Sea\\Insure

I just got off the phone with Sea\\Insure, Sea\\Tow's new insurance company. I know several guys that have recently switched to them due to lower premiums for either the same coverage or more coverage than their current policies. I am not sure if it is an aggressive marketing push to get new customers and then jack up the rates. Sea\\Insure claims it is not. The only thing I can think of is that they are not including towing insurance because you must be a Sea\\Tow member to bind insurance coverage. I guess they can cut the cost of the premium by not including towing insurance. In my case for slightly more coverage from Sea\\Insure they are $205 less a year than Traveler's. Unfortunately I don't know anyone that has submitted a claim with them yet. $205 can buy a lot of bait and some fuel that is for sure, and I will be switching to them as soon as I dig out the necessary paperwork to document the purchase price of the boat and electronics. Check them out guys you might be pleasantly surprised!

http://www.seainsure.com/

11/24 & 25 Stripers

Saturday was a slaughter! I had fish all day, now the day was only about two and half hours of fishing but it was non stop action. I made quick stops at Shark River Inlet and the mussel beds of Monmouth Beach on my way up to the Rocks but there were only very small fish in both places.

Once at the rocks there were gannets diving everywhere! It was the mother load....and mostly bass. Most fish were 25-27", and in total I had about seventy fish with eighteen keepers. I kept three for the table and they were 10lb 9oz, 12lb 4oz and 12lb 10oz. And only five to seven bluefish, so few I did not bother to count.

I wish I could say Sunday was just as good but most likely due to the South winds and the full moon it was not. We headed to the same area and looked for marks and birds. The bait, fish and birds were scattered and it was difficult to stay on fish for any period of time. The water had also dropped three degrees since the day before. We had three bluefish and two short bass and that was it for the trip.

Later I heard that chartreuse shad rigs were producing on an East to West pull a little North of where we were. We gave it a shot but only had bluefish. There were also several boats that were attempting to pull North to South with the current and crossing everyone else that was going East to West and West to East making it very difficult to troll so we called it a day and headed towards home.

We did make a few more stops where we saw promising marks and birds, I had a couple of hookups but dropped the fish before getting them to the boat. Sunday was just not our day. And from the sound or the radio chatter and other reports I read later in the day it was an off day for most.

Another Successful Bass Trip

I arrived at the boat at 5:15 AM and it was cold...33 degrees and no wind to speak of. All of the flags within view were totally limp. The water level was very low due to the strong west winds and the gunwale was about six inches below the dock...luckily there was enough water to float out of the slip. We had to cancel a few trips last year this time due to not enough water to get out of the slip. I started the engine and started loading the day's gear onto the boat. Soon the engine was warmed up and with the heat on the pilothouse started warming up to a nice and toasty 68 degrees.

After finishing storing gear and readying some items for the trip we were ready to shove off. Once the crew arrived we were underway.

We broke the inlet about 6:15 just before sunrise. There were birds starting to take flight in anticipation of an easy meal. The fish finder was all lit up and we started jigging up shorts and bluefish right away. As soon as the sun started to rise above the water's edge the birds started diving and screeching. And the fleet of boats soon showed up. As it started getting more crowded we started moving south chasing the fast moving schools of migrating fish.

We continued to see fish breaking the surface all over and the spray of fleeing peanut bunker from the ravenous bluefish. Moving from pod to pod of bait we just followed the marks and jigged most of the day. Eventually we ended up off Top of the Mast where we had our best bite of the day. On one drift we produced about a dozen short bass, one nice 31" keeper and only one bluefish. Continuing to work that area produced non-stop action of mostly short bass with a few bluefish mixed in. At one point I reeled up leaving five or ten feet of line out, leaving my jig in the water to net Anthony's fish and a follower just slammed the jig.

By the end of the day we ended up just North of the bathing beach. We must have reached that area just as the bite died off as we had little luck in that area. It also started to cloud up a little more and the temperature was starting to drop. Which seemed to signal the end of the bite for us. We continued to work our way North and worked several schools of bait and fish but did not have the action that we had earlier in the day when it was a few degrees warmer. This seemed strange to me since the water was still 53 degrees. Usually we see this type of action when it is later in the year and the air and water temps are much cooler.

I would have included a picture of myself holding my fish here but there was an unforseen camera malfunction...or user error. We are not clear on what really happened.

