THE
BIG BOY
Fishing Report
OCTOBER 13, 2008
What a treat this trip was as Shawn,
Richs’ good friend and Operations Manager, was going to join
us. Rudy and I only get to see Shawn maybe once a year. I
spend a lot of time talking to him, as he’s the one solely
responsible for creating and running this website. All I do
is type the reports. Ok enough said let’s get to fishing.
Bluefin was on the menu once again, so off to the Mudhole we
went. Drove around for almost an hour before setting the
hook after finally seeing a small amount of life. I was
wondering if Shawn was going to be the bad luck charm and
put an end to our successful bluefin run we have been on.
Well I quickly changed my mind after throwing some chunks as
Rudy was dropping the hook, and saw fish on the finder
immediately once again. Took at least an hour before we
managed our first bite and yes it was on the butterfly jig
Rich had been working. What do you know false albacore, and
hoped the bluefins would follow as in the past.
Rudy got a bite on the working line which usually works the
best and handed it off to Shawn. I won’t get into detail on
how long this took, but Shawn did a great job on the rod,
catching and releasing his first bluefin ever. The fished
probably was thirty some pounds. Rich got one on the
butterfly jig not long after Shawn’s release. Once again
the fish stayed under the boat all day as Rudy and I worked
hard for some bites. The tide was going to change soon so
we stuck it out hoping they would turn on.
Well they did not like mad dogs but we picked at them and
broke at least three off. Rich hooked a screamer on a
free-floating bait. This fish took us down half way into
the spool on a thirty. Well the fight was on, and after
twenty minutes, a fifty one pound hit the deck. It looked
like the fish was tail wrapped and managed to get out,
possibly having something to do with the long run. What
a beauty, this one went on ice, and Shawn and Rich fought
three more bluefins up to forty some pounds.
Well Shawn, you weren’t bad luck after all and it was great
to have you out with us. Thanks for the good times, laughs,
and for putting up with my late fishing reports.
OCTOBER 10, 2008
Rudy and I had the pleasure of taking
John Capra and his two sons, Michael and Jonathan, out for
some bluefin tuna action. These guys are regulars and don’t
need much in terms of instructions. Arriving at sun up
just a few miles from where we had been fishing in the
Mudhole, things were looking fishy.
As
we were setting anchor the chunks were flying from the
cockpit and once again before we were tight we had fish
under the boat. First fish to come over the side was a
dogfish. This isn’t what you want to see because we all
know what a nuisance dogfish can be, but the fish finder was
showing readings of tuna. John finally hooked a false
albacore on the butterfly jig and things were starting to
look good. Rudy got another jig in the water and we were
soon hooked up to a small bluefin. Jonathan made quick work
of this little guy and was set free. The day would continue
in this fashion - pick through the albies and get a bluefin
on.
Michael also fought a nice fish; he and his brother would do
this throughout the day with dad getting in on the action,
as well bringing five fish to boat side up to forty pounds.
You guys are a great pleasure to have onboard hope to see
you in the fall for Tautog and Stripers.
OCTOBER 5, 2008
Back out again for a try with the
bluefins. Rich’s friend, Donald, from Minnesota joined the
crew for the day. We set off for the Mudhole today as I got
reports from a few friends that this area was holding some
fish. It didn’t take long before we set up on the anchor
after driving over some good readings on the fish finder.
Before the anchor was tight we were marking fish on the
finder streaking up into the chunks. Within minutes we had
our first false albacore on, and it was quickly followed by
a bluefin. The butterfly jig proved to be deadly once
again as it was accounting for most of the fish. The fish
stayed under the boat all day and we tried everything to get
more bites. They didn’t respond to twenty pound test so we
just waited them out and kept working. Patience and hard
work paid off as Donald got his first bluefin. After a
short fight the fish was boated and released after a quick
photo.
We
ended the day with four bluefins up to forty pounds with one
on ice and released two dozen false albacores. Was nice to
only have to run twenty four miles back to the inlet.
OCTOBER
4, 2008
Finally we are back out after being
held in port due to weather. Rich, Rudy, and myself headed
out for bluefin in the area of the Glory Hole. We arrived
at sun up and spent a little time looking around. There was
a small fleet in the area and they weren’t doing much, so we
moved a little north and set up on the drift since
conditions were favorable for it. Wasn’t long before we
started catching false albacore. These are so much fun to
catch on light tackle. We even set one up on the kite
hoping for a big mako; however the wind just didn’t
cooperate.
Finally we had a fish that could take some drag. As Rich
got it up closer to the boat we could see color on a
thirty-some pound bluefin. We managed to pick two more
fish, one was on a butterfly jig and the others were all on
bait. The fish were thirty to fifty pounds in size. We
kept our one fish and released the others. For those of you
who don’t know the regulations on bluefin tuna our permit
only allows us to keep one bluefin between 27 and 47
inches. You are allowed another however it has to be over
47 inches and not greater than 73. Last but not least you
are allowed one more fish over 73 inches which classifies
that as a giant bluefin, and this falls under the trophy
division. This only allows you to catch a fish of this size
once and only once within one year.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2008
My brother Max made a trip with me for
bluefin as Rich and Rudy were tied up with other plans. We
fished on the Reg.26 and headed to a spot where some bigger
bluefins were being caught some 43 miles from the inlet.
After a bumpy ride out we arrived on the grounds along with
a large fleet of boats. From what we saw and heard on the
radio things were very quiet.
We
marked a few fish but they didn’t stick around. A few hours
later we got fish on which quickly turned into a double
header. I pulled the hook on mine and we chased Max’s fish
around the boat only to have the unimaginable happen - the
fish quickly changed direction and was heading towards the
surface. Next thing you know a basking shark jumps out of
the water right next to the boat with our line wrap around
him. The line broke as we stood in disbelief and wondered
what the chances were of that happening. Well, it was a
beautiful day and the seas laid down for a fast enjoyable
ride home.
SEPTEMBER 3-4, 2008
The annual Manasquan River Club
tournament was in full effect and Team Big Boy was ready for
the challenge. The tournament runs for 10 days and you have
your choice of 2 day trolls, or fishing 40 hours. We picked
to fish forty hours, and we for fished for 30 of the forty
hours. Our team was Rich, our good friend Cliff from
Connecticut, Rudy, and myself.
We
departed the inlet midnight, set on a course for the east
wall of the Hudson. Here I was hoping we could pick up an
eyeball (Big Eye Tuna). There was no doubt in my mind
that’s what would win the tuna division. Two or maybe three
weeks ago, this area had a good bite going on and has died
considerably since then.
On
the grounds by sun up we only had a few other boats working
the area and they didn’t have much to report. After a few
hours drilling the area, and no signs of any life, I decided
we would head up the shelf towards The Dip. The temp
charts showed a good break up that way. This was our plan
from the start if the 100 Square was dead. Trolled for a
few hours in the direction of our destination and soon
picked up and ran. The distance between the two canyons is
about 33 miles.
We
stopped short of the Dip and put the lines out as we came
across the temp break. Just inside the break we started to
see life. We were the only ones there and it was looking
fishy. We soon found mounds of bait and whales by the
dozens feeding on it along with some porpoise. After a few
hours of pulling my hair out we finally got bit. Three
lines go screaming off only to lose one right off the bat.
The first fish to hit the deck was a 60 lb. yellowfin which
Cliff made quick work of. The second, which Rich was
fighting, gave us quite a tussle and by judging the way it
was acting I thought for sure this was going to be a big
eye. About 10 minutes later we could just see color, and
the rod was still lapped over. As the tuna got closer we
soon realized it was no monster or a big eye. The hook
caught the tuna in the side making the battle harder than
usual. Another 60 lb. yellowfin on ice.
We
trolled right into dark pounding the area and dodging
whales, had a few shots at some white marlin but no luck.
Also got to see some huge Manta Rays sky rocketing out of
the water. Set up on the drift out off the shelf where the
bait was, hoping for a night bite and a shot at some
swordfish.
The
squid showed up, the porpoise showed up, the tuna didn’t nor
any swordfish. However for a split second after setting a
deep live squid with a glow light my spirits were lifted.
The bait wasn’t in the water for more than five minutes when
the rod started to lap over. I yelled to Cliff we were on a
big sword, but when it didn’t take a run I knew right away
we had a Manta Ray. Rich came out and fought the beast.
While that was going, another ray, which we saw jump out of
the water next to the boat with the line hanging out of its
mouth. Luckily the leader broke unfortunately I had to reel
back in three quarters of line. Got the ray up to the boat
and took a few picks of the 400 lb. ray and Rudy cut the
leader close for clean release.
In
the morning we were back on the troll in the dark with our
fingers crossed hoping for some big eyes. Well they came up
just an eight of a mile from us. The bad news is that
another boat from the tournament came out that night and
just happened to be in the right spot at the right time. He
called us over and we gave it hell until noon without a
single bite. Well I give our team an A plus for effort,
dedication, and stamina. Great job everyone as usual.
AUGUST 19, 2008
Hey
what do you know we are on our way back out to the Hudson
for a day troll. Onboard we have Rich, his father Jack for
his first canyon trip ever, Constantine and his Uncle John,
and Richs' friend Scott. We departed Hoffman’s at midnight
and had a full moon to enjoy for the entire ride. We set
course for the 100 Square where there was still an
on-and-off bite for bigeyes. This was really the only game
in town as we are still wondering when the yellowfins are
going to show up.
Arriving just before sunrise my thoughts of a big fleet came
true. To much disappointment a big fleet in one spot
doesn't fair well for fishing. Out of two dozen boats only
three fish were caught and by 1pm most of the boats had
left. We continued working the area hoping maybe they would
come up and feed. Well they didn't but we did manage to
find a hungry white marlin snapping at one of our custom
spreader bars.
We
were trolling four bars and four ballyhoo. This marlin
wanted the bar in the worst way but quickly changed his mind
when Rudy dropped the flat line with a ballyhoo on his
bill. The marlin quickly came for the bait, but missed it
and went back to the bar. So Rudy put the bait in his face
once again and got him to bite and stuck the hook on the
third try. John fought the fish to boat side where the
marlin then went crazy leaving a nice bill mark across
Rudy’s stomach. A few quick photos and the 65-70 lb. class
marlin were released. Great trip guys and congratulations
on your first canyon trip Jack you are amazing.
AUGUST
13, 2008
Headed
offshore to the Hudson with the Bill Heidt charter for a day
troll. Left the dock at 12:30 am and arrived in the Hudson
on the west wall before sunrise. The fishing reports were
still spotty with only a few boats putting together a catch
of just a couple fish. Well we hoped our luck would
continue after our last trip. Found an area that looked
fishy and stuck out there for a while producing one
undersized yellowfin tuna, which was released. A friend of
ours was working the same area with the same results, small
undersize tuna. At least the whales and dolphin were
keeping the charter occupied while I tried to find some
action. Well having three radios on the boat paid off. I
heard two guys talking back and forth, and then telling his
buddy to go to the other channel. Well I found them on
there secret channel and used the radio directional finder
to locate there approximate location. With the info I was
able to hear and a good idea where they were fishing I
steered the boat across the canyon to the east side. At
least I knew this guy had caught a few tunas and figured it
was better than where we were. His buddy had gone two for
three on bigeyes so we changed our spread and fished
strictly for bigeyes.
For
anyone who had seen or caught a bigeye they normally run
over a hundred pounds and are mean fish. Also when you get
hit by them it usually not just one fish but what we refer
to as a "wolf pack." Typically you can get a fish on ever
line however landed all is a task even for the most seasoned
crews.
We
weren't in the area for more than thirty minutes and had
located the two guys that were talking on the radio. Well
there was a third boat in the same area and he had just
encountered a wolf pack of bigeyes. So the weekend warrior
gets on the radio and gives his exact position to the
world. Well we were hoping to get a bite before a million
boats showed up, that didn't happen. Within minutes you
could see boats steaming towards our location on the
horizon. The reason I'm a bit salty about this is because
when you put a ton of boats on top of a school of feeding
fish it tends to automatically turn them off.
Well
ten boats isn't too bad and I was anxiously waiting for a
bite. My anxiety was through the roof and finally as Rudy
was standing next to me, I looked over at the screen on the
fish finder and there they were. That’s exactly what I
yelled out, followed by watch the lines. We had nine lines
in the water and just as I finished advising the charter, it
looked like some one was dropping bombs off behind our
boat. Every lure got hit multiple times and when the water
settled we had two drags screaming out. Nine would've been
nice but two is better than none.
We
cleared the lines and got ready to do business. The first
fish was subdued in rather short time, much because it was
on a bent butt 80W, a heavy rod and reel. The other fish
was on a 50w and I figured this fish would go through the
entire charter, well I was wrong. This one gentleman did a
fantastic job on the rod and we had a gaff in the fish in
thirty minutes. What a difference when you get someone who
actually listens to your instructions on how to fight a
fish. A job well done guys. The bigeyes weighed 117 lbs.
and 127 lbs.
AUGUST
9, 2008
Finally
our first canyon trip of the season and with the reports not
that good it was still great to get out to that blue water.
Rich, Pete, Doug, and Dougs son David were on board with us
for an overnight in the Hudson. Got to the grounds with a
few hours of daylight left and went on the troll. The water
was beautiful on the west wall where we found our first
pelagic specie of the year a white marlin. Rich fought the
fish and made quick work as Rudy wired and released the
sixty pounder. Back on the troll till dark produced nothing
until we were reeling in the lines. A forty pound yellowfin
just couldn't say no to one of our custom spreader bars.
