07/31/2007 - Fluking Raritan Bay

OK, due to relentless requests to get this report out ASAP, I've substituted my fresh fluke dinner for a nice, gourmet bowl of cereal so I could get it done! Hey, who says I don't care about my readers!


Well, today's trip was a great one...possibly the best of the summer, certainly for Mike (MS22)!

Mike had asked me to come along for a little fluking adventure, with his brother Matt, and my friend Ting joining the group! We met up at Julians around 5:10AM or so and headed over to the Atlantic Highlands marina where Mike had his boat stored. We trailer her out and slip her into the water around 6:00AM or so and head on out to pursue some fluke.

We decided to head out to an area where I've been catching fish with several buddies over the last couple weeks, and get setup as the incoming tide is waning. It's a good time, perfect drift, really perfect conditions with a little breeze out of the NW. We bring a mixture of bait, but we all bucktail with mixtures of Gulp and squid strips throughout the day.

I drop in first and have 3 shorts on board before Mike, Matt, or Ting even have their lines in the water...OK...I was rigged and ready to go!

The fishing was very good, some of the best I've seen all season...an absolute TON of bait in and throughout the bay. Eventually Mike, Matt, and Ting got in the water and joined in on the fun...bailing fish all morning long. A lot of shorts, but some keepers mixed in...Mike and Ting started things off right putting some keeps in the box, while the Matts were suckin wind and carrying the keeper skunk! The pick of keeps started coming in more steadily, as we all contributed to filling the cooler...but none more so than Mike when he hooked into an absolute monster of a fish.

Here's how it went down...

Well, let's first rewind a little. I distinctly remember saying to Mike before we left in the morning, "Do you have an extra/bigger net? You want me to bring mine?"...seeing that his were just fine for average to large fluke...but probably a bit tight for something REALLY big. Mike was OK with the nets, you know that "Ahhhhhhh we'll never get anything THAT big" shrug off. Haha! I have a striper net I use for everything from fishing the canal to going out on boats...multipurpose and BIG...but we left it in my truck! Haha, truly ironic...but fortunately worked out OK in the end!

So, Ting and I were fishing in the bow bucktailing like mofos while Matt and Mike fished the stern. Ting and I are in the fish pretty good, lots of shorts with a few keeps...and then Mike hooks into a fish and issues a remark we often hear from fisherman..."Ohhhhh this is a BIG one!!!". Naturally, I kind of shrug it off...I figure he has a nice fish on, and nonchalantly say to Ting...when he gets him up to the boat, if it's something big, I'll hand you my rod and grab the net and scoop him up real quick. Sure, no problem! Well, Mike is pretty worked up...and has repeated "this is a REAL NICE FISH" like he's a monk chanting prayers on Mount Sinai...so I give in a little earlier than anticipated as he yells "GET THE NET, HE'S GETTING CLOSE!!!". I hand off my rod to Ting, and grab the net...and head over to Mike...I'm at the ready...waiting to see a nice 5# or 6# fish come up. Fish isn't taking any serious drag, rod isn't really cranked over or anything, just reeling him in nice and easy...but Mike is acting pretty crazy, but not nearly as crazy as I suddenly turned when I saw this BEAST of a fluke come from underneath the boat. What an absolutely HUGE fish...and I instantly realized getting him in the net I had in my hand was going to be difficult to say the least. It would basically have to be a perfect head first STUFF into the net...so I tell Mike, lift the rod nice and slow...and I don't know how it happened, but that fishes head came STRAIGHT UP and OUT OF THE WATER...it's thrashing around and I'm freaking out yelling at Mike to drop the fish back in the water and keep the tension. Mike quickly gets him back in the water and level and I swoop the net into the water lightning fast and stuff that big fluke's head home! The head enters the net...and I just kept scooping like you'd sweep the floor or something, as the fish slinked further and further back into the net and eventually reached the bottom...then I heaved that giant over the rail and onto the deck with a loud THUMP! We're all vamped up like a bunch of little girls, high fiving, screaming...what an absolutely insane and awesome moment...Mike landing the biggest fluke he's ever caught, and I have ever personally seen...and I had the pleasure of netting that absolute giant! We had no idea how much it really weighed...we were certain it was well over 10#...and probably over 12#. Once the fish died, we whipped out a digital Rapala scale, and it was hovering between 13lb 4oz and 14lb 11oz...and later weighed on Julian's scale at 13.80#!!! All I can say is congrats to Mike, what an awesome fish dude...and...well, you were right...it was a REAL NICE FISH!


