2007 Fishing Reports

November 25, 2007

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. As usual, I overindulged but everything was just too good to pass up.

We were out three days this past week, and with mixed results. Bay fishing seems to be a little slower than we're accustomed to at this time of year. Drifting live spots is still continuing to produce a reasonable number of stripers most days, but switching over to clams in some of our back bay spots hasn't generally been very productive this week. On the other hand, ocean fishing has been very productive when the weather conditions allow us to get out there. Huge numbers of bass and bluefish are readily responding to jigs as well as trolled umbrella rigs most days. There's just an amazing amount of bait around right now, and it looks like this fall run has quite a ways to go. Right now the shorts are outnumbering the keeper sized fish by a large margin, but hopefully the big ones will be arriving any day now to join the feeding party.

November 18, 2007

We had to cancel a few more trips this week due to the winds, but when the weather allowed us to get out it was a great week for fishing. After drifting live spot and soaking clams with Bill Morris and Tom Bolger in the bay for a couple of fish on Tuesday, we managed to get in on the tail end of what looked to be a pretty good bite north of the inlet. So Wednesday, after landing several bass on spot in the inlet, I took the Glenn Adams party (Glenn, Pete Burns and Jack Schmidt) up the beach finding virtually non-stop action on jigs. While we lost count of the fish being caught fairly early, when we finally called it a morning they'd caught well over 100 bass and bluefish on bare diamond jigs. The 60-40 mix of large bluefish and striped bass were filled with sandeels, peanut bunker and porgies, so these fish are eating well and on the feed.

After weather cancellations Thursday and Friday, I had George Selph and Bob Keller back and once again found steady rod bending action north of the inlet. While most of the bass were short, before heading in at noon the guys had landed 75 stripers plus several large blues through a mixture of jigging and trolling umbrella rigs in front of IBSP. Great fall action, and hopefully the best is yet to come!

November 4, 2007

Well it looks like the long awaited fall bass run has finally gotten started in the bay. We made it out four times this week despite some pretty ugly weather at both ends. Results were generally pretty good with double digit catches most days and some nice sized back bay bass being landed. Monday I had Pete Burns bringing out his sister Debbie Hill and brother-in-law Glen Adams for their first striper trip, highlighted by Deb's topping the catch with a beautiful 38" bass taken under the lighthouse on a live spot. Tuesday I joined Capt. Alex Majewski aboard his boat for a couple of hours of reelaxation, and while much of the action was on shorts we both went home with some prime fish for dinner. Thursday saw Bill Perchick, Darlene and Ryan putting a bunch of keepers in the box topped by Darlene's 38" bass. The women certainly ruled this week! Today I had the Soobys (Boots, Bill and Mike) out and things were still a little stirred up from the stormy weather of the last two days, producing only a bunch of 24-27" fish in the really dirty water behind the inlet.

We've been mixing our trips up a little, spending part of the morning drifting live spots in the inlet then switching over to back bay clamming for the remainder. Both baits seem to be working equally, with catches pretty equal most days.

October 28, 2007

Just a brief note this week to confirm what you probably already have figured out. The winds completely wiped out fishing for us this past week, so there's really nothing new to report on the catching scene. We are starting to see signs of the water temperature finally inching downward, so the striper fishing should get going pretty strong this coming week. Yes, I know I've said that before only to watch the water warm up again, but c'mon, it's almost November! Sooner or later fall will arrive and I'm guessing this will be a great week for fishing once the water clears up from the weekend blow.

October 21, 2007

It's been a busy week, but it's starting to look like our fall season is finally getting underway. Early in the week, bass fishing was still slow but an abundance of weakfish made up for it. Monday I had Bill Burd and Tim Hicks down from Hamilton College in upstate New York jigging mixed weakies and bluefish along the LBI beachfront. Thursday was almost insane, with Tom O'Donnell, Dr. Jerry Detata, and Jerry's sons Ryan and Dave landing 75-100 weakies plus a bunch of bluefish on jigs and teasers. Both days we had fish were coming over the rail two at a time!

