Fall Weather at its Best

Due to weather yet again we stayed tied up. I did however get some PM and other odds and ends taken care of this weekend. I also tried to get fuel while out for a boat ride in the Metedeconk and the bay but no fuel docks were open.

Originally my raw water washdown pump suction side was routed around the outside of the motor well. After installing the sea strainer we redirected the suction line under the motor. At the time it seemed like a good idea. However the hose that was used did not hold up to heating and cooling from the motor. I replaced the nylon reinforced tubing with wire reinforced wet exhaust hose as well as installing a sea strainer on the washdown pump. This was probably overkill but two buddies had their pumps die this year and after dismantling in attempts to fix them they were pretty loaded up with crap.

We went for a quick boat ride in Mark's 37 Bertram to test the new gaskets on the sea strainers prior to running offshore this weekend. After that we took a quick ride in my boat.

Next I performed the 100 hour service including: torquing nuts, bolts, clamps, servicing the batteries, checking all lamps, bilge pumps and electrical circuits for functionality, checking fluids and an oil change.

The marina was pretty void of life, similar to the waters along the coast prior to the big blow. By early afternoon I was the only one left at their boat.

I finally put each electrical circuit on its own breaker. Something I have been putting off for some time. Of course I left a brand new package of terminals at home on the workbench so off the hardware store I was...luckily they have an expanded marine section and carry waterproof electrical terminals and are only a half mile down the street. After getting back I also realized I left the spool of red number 14 primary wire on the bench at home as well. Luckily I found a three foot scrap in the bottom of my spare parts bin and began installing all the breakers.

I have to redo teh labeling, I was in a rush and did not cut them even or stick them on straight but at least I know which breaker is for which and they are all on their own complete circuits now.

First Weakie Trip a Bust

I had a family party on Sunday so I only had Saturday to work with. It was dead calm at 5 am when I got up, not a ripple in the marina or the creek and none of the anemometers on the blow boats were spinning. By the time we left it picked up and was probably close to 12-14 knots out of the NNE. We decided to go for a boat ride and throw a jig or plug around a bit. Marked a few fish but did not find any takers between BB and the 42.

Went out to the inlet to take a look :shaky: . Turned the corner at Ole Barney and was greeted with 4-5' rollers and 8-10' breakers about 200-250' past that. Watched the Big Red Sled go out...I bet some of the fares wish they looked at the weather when they hit the first set.

There were a couple dozen boats fishing Myers, didn't see a bent rod in the bunch. I did have to hits along the dike on fin-s but judging from the sudden weight then head shake figured it was probably fluke hits.

Stopped in to Sun Harbor to say hello to Joe and Joey and ran into Swamp Bug in the shop. It's always nice to put a face to name.

By the time we got back and got cleaned up and had lunch it looked like a nice day. We probably should have headed out for the afternoon/evening as the weather looked a whole lot better.

Thar She Blows!

Looks like Mother Nature is getting ready to blow for a few days with a good Nor'easter coming. While it will keep us inshore or in the bays and rivers again this week it may be just what we need to get the yellow fin tuna bite going in the northeast or move the long fin south from The Dip and Fish Tales.

Most likely we will be headed South in Barnegat Bay this weekend searching out keeper sized weakfish. There has been a pretty good bite of puffers and kings with spikes mixed in an occasional larger weak...hopefully we can key in on all larger ones. I hope to net a bunch of peanuts for bait Friday nigh.

Back-to-Back Sea Bass

I had a weekend pass from The Admiral since she was away at a conference promoting our new products GP Reports. We had great weather all weekend, although I could have done without the humidity on Sunday.

Saturday I headed right for a wreck on the Axel Carlson. I made a couple passes drifting over it before anchoring to test the waters. On each of the two drifts I caught a couple shorts and put a keeper sea bass in the box on each pass. After anchoring up and getting in position over the portion that I wanted it was non-stop action with short and keeper sea bass and a few short tog with one keeper about three pounds. The bergals were not too bad, had about a dozen of them as well as two would-be keeper fluke at 22 and 23 inches that were released for next season. I also gave a couple of rock piles a shot, they each produced keepers and shorts as well. Upon returning to the Inlet I was greeted with acres of bunker with nothing working them, they were just flipping and being playful.

Sunday I got a late start leaving the dock about 7 AM and decided to head back to the same wreck since it was producing so well. It did not produce as I had hopped. I guess the swifter currents of the full moon on a day and stronger winds had put the fish off a bit. I moved around to the rock piles and began picking at fish with keepers, shorts and tons of bergals mixed in. I decided to call it a day early as the winds picked up a bit. Approaching the bell buoy there were fish busting everywhere. I grabbed the first rod rigged with an artificial which happened to be a bunker colored rattle trap. I immediately hooked up with something small...it turned out to be a snagged bunker. I knew there was something under them this time as they were spraying out of the water and not just being playful. Second cast I hooked into something much bigger...it turned out to be a four pound bonito. They were everywhere and I had one on with every cast until the fleet showed up speeding right through the breaking fish putting them down in a matter of minutes.

I can't wait for cooler temps to weed out the fisherman that lack both proper boat handling skills and proper etiquette when fishing bunker pods or schools of breaking fish. It is very frustrating and you can't explain to them that they will catch more fish if they adjust their methods as their way is the only way and no one else knows what they are doing. All-in-all it was a great weekend on the water with fish in the box two days in a row and sore arms.

Hanna???

After much hype she was not much more than our average Nor'easter. But everyone pretty much prepared for the worst and fastened storm lines to pilings not already occupied by their everyday lines. I had thought about fishing but with the early morning fog I decided to stay in and work on the boat. Later on I found out there was a mad dog fluke bite right at the mouth of the inlet, pretty much anyone who went had limit catches in no time.

I did accomplish something I have been putting off for some time though. I replaced my main rear bilge pump with a much larger model and then replaced the froward bilge pump with old main pump. Also a big upgrade in pump size...from 360gph to 1500gph. I am not sure what they were thinking with only installing a 360 pump, it would not do much in an emergency that is for sure.

After making sure everything was in order if the storm did come through I headed down to Sun Harbor Bay Club to pickup some tackle I had ordered and also pickup a birthday present. Joey was having a ball with the wind and rain, but most others did not want to be bothered. Joe was hunkered down in the bait shop that seemed to be taking on a little water under the door from the wind driven rain. Not long after my arrival did the chop in the bay start breaking onto the fuel dock. Conditions were very different from Beaverdam Creek with their facing East and being closer to the inlet with no land mass or buildings to break the wind or sea coming in from the storm.

The ride home was pretty uneventful until I reached the Driscal Bridge where it seemed the heavens opened up and everyone forgot how to drive in rain. The rain and wind was no match for the RainX wiper blades and Venco Marine rain and water repellent though once I was able to break free from the traffic.