Reporting from the Flybridge
I know, I did not get around to getting the varnish
done on the Trojan. This old girl has been good to me, and I have not paid
the attention to her that I would like to. She is a little jealous because
I have been spending so much time refurbishing the Pursuit. Now, after about
one year, the Pursuit is done, and ready for offshore. I will now go back
to spending my time keeping up the 30 year old beauty. That is correct, this
year the Trojan Tri-Cabin is 30 years old. We are putting in a new second
AC unit with heat. Twin 16,000 BTU's in that boat will make ice in the salon
in you drop water. A 30-year-old boat does take a bit more time on maintenance,
but she is a beautiful vessel, with the prettiest Teak interior you will ever
see. That after-shave I usually wear is actually the remnants of golden teak
oil. Popular scent among us captains of older vessels.
During the month of June, this month's title says it all. There is just about
all my favorite species getting ready to bust wide open in the Bay, and offshore.
We have not had a lot of rain during the spring this year, and we already
are seeing a nice warm eddy offshore. Plus the fact that they have been burning
the Tuna and Dolphin up off of Hatteras, all means we should have a great
offshore season here in the Mid Atlantic.
June kicks off with the Get Hooked On Hampton Spring Open, followed by my
son Ben Baugh's high school graduation. Yes, Ben now has just turned 18, honor
role at Midlothian High, made Eagle Scout, and now ready to go off to West
Virginia University. Dad is a happy camper. Casey is doing well to, she will
be a Sophomore at Midlo. this year.
All this is fine, but what I am really trying to say is that about the second
week of June is when I will be parched along side the Chesapeake Light Tower
talking to Spadefish. I will also be chatting with about 200 other boats that
love to catch Spadefish as much as I do. This is just a great fishery, Spadefish
taste delicious and are great fighters. We are planning quite a few Spadefish
trips between mid May and mid June.
Our calendars are marked for June 22, this is when we will take the Pursuit
and head offshore. Myself accompanied by some of Hampton Virginia's finest
pirates, swashbucklers, mates, and Captains will all be targeting Tuna and
Dolphin about 90 miles east of Hampton in the great Atlantic Ocean. This is
our first year running the Pursuit with the twin Suzuki 225 four stroke engines,
and round trip offshore we are only looking around a three hour run time.
This year, we will even be able to outrun the thunderstorms, something that
I have always been fond of doing. With gas prices soaring, we got the new
Suzuki's installed just in time. For complete performance test of the new
225's, just log on to www.jimbaughoutdoors.com
Spade fishing and heading offshore will occupy most of our shooting time from
June threw July. We will also target a lot of the wrecks located at the Chesapeake
Light Tower Reef. For those of you that will be fishing the reef area, I highly
suggest getting the waterproof wreck numbers chart by Sea Search. You can
find all the info on our jimbaughoutdoors web site located at the GPS section.
This is a great chart, it is not to big, has accurate numbers, and underwater
side scan sonar images as well
There are a lot of activities in Hampton that are getting to gear up for the
summer. A few that top my list is the Jazz festival, the Afrikan American
Festival, Bay Days, and of course the weekly Saturday night block party, and
one of my all time favorites, the Friday night Jazz series in Mill Point Park.
For detailed info about all the activities in our homeport of Hampton, just
log on to our jimbaughoutdoors.com web site. Check out our sponsor links.
You will see Hampton there along with the other fine folks. Just click on
the link for any info you need.
When you came visit us, do not forget to check out the new Bass Pro Shops
in Hampton. It is right by 64, you can't miss it. Great store, lots of fun
and be sure to bring the kids. They have a fantastic aquarium that the entire
family will enjoy.
This time of year I get a lot of request for charters. Our web site has a
complete list of charter captains that fish the areas that we usually will
target. The Hampton area has some excellent captains and one really great
head boat, The Ocean Eagle, when you go on the Ocean Eagle, be sure to check
out the wood floors, really beautiful stuff.
I would like to say I hope everyone that went on the Sportsman's Mexico trip
had a good time. A lot of my friends go on these Sportsman's fishing get away
trips and that is all I hear them talk about all year. They really have a
great time, I have seen some pictures. WOW!! One of these days I am going
if I can ever get away. Just look for info in this mag about the trips, I
think they are even going to Tahiti!!!.
Jim Baugh in Tahiti? I don't think they would let me in.
Have fun out on the water everybody, watch the sunburn.
Tight Lines,
Jim Baugh
www.jimbaughoutdoors.com
Sponsored by:
Suzuki Marine, Hampton CVB, Sunset Boating Center, the Radisson Hotel Hampton,
Boaters World,Marine Fabricators, Berkley Big Game Fishing Line, Sea Search,
Customs House Marina, KWC electronics