Friday things slowed down a bit. In some nasty winds and torrential downpours, Greg Todd and buddy Joe had a slow pick of weakies in 4-6 foot seas before we headed back in to try unsuccessfully for a bass or two before calling it a day. Today I had regulars George Selph and Bob Keller aboard, and both put together IGFA Inshore Grand Slams (striped bass, weakfish, bluefish) topped by Bob's 40" beauty taken on a clam in the back bay. We've been anxiously waiting for the bass to start to chew, and it looks like they've begun.

October 14, 2007

Not too much to report this week, but things are finally looking up on the fall striper front. The nasty winds early in the week coupled with some refreshingly cool nights have finally gotten the water temperatures dropping to where they should have been weeks ago, and that means bass fishing should be taking off any day now. I only had one trip this past week, with the Al Rezza party coming out just as the water temps started coming down. With the water still in the mid to upper 60's, bluefish were dominating the inlet fishing scene, chopping up live spots almost as soon as they went down and hitting topwaters worked along the rocks. Back bay striper action on clams was slow, but the water moved another five degrees overnight and I would expect both bay and inlet bass fishing to pick up this week.

October 7, 2007

We made it out three times this past week, and it sure looks like our fall striper season is going to be a late one this year. We're usually solidly into back bay bass by now, but the water temperatures in both the bay and ocean are still hovering around the 70 degree mark and that's just too warm. On the positive side, there are immense schools of baitfish everywhere along the beachfront, and the bay and lagoons are still loaded with bait yet to start moving out. No doubt this will be a great year once it finally gets started, so bring on that cool water!

We are seeing a pretty good showing of bonito inshore this year, so maybe the warm water has a good side to it. On Friday's trip with the Ernie Dellheim party from Philly, we started out jigging but shifted over to the troll and mixed it up with false albacore and small bonito in front of IBSP. Saturday George Selph and Bob Keller were back to box a load of bluefish off the jetty with topwater plugs before we turned to the troll for some better sized bonito. The bait and bonito were so thick at one point that it was reminiscent of an all out bluefish blitz, with bonies crashing rainfish on the surface and gulls wheeling all around overhead. Even the captain got in on the action when we broke out the light spinning rods to do some run-and-gun fishing for this great tasting game fish.

September 30, 2007

The weakfishing in Barnegat Bay remained pretty good this week, although we're starting to see signs of it slowing down as the fish get ready to move out. Being out there as the sun comes up has been key to catching these fish, as the back bay boat traffic targeting weakfish has been pretty intense this year due to the premature closure of our fluke fishery.

Monday I had Rodger Bogardus bring visiting guest Pete Hill from the UK out to sample our fishing, and the guys put together a limit of nice 16-23" weakfish tossing plastics. Pink fin-s and BKD's were again the most consistent producers. Tuesday saw Dr. Richard Landry up from Louisiana to compare our weakies with their specks, and he came away impressed with the quality of our fishery as well. While the action was somewhat sporadic in a dense morning fog, the fish he caught were the typical broad shouldered trout we've been seeing this summer and gave good accounts of themselves on 6 pound tackle. Wednesday saw John DeBona from The Fisherman magazine bring his nephew Anthony out to experience weakfishing at its finest in Barnegat Bay, and the weakies and bluefish cooperated pretty much all morning. Pink plastics were again the ticket at first light, but switching over to sandworms and live peanut bunker kept the bite going strong despite the heavy boat traffic.

Hopefully the cool night air we're experiencing will start bringing the back bay waters down a bit, and transition us into our fall fishery. The weakfish have been fun all summer long, but now it's time to bring on the striped bass. I'll be switching over to stripers by next weekend and stick with them through December. There are still a few weekdays open during prime season for anyone interested.

September 23, 2007

Not too much new to report this week. The weakfishing in the bay remains good to excellent with fish in the 18 to 24 inch range being pretty common. While grass shrimp is still working, the fish are fattening up on peanut bunker so it probably won't be too long until they start making their move out of the bay. Bluefish are still abundant both in the back bay and the inlet areas. We'll continue to concentrate on weakies for the next week or so before making the switch over to striped bass for the remainder of the year.