The
night chunk was very slow. We had plenty of squid around
the boat all night. The only two bites were a small mahi
and a small yellowfin that was released. We went on the
troll before the sun was up and worked the area where we had
spent the night drifting. With all that bait around I hoped
we could find some tuna. It wasn't until 8:30 before we had
our second yellowfin of the trip on. What a beauty this
fish was going sixty plus pounds. I had great marks on the
machine and continued to work the area hard. It paid off
with another big yellowfin in the sixty pound class.
As the
action slowed I ventured off to the north a little where I
saw some life on the surface. As we were approaching the
school of pilot whales I had some great marks on the finder,
so I turned around and watched three yellowfin crush the
lures behind the boat one by one. The battle was on, Rich
and his friends did an excellent job fighting the fish and
staying untangled. The two fish were 72 lbs. and 76 lbs.
The third went 81 lbs. We worked the area with no action
and continued north towards the pilot whales and dolphin
frolicking on top. As we trolled in the mist of whales and
dolphin we were attacked by a school of white marlin.
The
first marlin was very big and jumped off right away. We
then had a second up, much smaller than the other and got
that one to bite a pitch bait. Had that fish bite us three
times on the ballyhoo only we didn't manage to get the hook
in. The third was hitting a spreader bar while Rudy was
trying to get a hook in his friends mouth. Oh well… that’s
the way it goes sometimes. What a great trip full of
action, calm seas, and great company.
AUGUST 8, 2008
We had
a bunch of friends and relatives of Richs' on the boat - Mark, Jonathan, Sara, and
Steven Higger, along with Mike. On our way out
towards the Axel Carlson Reef I spotted numerous large fish
breaking the surface. So we stopped and put out at the
spoons. It didn't take long before the drags were singing
out with a pair of big bluefish. We caught and released
numerous bluefish which the kids had a blast with. Switched
over to fluking on the Reef, fishing the out skirts of some
sticky bottom producing throwbacks and only a couple of
keepers.
AUGUST 5, 2008
Had
Rich and two friends of his, Stanley and Pete, on the boat
today for fluke. Was a nice day and good company despite
the south wind and outgoing tide. The fishing was slow with
no keepers and a bunch of throw backs. If the fishing
wasn't bad enough a severe thunderstorm was baring down on
us making a perfect ending to our day.
AUGUST 3, 2008
Had
the Jim Ramstaler charter out for an inshore day troll for
bluefins. We started the day fishing in and around the area
of the Resor, reading lots of bait just north we drilled the
area producing our first school bluefin. That fish was
quickly returned to the sea along we the bluefish that kept
plaguing us. Listening to the radio there wasn't much at
all going on and the day was getting late, so we made a move
up towards the Slough where we found some great looking
water along with some bait.
It
wasn't long up on the troll before I spotted a school of
fish out to the east. We weren't sure what they were until
we got right up on them. Sure enough they were bluefins and
they were hungry. We got six fish to jump on boating all
and keeping one for the table. They were twenty five to
thirty pound fish. With the school back up we made multiple
passes on them and different strategies only getting one
strike.
Was a
great way to end the day with a good bunch of guys. For
some it was there first tuna. Congratulations.
AUGUST 2, 2008
We fished a club
tournament on Saturday for fluke. We hit a few of our known
sticky bottom spots looking for just one big fluke. Well
these spots didn’t pay off and I’m hoping it was due to the
lousy fishing conditions of tide against wind. We ended the
day a little early as a severe thunderstorm was barreling
down on us. Rich, and his two friends Stan and Pete were
onboard for the day.
JULY
15-23, 2008
As we do yearly we
were on our way up to the Vineyard for the Monster Shark
Tournament once again. This is always a great trip to fish
and visit. Was a real treat to fish in calm seas this year
and not have to contend with any tropical storms, as we did
the past two years.
The first day we
fished a great temp. break with poor water clarity on the
one side. The blue sharks didn’t seem to mind one bit. At
times we had as many as four blues swimming around the
boat. On the second we tried a different area hoping to get
away from the blue sharks and find a thresher. Well as fate
would have it the blue sharks found us. We had one bite
from a mako on a whole dead bluefish but failed to get the
hook in the right spot. Had some great company on board;
Rich, his cousin Lou, friends of ours that we met three
years ago fishing this tournament, Cliff and his son Fred.
Fluke fishing was
great as usual. Rich, Rudy, and I put a great catch
together in just sixty minutes one day. We took Richs’
cousin and his wife along with Lori out one day as
well. Conditions were horrible but we managed a good
catch. Later that day we drove the boat down to Menemsha
Harbor for a lobster roll lunch. Yummmmm! Great lunch and
wonderful trip. Thanks everyone.
JULY
3, 2008
Had Rich, Laurie,
Ross, and Richs, nephew Josh out again for a go with some
bluefish. Had them going for a little while on the drift,
picking a fish here and there. The action then came to a
holt. We looked around for awhile looking for some reading
but the fish finder was blank. We did a lot of bunkers and
even some whales just east of the Farms.
JULY
1, 2008
Had Rich, Laurie,
and her son Ross out for a shot at some fluke. The fluke
didn’t really turn on. Had a couple keepers and some
throwbacks. We tried multiple spots all yielding the same
results.
JUNE
28, 2008
Took Rich and Doug
out for a day of sharking. We fished some ten to twelve
miles west of where we had been fishing. Here we found
some action with the blue sharks, a brown shark, and a small
mako that ate our live bluefish off the kite as we were
calling it a day.
JUNE
21, 2008
Had
our annual customers charter us again for the two
tournaments, but for just one day. Fishing was ok with
multiple blue shark releases through out the day and a small
mako. Was great having the guys back on the boat. Dominick
don’t be a stranger we missed you this year.
JUNE
20, 2008
Rudy and I fished
one day of the Jersey Coast Shark Anglers Tournament in the
Regulator. We ran out towards the Virginia Wreck some 55
miles and found some decent water to fish.
Had our first shark
on before I could even attach the float, which turned out to
be a blue shark. We released several blue sharks along with
some browns and a small mako. Had a mako on for a minute,
that jumped and spit the hook which had to be close to 300
lbs. Would have been nice to of boated that one.
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JUNE 17, 2008
Ran up to
the north and fished off Asbury in 60 feet of water with
a friend of ours who runs a sportfisherman named the
Bedrock. Here we put a hurting on the bass with
multiple triple hook ups. Most of the bites where on
top with the live bunkers. We probably caught twenty
five bass in an hour and a half. We released all the
fish that weighed up to 35 pounds.
JUNE 15,
2008
As we
usually do on Father’s Day weekend we went bass
fishing on the Regulator. On board were Rich and
his father Jack, my father Bill, and Rudy. We had a
beautiful morning and a full live well of bunkers
ready for some hungry bass.
Ran up
to the north and fished out in 60 feet of water just
south of were we had them good earlier in the week.
Marked some fish right away and got them to come up
on some free baits we through over to try and hold
them. We got one and weren’t able to hold them. So
back on the prowl we went. Went further up to the
north where there was a large fleet of boats, where
we would just turn around. I hate fishing in a
large fleet of boats your chances aren’t as good.
Back
where we started we went on the drift. It paid off
with some great surface action once again. Was
great to share the experience with Jack and my
father, its something they don’t get to see
everyday. By noon everyone had a bass and it was
time to head in. The fish ranged from the low
twenty pound class up to thirty three pounds. We
kept five.
JUNE 11,
2008
Had
John Capra and his two sons out Wednesday looking
for a repeat of yesterdays bass trip. Well it took
some time before we found some fish. For some
reason the fish weren’t where they were 24 hours
ago, and I hate telling people they should have been
here yesterday. Four hours past, before we finally
got into some action. The pods of bunker in along
the beach were holding some big fish.
As we
moved from pod to pod we could tell which were
holding fish and which were not. The first fish
was caught by Johns’ son Johnathan that weighed in
at 41 pounds. Soon followed by his brother Michael
that tipped the scales to 35 pounds. John finally
got in on the action with a 40 pound monster as
well. The fourth fish went 32 pounds.
Patience is a key in fishing to unlock what lies
below the ocean and Capra boys had it and paid off
in the long run. After putting in overtime with
these guys it still wasn’t enough so they did some
surf fishing with what little day light was left.
JUNE 10,
2008
Back
home and a few pounds heavier Rudy, Rich, and I went
out for a few hours early Tuesday morning. Netted
some bunkers first thing, through em in the well and
ran up to the north. The first few spots we checked
were horrible. Then I got a hunch to run out into
some deeper water were we caught some really nice
fish in years past.
It
paid off big time. We marked some fish and sent the
baits out and it was instant. The fish were all
large and most of the action was on the surface. If
you’ve never seen bass feed on live bunker on the
surface, you are really missing out. WOW. We kept
only three fish that went 31,36,and 42 pounds. A
great few hours of fishing.
JUNE 6,
2008
On
Thursday Rudy and I ran the Regulator up to
Stratford, Ct. We would eventually meet up with
Rich here to fish another one of the ASA bass
tournaments.
Well
as our luck would have it we hit a submerged log
just five miles from our destination. Tearing off
one of our blades on the propeller we had to come in
on one engine. The next morning we had a new
matching set of propellers and were on our way for a
half day of practice fishing.
New to
the area we looked at the GPS and found some spots
that looked would be productive. We hit a number of
spots that looked great, however we didn’t see any
fish. We even found some pods of bunker that only
had bluefish on them. Well at least we would have
some fresh bait for Saturday.
Well
Saturday morning brought us another treat, fog with
near zero visibility. Joy just what every captain
loves, especially when we had to run 49 miles to our
destination. Once we arrived we found other boats
from the tournament fishing the same spot. Through
out the day we marked fish and only saw one caught
out of thirty some boats. Hoping and waiting that
the tide change would trigger them to bite was a
waste of time, the fish never turned on. Well as
Rudy put it, “ even Tiger Woods doesn’t always
finish.”
We had
a great time exploring a new area and have a better
feel for it come next year. I also can’t wait to go
back for the pizza. Rich promised us the best pizza
we could ever have, well he was right. We ate
at Sally's in New Haven where we also met up with
Mike (aka; fisheye). This is a family run
restaurant that dates back into the late 30’s. All
they serve is pizza and boy I wish the bass ate like
I did that night.
JUNE 1,
2008
On
Sunday we took Rich out on the Regulator, in search
of some bass. Well with the water temperature
reading 49 – 53 degrees I had a feeling bass fishing
would be slow. Sure enough we covered some ground
south of the inlet without ever marking a single
fish. The bunkers were there in full force just no
bass.
MAY 25, 2008
As much as
I hate fishing on the weekends do to boat traffic,
they can have their moments later on in the day.
When most people are heading home, some of the best
fishing does occur in the late afternoon and early
evening when conditions are just right. As this is
what Rich, and his two nephews, Evan and Josh, would
soon encounter. One of those days you just never
forget.
We
departed Hoffman’s some where around two o’clock and
headed to the southeast where I could see a fleet
about two miles offshore. There were definitely
fish there, bluefish not what we wanted, well that
was up until I told Evan we had a chance of catching
some fish that may be as long as he is tall. With
that said Evan replied, “ I can reel in anything.”
So we continued our search for some bass.
There
was another fleet in towards the southwest just
about on the beach. These guys were either fluking
or fishing the pods of bunker we had heard news of
earlier in the week. They were in the bunkers and
man were they thick. The only thing wrong was
nobody out forty some boats were fighting a fish, so
I told Rich we would troll the spoons and keep an
eye open. It wasn’t long before we marked some fish
down away from the fleet and watched a guy releasing
a big bass along the side of his boat. After seeing
what I saw and the spoons not getting a hit after
going over some fish I knew it was time for the live
bait. Told Rich to reel em' up and that we were
switching over.
I put
Rich on the wheel as I got the cast net out and told
Evan and Josh to get ready. We slowly moved in on
the bunkers and with one swift throw of the net we
had thirty some baits flopping on the deck. As we
were putting the baits in the live well I informed
Josh that we were going to use these as bait to
catch the bass. I got this look of disbelief, it was
priceless.
As
Rich and I were dropping the baits down and trying
to explain to the kids on what to do, Rich yelled
out he had a nervous bait and Josh was up front
yelling that something was pulling his line out.
Wow I think we were 0 for 6 before Rich got a hook
to stay in, and before u knew it we had two fish on.
Rich helped Josh guide his first bass into the net,
man what a beauty 33 lbs. That would be the biggest
of the day but all the other fish were in the low to
mid twenty pound bracket. Evan’s biggest went 26
lbs. We kept only six fish and released well over a
dozen more. As we got down to our last few baits
the fish finder was lit up with marks, there had to
be twenty plus fish on the screen. We even had the
bass eating our baits on the surface a sight you
will never forget.
With
the live well empty, a tired and cold crew, and a
fabulous few hours of fishing we left em' biting for
another day. I think Evan talked Josh into a
conspiracy against me for my job, as the two of
them, took turns driving the boat back to the
inlet. I think I’m safe for a few more years at
least until one of them learns how to throw a cast
net. Enjoy the pics. I think they speak for
themselves. Oh yeah and about Evan reeling in
anything, well I’ll leave that up to him to explain.
MAY
24, 2008
I
heard
the bunkers were in the ocean, in great numbers
down to the south. With our time running out on
our slip in Highlands, I figured it was time to
head back to Hoffman’s Marina. Since Rudy and I
would be passing some of our favorite fishing
spots no trip would be complete with out wetting
a line.
