April 22. First trip of the season. First fish of the season and first limit of Bass of the season. Water was rough and the ride was bumpy, but the trip was worth it. Limited out on Stripers to 32". We are off to a good start.
May 1. Wow what a tough day this started out as. Clammed, trolled and nothing. Trolled through the slack tide and when the tide started running we made a move to some shallow water and wham fish. We missed a bunch but had a few double headers and some through backs but ended the day on a high note and a boat limit of Stripers between 28 and 30 inches.
May 9. Another day of strong winds in the morning forced us back inside the bay today. Glad we moved because the fishing was tough every where else. We had a steady pick of Stripers from 26" to 35" most of the day. A lot of missed strikes but steady action. Ended the day with about 15 Bass with shorts and keepers mixed in. Still got the boat limit of keepers though.
May 14. Finally a calm day on the ocean. Read fish as soon as we hit the fishing grounds. Anchored up and started getting hits after about 45 min. The bite was very light and you really had to concentrate to feel the bite. We worked hard and managed a boat load of fish with a limit of bass to 34"
May 20. Fished in the Manhatten Cup fishing tournament today with my friend Capt. Kevin Halek. Got off to a late start but managed to catch some big Bluefish and Stripers. Our crew took 1st place for largest Bluefish on a fly. Placed for the biggest Bluefish over all. And came in 2nd for the most stripers caught by a single angler in the ladies category. Not bad for such a rainy nasty day.
May 21. Ran out to Romer and clamed up some nice size Bass today. The fishing was picky and we had to work to get the fish to eat but it was worth it with everyone catching 4-5 bass each. All the Bass were over 30 inches with the largest at 35 inches. Also landed some big gator Blues as well.
May 22. All I can say is tough day. Lots of wind and rough water but no fish. We just could not feel the bite today. I don't know if it was all the bouncing or they just turned off. I had good readings on the fishfinder but the only sign of fish was pulling back cleaned off hooks. Made 5 moves and even trolled stretch's, but only had one knockdown.
May 30. Second week in a row and no Bass on clams. Looks like it's a night bite from here on. Switched over to Fluke and landed lots of fish, mostly shorts. The biggest Fluke was about 19 ". Looks like summer is finally here.
June 4. First official Fluke trip of the season. Started in the bay and loaded up on lots of short fish. Ran out to the ocean and fished along the beach for another load of short fish. Had wind against tide conditions for most of the morning so we could not fish some spots where I would normaly try. Lots of action and the fish were hungry. That's a good sign for the season.
June 10. Tried for some of those 40lbs stripers today. Found the bait and read some pods of fish but no takers in the morning trip. Looked like things were setting up for a good afternoon bite though as the fish were starting to rise off the bottom as we were leaving the grounds.
June 13. Back at the Fluke again. Another day with lots of action but not to many keepers. Made many stops in both the ocean and bay with the same story. Caught a lot of Fluke with the largest at 22 inches.
June 18. Beautiful day on the water today. Warm sunny with a cool breeze. Fish were biting. Lots of shorts again today but had some keeper seabass mixed in. Lots of junk fish as well.
June 19. Happy fathers day. The Fluke fishing was much better today with all of the fish caught a lot bigger than has been the case recently. The jumbo Blues were busting on the rocks as well. Good day all around.
June 20. Ran down the beach on a smooth ocean for some good fishing today. Caught a mixed bag of Fluke, Seabass and Ling. Ran into Blues on the way back as well. Nice day.
June 25. The Fluke are finally here in mass. Hit fish on just about every drop today and put some keepers in the boat up to 19 inches. Great day with sunny skies, calm seas, a light breeze and hungry fish.
June 26. Another good day of Fluke fishing. Lots of action and keepers between 18 and 19 inches.
June 27. Took another shot at the Stripers today. After netting some live bunker I headed down the beach to some spots where I found stripers before. Found lots of bunker schools with nothing on them. Had two bass runoffs but the bluefish ate the rest of our bunker. Starter fluking and was not disapointed. Lots of action and keepers up to 23 inches. Had a large school of Drum run past us. Looked to be in the 30 to 50 lbs. class. Of course they were not interested in anything we had to offer. All in all a nice day.
July 2. Headed outside into deeper water today to find the bigger Fluke. Ran into bunker schools on the way out again except there were 30# Bass under these schools. First fish boater weighed in at 35# on the boca scale. Stayed with the fish for hours catching and releasing 30 to 35 lbs Bass. They hit lures, live bunker and chunks. Great day on a flat sea with a lot of arm busting action.
July 10. Back with the Fluke today. Lots of action with plenty of keeper size Fluke in the boat.