OK, so we finish up on the high fives, as the adrenaline starts to subside a smidge...we get Mikes fluke on ice and continue fishing. Mike looks a little emotionally drained...and understandably so. He takes a short breather as we all head back into the water and try to find another big one! Well, the day continues, as we start to put more keepers in the box...but nothing really big. Boat traffic is increasing steadily as the morning continues, and the fish are migrating around...so we spend some time trying a few different spots in the same area and are eventually able to locate some more fish just as the tide and drift dies. We hang tough as the wind moves us a little bit and fish slack tide with marginal results.

Then the tide finally switches to outgoing and the fishing starts picking up again. We're on a lengthy drift through some deeper water when Mike hooks into another nice one. Here we go again, we're all thinking...and Mike again is chanting "this is a NICE fish!"...this time his brother Matt is ready with the net in the stern, and sure enough another nice one comes up over the rail. No where near as big as Mike's first fish, but still a big fish...which we estimate at around 8# or so, and sure enough weighed in at Julian's at 8.46#! Two fish bigger than any he's ever caught...and both in ONE day! Mike, you're the man buddy! Today was your day, without a doubt...awesome job!

Mike, overwhelmed decides to sit back and relax for a drift or two, and make a few phone calls. Shortly afterwards, Ting hooks into a nice fish and lands a nice 6.06# fluke, and two other 4#ish fluke as well. Meanwhile, Matt and I are totally big fish retarded (standard for me), and can't seem to get in on the action. I dropped a few nice fish on the day, two of which totally stopped me. Matt also dropped a real big fish later in the afternoon, he hooked into it...it just froze, he got it up for a second and it just started winging out drag for about 10 seconds...and then just spit the hook. ACK!

We continued fishing through midday and the afternoon and put a solid catch of keepers in the box with a ton of shorts and sea robins mixed in...even a couple bluefish. In the end, we called it quits around 2:00PM, having boxed 28 keepers...and headed back to the marina to get cleaned up, fillet the fish, and weigh in the big ones!

What a beautiful day on the water, and really a special day to be there and see Mike catch his biggest fluke ever...maybe even his two biggest ever! Ting, as usual, was catching up a storm and had a few nice ones to show for it. Matt and I struggled with the big fish, but had a good number of keepers. We all had an absolute blast out there, and I can't wait to get back out to see if we can find a few more of those big boys!

OK, OK...here's the pics!


Ting ready to go!



Big Matt, preppin the boat!



Mike, getting the gear ready!



Mike...securing the trailer hitch with...ummm...a hanger? NICE!



Matt, securing the rocket launchers with bungees to keep them from launching our fishing rods!



Ready!!!!!!!



Matt's all smiles!



Heading out...little gloomy...



Brothers going fishing!



Hey, who's that over there netting and snagging?



Yep I'm picture crazy...



Little hazy...



Little preview of the beast in the net...kinda...



Picture taken later...keep in mind Mike is like 6'6" and 300lbs...big boy!





Putting the tape to him...



32"



OK onto some more fishing...
Matt with a double header fluke and robin!



Mike with a fluke!



The Atlantic Princess coming down to NJ waters...



Mike with another fluke...



The man, taking a much needed break to regain some energy...



Ting hanging tight while we take a ride and move to another area...



Mike buddy, nice wingspan!



Ting with a nice fish



Mike's 8# fluke...in the boat!



Look at that grin...calling the buddies!



You can't wipe that smile off his face!



