Monday, 8/30/10 Live Report

Location: Sandy Hook Channel
Tide: High 11:50am
Water Temp: 76.6 degrees
Wind: NNW 6 kts
Moon Phase – 72% waning

Special Notice – The Captain John has received the Scientific Collecting Permit which will allow us to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Our schedule will remain the same through September.

We will no longer be sailing in the evening from 5pm – 9pm.

August Flukemaster Update – Alan Abramson has held the belt for most of the month with a 7 lb 1 oz fluke.  The pot is currently up to $330.00, and this months pool end on September 6th.

Conditions – We are completely changing things up today, and heading right out to Sandy Hook Channel. The conditions on the Reach would have been horrible with the wind against the tide, and after a weekend of waiting for the conditions to improve we decided to head out into the ocean where the flood current will carry us up the beach.

First Drift – This was a disappointment. Only a couple of shorts.

Second Drift – We made a move up the channel a little ways, and had the same results. We are going to head back into the bay for the next one.

Third Drift – Ouch!! Only a few shorts. The fluke do not want to eat, and the drifting conditions are terrible. We stared at the same bouy off our bow for fifteen minutes, and never moved five feet. We are going to change it up yet again.

Fourth Drift – I was trying to think of one word to best descibe this drift when someone threw out the word ”egregious”.

Fifth Drift – We are just having a bad day of fishing. There is a tide change very soon, hopefully, things will get better. 

Sixth Drift – More of the same. We are going to head way to the western side of the Reach and see how it goes.

I am not going to lie and try to sugarcoat the fishing. It was almost the equivalent of being waterboarded. See you tomorrow!

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

We began the day off on the western end of the Reach Channel with difficult drifting conditions and only catching a few shorts.  We headed east in hopes of catching a little more current, but there was not enough to push us up against a westerly breeze. Continued to work our way east, stopping a few times only to slow pick a few shorts.  It took a long time, but we finally caught our first 3 keepers of the day around mid morning. The rest of the day remained the same. With each drift we would slow pick the shorts with a very occasional keeper being caught. If I had to classify today’s fishing with one word, that word would be terrible. Carmine Mangini and Bill From the Pier tied for the pool, and high hook had 2 keepers.

We headed right back to the Reach Channel where we had excellent fishing on Friday, and 30 seconds into the drift, Tom Salerno pulled up what would be the pool winning fish which weighed in at 5 pounds. The conditions were not favorable with a north west wind going up against an incoming tide, but we did pick some fish early. It took a long time for us to get the outoing current, but when we finally did, we started to slow pick the fluke again. Tom Salerno and Al Dano were high hook with 3 fish.

Friday, 8/27/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: High 10:08am
Water Temp: 74.1 degrees
Wind: NNW 7 kts
Moon Phase – 93% waning

Special Notice – There will be a special permit allowing The Captain John to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Stay tuned for more info. 

We will no longer be sailing in the evening from 5pm – 9pm.

Conditions – Incoming water and a NW wind will mke drifting very difficult for the first few hours. Things should pick up after the tide change.

First Drift – Three immediate keepers and a dozen shorts. Not a bad start.

Second Drift – We didn’t land on them like we did to start the day, and we didn’t drift either. We have to move for an outbound tug and barge.

Third Drift – We have no movement at all with the wind against the tide, however, we are catching the fluke. Only a couple of keepers out of 150 fish.

Fourth Drift – Awesome!!! Conditions are now perfect with the ebb water, and we are bailing the fluke including a dozen keepers. Jeff Luckowich caught back – to – back keepers, and is high hook with 3 fish. There were around ten double headers caught which is evidence of the amount of fluke that are on the bottom.

Fifth Drift – The fishing continues to be excellent!!

This was the best fishing that we have had in over a week with over 400 fish coming over the rail. High hook on the day was Bill Leard with 4 keepers, and Jeff Meisner, Bloomfield, NJ, was today’s pool winner wth a 4 pound fluke.

Today’s pool winner Jeff Meisner.

What do you do during a slow drift? Greenhorn customer cooler cleaning!!!

Our “Greenhorn”.

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Thursday, 8/26/10 Live Report

Location: Ambrose Channel
Tide: Low 9:35am
Water Temp: 73.6 degrees
Wind: W 9 kts
Moon Phase – 97% full

Special Notice – There will be a special permit allowing The Captain John to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Stay tuned for more info. 

