Matthew Mateyak's Blog

01/29/2012 - Batsto Village

2012-01-30T00:11:00.000-05:00

01/29/2012 - Batsto Village

Well, it was a beautiful and unseasonably warm winter day so I thought I'd take my camera for a drive towards Wharton State Forest and see what I'd come across that was interesting. I haven't spent much time down that way, so I'm relatively unfamiliar with the area as a whole. My travels led me to a neat little place called Batsto Village, riddled with various historic structures.

Here's a little excerpt from http://www.batstovillage.org/:

Batsto Village, is a New Jersey historic site located in the South Central Pinelands, which is administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks & Forestry. This site is nationally recognized for its historical significance and beauty. The roots of Batsto Village can be traced back to 1766. Two centuries of American history are available to visitors, with the Pinelands environment as a scenic backdrop.

I'm sure this village is much more vibrant in the spring time, but I viewed it as a nice day to learn more about my camera and have a little fun shooting.
Here's some pics from the day (really just cropped, didn't spend any time yet on editing the images).

Lessons learned:

1) Shooting my Nikkor at 24mm with the Hoya CPL filter results in some vignetting in the corners. Didn't really ruin any shots, but cropping was needed to trim it out. Next time I'll bump it a bit and step back if needed for the composition.

2) I got a good sampling of challenging contrast scenarios...bright sky and dark subjects. I've seen photographers blend two exposures to make a single HDR (high dynamic range) image, but it requires exposing for both the sky and the dark subject to maintain detail in both. I'll have to spend the time with two exposures on these shots in the future to try it out. Other options are ND gradient filters...but I need to read up on it more.

3) I need a wider lens! That Nikkor 14-24mm would be the ticket for getting much larger landscapes...although this is more architectural, I still found myself shooting at 24mm more than anything else and still stepping back.

4) Bring your flash...always! I left it in my camera bag...in my truck...but it would have been useful (especially for decreasing the contrast between building and sky, as well as the boat under the canopy of structure).

Alright enough of the lessons, let's move on to some pictures!

This first shot was actually on my drive...came across the abandoned house and silo along a road...so I swung back around and snapped a few pics.
None of them came out really great, but it's a neat spot, I'll have to swing back again under different conditions...maybe the snow (if we get any more)?

This was the start of the village...

Well that's it for now. If I have some time, I may edit and enhance a few of the RAW files to get them closer to where I would have liked.
Definitely a fun and relaxing day out there and a much needed break! Really looking forward to spring when the colors start to come out! ;)

01/07/2012 - Moonlight

2012-01-07T23:59:00.000-05:00

Just a couple shots from tonight as I experimented before driving home...

Not the best of light, too early in the night (right after sunset) and a foggy cloud cover rolled in...would have been nicer if the skies were clear with some isolated clouds. A few still came out kinda cool though! ;)

24mm :: f/11 :: 5 seconds :: ISO 3200

28mm :: f/14 :: 30 seconds :: ISO 1600

01/01/2012 - Colliers Mills Success Lake Sunset

2012-01-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

Well, it was a busy day of hiking, pulling cams, and pulling stands...but I timed it just about right to hit Success Lake in Colliers Mills for the last hour of light.
The day was perfect, blue skies...just a few clouds...should be perfect for a sunset shoot...anticipating getting some nice colors reflecting off the clouds at last light.
That was the plan, but mother nature decided otherwise as a steep wall of gray cloud cover rolled in right as the sun started dipping down!
Oh well, it was good practice and I got a few nice ones...nice evening out there!

Here's a few from tonight...bear with the repetition...trying different focal lengths and switched from a circular polarizer filter to a UV clear filter.

24mm f/16 with the circular polarizer filter

Didn't want to shoot on the extreme end of the lens' range, so I bumped to 26mm and shot at f/16.

With the UV clear filter instead of the circular polarized at 26mm f/16

As the clouds encroach more...26mm f/16

A little shift in composition as the clouds pretty much consumed the sky to the right...24mm f/16

Another little shift...24mm f/16

And one that was shot earlier but was underexposed...like how it came out at 26mm f/16

12/04/2011 - Hiking Colliers Mills with Dad

2011-12-05T20:23:00.001-05:00

So Dad is in town for NJ's 6-day firearm season, so I took a little hike with him on Sunday afternoon to check out some old spots he's hunted in the past from the ground. Figured it was a good of time as any to take my D700 for it's first walk in the woods!

Just a few shots from the day...

Makin faces right out of the gate...he loves having his picture taken!

Can't you tell? haha

Just messing with a big ol' pitch pine

And some sunlit cedars...

A big old cedar!

Some texture fun...

A nice moss covered log I found along the way...

The source of where it fell many years ago...

A little creek on the way out...

Uprooted...

Just a split cedar I found interesting...certainly home to some creatures...

Inside...some spiders remnants...

Dad, back at the truck...loungin!

Ronnie!

He loves it, don't let him tell ya otherwise! haha

Definitely a nice day in the woods shared with Dad, wish he was up here more often. Also got to learn a little more about my D700...work in progress, and a neverending learning path...I like that!

11/13/2011 - NJ Permit Bow 8 Pointer

2011-11-14T12:16:00.001-05:00

Well, the rut is in high gear here in New Jersey...and with pretty good daytime temps my cams have been showing a lot of activity both day and night!
A few nice bucks have been around but I was holding out to see if a big boy would move in and take over, but it hasn't happened.

With limited time off due to the new job (pretty much weekends only), as I entered the stand this Sunday morning I said to myself if the high brow 8 pointer shows up I'm going to shoot! And that's exactly what happened!

I snuck into the stand about 30 minutes before first light. Some condensation on the leaves made for a nice quiet stalk to my stand and I got in there perfectly without bumping any deer at all! I got settled in and about 15 minutes later heard some commotion to my right, sounded like a few deer running around...not all out chase mode, but definitely like they were getting nudged around. Even though it was still dark I opted to hit the can call to see if I could coax them to mill over to my direction just in time for legal shooting light. A few minutes later I hear a single deer approaching from behind me, which I could see through my binos was a small spike...he crossed right in front of the stand and headed over to the deer I heard on the right. I guess he chased them around a bit before moving off.

Things quieted down so I hit the grunt call and 4 does meandered in front of my stand about 25 yards and fed just after daybreak. That small buck returned again to harass them a bit before they moved off...and that harassment garnished the attention of the 8 pointer as he must of gotten out of his bed to come over and investigate. With the does out of site, he spotted the small buck and circled in...approached him with his ears pinned back to show him who's boss and stood broadside directly in front of my stand around 23 yards or so.

