A day out on the water with Capt. Forrest

outdoors

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Capt. Forrest is running his fishing charter business from his house these days. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say from just behind his home, for that's where he keeps his 26 1/2 foot Sailfish moored to his own little private pier.

Wait a minute; did I just call it a little pier?

The truth is that dock would hardly be classified as anything diminutive, being as it's over 100 feet long and firmly anchored into the creek bottom with industrial strength pilings that look like very fat telephone poles.

You'd feel secure tied up in this private port with a hurricane about to bear down. It's got boat lifts, running water, a huge sparkling stainless steel fish cleaning station, lights, storage bins and there's even a big industrial ice machine on site to make sure your drinks and sandwiches, and hopefully later, some fish, are all properly iced down.

Then, not quite a half hour after leaving that pier, we started hooking up on some beautiful, blemish-free, fat, tasty rockfish.

The run out of no-wake St. John's Creek was smooth and just so delightful as Capt. Forrest got up fairly close and personal to some day markers so we could see all those osprey nests with the little chicks now inside.

Then, out the mouth of the Patuxent River, passing the beacon, it was a quick run up to the Gas Docks. Make that a very speedy ride, as twin 4-stroke 150-horsepower Yamahas pushed that Sailfish along quite smartly.

Capt. Forrest has named his Sailfish "Reel Relief" and that's a most appropriate moniker, for this boat is set up strictly as a fishing vessel. That's not to say you couldn't cruise to the Florida straights from here in it. She's absolutely seaworthy, but this thing is primarily designed to catch fish.

It's got radar, an anchor system that can gently (and nearly silently) lower the big weight in shallow water, and sophisticated electronics that would make Thomas Edison pause to marvel.

I mean, the screen on the built-in depth finder looks like a not-that-small high definition television set. And, Forrest has two of them.

Directly behind the captain's chair, is a 32 gallon built-in bait tank or livewell, and I watched dozens of spot and some creek chubs Forrest had caught earlier in the day lazily swim around in there while we were on our way out to the fishing grounds.

However, we never did make it to the Gas Docks.

Oh, we saw that familiar fishing hole in the distance, but before we made it that far, an event was going on just ahead of us, out to our starboard side.

Birds were diving and the bay's surface seemed like it was absolutely boiling.

For anyone who has never witnessed a big school of breaking fish before, a first time encounter with such a happening would probably have them rubbing their eyes and wondering: "What in the heck is that?"

As for us, we immediately were reaching for the fishing rods.

The "Reel Relief" comes equipped with pretty good equipment. Capt. Forrest handed me a Shakespeare Ugly Stick with a Shimano Bait Runner spinning reel attached to the seat. The spool was absolutely full with quality 20-pound test line.

That's not always the case. I've been on charters before where the rod tip was held on with a little piece of adhesive tape and so little line was left on the spool, you were afraid you might cast it all off with a single good heave.

These rigs had about an ounce of weight just above the swivel, and then about 18 inches of clear leader led down to a 2/0 treble hook.

A 6- or 7-inch live spot was then attached to one of the barbs of that treble, impaled just in front of the dorsal fin, with two of the hooks then resting on the outside of the bait.

The plan was to let it fall to the bottom, and then crank the reel a few turns to allow that spot to be positioned just off the deck down there. You might now want to raise and lower your rod a bit, but that technique is purely optional.

If the conditions are right, very soon, you should feel that little fish swimming far more frantically. Then, you give the big predator down there a quick moment to get everything lined up for his or her evening meal, tighten up the line, set the hook with a bit of authority, and just hang on for the good fight.

Ideally, that's how this little exercise of live-lining spot should go. However, with breaking fish all around us, the drill sometimes got condensed into just throw it out and be ready to start immediately cranking.

The fish Capt. Forrest had found this afternoon were all beautiful 22- to 24-inch striped bass — feisty, all blemish free and later, as I knew they would be — a true gastric delight on the table.

Fishing for striped bass like this, using fairly light tackle, is so much more fun than trolling around blindly with broom-stick size rods.

The difference is like someone handing you a box of fresh Norman Love gourmet chocolates or offering you a bite instead of a broken and half-melted Hershey's bar that's been in the trunk of the car for the last year and a half.

Back at the dock, Capt. Forrest expertly filleted boneless striped bass steaks off our catch and I happily put them all into my cooler.

Usually, I'll take a meal, maybe two, from a fishing trip such as this; but it was our turn to host our neighborhood Friday night bonfire the very next evening, and the host usually serves up something to eat, say some hot dogs or hamburgers, at these typical gatherings.

We made it a fish night.

So, were those rockfish filets a big hit?

I'll tell you this, the next Friday night host will have to be serving some fresh lobsters or a few very thick sirloins to top that rockfish meal.

And then, I think they'll still come in second place.

You can call Capt. Forrest at 443-532-0836 or go to www.captainsonney.com.

Besides half day and full day fishing charters, he's also available for harbor cruises and offers another special service where he'll ride with you aboard your boat, and give you tips afterward on how to better rig up to catch more fish.

About this he told me, "I'll even make you a big pile of all that fishing junk you have around that looked so good to you on the store shelves or in the catalogues. You then give it all to one of your fishing buddies. You know he'll happily take it, for everybody loves free stuff; and pretty soon he won't be catching any fish but you will."

My only regret from our fishing trip last week was that my neighbors ate every piece and even every last crumb of those rockfish filets.

And afterward, my wife refused to let me lick the serving plate.

zbasser@aol.com