We will no longer be sailing in the evening from 5pm – 9pm.

Conditions – This is our first day out since Monday morning when we headed to the Keansburg buoy, took a couple of waves over the bow, and headed home. A hard east wind had us tied to the dock since then, but what does that mean for today? Nothing!! We are going to head out to Ambrose Channel, or as “Turn ‘Em Loose” Bruce calls it, “The Super Fluke Highway”, and see how it goes! Think BIG!!!

First Drift – Total kaos!! It took a while to get everyone believing the “SINKER UP” speech, but sfter the first 10 minutes, it was pretty evident that 10 – 12 ounces was going to be the norm.

Second Drift – Headed a little east out Ambrose Channel with the same results as the first drift. Going to change it up and head to Sandy Hook Channel. The conditions were just too difficult in Ambrose.

Third Drift – We were heading to Sandy Hook Channel, but made a turn to the west toward Chapel Hill Channel. The east wind that was had has put a hurting on the fishing so far today, but the good side is that we just caught our first keeper of the day.

Fourth Drift – We got a tide change and finally saw some fish including another keeper.

Fifth Drift – No good. We are going to change things up yet again, and head to the north.

Sixth Drift – This one was not any good either.

Seventh Drift – We headed into the Reach and had some decent fishing. The conditions are perfect with the wind and tide together. High hook on the drift had 2 keepers. Running up for a repeat.

Eighth Drift – We pick the shorts with a very occational keeper being caught. Going to run a little further west down the Reach.

Ninth Drift – Picked a few and added a few more keepers.

To say that at times the fishing was tough is an understatement. We had a very tough morning of fishing, but once we got the tide change things started to purk up. Our best fishing of the day was in the Reach, and the conditions were perfect for us to drift right out the channel. Frank Grossman had a standout performance today, high hook with 3 keepers and pool winner!

Supreme Angler of the Day – Frank Grossman

Friday, 8/20/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: Low 5:18am
Water Temp: 78.3 degrees
Wind: WNW 4 kts
Moon Phase – 85% full

Special Notice – There will be a special permit allowing The Captain John to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Stay tuned for more info. 

Our 5:00pm, Friday Evening trip on 8/20 is cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Conditions – We will have good conditions for most of the day with an outgoing current and west wind.

First Drift – Started off on the far western side of the Reach catching some shorts and one keeper.

Second Drift – We caught a few, but it’s not good enough. We are going to completely change things up, and head to Ambrose.

Third Drift – There were a dozen or so keepers caught right away, but not much after that. Going to head east out the channel about a 1/2 mile.

Fourth Drift – ALERT!! – “Snakehead” Lenny caught the first 2 keepers on the boat!! Break out the snow shovels because a blizzard could be on the way! . . . This drift was not too bad. We are picking at the shorts, and caught a 1/2 dozen keepers. Going to run up and do it again.

Here is the proof!! “Snakehead” Lenny and his 2 fluke.

Fifth Drift – It is getting borderline too fast. We pick at the fluke, and a few sea bass as well.

Sixth Drift – We got as much out of this as we could.  Going to change it up, and head over to Sandy Hook Channel.

We finished the day with a good shot of keepers. High hook was John Carroll with 4 fish, and “Snakehead” Lenny won the pool with a 4 pound fluke.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Daytime 7:30am – 2:30pm
Adults – $60
Seniors – $57
Children – $35

Evening 5pm – 9pm
Adult & Senior – $40
Children – $25

Rod Rentals – $5
Rigs – $1
Sinkers – 10 cents an ounce

Thursday, 8/18/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: Low 10:37am
Water Temp: 77.2 degrees
Wind: N 2kts
Moon Phase – 77% full

Special Notice – There will be a special permit allowing The Captain John to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Stay tuned for more info. 

Our 5:00pm, Friday Evening trip on 8/20 is cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Conditions – It is going to be a tough start to the day. There is not enough current running to move us, or enough wind to push us. It is going to be a long wait until the 11:00 tide change. You won’t need your seatbelt on this Morning!

First Drift – We set up for our first drift on the western side of the Reach, but like I said, no movement at all. Going to head about a mile to the east.

Second Drift – We are s l o w picking the fluke with only 1 keeper so far.

Third Drift – This is just not any good. We do not have any float at all. . . When Mother Nature has you pinned against a wall, or in our case sitting like a rock, you have to attack her like a rabid spider monkey. We are going to head way to the east, out into the ocean. Now you can put your seatbelt on because it’s going to be fast and furious!!