I drew back started to settle in but rushed the shot and made a marginal one center mass and right below the spine. The deer bolted off on a dead run for about 120 yards before he was out of my sight and I heard what I thought was a crash and then silence. Worried about the shot placement, I wasn't confident that crash was him going down and figured I would be lucky to hit the liver, kidneys or an artery...all fatal shots. So I backed out quietly 45 minutes later and waited another 4-5 hours before taking up the blood trail. The trail was spotty for the first 100 yards but then got better and better. As I crested a blowdown I spotted white in the distance through the thickets, threw up my binos and wasn't quite sure it was my downed deer...so I crept up slowly with a nocked arrow in case a follow-up shot was needed. As it turned out, no follow-up shot was needed at all and my buck was down! He made it about 200 yards before going down and that crashing I heard immediately after the shot was indeed him falling right where he laid. I was extremely fortunate to sever a major artery that runs along the spine and this buck died within 10-15 seconds of being shot. But given the questionable shot placement, it was definitely the right move to backout and wait.

Certainly what could have turned into a disaster turned into a great day! Bad shots don't happen often, but if you've bowhunted long enough...they will happen. I was relieved and happy the shot worked out and I was able to put him down quickly!

Here's a few pics from the bloodtrailing and how I found him!

Blood started getting very good the last 100 yards...

Arrow came out about 50 yards before I found him...

As I found him...

Some shots of him on the ground...

And a great end to a beautiful November day!

http://mmateyak.blogspot.com/2011/11/11132011-nj-permit-bow-8-pointer.html

2011 South Jersey Shark Tournament - 1st Place aboard Out on a Limb 4!

2011-06-13T15:06:00.001-04:00

Well boys and girls, it goes without saying...the crew aboard Out on a Limb 4 had an absolutely awesome weekend taking 1st place in the 2011 South Jersey Shark Tournament landing a 240# mako and taking home grand total of $136,210.40! The man, the myth, the legend...Captain JR Santos was behind the helm with Joel, Doug, Greg, and myself rounding out the rest of the crew!

As usual, I'll let the pics do most of the talking! I don't have a ton, as we were very focused on the fishing more than picture taking...but enough to tell a little story! ;)

After prepping the boat for the tournament earlier in the week, JR trailered the boat down to Cape May where he and I met up, slipped the boat in, and secured it for the following day while Vongas attended the captain's meeting and entered us into all of the prize pools! The three of us grabbed a quick bite at Lucky Bones before heading back to the hotel to meet with the other guys. Later that evening, Doug and Joel arrived and we began prepping the rods and rigs for the tournament. Afterwards JR went into his magical thinktank, formulating a strategy for where to fish on Day 1! With a location selected, we all headed to bed around 1:00AM for a glorious 3 hours of sleep before the 4:30AM wakeup!

Riding the streets of Cape May on Thursday afternoon before JR got down with the boat...

Day 1 arrives, as we all wake up ready for some sharkin action! A little over 3 hours of sleep seems to phase no one, as the excitement outweighs the need for rest! I don't think Joel even slept! We grab a quick breakfast and our lunches with 100 other people at the local Wawa and head off to the marina. We packed up the gear, threw off the lines and headed to the shotgun start!

Greg and Doug on the way out...

Heading on out to the shotgun start...

A Penn 50TW ready for some action!

Doug and JR with some more rods rigged and ready to go behind them!

A little scenery...

We missed the 7:00AM shotgun start by about a minute...if you look closely you can see the smoke from the engines in the distance out in front of us

No worries though, JR's 36' Yellowfin with triple 275 Mercury Verados gets us caught up quickly!

We get to the fishing grounds JR selected the night before well ahead of the 9:30AM fishing start time to find some beautiful water! Crystal clear and a nice deep blue!

Greg and Doug getting things ready...

The gaffs are ready to sink into a mako!

Conditions look pretty nice!

Action was pretty slow going, very little drift and couldn't cover ground as a result.
Late morning we had a hit but came up empty with a short bite!

Then things died off again until mid afternoon when we spotted two makos come into the slick, one big one and one smaller one.
They swam around the boat, through the slick, and we saw both come right by us a couple times.
JR hand fed a bait out and hooked up, but the fish came unbuckled in seconds.
He rebaited and fed back out and 5 minutes later sunk the hook into the right one!
He held on to the rod (beltless) and fought the fish all the way to the boat!
This is the only pic I have of the fight before the crew synched up in their roles to boat the fish!

JR was on the rod, Joel was the leader man, Doug and Greg were on the gaffs, while I ran the boat to keep the fish in good position and carried the shotgun to finish the mako off once it was gaffed! The team worked together beautifully, everything came together just perfect and we were able to boat the 240# mako after a wicked battle! The mako gave us a show, ripping drag, launching out of the water, rolling in the air, cruising across the top of the water...but JR held on and got her to the leader where the rest of the crew took over! Once we boated the fish, we called it in and headed for the weigh-in! Here's a few shots of it on the deck on the ride in.

Some shots at the weigh-in

The crew shot at the weigh-in (photo credit to Bob Weber)

After the weigh-in, we headed back to marina, cleaned up the boat, and took a few shots of the mako that day!

Captain JR Santos!

Joel!

Doug!

Vongas!

And an awesome group shot of the entire crew!

After the pics, we headed back to the hotel to get ourselves cleaned up before returning for some dinner at the tent!

We saw another nice mako was weighed in by the Miss Frances as well.

After dinner, we hit the hotel to recoup a few hours of sleep before the next day.
We began Day 2 with some pretty foggy conditions

The fireball in the sky was trying to peek through!

Doug mastered the art of sleeping standing up!

Vongas and Joel are ready for another day!

And our fearless leader taking the helm once again!

Due to the fog, we took our time getting out there and still managed to make it to our fishing grounds with a few minutes to spare before the start. Fitting shot, Day 2 was Doug's 31st birthday and this is the 31st annual South Jersey Shark Tournament!

Slow fishing for us on Day 2, not much on the radio either but we did hear a nice one was landed but nothing on size or species...they must have been talking about the one 3D weighed in that day. We headed back to our marina, cleaned up the boat and got it trailered up and then headed over to the tent again for the final weigh-ins. At 7:30PM, the event coordinator called it, and Out on a Limb was on top with the biggest mako of the tournament!

A couple hours later, the awards and checks were presented!

Shot of the trophies...

And the awards being announced...

