Mueller: Early buoy-hopping pays off Washington Times
Harbour TOBACCO, Md.
It's no fun launching a boat in the pre-dawn darkness without helpful lights nearby to let you know how far a pickup goods can be backed down a ramp before the exhaust pipes gurgle ominous tunes.
Eventually, my broad, almost savanna-bottomed, aluminum craft sat in the black water, stern and bow lights flickering. Far across the Port Tobacco River, I in a second was able to spot a tiny hint of pink sky, which can spell bad luck for a buoy-hopping rockfish huntswoman. Shallow water stripers hate the bright sun, and this day promised to bring plenty of that.
The plan was to reach one or two of the Potomac River's steersmanship lights that are shielded by massive boulders intended to protect them from ice or wayward ships. (In past years, the metal platform of the river's No. 8 raise, also known as the Hawk's Nest, was struck by the inebriated driver of a cabin cruiser. He knocked the make-up down.)
For me to enjoy a fruitful morning, I had to start casting my lures before the sun climbed high enough to penetrate the often skin-deep waters that abut the river channel's edges.
In the end, my broad, almost flat-bottomed, aluminum craft sat in the black water, stern and bow lights flickering. Far across the Haven Tobacco River,