Fourth Drift – We pulled up short of the ocean and made a drift in Chapel Hill Channel. The fishing is not bad, but very few keepers.

Fifth Drift – Shorts, blues, birds, and the very occasional keeper.

Sixth Drift – We were able to stay in Chapel Hill for a couple of hours and grab some fish. Most of the fish that were caught were shorts. The wind came up out of the south around 7 kts, and with the flood water, we should be able to drift on the Reach now. We are going to head there and see how things go.

Seventh Drift – We found some keepers on this one to end the day.

Conditions are the name of the game when it come to fluking, and for the majority of the day they were terrible. With that being said, we could not fish the Reach until late in the day. So, we headed to Chapel Hill where we found action with mostly small fluke and blues. After the tide change we headed back into the Reach, and finished off the day catching a dozen keepers. Jodie Greico won the pool with a 4 pound fluke.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Wednesday, 8/18/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: Low 9:36am
Water Temp: 77.5 degrees
Wind: E 7kts
Moon Phase – 68% full

Special Notice – There will be a special permit allowing The Captain John to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Stay tuned for more info. 

Conditions – We will be starting our day on the Reach with the last of the ebb water. Wind is out of the east around 7 knots, giving us wind against tide conditions to begin the day.  The first of the flood tide will be around 10:00am.

The first keeper of the day was caught by Joe Pycotunk.

First Drift – There was an imediate hook up at the first whistle, and it ended up being a hefty onion sack. What a way to start. Joe Pycotunk officially started us off with the first keeper of the day, and Doug “The Duke” Kay soon followed with a keeper of his own. We picked at the fluke without really moving.

The Duke saying, “You can’t skunk me!!”

Second Drift – We are now sitting like a rock. Going to head east a ways.

Third Drift – Conditions are perfect right now with the wind and tide together, and we are catching the fluke. High hook has 3 keepers.

Fourth Drift – Picking away at the fluke with the very occational keeper being caught. Doug “The Duke” Kay caught his second keeper of the day which is currently the largest on the boat.

Fifth Drift – We made a run way to the north into Ambrose Channel, but it ended up being a disappointment. Not one fish. We are going to work our way east, out the channel a ways.

Sixth Drift – Doug “The Duke” continues to have the hot stick by putting his third keeper in the box. . . Conditions are good, however, the fishing is not. Going to jump to the other side of the channel.

“Turn ‘Em Loose” took a note from page 62 of D-Kam’s book to land this 5 lb 9 oz fluke.

Seventh Drift – We caught a couple of keepers on this one. Doug Kay put his fourth keeper in the cooler, and superstar deckhand “Turn ‘em Loose”  Bruce caught a 5 lb 9 oz fluke.

Eighth Drift – Slow pick of fish to finish the day.

It was the Doug Kay Show today. “The Duke” turned a slow day of fishing into his own personal highlight reel by leading the way with the most keepers on the boat, and winning the pool with a 4 lb 12 oz fluke. If you took away “The Doug Show”, today’s fishing was just average. We fished both the Reach and Ambrose, and found different results in each. In the Reach we snapped away at the shorts with only a couple of keepers. When we were in Ambrose we caught much fewer fish, but the ratio was better. Overall, it ended up being an average day.  

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Tuesday, 8/17/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: High 2:15pm
Water Temp: 76.5 degrees
Wind: W 5kts
Moon Phase – 59% full

Special Notice – There will be a special permit allowing The Captain John to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Stay tuned for more info. 

Conditions – We will be right on slack water to start the day. There is a very light NW wind that will help push us along.

First Drift – The fluke are in an eating mood today. Paul Franek got us started with the first keeper of the day, and Jeff Luckowich quickly follow. We caught a very good number of fish without really moving at all.

Second Drift – The current carried us very slowly as we made a long drift. We had some very good moments of fishing, however, the ratio is poor so far today. Largest fluke of the day is a 4 1/2 pounder.

Third Drift – We are having a very good day of fishing without any kind of conditions. If we could just change the size limit then we would be set.

Fourth Drift – The wind was coming out of the SW earlier, but now it is more straight out of the west which is not good with the flood tide. We still pick away at the fluke with an occasional keeper being caught.

