Unification News for June 2002

Fishing in the Chesapeake Bay

by Patrick Kirkbride

Our family moved to Virginia Beach in March of 2001. One of the main reasons we moved here was the closeness of the water. We live close to the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay and with water this close it was very easy to start fishing again. I have been mainly surf fishing for the past year and have been catching the following fish: striped bass, flounder, croaker, spot, trout, skate, black sea bass, small shark (dog fish) and blue fish. Though I have not been able to feed many yet with these catches I have nevertheless been quite inspired to go out fishing.

The Chesapeake Bay is a very large body of water that covers an area approximately 4,300 square miles plus many more thousands of square miles of rivers that flow into it.

Many people regard this body of water as one the richest and most valuable estuaries in the world. Fishermen, both commercial and sport fishing, appreciate this diverse body of water because of the quality, quantity and variety of fish and marine life that can be caught there.

True Father knows the Chesapeake is rich in fish and recently gave directions to True World Marine staff to go fish in the Chesapeake Bay starting up in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. While there True Father directed one boat to come down to Virginia Beach and Norfolk area to fish for the big Black Drum. So, Captains Kageyama, Nagasuji and Morioka came to our area by boat on the evening of May 21st to fish the bay for the Black Drum.

In May the Black Drum come into the Chesapeake to spawn. They are a big fish that can weigh up to 120 pounds. The average size is 20 – 70 pounds. They are named drum because they make a fascinating drum sound when they get on board. I was invited to go fishing with the team and it was a similar experience to going out tuna fishing during Ocean Challenge. We went out early in the morning and stayed until sunset. For those who have had experience on the water know the feeling of being on the water all day. Late in the day on the third day Captain Kageyama finally hooked up to a Black Drum and it took approximately 20 minutes to bring in the 4 foot long and approximately 70 pound fish. As it was the first fish caught he released the fish back in the water. Within about 30 minutes Captain Morioka hooked up and brought in a 40 inch Black Drum that weighed approximately 35 pounds.

On our return that night I was looking forward to fishing the next day as I was confident that I had learned the technique needed to catch the big Drum. However, on our way in the engine developed some problem and we could not go out again with the Good Go. The next day we did go fishing out into the Atlantic on a ‘head’ boat in search of the tasty Black Sea Bass. We went out 12 miles from Virginia Beach in 65 feet of water. It was extremely rough that day and we could only bring in a few fish.

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