Fins + Claws
Sea-Fruit Oyster House
Cap’n Jack Russell remains available as a traveling One-Captain-Show full of lore about St. George Island and surrounds within the lower Potomac River basin. He shares much of his lore on Message from a Captain — his epistles archived below.
The Sea-Oyster House, above, located on St. George Island, where the Potomac meets the St. Mary’s River, is one of the last oyster shucking house left in Southern Maryland, and currently operated by Simon and Rachel Dean of Patuxent River Seafood and Solomons Island HeritageTours.
Fins + Claws maritime presentations by Cap’n Jack Russell; Like nothing else in all the world; Living History without the Actors. Call 240-434-1385 to talk to Jack, or contact him at [email protected].
Message from a Captain links below..
If you’d prefer to learn about the Chesapeake Bay and the Captain’s lifetime on the water in iambic pentameter, visit Poetry from a Lesser Poe. It will surprise you.
Stories:
- Sat, 23 May 2026 - Cap’n Reports: Wounded Warrior Classic Continues
- Wed, 15 Apr 2026 - Capn’ Message: Ospreys Keep Trying
- Tue, 31 Mar 2026 - April Open for Rockfish Catch-Release
- Tue, 3 Mar 2026 - Message from the Cap’n – The Greatest Haul
- Tue, 17 Feb 2026 - Message from the Cap’n — The Great Clam Rush
- Thu, 12 Feb 2026 - Message from the Cap’n — When the Bay Turns to Glass
- Tue, 27 Jan 2026 - Message from a Captain-Changing Times
- Wed, 7 Jan 2026 - Cap’n Tells of Bridges to St. George Island
- Thu, 25 Dec 2025 - Message from the Cap’n – Shuck Your Own Oysters
- Mon, 1 Dec 2025 - St. George Island Oyster Scald Dec. 6
- Thu, 30 Oct 2025 - Oyster Season Opens to Warm Weather
- Sat, 20 Sep 2025 - MD Restores Five Oyster Sanctuaries
- Thu, 4 Sep 2025 - New MD Outdoors App Available Now
- Tue, 26 Aug 2025 - 8 Places to Chase MD’s Chesapeake Channa
- Tue, 19 Aug 2025 - Cap’n Says Lightning Bugs Just Flying Beetles
- Thu, 24 Jul 2025 - Crabs Turning Scarce Across Chesapeake
- Tue, 1 Jul 2025 - Killdeer Return to Visit the Cap’n
- Mon, 26 May 2025 - Message from the Cap’n — Soft Crabs Back in Season
- Wed, 9 Apr 2025 - RIP Tommy Courtney
- Wed, 26 Mar 2025 - Cap’n Hails Osprey Return
- Tue, 11 Mar 2025 - Folks from the Cap’n’s Hometown, Piney Point
- Tue, 25 Feb 2025 - The Cap’n IDs Birds by Wing Patterns
- Tue, 18 Feb 2025 - Birds Wintering in the Chesapeake
- Tue, 21 Jan 2025 - Still Hope for the Softshell Clam’s Future
- Mon, 6 Jan 2025 - Boats Are High, Creek Is Low
- Mon, 25 Nov 2024 - Message from the Cap’n – Don’t Rake Those Leaves
- Tue, 1 Oct 2024 - Message from the Cap’n — Fall Brings Changes
- Tue, 3 Sep 2024 - Tug Life & Crew Changes from the Cap’n
- Wed, 21 Aug 2024 - Cap’n on Tuboats’ Radio Banter
- Mon, 5 Aug 2024 - Message from the Cap’n — Bluebirds Galore
- Thu, 25 Jul 2024 - Osprey Season a Bust on Island Creek
- Mon, 15 Jul 2024 - Dodder or Devil’s Hair: It Kills
- Thu, 27 Jun 2024 - Message from a Captain – The Solitary Box Turtle
- Thu, 20 Jun 2024 - Message from the Cap’n – Lightning Bugs = Flying Beetles
- Thu, 6 Jun 2024 - Cap’n Jack Gets Fishing Tips from Cap’n Orem
- Mon, 20 May 2024 - Message from the Cap’n – The Poetry of Trot-lining
- Thu, 9 May 2024 - Southern Cicadas May Emerge in St. Mary’s
- Mon, 29 Apr 2024 - Captain’s Message: Crab Season Opens … But …
- Mon, 8 Apr 2024 - Poetry from a Captain – Martins Ahead
- Wed, 20 Mar 2024 - Message from the Cap’n — Muskrat on the Menu
- Mon, 26 Feb 2024 - Captain’s Message: All Storms Are Different
- Wed, 14 Feb 2024 - Message from the Cap’n – Oh, That Skunk
- Wed, 7 Feb 2024 - Message from the Cap’n: Saga of a Burned Duck Blind
- Mon, 29 Jan 2024 - Message from the Cap’n – Maryland’s Belted Kingfisher
- Mon, 15 Jan 2024 - Oyster Prices Down in 2023-24
- Tue, 9 Jan 2024 - Winter in the Chesapeake: Where Are the Ducks?
