3 Beauties and

3 Beauties and…

Fred, the proud father of Jinny and Julie (twins), grandfather of Emma, a very special little angler.

We launched at the Hanover Street Ramp, Saturday, 6/11/05, at around 8:00 a.m. The main objective was to put 9 year Emma on fish without wasting any time. Our first stop was at an old oyster bar within distance of the ramp. I opened the anchor locker and let the anchor over the side, feeding the line slowly until the anchor touched the bottom almost silently. The anchor and chain didn’t slam down and spook the fish. I pre-fished this bar on Thursday and caught some nice white perch on a jigging spoon. With stable weather since then, I hoped they would still be on this bar just waiting for some fresh blood worms and/or grass shrimp.

Emma was very excited about fishing. Her uncle, who spoke fondly of fishing, before going to Heaven, was keeping a close eye on her as she caught, then released her first fish.

The girls kept catching fish until around 11 a.m. when everyone decided to hang up the rods, so I shifted gears, from fishing guide to tour guide. Our first stop was the buoy marking the exact location where Francis Scott Key wrote the Stars Spangle Banner. From there we went under the Francis Scott Key Bridge, circled around Ft. Carroll, and boated to many other local and historical landmarks south to Ft. Howard before turning back north on the Patapsco River. A few of the other sites were The Comfort (hospital ship), Ft. McHenry, Fells Point, Foot of Broadway, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (on 2005 top 10 locations to visit), Dominos Sugar factory, Federal Hill and South Baltimore.

This guided trip will always shine in my memory.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Tom Hughes