Nora Jane awarded for Most Points Overall, Most Points Mako (photo credit to Bob Weber)

Noreaster II awarded for Most Points Blue (photo credit to Bob Weber)

Miss Francis awarded for Base Prize 2nd Heaviest Shark and Base Prize 2nd Heaviest Mako

3D awarded for Base Prize 3rd Heaviest Shark, Base Prize 3rd Heaviest Mako, Base Prize Daily Heaviest Mako Day 2, Overall Calc. A 2nd Heaviest Shark, Overall Calc. A 2nd Heaviest Mako, Overall Calc. B 2nd Heaviest Shark, Overall Calc. B 2nd Heaviest Mako, Daily Double Heaviest Shark Day 2, Daily Double Heaviest Mako Day 2, and Mako Mania 2nd Heaviest Mako (photo credit to Bob Weber)

And our crew, Out on a Limb IV with Captain JR Santos awarded Base Prize Heaviest Shark, Base Prize Heaviest Mako, Base Prize Daily Heaviest Mako Day 1, Overall Calc. A Heaviest Shark, Overall Calc. A Heaviest Mako, Overall Calc. B Heaviest Shark, Overall Calc. B Heaviest Mako, Daily Double Heaviest Shark Day 1, Daily Double Heaviest Mako Day 1, and Mako Mania Heaviest Mako

And Captain JR Santos with the big payday!

What more can I say...the whole weekend was truly an amazing experience! I can't thank JR enough for the invite, and congratulations to both he and the rest of our crew on a spectacular win! Without question, JR is an absolutely top notch captain, capable of winning any tournament regardless of the species...proven in the past and proven again this weekend! I was honored to fill in as part of the crew on a well deserved win for JR and his regular crew! It was a great time with great friends and a weekend I don't think any of us will ever forget!

06/08/2011 - Striper Fishing on OOAL

2011-06-09T12:13:00.001-04:00

Well, considering the insane striper bite that's been going on, I threw together a last minute trip aboard Out on a Limb with Captain JR on a quest for the big girls!
Unfortunately the striper bite died off severely since Monday, but JR was able to put us on a nice pod of fish for a awesome bass crush last night!

I'll let the pics do the talking...

Rich, the Asian Assassin, enjoying some Sun Chips before leaving the dock!

Jay, hangin loose and ready for some action!

The Mikes...possibly arguing over the Yankees and Mets...or who ties better knots...not sure which haha

Chris is ready to roll...coming up all the way from Maryland!

Mike is all smiles!

Jay, me, and Rich LOVE the big girls!

Captain JR arrives at the boat.

We head out to net some bunks...and make bait in short order with 100+ pieces in a few throws!

Then it's off to the fishing grounds and Jay starts things off right!

A short stint later and Rich hooks up with a good one!

Get em Quon!

Sexy girl in the net!

Nice fish buddy!

Gami hooks...getting cheaper? Hook failure!

A little scenery...

JR on the prowl for some more striped ones!

Well, what happened next happened quick...and there's only a few shots to capture the chaos as we all wanted in on the action!
Was definitely straight out of National Geographic with bass just corraling and swarming bunker, explosions everywhere, bunker just getting launched out of the water into the air...absolute chaos!
We kept our limit and played catch and release until after dark. No real big girls, Rich's fish was the biggest of the trip, but some great action toward the end!
Here's the only two shots I have of some of the fish we got during the madness! Fish were laying all over the deck at one point, 3-6 guys on at a time, simply awesome!

Playing with the camera at night...a little zoomed in shot of the Verrazano Bridge in the distance on the way in...

Back at the dock, a few fish pics of the ones we kept.

Great job by Captain JR to put us on the fish in some pretty tough conditions!
All around great time with a really cool group of guys.
Was great to fish with Rich and Jay again, and meet Mike and his friends Mike and Chris!

Now it's time to get ready for the Cape May Shark Tournament this weekend! Let's do it!

05/14/2011 - Thomas Elefante Memorial Striped Bass Tournament on OOAL

2011-05-15T10:38:00.000-04:00

The time came for a great event in memory of an even greater friend, as many of us gathered in participation of the Thomas Elefante Memorial Striped Bass Tournament.
Our fishing group comprised of Doug "Hulk Smash" Schumann and his father Art, Tom "Canned Hams" Daly, John "Lobo" Lobosoco, Greg "The Vonganator" Vongas, and yours truly.
We chartered Out on a Limb with Captain JR at the helm of the OOAL4.

Given the tournament, more attention went to fishing (optional picture day, normally I hold them at gunpoint to get fish pics), so I only took 300 pictures instead of my standard 1000+ today.
Actually there aren't quite that many...but I'll let them tell the fun of the story...

In the morning packing up the boat at "O dark thirty"...the OOAL4

While I waited for my crew to arrive, I observed the Team Misfists...I mean Misfit preparing for the day.
Notice how all pics are taken under the cover of shadows...very suspect group!
I got to catch up with the working man...formerly known as Sea Tiger Jeff...who is now an NYC cop.

The young gun Chris N

The man formely known as the white Kimbo Slice

And the Edison Pirate in full psychedelic mode!

They were well prepared...for fluking...at a striper-a-thon...haha

Then my crew started to arrive, as the boat fired up!

Doug and his dad getting ready...it's no surprise Hulk sports green slicks!

Tom Drinks Daly in the house!

The Vongas Factor!!!

JR, wondering if his daughter's slicks will fit...they did yesterday.

Doug and his dad, rigging up...

Daly and Lobo, getting ready in the bow...

C'mon now, you didn't really think there was ANY way I was going to miss out on a picture of those tropical short covered canned hams, did you Tom?
At this point, after years of observation, I've noticed Tom LOVES to show off his canned hams...I think if we fished on a king crab boat in the Bering Sea in the dead of winter...he'd still be wearing shorts!

And this is how most humans dress in these conditions...although it is possible Tom's an alien. Greg isn't.

Time to find the bunker! This was a bit of a challenge, so I have a few sequence pics of JR throwing, but I later drove the boat doing the bunker rodeo (that was fun with OOAL4!) inhibiting picture taking mode.

We eventually got enough bunker to make a run to the fish, and on the way...well Captain Canned Hams had to exhibit his incredible canned ham strength where this knife miraculously snapped in half at the mere sight of them!

Underway and moving!

After getting set up...Doug was on in quick order

Followed by Lobo...

And Daly wasn't far behind. Is it just me...or does Daly look like a Hobbit from Lord of the Rings next to Doug's dad here? hahaha

Art and Greg live lining

Proof Tom doesn't just drink...he actually eats too!