Mike, the instant celebrity...his brother Matt quickly jumps in and takes over as his personal sunblock application specialist!



Yoooooooooooo Tony!!!
Tony swung by at the end of our day and said hello...where was your fishing rod buddy?!?!?



OK enough fishing...let's go weigh some fish in!



Voop! 13.80#!





Wooohooo!!! 8.46#!





Ting's 6.06#





One more back at the dock of Mike's two big ones...before we started filleting...



Final fish pics...








Well, that's all folks...just an incredible day of fishing. Nothing better than seeing big fish come over the rail, I don't care who gets em...I never get enough of seeing em! Big thanks to Mike for taking Ting and I out...was awesome fishing with you dude! Matt, great meeting you too buddy, hopefully we can all get out again soon! Beautiful weather, great friends, and some awesome fish...just doesn't get any better!

Until next time....

07/21/2007 - Fluking Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook

07/21/2007 - Fluking Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook



Alright, another day out fluking with the boys!  This trip featured a great crew...we have Captain Clamshell (aka Charlie), Captain Temper (Tom), Captain Scrubbin It (Craig), and your's truly Captain Impatient!  A whole lot of captains and non stop busting chops all day makes for some serious fun!


A little background on the nicknames:


Captain Clamshell is because Charlie is the MAN when it comes to catching clamshells while fluking!  Seriously, if they were alive, he could probably make a living as a clam fisherman...and not even need to waste his time draggin for em!  Of course, he could start an ashtray business...


Captain Temper was given to Tom by Captain Scrub It for some unknown reason...I think Tom said something about moving the knife away from him during some cooler maneuvering, before he got filleted himself...or some other "warning" in a rare, stern voice...usually Tom is a jokester, so seriousness is pretty rare...and Craig after all the busting, was in full retaliation mode, quite funny!


Captain Scrub It was given to Craig by the rest of us because well...his nickname is Scrubby, and in spirit of his nickname and uncanny ability to either create a stiff breeze all on his own or add to the existing one with the swings of his fishing rod, coming up empty handed...we have now coined the term, "Scrubbin It!" for those times you whiff and miss a fish.  On this trip, I think we counted somewhere in the upper 40s...it's hard to keep track as once we started counting outloud, he started going into silent hookset mode...so we can probably safely double our rough count for a more accurate number!


Captain Impatient, because well...this is accurate...I'm an impatient mofo...I think primarily with trying to acquire bait (see story below) and for wanting to move back over fish once the catching slows down...like nearly immediately even if we're only 3 minutes into the drift!  I know I'm a pain in the arse...but we catch fish most times!  Haha


OK, so back to the story...we all agree to meet up at Charlie's at 5:00AM to pack up and shove off.  Craig got to Charlie's sometime around 9:00PM the night before and was waiting on the boat with fishing rod in hand, baited and ready to go...meanwhile the rest of us were sleeping...well some of us...I got a whole 2 hours of sleep the night before...but I was on time...unlike Tommy Boy!  Sure, OK...he got pulled over for following his GPS and making an illegal turn...the cop thought he was drunk, when in fact...he was really just late for fishing...UNACCEPTABLE (hah, like I should talk).  We felt bad for him due to the ticket, cop was a momo, so we didn't hassle him too much on it.  Tom always takes thing great though, he was a little POed, but he didn't let it ruin his day of fishing!


We head over to the ramp, slip the boat in the water and head on out of the river.  It's a cool morning with a little NE breeze to start on the way out...we try to net some bait but have trouble locating them (only some large bunker, no peanuts or snappers).  We abandon the effort and head out to the bay. 


We hit the Reach to start off and it's a fair drift...pretty much ideal for covering ground.  Fishing was...slowwwwwwwww to start.  Craig caught the first fish, keeper to boot...then I landed a keeper shortly afterwards...which felt like it just came out of a microwave to me...maybe it was the chill in the air, but the fish felt WARM.  Shortly after, Charlie hooks into something that takes him for a ride...only to find out it's a bluefish!  And that was it...for like an hour and a half...hardly any bites at all...not even sea robins.  We fished through the Reach a little and then out by the tip of the hook...but it was like devoid of fluke it seemed...never seen anything like it. 


