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August 31, 2009
We are changing our schedule slightly this weekend.
Monday, 8/31/09 Report
This morning started like any other October morning. . . Cloudy, cool, and windy. At least we had a nice two weeks of summer. (Sarcasm mode turned on) . . . Today's fishing was good, however the keeping was not as good as yesterday. Reverend Daniels was high hook with 5 keepers, and we had two 5 pound fluke tie for the pool.
August 30, 2009
Life After Fluke (Post Fluke Schedule)
Our schedule has been set for after fluke season.
Beginning September 9th.
Wednesday's & Saturday's
7:30am - 4:00pm
Bottom fishing. Porgies and sea bass.
Friday's & Sunday's
7:30am - 2:30pm
Striped bass, weaks, and blues.
You can find our schedule here.
Sunday, 8/30/09 Report
After a slow start and a lot of "mental cleansing", things took hold with excellent fishing for the remainder of the day. It was rapid fire action all around with John Bottles and Paul Amadio getting the best of the keepers. John caught his limit of 6 fish, while Paul had 5 in his cooler. Tim Luthman and Frank Perdue were the big dogs of the day, tying for the pool with two 6 pound fish.
Only 5 days left. . . Lets finish strong!!!!!!
Frank Perdue holding his 6 pound pool winning fluke.
Tim Luthman proved that his shirt was right by tying for today's pool with a 6 pound fluke.
Paul Amadio was "En Fuego" today, catching more than 30 fish with 5 keepers.
John Bottles had his limit of fluke today.
Kenny Mclean holding his 2 of his keepers from todays trip.
August 29, 2009
Saturday, 8/29/09 Report
What do we do when the weather has us tied to the dock on the last Saturday of fluke season? Greenhorn hull scrubbin!!
Greenhorn DOWN!!!!
August 28, 2009
Friday, 8/28/09 Report (Live)
Conditions - Wind: E 11 kts. Tide: 3:00pm. Sea Temp: 78.1 degrees. . . With one week left in the season, and Tropical Storm Danny bringing rain and some not too hard wind our way, we set out to dominate the fluke!! Heading to where we left off yesterday.
1st Drift - Excellent start to the day! Made a short drift and caught 5 keepers along with some shorts and sea robins. We are on the beginning of the flood tide now. Running up for another drift.
2nd Drift - Well, chance of showers just like the weatherjerk said. It's been pouring on us all morning. . . Did some shark hunting on this one. Six sharks, a plethora of sea robins, and a few shorts. . . Thanks Legend! I'll try to stay dry!!
3rd drift - A little better than the last drift. Put 2 keepers in the boat.
4th Drift - Bluefish bonanza!!!
5th Drift - Made one inshore about mile. Was not good. Heading back to the original spot. . . The water temperature dropped a few degrees to 76.3 with the incoming tide, and the wind is now ENE at 15 kts.
6th Drift - Made a long one and put a couple more keepers in the boat. We have been catching a keeper or two each drift along with a pick of shorts.
7th Drift - The wind came on a little harder and the fishing slowed down. It became more birds than anything.
Despite a 20 kt east wind and some torrential downpours, the fishing was not that bad. It wasn't anywhere near being great or even good for that matter, but it really wasn't horrible either. Three people were tied for high hook with 2 keepers, and the pool winner was Chris Doran with a 3 1/2 pound fluke.
Friday's "Catch of the Day"
Mike English caught a tasty piece of Raritan Bay Rebar. Not 100% on the identification.
Reverend Daniels boated a piece of succulent netting. Once again we are not 100% sure of what type of net, but we do know it fought hard the whole way up.
Thursday, 8/27/09 Report
Change of tide bite saved the day!!
The fishing was slow for the majority of the day, but we had the best fishing of the week, during the last hour of the trip on the tide change, when we caught two dozen keepers. Jimmy Bufis was high hook with 5 keepers up to 5 pounds, and the pool winner was a 6 lb 4 oz fluke.