It was a great day on the water with very pleasant sea conditions despite NOAA's forecast (no surprise there) and the non-stop action only topped off the day. We ended the day with a total of two keeper bass-with 9 and 12 pound fish. We had several that were between 1/4 and 1/8 of an inch short and about two dozen or so fish that were 26 to 27.5 inches in length. Mixed in were probably near 40 to 50 bluefish.

Our First Game Fish Catch!

We broke Manasquan Inlet at about 6:30 AM to birds working and fish breaking the surface. It was not long after dropping a jig to the bottom that I had my first fish on-a short striper. Then it occurred to me-just caught my first fish that has game fish status. We figured this is going to be a great day having striped bass to the boat right away. The more fish we hooked into the more blues we started to catch. Moving around with the birds and watching the sonar we were able to keep a steady pick going with bass mixed in with the blues.

Nino got his first bass of the season and almost his first keeper, there were a lot of fish 26-27" and a bunch that were less than 1/4" short. As always all short fish were returned to grow up and fight another day.

It was a busy day unhooking, measuring and releasing fish. Something nobody ever complains about even when it is hectic on deck with multiple fish flopping around and more waiting for the net.

When there was a lull in the action we decided to go on the troll, covering more ground and it paid off in short time. With one umbrella rig out rigged with tubes and one bunker spoon we soon had fish on. At first it was blues but then we homed in on where the bass were. Again we had many shorts but after switching to both rods running tube rigs we quickly started picking up some bigger fish.

The bluefish were just gorging themselves on sand eels that must have been carpeting the sea floor. I have never seen blues with their stomachs so extended. The bass were getting in on the feast as well as they too had full stomachs of sand eels. It is amazing how much they can fit in their stomachs...this is the contents of a smaller 4-5 pound bluefish.

At the end of the day everyone had sore arms and big smiles. We ended up keeping 9 blues but released dozens of fish. We also had about 15 stripers and kept two for the table. It was a beautiful fall day on the water with calm flat seas, good friends and plenty of fish.

I am Vegetarian, I Fish and I Vote

There has been a lot of controversy about Panter and Karcher's bills A3275/S2041 and sportsmen and women the last few weeks. These politicians were elected with a margin of fewer than 75 votes yet NJ has millions of residents that hunt, trap and fish. Those of you who know me I am a strict vegetarian for many years and I fish at least once a week sometimes more. I used to hunt occasionally but have not in a few years. Panter and Karcher are seeking to end all hunting fishing and trapping in this state because they are also affiliated with powerful animal rights activist groups that fund their campaigns. If just half of the sportsmen and women of this state go out and vote today we can ensure and protect our right to provide food for our families as countless generations have from our lands, streams, rivers and oceans. Our ancestors fought for the right to vote, please exercise your right to vote and make a difference.

First Skunking of the Season

I was thinking to myself as I was breaking the inlet that if I had made it this far though the season without being skunked that I may make it through the entire season. After thinking that I should have turned around and only gone for a boat ride. After about 45 or so trips I had the skunk on the boat.

I knew before leaving the dock that the water would probably still be very dirty from the blow that had just finished the night before. Most of the crew that I was trying to line up had reservations from the weather forecast and not the prospect of poor fishing conditions. As usually Buoyweather.com was right on with the forecast. They had predicted a four foot ground swell and I think most of the day inside the three mile line was more like 3 foot.

I ran down to the Seaside Piers are good clip (26 knots) and put out a chartreuse Secret Spoon due to water clarity. After 30 minutes of no action I switched to bunker blue and then white. I was surprised to get knockdowns on the white in dirty water. I also pulled a few different Stretch pugs that also did not produce.

There were a lot of big marks deep and along the bottom. I did not mark any bait to speak of, not like two weeks ago. There were also a lot of small to medium sized fish suspended in the water column between twelve and twenty five feet. I stopped a few times to jig both deep and mid water column to try and entice whatever was there to bit but with no avail.

I spoke to several guys and not much was doing outside on the troll. The guys I spoke to that stayed inside Barnegat Inlet and clammed were producing shorts and slot sized fish throughout the day when the tidal stage was right.

It was a beautiful day on the water, the boat ran great, and I did about fifty nautical miles round trip on twelve gallons of fuel and returned to port safe and sound. Can’t ask for much more out of a great fall day…well maybe full fish boxes!