Winter Sucks!

Well it was a slow week at work so I started working on my rods and reels. Since I am very meticulous they are very clean...always! I already gave them a good cleaning when they came off the boat. I serviced all the reels...yes all 18 of them! I went through my rigs, not much to do there...only a few need to be retied or replaced. Waiting for my line order to come so I can spool up most of the reels. All in all not much left to do for spring and it is several months away still. Maybe we will get some nice schools of herring in close for some action from the jetties on light tackle.

85 Days Till Winter Flounder!!!

Well we pulled the boat and winterized the motor, head and fresh water systems. The Volvo dealer came and winterized the outdrive. I spent half of a very cold day building a frame for covering the boat. This year I am just going to trow a tarp over it. Maybe next year I will shrink wrap it or get a heavy winter canvas for the task. At least the frame is built and should provide enough angle to eliminate snow build as well as enough room to work on it without removing the cover.



Hopefully winter will be mild, I have several tasks I would like to accomplish over the next month. Unfortunately I won't be able to much in the spring due to us finalizing a house purchase and with moving and repairs/improvements to the house I will have to concentrate on that in the spring. At least winter flounder season was pushed back....I should be done with the house by opening day!

All the gear has been removed, cleaned and stored. My office now looks like a tackle shop with all my rods stripped, cleaned and ready for winter maintenance. Santa was very kind this year brining a pair of wire line outfits for trolling bunker spoons and umbrella rigs.

Nothing but Shorts

Fished from Manasquan Inlet to several miles North of Monmouth Beach. We were greeted by about a four foot swell coming out of the south. Despite the southern swell we decided to head North and fight it on the way back. This was due in part to several head boats heading North as well as no good reports coming over the radio from the South. The swells were moving quite fast which allowed us to head North at 25 knots with ease and a somewhat smooth ride. We found tons for short stripers from about 10" to 22". It was business as usuall, find the working birds find the stripers under them. Although there were a few sports we marked fish and no birds but that was rare. There were large schools of herring everywhere but no larger stripers on them. Some of the herring were actually larger than some of the stripers we caught. The ride back against the swell was not too bad, we were able to maintain about 20 knots. We poked around the Inlet a little and the winds started kicking up and putting a nice chop on top of the swell, as well as reducing the swell period. Since the fish were not exactly jumping in the boat we decided to head in while the weather was still good. By the time we got to the dock the wind was howling and we were glad we headed in when we did.

It seems that by the reports coming out of Hatteras and Oregon Inlet that the larger cows are south for the winter. But to the contrary I have heard a few reports out of Long Island that there are still bass in the 30 pound range being taken off the South Shore. Since the boat is being pulled next week it will become a beach and jetty affair for me until Winter Flounder season and the launch of the boat in early spring.

Snotty Conditions but Success!

Despite the snow, wind, rain, and small craft advisory we headed out and braved the elements! Had a fellow member from Barnegat Fishing Hole (www.bhweb.com) and my regular fishing buddy Ron out today. We were all set to run South towards Seaside with a stop in Bay Head where Ron had fished on Saturday but it was a little snotty and would be very difficult if not impossible to troll. We spotted the Queen Mary and the Prowler jugging near the bell buoy with a couple of smaller boats around them as well. When we got a little closer we were greeted with large groups of birds working the area. We started jigging and immediately hooked up. We had about 15 bass in less than two hours. The largest going 26.5" at 6.75lbs. We fished not far outside the Manasquan Inlet in about 50' of water. Followed the birds back and forth and bite stayed steady until the tide went slack. It was a little snotty out but a good day despite the conditions.

The Striped Ones Have Arrived!

Unfortunately I did not get out this weekend even though it was one of the nicest weekends all season. Due to a lack of crew I was forced to stay tied up and listen to all the fun on the radio. Several boats returned to the marina with multiple fish in their boxes. Double and triple headers were the norm instead of rare. Most of the fish ranged from 24-28 inches. No one came back with anything larger than 28". Almost everyone reported catches of from thirty to over one hunderd fish caught for the day. There were also a few tog caught for those who anchored up in the afternoon. The white chins were all only just legal fish, nothing of notable size. I have also received word of some inshore cod and ling catches....come on cod make an inshore comeback! It would be nice to be able to catch ling in the surf again in December through March. I think the last time I had ling in the surf was over 10 years ago.

