Category: Outdoor Life

Breaking News, Outdoor Life

Maryland releases tagged rockfish in Bay worth $10,000

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Over the summer, hundreds of imposters and one genuine Diamond Jim will be pursued by anglers. Each month that Diamond Jim goes uncaught, the reward increases from $10,000 in June, to $20,000 in July, and $25,000 in August. With a $25,000 guaranteed payout, if Diamond Jim is not caught by midnight Labor Day the cash will be split equally among those who catch imposters.

Last year was the first time in the contest’s nine-year history that the official Diamond Jim was caught. The captor, Blair Wheeler, 25 of Herndon, Va., walked away with the $25,000, and other great prizes. A novice angler, Wheeler snagged the winning striper while fishing aboard a charter boat.

Boating, Entertainment, Land of Pleasant Living, Outdoor Life, Photo Gallery, Reach the Beach, Remember when, Travel, Welcome

Summertime on the Chesapeake: St. Michael’s, Md.

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ST. MICHAEL’S, MD. — The home of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, this old town that bills itself as the town that fooled the British, is now the center of one of the finest collections of Chesapeake Bay boats of all types. The museum is staffed by friendly and knowledgeable folks, mostly volunteers, who bring their own collective experience and wisdom to entertain and educate.

Breaking News, Land of Pleasant Living, Outdoor Life

Columbia: concussion in high school sports saw dramatic drop in last year

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Football took the top spot in the county’s concussion numbers–accounting for 294, or 26 percent of all reported concussions–during those six years. Reports of football concussions dipped from 55 to 45 from the 2011-’12 season to the 2012-’13 season, the data showed.

Wrestling accounted for the next highest percentage of concussions, at 13 percent of the reported total for the six years. It was followed by boys’ lacrosse (at 10 percent for the six years); girls soccer and cheerleading (each at 8 percent); and girls’ lacrosse (at 7 percent).

Davis said various factors may have played into last year’s overall decrease in concussions — including limits placed in fall 2012 on full contact practices in football.

Boating, Breaking News, Entertainment, Land of Pleasant Living, Outdoor Life, This Just In!

All around the Chesapeake – Croakers Busting Loose!

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Concentrations of sea grass can be a place where croakers stay and feed. For the most part, they move and feed as a school, but some of the larger croakers may be found in more concentrated groups.

The Wicomico River near Quade’s Store in St. Mary’s County continues to be croaker central for much of the season, but so do other locations such as waters near the Ragged Point Bar on the Virginia side of the Potomac, Cornfield Harbor just inside Point Lookout and the Patuxent River near Benedict and Sandgates.

Boating, Breaking News, Election 2014, Entertainment, Land of Pleasant Living, Outdoor Life, Photo Gallery, Remember when, Travel

Cap’n Larry Jarboe: The Captain and the Kid

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Though I was only four or five years old, I still remember my first charter boat fishing trip on the Chesapeake Bay.

When my Dad told me I was going fishing, I got my toy plastic reel and steel rod that had a rubber hook for snatching up open mouthed plastic goldfish in a dexterity game.

I cut off the rubber hook with safety scissors and tied on a Christmas ornament hook. I was ready to catch a fish.

Capt. Bill Dixon from Town Creek must have been amused as I carried my rig onto his boat with my Dad, his business partner Howard Carpenter, and members of our families.

Boating, Breaking News, Military, Outdoor Life, Sea rescue, U. S. Coast Guard

Coast Guard medevacs diver offshore from Hatteras Inlet; ‘Under Pressure’ skipper called for help for diver under too much pressure

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The Coast Guard medevaced a 52-year-old man from a dive boat approximately 18 miles southeast of Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, Sunday.
The captain of the dive boat Under Pressure contacted Coast Guard North Carolina Command Center watchstanders via VHF-FM at approximately 3 p.m. and reported a diver was suffering from from signs of decompression sickness.

Boating, Land of Pleasant Living, Outdoor Life, Remember when, Travel

Point Lookout Hotel was once a lovely old lady sitting on the beach at the Chesapeake Bay

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I first visited the hotel sometime around 1937-38, and thought She was grand with Her wide double staircase leading to the upstairs from the great oaken-curved desk. The picture of Point Lookout Hotel that was carried in the November issue of The Chesapeake brought back poignant memories that I have really tried to put out of my mind. The last time I visited the Hotel, She reminded me of a skull looking with sightless eyes across the waters of the Bay. I say ‘She,’ because to me She was once a lovely old lady sitting there beside the beach smiling at the sea gulls and fishermen as they passed in their boats.