So we move off down the beach, and finally hit some shorts...couple fish here and there, Craig was Scrubbin It hard...whiffing fish and starting to get a little worked up...we added some fuel to the fire with the incessant reminders and LOUD acknowledgements whenever we saw him swing for the fences!  I finally get a hit and land another keeper in the area, just a nice little high spot we found, but the rest of the drift was slow and fishless all around.


We went further down, hit some spots where we've been picking fish up regularly the last few weeks, but they were all virtually lifeless as well.  Handful of shorts between the four of us left us scratching out heads over the next two hours.  We hit a few different spots in the area but absolutely nothing...we couldn't believe it.  Just tough, tough fishing.  We fished a variety of Gulp and baits: strip bait, herring, snappers, etc...but couldn't seem to find any fish biting any of it. 


The NE wind is picking up and the drift is quickening, but we decide to try some deeper water structure and take a ride out.  We find the spot, another boat or two in the vicinity, and we setup a drift.  Feels like great bottom, couple small hits (sea bassish), and then Captain Scrub It hooks into something big...and drops it.  Rebaits, drops down, and BAM hooks into something else that doubles his rod over...and...it breaks off!  At this point, Charlie and I are breaking out conventional bait rods and want to tap into the Herring supply...Craig is a little dejected because we're absolutely incessant and ruthless with busting his chops over the drops...it's totally brutal and hilarious...well to us!   He combats by sitting on the bait cooler and retying.  We ask him to pass us two herring while we're on the fish still...he says, "Ohhh hold on a minute, I'm retying...".  In a minute, we'll be off the spot...haha.  OK, so he gets us back, I give up and go back to Gulp before we're off the spot, Charlie forces Craig off the cooler and grabs a herring.  Everyone's back in the water...and Craig continues whiffing like a champ again...while we're not even getting hits.  It's miserable all around, and the only remedy is to continue busting the balls of the only guy actually getting hits.  Poor Scrub...man he was a nonstop target!


Eventually the tide starts picking up some more...it's about 12:30 now, and we only have 3 keepers in the box...and we're all getting a little frustrated with the fishing, can't seem to figure it out.  We head out into the channel some, and I bucktail back a keeper from the edge...OK 4 in the box now...finally!  We are picking at sporadic shorts and sea robins, but just can't seem to locate a patch of keepers.  We move out more into the channel for a drift and pick up some more shorts...at least the bite is getting better. 


Eventually we abandon the area and head up to where Tom, Stephan and I caught a good number of keepers last week.  Turned out the be the saving grace of the day...as we finally started hooking up some fluke and putting keepers in the box.  Craig was still whiffing like it's his job, but he was also landing a couple here and there too to even it out a bit!  The truth of the matter is...we all wish we could just get as many hits as he does...so we're all just jealous!


So the fishing finally picked up, and we commenced with drifts over the same area for the next 2-3 hours and picked up 16 more keepers, giving us a grand total of 20 keepers in the box before it was time to head back on in.  We still can't figure out why everything was so lifeless early on, but calls to other buddies all had similar reports.  Seems like when the tide changed from high to outgoing, things started picking up some.  We figured to expect the same with dead low to incoming when we first got out there...but it seemed like all of incoming was pretty much dead.


We take a bumpy ride back home, hit the dock, snap a few funny pics...and head back to Charlie's to clean up the fish.  Lou (aka wingshooter) is at Charlie's by the time Tom and I return with a little pizza...and the slush coolers get started up!  The coolest part of the trip was Charlie, Craig and Tom were all excited to fillet the fluke when we got back!  That was awesome, they all picked up the tail side filleting like experts and banged out the fluke fillets...good stuff!  Skinned em and bagged em...and packed em on ice for our rides home.  Then Lou (Woodruff) arrives with some more beer and ice to keep the party going.  We hang at Charlies for a few more hours, get to try some INSANELY GOOD "Coffee Brandy"...which seriously tastes just like coffee but with a slow, creeping punch to knock you on your butt (so I'm told, knowing I had to drive, I opted to drink lightly).  Eventually things slow down, and we all head out after a great day fishing and a nice, relaxing time afterwards!