Doug...calm today because everyone was too busy busting my balls all day.

Lobo...the uni-bomber

Vongas, always smiling

Art just relaxing...

A little later Tom...contemplating his drink selection later tonight...vodka, grappa...is my bunker getting eaten...yaeger shots maybe?

VODKA!!! I mean FISH ON!!!

Alright that was it for pics on the water, we focused and fished hard all day and put a nice catch together but couldn't come across any big girls.
We had 4 right around 20# with our biggest around 22.5#.

Tommy boy! Nice event t-shirt!

At the weigh-in and awards ceremony...Sam did an awesome job organizing and coordinating the event!

Awwww, see Charlie's just a big ol' softie...

Sam, giving away top prize for heaviest fish to High Guy's winning team

And the trophy...

The winning team...congratulations guys!

And the human cartoon Scrubby organized a quick 50/50. He had a hilarious, yet straight faced pitch for selling individual cards the deck, "Buy two, they're small" hahahahahaha

And a kid drew the winner, who was our captain JR!

Partial group shot at the end of the event...not all were in attendance.

After the weigh-in, we headed to Jake-a-bobs for some dinner and drinks.
Chris...wiped out...what a lightweight...that water kicked his ass

Not sure what's going on here...it looks like some serious religious overtones revolving around a shot glass.
Tom's praying deeply...
Scrubby is looking at Tom like he's a choir boy in need of a confession...
Robin is taking pictures to memorialize the shot forever.
Elusive is asking himself how in the world he wound up at THAT table...

And we'll finish with a great sequence of the Jake-a-bob celebrity...

Mix and match and we have our boy Lou, who was formerly known as the white Kimbo Slice...

But his birth origin is now in question and under stringent review as a possible love child of Swamp People's Junior. DNA analysis is pending! Hahaha

Man what a great time, we all had an absolute blast at this event.
A big thanks to all that contributed, attended, and helped organize this great event!
Until next year!

05/08/2011 - Fluke Fishing Schupps Rental

2011-05-08T20:05:00.001-04:00

The fluke season opened early here in New Jersey this year, so I decided to give a whirl with none other than the Scrubbalicious one aboard a Schupps Rental.
The logic was simple...warmer water in the river would mean more active fish.
Well someone forgot to tell the fish that!

Definitely a struggle of a day, as Scrub and I tried to put together a catch but just couldn't seem to locate a flat of cooperative fish.
We fished hard and managed to squeeze out 2 keepers on the day, but only 15 fish or so on the whole day.
Beautiful weather all weekend though and it was nice being back on the water again bucktailing away!
Might give it a few weeks until it warms up again before giving it another go...we'll see how things pan out!

Here's a few pics from the trip...

Scrub packing up...

The patented Two-Handed Hi!

Scrub rockin the goatee!

It's coming...

There it is!

My first fluke of 2011 (not counting one in FL)

And my first keeper of 2011!

Scrub's first keeper of 2011...an old fishing reel, possibly sunken treasure from the early 1700s? Alright, it was really probably some guy that fell asleep at the reel while fishing the bridge.

Scrub proving he can catch bunker with a bucktail!

He can miss them too...but he got a souvenir!

Final catch :(

And these fluke, even the shorts we threw back, had bulging stomachs. Upon further evaluation, we find why...a TON of grash shrimp! Makes me wonder if they were just full back there...

That's all for now...more trips coming...the season is just beginning!

05/07/2011 - Trout Fishing New Jersey

2011-05-08T19:54:00.001-04:00

Well I hit the Musky again on Saturday to do a little trout fishing.
Coincidentally, as I pulled into the parking spot, Ting was already there. So we fished the rest of the morning and afternoon together.
Not quite a slammer day for me, I missed at least 30-40 hits...but managed to land around 15 trout on the day.
Ting did quite well, his artifical quasi-customs outfishing me!

Here's a few shots from the day.

Fish leaped right as I snapped the pic, turned out pretty cool!

Ting with a nice brownie

05/01/2011 - Trout Fishing and Breeder Rainbow Released

2011-05-01T21:45:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a day! I hit the Musky for an afternoon of trout fishing today and was already having a spectacular one releasing about 30 trout, a mixture of rainbows and brookies ranging from fingerling size to 14"...that was until I landed a beautiful breeder rainbow. The fish was caught on 4# test mono, size 12 Gamikatsu baitholder, two BB split shots and an earthworm. The fight lasted about 10-15 minutes, I knew I wanted to attempt a release so I put max tension on it to get it to the net quickly but couldn't move it for half the time in the current. Eventually I was able to coax it enough while I moved downstream to get parallel with it and successfully net it.

I didn't have a tape or scale on me, I took a rough measurement with my rod (using a split shot on the line to mark the end) and measured it at home at exactly 24". It was a nice, fat rainbow...I figure she had to go at least 5-6#. Either way, a great catch, I was pumped! Glad another fisherman swung by when he saw me fighting the fish as he was able to snap a few pics before the revival session.

That's when the interesting aspect of this fish story began. I was borderline on keeping the fish concerned it wouldn't survive and I told myself, I'll put the time in and if I can revive it...I'll let it go...otherwise I'll keep it and mount it. Well I spent over an hour with that fish...for the first 10 minutes it was breathing but couldn't keep itself upright. Then it finally regained itself enough to stay upright in a little bit of nearby current. I sat and watched it for 45 minutes as it slowly regained it's strength and began to swim in place. Finally after about an hour and 10 minutes, it began to swim side by side and swam off into the deep pool across the current. I watched the area for awhile to make sure it didn't come up again, but I'm pretty confident it'll be OK. My hope and intention was that hopefully some kid can hook into that monster and have a lifetime memory...I have mine, and I took it away with me in the form of a picture! ;)

So here's some pics from a really fun day, along with some videos of the fish during the revival.

First let's start with the bait!

Mostly an earthworm day!

But we had mealies too!

And corn!

And a few fish were caught...along with some scenic observation and relaxation! ;)

And for the nice breeder rainbow...

And the revival phase...

The 45 minute phase...where she could hover on her own.

And some videos of that 45 minute observation phase and the final swim off. Sorry I know they're hard to see...just video through a handheld point and shoot.

05/01/2011 - Trout Fishing: Rainbow 1

05/01/2011 - Trout Fishing: Rainbow 2

04/30/2011 - Blackfishing on Tagged Fish

2011-04-30T20:35:00.000-04:00

Alright, it's been awhile since I've written any fishing reports...so I thought it was time to dust of the keyboard!