- Mon, 7 Aug 2023 - Message from a Cap’n: Season of Jellyfish, Turtles, Ospreys
- Thu, 22 Jun 2023 - Time of Dissolution for Chesapeake Osprey
- Mon, 20 Mar 2023 - Message from the Cap’n – Osprey Return
- Tue, 14 Feb 2023 - Catfish Still Problem in Chesapeake
- Mon, 30 Jan 2023 - Can Soft Shell Clams Revive Aquaculture?
- Wed, 29 Jun 2022 - Looking Back 50 Yrs. at Hurricane Agnes – Message From the Cap’n
- Tue, 31 May 2022 - Bad Crab Vibes for Upcoming Season
- Thu, 31 Mar 2022 - Message from the Cap’n — Martins Coming Home in April
- Tue, 15 Mar 2022 - Message from the Cap’n — Ospreys Return to the Chesapeake
- Wed, 23 Feb 2022 - Message from the Cap’n — Awaiting the Osprey
- Tue, 1 Feb 2022 - Great Blue Herons at Home in the Bay
- Sat, 22 Jan 2022 - Message from the Cap’n — As the Bald Eagle Flies
- Wed, 27 Oct 2021 - Message from the Cap’n: Rockfish Young of the Year Survey
- Wed, 20 Oct 2021 - Message from the Cap’n: Listening to Dolphins
- Tue, 7 Sep 2021 - From the Cap’n, Interesting Crow Facts
- Mon, 30 Aug 2021 - Ways to Help the Songbirds
- Mon, 23 Aug 2021 - Waterspouts: View From Afar
- Mon, 16 Aug 2021 - From the Cap’n: Summer’s Waning
- Tue, 6 Apr 2021 - Drone Takeover Tested From St. George Island
- Thu, 4 Feb 2021 - Winter in the Chesapeake
- Fri, 25 Dec 2020 - Bay Fisheries Takes COVID Hit
- Thu, 24 Dec 2020 - Christmas Time on St. George Island Remembered: Lena Denny
- Thu, 23 Jul 2020 - Sea Nettles Never Leave, Message From the Cap’n
- Wed, 27 May 2020 - Goin’ Crabbing? Some Hints in Message from the Cap’n
- Mon, 13 Apr 2020 - Help Captain Pat’s: Help the Watermen
- Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - Ospreys Return to Where They Were Born: Message From the Cap’n
- Mon, 20 Jan 2020 - St. George Is. Opens 1776 Revolutionary War in MD
- Fri, 1 Nov 2019 - What’s Killing Our Pine Trees in Southern MD
- Wed, 23 Oct 2019 - Great Blue Herons: Solitary and Amazing
- Thu, 10 Oct 2019 - Message From the Cap’n/Oyster Season Begins
- Mon, 26 Aug 2019 - Message From the Cap’n/Hummingbirds, Our Tiny Visiting Friends
- Mon, 19 Aug 2019 - Who’s Who on St. George Island/Paul Haskell
- Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - Parasites Summer in St. George Marshes
- Tue, 6 Aug 2019 - Message From the Cap’n/What You Need to Know About Water Snakes
- Mon, 29 Jul 2019 - Purple Martins Leaving Their Nests
- Mon, 22 Jul 2019 - Snapping Turtles Abound in the Chesapeake
- Sun, 19 May 2019 - Worth Repeating: Soft Crab Season Opens Ever So Quietly
- Fri, 10 May 2019 - Catfish Becoming Dominant Species in Lower Potomac
- Sun, 14 Apr 2019 - An Old Cycle, Osprey Return, Spring Message From the Cap’n
- Thu, 7 Feb 2019 - From the Cap’n: Frozen Creeks; Foiled Hunters
- Wed, 16 Jan 2019 - Who’s Who on St. George Island/William Gary Robrecht (1944-2018)
- Tue, 8 Jan 2019 - Message From the Cap’n: Cold Snaps a Comin’
- Wed, 24 Oct 2018 - Message From the Captain/Changes Around the Marshes on St. George Island in the Fall
- Tue, 16 Oct 2018 - Who’s Who on St. George Island/Camp Merreylande
- Tue, 9 Oct 2018 - From The Captain……Oyster Season Begins
- Tue, 4 Sep 2018 - Yaocomicos Help Calverts Settle in St. Mary’s City
- Wed, 8 Aug 2018 - Who’s Who on St. George Island / Tommy Deagle: Master Wood Carver
- Sun, 29 Jul 2018 - Ospreys Flying & Dolphins Leaping at St. George Island
- Tue, 22 May 2018 - Torpedoes Remembered in Piney Point: Message From the Captain
- Wed, 21 Mar 2018 - The Birds Are Back! Ospreys Return!
- Wed, 28 Feb 2018 - Wendell Chesser Continues Tales of St. George Island 1920s
- Mon, 22 Jan 2018 - The 1920s on St. George Island, MD
- Wed, 10 Jan 2018 - Capt. Jack’s Winter Weather Primer
- Mon, 25 Dec 2017 - Cap’n Jack IDs Birds Wintering in the Chesapeake
