couldn't she?

I'll tell you why she couldn't.

It was all just okay until the first time a segment of bloodworm wriggled in her hand.  After that she had no further use for the whole thing and went back to letting someone else do it for her, claiming that they did it way better than she did. (All together now:  Blech.)



After several hours of soaking in the warm sunshine and breathing in the salty sea air, the happy party began to smell fishy returned to the dock with about 15 or so spot that somebody else cleaned  because CBW doesn't do that either.


Last but not least, somebody else fried up the delectable spot fillets which CBW happily gobbled up, because one thing CBW does do is eat.  

The End.

p.s. My thanks to everyone on that fishing trip for a fantastic day.

14 comments:

abb said...

Where's my spot share??? I LOVE fried fish...of just about any type! Wish I'd been with y'all - I'd even had baited the hooks!

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfBwsG8ubFw




mer

Occasional Kate said...

I'm with you CBW... the best part about going fishing is the boat ride, catching many many fish and then eating them! The rest... well, that's why the more the merrier makes for a good boat ride... someone else will surely do the icky parts for you! :-)

Ann Marie said...

I also have not heard of The Spike.. oh well.

re

WV Pailicke... CBW turned pailicke when the worm moved in her hand.

deborah said...

I bait hooks and fry fish, but I don't clean them. Ick!
So glad you took time to relax with friends!

Daryl said...

Oh I would have loved the heck outta this kind of day ... I would have left the hook baiting to Annie! Superb photo, CBW!

Meg McCormick said...

Looks like fun - and I'm with you, the whole baiting the hook thing is the dealbreaker for me.

Mental P Mama said...

Were there hush puppies?

Trisha said...

Glad that someone else was in charge of cleaning the fish! Personally, all I want to do is eat them!

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

TSA-Alas, all the fish have been eaten. Gone. They were very tasty, too, I might add...

mer - Great song! Love it.

Kate-I agree, the boat ride is the best part. Some more photos from the trip will go up tomorrow.

AM-So glad to know it's not just me who hadn't heard of the Spike, although when I did a google search it came up on a few sites that gave fishing reports.

Deborah - Ick is right!

Daryl- Besides the worm, there is also the matter of taking the fish off the line when you bring them in, and we were catching tiny ones just as soon as the bait hit the water, so that meant lots and lots of having to take the fish off the line. I can't even look at that process - too squeamish. Don't seem to have the same problem when that fried fish is on the end of my fork though...

Meg-Nothing worse than a wriggling worm. Nothing.

MPM- I confess to eating some hush puppies later that evening, but they could not compare to Ann Marie's.

Trisha-They were delicious! Filleted and fried. Sprinkled with salt. Good stuff.

Why can't Columbus Day be a two-day holiday? Tuesday morning is going to be here far too quickly, and I'm not ready for it.

foolery said...

I don't mind cleaning them (at least I think I don't -- I can strip out the poo vein from shrimp without batting an eye) but I hate killing them. I also hate looking at doomed fish (or worms, for that matter) in a bucket. All conscience vanishes when they're slapped onto a grill, however.

What a beautiful day!

Jamie said...

Great fishing trip. I'll be happy to bait your hook. So would Bridget who also doesn't use a knife to cut worm segments, she just pulls them apart. She's very girly. Great time later that night! Thanks for the wine and the bonfire!

big hair envy said...

Looks like you had a wonderful day! I, too, enjoy fishing....as long as I don't have to bait the hook, remove the fish from said hook, OR clean the fish!! Maybe it really is all about the boat ride:)

Country Girl said...

Fun fun fun! And the day looked beautiful too.