Greg Vongas hooked up a charter aboard Tagged Fish for the final day of blackfishing at the 4 fish limit.
Ron, Stelli, Tony, Brian, and myself rounded out a great crew with Chad behind the throttle and anchor lines!

I'd never sailed with Chad before, but he ran a great operation and certainly lived up to his reputation!
We were on life from the first drop onward, with a solid bite filling our 6-man blackfish limit by 8:30AM and a boat limit just shy of 10:00AM as we switched spots.
The two big fish of the day were Brian's 9.12# tog and Chad's 10.3# tog...real nice way to end the season!

Felt great to be on the water again, and a lot of fun with a great group of guys!
Thanks to Greg to the invite and Chad for showing us a great time on the water!

Here's a few pics from the day (yeah right, when do I ever post a "few") haha

Tagged Fish, Chad getting ready...

Bahr's, where we were...

On the way out...

Stelli and Brian, gearing up...

Got crabs?

Stelli, teaching me the Stell-rig...

Greg, Tony, and Chad on the way out...

Chad with his 10.2# tog

Ron in on the tog...

Stelli...with a well spooled reel...but he's not concerned

Stelli working on our mixed bag haha

Nice size!

Greg was pretty tired by the time we hit the tog limit...slingin lead aint easy...tell em Greg!

Ron was too smart for the sleeper cam...he woke up promptly with a smile!

Ling-a-ding!

Stelli giving his impression of Braveheart meets ling?

Brian, fishin...

Tony, swingin...

Stelli, you concerned yet?

Tony's back on with another one...

Nice cod this time!

Stelli's back into one...

No Braveheart impression this time...

We got congers!!!

We got tog!!!

We got more congers!!!

We got winter flounder!!!

Greg actually bit this tog back...ok, no he didn't...but he wanted to.

Stelli, adding to the mixed bag with a silver eel!

Tony with another tog that went back in the drink...

Brian with another nice cod...

And what the cod was eating...

And Stelli impaled this GIANT right as the horn sounded

Final buckets-o-fish

Lots-o-fillets

The two bigguns

Brian with his 9.12# tog

Alright that's all folks. And while it may appear like Greg and Ron may not have caught as much...definitely not the case...they just happened to be fishing on the other side of the boat and away from the camera!
I think Ron was high hook on tog, he was on fire early putting us all to shame.
In the end, everyone had a limit+ of tog and various other mixed bag species.
We kept our boat limit of tog and probably threw back another 15-20+ keeper tog.
Great job and great time all around, can't wait to get back out on the water!

Trout fishing tomorrow!

07/17/2010 - Fluking on Atlantic Highlands Rental

2010-07-18T11:51:00.001-04:00

07/17/2010 - Fluking on Atlantic Highlands Rental

Well Chris and I met up dark and early at my place around 3:30AM and headed up to the Atlantic Highlands to hit up a rental for a day of fluking the river!

After grabbing some fine breakfast and lunch cuisine at 7-11, along with a cooler-full-o-ice, we departed my place and arrived at the marina right around 5:00AM. I took care of the paperwork while Chris loaded the boat...and off we went.

We were catching the last bit of outgoing and opted to hit the same areas we did 2 weeks earlier when we limited. On our ride out, we saw the bulkheads were wet (from the previous high tide) VERY high...possibly the highest I've ever seen there. Not knowing what the moon was, we figured it was a full moon tide...but apparently it wasn't! Maybe all the rain from last week? Either way later in the day...when high tide came in...it had to rise a good 6-8 feet or more.

Alright on to the day...

Here's Chris, excited for the day!

We head on out and catch a nice sunrise a short while later...

There was a good breeze coming out of the WNW for most of the day, giving us wind against tide for the first part of the morning. The bite was pretty slow, with only a few shorts coming up out of a spot where we pulled like 8 keepers from two weeks earlier...very suprising.

We moved off to where Chris nailed two keepers at the end of the day last time, and I was able to get our first keeper of the day near there, a few others shorts...and this interesting fish!
At first glance I thought it was a monkfish, but the teeth seem rounded not sharp like a monkfish normally is.
After I got home, I did a little research and this appears to be an oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau).

I enjoyed this tidbit of info I found too..

"While it is edible, the oyster toadfish is rarely eaten because of its grotesque appearance."

Yeah we threw it back for exactly that reason...LOL

So after that adventure, we opted to take a trek to another spot we picked a few last time out, and that's when Chris opened the clinic for the day. We didn't bring in a ton of fish at the spot, but it seemed like every fish I caught over there was a short while his were all keepers. In about 2 hours Chris secured his limit of 6, while I was only able to land 1 more over there...giving us 8 on the day thus far.

One of the classic moments of the day was when I was retying and we drifted up into the shallows...Chris hooks into a fish that starts ripping drag on him out and away from the boat. "Ohhhh man, it's a damn bluefish". Chris is all POed, not wanting to lose his bucktail to a yellow-eyed demon...when all of sudden the fish comes up as a nice 20"+ fluke! Seriously, this kid could do no wrong, he was a keeper catching animal! LOL Turns out we were probably in like 4-5 feet of water and the fish simply couldn't go DOWN, only OUT to escape...nice surprise! ;)

Anyway, the bite died out as did the tide, so we kicked around a few spots from earlier hoping some fish moved in but it was just plain slow! Nothing but shorts, and few at that, everywhere we went.

It was nearing the end of the day when the wind picked up, so we opted to go back to the spot where I caught the first keeper earlier in the day...second drift I hook up and 5 seconds later Chris hooks up with a real good one and goes into fish fighting panic mode! Haha I horse mine in, easy 19-20" keeper, skip the net, just fling him over the side and into the boat knowing Chris has a nice one on...so I put my rod down and grab the net, up comes a 5lb 12oz flattie! Great fish, especially for the river!

We drifted that same area like 30 times...and again only a handful of shorts to show for it! Couldn't believe it.
We were running out of time before having to return the rental, so we hopped around a bit more but couldn't locate our two final keepers and went in with 10.
Our final catch of the day...

Certainly not a bad catch for the day we had, a lot of rentals out there but we only heard of 3 other keepers coming in out of the river that day.
Compared to our trip 2 weeks ago, we probably had 1/3 as many fish but nearly as many keepers...so definitely a better ratio of shorts to keepers, but just not a lot of fish.
The fish that were there were inhaling baits, so they were hungry...which leads me to believe the fish just weren't there in numbers like they were two weeks earlier.
I'd have to think those super high tides played a role...not sure if fish moved out as a result of the rains or what.
Either way, a great day on the water with a bag full of fillets for both of us!