We did spend part of the time on yesterday's trip checking the inlet areas for striped bass, but the bluefish made it pretty tough to keep a whole bait in the water for more than a couple of minutes. That situation should get better as more of the bluefish move down the beach chasing the baitfish that are heading south for the winter. The best fishing of the year is about to begin, so let's go fishing.

September 16, 2007

Somewhat of a quiet week for us now that we're into September and anxiously awaiting the start of the fall striper run. I was out three days this week. Monday was a solo jaunt on the last day of this year's abbreviated fluke season in a fairly dense fog that stretched almost 8 miles out from the inlet. But the fish were out there and cooperative. What a shame we're being shut down at the start of the best time of year for fluke fishing, with fluke at their highest level of abundance in the almost 40 years I've fished for them. Something's gotta change.

Friday's weakfish trip with Pennsylvanian Greg Todd turned out to be somewhat slow, with only a couple of keepers joining a bunch of bluefish in the box. Maybe it was the suddenly chilly nights we've started having, because by today the weakies were back in form and cooperating again as the LaMarca family (Fred, Arlene and Matt) put a dozen keepers from 18 to 25 inches in the box. As usual this year, there were also plenty of bluefish around to keep things interesting.

We'll be starting to get the striper gear ready over the next week or so, and our first delivery of live spots should be here shortly. This should be another good year for fall bassin', so it's time to get your trips booked. I still have several prime weekdays open, but things are going to fill up once the catching gets started, so give me a call if you're looking to get out this year.

September 9, 2007

We stayed at the dock over the long Labor Day weekend to avoid the annual end of season madness on the water, but did make it out twice this past week. Wednesday was a solo run where I had hoped to put a few more fluke in the freezer before the season closes tomorrow. After finding nothing but skates around the first three wrecks, I tried one out in 75' of water and found my biggest fluke of 2007... a fat 28" fish that weighed well over 7 pounds. Lots of shorts as well, but that fish plus a couple of 18" sea bass that joined her will make for several delicious meals over the next couple of weeks.

Yesterday I had regulars George Selph and Bob Keller back for a final shot at fluke for this season, and found several pockets of fish hanging in the rough bottom out past the range buoy. The brisk wind made conditions a little sporty out there, but the guys still finished the morning with 8 nice keepers to 20" in the box. I also had the opportunity to demonstrate a new way to catch bonito without a hook when one of those green speed demons decided to inhale the 10 oz sinker I had on. You can imagine our surprise when I lifted the fish over the side with its mouth stuffed with lead and the hook trailing behind. I guess if you do this enough you'll eventually see everything!

September 2, 2007

The weakfish bite in the bay continued to be pretty strong in the early part of the week. On Monday I had Audrey and John Wendolowski, Audrey's dad Walt Tatko and buddy Kevin Broderick aboard to put some of tasty weakies into the box. But the highlight of the trip was Walt landing a fat 26" fluke that snuck into our slick and inhaled his pink BKD right beneath the boat! Tuesday saw vacationing Steve Rosenthal bring buddy Jerry and Jerry's son Pat out for some non-stop action on pink Fin-s jigs on the west side of the bay. Even after releasing numerous smaller fish, the trio ended up with 22 keepers plus another 9 or 10 medium blues in the box when we headed back in. We're still having most of our success using plastics, either fin-s or BKD's, in a grass shrimp slick. The schools of fish aren't as widespread as we've seen in past years, so the key is to move around until you find them. I did try to get in an inshore fluke trip with regulars George Selph and Bob Keller yesterday, but the ugly conditions when we cleared the inlet forced us back inside, and the tight 3 foot chop in the bay sent us packing for home early. With only a week to go in our short fluke season, I'm going to try to get out a couple of times this week to put a few flatties in the freezer for the long fluke-less months ahead.