Fifth Drift – The wind came around out of the east giving us perfect conditions, but wait a minute! Ship traffic!! We are going to let it pass and jump back in.

Sixth Drift – We pick some fish to end the day.

We caught a lot of fish today, and we threw a lot of fish back, but a  low keeper ratio is nothing new here in 2010. On Monday we ran all over the bay trying to find some bigger fish. Today we got ourselves settled in on the Reach, and tried to let them add up. High hook was John Eastmond with 4 keepers, and Christine Elmekies was today’s pool winner with a 4 1/2 pound fluke.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Check back for live updates throughout the fluke season

Monday, 8/16/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: High 1:18pm
Water Temp: 75.0 degrees
Wind: SW 10kts
Moon Phase – 47% full

Special Notice – There will be a special permit allowing The Captain John to continue fishing for fluke after the September 6th closing date. Stay tuned for more info. 

Conditions – We head out this morning with a southwest wind blowing around 10 knots and slack water. We will have the beginning of the flood tide shortly, but for now we will let the wind push us across the channel.

First Drift – We set up on the southern side of the Reach and let the SW wind push us across it. There was some shorts, and a keeper caught when we came up the channels edge, but not enough for us to make another one. We are going to head north a good ways where the conditions will be more favorable.

Second Drift – No good. We set up to fish some holes that are up to the north, but as we began to fish, the wind died out. We are moving very slowly with the current.

Third Drift – Finally caught some of the flood water and we began to pick the fluke. Going to make this one again.

First time fluker Rambo (Yes, his name is actually Rambo) caught this nice 19″ fluke on the third drift.

Fourth Drift – This is just not cutting it right now. We are going to make a small move to the east.

Fifth Drift – The fishing has been sub par so far today, however, lunch on the move between drifts was amazing! Thanks Bill!!

Sixth Drift – Made this one in Chapel Hill Channel, and slow pick some shorts with a few keepers.

Seventh Drift – We made our way back into the Reach, and had a change of tide bite that saved the day. Alan Abramson caught a 4 lb 2 oz fluke that was beat out at the last minute for the pool by Carlos Hernandez’s 4 lb 10 oz fish.

If you took away the change of tide bite on the last drift,  today would have been a clunker. Fortunately, that last drift put the fishing just above clunker status. After a long day that saw us make drifts in just about every side of the bay, the fluking turned on at the end. We caught fish all around the boat, and put over a dozen keepers on board. Walter Sizemore was high hook with 3 fish, all caught at the end of the day, and Carlos Hernandez hit a walk off home run, catching a 4 lb 10 oz fluke with under a minute left in the trip to take the pool.

Carlos Hernandez was today’s pool winner with this 4 lb 10 oz fluke.

This manta shrimp was inside of this flukes stomach. The fluke was 18 1/4″ and the shrimp was 10″.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

We did not have a great weekend of fluking. An east wind that blew anywhere from 15 to 25 knots over the last 4 days shut down the fluke bite, and created a big roll in the ocean and bay. Saturday we were limited in were we could fish because of the roll, and stayed mostly on the flats along the southern part of the bay. We slow picked at the fish with only a handful of keepers being caught. Sunday’s fishing started off great. The wind was very light out of the southeast, and we drifted perfectly down the Reach, however, around mid morning the SSE wind kicked up to around 12 – 15 knots and put an end to the fishing that we had. Things will get back to the way they were before this front came through. It might just take a day or so.

Friday, 8/13/10 Live Report

Location: Sandy Hook Bay
Tide: High 11:10am
Water Temp: 75.1 degrees
Wind: E 20kts
Moon Phase – 17% full

Conditions – What a difference a day (or two) makes. Wednesday was one of the hottest days on the water. Today we head out with an autumn chill in the air. . . It is blowing east around 20 kts which is going to make for some rockin, but it’s ok. We are going to get ourselves tucked away in Sandy Hook bay in the lee of the wind, and let it ride. There is a tide change late in the morning. Until then we will have incoming water carrying us into the river.

First Drift – First fish of the day, 5 lb 9 oz, caught by Bill Venezia. Not much after that.

Second Drift – Bill Venezia continues to have the hot stick. Bill bagged 2 more keepers, upping his high hook total to 3 fish. We also picked a few shorts, about a 1/2 dozen slammer 9 inch blues, and a whopper of a blueclaw crab on this one. Running back up to do it again.