07/11/2010 - Fluking on Misfit

2010-07-12T12:06:00.001-04:00

07/11/2010 - Fluking on Misfit

Alright, so you didn't think I was actually not going to fish both days this weekend did you? :)
Chris and I met up at my place around 3:30AM, packed up our gear and headed off to Keyport for a trip aboard the Misfit with the Edison pirate and the legendary Lou!
We arrived around 5:00AM, greeted by Charlie and Lou ready to hit the water.
Also saw Boston Pete, Peanut Butter and Jelly John and Pete's nephew ready to cast off in pursuit of some flatties too!

We all headed out around the same time into an absolutely awesome sunrise!
Here's the Pickle cruising on out off our starboard...

The Edison Pirate...he looks kinda serious...

Chris, thumbs up...I know he's thinking clinic in his head on the ride out!

Lou, with some kinda quasi Kimbo Slice beard/goatee flexing his fluke muscles!
I also think this is an intimidation picture to punk Chris out for the Homerun Derby that is supposed to take place sometime between now and 2037...

The sunrise sequence...great way to start off the day!

We approach the hook...and see someone lost their way the evening/night before...

We arrive at the fluking grounds after facing a nasty and big SE swell (again not good for conditions).
We had a pretty good drift and were able to cover ground unlike yesterday.
Things started off pretty well...the first fish, also a keeper!
Good start for young Chris...looking bad for the rest of us because he's already chanting clinic!
I'm pretty sure I spotted a bead of sweat forming on Charlies forehead lol

Despite the quick start...the fishing was super slow.
We hit up a bunch of spots, donated our fair share of lead to the bucktail gods
But we kept at it...bucktailing away...

We hit a deeper patch of water where I landed a nice keeper for the box and Charlie landed first Atlantic cod ever...too bad he was a short and had to go back!

Lou with a double dark side fluke! Pretty neat!

Little later in the day, Charlie landed a nice keeper on the dark side of a sundial strip!

Chris suddenly hooks into something...and gets pumped up in the bow..."Ohhhhh this is a big one, OMG OMG OMG, this one is huge!!!"
Double header sea robins will do that to a kid! lol

He lost one swinging them over the side.

Yeah he seriously wore those sunglasses for half the day...hahahaha

Our final catch, 9 keeper fluke and 2 keeper sea bass.

Charlie "accidently" slipped with the hose while Chris and Lou cleaned the boat. And of course, I just "happened" to be there with camera in hand! LOL

Ah, it was a really tough bite again. We cruised around and hit a bunch of spots trying to find a solid bite, but just couldn't get anything beyond a slow pick and occassional keeper going.
We had the medley on the day though: fluke, seabass, atlantic cod, ling, skate, dogfish, bergals...
Sounded like most on the water that day wound up in the same scenario.
Looking forward to that swell going away and better conditions coming!

Few lessons on the day...
1) Lou gets punked easily
2) Lou eats dirty socks...don't ask for any more detail on that, you REALLY don't want to know.
3) Lou likes to lose fillet knives over the side
4) Lou likes to break the only net we have
5) Charlie likes to throw screws (that hold the net together) that he can't identify over the side
6) Charlie thought Chris had poor taste in swimming trunks until he saw those sunglasses
7) I'm almost positive Chris intends on redeeming himself by giving me a bass clinic sometime this week after work
8) Wawa cookies and cream milkshakes are an awesome way to end the day! :)

Until next time...

07/10/2010 - Fluking on OOAL

2010-07-12T11:23:00.000-04:00

07/10/2010 - Fluking on OOAL

Well another summer weekend means only one thing...time to go fluking!
Scrub hooked up a charter aboard OOAL with Rich aka Red, Larry aka Death From Above, Mike aka MS22, Tim aka Dbuck/justbanmenow, and myself completing the crew this time around.
Unfortunately Tim couldn't make it due to a family emergency the night before, so we sailed with 5.
Tim, hope all is well!

We met up around 5:00AM and headed on out in hopes of some big flatties.
As usual, I'll let the pictures tell most of the story! ;)

Starting off the morning...we have Seabass Larry!

I really don't have a description for what's going on here...but I could think of several that are completely inappropriate haha
Scrub...with another classic face...and Mike trying to tie a rig...

Scrub's patented two handed hi!

Red, chillin...note, he did NOT bring any Cuban sandwiches. JR was very upset lol

On the ride out...

We spotted some bunker, so JR decided to throw a net to have some fresh strip bait!

And the end result...

Beautiful sunrise...

Our fearless leader...

We ran out to the grounds, turning the hook and encountering a big southern swell...generally not a good sign.
We reached our first destination and started bucktailing away...slow pick of fish, even a couple winter flounder hitting bucktails!

Naturally with the cloud cover, we expected a few shadows...here's one just past Scrub in the shape of a boat!
That shadow followed us around alllllllllll day!
We tried to escape it, running miles at times...but no luck...it was all over us like a cheap suit!

It's all good, we kept on fishing...and landing a few keeps here and there!
Here's Larry with a nice one for the box! ;)

And Scrubalicious with a nice 6lb 7oz flattie! Sweet!

The fluke were being finicky but the seabass were slamming baits.
Here's a big ol' knucklehead...the fish aint half bad either! haha

We fished HARD all day...the big southern swell, really slow drift conditions, and a finicky bite made for a real tough day but we were able to put a solid catch together finishing the day with 27 keeper fluke (one was lost when it was tossed into the livewell and shot right out and over the side haha) and 19 keeper sea bass! Scrub's 6lb 7oz was the biggest on the day with a few 3-4lbers mixed in.

Few notes from the day...
1) Mike miraculously didn't sleep at all the night before...and remained standing and fishing all day. He's usually good for his limit+, he definitely needs sleep the night before! lol
2) Although Rich forgot the Cuban sandwiches and JR wouldn't let him live it down, he fished hard all day...and took a lot of abuse in the process!
3) Larry is now known as Seabass Larry cuz he was beatin on them in the bow and added 4 nice keeper fluke to the mix!
4) JR may have broken his personal best in terms of bucktail losses...I think he only lost like 3 or 4 all day. He's usually good for a solid 12-15 average! AND he caught his limit AGAIN!
5) Scrub had a solid showing catching his limit and big fish on the day, but I'd be lying if I didn't say he was pissed when I came from behind to land 3 keepers in about 20 minutes to get the first limit on the boat while he was working on his last fish for 3 hours!