After netting close to a hundred baits, in
Atlantic Highlands harbor we were on our way to
the Rocks. Arriving on the grounds we found a
small fleet working the area out towards the
bell buoy. So we looked around and dropped some
baits on a few marks. The bass were there and
showed very little interest in our live bait, as
they would just pick it up, run with it and drop
it. With the fish hanging in the middle of the
water column, the wind and tide working against
us it could only mean one thing. That’s right
time to drag the spoons out.
As
much as we love and prefer to fish live bait
there are days that the bunker spoons will out
fish them. It was only a matter of minutes as
we got the lines set before we had our first
bass on. For the next two hours we caught bass
that ranged from 15 lbs to 20 lbs. with the
heaviest going 25lbs. We called it an early day
and headed for home.
Rich - good luck in your 5k race today!
MAY 17,
2008
It was
that time of year again, just one week earlier than
usual. That’s right the ASA Bahr’s Landing
Tournament was in town and for only one day. We had
our usual crew; Rich, Rudy, and yours truly. This
is one of our favorite tournaments of the year to
fish. Your two heaviest fish would hold your fate at
the scales.
We
were up in the Navesink by 4:30 am looking for some
live bunker. We found them and made one throw
netting us 103 pieces. With the live well full we
were back at Bahr’s waiting for the 6:00 am start.
The only thing left now was making the decision on
where we were going to fish. I had two spots in
mind and just had to pick wondering if we would be
heroes or zeros.
Well
we were on our way and hoped this spot would pay
off. As we arrived and looked over the area, we set
up and started fishing. It wasn’t long before Rudy
had one on. It was a bass and a decent one too.
The boga grip showed 24 lbs. Great start and knew we
would need a similar size fish to place. Wasn’t
long till we had another fish in the boat, that went
18 lbs. Things were looking good and soon only to
look even better, as Rudy had yet another good fish
on. After a brief fight the bass was finally
netted. This beauty went 25 lbs. and left us with a
sigh of relief knowing we had two very respectful
fish to weigh in.
We
pounded this area all day and were able to catch and
release five more bass. The scales were open and it
was going to be a sloppy ride home as the winds were
gusting to 30 mph. Back at Bahrs we dried off and
watched the boats ahead of us off load their catch.
I was confident we would place top five yet nervous.
At the
scales our combined weight was 49.75 pounds placing
us third only ounces away from the second place
finisher and only 2 1\2 pounds from first. Job well
done by our crew. This is the third time we have
placed in the money, with an eighth place, a second
place, and now a third place finish. Not bad for
team big boy once again.
MAY 11, 2008
Had Rich and
his father Jack out for a few hours on Mother’s Day.
Rudy and I netted some live bait early in the morning up
in the Navesink before meeting up with the father son
duo. We left Bahr’s and headed out into the bay in
search of some bass.
As we were
approaching our destination we noticed a few bunkers
leaping out of the water in fear for there lives. With
that I pulled em back and we dropped down a few live
bunker. The fish finder was showing life and it was
only a matter of a few seconds before we had our first
fish of the day on. Unfortunately it was a bluefish
followed by yet another. I had heard the bluefish were
thick and bass were few and far between.
Well this
proved to be true as we moved from spot to spot the
bluefish were there and in great numbers. At one point
I advised that nobody fall in the water in regards to
being eaten alive by bluefish. Anyway, we did manage one
bass before headed home. THANKS MOM FOR LETTING ME GO
FISHING!
APRIL
24, 2008
Rich, his
brother Jeff and his son Evan, and I made a half day
trip out of the Highlands on the LBB. We were going to
give it one last shot at the flounders before they
departed. Ran up in the Navesink to find nothing, along
with a stop in the Shrewsbury also to find no flatties.
We then made a move out into the Sandy Hook Bay and
tried our luck near the Coast Guard Station. Upon our
arrival there was a small fleet fishing with a couple
head boats. We dropped the hook and started chumming
heavy. Saw one head boat pick a couple of fish and
another make multiple moves. With that said I figured
we would slip around the corner and try a few drifts in
the Rip for stripers.
As we
went over the Rip the fish finder was showing some small
scattered marks. On the first drift Evan wasn’t on the
bottom for more than a couple seconds when he yelled he
had one. To much of our surprise Evan reeled in a
whopper of a flounder that weighed 2 ½ lbs. That tells
me the fish are making there way out and we should’ve
been on the ocean side of the hook fishing for
flounders, oh well. Anyway the next drift Rich caught
the first bluefish of the season, about 2lbs., and his
brother was bitten off by another. Just before calling
it quits the first fluke of the season was caught, by
Evan. After a few pictures we let the estimated 2 ½
pounder go, since the season doesn’t open for some time
yet.
Just my
second trip of the year and I got some time off from
behind the wheel as Richs’ nephew Evan who is 10 years
old drove the boat back to port. He’s a natural, I hope
Rich doesn’t get any ideas?
The Reg.26 or the
LBB will be running out of Bahr’s Landing for the next
five or six weeks depending on the bass fishing. The
Big Boy should be in the water and running trips no
later than May 15th, CALL NOW AND BOOK YOUR
CHARTER.
APRIL 15, 2008
Well we’re back,
after three months off we made our first trip of the
season. Rudy and I ran the Reg. 26 aka: ( the Little Big
Boy) up to Bahr’s Landing in Highlands where we met up with
Rich. We set out for winter flounder fishing on a beautiful
spring day.
First stop was
off of Earle Naval Pier, fishing here was slow so we moved
off of the Sandy Hook Coast Guard Station. We found the
same results here as well. So I figured to go try back in
the Navesink River. Once again first stop revealed no life
so we moved even further back. After about a half hour and
a tide change the fish finally bite. We had a few double
headers and even a triple putting seventeen flatties in the
box with only one throwback. Most of the fish were of nice
size with Rich taking the pool winner at just over two lbs.
NOVEMBER 6, 2007
Rudy and I ran
the LBB out to the reef to investigate on how the tautog and
sea bass were doing. Found some ok activity and picked
away at both species. NOVEMBER 15TH - BLACKFISH SEASON
OPENS!
NOVEMBER 4, 2007
Ran up to the
Shrewsbury Rocks for a go at some bass. Threw the spoons
out looking for some larger fish. First fish was 18 lbs.
followed by a short and another keeper. Our best two fish
we had on we dropped unfortunately, looks like things should
start to heat up. Heard Montauk was on fire with big bass -
let's hope they pay us a visit. Rich and his brother Mike
were out on the boat today.
THE BIG BOY IS BOOKING CHARTERS FOR BASS AND WRECK FISHING
THROUGH DECEMBER.
OCTOBER 30, 2007
Threw a last
minute trip together with Rich his son's friend Josh, and a
good friend of mine Pat we were off for the 106 mile run to
the Wilmington Canyon. This would be Josh's first trip to
the edge. As we got close to our destination we watched the
temp. Gauge on the fish finder hoping it would soon show
some signs of rising higher than 63. It soon jumped up a
few degrees right in the area we were going to spend the
night. With calm conditions we dropped the anchor in 650
ft. and got to work.
We picked at
the tuna on and off through the night, all long fin that
went 50 - 60 lbs. Rich let Josh take the first one and Josh
quickly found out it wasn't like bass fishing. After a good
battle the fish was brought to gaff and we all congratulated
Josh. I do believe Pat got a good whooping on Rudy's
jigging rod as well.
Everyone
worked really hard and from the chatter on the radio it
sounded like most boats only had half a dozen fish mostly
long fin and a yellow here and there. We ended up going 5
for 6 with a few small mahi's thrown in. Beautiful night,
calm seas, and good times... a good way to say the least to
end the season.
OCTOBER 13, 2007
Made a run out to the Hudson for an overnight trip with Rich
and his friend Art Roth, and Rudy's Uncle Lou. We were able
to troll up one longfin before the sun set on the East
Wall. We then set up for the night chunk on the 100 Square
in less than favorable conditions. We were the only sport
boat out that night along with a few headboats. Another
NOAA mess up.
We had plenty
of bait in the 67.8 degree water and hundreds of porpoise
that never left us alone. All night we were plagued by them
and when they finally did leave we had one shot at the
tuna. We went 1 for 3 on yellowfins and had to pull the
plug early do to prior commitments. The ride home was
absolutely horrible way to go NOAA. The tuna were in the 40
- to 60 pound class.
OCTOBER 1, 2007
Rudy
and I took the LBB out to the edge of the mudhole looking
for some bluefins. Fished the Monster Ledge area where we
saw lots of bait on the finder but a lack of tuna. Sounds
like it's been hit or miss lately, one day they're here and
the next they're gone.
SEPTEMBER 22-23, 2007
Had the Ashdee Charter out for an
overnight chunking trip to the Hudson Canyon.
Arriving a little early to the grounds, we trolled up the
East side of the canyon before finding our home for the
night. The troll produced three longfins in the
40-50lb class. The first longfin came just inside
the east elbow, which came inhaled a 13" squid spreader
bar intended for a bigeye - but hey... take that any day.
The other two fish came on the troll east of the elbow,
also eating the big squid bars.
From the
chatter on the radio and the looks of the radar, the 100
Square was going to be a parking lot due to the previous
two days of fishing and calm seas. We figured our
chances would be better away from the crowd, so we
headed to the opposite side of the canyon. As we
were coming up on the 150/050 area, we found a great
weed line and a good temperature break of two degrees.
With the calm seas, we decided to drift, leaving us with
the option to run back to the 100 Square if we heard
that it was good. As we ran up the edge, the fish
finder was showing good signs of fish and bait.
With a perfect drift along and out over the edge, we
hoped the fish would show soon.
Well, the
fish never showed in great numbers. We'd mark one
here and there, but nothing would stay or taste our live
squid. Finally, somewhere around 4:30, we marked a
small school under the boat, getting one on and in the
box... a nice 70lb yellowfin. With half a bucket
of chunks thrown in just 10 minutes, we couldn't get the
school to stay. We headed for home around 6:30,
since some of the crew had to get to a wedding.
Wonderful bunch of guys who stayed up with us most of
the night, and helped out in the cockpit. Thanks
guys, and we hope to see you again.
SEPTEMBER 7-8, 2007
The Big
Boy entered the Manasquan River Club Tournament as we
are now official members. The club holds the same
tournament. every year and you have a choice of doing
two day trolls or one 40 hour trip within the ten days
scheduled. Well we all agreed that we would fish the 40
hrs. So as we prepared the boat Rich got a crew
together. Onboard we would have Rich, Stanley, Glenn,
Martin, Scott, Rudy and myself.
Leaving at
midnight we would arrive at our destination just before
sunrise. The tip of the Hudson is where we would begin
this journey. We would spend the entire day trolling
specifically for big eyes knowing these fish are usually
over 100 lbs. and have the best chance of winning.
Well the troll
was productive mainly for longfins and where there are
longfins there is usually some big eyes. With five
longfins in the box we started releasing them so we
would have room for some yellowfin and hopefully a big
eye. We were soon blessed by the tuna gods with a big
eye. Rich got the fish to the boat in just about ten
minutes were Rudy leadered the fish up and we stuck two
gaffs in the 140 lb. big eye. This was what we were
looking for let's hope it's big enough.
Back on the
troll we worked the area hard as we also saw another
boat fighting a big fish. With only a few more longfins
and two yellowfins we started to troll towards the 100
square where we would spend the night chunking for
yellowfin. We would spend the night about three miles
north of the 100 square.
Dropped the
anchor in about 600' where we had some good bait
readings. The night bite never really turned red hot
for us. We had a steady pick on and off of yellowfins
and longfins. Live squid and sardines worked best. By
morning we had a total of 7 yellowfins and our release
on longfins was up to thirteen.
Back on the
troll we headed towards where we had the big eye. We
would spend most of the day in this general area. With
only an hour to go before we would have to depart for
home we started marking a lot of fish on the finder.
There were definitely big eyes down there and it would
only be a matter of waiting for them to come up and
feed. Well they never did and we were out of time. We
did manage to release another four longfins.
Back at the
scales we disappointed to learn that our fish was
currently fourth and only first and second were
payouts. Overall we had a great time and good fishing
with one eye ball at 140 lb.,7 yellowfin 60 - 80 lbs.
and 5 longfin 40 - 60lb. along with 17 longfin releases
no complaints here.
AUGUST 30, 2007
Ran the boat
down to Atlantic City for a couple of days with Rich onboard
to take some very good friends of his out fishing. We
left the slip around 9am on a beautiful sunny, flat, and
calm day. Onboard The BIG BOY for the day were Gene,
Jake, Michael, Art, Ricky, and Jared. After the six
mile ride out, we reached the Atlantic City Reef where we
would spend the day drifting for fluke and sea bass.
Well, it may
have been too calm, because there wasn't much drift to be
had... hampering our chances for a great catch. With
the fishing starting to slow, we stuck it out and were able
to put a decent catch together. The highlight of the
trip, excluding the best bagels and philly cheesesteaks that
I have ever had, was when a small school of mahi's came up
to the boat. We quickly, threw spearing into the water
to keep them interested while we got a light tackle rod
rigged up. In no time we had a 10lb mahi on, and Jacob
took up to the bow for the fight of his life. After
some strong runs on the ten pound tackle - Jacob caught his
first mahi. Give this kid a few more years and he is
going to be one great fisherman.
After a
wonderful day of good company, food, fishing, and weather...
it was time for The BIG BOY to head west toward that
Atlantic City Horizon.