August 26, 2007

The rain and winds were a problem early in this past week, but the weakfish action returned as soon as things settled back down again. After canceling trips Monday through Wednesday, we finally made it back out again on Thursday with the Navy's Ray Handel bringing out his children, Josh (11) and Gwyneth (8). Things were predictably slow after three solid days of rain, but they still boxed half a dozen large keepers topped by birthday girl Gwyneth's 20" weakie. Joanna Bardwil and Fire Marshall Dick Brock were up from the Tampa area visiting relatives, and came out on Friday as the bay returned to normal to box their limits of really nice fish. Then yesterday I had 84 year old Sam Silverman and family put 14 nice keepers in the box before the heat and humidity chased us back to the dock. The fact that the early week storms had so little impact on the weakfish fishing makes me optimistic we'll have continued good fishing for these guys right through September, We're still getting most of our fish chumming with grass shrimp and fishing small to mid sized plastics, primarily fin-s and BKD's, in the slick. Great light tackle sport on 6 pound test outfits, which should only get better as the boat traffic starts to go down after the holiday weekend. Still plenty of weekdays available if you're interested.

August 19, 2007

Well it's been another good week on the weakfishing front. We've finally started to see some of the smaller fish that have been noticeably missing for the last couple of weeks, but there are still plenty of nice sized weakfish and small bluefish around in to fill up the box. Tuesday I had north Jersey's Ray Czorniewy and Joe Kleber bring home their limits of fat 16-21" weakies. Wednesday's trip had Perry Iasiello back along with Bill Sr. and Bill Jr. boxing 18 fish in the 16-19" range in a steady pick all morning. Thursday started out quick with the Catskill's John Peterson and Tom Monica putting 6 fish to 21" in the box early despite some serious wind pushing against the tide, but the bite seemed to disappear almost completely by mid morning before the storms came rumbling through. Then I ended the week yesterday with regular guests George Selph and Bob Keller back to put together another limit catch of plump weakfish. We've been moving around the bay quite a bit this past week looking to find pockets of fish that would respond to a variety of offerings. Pink plastics, both Fin-S and BKD's, have been consistent producers, as have small darts in a variety of colors. Each day is a little different, so mix things up and find out what's working best that day. This should continue well into September, and we've still got quite a few mid week dates available after Labor Day.

August 11, 2007

The hot and humid weather made things a little uncomfortable even on the water this week, but the weakfish continued to make being out there worthwhile. Monday I had Montclair's Bob Sharbaugh and Wade Layton bring their 12 year old daughters Sarah and Emma out for a morning of fishing, and the crew landed 40-50 weakies in the 15-22" class before heading in to escape the heat. Tuesday saw PA's Matt Cooper and son Kevin back for some light tackle catch and release fun, and the fish really turned on for them. By the time we headed back in at noon, the guys had released close to 70 weakfish to 24" plus 15-20 small bluefish. Conditions were a little tougher on Wednesday when the south wind cranked up, creating a wind against tide situation in most of my favorite back bay spots. But with a little creative anchor bridling and some determination on their part, the Hough family toughed it out casting into the wind to put 14 fat keepers plus a few small blues in the box for some excellent dining. Then Friday I had Pittsburgh's Ed Borkowski with son Mike back again, boxing eight fish to 21" before racing back in to beat the storms. We're not seeing the huge numbers of fish we've seen in recent years, when landing over a hundred fish per day was almost expected. But the quality of the fish this year has more than made up for it, with average fish being 16-18" and fish over 20" being common. We do all of our back bay weakfishing casting and retrieving small jigs using 4 to 6 pound test tackle, and when these fish hit and the drag starts screaming everyone, young and old, gets excited. This fishing should continue well into September, so let's go fishing.