Well, another nice day out on the water with some good friends and a cooler full of fillets! Doesn't get much better than that...well except if we had some Cuban sandwiches for lunch! :D
Until next time...

06/26/2010 - Fluking on Reel Class

2010-06-30T12:31:00.001-04:00

06/26/2010 - Fluking on Reel Class

Sorry for the delay boys and girls, was a crazy busy weekend and start of the work week!

Well there were some last minute openings on an open boat fluking trip on Reel Class out of Point Pleasant...and despite the Edison Pirate's BBQ scheduled for the PM, I just couldn't resist jumping aboard to get my dose of bucktailing!

This was my first trip aboard the newly upgraded Reel Class with Captain Allen...in fact this was the maiden fluke voyage for his new ride, so naturally the plan was to seek out those elusive early season flatties in hopes of laying down a fluke carpet on the deck by day's end!

We all met up at Clark's marina for a 7:00AM departure. I was actually there around 6:30AM, but having never been there I had no idea where the boat was...so I hung around the marina tackle shop until I saw a familiar face, Captain Allen! We headed to the slip where several of the other guys were waiting. From a distance I could see two mountains standing in the stern, otherwise known as Tom "(still for now" lefteye" Kriebel and Mike "MS22, doubles as a camel with how much water he consumes per hour" Striffler. I immediately get the watch check look as if I'm late for the show...it hasn't been 30 seconds and they're already busting my chops!

I jump on board, offload my fishing gear...enough to supply a commercial fishing fleet, only to notice that the back of my leg and shorts are soaking wet. WTH! I immediately realize it's not water but rather Gulp Alive juice and A LOT of it...that leaked all over my tackle bag, through it, and all over me on the walk down the dock. So now I smell...like Gulp. Awesome!!!

Three others are on board for the trip so far: Larry, Doug, and mate Mike.
We wait for the final fisherman, Bill "The 5th", who arrives almost right at 7:00AM and receives a 10 second countdown to departure as he's walking down the dock. lol

Alright, so all aboard and pumped to hit the seas!
I take the opportunity to snap a few pics

The new Reel Class!

The crew, ready to go!

Larry, Allen and Doug

Mike thumbs up!

Tom's all smiles

Bill, almost missing the 10 second countdown, but now he's ready!

Mike the mate

And our fearless captain Allen, giving us the safety breakdown

And we're off!

Well we trek up north to fish some sticky bottom.
Allen lays down the gauntlet offering a free trip to whomever catches the first keeper fluke on the new Reel Class!
We're all fishing hard for about 10 minutes or so when I get a light sniff and whiff on the hookset.
Mike standing right next to me gets hit at the same time and comes up with the goods!
First keeper, worth a free trip!
Nice job Mike!

Phew, now the pressure is off...Mike needs to take a breather and replenish before he dehydrates and starts cramping up!

Mike "The Camel" Striffler!
Well at least we know if we ever get stranded on a deserted island, Mike will bring enough water for the whole crew, all the animals on the island, and any indigenous people that live there!

Alright, back to the fishing! Tom lands a quality keeper a short while later!

Then a sundial comes up...good bait!

Larry lands a nice knucklehead

Then I hook up with a nice keeper later in the day, weighing in at 6lbs and change!

We even see a four spotted flounder come up! Cool!

And Larry with a quality flattie!

OK, so at this point...we're probably 3/4 of the way into the trip.
I'm on the fence about giving Tom a new nickname...I mean he's been "lefteye" since I've known him so it's going to take some serious chain of events to acquire a newly associated nickname!
We've witnessed some pretty good tangles taking place throughout the day, but then as we move inshore to try some new terrain...this just seals the deal on the new nickname for Tom!
Yes, that's right...Tom is known now as Tom "The Tangle" Kriebel, aka Triple T or 3T for short!
Even the nets don't stand a chance, and they're not even in the water!!! lol

Oh boy, Triple T...what's goin on over there? "{Grumble, grumble}...shut up" haha

Braid spaghetti...Allen is honing his competitive knitting skills

Mike landed a keeper in the new area. Doug followed suit shortly after with this nice flattie!

Well we spent some time inshore picking away at some fish but couldn't produce any more keepers.
It was time to call it a day...so we packed up and head on back to the barn!
We hit the dock just in time to catch some of the weigh ins for Mako Mania which is taking place both weekend days.

This nice mako weighed in at 259lbs!

After that, we headed back to Allen's boat to organize our stuff and pack out the fish to the fillet tables!
Here's our final catch on the day, 18 keeper fluke and 11 keeper sea bass.

And a group shot right before filleting!

Overall it was a great time with an awesome crew! Fishing was a bit slow, but we managed to pick out some real quality fish with several in the 4lb+ range and some nice big sea bass mixed in!
I took our private pool with my 6lb+ flattie, but Mike had a real big one on that he lost just beneath the boat earlier in the day...definitely bigger than my 6lb+ as it started pounding drag out right when it got sight of the boat and then just came unbuckled! Tough break, but I know Mike will redeem himself sometime this season on one of our future trips! ;)

Great fishing, and thanks again to Captain Allen and his mate Mike for a job well done!
And for those that haven't had the experience yet, the new Reel Class is just a beautiful boat...truly a comfortable fishing machine!
Can't wait to get out on there again!

Until next time...

06/19/2010 - Shark Fishing with Outdoors Addiction

2010-06-22T13:58:00.000-04:00

06/19/2010 - Shark Fishing with Outdoors Addiction

I got an invite from Brian (Outdoors Addiction) to head out on his World Cat for a day of shark fishing off the Jersey coast with Matt and Roly rounding out the crew.
This would be my first time ever shark fishing, so I was pumped for the experience!

Brian did a great job getting the boat in order and securing bait/chum for the trip the day before.
So we met up at Brian's boat for a 5:00AM departure, stowed away the gear and headed on out.

Since I actually took a few pics this time, I'll let them tell the story ;)

Roly and Brian ready to roll!

Brian shoving off..

Brian's neighbors were also heading out for a day of sharking!

Scenery on the ride out...

Leaving the canal...

Nice morning...

And we're off!

The Barnegat Lighthouse as we head out the inlet...

One of Roly's sunrise pics...

So we arrived about 35 miles out and set up to troll for tuna for the last few miles on our way to the sharking grounds.
Worst case, we catch a couple blues for fresh shark bait!
Some of the setups...