Some pictures
from the trip, and very nice cards send my Mike and Jacob:
AUGUST 27, 2007
I gave one of
our usual customers and friend a call informing him that
the fishing was hot offshore. Dominick replied " what
time are we leaving?" Dominick charters the boat every
year for Mako Mania and Jersey Coast Tournament, along with
some trips offshore to the canyon. Everyone from the
Big Boy crew and family wish Dominick the best and
healthy recovery as you will read in this thread his
misfortune.
Leaving
Manasquan a little earlier than normal the Big Boy was
headed east toward the Tom's Canyon, onboard were
Dominick and his good friend Jose, Joses' father and his
son, and young Mike. Talking to Dominick on the phone
I explained to him if we left earlier we would have some
time to troll strictly for big eyes.
Somewhat of a
smooth ride out in the following sea which only got
nicer as we approached the grounds. Also onboard with
us good friend and captain Larry Grafas who was helping
me out since I had some kind of a bug the night before.
At 2:30 we were pulling back the throttles and Rudy was
putting out the spread of big spreader bars and big
single lures. By 2:45 we were on the troll and heard it
was non existent the day before. Well it didn't take
us long to find some fish, looking on the fish finder we
were marking lots of tuna. It was so impressive I
called Rudy up on the bridge to take a look at the
screen. Thirty seconds later we had our first fish on.
It turned out
to be a 46 lb. longfin which is good because big eyes
hang out with longfin. As the fish was being boated the
long right rigger line was left in. With the boat back
in gear I noticed a large black object underneath the
lure. I yelled to Rudy to start reeling it away to
provoke a bite, no such luck. However we both knew that
fish was what we were looking for. Making the turn
back to where we had our bite we came across a huge bait
ball only 70 ft. below the surface. I knew it was only
a matter of time before we would see some incredible
action.
Just after
passing the bait ball we had a big eye come up on the
long rigger multiple times where every one got to see
the hits. One finally got the hook and the battle was
on. Everyone had a turn on the always mean and angry
big eye. With the fish getting closer to the boat a
splash caught my eye on the right short lure hanging
from the clip. Dobbing in and out of the water with the
boat rocking the lure appeared life like. Well much to
my amazement when I looked over I could see atleast 10
-15 big eyes just hovering below the surface just
waiting to pounce. I could barley speak down to Larry
and Rudy to tell them to drop the lure back 10 ft. and
jerk it. I think five fish tried the lure untill we got
tight and everyone in the pit got a shower of salt
water.
Well the first
fish was finally gaffed and all three of us pulled the
152 lb. over the gunwale. With much excitement and
tired arms we still had one on. Once again those that
felt up to it went to work on what appeared to be an
even larger eyeball. The harpoon was out for this one
no need to take any chances with all the work that has
gone into this fish. With a few more cranks on the
handle the harpoon finsihed off this 183 lb. big eye.
With a lot of high fives going on we needed to get the
lines back in the water, so everyone got involved
helping Rudy and Larry out.
Wasn't but ten
minutes later when we got to see the show of hits behind
the boat one more time. This time the big spreader bar
down the shotgun rigger got the bite. Good thing this
one was on the Shimano 80w. With the lines cleared once
again we were at work with another large eyeball. Jose
did all the work this time fighting the fish from start
to finish. When it was all said and done we dragged a
196 lb. big eye through the door.
With the tuna
bag filled, the huge bonar box occupied by two and the
day box with one and enough ice to care for these fish
properly night fishing was out of the question. We were
soon forced to head in anyway due to severe medical
emergency. This is one of those trips you will never
forget and only dream of seeing again
AUGUST 14-15, 2007
The weather and the
fishing offshore was good, so The BIG BOY was headed East
for her first canyon run of the 2007 season. Our crew ; Rich, Michael P ”Fish
Eye”, Doug and his son Dave , me and Rudy. Left the dock
around 2:30 pm in beautiful flat seas, destination 100
square of the Hudson. The ride out was beautiful and
we arrived on the fishing grounds just before sunset.
We set up for
the night in 560 ft of water. Wasn't long before we had a
bite, turned out to be a small manta ray. Luckily it
was small... those things get into the hundreds of pounds,
and guys spend the entire night fighting them. A half hour later we
had our first yellowfin in the boat. From 9:30 to 12 am we
picked at yellowfin and then the bait showed up. At times
the squid were so thick you could catch a half dozen with
one scoop of the squid net. We had the yellowfin visual
behind the boat twice during the night. Highlight of the
night was when our deep line went off. Rudy and I both knew
what this was a sword. He showed himself when he jumped
half way out of the water next to the boat, had to be 200
lbs. Well a few trips around the boat and under the anchor
line we had them under control, only to pull the hook 50 ft.
from the boat. We went to battle with another big sword just
before sun up. Off the ball we fought this fish for a good
40 minutes on 30 lb. standup tackle and after a long battle
the sword chaffed through the leader. We were headed home by
6 am. with no room for anymore tuna. 13 yellowfin 40 - 80
lbs. and one 40 lb. longfin. Great first trip of the season
to the canyon.
This is a great
letter that Dave sent to us, about his day spent on The BIG
BOY:
AUGUST 12, 2007
Back out on the LBB
with Rich and his neighbor Doug to the Rocks. Yes that's
right for fluke and fluke we caught. A banner day we had 10
fish weighing over 4 lbs. 6 3/4 was the biggest followed by
three 5 1/2 lb., four 5 lb., two 4 1/2 . Had our limit of 24
with releases.
AUGUST 8, 2007
Had Rich and Larry
from the marina out on the LBB for another shot at the fluke
up on the Rocks. Fishing was good with the heaviest going
5lbs.
AUGUST 6, 2007
Had a day troll
scheduled for the 7th but do to weather and sea conditions
we turned around 20 miles out. Thanks NOAA.
AUGUST 4, 2007
Rich was onboard and
he wanted to get back up to the Rocks for some of that great
fluke fishing. Conditions weren't exactly ideal and fishing
was a bit slow. Did manage some flatties and looked around
for some new spots away from the weekend crowd.
AUGUST 3, 2007
Ran out to the Sea
Girt Reef with a friend of ours who works at the marina.
Gave the Reef a try do to our time frame and to investigate
if there were any big fluke cruising around the wrecks.
Caught a handful of fish nothing over 5 lbs. though.
AUGUST 2, 2007
Had the Armstrong
charter out for a day of inshore fishing for sea bass.
Fished around the Elberon Rocks off the red church and found
the sea bass to be cooperative along with some small fluke.
Made a move a mile north to another sticky spot and put a
few more fish in the boat. It was then time to make a move
to the Rocks where we crushed the fluke a few days ago. I
told the guys the fluking here should be good and big fish,
so some switched over to fluke and others continued to sea
bass as this spot also produces that specie. Well I couldn't
help myself and dropped a bucktail down, jigged it twice got
hammered and pulled a 7 1/2 lb. flattie in. The charter
couldn't believe their eyes and soon everybody was flukin'.
Finished up the day with a great catch of sea bass and 18
fluke five fish weighed 4 1/2 lbs. a 6 1/4 lb. and the 7
1/2.
JULY 31, 2007
Well sure enough got
a report from my brother that the fluking was way good in
the Sandy Hook Bay and a favorite spot of ours the Rocks. We
( Rich, Rudy and myself) had the LBB out looking to fish the
channels up north for some big fluke but as we were passing
the Rocks the conditions looked to good to pass up. Well we
spent the entire day there catching our limit of 24 fish and
then releasing to boot. Average weight was 3 to 4 pounds
with the heaviest going 7 1/2 lbs. with numerous fish in the
5 lb. bracket and a couple 6 lbs. The bucktails out fished
the bait 5 to 1. With all the large fish hitting the
bucktails.
JULY 29, 2007
After a couple days
off and getting the boat squared away from our trip it
didn't take long to get that itch back. Did some inshore
fishing for fluke and some sea bass. Fishing was steady and
looked and sounded as if it was about to get real good.
JUNE 2007
The first proved to
be a good day with a successful bass trip. The next
day we fished The Hi-Mar Striper Tournament. This
event is run out of Twin Lights Marina in Highlands, and
only gets better each year. This is by far our
favorite. Great tournament directors, atmosphere,
food, and best of all- it raises money for kids with cancer.
The top 6 places paid out this year. Well, we got in
on the action finishing 5th with a 31.8 pound fish.
On the 3rd we had
The BIG BOY off of Island State Beach Park trolling spoons
landing only 1 bass going 25 lbs before the rain moved in.
Four days later Rudy
and I encountered some of the best fishing that we have seen
in quite some time. Fishing Shrewsbury Rocks, we
caught over 75 bass, all on live bunker. Most of the
fish averaged 30 plus pounds, with a couple 40's and a
whopper that Rudy caught weighing in at 45 pounds.
This fish was released, as were all with the exception of
one.
Had good action on
the 7th, and another banner day at the Rocks on the 15th.
The 16th turned out to be a disaster. We entered the
Pete Pauls Bass Tournament held out of Rumson. After
departing the 6am shotgun start, we headed for the
Shrewsbury Rocks, a we approached, I couldn't believe my
eyes. Word must have gotten out about yesterdays
fishing , because I now felt like I was in a scene from the
movie Jaws. There had to be 150 boats all trying to
fish one small area. What a nightmare. We caught
one fish here before getting away from the crowd. The
fish was 25 pounds and unfortunately didn't place us in the
top 10.
On a brighter note
we had The BIG BOY out for Fathers Day. Rich had his
father out as well as his nephew, Jonathan Higger, and my
father Bill. We did some fluke fishing since the
striper action came to a stand still. We put together
a fine catch by the end of the day. Happy Fathers Day
to all!
The 20th brought us
some bad news as we stepped onboard The BIG BOY. Right
away we realized the boat had been struck by lightning in
last nights storm! The boat survived, just some of the
electronics suffered. By Friday night we were up and
running after some hard work by Authentic Marine fixing some
of the damaged electronics. Good thing too, because
Mako Mania Shark Tournament was only hours away from
starting. For at least the past 4 years now, Dominic
and his brother-in-law, Tom, have chartered us for this
event. Also with them this year was Jose, Ralph, and
his son Mike.
Day 1 started off
sloppy as we made the 50 mile run in 4-6 ft seas. It
would only get better as it didn't take long for the action
to start. With a few blue sharks release d and a stray
bluefish here and there, Mr. Mako finally showed up.
We released the first mako that we estimated to be about
100-125 pounds. Not long after that we had another one
on. What an aerial show we got leaping three times out
of the water before finally spitting the hook. An
estimated weight of 150 pounds. With a lot of hard
work and patience , we hooked up another shark o, only this
time it was of greater size. After only 5 minutes of
getting some line back on the reel, the hook pulls. We
fish a lot of drag on our reels for shark, and this is
how we knew it was a good one. Well... that's fishing.
It was only a matter of time before we were hooked up once
again with a positive ID of a mako. The crew made
short work of this shark, getting him to leader in just 10
minutes. This one made its way back to the scales with
us weighing in a t 166 pounds. When the scales closed
that evening, our fish wasn't in the top 6. We knew we
would need a fish over 200 lbs tomorrow to have a chance at
the top.
On the way in we got
to witness something not too many people get to see in a
lifetime. Personally, Rudy and I have only seen it one
other time. A Great White shark. We were only 15
miles from the inlet when what appeared to be a fin caught
my eye. Out of curiosity, we turned back around.
As we idled down, it was evident, this was an enormous
shark. Driving up along side of the 20 plus foot
shark, The BIG BOY dint seem all that big anymore! The
guys came out to see what was going on , only to find
themselves staining their under shorts. We figured he
had to weigh close to 2,500 pounds or better. I
brought the boat to a full stop and would you know, the
shark swims over to check us out. As he came across
the transom, slowly swimming back down into the depths, it
was like he was telling us to take a hike.
Day 2, the seas had
laid down and the free chumming had come to an end.
Back in the same area a much different day was about to
unfold. We had bluefish all day in the slick, with not
much action from the toothy critters. Rudy and I both
had a feeling that a mako was g0oing to show up and he would
be of good size. Our first bite came sometime around
noon, with a small mako release. Not too long after
that, we had a screamer of a hit, we all know what that
means... YES MAKO!!!!! After setting the hook, Mr.
Mako decided to run across the surface, showing his dorsal
and tail. Nice fish! was yelled out, and the pressure
was on. In the net 20 minutes, Mr. Mako was subdued.
After all the high fives, we got an estimated length of 90
inches... this could be a winner. Anticipation,
excitement, and nerves were on order for the 2 hour run in.
Not hearing news of any fish caught within this size limit,
the scale was going to to determine our fate.
As the shark was
hoisted up onto the scale, it was said to see that his belly
was sunken in. Well, the thought of 1st place went out
the window, and when the numbers of 228 were called out...
put us in 4th place. We were all still very happy.
Turned out this shark had two commercial longline hooks in
his belly. As Rich would say, "What are you gonna
do..." hey , nice work to my crew, and especially
Rudy. By the way, Dominic and Tom have the boat
booked for this event for the next 10 years in advance...
SORRY!
MAY 2007
On the 8th we ran
the "LBB" (Little BIG BOY) up to Bahr's Landing in
Highlands. Here the boat would stay for the next six
to seven weeks. This time of year the Sandy Hook Bay,
Raritan Bay, and areas along Staten Island and Coney Island
tend to be the most productive. In the spring and
early summer we focus on strictly fishing live bunker for
bass, as long as it's available. The 9th & 15th proved
to be good only for the wrong specie. Yes, that's
right, the ravenous and annoying bluefish. Wasn't
until the 20th when we finally encountered the first pods of
bunker along the oceanfront beaches of NJ.