July 11. Another good day catching Fluke in the bay and in the ocean. Had fish on at almost every drop. Lots of action with keepers up to 3.5 lbs and plenty of shorts to keep everyone busy all day.
July 16. Wow it is definitely summer out there now. Beautiful day on the water today and the Fluke were hungry. Caught a ton of fish today with keepers up to 4 lbs. If you want Fluke, now is the time to get out. The skies are sunny, the seas are calm and the Fluke are all over the place. Oh yea, and the beer is cold at the tiki bar.
July 23. Decent day today but not the real hot fishing we had lately. No drift in the bay and the dogfish were everywhere. We had to run outside in the ocean to deeper water to find some fish. Finally found the fish stacked up on some rough bottom off Sandy hook. Had good fishing with double headers on every drift. Big shorts and keepers up to 22 inches.
July 29. Fished in the back bay with the fleet today in between storms. Caught plenty of real fat 17 1/2 inch fish but only one real keeper. Little or no drift most of the day until the tide changed then it really picked up. Had a steady pick of fluke until the tide stopped, then sea robins. All and all a nice day with a big 5 lbs. keeper to take home.
July 30. Took a break from the Fluke fishing today and joined a friend for a trip to the Mud Hole. Had to run a bit further out than planned to find the blue water. Found the Mahi Mahi though and had a decent day with the biggest hitting the 25 lbs mark.
Aug 1. Back to the bay today for a good pick of Fluke. Had lots of action with shorts and keepers to about
20 inches.
Aug 5. Another day of decent Fluke fishing. Had lots of action and picked at the keepers until the wind picked up and we had to move back inside the Hook. We still had action, but mostly shorts. Ended the day with keeper Fluke up to 22 inches.
Aug 6. Went back to the same spot as yesterday but the fishing was even better today with more action and more keepers over 20 inches.
Aug 12. What a great day out on the ocean today. Sunny and calm and Fluke on every drift. Most of the shorts were a big 17.5 inches and all of the keepers were well over 20 inches. The fish are starting to move out, now is the time to get them and stock up the freezer for winter.
Aug 13. Back at it again today. Went back to where we left them biting yesterday with the same results. Tons of fish with keepers around 20 inches.
Aug 21. Fished in the ocean this morning before the storms hit and had a good pick of Fluke up to 19". Lots of fish with some keepers mixed in. Not huge fish but plenty fat.
Sept 2. First trip after Irene. The swells were still big and coming from the southeast and the water temps dropped bigtime. Tried Fluking but with a steady 3+ knot current, only the searobins could catch the bait. Still managed to catch a couple of Fluke anyway. Saw a lot of bait and Blues were hitting off of the Monmouth beach surf. Heard reports of Bass hitting in the bay again which is good news and may mean that the fall run is starting early. Going to run for stripers on Sat. and have openings. Call my cell if you want to get out.
Sept 10. Out again but the conditions have not improved much. Water still dirty and warm. Caught some Fluke mostly shorts but did better on the seabass. Picked away at them with a lot of throwbacks and keepers around 13 to 14 inches. Did not try the porgys yet but that fishery is showing signs. Had a couple of biteoffs from the blues so I will be looking for them next time out.
Sept 17 Tough day on the ocean today. Went out to Romer to clam for stripers but so did the rest of the fleet. The conditions were very rough and we had trouble staying on the anchor. Had one bass runoff and that was it. The Bass were further out but with the rough conditions only the big boats could get out there. Moved back inside to calmer waters and hooked up with Porgys, big seabass and small fluke before heading back in.
Sept 24. The Bass are in. Found the Bass today on top hitting lures. Mostly schoolie size but lots of them. They were mixed with Blues between 8 to 10 lbs. We stayed on the fish most of the day and left them biting.
Sept 25. As good as the fishing was yesterday, that's how bad it was today. Bass fishing not a steady fishery yet. The bass are still moving quite a bit. Great fishing one day and not so great the next.
Sept 29. Planned to run down the beach today to catch up with the schools of bass and blues that have been moving a lot. Well a stiff 20 knot se wind changed that. We found the bunker schools around the hook but only had a couple of hits under them. The seas were pretty snotty so we headed in the bay where we did find some birds working the bait with blues on them. The bite was hot and heavy for a while until more boats ran through the school and sent them down.
Oct 7. Rought out there this morning with a NE wind at 15 knts +. The seas calmed later in the morning and we were able to move back outside as the tide slacked. Had fish on as soon as we anchored until slack tide. Nothing until the tide started again and it was like flipping a switch. The fish were back. Mostly smaller stripers but we had keepers around 30 inches.
