The new tank is in and its time to fish! I am still waiting on calls back from the manufacturer but I am glad I did not hold my breath. It has been sixteen days since I last heard from them and they claimed I was their number one priority and would receive a call back from the man in charge...I would hate to see how their number 2-10 priorities are handled. So at this point I decided to save my season, repair the boat and let the attorneys and USCG do battle with the manufacturer.

After getting the tank in and taking on a half load of fuel I was headed out to search for some bunker pods and try and find some bass. I heard some radio chatter that sounded half promising but with no confirmed reports I was skeptical. On my way out I came across some birds working in the river with fish crashing the surface. Rather than leaving fish to find fish I decided to give it a shot.

I put on a yellow and white popper and had non-stop top-water action for almost two hours! Light tackle action at its best with two to four pound bluefish. Other than me and four kayaks I had the action to myself. The kayaks seemed to be brand new and their paddlers were trying to figure out how to handle them in the swift currents not allowing them to get in the killer action.

Conditions were still a bit breezy despite the reports of it laying down with a bright setting sun and chilly 55.3 degree water with 64 degree air temps.

All-in-all it was a great little shake down run and first fishing trip with the new tank. I am looking forward to an excellent 2008 season even though I am off to a slow and late start.

First Trip in Over a Month

Since I still have yet to hear from the manufacturer of the boat about any resolution to the condition of the fuel tank we took Mark's boat out for opening day of the 2008 fluke season.

Due to all the reports we turned right out of Manasquan and ran down to the bathing beach. We had spoons in the water before 6 am and zig zagged our way to the CGS. Marked a ton of fish and bait, had a half dozen knockdowns, had three fish on for two minutes but nothing to the boat.

Around 10-10:30 we switched over to fluking. Stopped on a couple of small lumps with bait...only dogfish and skates. Moved further North to a small wreck off Lavalette and had tons of 16"-17" fluke. Spearing was the preferred over any type of strip bait but Gulp shrimp out fished the spearing.

Water was cold...started the day with 51.2 and ended the day in 15' of water with 55.3...most of the day was around 53 degrees.

I was amazed at the lack of boat traffic. I don't think we saw 100 boats all day including only 1 head boat. The huge crane being towed North was something...that thing was gigantic.

I did hear from a couple of guys after we returned to the dock that the few that ran North had pretty good results on 20 and 30 pound class fish up on the mussel beds and rocks, and they reported large bunker schools up there as well.

We watched a tug towing a huge crane all day. We first saw it before 6 am a little South of Barnegat Inlet. When we were packing it in around 12:30 it was up to Lavalette. All in all it was a great day on the water...great weather, great friends but no so great fushing but we all still had a great time.

Tank Condition Shocking...

I was able to get down to the marina yesterday and get hauled out, pumped the fuel tank dry and pulled it out. The condition of the tank was shocking. More shocking was the design. The tank was built to pretty much the exact shape and size of the hold it was in. It had very little or no ventilation around it causing it to trap water, moisture and sit in water and condensation all the time.

This is most likely what led to its corrosion issue and eventually the forty or more pin holes that developed as a result of the galvanic action of the aluminum tank sitting in water.

I will be calling the manufacturer today to find out how they would like to proceed with this. I am hoping they will admit it was a bad design and allow me to have a new tank fabricated that does not conform or rest on the bottom of the boat causing the same issue within three short years.

Dock Party Report....

Got down to the marina at about 6:30 and unloaded the cooler and bag, and new rods to the dock. Went and got the bait out of the freezer, stepped aboard to unlock her and got a real strong whiff of gas. Opened the engine hatch to discover gas in the bilge. I am quite sure the auto censor on this site would not stop all of the obscenities that were probably heard in Barnegat from Point but will leave it at that.

Got out a few diapers, got the fuel absorbed, let the bilge vent for an hour and vacuumed up all the bilge water. After further investigation we could not find any leaks on the motor side. Started her up, let her idle for an hour and then let her cool off. Still no leaks on the motor side.

Best we can figure is a bad weld in the tank. The fill, vent, and senders are all on the top of the tank, nothing wet on top, and only a half full tank so the likelihood of it sloshing out of the top is low. Tried pulling the deck cover off but not only were the joints siliconed but they put a hefty bead under it before it was put in.

Poked around with a Rigid SeeSnake micro camera best we could. Below the tank on the hull liner it was pretty nasty looking...stained pretty bad. Looked like rust on the camera but hard to tell for sure from it. Going to call the manufacturer before we finish pulling the deck hatch to find out if there is any warranty on the tank itself.

On to the title of the post...at least at the dock the weather was not so nice and the forecast a bit off making me feel a little better about not getting out today. Since a few of us did not feel like working on our boats too much with the SE wind in our faces we turned to the next best thing to fishing...complaining about our boats, drinking and telling fish stories. The beer and vodka flowed, tons of snacks and pizza were consumed as well. In the end each of us limited out on slight tans, wind burns and buzzes. Hopefully soon they will finish up the dock work and we can move our tables, chairs and BBQ out onto the dock and get our after fishing and party grounds back in order.

But at least since a line was not wet we did not get skunked!

Fishing Breaks Wide Open This Week!

I will start off with what a day! It was beautiful out. I first ran outside just to take a peak and run the boat a bit. Started marking bait here and there, then started making tight isolated pods of fish.

Thinking this was going to be a bass and flounder day excitement started running high. Had to take short drifts with 1 or 2 shots to hook up on each drift over the fish. First few drifts ended in frustration with the fish just mouthing the baits. Felt strange though and not like bass. On the third drift about an 8lb weak was brought along boat side. I continued working the weaks for another hour and half There ran from 8 to about 12 pounds. I lost one boat side due to it not fitting in the net, so I have no idea of the weight.

All using my homemade bucktails. When the current went slack the bite died off. At that point I decided to run back inside and get on the hook and try for some flounder.

With most reports during the week coming from the river side I setup in a hole between the main channel and the old channel. I baited two rods and put them out. Before I could get the first chum pot in the water I had a fish on, nice 15+ incher and fat. Got the first pot in and the second rod goes off. Another nice fat fish. It did not matter gulp sands live sands they both produced. Fished four about an hour and had the best fishing ofthe season with non-stop action till the water temps rose above 51 degrees. Not one short and all fish over 14" with many over 15 and a couple in the 16-18" range.

What a day on the water. Great weather, great fishing, life does not get any better.