August 5, 2007

Well it was another good week for fishing (is there such a thing as a bad week fishing?) around here. We had four charters this past week, and they really show what a great mix of opportunities we have available to us. Tuesday we had George Selph aboard for a mid-week run out to Barnegat Ridge in search of bonito and the tasty little speed demons cooperated. What a blast these guys are on light tackle, plus the occasional 10-12# bluefish chasing down our lures added to the excitement. Not only are these bonito fun, but you won't find a better tasting fish anywhere. Wednesday we had Chicago's Bruce Conner aboard with his dad and 11 year old daughter Emily for some back bay weakfishing. In the hot, muggy weather we did have to do some searching for them, but they returned to the dock with 14 nice keepers in the 16-20" class plus a bunch of small blues. Friday it was weakfishing again, this time with the "Jim Charter" from Levittown, PA... Jim Stockdale, his 6 year old son Jimmy, father-in-law Jim and (You guessed it) his brother-in-law Uncle Jim. The guys had a great day, ending up with 18 quality keepers in the box plus another dozen blues in addition to releasing a bunch of smaller fish. The highlight of the day was 6 year old Jimmy, who had just a few minutes before learned to cast with a spinning rod, hooking, playing and landing a nice 20" weakie all by himself to win the family bragging rights. You gotta love it! Yesterday I had George Selph and Bob Keller back for some fluking north of the inlet, finding a pretty steady pick of fish within a mile of the jetty. Most of the fish were shorts (as we've come to expect with the size limits we're living with) but the guys still boxed a solid 8 keepers to 21" along with another mess of small blues before we headed in at noon. So there it is, solid action on weakfish, bluefish, bonito and fluke all during the hottest part of summer. Who says summer fishing is slow?

July 29, 2007

Wow! What a great week! The weather may have been hot but the fishing was even hotter, and it seemed to get better with each new day. I started off the week on Tuesday with Rich Hough, daughter Chelsea, and "pop-pop" Jack boating almost two dozen 15-20" weakfish plus at least 40-50 small blues from the back bay on plastics. Then a free day on Thursday gave me the chance to make a solo run out to Barnegat Ridge to investigate rumors of a hot bonito bite, rumors that proved to be correct when I landed over 30 of the green speedsters in under three hours. Trolling Clark spoons seemed to produce the best action, but red/white feathers and chartreuse squid chains worked almost as well. Friday it was back to weakfishing, with Chip Harter and Buck Buchanan bagging limits of 16-20" weakies plus a bunch of small blues once the tide started flowing out. To finish out the week, I had George Selph and Bob Keller back aboard yesterday to fish the Lacey Elks Tournament and both the weakies and fluke cooperated to produce a great day. The guys were landing fish all morning, and by the time we came in shortly after noon, the cooler was filled to capacity with limits of back bay weakfish plus a bunch of nice fluke taken from the inlet in the last hour. How good was the fishing? How about 16-18 inch weakfish being "too small" to keep. How about the guys starting to call 15-16 inch fish "tiny". How about the cooler handle snapping from the weight of the fish when we went to lift it off the boat! We've still got a few mid-week dates left in August, but they are going fast. Give me a call if you want to get in on some of this fantastic summer fishing.

July 22, 2007

Wind, rain and a really spectacular lightning display on Wednesday made for some challenging fishing conditions early in the week. Monday and Tuesday we continued to pick away at fluke and bluefish from the west side of the bay. Gulp! bait plus teaser combos seemed to produce the most consistent action, with double headers of small bluefish being a fairly common occurrence. There seems to be an unusually large number of small blues roaming around the bay and inlet areas this year, so we've scaled back on our tackle a bit to really enjoy these fish. All the fish we've cleaned have been gorged with shrimp, so not only are they fun to catch but they're delicious to eat as well. The good news is that the summer weakfish bite seems to be coming together on schedule. I decided to give the grass shrimp chumming routine a try for a couple of hours on yesterday's trip with regulars George Selph and Bob Keller aboard, and found a pretty steady pick of nice sized weakies and small blues behind Island Beach State Park. What was impressive was the overall quality of these fish... the ten weakfish that the guys boxed were all in the 17-22" range, not the 13-18" fish we normally see this time of year. If this is a sign of what we can look forward to in August, this could be a year to remember.

