April 14. Made the test run for the season between Nore-easters. Fished in the back bay for a couple of hours and picked up about a dozen stripers on clams. Not a bad start.
May 11. Gave the clam beds outside another try but the crowd was there and the fish were spread out. Made a couple of drops but could not get the bass to cooperate. Ran in to Romer to wait for the change of tides and picked away at at Stripers to about 32 inches. I did not see a Bluefish all day.
April 29. Started outside at the clam beds with not a touch. Moved inside near Keansburg where the Bass started to hit fairly well. Ended up with 20 - 25 Bass but all were slot size fish. Lot's of action but no keepers.
May 5. Ran back to the Staten Island side to see if the big boys had arrived yet. I guessed the 500 or so other boats had the same idea because it was crowded over there. Ran out to Romer for a good catch of 8 to 10lbs Bluefish and Keeper sized Stripers. Not giants, but keepers none the less
May 27. Went Bass fishing out near Romer today and fought through many huge Bluefish for a nice catch of Stripers in the #25 to #30 class.
May 26. Opening day Fluke season. In spite of the armada of boats out around the hook, we still managed to put a nice catch of Fluke to about 19".
June 2. Had a great day Fluking at the hook today. Charter limits to 3lbs. with lots of throwbacks. Fluke are plentiful inside and outside the bay.
June 8. Fished in some tough conditions in the back bay jigging Blues to over 10lbs and Weakfish to 4-5lbs.
June 9. Had a good day fishing inside Sandy Hook with a good catch of Fluke keepers and lots of action from shorts and birds.
June 15. Had a great day Fluking today off Sandy Hook. Had the boats limit of Fluke to about 4 or 5 lbs with many throwbacks and SeaRobins.
June 16. The charter cancelled for medical reasons today so I went out and caught a bunch of nice sized Fluke while scouting some new hot spots.
June 22. Tried to get out for a Bluefish trip this afternoon but turned back halfway out Sandy Hook bay. Wind blowing 25 to 35 knots and bay had 4 footers close together. The ocean was flat as a pancake just could not get there. Better safe that sorry.
June 23. Fished with Capt. Jack today. Bay still pretty choppy but not like yesterday. Water was very dirty though and the fishing was tough. Ended the day with a pick of keeper Fluke.
June 30. Fished the Knoll today for a good catch of Fluke with a ton of shorts and searobins thrown in.
July 4. Had to hunt for the Fluke today from the bay to down the beach. Found a decent pile of fish with keepers to 3 lbs.
July 8. Stayed in the bay today with a nice west wind and outgoing tide for a good catch of keeper Fluke.
July 13. A great day of Fluke fishing today with great weather and another west wind on an outgoing tide and plenty of hungry Fluke.
July 15. Fishing was tougher today with a very strong SSW wind making for some sloppy conditions. Ran down the beach to get some flatter water and found plenty of shorts. Finally found some quality fish and ended with enough keepers for a nice meal for the charter.
July 22. Strong NE winds in the morning kept us inside by the Coast Guard station were the fishing was poor at best. A break in wind later in the morning allowed us to run out to the Swash Channel where we were able to put together a nice catch of Fluke to 22".
August 5. What a beautiful day today was. 80 deg sunny with a cooling east wind. We also hit a big school of Blues crashing bait at the Knoll. Caught Blues in the 6 to 8 lbs class.
August 18. Noaa was sure wrong today. 25 - 30 out of the northwest keep us in today.
August 19. Much better weather today. Flat seas and calm winds. Fished out at the Knoll for some keeper Fluke in the morning. We then made a move out to the Sandy Hook channel with the crowd for the end of the morning bite. The rest of the morning we chased some big Blues between the channels.
August 25. Heavy fog this morning but it cleared enough for us to get out. Started out flyfishing for blues on the Sandy Hook flats. Not much happening there so we headed out along the beach. Ran back in to the Belford were the Blues played hide and seek next to the Ammo pier. Finally found them working hard in Sandy Hook bay. Blues were 3-6 lbs and the action was hot and heavy.
August 26. Got out late today and missed the morning bite in the river. We did manage some keepers at the TC bouy along with about a hundred of the smallest sea robins I have ever seen. All in all a good day.
August 30. Tough conditions today in the reach but we managed to find a pile of keepers to 18".
Sept. 1. After yesterdays no drift conditions we had strong winds 20+ today. Used the drift sock to slow down the drift enough to pick up keepers over 18"
Sept 2. Had a banner day chasing the Blues today. Landed and released over 100 Blues between 2 guys. Had to quit after their hands cramped up and they could not reel anymore.
Sept. 3. Fished with Capt. Jack today in the reach and nailed the Fluke with the largest to 7.5 lbs.
Sept. 8. Had a combo Fluke Bluefish trip today and all of the fish were big. Fluke to 3.5lbs and chased a school of Jumbo Blues between 8 and 12 lbs. Charter took a few 10 lbers home for the BBQ. The rest were released.
Sept. 16. FlyFishing Bluefish trip. Had Blues in the 3-5lbs range as well as a couple of keeper size Fluke. All fish were released.
Sept. 20. Chased the Blues around the bay today. Landed Blues in the 4 - 6 lbs range all day long.
Sept. 29. Another banner day of Bluefishing in the bay in tough conditions. Wind NW at 25 but the fish were biting. Blues in the 8 to 10 lbs range.
Oct. 6 Tough fishing today with the fog early and the fish hard to find when the fog finally cleared. We got on top of one school of fish but they were just not eating. Had a couple hits and breakoffs before some yahoo came ripping through the school and sent them down for the rest of the day.
Oct. 13. Tried for Bass at the clam beds drifting clams but not a nibble. Water still too warm at 65deg. Ran out to find some Albies offshore where the birds were working. Hit a couple and broke off some. Although the water was pretty choppy the conditions still were good.
Well that was the last trip of this season for me. I will be heading down to a warmer climate for a well-deserved vacation.
I want to thank you for fishing with me this year and hope to see you again next spring for the Striper run. Give me a call if you would like to reserve your date now.
Thanks Again and See you in the spring
Capt. Karl
Oct. 16. Gave the Albies another shot but they were pretty thinned out now. The schools were small and spread out. Good thing I brought some squid with me because the Porgys were biting at the Sandy Hook reef. Got some pretty big keepers mixed in with a lot of small Sea Bass.