The morning looked
as if it would have developed to be good one, however the
action was short lived. Good thing we stuck it out,
found some bass just north of the Rocks. Here we would
catch and release 16 bass up to 25 lbs. The next day
Rudy and I took the big boat out for a sea trial.
The 22nd, and I had
the pleasure of fishing with my wife on my tin boat for
fluke in the Navesink River. Yes... fluke fishing with
light tackle and we bucktailed 10 fish in just an hour.
All were released as the season was yet to open, up to 3 1/2
pounds.
The following day
had my brother Max out with us where we got into some hot
action on bass. Out of 29 bass caught we kept one.
All nice size fish, the heaviest on the boga grip hand scale
was 31 pounds. Fished off of Asbury and Deal.
The 24th we got Rich
into some nice fish off of Elberon. With no live bait
we pulled out the wire. Dragging the spoons in 35 -
50ft of water proved to be deadly. I think we had at
least 15 bass up to 30 pounds and were back at the dock by
9am.
The 26th & 27th we
would be fishing the ASA tournament out of Highlands, where
we finished 2nd last year. This year we finished in
8th respectively.
Day 1, we got into a
bass frenzy. For the next 30 minutes we watched and
caught 25-30 pound bass engulfing bunkers on the surface.
It's days like these that stay with you for a lifetime.
Finished the day tied for 5th with a 27.3 pounder.
Day 2, we made the
long run once again to the same area. Here we found a
much different day than the previous. Dropping some
whole dead bunkers down under the birds was working and Rich
landed a 22 pound fish. This would be the largest for
the day. Nice work Rich.
The 28th, we had The
BIG BOY out for her first trip of the season. Rich
brought along some wonderful friends of his. Onboard
were the Vitali's, Doug and his son Dave, Fred "The Iceman"
(12 Time World Kickboxing Champion), and my wife Jen aka
"Seaweed Girl". Trolled some spoons around looking for
some bass. Unfortunately we couldn't get away from the
bluefish. Regardless... everyone had a great time as
usual.
APRIL 2007
We made our first
trip of the year on the 11th for winter flounder. We
fished in the area of the Mantoloking Bridge, on a cold and
cloudy day. Caught some keepers, but over all, the
fishing was slow. The water temperature was 44
degrees. A few days later, on the 15th, we ran out to
a favorite wreck of ours for tautog (blackfish or tog).
Here the fishing seemed to be just a pick, however most of
the tog were of good size. Both trips were on the 26'
Regulator... we often refer to as "The Little BIG BOY".
CABO - February 25, 2007
Rich, Captain Javier and Javier Jr
Bob O decided to
spend the day with our other buddies relaxing poolside.
Captain Javier, Javier Jr and I set out to the north for The
Sea of Cortez. Within a short period of time we
spotted a striped marlin. We had just picked up some
fresh mackerel and Javier Jr pitched it within a few
feet. A few more attempts... and no luck.
Captain Javier got a call from his buddy who told him that
the Pacific was jumping. We traveled 15 miles to the
south and began trolling. We hit a quick, and nice
size, dorado. Soon after, Captain Javier spotted a
marlin. He took the live mackerel, and 20 minutes
later we released an 8 foot striped marlin estimated at 125
pounds.
Within a few minutes
of trolling, "BOOM!" the second striped marlin even more
sizeable jumping 20 times before we boarded him. He
measured 9 feet and approx 135 pounds... we released him.
What a great crew, Captain Javier was the son of a captain
and his son is carrying the same passion as his ancestors.
I highly recommend anyone in Cabo to charter these guys -
their telephone number is: (624) 122-21-75.
DECEMBER 9, 2006
Fished a cold and
blustery day for some tautog. Maybe that why we had
the entire Sea Girt Reef all to ourselves. Had Max,
and Doc. Billy Rhee out again for what was a slow pick of
tog until Big Moe hit. Well, those of that tog always
dream of not only catching , but landing a tog of this size.
Well, yours truly got the job done. The Boga Grip
scale dipped to 13 lbs. After some photo's and high
fives, the tog was released.
NOVEMBER 29, 2006
Got a call from
Captain Ed, who chartered us over a month ago for tuna, and
the told me that he wanted to take his boyz' out fishing one
last time before winter. Well, couldn't be more
delighted to have these guys back on, as was Rudy.
Captain Ed originally wanted to go for stripers but since
they were few and far between, I talked him into togging,
with the option if we saw some bass - we would do that too.
We had Bob, Lou,
Mark, Captain Mitch, and their fearless leader Captain Ed up
to S.H.Reef fishing a small high piece of structure towards
the southern end. Rudy gave a togging' 101 class in
the pit as the anchor got tight and within the first line,
over a 7 lb tog started the day off. The next few fish
were large as well, and the guys had Rudy and I bent over in
laughter. Well it seemed Captain Ed was really hearing
it from the guys, how he was struggling to catch his first
fish of the day. The tide soon turned for the man
financing the trip and catching all the "BS". Lapped
over in the corner, Captain Ed has his hands full.
After skillfully getting his fish out of the structure and
to the net, Captain Ed raised his pool winning 8 3/4 lb tog
high above the locked jaw crew.
After a few wiggles
on our spot and stop laughing it was time to head for home.
Final tally back at the dock - 25 keepers with 1/2 dozen
quality fish that went 5 3/4, 6, two 6 1/4, a 7, and an 8
3/4 lber. Rudy and I thank you guys very much, and are
looking forward to seeing you next year..
NOVEMBER 28, 2006
Fished a wreck off
of Seaside with Doc. Rhee, Max, and Rudy where the action on
the tog was slow to start, however the sea bass were
ferocious. The togging' soon came alive with some
really nice fish. When we lost the tide, the bite died
to just a pick. At one point we were fishing in tee
shirts... go figure..
NOVEMBER 26, 2006
Rich had some
friends out for a bottom trip to the reef. We had
Johnny Arizona back on the boat, as well as Fred (aqua "The
Iceman"), and his girlfriend Natalia. Fished a sunken
tugboat on the reef which held some nice life. We had
tog up to 6 lbs, some porgies, and some sea bass. Calm
seas, good company, and hungry fish... what could be better?.
NOVEMBER 21, 2006
Got to fish with a
long time friend who is in the area for a few weeks from
Hawaii. Spending the past few years in Hawaii, it came
as no surprise when Doc. Billy Rhee called and wanted to go
togging, and proved to me he is still a diehard fisherman.
So, out to the S.H.Reef we went finding action right away
and lasting throughout most of the day. Took home our
limit and the releases were countless, as were the smiles on
Doc' face..
NOVEMBER 19, 2006
Well, with the
weather and some nice seas, we ran out to Monsters Ledge for
yet another try on some tuna. Sure didn't look the
same as a week ago, and it proved to be true. No bites
on the tuna and only a few large bluefish to makeup the day.
Onboard were Rich and his neighbor Doug.
NOVEMBER 18, 2006
Fished one of the
wrecks on the Sea Girt Reef with Rich and good friend
Gerard, who, by the way, is always full of good energy and
spirits. Put together a decent catch of tog, some sea
bass, and a few porgies. Fun day on the water.
NOVEMBER 15, 2006
Rudy and I ran out
to the Sea Girt Reef on the 26' Regulator for 2 hours and
had good action with toggers.
NOVEMBER 11, 2006
Tried our luck back
in the Mudhole fishing around Monster Ledge for blue fin
tuna. Just Rich, Rudy, and myself onboard today.
Before setting up, we saw some porpoise in the area, which
was nice. Wasn't long before the bluefish found us and
the tying of new hooks began. The work paid off, and
we managed our first blue fin of the day - close to 50 lbs -
the fish was released.
NOVEMBER 5, 2006
Fished the Sandy
Hook Reef with my brother Max, and Captain Anthony on the
Dead Eel for some tautog. We took home 2 dozen out of
an estimate of 50 tog, the largest going 8 pounds.
OCTOBER 31, 2006
Ran back out to the
Ledge, this time with Rich and Shawn, seems they wanted in
on the action too. Looked over both the east and west
side of the ledge - didn't see much in terms of fish - but
there was tons of bait. Back on the west side we set
up and had a good run off only to pull the hook. Well
that was the only bite of the day. With the sea
getting uglier by the hour and no sign of the wind letting
up we called it a day. Only made 15 knots on the way
home with lots of white water, just ask Shawn...
OCTOBER 27, 2006
Fished on the 26
Regulator with Rudy and Capt. Anthony (aqua THE EEL).
Back to the Mudhole we went in search of some school blue
fin.
After getting to the Ledge a little late we dropped the hook
on the west side. Wasn't long before we had our first
bite and yes it was a tuna, however we missed 'em.
Twenty minutes later Rudy had one on quickly followed by as
second rod going off. I set the hook and the battle
was on. the only problem was Rudy and I got tangled
up, and tin the process of over and under my fish ran and
cut Rudy's clean off. After honestly getting a little
ass kickin' we boated and released an estimated 50 lbs
blue fin. Sorry Rudy. Well he got his chance
again and I'm still wondering who caught who. A half
hour later another 50 lber released on a twenty pound out
fit. Ended the day going 2 for 6. have to say it
was really nice to see some tuna back in the hole.
OCTOBER 21, 2006
Had Rich and friends
Michael P from CT, Brian and Scott from Maryland, and Sandy
from NY out for bass/bottom fishing. Bass were no
where to be found and the sea bass, porgies, and tog were all
on the small side. Maybe it had something to do with
the 20-25mph NW winds - I don't know - go figure.
Caught one bass, approximately 18lbs.
OCTOBER 15-16, 2006
Chartered by Capt.
Ed and his friends/employees for an overnight chunking trip.
headed to the east wall of the Hudson along with every other
boat on the east coast, this was where the best water was.
Arriving before sunset we went on the drift jigging in
sloppy 4-5' seas. Had some marks but no takers and the
drift was really fast. Spent some time looking around
for a spot to anchor. Besides there being about 70
boats in the area, the squid boats (10 of them to be exact)
were dragging the edge. Many boats were losing their
anchors to the squid boats, who didn't seem to have a care
for the tuna boats. Not wanting to put the safety of
our crew in jeopardy, or wishing to lose our anchor, we
spent the night making short drifts through the fleet.
Around 5:30am after getting rocked all night, some of the
boats that did anchor were into the fish. We looked to
drop the hook and there wasn't much room. Unable to
get in the area we stayed on the drift and conditions were
starting to improve. Finally we had a few bites,
unfortunately we didn't capitalize on it. Then with
some relief we boated a yellow fin around 8:00am.
Usually by 8:00am we would've been an hour into our trip
home, however Capt. Ed and his crew were the most
experienced and not to mention funny, kind, and down to
earth. So we made an exception for them to stay longer
and put some fish in the boat. Well, the fish were
hard to come by. We marked fish under the boat every
drift - most of which had lock jay except a few. Four
long fin spiced up the catch and put a smile on our faces.
e really worked hard for these fish that ranged 45-55
pounds; it just seemed like everything was against us from
the beginning. Capt. Ed and crew - we would love to
have you back - thanks for being so patient and helping out.
Also thanks NOAA for that wonderful forecast, your 2-3' was
more like 5-7'.
OCTOBER 3-4, 2006
Capt. Bob Pisano
invited me on a fun trip aboard the Antoinette. We
headed towards the Carteret Canyon with owner Teddy, His
close friend Dominick, Frank and his son Craig, along with
two very good friends of mine- Capt. Scott and Capt.
Anthony. Anchored a few miles North of the Carteret
where the tail end of a warm eddy was. Beautiful blue
73 degree water with lots of bait. It didn't take long
for the tuna to show up. Had 4 yellows by 10pm with a
little lull until about 2am. Started marking a lot of
fish with a bite here and there, and wasn't long until they
went on the feed. By dawn we stopped fishing, putting
11 more yellow fin in the 60-90lb. range and 2 large long
fin
going 62 and 65lbs. Also, pulled the hook on a
swordfish just out of gaff range. Thanks for the call
Bob.
OCTOBER 1, 2006
Fished some wrecks 5
to 7 miles off the beach for sea bass. We caught 46
sea bass up to 3 pounds, clams and spearing were the choice
bait. Onboard for the day were Rich, Iceman, Stanley,
Johnny V, Rudy and myself.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2006
Myself and Rudy took
the 26' Regulator out again for giant tuna in the Mudhole.
This time we fished The Arundo, here we had some bluefish
again and very possibly marked our first giant of the year.
SEPTEMBER 21-22, 2006
Rudy and myself were
invited on a canyon trip with a friend of ours, Capt. Lenny
, who runs the Xiphais out of Brielle Yacht Club.
Headed out with his boss and some friends of his to the east
wall of the Hudson Canyon. Anchoring in 600 ft. we
caught 9 yellow fins from 60-80 lbs. along with a
swordfish in the 100 pound class.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
Heard of some talk
about Giant Blue fins in the Mudhole so Rudy and myself had
to check it out first hand. Set up around the Monster
Ledge where we caught bluefish and dogfish - no signs what
so ever of any tuna.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2006
Had Rich and
friends, Gene and Linda, from Philly out for a shot lunch
cruise. Lunch came from Philly and boy was it good.
Philly cheese steaks all around, Rudy was in heaven.
SEPTEMBER 9-10, 2006
Rich, Rudy, and
myself got invited on a fun trip aboard the Lil'Rascals.