August 26, 2009
Wednesday, 8/26/09 (Live)
Conditions - Wind: WSW 15kts. Tide: High 12:44pm. Sea Temp: 82.6 degrees. . Nice summer morning, but this wind is going to hamper our drifting conditions big time. Starting our day fishing on the western side of the Reach.
1st Drift - We caught an immediate keeper in the bow to start us off, and Larry Gove followed with a 4 pounder to help take the stink that was yesterdays fishing off the boat. Had a slow pick of fish with a few keepers.
2nd Drift - We made a long one on a ledge to our south, and slow picked some fish. It's not good, but it is 1,000,000x better than yesterday. Larry Gove is setting the pace with his second keeper of the day. . . .OK, maybe not one million. Maybe just 10,000x better!!
3rd Drift - We still have a pick of fish with an occational keeper coming every now and then. Joe Pyontek took a commanding lead for the pool with a 5+ pound fish. . . Now I am going with 1,000,000x better!!!
4th Drift - We made a long one and drifted a total of 50 yards from the point we started. Wind against tide conditins are hurting us. Once the tide eases off we will be able to drift some. There are some fish here. We slow pick them on every drift. Hopefully once we get the change we will have a shot at them.
5th Drift - No good. Moving inshore to a couple of holes to our south.
6th Drift - No good. Heading back to the Reach.
7th & Final Drift - Pick of shorts and the occational keeper.
Things are bouncing back to where they were before the weather we had over the weekend with today being MUCH improved over the past few days. High hook was Larry Gove with 3 keepers, and the pool winner was Joe Pyontek with a 5 lb 4 oz fluke.
August 25, 2009
Tuesday, 8/25/09 Report
I'm not going to waste my time writing some fluff report, or your time reading my fluff. Today was just plain poor.
August 24, 2009
Monday, 8/24/09 Report (Live)
Conditions - Wind: NNW 8 kts. Tide: High 11:36am. Sea Temp: 79.9 Degrees. . . It's a beautiful day with low humidity. After the weekend we had, we are ready to jump back in for some hardcore fluking!!!
1st Drift - 1 million times better than any point yesterday. Caught the first keeper 5 minutes into the day. It took us 6 hours to get one yesterday. We are fishing around the Ammo Pier and perfect conditions. A pick of fish with a few keepers so far.
2nd - Not so good. Only a few shorts. Looks like we cleaned this up pretty quick. Going to make the next one somewhere else.
3rd - Good pick of fish, but 99% short. One 5 pounder caught by The Rev who now has 2 keepers in his bucket.
4th - Not good. Only a few shorts. The only person doing any good on this drift was Little Jake who landed 5 shorts.
5th - The bite slowed up on this one. We are on the change of tide, and setting up for what will be the "change of tide bite". Hopefully!!
6th - Hopefully never happened. Poor drift! Heading back to where we had our best fishing to start the day.
7th - No good. Complete shut down with the change of tide.
The fishing was MUCH improved over yesterday. It still was not too good overall, but better. Things will shape up the further we get from the weekends weather. Reverend Daniels won today's pool with a 5 pound fluke.
Jake was on a mid-morning tear today!!
August 23, 2009
Sunday, 8/23/09 Report
We didn't sail yesterday. Today's fishing was no good. A big swell in the ocean had the fish bunkered down. We started to pick a few shorts very late in the day, so there is hope for tomorrow. On a side note, Mr. Wafa's secret fluke bait that was imported from India did not work.
August 21, 2009
Friday, 8/21/09 Report ( Live )
Conditions - Wind: SW 15 kts. Tide: High 9:07am. Sea Temp: 80.8 degrees. . . We go from one extreme to the next. Ended the day yesterday with no conditions at all. Today we are drifting at a Nascar pace.
Drifts 1 thru 4 - Started in the Reach with only a very slow pick and a few keepers. Jen Ketcham is leading the way with 2 keepers so far. Changing up the area and heading to a ledge just to our south.
#5 - Not too productive. Becoming somewhat of a tough day. Rolling the dice and changing up the area completely.
#6 - Pick of mostly shorts.
#7 - Best drift of the day. A good number of fish and a few keepers. Running up to make it again.
