It's standard procedure for Stu Burgoon Jr., skipper of the charterboat Hook Mash to leave the docks of Happy Harbor in Deale as early as possible; as soon as the last fisherman gets aboard the boat's bow is pushing water aside and headed for the Chesapeake. Alan Doelp of Linthicum and I were asked to be aboard by 6 a.m., we arrived at 5:30 and minutes later the boat was humming.

Our fishing grounds for the day were to be the area of Buoy 83 off Deale, which had produced solidly in pre-season fishing, the Wild Goose had caught and released 34 fish in one trip several days before. In fishing one goes where the fish were known to bite last, and our skipper had also done well there in pre-season sampling.

As we left the docks the spotlights shone on the cockpit where I saw more umbrella rigs hanging from gunwales than ever before; on the starboard they were of green, portside, white. I didn't know it at the time, but Stu intended to fish 27 rods. The Hook Mash is a fast boat and by the time we arrived on the fishing grounds a bright red sun was just becoming visible on the horizon - and the cockpit still needed the lights as Capt. Stu Burgoon Sr., serving as mate for the day began to put the lines over, but he didn't get to 27 - no way near it.

After about a dozen were working, one of the rods had a deep bend and the reel screeching. Donnie Davis had pulled the first fish from the boat's lottery and began working on his fish. Then another rod went down - and it was only 6:35 a.m. A minute or two later there were four fishermen fighting stripers, the action was getting hard to follow as rods were moved from holders to make way for those fighting fish. Donnie's fish was the first to pound noisily on the deck. It was in the high 30-inch class.

But another came aboard that attracted more attention. It was a tagged fish raising hopes it was one of the Diamond Jims recently released by the Department of Natural Resources for its big fishing contest that opened the previous week. But a closer look by Stu Jr. dashed such hopes - it was a striper tagged by DNR to track fish movements, growth, mortality and such. It was worth no money, but those who check in such tagged fish are awarded with an inscribed cap advertising their accomplishment. A consolation prize.

There was a short lull as more lines went over, but not enough to get to the 27th. Stu Sr. was busy clearing rods for two more fishermen fighting stripers. As soon as it came aboard, another hit, and while it was being fought another strike came, but by the time the rod was taken from the holder it was gone. It was the only strike of the day in which a hit didn't produce a fish. One doesn't see that very often. Also despite the fact that later we managed about 20 rods working, not tangle occurred.

Then I noted many other boats were arriving to start their day, about two dozen boats were already fishing, but the newcomers noted our action and edged our way. We weren't concerned, there seemed to be enough stripers for every boat on the Chesapeake; we hadn't fished an hour and seven fish were in the box and all were well above 30-inches.

Stu Sr. attributed our luck to his Bowen's Inn fishing cap and a tattered T-shirt he wears every opening day; Bowen's of Solomons, a popular fishing center burned down several years ago, but the cap's luck has since held.

Stu should have knocked on wood. Fishing slowed, but only temporarily. By then Alan Doelp took time to count the boats fishing near Buoy 83. He stopped at a hundred and some, they were packed too closely to continue. Our action slowed to a fish about every 10 to 15 minutes. I took one of about 36 inches and seconds later Doelp cranked in the last, also in the 30s. It was 8:14, and we had our limit in less than two hours, which is about as good as opening day fishing can get.

By my count, which isn't precise because it was difficult keeping count with all the action going on, white lures scored appreciably best and it was about 50/50 between fish caught from baits worked on planing boards and those taken via rods on the stern and side of the Hook Mash. Planing boards are primarily fished for rigs worked closer to the surface - and away from the engine noise, which can spook fish.

The early stripers seemed famished, they hit solidly - and as Stu the elder was about to put one big striper in the box we noted that inside its mouth was a menhaden of fair-size with only the tail hanging out. That fish apparently didn't take time to swallow its catch before it took a swipe at a parachute.

OUTDOORS CALENDAR

May 9: Friends of Anne Arundel Trails will hold the first session of a three-part Maryland Safe Boating Course at Earleigh Heights Fire Department, Severna Park. Call 410-222-6244.

May 14-15: No catch and keep rockfishing these two days; it's an interval as the first phase of the season switches to the second.

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Send outdoors news to Bill Burton, PO Box 430,Pasadena, MD 21123-0430; fax to 410-360-2427, or e-mail burtonoutdoors@yahoo.com. Please include your phone number in all communications.