Third Drift – We picked at the short with no keepers. Fishing is not too good so far today. We are limited to where we can fish because of the east wind. What we are doing is pulling up in the shallow water on the western side of Sandy Hook, and letting the wind push us into the bay.

Fourth Drift – No good. We are making a small move to the northwestern tip of the Hook.

Fifth Drift – Another not so great one. We did catch one keeper, but it wasn’t good overall. The east wind really has us limited. Our best fishing has been in the channels, and we will not even get close to any of them today. It is what it is. We will keep trying some spots inside of the Hook and see how it goes. Right now we are heading south into the bay.

We had a tough day of fishing. A hard east wind that has been blowing for two day gave us very few areas to fish. We ended up spending the majority of our day in Sandy Hook Bay with subpar fishing. The highlight of the day was Bill Venezia’s 5 lb 9 oz fluke which was caught 30 seconds into the trip. The fluking will bounce back. We just need the wind to subside so we can go to the spots where we have been fishing.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Thursday, 8/12/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: High 10:16am
Water Temp: 77.2 degrees
Wind: E 12kts
Moon Phase – 9% full

Conditions – We are going to be limited in where we can fish today because of a 12 – 15 kt east wind. We are going to start off fishing a ledge to the north of our harbor and see how it goes.

First Drift – Only a few shorts. We are going to head east a little ways and try another legde that usually hold the fluke.

Second Drift – This one was not too bad. We caught the first keeper of the day, and picked away at the shorts.

Third Drift – Not too good. We are heading into the Reach.

Fourth Drift – We found some fish in the channel, one of which weighed in at 5 lb 4 oz, and was caught by Bill Godwin. There is an inbound ship coming through the channel. We are going to run up, let it pass, and jump back into the channel.

Fifth Drift – The ship that came through killed the fishing that we had. We are going to try some shallow water to our south.

Sixth Drift – We only caught a few shorts on this one.

Seventh Drift – No good.

Eighth Drift – We fished some very shallow water, and picked a dozen or so shorts. The weather has deteriorated quite a bit. The wind is blowing a solid 15 kts now. We are going to head back to the west.

Ninth Drift – Made our way back to the ledge we fished earlier, and picked some shorts.

Tenth Drift – Only a few shorts.

The weather, including a decent east wind, killed the fishing for today. We couldn’t fish where we have had the most success because of the conditions, so we worked some areas south of the channel. We did catch one very nice fish, weighing in at 5 lb 4 oz which was caught by Bill Godwin, but for the most part it was all shorts. Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully we can get this weather out of here by then, and look for more fluking success!

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Wednesday, 8/11/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: High 9:25am
Water Temp: 77.5 degrees
Wind: N 7kts
Moon Phase – 3% full

Conditions – We will have a tide change at 9:30. We are not going to move very much until we get the outgoing water.

First Drift – We picked some shorts with no keepers coming aboard yet. Conditions are not good right now. Going to be some time before we get any movement.

Second Drift – No movement = no fluke. Going to change up the area.

Third Drift – Made our way to the “Super  Fluke Highway”, also known as Ambrose Channel, and made a LONG drift. We caught fish the whole way with a very good number of keepers up to 6 pounds coming over the rail. One person had his limit, and there are a few more with 3 and 4 fish.

Fourth Drift – Amazing!

We stuck a bit of fluke gold in Ambrose Channel today. The conditions were perfect, and the fluke were ready to eat. We made two drifts that lasted 4 hours, and beat up the fluke the whole way. At times the fluking was so good, it could rival any day from years past. It was easily one of the top 3 best  fluking days of the season. There were three angler who caught their limit of 6 fish, and four others with 5 keepers. Natural bait on a plain hook or paired with a small jig worked well. It definitely outfished the Gulp/Spro combo. Today’s pool winning fluke weighed in at 5 1/2 pounds.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Tuesday, 8/10/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: High 8:35am
Water Temp: 76.5 degrees
Wind: W 4kts
Moon Phase – 0% new moon

Conditions – We will start our day off with the very last of the incoming water. Right now there is basically no wind to speak of. It is going to take a while before we have any kind of drifting conditions. We’ll see how it goes.

First Drift – We didn’t move 30 feet the whole drift, but we caught the fluke. Hopefully, we can get some movement soon because it looks as if there is a good amount of fluke here.

Second Drift – We didn’t catch as many fish on this one as we did on the first, but that is because we just do not move. We have absolutely no wind or current right now.