#8 - Good fishing again.
#9 - We seem to have found some semi-fluke gold. Good fishing with a good number of keepers. Running back up and making one last drift.
What was looking like a tough day of fishing, ended with a bang with final three drifts of the day being the best. Al Trematera, Iselin, NJ, was high hook with 3 fish, and today's pool winner with a 4 pound fluke.
Sgt. Russ draws first blood on The Legend.
August 20, 2009
Thursday, 8/20/09 Report ( Live )
Conditions - Wind: SW 1 kts. Tide: High 8:17am. Sea Temp: 79.9 degrees. . . . Get your seatbelt buckled, computer chair locked, or strap on whatever type of harness you require because it's gonna be fast and furious!!! . . . WE have no wind or current to speak of to start the day. Going to be a while before we get any movement. About to get set up on the Reach, and see what happens. . . Oh yeah, it's summertime hot out!!!
First Drift - Slow. No movement at all. Probably went about a boat length. 1 nice weakfish (good sign), and one 4 pound fluke. Very little action so far.
Second Drift - Not much better. We have NO drifting conditions at all. 1 keeper on this one and a few shorts. Have to move for an outbound tanker.
Third Drift - Another slow one. A couple of keepers up to 4 pounds and a few shorts. A nice refreshing breeze came up out of the east, however it's going to hurt us more than it helps because it is going to push us up against the tide and make drifting impossible. Going to make on inshore a mile or so.
Fourth Drift - Much better fishing, horrible keeping. Probably caught 30 -40 fish with no keepers.
Fifth Drift - Good fishing again, but no keepers. Changing it up and heading east.
Sixth Drift - Made one in Chapel Hill Channel that was no good. Wind came up out of the SSE around 10 kts. No hope of drifting.
Seventh Drift - No good. Heading to the eastern end of the Reach. Wind S 12 - 15 kts.
Eighth Drift - Somewhat better, but still not good.
It was not a good day of fishing today. We caught some in the morning, but it wasn't anything great. Once the wind came out of the south, it finished us for the day. Glen Harth was today's pool with a 3.8 pound fluke.
Thursday's "Catch of the Day"
Doug Keim was today's lucky "Catch of the Day" winner. Doug battled this killer net all the way to the boat.
August 19, 2009
Wednesday, 8/19/09 Report ( Live )
Conditions - Wind: SW 6 kts. Tide: High 7:26am. Sea Temp: 79.6 degrees. . . Overcast to start the day, but it should burn off shortly. Excellent drifting conditions!
First Drift - We are began the day fishing in the Reach Channel. Unlike the previous two days, there are no ships to start. Caught 3 keepers on the first one with Jeff Stern catching two of them.
Second Drift - Much better. Caught 4 keepers immediately, and had a very good pick of shorts and keeps the whole way. Also had a double header, keeper fluke/bluefish. Larry Gove was high hook with 2 keepers on this one. . . Made a rescue too. A customer dropped his rod and reel over the port rail, and we had a successful rescue on the starboard side, but not until after we brought in the slammer blue that was on the other end.
Third Drift - Another good one. Conditions remain PERFECT!! No ships in sight, and we pick the whole way. High hook on this drift was Kyle Cerrato and Larry McMahon with 2 keepers, and Bill Umold caught a nice 4 pounder. Running up to do it again.
Fourth Drift - Slow. Heading east a little for the next one.
Fifth Drift - Slow. The highlight of the drift was when Carl Bertram was reeling in his line, a fluke followed his bait all the way up, and hit the hook on the surface. We netted it, measured it, and threw it back. Pretty cool!!
Sixth Drift - Made one inshore a ways, but only a slow pick of mostly shorts. Heading back out into the channel.
Seventh - No good
We had a change of tide bite to start the day, but it was tough after that. Ken Stys was today's pool winner, and two people were tied for high hook with 3 fish.
Ken & Kevin Stys holding their pool winning fish.
Kyle Cerrato holding his 4 pound fish caught today.
