Weekly Update

Well another warm week has kept me off the water and focused on the “normal life” things that I often overlook during the fishing seasons. Weather this week went close to 90 everyday, with no cooling rains. I casted a spinning rod around a harbor on Lake Erie for about 10 minutes this weekend…but that was mostly to help me chill out over a beer.

Finally though, it seems like this week will break the back of summer. I’m not sure if I’m happy to see her go or not…but I do know that these fishless weeks will soon be disappearing. Between a bass bulk up, and steelies starting to migrate into the streams, we will hopefully be taking lots of fish shots…

In the meantime, here’s a few pictures from the weekend on the boat…

BAD....

"Thousands of Dead Fish Line Jersey Shore"

Peanut Bunker...Bad News...Especially for an already dwindling population...

FULL LINK - NBC Phili - Teresa Masterson

Apologies...Mistake...

My Apologies...I had a typo to Shawn Kimbro's site...

I've fixed the links, so make sure to check him out...

http://www.chesapeakelighttackle.com/

Thanks!

Summer Video...

From our guys at Flies And Fins...

One Of Our Own...

Over the weekend I had the great opportunity to meet Shawn Kimbro of Chesapeake Bay Light Tackle. Not only is he one of the most prominent guides along the East Coast, he is also one of the most socially responsible guides in the country. His conservation efforts and participation in various groups includes:

http://www.carefulcatchmaryland.com/ – information on sustainable fisheries in Maryland.
http://www.cbf.org/ – Chesapeake Bay Foundation
http://www.ccamd.org/ – Coastal Conservation Association Maryland

That’s just to name a few!

Shawn and I had an opportunity to briefly discuss the disappearing striper populations, as well as the disaster that is the bluefin tuna fishery, and reasons for each. It became quite obvious that Shawn is not only a tremendous conservationist…but also one hell of a fisherman. He has spent the last 6+ years focusing his efforts on exploring the Chesapeake Bay and the various fish populations that it holds. He does NOT use or allow the use of live bait on his boat, and encourages responsible fishing by practicing catch and release whenever possible…

Please make sure to check out his site, and follow his Reports page for updates on the local fishing scene. If you’re in the area, be sure to drop him a line and book a trip. I can assure you that trying to catch up with Shawn is on the “to do” list for the coming year.

Shawn’s Website can be found at http://www.chesapeakelighttackle.com/. Links to all of his conservation efforts can be found on his home page, along with reports, pictures, and videos of his excursions.

Along with his knack for catching LARGE stripers, he’s also one hell of a musician. Hopefully I’ll have a link to his music page and store shortly. I can assure you that his music will be my next purchase!

Here's a myspace link to one of the songs we had the opportunity to hear him sing on Saturday...

Trotline

Make sure to give him a look...

LOVE IT!

From the Portland Press Herald...

The Freshwater Update Column (Deirdre Fleming)...

"Fisheries meetings can be interesting and that was the case in the midcoast when IFW biologist Robert Van-Riper was updating locals on the need for culverts for improved fisheries habitat.

"It's kind of a necessary thing based on the discussions on where Maine's money is coming from: natural resource tourism," Van-Riper said.

"In the public meeting, a man from New Jersey asked why we don't stock walleye or pike. He said they love it in New Jersey. So I had to keep everyone else quiet, because at this point they're going to kill this guy. And I said, 'Quite honestly, you're probably the only one in this room who thought of New Jersey as a fishing destination.' That pretty much diffused the situation."

Now I'm stuck cleaning up the coffee from my nose and desk...CLASSIC!

Weekly Update...

Well, the week was kind of a disappointment in the fishing department…

The outing on Wednesday turned into a bust. Water temps next to 80 were definitely keeping fish close to the bottom in the cooler water. One small bass took a surface popper late in the day, but the heart wasn’t there…no sense in stressing out the fish…

The weekend was spent doing a bit of traveling…Friday was at my parents NEW boat (more coming on that in future posts)…and then Saturday was spent at a Pig Roast in Central Michigan. No fishing per se, but we did meet some new fishy friends in our travels…again, more coming on that in future posts…

Sunday, Amy, Finn and I stopped at the GIANT Cabela’s in Dundee Michigan on the way home. Definitely worth a stop in you’re in the area...

Pics from the travels…

MMM...Pigs & Rum!

Amy & Andrew's faces after a ride in a '66 Ford Fairlane...by the way, this car does a quarter mile in under 10 seconds, and i'm sure we accomplished just that Saturday...AWESOME!

Amy in between the bears at Cabelas...

Massive trout (to 26" at least) in the ponds at Cabelas...

Bass & Walleye crossing paths in the aquarium...

Pike hanging out in the aquarium...

Overall a great weekend...more coming this week on some of the adventures...

No Sports Allowed - Volume 2

Here we go again...


NSA vol. 2 how we do... from Marc Crapo on Vimeo.

Looking quite bad ass I might add...

Offshore Guys...

Anyone who's into the salt knows about the White Marlin Open going on this week out of Ocean City, MD...

Be sure to check out the MarlinCam...

http://www.wmophotos.com/marlincam/

Some big fish this year already in the mix...

And Were Back...

Well, it’s been a long few weeks…

Learned how to install a new roof, then did all 37 squares of my own roof…which meant stripping all the old shingles, replacing over 60 sheets of plywood, replacing one rotted out header, and then re-shingling everything…

All I can say is that I have a new found respect for the roofing profession…

We started on Thursday July 15th with preparations, and ended up finishing everything on Saturday July 24th. Long 9 days, but was well worth it…learned a lot…

One the 24th, we were up at 6AM to push the finishing touches on. We finished the last ridge vent at 1PM, and by 2, we were packed, and ready for the 15 hours drive to Bar Harbor, ME. By 5:30AM, we were pulling into the camp site, and were ready to enjoy a little vacation time…

The week was great. Little fishing done due to some unforeseen circumstances, but we did manage a few Mackerel and Pollock with a spinning rod…(I know, I know)…

Starting tomorrow we should be back to swinging the long rod for some bass…and hopefully will start weekly reports up Sunday/Monday.

In the mean time, here’s some of the pics from the trip…

And we're back...