July 15, 2007

We've been taking a bit of a break from chartering this week as we get everything ready for summer fishing patterns to take over. But there's a lot going on, and things are starting to look like we'll have a pretty good summer in the bay. Striper fishing is on the decline, not unexpected for July and the hot weather we've had. There's still plenty of bunker still along the beach both north and south of the inlet, but very few pods have bass on them. There are still some really large bass being caught by those lucky enough to hit the right pod at the right time, but the heavy action seems to be moving to the north right now and leaving us with our resident population that will summer around the jetties. Fluke fishing in the bay is now in summer mode, with keepers being taken every day from the deeper spots in the main bay as well as the channels leading to the inlet. We're continuing to pick away at these fish using our custom teaser rigs, although the ratio of keepers to shorts seems to be declining a bit. From the reports I've been getting, ocean side fluking seems to have really gotten started this past week and should continue to improve throughout the summer. The bay is loaded right now with 2-3 pound bluefish that seem to be everywhere, but the really good news is that the weakfish we've been waiting for seem to be making their annual summer appearance right about on schedule. As in past years, we'll be running grass shrimp chumming trips from late July until mid-September where we break out the ultra-lights and toss small plastics and jigs into the slick for some wild action. We've had days where we've boated over 200 fish in a tide, and landing 40-50 fish seems "slow". I've still got some dates left for shrimping trips, but August always gets fully booked quickly once this really get going. Give me a call to reserve a date if you're interested in getting in on this unbelievable fishery this year.

July 1, 2007

We spent three of our four trips this week combing some of the back bay spots for fluke with mixed success. Early in the week action was a little slow with shorts dominating the catch both days, but by Thursday we had mostly keepers in the 19-21" range... nice back bay fish. The west side of the bay continues to produce, but it is taking several drifts to locate pockets where fish are holding. Double Creek and Oyster Creek Channels are still producing, but large mats of floating eelgrass can make for some difficult and frustrating drifts. Yesterday we tried the ocean and probably should have stayed in the bay. Spirits and expectations were high when we easily filled the livewell from the pods of bunker running from the inlet all the way north to the Seasides. Hard as it was to believe with all that prime bait around, no bass or blues seemed to be on them. In fact, the only rods we saw bent were anglers snagging bunker. With that much bait still around, it's only a matter of time until the big fish find them and give us a couple more shots at trophy stripers.

June 24, 2007

Since the warm water seems to have given the striped bass a serious case of lockjaw, we've spent most of our time this week chasing back bay fluke. We had five charters this week and spent at least a couple of hours each day on fluke. We've had decent success lately over on the west side of the bay with double digit catches most days. While the ratio of shorts to keepers has been around three to one, there are some pretty nice fluke to be had with fish over 20" being fairly common. Top fish of the week honors goes to Hugh Toal who landed a nice fat 6.5# flattie on a green bucktail. Other notable catches were Perry Iasiello and Chris Pendy combining for 18 fluke to 21", and the Tom O'Donnell party (including Hugh Toal and Tom McGee) landing well over a dozen. We've been fishing exclusively with light bucktails and some of my custom teaser rigs, really great light tackle sport.

June 18, 2007

We're a little late with our report this week due to charters almost every day and Father's Day, but I thought I'd get try to get a brief one out before my trip today. It's beginning to look like the fat lady sang last Friday on bass fishing in the bay. Friday I had George Selph and Bob Keller out, originally planning to chase bunker pods and bass on the outside. When conditions were a little too rough from the storm, we switched over to clams in the back bay and were rewarded with four nice bass from Oyster Creek before the tide ran out on us. While one of the bass was short, three of the bass measured out at over 33". Changing over to fluke when the tide swung, they complimented the box with a half dozen nice keepers. The highlight, however, was a large sharksucker remora that George hauled in. What was he doing in there??? Since then the bass have seemed to disappear. Fortunately there seems to be reasonable life in the bay fluke fishery, so we'll be changing over to that this week.

June 10, 2007

Hope everyone is well. This past week we spent most of our time fishing outside the inlet looking for schools of bunker to work along Island Beach State Park. While the bunker seemed to be pretty scarce this week after Monday's blow, we still managed to put together mixed bags of striped bass and blues each day by trolling big spoons in the 45-50' depths. The bass were a little smaller this week, with the top one taping out at 38", but the big chopper blues are still around with some weighing in the mid-teens. Most of the fish we cleaned this week were loaded with peanut bunker, not the adult variety we saw last week, but no doubt those big ones will be back soon accompanied by trophy sized bass. The bay has continued to produce bass on clam baits pretty consistently when the tides are right, so hopefully we'll have a couple more weeks left of that action before summer patterns set in. A couple of people have asked me about the reports we've filed about decent sized blackfish being caught in the back areas of the bay this spring. These fish have been taken far away from all the traditional blackfish haunts, but 5 to 6# fish are typical of the ones we've been landing pretty consistently this year in the back areas of the bay.

