? Bad Fishing Trip ?

[doctorb]

No one should ever complain about fishing, whether you are successful or not.  But I am gonna make an exception this time.

As my hip replacement is next week, I scheduled 3 consecutive days fishing with a guide I have known for years on the tidal rivers of Maryland's eastern shore.  Sort of a pre-op gift to myself.  Been fishing with him a couple of dozen times over the years, so we know each other pretty well.  Decided to take a fishing buddy with me who needed some cheering up.  Was gonna be great all around.

Fished really hard for 8.5 hours on Thursday, total of 9 fish in the boat with three people fishing.  Worst day I have ever had with this guide on these rivers.  The tide was so high that it never went down.  Tidal bass relate to the tide and when the water is high they can be tough to get to bite.

Friday, we went to a different river and fished 8+ hours in 90+ heat, caught 2 fish the entire day, with one on the second to last cast!  We fished a lot of floating frogs that day.  The guide got hung up in a tree, yanked it out, and it came flying back and nailed me in the crotch.  (think breathless at this moment). No cuts or hooks imbedded, thankfully.

That night, we went to dinner.  Driving home I struck a deer at about 50 mph.  Truck ran fine so we went back to the motel.  Got up this morning, a little rainy, drove to the 3rd river without my buddy because he said we were working too hard for too few fish.  He got up and drove his own car back to Baltimore.

Because of the rain I didn't notice the fluid under the front of my truck.  We fished for 5 hours, 2 small bass, which the guide caught, so I called it quits.  Back at the dock, saw the wet spot under the engine, and checked the radiator for fluid.  The deer had driven the radiator back into the fan a bit, and the radiator was dry.

Filled it with water, followed the guide to the dealer, who will take it to the body shop on Monday.  No rental cars, except at the airport.  Car dealership was nice enough to give me a shuttle ride out there, dealt with Avis, and drove all my gear home in a Hundai!  Now I'll have to go back down to Salisbury.  Hopefully, they'll have it passable by next weekend.

So, my 3 day totals are:

6 largemouth bass.
1 sore groin
1 dead deer
1 busted truck
1 forlorn guide
1 glum friend
And 1 return trip to the eastern shore next weekend.

Got to laugh because there's no sense in cryin' ;) :D

[WDH]

Doc,

You had a bad go of it.  You must have got up on the wrong side of the bed.  Tomorrow, get up on the other side to cancel out this bad karma. 

I also hear that you can work off bad luck on a sawmill.  If you were not so far away, you could come by here and work off some of that bad luck in Georgia, but I know that you went to Med School and that you are smarter than that  .  Good luck tomorrow.

[badpenny]

   Doc, your story reminds me of an old adage, the worst day fishing is still better than the best day working. But you seem to be putting a fine edge to that adage. Good luck

[beenthere]

This fishing trip will maybe make being laid up recuperating just a little easier?  or not ;)

Prolly didn't bring any venison home either, with the way it turned out.

[Tom]

Hard to believe a true fisherman would quit a fishing trip because he wasn't catching fish.  Good on you for seeing it to the end.

[Norm]

You know doctorb thinking back on it seems like that's how most of my fishing trips go. Wouldn't it be nice to have one where you can write about how your arms sore from catching too many fish, the weather was just perfect, the lodge was the best ever, and on the trip home you found a hundred dollar bill.

Well we can dream can't we.  :D

Good luck on your hip replacement, if there's anything you need feel free to ask. 

[Magicman]

So, my 3 day totals are:    6 largemouth bass.  

That's all that really matters.  That is the good part.    ;D

Best wishes for you next week with the hip surgery.

[treefarmer87]

hope your hip surgery goes well

[Troublermaker]

Where did you go. In the bay or the ocean? I heard that they was catching some good croakers and #2 spots in the bay. Since you are a fishman do you know the difference between a croaker, king belly and a hardhead?

[doctorb]

Troublemaker-

I fish freshwater for the vast majority of my trips, and, like most of my fishing, the quarry this time was largemouth bass.  There are three tidal rivers of the Delmarva penninsula, all of which originate in the Chesapeake Bay, and not on the ocean side.  They are:  The Nanticoke river, which runs past Seaford, Delaware, the Wicomico River, which runs through Salisbury Maryland, and the Pocomoke river, which runs through Snow Hill, Maryland.  Inland these rivers are fresh water / brackish in character, and hold the standard freshwater fish like sunfish, perch, catfish, gar, largemouth bass, and pickerel.  Dependent upon the time of the year, they also see some roaming saltwater species like striped bass.

To the best of my knowledge, a croaker and a hardhead are the same fish.  Never heard of a king belly.

[Gary_C]

Well Doc, your surgery must be over and hopefully you are on the mend. Are you going to fess up and tell us how it went and how good a patient you have been?   :D :D

Hopefully you did not ask to be awake so you could supervise.  : :

[beenthere]

From the deer skinning thread, tomorrow at 8 am is scheduled.

Wish you well and quick recovery. We will stay tuned for the "up" reports. ;)

[doctorb]

Taking my iPad with me, so I'll update all the details. Tomorrow at 8am is correct.  Just need to keep thinking about the pig roast to get me through!

[Mooseherder]

Looks like you're gonna have some time for reading the next few weeks.
Good luck tomorrow.  We'll be thinking of you.

[sandhills]

Best of luck to you on your surgery, I bet that pork will taste 210% better without a sore hip.  Oh yeah, the fishing will be a lot more fun too.  ;)

[pineywoods]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I nursed the wife through the same procedure a few years back. It ain't something you'd want to do for fun. Just curious, did you bust it or just wear it out???

[Magicman]

It's both of them, so it sounds like he just wore his tread bare.

[DanG]

Best of luck to ya Doc!  We'll be pulling for you and may even mumble a little prayer for ya. ;)

[Bill]

Hoping that your operation/recovery goes well .

As to fishing - when we went out in a group we'd agree to split up the fish - cepting if there was something special ( think big or different ) . Alot of the time there'd be one person that had decent luck to make a trip a success .

Good Luck

[Norm]

Good luck today doctorb, we'll keep you in our thoughts for a successful procedure. 

[thecfarm]

The other Doctor has him on his list. He must be all hooked up and signing papers and answering questions now.

[Magicman]

Prepped and ready.  My prayer is for a speedy recovery.

[beenthere]

And Doc's latest news is in the "Surgery cancelled" thread.