This is the boat we fished the MA 500 with owner, Larry
Grafis. We fished the 100 Square where we spent the
night chunking. We went 1 for 5 on yellow fins and 1
for 2 on long fin.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2006
Did a lunch cruise
with Rich, Iceman and friends up to Barh's Restaurant in
Highlands.
AUGUST 19-25, 2006 MID
ATLANTIC 500 TOURNAMENT
Had the pleasure of
running Larry Graffis' boat, a 55ft Hatteras, where he and
Rich went in as partners for the tournament. The crew
onboard were Rich, Larry and his son Mike, Rudy, myself, and
Rich's friend Glenn. The tournament was Monday through
Friday, held out of Cape May, and you could fish any three
days of the five. The MA 500 is strictly a marlin and
tuna tournament where the white marlin usually pays out well
over $500,000.00 to the winner.
We fished Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday - these were the best days for sea
conditions. We focused on strictly fishing for white
marlin. We went 2 for 13 on whites, neither of the 2
met the size requirements so they were released.
Unfortunately we did miss quite a few fish. Guess
that's why they call it fishing instead of catching.
We fished mainly in 500 fathoms east of the Carteret, on up
to Toms and Hendrickson Canyon where we found blue 80 degree
water. We were running 100 miles out on average which
made for 3 long days.
Everyone did their
job and worked hard. We all had a great time, a big
thank you to my crew... There's always next year.
AUGUST 17, 2006
Fished for fluke up
off of The Red Church with Rich, Richs godson Evan, Laurie,
Cassondra, and Diandra. The few hours we fished did
produce 4 keepers from 2 1/2 to 5 lbs, and many throwbacks.
AUGUST 13-14, 2006
I got an invite to
fish with Captain Bob Pisano, who if you don't know was one
of, if not, the best giant tuna fisherman of his time.
He still runs a private sportfish out of Shark River at the
age of 75.
Two other good
friends of mine were on the boat as we headed for The Hudson
Canyon... Captain Scott Attaway, and Captain Anthony
Azzariti. Set up for the chunk and put 2 yellow fins in
the boat right away that went 45 and 60 lbs. The rest
of the night was quiet. Did manage a small sword and a
blue shark. In the morning the troll produced one more
yellow fin, about 40 lbs.
AUGUST 11, 2006
Pulled out of the
slip at midnight and put us on a course for The Lindy.
Onboard were Rich, "The Ice Man", Rudy, and myself. On
the troll just before sunrise we searched around for some
life. Talked to some guys who fished that night and
said it was slow, so we worked our way up to the north
towards The Carteret. Got a call from Philly on The
Canyon Runner who was into a good bite. Knowing he was
only a few miles in the direction we were heading... we
picked up an ran.
Only took a few
minutes to get the first bite of the morning which would
only be followed by 10 more. Finished the day at noon
with 11 yellow fins 30-55 lbs. Almost all of the fish
were caught on spreader bars.
AUGUST 6, 2006
Had Rich, his
brother Mike, and Mikes son Josh out for a day of fluke
fishing. Fished south of the inlet where we found
plenty of shorts but no keepers. Moved offshore in
deeper water with some structure, and found 2 keepers along
with some sea bass.
AUGUST 5, 2006
Mike Meanie and two
of his friends chartered us for a bluefish trip.
Fished out at 17 Fathoms where it didn't take long to get
the fish biting. Had 2 and 3 fish on consistently for
3 hours, released 80 fish and only kept a few for the table.
AUGUST 2, 2006
Had our first canyon
trip of the year and a successful one at that. We had
Freddie Radilik, his fiancé Julia, and her father out for a
day troll on the west side of the Hudson Canyon. The
day started off slow with a yellow, followed a while later
by a long fin - until all hell broke loose. Found 3
whales feeding on bait and with the first pas we went 3 for
5 on yellow fins. The next pass went 4 for 6... once
again all yellow fins. We managed one more in that same
location before the charter decided to call it quits.
1 long fin was 40 lbs, and 9 yellow fin were 30 - 60 lbs... oh
yeah... and a small mahi.
JULY 30, 2006
Rich had a very
special guest, and some friends out today. If any of
you follow professional kickboxing, you will know this guy,
Fred "The Iceman", a world kickboxing champion. I saw,
and wore the big belt. What an incredible individual
and a kind-hearted man. I can honestly say that I
wouldn't want to piss him off, or even think about getting
in the ring with him.
Oh yeah, we did
fish, and put together a small catch of fluke. Our
other two guests were Kim, Valentina, and Larry.
JULY 26, 2006
Shoved off at 5:30am
for the long journey home. Sure was a great trip all
around. Wonderful people and friends, beautiful sites,
mouth watering dinners and outstanding fishing. Thanks
again Rich for a wonderful trip and the hard work from
Frankie and Rudy.
JULY 25, 2006
Some new and now
great friends of ours that we met up a that the tournament
told us about a good bite on blue fin tuna 8 1/2 miles off of
Block Island. We had to go and see first hand, and
made the 35 mile run from Newport. We arrived on the
grounds around 7 am, and shortly after that, Cliff, our new
friend showed up on his boat as well. Trolling the
area, we marked bait and tunas but were unsuccessful in
getting them to bite, as was the same for Cliff.
Headed Eat a little where we found some scallop boats
working the area. Trolled behind them and saw nothing.
So, decided to start trolling towards Newport over some good
bottom. Here we had one fish come up and miss the
spreader bar 3 times. Oh well. Cliff did manage
one blue fin about 70 lbs... good going. We later heard
the bite did die off after the tropical storm passed.
JULY 24, 2006
Had the absolute
pleasure of taking Cousin Stevie , Cheryl, Laurie and Walter
out fluke fishing on his 79th birthday. I just want
everyone to know that this guy fished all day... and I mean
all day! He would take a quick drink an maybe a bite
to eat between drifts, and right back to fishing. A
machine this guy is folks! Walter, sorry the fishing
was on the slow side, but you and everyone else managed some
nice fish. Fluke up to 5 1/2 lbs. Wish you the
best and hope t see you again next year.
JULY 23, 2006
Left the Vineyard
and headed to our next destination - Newport, RI, where we
would spend the next 3 days with some wonderful friend's of
Rich.
JULY 22, 2006
Day 2, the last and
final day of the tournament, spirits were high and the hopes
of getting a qualifier were even greater. Well, today
the wind decided to blow even stronger and by the afternoon
we were a rockin' and a rollin'. Despite the
conditions, we fished the same spot - and who wouldn't!
Things got off to a slow start and the water color and
temperature wasn't what had been, but we were still
confident in pulling a large shark out of this are.
We managed a few
blue sharks and were wondering if we would see a mako.
Well, Mr. Mako did show up and it was a good one.
Taking a bluefish fillet and a screaming run, Rudy grabbed
the rod an we all had a feeling this was one for the scales.
As the shark was running, Rudy engaged the drag to strike,
and hit the shark hard with some short pumps to set the
hook. So, the normal routine followed with putting the
harness on the angler, firing up the engines, and clearing
the rods. We fish with a lot of drag so we can figure
out early what size fish we are dealing with. Well,
this fish never stopped taking the drag at a high rate of
speed, and pretty much laughed at our 29 lbs of strike.
Now we knew for certain this was big mako, and before you
knew it, he was gone. With the line still screaming
off the reel - the hook pulled, somehow the fillet folded
over the hook and it just didn't penetrate.
With only a few
hours left, we released 4 blue sharks and kept pondering
about the one that got away. We'll just never know.
In all we sure didn't complain, I mean how could you - with
the fishing we experienced. 10 makes, 3 threshers, and
6 blue sharks. I rest my case...
My crew was
absolutely top notch and professional as they get, that
includes you as well Rich - you worked hard and fought some
real monsters. Thanks guys - this is definitely one we
will never forget.
JULY 21, 2006
Day one of the
tournament. With a tropical storm passing within 75
miles of us that night, we were all wondering if we or
anyone would get out and fish. At 8am we heard the
forecast had changed and a few boats were heading out.
We figured we would take a shot too. The seas ran
about 6 to 8 feet and was safe enough to fish.
Getting to the same
grounds we fished just 2 days ago, took some time and some
patience. We were all excited to see if the sharks
stuck around. Within the first hour we missed a mako,
but only to be followed by a day we will never forget.
From 1:45pm until lines out at 5:30pm, we caught and
released 7 makos from 60 lbs to qualify, and blue sharks had
to be 300 lbs or better. This is why they call it "The
Monster Shark Tournament"
I really didn't
think anything could've topped out practice day, but 7 makos
and 3 that were estimated to be 125, 180, and 200 lbs ...
come on!
JULY 19, 2006
Left Montauk around
5:30am and made a 76 mile run to look over a spot before the
tournament starts on Friday. The area we picked out
proved to be a good choice. In only 3 hours of fishing
we released 3 makos up to 125lbs, and 3 threshers that
estimated 150, 200, and 350 lbs. Too bad it wasn't a
tournament day. What an awesome 3 hours of fishing -
it doesn't get much better than this! From here we ran
25 miles into the Vineyard, where we would be spending the
next 4 days.
JULY 18, 2006
Spent the last week
getting the boat ready to fish the Monster Shark Tournament
up in Martha's Vineyard. Left Manasquan around 7am and
arrived up in Montauk that afternoon. Our crew for the
tournament is Rick, Rudy, our good friend Frankie, who also
fished with us last year, and myself.
JULY 9, 2006
Tried our luck
hoping to find some stripers still lurking around off
Highlands and the Rocks. Caught some bluefish, but no
bass to speak of.
JULY 8, 2006
Had Rich and his
brother out for a day of shark fishing. Fished the
Glory Hole where we had no wind or drift, and very little
life, so we moved over to the Mud Hole on the east side.
Same conditions existed here as well, so we called it a day
around 3 o'clock with nothing to show for our strong effort.
JULY 4, 2006
Tried our luck on a
busy day for some bass with Rich and Rudy. Got bait
outside the inlet and ran up to the north and found the
action to be slow everywhere. Did manage 4 bass up to
24lbs. and some large gators. Finished the day up just
before mother nature's fireworks. Happy 4th of July.
JUNE 23-25, 2006
We were chartered
for the Mako Mania and the Jersey Coast Shark Tournaments.
We fished all 3 days with Dominick, Tom, Mario, and Sean.
These guys are die-hard shark fisherman who charter us every
year and are always a pleasure to have onboard.
Day 1 - We took a
beating traveling down towards the Fingers in solid 6-foot
seas. Here we caught 2 blue sharks, followed by a
small mako that measured 2 inches over the requirement.
On the scales it went 117lbs... not heavy enough to qualify.
Day 2 - The seas
were a little calmer and thought we would try our luck out
towards the Glory Hole and Rockpiles. Here we fought
and released seven blue sharks and missed our only really
good run off of the day, most likely "Mr. Mako".
Day 3 - Fished
southwest side of the Chicken Canyon up on the edge and
managed 2 blue sharks and a mako about 100lbs, all were
released.
Hope to see you guys
next year, and some bigger mako's too! Thank you
again, and thank you Rudy for your work in the pit.
JUNE 21, 2006
Had Rich, his father
Jack, Andy and Steve (friends of Jack's) and Rudy, out for a
bass trip up to the Rocks, and off Highlands Bridge.
We put a great catch together keeping 5 bass and releasing a
few others. Heaviest bass went 43lbs - what a
beauty... followed by a 30lber, 23, 21, and a 18lber.
Live bunker and dead produced.
JUNE 18, 2006
Rudy and Mullet
fished just north of Seaside around the bunker schools and
caught 4 bass up to 23lbs.
JUNE 13, 2006
Ran up to the Rocks
in the afternoon with Rudy where we took some decent bass on
live bunkers.
JUNE 11, 2006
Rudy had the small
boat out by himself and landed four bass on spoons at the
Rocks.
JUNE9, 2006
Had THE BIG BOY out
for her sea trial to test the new rebuilds. The Boat
ran great!
BOOK YOUR
CHARTERS NOW!
JUNE 3, 2006
Fished the Hi Mar
Striped Bass Tournament on Saturday with Rich and Rudy.
Had a decent day of fishing but couldn't find the big one's.
Our heaviest fish went 24lbs.
MAY 29, 2006
Had a fireman's
Memorial Day Parade to attend so Rudy had Rich and his
father Jack went out fluke fishing. With the water
temps still a little cool for fluke, caught 2 keepers and 15
throwbacks.
MAY 28, 2006
After yesterdays
poor showing of bass, we tried some bottom fishing on the
Sandy Hook Reef. Here we put together a catch of tog,
sea bass, and porgies. 10 keeper sea bass and 4 go.
Rich, Constantine, Rudy, and myself.
MAY 27, 2006
With the action slow
in the area, we made a run up to fish West Bank off of
Chapel Hill Channel for bass. After netting bait in
the harbor we got to the gounds just as the bite was dying
off. Got one bass and a bunch of blues. Called
it an early day with all of the Memorial Day boat traffic.
Onboard were Rich, Johnny "B", Rudy, and myself.
MAY 24, 2006
Bringing the boat
back down to Manasquan, my brother Max jumped onboard, for
he knew we would stop and fish somewhere. He was
right, and caught fish we did. Had the bass off Asbury
with the bunkers and managed 13 bass 25 to 30lbs.
These fish fought like they were on steroids.
MAY 20-21, 2006
Brought the boat up
to the Highlands area for a weekend ASA Bass Tournament held
out of Bahr's Landing. This is one of the largest bass
tournaments to come through our area with a lot of team
sponsored boats. Only one fish can be weighed per day,
and the total of your 2 day- 2 fish combined weight depicts
1st through last.