Third Drift – Things are very slow right now. We just do not move at all, and as you know, drifting is the key to fluking success! We are going to head to the west a ways and see if we can catch the current coming out of the river.

Fourth Drift – Started to move out with the current, and we started to catch the fluke again, however the ratio was low. About midway through the drift a southerly breeze came up. Natural bait is outfishing the Gulp so far today.

Today’s fishing was very good at times. We caught a ton of fish, but it was the same old story when it came to the keepers. They seemed to be elusive once again. It was not out of the ordinary to catch 30 fish and have no keepers, or 1 to show for it, but as you know, it is what it is. All we can do is find the fluke, and give you an opportunity to catch them. The problem is with the size limit. . . Sue Ikenson began the morning reading “Fishing For Fluke”, written by world class fluke angler Don Kamienski. Whatever section she read taught her all she needed to know. Sue was high hook and pool winner today with 3 fluke up to 5 pounds.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $300.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

Monday, 8/9/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: High 7:45am
Water Temp: 77.0 degrees
Wind: SW 5kts
Moon Phase – 1% new moon

Conditions – We will have an outgoing tide all day.

First Drift – Stopped short on the flats outside of our harbor, and caught a few fish with a couple of keepers mixed in.

Second Drift – This one was not good. The SW wind is pushing us slowly, but just not fast enough to catch anything in this area. Going to head out to the channel.

Third Drift – We made a long drift on this one. Caught the beginning of the outgoing water and carried the fish the whole way. We had some very good moments with5 and 6 fish on at a time. It was not out of the norm to catch over 20 fish. High hook on the drift was Fred Leo with 3 keepers.

Fourth Drift – This one was not too good. We carried the fish on the last one, and went with it as long as we could. The wind is now out of the SE and is holding us against the current, and as I write this, I just looked down the channel. We have an inbound tug and barge and 2 outbound ships coming. . . . We may have had our best moments earlier today.

Fifth Drift – Waited for the ships to pass and jumped back in the channel, but the damage was done. The problem is that the Reach is not a very deep channel, and when  you have a ship go through, it stirs up the bottom and spooks the fish. We are going to try some shallow water to our south.

Sixth Drift – Only a few shorts.

Fishing was very good early on. We had a few things happen all at once that affected the day. First, the wind came around out of the SE. What that did was slow us up against the tide. Secondly, the three ships that came through the channel.  That was the final and finishing blow because as I wrote earlier, this channel is not deep, and the ships that go through it have a deep draft and their propeller wash spooks the fish. Before those two events occurred, we were having an excellent day. Don Wycoff was high hook with 4 keepers, and the pool winning fished weighed in at 4 pounds.

August Flukemaster Leader – Alan Abramson 7 lb 1 oz
Current Pot – $280.00

Special Trip – We will be running a Special Offshore Columbus Day Bluefish trip on October, 11th. This trip is from 6:30am – 4:00pm, and is limited to the first 40 people that sign up. Tickets are sold in advance.

We had another good day of fishing. Fluke were caught all day, and a fair amount of keepers came over he rail as well. The ratio was not great, but what else is new. High hook was Eric Rizzo with 5 keepers, and Steve Madger won the pool with a 6 lb 3 oz fluke.

Fluke fishing has been excellent this season. That has not been the problem. What is a problem is the size limit. We can not change it, but we have to live with it. Today was no exception. We caught plenty of fluke all around the boat, but what we had to show for it was very frustrating. I know of a few people who caught 20 – 30 fish without a keeper, and that was pretty consistant all around. One person who had no problem catching the keepers was Tom Salerno. Tom was high hook with 5 fish, and won today’s pool with a 4 pound fluke.

Thursday, 8/5/10 Live Report

Location: Raritan Reach Channel
Tide: Low 9:57am
Water Temp: 78.3 degrees
Wind: W 11kts
Moon Phase – 31% and waning

Conditions – We will be drifting at rocket speed to begin the day with a pretty good west wind and outgoing water. The tide change comes around mid morning, but then it will be up against the current. We will see how things go.

This fluke detroyed a 4 oz buckail.

First Drift – No good. Only one short. 10 ounces is the norm.

Second Drift – Made this one in Chapel Hill Channel and s l o w picked the shorts with one keepers coming over the rail.

Third Drift  – No good again. This is the complete opposite of yesterdays fishing. It’s called evening out the average. . . We are going to completely change the area, and set up for the tide change. Hopefully, they will turn on with the incoming water.

