No glorious sunrise snaps this am. Dark as it was, we were lucky it wasn’t pouri…

2020-12-12 22:02:03
Monty Hawkins

No glorious sunrise snaps this am. Dark as it was, we were lucky it wasn’t pouring as we cleared the inlet. Despite dire predictions, we never did see much precip.
Absolutely positively saw too many spiny dogfish though.
Dogone.. (dogpresent?) Whole new program needed now. Green-eyed devils have overrun our reefs. Happens every year – later than usual now and I know what I’ll try next. With a bit of luck that’ll be tomorrow.
Had a quarter of today’s clients in double digits, all the rest, save one, with plenty for a fish fry.
Did have a case of unspeakable bad luck. Despite mates and I having done all we could to fix it – there was no repair. Same fellow limited-out in grand style yesterday yet wouldn’t have caught covid today if he’d kissed a thousand patients on the lips. Pretty rare on my rig—especially in early winter.
Ah well, “Unlucky at fishing, lucky at love.”
Jigmaster Tom was high man with 13 & Ritchie Reed of New Castle DE pocketed the pool money.

Couple three folks will get lucky on the t-shirt drawing tomorrow evening. I decided to spice up the OC Reef Foundation’s Benelli Reef Raffle with a weekly shirt giveaway. Get pulled twice and they’ll get a sweatshirt. Grand prize drawing is Jan 1st and a super-sweet Model 2 Benelli waterfowl piece in 12 gauge, or $1,000.00..
Maryland has no marine artificial reef program. Despite some damn fine representation to federal fisheries; for the most part if you’re going to fish the Atlantic coast of the “Chesapeake Bay State” you’ve got to do for yourself.
And we do. Some years we just build a couple small pieces of reef. In the year of covid we’ve had enormous success getting new substrate on the bottom, and we’re not done yet.

If you’d like to support our reef building efforts via raffle please visit Raceway Citgo (by Grabs To Go where the cream of crab soup makes an unreal pasta sauce..) Atlantic Tackle, Paul Reyburn’s JPR Custom Rods & AllTackle (where Santa hangs I hear) Optical Galleria in WOC (where their new line of “Hook” sunglasses with Zeiss lenses have outperformed all the top brands in my wheelhouse – truth!); my boat, of course, if you’re aboard; or, for the first time ever, online at ocreefs.org – find the Donate page and pick the ‘raffle’ button, we’ll fill out the stubs and email you a pic.
There’s even a fellow on FaceBook, David Hammond, who builds rods as a hobby. Anyone who buys raffle tix from him enters his own raffle – a raffle within a raffle – where some lucky donor will get a rod he built. That’s pretty cool..

We also have our “Name a Reef” program – a way to get your name on our charts permanently. There’s an 85’ tug at the Bass Grounds Reef, newly sunk, that needs a name. Have about $50K in the project – you can name it for less than 20%..
Courtney has even begun a list of pre-paid 2021 reef charts. That chart book will likely come out in early March 2021 and include all 2020‘s constructions..
With all the tugs being failed up and down the coast by new CG regulations, it’s a safe bet we’ll have plenty to keep us busy in the coming year.
It’s also a safe bet what we cannot make a fair bid for will get scrapped just to save bulkhead space & wharfage. Donate like you mean it – your great-grandchildren will appreciate it!
Cheers
Monty

Capt Monty Hawkins
Mhawkins@morningstarfishing.com

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