August 18, 2009
Tuesday, 8/18/09 Report (Live)
Conditions - Wind: WSW 6 kts. Tide: High 6:30am. Sea Temp: 80.2 degrees. We are starting off with excellent drifting conditions, however, we have two inbound ships to begin the morning. Correction, 3 ships.
1st Drift - Not so good. 4 keepers, but not too many fish caught overall. Ship traffic has the bottom stirred up.
2nd Drift - Not so good again. Making a move west.
Third Drift - Not that bad. Caught two 4 1/2 pound fish and one 5 pounder caught by Kelly Yeager. On a side note, Kelly's dad Russ Yeager, still has the skunk.
Fourth Drift - Another not so good one. We have perfect conditions, however, the fluke do not want to eat.
Fifth Drift - Changed up the area, with the same results. It's just a tough day of fishing.
Sixth Drift - Made one in Chapel Hill Channel, and more of the same. We pick a few each time, but it's not enough. The wind came around light out of the east and killed any drift that we had. Going to lose the tide shortly also. . Making one last drift in Sandy Hook Channel to finish the day. Wind back out of the west. . . Quite disappointing after yesterday's fishing.
Today was not that good. Early ship traffic and the loss of any current later in the day hurt us. High hook was John Trimblett, Secaucus, NJ, with 3 keepers, and Kelly Yeager won today's pool with a 5 lb 7 oz fluke.
Schedule Update
We will no longer be sailing Wed, Thurs, and Friday evenings. There are no night trips scheduled at this time.
August 17, 2009
Monday, 8/17/09 Report (Live)
Conditions - Wind: SW 4 kts. Tide: High 5:27am. Water temp: 80.1 degrees
1st Drift - Awesome!!!! Had to get out of the channel for a ship. Close to 20 keepers on this one. High hook had 3.
Drift 2 - We let the ship pass and jumped back into the channel without missing a beat. Had five on right away. Stayed that way until next outbound ship. This is some good fishing!!!3rd Drift - It took a while to get things going after the ship passed. Finally started to get going and what do you know? Another ship.
4th Drift - Same as the last one. It took a while to get things going after the ship pass, and as soon as we started catching them again, another ship. Gotta love it!!
5th Drift - Made a quick one with no luck. Was hoping for a change of tide bite, but it doesn't look good with all the traffic in the channel. We are going to set up for the change now.
6th Drift - Caught five keepers right away, and didn't see another fish after. Goiong over the money spot again.
7th Drift - We lost all current and are sitting like a rock. It looks like the wind wants to come around out of the south which would help us drift some with the incoming tide. We will see. . We did catch one on this one around 6 pounds. This will be my last update until later this afternoon. I am going to start filleting.
August 16, 2009
Sunday, 8/16/09 Report
Today's fishing was a step below yesterdays. We worked our way out the Reach and could only find a pick of fish. High hook was Jimmy Chambers with 4 fish, and James Dicono won today's pool with a 5 lb 9 oz fluke. . . . Live reporting will return tomorrow.
Saturday, 8/15/09 Report
The fishing was no where as good as it was during the week. Catching keepers was difficult for some, but not all. Tom Salerno was high hook with 5 fish.
August 14, 2009
Friday, 8/14/09 Report (Late Morning Live)
Conditions - Wind: West 4 kts. Water Temp: 75.5 Degrees. Tide: High 12:49pm. Absolute beautiful day.
First Drift - Excellent fishing. We made a long on and picked the whole way. High hook was Joe Dioro with 3 keepers. We did catch a big one around 6 pounds. Had to get off the drift because of ship traffic.
Second Drift - Not as good, although we do still catch a few. Wind against tide, and another ship. Ugh.
Third Drift - It took a while after the ship traffic to get things going again, but it came around. Steve Kerry is the super star of the day so far with a 7 lb 5 oz fluke.
Fourth Drift - We are still picking the fish despite wind against tide conditions. The ratio is low, but we did catch 10 keepers on this one.
Fifth Drift - Ship traffic has killed the fishing for the day, however we did catch a succulent Raritan Bay Lobster.