On day one, we stuck
to our game plan and it paid off. Finding some fish in
60ft of water, and having live bait, I knew we would pull a
big fish from this spot. Sure enough, the third fish
caught went 37lbs and we had a good feeling this would place
us in the top three. At weigh-in on day one, our fish
was in 1st with the next closest being 4 pounds behind.
Day two and spirits
high, we once again stayed with our strategy. Found
fish short of our first stop, breaking the surface chasing
bunkers. We stopped the boat and had fish on
instantly, only these fish only averaged in the low 20lb
class. Got a call from a friend who was catching big
fish, and made the 3 mile run, where our day was going to
being originally. Manager a 32lber here, which we knew
we needed to stay close to the top of the leader board.
Back at Bahr's for final weigh-in and tensions were high.
Caught rumor on the docks a 44lb fish was weighed and the
hopes of 1st place dwindled. A boat in 4th place on
day one had the big fish, and bumped us to 2nd.
2nd place sounds
good enough to me. Special thanks to my crew. Rich and
Rudy - great job as always. Was also nice to see the
top 4 finishers go to the local captains in the area, and
not the team boats.
MAY 18, 2006
Rich, Rudy, Johnny
"B", and myself were back at the rocks with the spoons.
Caught our limit of bass ranging up to 32lbs, and released
another six.
MAY 17, 2006
Fished on the Dead
Eel today, a 23 Regulator, with two food friends of mine -
Capt. Scott Attaway, and Capt. Anthony Azzaritti. Left
from the Highlands area and ran up into the Raritan Reach
for a busy day of bass fishing. Had the tanks full
with live bunkers and in no time had some tight lines.
After the ride changed, the fishing turned red hot.
Each drift produced multiple double and triple headers.
Final estimated count for the day, was over 40 fish up to
30lbs - all but one fish was released.
MAY 14, 2006
Back out again
hoping for the same action as yesterday. Didn't find
the bunker, but we did find the bass. Had the fish on
the rocks and managed some more off of Deal on the spoons.
Along with Rich, Rudy, and myself was Rich's sons' good
friend Josh. He caught his largest bass to date... a
23lber, and is a natural with the spooning rods.
MAY 13, 2006
Had a banner day
bass fishing with live bunkers and trolling spoons.
Had the bass early on the spoons, then the bunker showed up
and it was fishing at it's best. Rich, Rudy, and
myself caught our limit of 25 to 33lb bass and released 34,
all in the same size bracket. Wish we had a film crew.
MAY 7, 2006
Fished just North of
the Manasquan Inlet. The bunkers showed up early along
the beach so we gave it a go... We caught one bass and
some monster bluefish. Think it just needs a few more
days to develop.
MAY 6, 2006
Dusted off the
spooning rods and headed up to the Shrewsbury Rocks for some
trolling. Had 12 bass up to 20lbs. Fish were all
caught early in the AM on green and yellow spoons.
Rich, Rudy, and myself were The Charter.
MAY 4, 2006
Rich and Rudy made a
trip out to the Sea Girt Reef and put together a catch of
tog, sea bass, ling, and a cod.
APRIL 26, 2006
Headed up to Great
Kills, Staten Island, for some early live lining action on
the striped bass. Had trouble netting bunkers in the
harbor which ate up some time and ended up missing the bite.
Was great to see the bunkers around and finally fishing for
some bass.
APRIL 25, 2006
Tried the Sea Girt
Reef for some tog and turned out to be very slow.
Water temp 51 degrees.
APRIL 15, 2006
Made a run out to
try our hand at some blackfishing. Proved to be a
good call because they were snapping. Rich, Johnny
"B", Rudy and myself fished a spot in 65ft of water and
a sea temp of 47 degrees. Kept our limit out of 25
tog that came over the side with average weight of 5lbs
on up to 9lbs. Green crabs were the choice of
bait; a lot of dogfish on clams.
APRIL 14, 2006
With THE BIG BOY
getting new rebuilds on the engines and a completion
date around the first week in June, all trips posted for
the time being are on THE BIG BOY II (The Regulator 26).
Fished the
Manasquan River for some winter flounder with Rich, his
brother Jeff and his two sons Spencer and Evan, and 1st
Mate Rudy. Despite a chilly day and wishing I was
still in Florida, the gang managed 7 flatties and some
throwbacks.
MONTH OF MARCH 06'
Set off to Florida
on March 1st in Rich's Denali and the 26 Regulator (THE BIG
BOY II) close behind. Twenty-six hours later we
arrived at our final destination - Fort Lauderdale.
For the next thirty days... this would be home.
With March being the
so called "windy month", we did manage quite a few trips.
We caught a small variety of bottom fish, along with king
fish, mahi mahi's, and the always acrobatic sailfish.
The water temps were in the 70's, and I think that it only
rained twice.
When we weren't
fishing, we cruised the intercoastal waterway. Here we
found some great restaurants for lunch and dinner. The
outside bars were a hit for sunset cruises.
During our stay,
numerous quests came down to visit. Here's a list:
Bob O, Michael "Fish Eye" P, Billy A, Shawn, Carrie, Laura,
Cousin Stevie, Cousin Cheryl, Brother Jeff, Niece Rachel,
Marco and his mother, and George from Chicago.
Personally, I had such a wonderful time with each and
everyone of these individuals - thank you, and especially
Rich.
2005 FLORIDA PICTURES
DECEMBER 7, 2005 RICH,
JOHNNY "B", &
THE CREW
Just because THE
BIG BOY is winterized doesn't mean that The Regulator
is. Got out for a late afternoon bass trip with
Rich, Johnny "B", Rudy, and myself. Just out of
the inlet we ran into birds working, along with bass
boiling on the surface. We dropped the jigs down
and managed a few fish. Although there was a lot
of bird life, the fish were few and far between.
With that, we ran to the North in hopes of better
fishing. Well the move proved to be a good one.
In no time, we were catching bass off Deal on the jigs
with double and triple headers. In 2 1/2 hours we
landed 53 bass ranging from 4 lbs. on up to 20 lbs. and
5 bluefish up to 15 lbs.
DECEMBER 3-4, 2005 RICH,
JOHNNY "B", DOUG, MAX, &
THE CREW
Had THE BIG BOY out
this weekend for its last trip of the season.
Fishing both days, Sunday proved to be the best with the
exception of the weather. At 5:00 a.m. it was
snowing pretty good with about three inches on the
ground. By 7:30 a.m. it had stopped and we were on
our way out of the inlet with Rich, Johnny "B", Rich's
neighbor Doug, Rudy, my brother Max, and myself.
Splitting the day in half we planned to bass fish in the
morning, and then switch to togging'.
Breaking the inlet
we had action right away. After boating and
releasing numerous bass, the action died. Ran up
to The Rocks where we found non-stop action jigging bass
all alone. By 11:30 a.m. we called it quits.
With an estimation of close to 80 or more bass caught
and released, we had the slot limit filled along with
some fish over 34" mark.
With not far to
travel we set up on the Sandy Hook Reef for blackfish.
Action was slow at times but did improve later in the
day. We managed to catch some 20 keepers along
with Doug's pool winning 8 1/2 pound tog. It was a
cold, great day of fishing, and it was a treat to have
my brother along. With that, I just want to say
thanks to Rich for everything this season, we had a
great time. Rudy, thanks for your help, and thank
you to those that chartered THE BIG BOY.
Book your trips now for 2006 - we will be up and running
by the second week of April. Have a safe winter
and Happy Holidays!
-Capt. "D"
NOVEMBER 27, 2005 RICH, &
THE CREW
Out on the
Regulator again Sunday with Rich, Rudy, and myself for a
repeat of Saturday. It proved to be a carbon copy
for the bass. Action was slow and the fish were
small off Seaside. We just couldn't stop thinking
about the tog trip yesterday and in no time we were
headed back out there. After setting up, the
adrenaline was high for some fast paced action.
That action we were looking for never really happened...
only picking fish here and there. We covered every
square inch of that.
NOVEMBER 26, 2005 RICH,
JOHNNY "B", &
THE CREW
Ran down to fish
off of Seaside Pier for bass with Rich, Johnny "B",
Rudy, and myself. Looks like everyone else had the
same idea as we trolled in and around a fleet of more
than 70 boats. Marking bait and bass on the fish
finder, the hits were hard to come by. With the
action so slow and only a couple small bass taken, we
decided to go blackfishing. Looking at a chart and
on the GPS we noticed two wrecks about seven miles
offshore. Having flat conditions and the 26'
Regulator out, we were there in no time cruising at 34 kts. For the next four hours we crushed the
blackfish that averaged 3 to 4 pounds. Was a
fabulous day of togging'.
NOVEMBER 20, 2005 RICH, &
THE CREW
Rudy, myself, and
Rich were back at it again in the morning. Looking to
start the day off like Sat. it slowly developed. Only
to find all the bluefish you wanted, which all seemed to
be on steroids. Having enough of the bluefish we moved
off to the east and did some wreck fishing. Caught some
sea bass and blackfish but this fishing proved to
be tough as well.
NOVEMBER 19, 2005 RICH,
JOHN, JONATHAN, & MICHAEL
Back from his
vacation overseas, Rich was anxious to get back on the
water. Along for the trip was a friend John Capra, and
his two boys Jonathan and Michael. Out of the inlet we
headed north and arrived at our destination off
Highlands. Finding plenty of bird life and good
readings we started the day off jigging. The first fish
to come over the side were four slot sized bass followed
by a 26 lber. Jonathan subdued this large fish in ample
time after a grueling battle. With the fleet growing we
decided to move off and fish by ourselves. The boys
were eager to catch some larger fish so we put the
bunker spoons out. It paid off and in no time Michael
was at work reeling in 300ft. of wire line with a 23 1/2
lber. tugging back. The boys managed two more good
size bass that went 21 1/2 lbs. and 18 1/2 lbs. By the
end of the day the total catch tallied 11 bass with 6
throwbacks and released a doz. 8-15 lb. bluefish. The
crew of the Big Boy were really impressed with the
angling skills and dedication of Jonathan and Michael.
Watch out for these two when they get older, me and Rudy
could be out of a job!
OCTOBER 13-NOVEMBER 2, 2005
UPDATE
Sorry I haven't kept
the reports up to date recently... so here is a summed up
report. Recently Rich purchased a 2001 26' Regulator
w/ twin 250 Yamaha's. So Rudy and myself have been
busy rigging the boat out for fishing. Not to say that
we haven't fished on it. Rich, Mike Rose, Johnny "B",
Constantine (Rich's nephew), Rudy, myself, and some other
guests have all been making trips for stripers, sea bass,
and blackfish. Sea bass fishing has been really good,
blackfish are starting to bite, and the stripers have been
difficult at times due to all of the bluefish. There's
tons of bait around and the outlook is very promising for
November.
OCTOBER 8, 2005 CAPTAIN
"D" GOT MARRIED!
SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 WACHOVIA
BANK CHARTER
On Wednesday, we
took out a charter from Wachovia Bank for a blue fin
day-chunking trip. At daybreak we were in the area of
the Bacardi, searching for some scallop boats in sloppy 4-5
ft. seas. The radar showed some boats a few more miles
to the east. As we got closer, there were half a dozen
scallop boats working the area. We fished behind
numerous boats before getting our first tuna, about 85 lbs.
Gave it hell the rest of the day trying everything we knew,
but the fish behind the boats didn't want to cooperate.
Going on the drift in the area, we managed to hook one more,
only to lose it at the boat. After a long day and a
great effort from everyone on board, we called it a day.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2005 RICH,
RUDY'S FRIEND JOSH "MULLET"
Left the dock on
what was supposed to be a half day fluke trip with Rich and
Rudy's friend Josh "Mullet". With the wind blowing
hard out of the northeast, conditions were looking less than
ideal. Had a spot picked out with some rough bottom 18
miles to the north. By the time we got there the wind
and the seas laid down, and the fluke were feeding.
First fish to come over was 6lbs shortly followed by a 9 1/2
lber, both caught by yours truly. Rudy got in the game
and landed a 7 1/2, 6 1/2, and a 6 lber. Rich and Josh
took up the slack with four fish going 5 lbs, two 4 1/2 lbs,
two 3 lbs, and a few 1 1/2 to 2 pound fish. Squid and
spearing combo, live peanuts, and fluke jigs all worked.
Back at the dock around 7pm. This was one of the best
fluke trips I've seen in a really long time.
SEPTEMBER 3-4, 2005 RICH,
CONSTANTINE (THE NEPHEW), DOMINICK, AND JOHNNY "B"
Leaving the inlet
around mid morning "THE BIG BOY" was headed east for the
Tom's canyon. On board we had Rich, Constantine,
Dominick, and Johnny "B". Trolling for an hour didn't
produce anything and with the fleet growing in anticipation
for the chunk bite we dropped the hook. By 9:00pm we
had plenty of squid around the boat and in the livewell.
Didn't get our first bite until around 11:30pm, putting two
fish in the boat and then having to wait until 4:30am when
we got another shot. Going 8 for 12 on yellow fins that
ranged from 40 to 110 pounds then we headed home.
Constantine caught his first Tuna!
AUGUST 21, 2005
RICH AND JOHNNY ARIZONA
After some
unfortunate down time with the boat. She's up and
running again looking to make some trips. Well that's
just what we did taking Rich and his lifelong friend John
out for some sharking. Ran out to the mudhole and set
up on the drift in blue-green 76 degree water. Had to
wait all day before Mr. Mako appeared. He wasted no
time eating a mackerel bait not far from the boat.