OK, onto some pics!



Captain Clamshell ready to go!





Captain Scrubbin It...wondering where Captain Temper is...he's been waiting to go for awhile now!





Captain Temper finally arrives...he Tommy...what time is it buddy?





Backin the boat in...still early...





Scrub!!!





Captain Clamshell, aka Trailer Squirrel!





Tom and his Red Bull...breakfast of champions!





Little flag in the foreground pic...





Not quite glass...little breeze





The captain...takin us for a ride!





Tom, going crazy...I heard something about a turtle popping out of its shell early or something...maybe this face is a result?





Nice sky...








The Parkway bridge in sight...








OK...finally some fishing, right?

Craig with the first fish and keeper in the box!





Charlie's ON!!! 





GET THE GAFF!!!  CrabHunter in effect!!!





Ohhh this one is lookin a little serious...





Ahhhh yellow eyed devil!!!





Tom also caught this star gazer early in the trip...little far of a shot...we told him to kiss it on the forehead for good luck, but Tom was too smart for that...actually we warned him, we didn't have jumper cables on the boat to restart his heart! Haha





The Big Fish Magnet is on the fish praying "Stay on the hook, stay on the hook!"





No such luck, back to fishing...there was an "in between photo here", but it involves an odd numbered finger pointed toward the sky, so we'll just go on to this pic of the line back in the water!





Charlie on the fish...show em how it's done buddy!





Alright...Craig back on the fish!  Charlie with the net, waiting!





Wooohooo!!!  In the net!!!  One landed for 35 whiffed aint bad there Scrub!





Tom's on!





Two on!





And the fish coming back to the stern for a measurement...





Fishin's gettin a little better!





Scrub with the, "It's a fluke, no wait a minute...I think it's a robin, no it's definitely a fluke...wait...it's definitely a robin!"

Hehe, it's definitely BOTH!





And the man into more fish...he was warming up in the second half for sure!





Back at the dock, the battle worn SCRUB!!!





I don't know what Scrub is reaching for here...but Tom seems to like it...





Craig, what are you doing/looking at here buddy?





Tom, coppin a feel!





The trailer squirrel...I'm waiting...one of these day's he'll take a swim!





The epitomy of a redneck!  Haha





Niiiiiiiiiceeeeeeeeeeee!!!





Scrub primpin his hair for the camera





Kind of a cross between Emo and Mrs. Doubtfire...





He reminds of of Todd from Wedding Crashers!









The day's catch!





Then the man Lou arrived with some cooler reloads!





The most classic picture of Tom ever...with his impression of Craig as Mrs. Doubtfire after a little drinking!

Dude, Tom is F'in hilarious!








Oh, Tommy, I couldn't resist a rough Photoshopping...I love ya man!





Craig is pretty beat...time to end the day and head on home...






Well that's the end of the day and night!  Normally I'd end this tale with the quote of the day from Charlie...but I'd probably get banned for it.  Although, I'm sure Charlie is still wondering "What that guy's..." HAHAHAHAHAHA, inside joke...HILARIOUS and NEVER to be forgotten!


Alright, that's all folks...just another awesome day out there with some good friends.  Tough fishing to start out, but everything evened out in the end as we got to put some fish in the box.  Craig took the ball busting fairly well, we were just brutal.  Tom seemed to have a great time despite his start to the morning. Craig and he were fishing in the bow, so we didn't get as much convo going as normal...although I heard all kinds of bodily noises coming from up there and was happy there was a stiff crosswind!   Charlie, as always, great time bud, I was looking forward to some "HELP ME!"s and some "Back her down"s, but alas we didn't have any of those!  Thanks for for taking us all out man, can't wait to do it again!