Sixth Drift - No good.
Seventh Drift - No good.
The first two drifts were the best of the day. The ratio was lower than it has been the previous 3 days, but we still put 30 keepers in the boat. Steve Kerry, Clark, NJ, took the lead today in our monthly pool with a 7 lb 5 oz fluke. High hook was Joe Diorio with 3 keepers all caught on the first drift.
Steve Kerry, Clark, NJ, won the pool, and took the lead in our monthly pool with this 7 lb 5 oz fluke.
South Carolina's Alissa Grant was at it again, this time catching a 5 lb 4 oz fluke.
Friday's "Catch Of The Day"
We have a tie for today's "Catch of the Day". One white visor minus the head was caught, and another succulent Raritan Bay Lobster. Two lobsters in two day's. Maine has nothing on us!!
Our "Greenhorn"
Anyone who watches the television show "Deadliest Catch" knows all about "Greenhorns" and the helmet they are made to wear. Well, here is our Greenhorn with his mandatory outfit.
August 13, 2009
Thursday, 8/13/09 Report
Today's fishing was great!! Even an east wind couldn't stop the fluke from eating. We read tons of bait all around the Reach Channel and plugged away at the fluke all day. High hook on the day was Doug Kay with 5 keepers. Two people were tied for runner up with 4 fish, and Jimmy Hughes won today's pool with a 6 pound fluke. Looks like things are coming to life in the bay to make the last few weeks of the season great. By the way, there are only 22 more day's left in the season.
Jimmy Hughes won today's pool with this 6 pound fluke.
Photo's From The Past Week
Dan Kozachek won Sunday's pool with this 5 1/2 pound fluke.
Rob, Barker, and Damian combined to catch 9 keepers on Sunday's trip.
Alissa Grant came from South Carolina to show off her fluking skills by winning Wednesday's pool with this 5.1 pound fluke.
Stevie and Paul showing a few fish from their catch on Wednesday.
August 12, 2009
Wednesday, 8/12 /09 Report
So far today has been one one of the best fluking days of the season. We have made two drifts so far and have over thirty keepers on board. . . . Ended up being one of the best days of the season. One person with their limit and two people with five keepers. Alissa Grant won came from South Carolina to win the pool with a 5.1 pound fluke.
Tuesday, 8/11/09 Report
Pretty good fishing but absolute horrible keeping. We picked away at the fluke for most of the day. High hook was Zach Russo with three keepers.
August 10, 2009
Monday, 8/10/09 Report
Fishing was excellent today. We began the day on the Reach with wind against tide. Despite the conditions, we caught a half dozen keepers and a few shorts. It wasn't great fishing, but the ration was WAY up. After a few drifts, we made a move north a good peg, to a spot where we had some success the other day, and it paid off. Non stop action for the remainder of the day. There where moments when we had 3, 4, 5 fish on at once. The ratio wasn't as good as in the morning, but we caught our fair share. 3 people were tied for high hook with 4 keepers, and Joe Diorio won the pool with a 4.6 pound fluke. We did have some excitement for a minute or two when Al Gallo hooked into something real big. For a second it looked like we might have a beast of a fluke on, but the fish turned away from the boat and quickly pulled off a couple hundred feet of line before jumping out of the water and coming off the hook. The fish that Al had snagged was an 8 - 10 foot long sturgeon. . . . Tomorrow I will post any pictures that I took over the weekend, along with the return of some live play-by-play reporting.
Weekend Update
Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend. We were very busy with double trips, and I did not have access to the internet. . . . Over the past few days we have had the most consistently good fishing that we have had all season. We are catching a ton of fish, and keeping a decent amount also. I will post any pictures that I have from the weekend tomorrow morning.
August 06, 2009
Only 29 Day's Left
Just a reminder that there are only 29 days left to capture your fluking hopes and dreams!!
Thursday, 8/6/09 Report (Semi - Live)
Conditions - Wind: NNE 5 kts. High tide: 8:50am. Water temp: 78.3 degrees. Cloudy with light rain.