June 3, 2007

Striped bass fishing has really taken off this week, and this year's great bluefish run has continued. There are plenty of hungry fish in the bay ready to inhale a clam bait, and huge schools of bunker are roaming along the beaches outside the being ravaged by big striped bass and bluefish. On Wednesday, I had Perry Iasiello from north Jersey out again, looking to get in on the great back bay bluefish and striper action we've been having. After a bit of a slow start during the incoming, once the tide turned we didn't have enough hands to keep lines in the water. At one point he called a friend who canceled out at the last minute to tell him how many fish we were missing(!) because three or four rods were bouncing at the same time and there was only the two of us to handle them. Things started with a 6# blackfish inhaling a clam bait as I was deploying our lines, and two hours later the scorecard read 12 bass, 15-18 blues, a nice sized fluke plus the 6# tog. What a blast! Saturday I had George Selph and Bob Keller back to fish the 2nd Annual Ducks Unlimited Striper Shootout. Jigging and wire line trolling produced some early action on nice sized bass and some jumbo bluefish, then we finished the morning fishing snagged live bunker off the beach at Island Beach State Park. While we didn't win the tourney, the fishbox had three bass over 20#, including Bob's personal best of 23#, and a 12# bluefish that had George in contention for the bluefish prize. Things slowed down considerably once the south wind cranked up, but by that time we were ready and head in and enjoy the post-tournament party. Time to go fishin'.

May 27, 2007

I hope everyone's enjoying this great holiday weekend. Even though our long awaited fluke season was opening yesterday, I took this weekend off to avoid being on the water for what is usually one of the heaviest boat traffic weekends of the year. Back to fishing a normal schedule by Tuesday. I did have four trips this past week, and the great Barnegat Bay bluefish run of 2007 continued right through the week. Two to three dozen blues every day was the norm, with fish hitting everything we tried. Plastics, poppers, clams, you name it and the blues ate it. For the most part the fish ranged from 4 to 7 pounds, although by the end of the week a few smaller fish were starting to show themselves. Striped bass and some hefty 6# tog (blackfish) also showed up on our clambaits when the bluefish left them alone for a couple of minutes. Just a great week of fishing! We've still got a couple of mid-week dates in June open, so if you're looking to get in on some really fine light tackle fishing now's the time.

May 20, 2007

What a crazy up and down week. Early in the week, the bluefish invasion seemed like it was going to continue full force but by late in the week the striped bass seemed to be about to regain control. That's not to say there weren't plenty of blues around, but we were finally able to keep a bait in the water long enough to put a few bass in the box. No really large fish this week, with the keepers all in the 29-30" range. We did see some amazing swings in water temperature, including a wild drop of 20 degrees in three hours on Thursday as the colder ocean water came rushing in. That certainly could have pushed the blues back out of the channels into the warmer waters of the bay, where working birds have been spotted consistently. It also made the bass a little finicky when the water got very cold, so it looks like all we need is a little stability and we should continue to have some great spring fishing right through the holiday weekend and beyond.

May 12, 2007

Well the bluefish carnage in Barnegat Bay has continued all week. Tuesday I had Warren Mangel and brother-in-law "Dr Bob" out for a couple of hours playing with blues on poppers on the west side of the bay. While it wasn't hectic, action stayed consistent through most of the morning just blind casting in the shallows. Thursday brought Chesterfield's Kevin Broderick with visiting guest Don Dolliver from Sparks, NV to get in on the action, and they combined for 30-35 blues in the 4-7 pound class tossing BKD's in Oyster Creek Channel. This was Don's first time experiencing the Jersey blues, and he couldn't get over how strong these guys are. But today was pure mayhem. Despite the wind, despite the boat traffic, despite the water temps going from 51 to 65 during a single tide, the action was literally non-stop for almost four hours. I had Ken Miller from Warrington PA with daughter Maddy (14) and Mike McDonald from Philly with daughter Caitlen (14) and son Nick (16) aboard, and the crew landed well over 70 bluefish in a little over 3-1/2 hours all on clams. And that doesn't count the dozens of fish that were hooked but bit through the leader before coming onto the boat. Seemed like there were always fish on, double headers were common, and even triple headers now and then. Mayhem! What a blast! This is without a doubt the best bluefishing we've had in Barnegat Bay in years, and light tackle fishing at its finest. can't wait to get back out there!