Fourth Drift – Headed a little north of the Reach and found some fish. It was mostly shorts, but we did catch a couple of keepers. It’s not great, but it’s a whole lot better than it was earlier this morning.

Fifth Drift – We are catching the fluke good now. It is not the same fishing that we had yesterday, but it not bad either. The only problem now is the ratio.

Sixth Drift – Fishing is very good, but the keeping is terrible. The fluke are biting on everything. Gulp, Spro, killies, spearing, squid. . . It doesn’t matter. They just want to eat. The only problem is with the ratio. We just are not catching the legal sized fish. As good as the fishing is right now, we are going to change it up again and try hunting down some bigger fish.

Seventh Drift – We moved into some shallow water and caught 7 fish. Out of the seven, 3 were keepers. Going to do it again.

Eighth Drift – Highlight of the drift was a 7 lb 1 oz fluke that was caught by Alan Abramson which is the new leader in August Flukemaster Pool. We did see a few other keepers as well. Going to run up and do it again.

Alan Abramson caught this 7 lb 1 oz pool winning fluke, and also took the lead in the August Flukemaster Pool.

Fishing was ok today. It wasn’t great, but it was not bad either. What really hurt us again was the ratio. After the tide change we were catching the fluke very good, but everything was short. We made a move late in the day in hopes of finding some bigger fish, and it paid off. Alan Abramson caught what would end up not only being the pool winning fluke, but also the biggest fish of the month. Alan’s fluke weighed in at 7 lb 1 oz, and is the current leader in the August Flukemaster Pool.

Wednesday, 8/4/10 Live Report

Location: Old Orchard
Tide: High 2:13pm
Water Temp: 77.2 degrees
Wind: SW 10kts
Moon Phase – 37% and waning

Sorry for the lack of updates and photos over the past few days. My computer put up a good fight, but she  finally saw the light and went to computer heaven. So, now I have a bigger and better machine that was made for post fishing updates!! 

Monday & Tuesday we fished Ambrose Channel with some success. Monday was the better day basically because we had absolute perfect conditions. Tuesdays fishing was a bit of a struggle. There was a small heave from a hard SE wind that came up Monday night, and with the direction of the wind during the day, it made for some crossed lines. I will post a short report from yesterday’s trip sometime today along with the photos from the past few days.

Reverend Daniels caught this 5 lb 7 oz fluke on Monday, and it is the current leader in the August Flukemaster Pool.

Conditions: SW wind blowing around 10 – 12kts with an incoming tide all day. We are going to have good conditions where we are fishing.

First Drift – Super fishing to start the day. Carl Bertram caught the first keeper of the day, and another half dozen followed. Spearing is outfishing the Gulp so far.

Second Drift – Another drift with fireball fluke action! The ratio is not very good, but at the rate we are catching them, hopefully the keepers add up.

Third Drift – We made a long drift and had some more excellent fishing. You can’t get any better of a day as far as catching fluke goes, however, the ratio remains poor. A few people have 2 keepers, and there a few with none.

Fourth Drift – Today’s fishing is amazing. The bottom is just paved with fluke. If we could only have a better ratio we would be sitting pretty.

Fifth Drift – More of the same. We are going to head into the Reach and see if we can catch some bigger fish.

Sixth Drift – We made our last one on the Reach, and traded the fireball fishing with the shorts in for a dozen keepers.

You could not get a better day of fishing. The action was non-stop, one after the other all day. Catching 40 fish was the norm, and few people told me that they had well over 60 fish, but the down side to today’s fishing was that the ratio was terrible. We made our last drift of the day in the Reach, and found some keepers. It wasn’t the fast and furious fishing that we had for most of the day, but we did put some in the buckets. Six people were tied for high hook with 2 fish each, and the pool winner was Frank Grossman with a 3 1/2 lb fluke.

Upcoming Special Trip – Columbus Day Offshore Bluefish Trip, October 11th. Tickets are on sale and sold in advance. This trip is limited to the first 40 people.

Here are the pictures from Sunday, Monday & Tuesday’s trip.

Sunday, 8/1/10

Monday, 8/2/10

Tuesday, 8/3/10

We had some decent fishing today, however the dreaded keeper ratio was terrible. High hook on the day was Ricky Monani, and Don Cutrupi won the pool with a 4 pound fluke.