First Drift - Good fishing with the first fish of the day being a quality keeper. 2nd day in a row with the first fish going in the cooler. the ratio is low, but we did put 4 keepers on the boat.
Second Drift - Wind NE. Good fishing to start, but it slowed up as we went along. Couple keepers on this one. Tons of bait (Rainfish) in the water.
Third Drift - Wind out of the north now, still around 5 kts. Despite some light rain and wind, we aren't doing too bad with a pick of shorts and an occasional keeper coming aboard.
Fourth Drift - Just a slow pick of shorts. Changing up the area a little. we have been reading a lot of bait along the Reach. Going to take a look at it. Wind out of NNW around 3 knots.
Fifth Drift - No good. only 1 keeper and a few shorts.
Sixth Drift - No good. Making a move east.
Seventh drift - Another not so good one. Just a very slow pick of shorts with one keeper.
Eighth Drift - Made one in the ocean. Horrible. Making a small move back inside in some shallow water to finish it off.
Ninth Drift - Made one on the Knoll and had the same success. The fluke just don't want to eat.
The day started off good with steady action all around, but after the tide changed and started running the other way, they seemed to shut down. We could only get a slow pick for the remainder of the day. High hook had 2 fish and the pool winning fluke was caught by Geno, and it was the first fish caught this morning.
August 05, 2009
Wednesday, 8/5/09 Report (Live Updates)
Conditions - Overcast, hazy, fog. Visibility: 1 mile. Wind: WSW 6 kts. Water temp: 79.7 degrees. High tide: 8:17am. We should be in great shape after the tide change with the wind and tide together. Some ship traffic to start off, but it shouldn't be a major concern.
First Drift - The sun is starting to burn through. Can see land now. . Made a quick one on the Reach and did not have a bite. We do not have any current yet. Heading west about a mile. Wind coming straight out of the west now.
Second Drift - The first fish of the day was a 20 inch fluke. Not a bad way to start. Only a few shorts after that. Making our way east a good peg. . . On a side note, I updated the Flukemaster page. If you're interested, click here. http://www.captainjohnsfishing.com/Flukemaster_Classic
Third Drift - We found the fluke. Had a shot of them, but no keepers. Running up to make another.
Fourth Drift - Another good drift with a lot of fluke coming up. Thomas Corona was the stud on this drift going 3 for 3. He caught three fluke and they all went in the cooler!! We also have a school of very large bluefish around, or a small thresher shark because 2 fluke came up with just a head, and 1 came up bit in half. Since it's Shark Week this week, I'm going with a man eating Thresher!!
Fifth Drift - The fishing continues to be good, and Thomas Corona continues his 100% keeper ratio by putting his fourth keeper in the box. The ratio for the boat is low, but he is bringing it up for us.
Sixth Drift - Another good drift. We made a long one and had 1 or 2 on at all times up until the last 10 minutes. The wind came around out of the south around 7 kts about midway through the drift, but so far, so good! We put a half dozen keepers in the boat with Nick Florio leading the way with a 5 pounder.
Seventh Drift - South wind is slowing down the bite somewhat. Karl Bertram was the only one with any success on this one catching "back-to-back-to-back" keepers. Yes, that's right 3 in the box for Karl!!!
Eighth Drift - The fishing slowed down considerably. Only a slow pick with 2 keepers coming aboard.
Ninth Drift - Slow pick. One fisherman finally caught his first keeper after 29 shorts.
Tenth Drift - Good shot of fish to finish off the day.
We had some pretty good fishing today. Thomas Corona and Karl Bertram were high hook with 4 keepers each, and Nick Florio won today's pool with a 4 lb 7 oz fluke.
Thomas Corona was one of two people today with 4 keepers.
Nick Florio won today's pool with this 4 lb 7 oz fluke.
August 04, 2009
Tuesday, 8/4/09 Report (Live Reporting)
Conditions - High tide 7:30am. Outgoing water all day. Very light west wind. Water temp 77.9 degrees.
First Drift - No movement at all. Only a couple keepers. We read a ton of bait on the bottom, but lack of drift killed us. Might come back to it later. Heading east to where we had our best success yesterday.
