As skillfully as a surgeon might remove a fishhook embedded in the skin of a human being, a fish has the ability to remove bait that has also been embedded by the fishhook.  The gentle tugs on the line as well as the sometimes not so gentle has the fisherman waiting in anticipation for that big pull and the awesome feeling of the fish attempting to swim away, hook in mouth.

But more often than not the end result is a fishing line reeled in exposing the empty hook that once supported a nice big chunk of peeler crab.

If you have ever eaten a crab and you cut the body in half with your little crab knife, then quarter it to expose the muscles used to power the swimming fins and the walking legs and the claws,  then you are familiar with the work involved in picking a crab in order to eat it.

A fish doesn’t seem to have that problem. They can pull and suck the crab meat from around a fishhook swiftly and with ease.  Like those surgeons in an operating room I imagine four of them planning the crab meat lumpectomy from my hook:

“Okay you two guys take the right side, me and Junior here will take the left.  And be careful not to engage with that shiny pointy thing in the middle or it’s curtains.”

And there you have it.

The line pulls, the pole may bend, the anticipation builds, and you begin to reel your line in but then everything goes limp.

As the excitement quickly wanes the hook finally breaks the surface showing the bait removed with just a bit of shell remaining from the area where the swimming fin connected to the body.

In medical terms, a CABG (aka Coronary Artery Bypass Graft) but in fishing with peelers, it stands for Crab-All Bait Gone.

 

Kim and I went on vacation last week.

That may not sound like a big deal to most but in our case, other than visiting kids, it’s the first time we have done such a thing since 2014.  I know that because I am reminded of it daily by the Delaware Surf Fishing License plate on the front of my truck with the “14” decal which I leave there on purpose as a motivator.

But we didn’t revisit the Delaware beaches, we based out of the house in Woolford on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and as we explored those activities we don’t usually have time for, mostly in Dorchester County and to the north, Talbot County where Easton, St. Michaels, and Tilghman Island are located.

We brought our bikes and our kayaks.

We visited St. Michaels and biked Tilghman Island and discovered a cool place to eat, drink, and even spend the night called Lowe’s Wharf Marina Inn just on the mainland side near the bridge to Tilghman Island.

We took the short family-operated Oxford Bellevue ferry ride from the St. Michaels side to Oxford.

We got to know the neighborhood better by kayaking Fishing Creek and Church Creek.

While kayaking and biking on Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge we observed many bald eagles, a variety of herons, ospreys, and other wetland birds.

On our kayak trip on the Blackwater River Kim was reluctant to approach something in the water (she thought it was an alligator), so I kayaked close to it and poked it with my paddle assuring her it was an old stump covered in mud or something like that.   On our return trip, we were more than a little surprised to see our “stump” moving fairly efficiently across to the other side of the river.  Describing our experience to our friend Mare who has volunteered at Blackwater for the last sixteen or seventeen years, she explained our paddling stump was more likely a large snapping turtle.

I was pretty happy he didn’t raise his head while I was poking him with my paddle.

It could have got very messy in my kayak.

 

We spent a night in Salisbury and attended the Salisbury University Seagulls’ opening football game where we were able to watch the debut of their new placekicker and field goal kicker, the son of friends of ours, kick seven extra points and numerous kickoffs.

We did some crabbing and ate some crabs.

 

And wanting to learn more about the history of the area and the role Harriet Tubman played, we returned to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor’s Center to spend some additional time reading and learning.  Then we drove around the area and visited some of the sites significant to her life in Dorchester County.  Madison, the next town down the road from Woolford towards Taylor’s Island in Harriet’s time was known as Tobacco Stick and it is there she worked lumbering, boat building, and working the docks.  Today it is the site of a marina, a campground, a fun restaurant called Maryland Blue, and the crab processing plant where I buy my peelers, the Madison Bay Seafood Co.

 

Oh yeah, my peelers.

I didn’t fish as much as I expected to this trip but I think I got out maybe three evening high tides and one morning.

In all that time, however, I only caught one fish.

A croaker, also known locally as a hardhead.

I threw him back.

But I got lots of bites, and experienced many moments of anticipation, only to be followed by disappointment.

Mostly, I very generously fed the fish providing the opportunity for them to perform those crab meat lumpectomies on my peeler crab bait over and over again.

 

But you know what they say about a bad day fishing.

And the same could be said for everything else I think.

I shared some photos and links below.

 

 

Postscript:

I have been traveling to this area for a long time but I have learned more about this part of Maryland in the past year than I have in the last thirty or so.  There is much to learn and much to do in the rivers, swamps, and country roads of Dorchester County and neighboring counties.  I would highly recommend a visit.

A peeler crab by the way is one that has developed its soft new shell under its existing hard shell as it prepares to shed, expand its new shell and grow to a bigger size.  Fish love them.

Tomorrow will be one year since my dad was discharged from the hospital and entered a rehab facility in Easton.  He lasted about three days there before falling, returning to the hospital, and ultimately being discharged to the facility where he now resides in Cambridge.  It’s been a year of adjustment, but he is in a good place.

 

 

 

Lowes Wharf Marina and Inn

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Blackwater Paddle & Peddle Adventures

Oxford Bellevue Ferry

Maryland Blue