Capt. Pete's Ide Fishing Charters
P.O. Box 334
Callaway,
MD
20620
301-481-1889
Contact via E-Mail
Captain Pete Ide has fished the Chesapeake Bay as a captain and a mate since 1981, at the age of 13. He was attending college at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and fishing on charters as a mate here in the summers when he got his captain's license in 1986. Back then, rockfish were very scarce. "I never even saw a rockfish for the first seven years I worked on the water." Area charters mainly caught bluefish, trout, spot and whatever else they could scare up. Fishing was pretty much over with by the time Halloween rolled around. In the early '90's, shortly after the rockfish moratorium was lifted, fishing really began to change in a positive fashion. Good numbers of 20"-36" rockfish were around and legislation was finally starting to allow us to bring some home. Capt. Pete received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 1991. His desire to please his parents by getting a four-year degree satisfied, he once again returned to his home state of Maryland to pursue his true passion, fishing the Chesapeake Bay. In 1991 after working for Scheible's Fishing Center for 13 seasons, he struck out on his own after purchasing an old, slow wooden boat from a local captain. Fishing continued to improve and business was good. Along with the rockfish in the mid-90's, another lost fishery made a thundering return to the Bay. "I had always heard the old-timers talk about night fishing for 'hardhead' or croaker which weighed up to three pounds and I thought, yeah, just another fish tale." Well, enough stories are told, I suppose, that some inevitably have some truth to them. Croaker fishing in 2002 was better than it ever has been, and rockfishing remains strong. Along with these two mainstays on the Bay you'll find bluefish, redfish, Spanish mackerel, spot and occasionally something different like a jack crevalle.[ Last Updated: 06-Apr-2006 | Reader Comments Report Problem