John had the shark subdued in 15 minutes. Back at
Hoffman's for a weigh in going 133 pounds. Nice work
guy's.
JULY 13-18, 2005
DOMINICK & KEITH CHARTER, MONSTER SHARK TOURNAMENT
After a week and a
half of preparation and maintenance, THE BIG BOY headed
North for Marthas Vineyard Monster Shark Tournament.
Dominick and Keith once again had the boat for charter.
Two days of fishing in pea soup fog yielded no makos or
threshers. We did manage blue sharks on both days, but
none heavy enough for the scales. With close to 250
boats in the tournament, the overall fishing was poor.
Fishing hard and having a good time, we made the best of it.
Rudy and Second Mate, Frankie, did a top notch job.
Also, we want to say thanks to Dominick, Keith, and Rich for
helping out as well. Great job everyone... let's do it
again next year.
On the way home, Rich,
Rudy, Frankie, and I stopped to fluke fish the shoals in
Vineyard Sound. Holy $#*@! what an incredible fishery,
it is unbelievable.
JULY 5, 2005
STEPHANIE SAND & FAMILY FISHING TRIP AND CRUISE TO NYC
Pulling out of the
inlet around 1 o'clock, we quickly ran into the bunker pods.
Trying numerous pods, we finally found some that held fish.
After an exciting battle, a 30 lb. striper was landed.
With sea conditions not being the best, and taking it's toll
on a few passengers, they felt the city would be a better
choice.
JULY 4, 2005
RICH, DOMINICK, AND JOHN
Fishing 45 miles
east of Manasquan Inlet, the crew had their own fireworks,
going 2 for 4 on makos. Most of the action came just
before noon releasing an 80 pounder and bringing the gaff to
a 100 pounder. Mackerel and bluefish fillets worked
best in the blue 69 degree water.
JULY 2, 2005
RICH AND FRIENDS
Tried our luck
fishing some deeper water for fluke and it paid off.
Catching seven keepers averaging 2 to 4lbs and only a few
throwbacks the crew was pleased. Fished off Sandy Hook
with all the action on squid and spearing.
JUNE 24-26, 2005
TOM, DOMINICK, AND KEITH PARTY
We had action on all
three days of fishing, both the Mako Mania and the Jersey
Coast Shark Anglers Tournament. We caught and released
5 blue sharks up to about 200lbs. and caught 2 small makos
both going about 100lbs. Bluefish live, dead, and
fillets proved to be the choice of bait for the makos.
Fished the Glory Hole and the Triple Wreck areas.
Overall, we had a wonderful 3 days of fishing and the guys
from the charter were exceptionally great.
JUNE 19, 2005
THE FATHERS DAY TRIP
This father's day
trip was one that won't be forgotten. With Rich's
father, Jack Klein and our mate Rudy Wilson's dad, Rudy, we
were determined to find some bass. Despite the 5ft
seas, and 20 knot northeast winds, we still managed to throw
the cast net and fill the livewell with bunkers. With
good readings on the fish finder, we stopped short of our
final destination. For an hour, the bite was red hot,
putting five bass in the box and losing numerous other large
bass due to rough sea conditions. The fish weighed in
at 23, 30, 31, and 35 POUNDS! Oh yeah... we fished all
alone.
JUNE 15, 2005
RICH, MIKE, AND CAPT. JAY
Rich, Mike, and
Captain Jay were on board for a morning bass trip.
After multiple throws with the cast net, we had the livewell
full. We got into bass pretty good near the Rocks
despite the thick fog and heavy chop. With our limit
filled on bass over 34", we released the rest. Fish
ranged from 23lbs to 30lbs. Good luck in Florida Jay!
JUNE 12, 2005
RICH AND JOHN
Fished south of the
Manasquan Inlet chasing pods of bunker. After fishing
a few hours and multiple pods of bait, the bass were nowhere
to be found. Finished the day fluking off Seaside in
60ft of water. Put some keepers in the boat and had
some shorts.
JUNE 10, 2005
RICH AND JOHN
A late afternoon
fluke trip off Belmar in less than ideal conditions, with
the water temperature at 50 degrees. Caught some fluke
- all shorts.
JUNE 9, 2005
RICH, GERARD, AND MARK
Rich, Gerard, and
Mark on an afternoon trip, trolling bunker spoons on
Shrewsbury Rocks. We managed a few bass up to 26lbs,
and numerous bluefish in very cold water.
JUNE 5, 2005
THE CREW WITH JOHNNY B AND CHERYL
With boat traffic
being the worst I've ever seen, it's no wonder the bass were
no where to be found. After trolling for 2 hours with
only 1 hit, we decided to go wreck fishing for sea bass.
We got into the sea bass pretty good, catching over 3 dozen,
and keeping 13 well over 12 inches - and many going 4lbs.
Small pieces of clam worked best.
JUNE 4, 2005
RICH, DOMINICK, AND JOHN
Today we had the
boss, Rich, and two good friends of his, Dominick and John
onboard. Entering the 1 day Hi Mar bass tournament
hosted by Twin Lights Marina in Highlands turned out to be a
good thing. With nasty conditions and no live bait to
be found, we opted to troll bunker spoons for hopes of a
large bass. It paid off with the 2nd of 5 fish tipping
the scales at 34 1/2lbs.. We were happy with 3rd
place. The other highlight of the day was pulling the
hook on a trophy size bass.
MAY 30, 2005
THE CREW WITH TOM AND DOMINICK
After struggling
with the weekend crowds for live bunker, we managed a net
full. West bank area produced all the action.
With 6 bass landed and numerous lost, the two heaviest went
25 and 30lbs.
MAY 28-29, 2005
THE CREW AND FAMILY
Cast netted live
bunker both Saturday and Sunday. Only to feed the
majority to bluefish. Did manage to get 6 bass on the
live bait up to 20lbs. Trolling spoons produced a few
more bass and numerous bluefish. Fished from Manasquan
Inlet north to the west bank area.
MAY 21-22, 2005
THE CREW
The Crew fished an
ASA tournament over the weekend hosted by Bahr's Landing.
With decent weather over two days of fishing, we managed an
estimated 100 bass landed. Fish ranged from 20 to
30lbs. All taken on live bunker in the Raritan Bay.
MAY 14, 2005
THE CREW WITH MARIA & JOHNNY B
Fished the tip of
Sandy Hook catching 32 Striped Bass with only a few
Bluefish. Bass ranging from 21" to 37". Heaviest
fish 18 pounds clams worked best.
MAY 10, 2005
THE CREW ACCOMPANIED BY DOMINICK, TOMMY, CARMEN & JOHNNY B
Fished Sandy Hook
Bay catching 19 Striped Bass ranging from 22" to 35" with an
occasional Bluefish. Claims provided all the action.
OCTOBER 3-4, 2004
BRIAN ONEAL CHARTER
Fished the Spencer
Canyon to the Carteret Canyon. On the troll, caught 11
long fins between 50-60 pounds, and 15 mahi mahi. Also
caught a small mako chunking at night.
OCTOBER 2-3, 2004
DOMINICK SPAMPANATO
Caught 4 blue fins at
"The Barcardi", went 4 for 6 on blue fins up to 90 pounds.
Went to "The Hudson", and chunked 2 yellow fin and 13
long fin.
We released 12 long fin, and 6 mahi's.
SEPTEMBER 26-27, 2004
FRED RADALIC
Caught 10 yellow fin,
4 long fin, and topped the catch with a 61 pound wahoo.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2004
CHRIS GRAF CHARTER
A great Inshore Tuna
Trip, caught a 35 pound blue fin, and enjoyed great action
all day with false albacore and skipjacks.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2004 DOMINIK AVIGLIANO CHARTER
On a Hudson Canyon
Day troll, caught 10 long fin, 6 yellow fin, and 1/2 dozen Mahi.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2004 -
SEPTEMBER 3, 2004
PAUL GAGLIOTI, VICTOR RODRIGUES, JOEY, BILLY, AND CREW
Fished the Spencer
Canyon to the Carteret Canyon. On the troll, caught 11
long fins between 50-60 pounds, and 15 mahi mahi. Also
caught a small mako chunking at night.
AUGUST 28, 2004
SAL SCANKARELLO
Caught 1 mako shark, approximately 100 pounds, and a 200
pound blue shark, that we caught then released.
AUGUST 26, 2004
CHRISTOPHER J. QUINN
Bluefished all morning - caught 55 bluefish, and caught 4
fluke in the afternoon.
AUGUST 24, 2004
FRED RADILICK
Fished the Carteret Canyon. Caught 8 yellow fin and 2
Mahi Mahi.
AUGUST 22, 2004
ANDY DERENICK & FAMILY
Fished "The Farms" in the morning, and caught 40 bluefish.
Fluke fished in the afternoon, and caught a 5 pound and 7
pound fluke off the Sea Girt.
AUGUST 21,
2004
THE CREW
Fished the Sea Girt Reef and caught 12 keeper flukes up to 5
pounds in 3 hours, in adverse conditions.
AUGUST 17, 2004 - AUGUST
18, 2004 JOHN MAROTTA SR., JOHN
MAROTTA JR., GERARD GALLUCCIO, & CREW
Fished the Lindenkohl Canyon, evening chunking.
Caught an 11 foot blue shark in the morning, and caught 4
yellow fin, 10 long fin, and 2 Mahi Mahi's, plus a
70 POUND WHITE MARLIN!
AUGUST 9,
2004 - AUGUST 10, 2004
JIM HAMMER, BILLY & KYLE SHERMAN, & CREW
Fished the Lindenkohl Canyon, and caught 12 yellow fin tuna
up to 80 pounds, and 6 Mahi Mahi.
JULY 22, 2004
THE CREW
THE
BIG BOY left at sunrise and took a 5 hour cruise to Montauk
Point. We began trolling around noon-time, catching
some small stripers and some huge bluefish. We
finished the day bottom fishing, catching only large skate
and dogfish.
JULY 23, 2004 - JULY 24,
2004
THE CREW
Fished Nantucket Sound, trolled "The Rips" and caught a few
bluefish and bottom fished for approximately 3 hours
subsequent, resulting in hitting our limit of 28 fluke (7
per man) - which we selected over20 inches and up to 7 1/2
pounds in weight.
JULY 18, 2004
THE CREW ALONG WITH ASHLEY AND THE GARVEY'S
Fluke fished off Seaside Heights, and caught 33 keepers up
to 6 1/2 pounds, and 20 or 30 shorts. It was a perfect
day of fluking.
JULY 17, 2004
CHRIS ANZELONE
Bluefished out at "The Farms", and caught over 50 blues.
Fluke fished for a little while, but it was slow, only
caught one keeper.
JULY 16, 2004
THE CREW
Fluke fished off Seaside Heights for about 2 hours.
Had 12 keepers and 15 shorts.
JULY 12, 2004
JACK APPEL CHARTER
Went
bluefishing and caught a few 5-7 pounders. Topped the
day off with a 20 pound Mahi Mahi.
JULY 10, 2004
THE CREW ACCOMPANIED BY BRIAN SATISKY & CANDY
Drifted for fluke for 1 1/2 hours. Caught 10 keepers
up to 25 inches, and lots of shorts.
JULY 8, 2004
CANYON DAY TROLL THE CREW
ACCOMPANIED BY MIKE ROSE, PHILIP WEISS, AND FRIENDS
Fished the Carteret Canyon. Caught 4 Yellow fins:
75 lbs, 65 lbs, 35 lbs, and 20 lbs; also 6 short Yellow fins.
Pulled a hook on a White Marlin after 20 minutes.
JULY 4, 2004
THE CREW
Went
Fluke fishing, caught 4 keepers up to 25 inches, lots of
shorts.
JULY 2-3, 2004
THE CREW
Fished the
Lindenkohl
Canyon and caught 10 keeper Yellow fin up to 50lbs, about 8
Skipjacks, a few dozen squid, and 10 throw-back Yellow fin shorts.
JUNE 25, 2004
THE CREW
Fished the Spencer
Canyon and caught 8 keeper Yellow fin up to 45lbs, Skipjack
Tunas, let go an 8' Blue shark, and lost a 250lb Mako at the
boat.
JUNE 22, 2004
THE CREW
Fished for
Bass
early in schools on bunker off Bayhead. Landed 3 Bass
up to 35lbs.
JUNE 20, 2004
MAKO MANIA! DOMINIK AVIGLIANO
CHARTER
Fished The Fingers
and released one 7' Hammerhead Shark.
JUNE 19, 2004
MAKO MANIA! THE CREW
Fished The Fingers
and lost one Mako when she jumped and landed on the line.
JUNE 18, 2004
THE CHUCK DETORRES PARTY
Caught their limit
of Bass and released 10 up to 30lbs. Spent 2 hours
drifting the Sea Girt Reef which yielded some Fluke and Sea
Bass.
MARCH TO PRESENT
We have fished very
regularly since we took delivery of the vessel on March 9,
2004. A few early season cod trips produced some nice
cod and pollack mixed in with schoolies, big bergals and
ling. Early in April we had a few days of spotty
blackfish, however, as the water warmed, we got in a few
great trips with togs (Blackfish) up to 7lbs.
Striped bass season
started early this year in the back of Raritan bay.
There are too many trips to talk about. To sum them
up, we clamed them, spooned them, and caught them with live
bunkers up to 40lbs.
March to Present Photo
Gallery
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