July 11, 2023 – Chris, the Results Are In, and You Are the Father…. – Atlantic Ocean

Back at port shenanigans.

I have been lucky enough to be included in the Team Ward annual fluke fishing adventure during his vacation each year for many years now.  My son joined us for the first time last year, but because of snotty weather and also cold water outside, his first excursion was in the backbay and on a different boat with a different captain out of a different port.  We also did some backbay fishing with me as the captain earlier this summer, and he did great.  The true paternity test as it pertains to my proclivity to seasickness would come this week.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, it appears he is my son—his mom is also averse to long car rides and trains and boats if I recall.  Knowing what it feels like to be in that holding pattern between losing your breakfast and just existing in a weird purgatory, unable to fish or move but not heaving over the rails, I felt terrible for the kid!  He made it for about three hours of an 8-hour trip without feeling bad, and he did catch a couple fish, but the best part of his day was surely stepping foot on the dock at 2:30 PM.

Bubba's lucky shirt.  The boy somewhat alive?

I prepped him with some Dramamine, which probably explains why he never heaved, but he still felt out of sorts in the rough conditions.  It was supposed to be a calm day.  Captain Adam of the Adam Bomb out of Cape May brought up how NOAA was even sticking to their original forecast as we, and other captains he was in contact with on the radio, were experiencing whitecaps and a steady 15-20 in real time.  Adam worked hard in these conditions, and he is one fishy captain, so we persisted through the sloppy stuff and caught quite a few fluke and sea bass.  Even with the complex slot limit factor, we got pretty close to a boat limit.  Uncle Bubba turned it on in the final hours and probably had the most keepers in the box.  Young Emma used to have the juice, but she is slipping as she approaches college freshman status—maybe she was hung over!?  She still did better than her brother, who ghosted us yet again (not his fault, but still, you know??).  Ward and I did our best to contribute to the box.  He caught some fish and broke a rod, which gave him a retail quest this week, and I landed a good 5+ pound fish along with many shorts.

A good haul and a few good ones in the mix.

Adam was backtrolling into the current all day to keep the drifts under control, and he kept bouncing around to his marks—many just little pieces of reef worth a few short drifts—until we found a couple hot ones covered up with shorts and eventually keepers.  We stayed inshore for the first time that I can remember.  Ward did not recall ever seeing land when we have fished with Adam in the past, but Adam was in contact with others out on the reefs all morning.  By all reports, it was a struggle out there and even snottier, so not worth the long run.  I am sure the boy was happy we had a much shorter ride back to the dock at quitting time.  I kept a few filets for my mom to fry up for me, but Team Ward earned their lion share, and they have a big old fish fry in Ocean City in the not too distant future.  Oh the irony, but I felt great all day.  I probably did not fish close to capacity because I was distracted by trying to take care of the boy, but otherwise I had a good time.  I see a future business opportunity in drone air drops off and on boats.  Come join us at this reef for an hour of fishing, and then fly on back to port before you pray at the rail!

NOAA's forecast was accurate for the harbor.