Heater is in!

Well I could not muster a crew up this weekend despite the gorgeous weather. I did get some much needed work done on the boat though. Installed the bilge heater since we are supposed to get some snow next week. Hopefully the seas will lay down quickly after this noreaster passes by on Tuesday.

Woo Hoo!!!

Usually Mondays drag on and on and seem to never go by. It is the first day of the work week, 5 days till I can go fishing again and you just think the day will never end. The doorbell rang...it was the postman...what was he holding? A huge line order I am eagerly awaiting. Suddenly Monday isn't so bad! I know have line for my 30# class trolling outfits and will be able to troll this weekend for stripers and hopefully not too many blues!

The Fall Run has Started!

Several boats out of my marina came back to port with stripers this weekend. It seems to be an afternoon bite thus far. The bite seems to go into high gear between 13:30 and 15:30 during the past few days. It seems the bottom of the ebb tide is producing the best off Seaside between the north and south piers. There have not been any big fish yet but they are consistently 25" to 37" with lots of bluefish from 5 lbs. to 15 lbs. Next weekend looks great and can't wait to get out and wobble up a few myself.

Should Have Gotten Out Earlier

We headed out to the Sea Girt Reef late morning. It was not a bad ride out and the first 10 minutes were OK before the South wind really started to kick up. Tried jigging where we saw some birds and marks on the FF. Made a few stops on the way back in, had a couple of short blackfish and several blues. Wish I would have gotten up earlier, would have been able to fish longer and probably would have found some larger blackfish. Oh well, next weeks forecast looks great right now....lets see if it holds up.

Should Have Gone Fishing

I should have not listened to the weather reports and gone fishing for the day. I ended up taking a boat ride out to the inlet, when I got to the end it was a little breezy but definitely fishable. Will give it a shot on Sunday.

2 Days in a Row!

Well I got out again on Sunday...Once again NOAA was completely off with the forecast. I wish I would have listened to myself and my interpretation of the weather from local weather stations. The inlet was flat and seas were 2' and somewhat tightly packed. It was very fishable though and we were able to cruise at 20kts. Nothing like the 3' to 5' seas predicted. We went for a ride to the north and then out to about 3 miles and then decided to head south of the inlet. I marked a lot of bait/fish on the fish finder all along the Mantoloking pipe so we setup there. It was hundreds of bluefish. The general chatter on the radio was that no bass were being caught and only bluefish. No word of great catches of sea bass either, just a few keepers.

Hopefully the storms will stay away and fishing as well as conditions will improve. The water temps are starting to drop, I was reading 53 degrees on Sunday so the striper run should start any day now!

Finally Got Out!

Tried for stripers and could not find any. I had gone out on a friends boat out of my marina and they only wanted to eel for stripers and did not want to run too far. There were reports of a few fish caught. We then switched over to wreck fishing and had short blackfish. All in all not a bad day and NOAA had the forecast all screwed up again...the seas were not 6' as predicted and were very fishable.

What Could be Better!

Watching the fall classic, cold beer and rigging a couple hundred shad bodies for the fall striper run!

Will it Ever End?

We just got past the gale warnings, small craft advisories and downpours over the last two weeks and now Wilma is coming. I have heard some reports of tidal surges of 7.5' but have not been able to find and confirmation on this. I sure hope we do not see that as the marina will be a busy place with people keeping their boats off of pilings and the docks. I have only heard tales of legendary hurricane parties from others that have been at my marina for years. I guess I may experience one of these hurricane parties first hand this week. Hopefully I and all others make it through the storm with no damage.

Another Small Craft Advisory!

Despite the small craft advisory and high winds the inshore waters were quite flat. I was all set to head out to several bridges to try clamming up some stripers and possibly trolling the beaches just outside the breakers but could not put a crew together this morning. I ended up hanging out with a bunch of guys from the marina. Hopefully hurricane Wilma will not stir things up too much for next weekend.