Second Drift - NO movement at all. No wind. No current. Moving east some more.
Third & Fourth Drifts - A light wind came up out of the south and really put a halt on any drifting we were gonna do. Only caught 4 keepers and a few shorts on these two. Heading inside the Hook in hopes of catching some current coming out of the river.
Fifth Drift - SE wind 6 - 9 knots pushing us with the tide. Had a slow pick of fish with a couple of keepers mixed in. We might have a shot of fish on the tide change before we head in. . . Maybe.
Sixth Drift - More of the same. Few shorts. 1 keeper on this one.
Seventh Drift - And more of the same again. The conditions kept us from drifting where we caught the fish yesterday, and as you know, if you don't drift, you don't catch fluke. With that being said, it was a very disappointing day. John Karl, Staten Island, NY, was today's pool winner with a 4 pound fluke.
Flukemaster Update
John Lipari took the lead in this months Flukemaster pool with a 5 lb 5 oz fluke.
August 02, 2009
Sunday, 8/2/09 Report (Live Reporting)
Conditions - Overcast and some spots of light rain. South wind 10 - 12 knots. Outgoing tide. We Will have a tide change at noon.
First Drift - Made the first one inside Sandy Hook and had our best drift in a couple weeks. The ratio was higher than it's been and we put 9 keepers in the boat up to 5 pounds. Live peanuts and plain spearing are out fishing everything else. High hook on the drift was Ricky D with 2 keeps.
Second Drift - SE wind increased to 15 - 20 knots. Not as many keepers on this one. Pat "Greenhorn" Strang was high hook with 2 keepers.
Third Drift - This one wasn't too good. Wind still around 15 knots gusting to 20. Only 1 keeper and a dozen shorts.
Fourth Drift - This one was better with 5 keepers being caught up to 4 pounds. One possible beast was lost on the way up. Couldn't get it off the bottom, and once it came up a little it had some good head shakes, but it wasn't meant to be. Lost it 10 feet from the boat.
Fifth Drift - No good. Breaking away from the fleet and heading inshore a little.
Sixth Drift - Made a quick one. Not a bite. Going back to where we had the most success of the day.
Seventh Drift - Another not so good one with only a couple shorts caught. We haven't seen much since the tide change. Also the weather has been getting worse by the minute. The radar shows rain all around us, and we see some lightning to the west, but it has not really hit us yet. Changing up the area.
Eighth Drift - Made one in the deep of Sandy Hook Channel, but it was no good. Making our way to the Ammo Pier. We are gonna get hit by one of these storms soon. Mother Nature is closing in on us.
Ninth Drift - It's over!! We are getting poured and heading home. The day started great, but unfortunately as the weather fell apart, so did the fishing. Ricky D was today's high hook with 3 keepers, and Matt Connors won the pool with a 4.1 pound fluke. Jimmy Chambers took the very early lead in the August pool with a 3 lb 13 oz fluke.
Matt Connors won today's pool with this 4 pounder.
This is a shot of our radar at noon with the rain all around us in green. We didn't really get any precip till around 1pm. On a side note, if you can read a radar and figure out what landmark is on the screen, then you will know exactly where we fished today.
Note: We are obviously in the center of screen.
August 01, 2009
Saturday, 8/1/09 Report
Can you believe it's August 1st?!! This summer is FLYING by!!! . . . Today was more of the same fishing that we have been seeing. Spent the majority of our day in the ocean picking at shorts and sea robins. We did see more fluke today than the past couple of day's, but it still wasn't too good. I'm really hoping that it turns on the next day or two. We will see.
July's Flukemaster Winner
Congratulations to Lisa Ortiz who won the Flukemaster Pool for the month of July with an 8 lb 11 oz fluke.
Friday, 7/31/09 Report
Fishing was not too good today. We started the day as far west as we could go, and ended up in the ocean before noon. Just a slow pick was all we could manage. Jimmy Bufis and Archie Stewart were high hook with three keepers, and Glenn Harth won today's pool.
