The Sunrise over the inlet was the beginning what was to be a great day of fishing and the start of the season for me. My energetic and faithful friend John had urged me to break out of my winter routine and get out fishing for a day.

We all boarded the Morningstar and the the captain and mate got us headed to sea in short order. For those of you that have not fished on headboats or are not familiar with the Morningstar, I will try to describe what a typical day can be like. In this case we were in search of tautog. This fish is very hard to catch and tends to draw a certain type of angler.

The trip is a great way to meet people and learn about different types of fishing. The atmosphere is very friendly on the boat and I quickly learned that we had some seasoned fishermen on board from as far away as New York.

The captain and mate were both friendly, courteous and quick to explain the various tactics, something that I am not used to seeing on trips like this. Captain Monty has a long resume and is certainly the top in his field in Ocean City but also among the top captains in the mid Atlantic area. I have spoken to several anglers that fish from NY to NC and they speak very highly of Capt. Monty.

After a short ride the boat slowed and made the sweeping circles that indicate the search for structure.

The crew positioned the boat and gave the order to drop. Within seconds, Bobby, the seasoned headboat veteran from New York landed a 21" cod! What a start to a trip!

Another difference is the Morningstar is the trend towards an attitude of conservation and responsible fishing. We tagged 19 tautog and 2 cod on the trip and got to see the tagging process first hand. We released all undersize fish and some nice large females which were tagged.

We had a very productive trip. The largest tog was 12 lbs and several were 10 lbs or more. My good friend John was a flurry of activity, catching 14 togs and a 22" cod. Everyone enjoyed the trip and had a nice catch to take home.

See the rest of the pics of the fishing action here

The Morningstar website is here

Here's another great article on the Morningstar from Sue Foster