Gale Warning?!

Well we still have small craft advisories and gale warnings now for over a week. I went out for a boat ride on the Norther part of Barnegat Bay...I was the only boat on the water Sunday afternoon! There was a steady one to two foot chop with an occasional larger swell/chop coming through. The entire bay was covered in white caps. Some of the houses on the east side of the bay had small waves breaking onto their properties and over their docks and bulkheads.

As far as trouble or difficulty from last weeks wind and rain there were no casualties in my marina. I had a couple of scratches to the gel coat that will buff out when I wax the boat at the end of the season. I heard horror stories from other marinas of sunken boats, holes punched in hulls, broken windows, water damage, broken antennas, etc. I guess we are a little more protected in Beaver Dam Creek with the bridge as a neighbor and the creek not being that wide. I hope everyone reading this made out unscathed from the wind and rain and will return to fishing this week instead of jockeying lines and bailing water.

I did get some work done on the boat for a second straight week. I installed all of my antennas to their new top-mounts and installed the rocket launcher. Finally I won't have to worry about getting a rod caught on a piling on the way in and out of the slip!

Surf's Up!

Well with the wind kicked up to about 30kts, driving rain all weekend and the surf at 8'-12' I decided to work on the boat again. I finally hooked up the VHF to the chartplotter and got the DSC functions working, but could not find anyone in the marina that had theirs setup to test with. By a suggestion from a Boat US store employee I decided to end my quest for a three conductor waterproof quick disconnect for my stereo and purchased a trailer light wiring harness for this purpose. That installed easily and did the job. I finally straightened out the wiring with cable management and prepared them for the re-installation of the headliner. Hopefully next weekend I can get the rocket launcher installed and re-install the headliner.

Weekend Canyon Trip

Another boat in my marina returned from the canyons with a boat load of mahi mahi, three longfin to 63 pounds and two yellowfin to 45 pounds. They started out Friday night at the Lindenkohl. Saturday morning they started trolling towards Tom's but found colder surface temps so they headed back to the Lindy. Trollud up a few there. Then trolled to Cateret to spend Saturday night on the chunk. Trolled to Tom's on Sunday morning then to the Hudson.

Since there were only two capable filletmen I decided to offer my help in return for a few tuna steaks and mahi fillets...little did I know at the time was how many mahi there really were to be filleted. The three of us filleted fish four about 4 hours till all were cleaned and packed on ice. And that was with several others in the marina taking their share of mahi home whole to fillet it themselves.

Workn' on the Boat

I decided to get some much needed work done to the boat. With it being brand new I have been very leary about drilling holes through the transom and the pilothouse roof. But I finally drilled all but one of the holes for the four antennas that I have (VHF, AM/FM/Weather Band, GPS and XM Satellite Radio). It was not nearly as bad as I though except for the five or so trips to the hardware store obtaining the proper length bolts. The thickness of the fiberglass seemed to vary a bit depending where on the roof you were. So instead of only needing two types of bolts in one length I needed two types in four different lengths. It is a good thing the hardware store is only a few blocks away and open till 5 PM on Sunday. Now all that is left is to move the VHF antenna from the rail mount to the fixed mount and mount the AM/FM/Weather Band antenna to the fixed mount.

The Wrecks are Beginning to Show Life!

Fished the Sea Girt Reef today for sea bass. We had about 25 fish with 6 keepers to 2.5 lbs. They got more aggressive from about 11 AM till 1 PM when the south east wind kicked in and shut them down. All the keepers were loaded with crab and some shorts were spitting them up as well. There was no drift or very little drift most of the day making for an easy day of wreck fishing since you really didn't need the anchor to stay over the structure. Great day on the water and fish in box too!

Another Blow-Out

Well NOAA was not far off with their forecast and it was real snotty outside. One guy from my marina went out for a sea trial and said it was 5'-7' with heavy chop. I decided to get some work done on the boat. I got the speakers installed in the cockpit and the pilothouse so we will now have tunes for wreck fishing!