May 6, 2007

The story in the bay this week has been bluefish, bluefish, and more bluefish. The razor lipped critters invaded the bay last Sunday and have been roaming the shallows ravaging everything in their path all week. I made it out four days this week, and with the exception of a couple of striped bass that rose to poppers early in the week and a pair of big fluke that went after green BKD's yesterday, the blues have dominated every trip. Surprisingly, we had no weakfish to report in a week that should have marked the annual arrival of the big tiderunners. The bluefish have been mixed in size, ranging from the typical 2-5 pound fish we usually see this time of year up to fish of slammer (10-12 pound) proportions. What a blast some of those big bruisers are when they show up on light tackle, crashing surface plugs in the shallows. They might not be as glamorous as some of the other species, but it's hard to match the fun fishing they provide. Bassing has been a little slow, but that should pick up this week. Several of the bluefish we cleaned yesterday were filled with bunker, and if there are bunker around the bass are too. We did see some wild swings in water temperatures the past couple of days, with a drop of 12 degrees yesterday on the incoming, but bass fishing will pick up again once that stabilizes a little bit.

April 28, 2007

Well, the new boat is in the water and if this week is any indication, it catches fish. Between the raindrops, I managed to get four trips in this week mostly splitting days between winter flounder and striped bass. The flounder fishing has continued to be good, providing double digit numbers of fish for just a couple hours of trying. For example, Captain Alex joined me last Sunday for 15 keepers before we went bass hunting, and I had regular guests George Selph and Bob Keller out today and they bagged 15 keepers before we switched over to bass after a couple of hours. Most of the flounder I cleaned today still were pre-spawn, so as long as the bluefish don't invade we may still get another week or so of good flounder fishing in the bay. Stripers were another story. We did pick our first keepers of the year this week (as we always seem to the last week of April), but the number of fish seems a bit down right now. Water temps are just about perfect and there's a lot of bait around, so this fishery is just going to explode any day now. The slime grass is a bit of a problem, but this happens every year around this time and we just have to deal with it. Full moon this week, so we should start seeing the weakies and blues any day now. Still several mid-week dates available in May and early June, so let's go fishing.

April 21, 2007

Well, the new season is finally here, the weather is looking up, the fish are biting.... it's time to go fishing! As some of you know, we'll be fishing from a brand new boat this season, a custom built 26' Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman. Jones Brothers is legendary for their light tackle fishing boats, particularly among the guide community, for their clear focus on fishing and their ability to provide a smooth, dry ride no matter what Nature serves up. How new is this boat? I believe it's the very first one in the entire Northeast, and we're definitely the first guide on the entire Eastern seaboard to get their hands on one. I've been fielding phone calls for the last several weeks from guides down in the Outer Banks wanting to know about more it. So it's been a fun off season, working with Donnie Jones and his team down in Morehead City, NC to customize a boat specifically for the way we fish up here. They say that every boat is a compromise and there is no such thing as a perfect boat, but this comes awful close. OK, onto fishing. The winter flounder bite is hot. I personally saw several flounder that were well over 2# when I went out to try to find some bloodworms for tomorrow, and heard rumor of a 20" flounder not yet weighed in. And everyone I met said they had a good day which is not typical of flounder fishing. And I know there are bass around because this is the week it starts every year (and I keep getting calls from bassing folks asking when I'll finally get out there...tomorrow!!!!). So we've applied the bottom paint, and we dropped the boat in the water earlier today. I'll be out fishing tomorrow to get some first blood on her, and we'll be resuming our full time charter schedule by late in the week. We'll probably be doing split flounder and striper trips for the next week or two, then the weakies and blues should join the mix. Still plenty of mid week dates available in what's starting to look like a banner season. Give me a call and we'll get you out on the "all new super califragilistic Rambunctious"!

Current Report

December 16, 2007