Roly sporting some OA style! ;)

Cruising in the blue waters...

Some more of Brian's setups...

Brian had some rigged ballys he set out on the rods...

Roly with his HD headcam, ready for some action!

Matt, looking for some more trolling rigs...

Closeup...

And the troll is on!

Nice clear day...

Matt, playing captain...

Brian, setting up an outrigger

Roly...pimpin lol

The boys, just chilling...waiting...

Me, just lounging...

Knockdown! Fish on! Matt at the reel...

Jersey Tarpon!!! Also known as a bluefish, or...fresh shark bait!

We wound up catching another bluefish on the troll before calling it quits and heading off to the shark grounds.
Once on the grounds, Brian filleted up the fresh bluefish and rigged it up!

Then came the frozen ground bunker for chum...

We set out two float setups with bluefish fillets and one deep rod with squid and mackerel (aka ham and eggs lol)

Well, about an hour into the sharking, we had a hit...but no take. Just bit off 3/4 of the bluefish fillet.
So we re-rigged and set it back out.
30 minutes later, we had another hit as the float started skipping across the surface, so I grabbed the rod and put it in freespool.
The fish ran with it for just a couple seconds then stopped.
15 seconds later it started to run off steady and just as I was about to set on it, it stopped again.
We sat, discussing it for a few seconds, thinking maybe it was just a bluefish running off with it when all of a sudden a nice sized mako launched completely out of the water about 40 yards from the boat!
What an amazing sight! He must have grabbed the bait, ran a bit, got some slack in the line, then realized he was hooked and launched out of the water.
Once he splashed down, the line started ripping out, I locked the reel, tightened up and set the hook!
Now when I say set the hook, I had asked Brian and Matt what we needed to do when we get a hit.
Their instructions were to let the shark run for a good 5-10 seconds, then lock the reel, let it tighten and swing HARD three times, like your swinging for the fences as it's important to bury that hook in the very tough jaw of a shark.
Well apparently I did just that...because they were busting my chops for swinging like Barry Bonds via some dramatic, yet hilarious re-enactments lol

So, at this point, I'm fighting the fish and Roly is videoing and taking stills with his camera.
The fish ran hard for the first minute and then I just put the screws to him, turned his head and kept on reeling...he literally came right into the boat, ultra fast.
He was boatside and gaffable in probably 4 minutes.
Brian had the leader and approached the task very tentatively knowing makos can go crazy at any second, and this one was green still.
Matt was by his side with the gaff and decided to give it a shot and stuck him right in the side of the head.
The fish thrashed around until Brian came in finished him off with the 20 gauge to the head!

Here's a few of Roly's pics from the battle!

Me after the hookset, at the start of the short battle...

The mako coming in, action shots...

Matt and Brian ready to put the leader and gaff him!

Matt in position...

Matt gaffing him!

Some post-gaff shots...

Brian breaks out the 20 gauge!

BOOM!

Game over...

Some close ups...

Pretty wicked teeth!

Once we had him tied up and secured, we set the baits back out for some catch and release action.
30 minutes later, we're all BSing and Brian says "What's going on with that deep rod" as it starts heading up toward the bow of the boat!
We're so immersed in conversation, reliving the events around the first mako that we didn't even see another one taking the deep bait!
Roly grabs the rod and FISH ON...but this one is pissed off!
This fish took off, ripping drag like a mofo.
Roly was belted and harnessed in...fighting the fish to the boat only to have it rip more drag off.

Here's a few shots from Roly's battle!

His mako coming up top...

Didn't like the boat very much, he was angry!

And he took it out on Roly lol

Get em Rol!!!

Unfortunately he couldn't get his head cam to work on his fish...sucks would have been great to have that fight on camera.

Once we realized that, I put down his digital still camera and picked up Brian's video camera to get some of the action.
Roly battled the mako for quite a while...we had the leader at the boat several times (considered a catch), but each time that mako would see the boat and rush off.
He was under the boat, around the motors, on the other side, then back to the original side...just all over.
Then just as we had him away from the boat again, about 20 yards out...we could see him in the water broadside, he gave a headshake and the hook just floated right out.
Disappointing to not get him in for some closer pics before the release, but truly a great battle!

After Roly's fish, we set the lines out one more time.

I took the time to rest a little, watching Roly get worked by that mako made me tired! lol

So, again, 20-30 minutes later we had another take...Matt grabbed the rod but just never got a solid take, only a bait bit in half.
I set out another bait, a whole bunker this time, and while still drifting out, had another take, handed it off to Matt and again...just came back with a bait bit to the hook.
As we were rebaiting, about a 50-60lb mako launched out of the water 30 yards from the boat and splashed down...so we assume that's what was hitting that baits but wouldn't take it down.
We fished for a little bit longer before calling Brian's friend over to take over our slick.

We had a mako to take home and called it a trip, packed up and headed back on in!

Here's the one I caught on the deck for the ride home...

Brian's lovin it!

Group picture back at the scale.

Later, while cleaning it...we found this longliner's hook in it's stomach!

Pretty wild! Maybe a reason he was a little sluggish and came in so quickly? Could have been sitting on a long line for awhile and was in recovery mode, looking for an easy meal?

And a little shot of the end result...dinner time! Nice grilled mako steak, man was that goooooood!

What a truly awesome time with Brian, Matt, and Roly! Big thanks to Brian for taking us out and for showing me the ropes of shark fishing!
I never expected to have as much action as we did, it was incredible!
Who says those OA boys only know how to hunt! ;)
Can't wait to do it again!

Until next time...

06/13/2010 - Fluke Fishing Misfit Charters (Pics)

2010-06-13T14:00:00.000-04:00

06/13/2010 - Fluke Fishing Misfit Charters (Pics)

Alright boys and girls, just a short little tale about a fluking trip aboard Misfit Charters with fellow friends Craig "The Man Purse" Scrub, Doug "Ready To Go Medieval On You All" Schues, and Captain Charlie "The Edison Pirate". Despite Scrub's panic over NOAA reports predicting 10-15 foot seas off the coast of Portugal, we opted to meet up for a 5:00AM departure to fish here in NJ...well most of us. I blame my alarm clock, the clock on my wall, my truck's clock, and my cell phone's clock for all being off...resulting in me arriving 15 minutes late. So 5:15AM we shove off in search of some flatties! lol

Charlie had a real good bite in the JCAA tournament with a good number of keepers and a few big fish dropped...so we headed back to the same locale with high hopes.
Despite the perfect storm forming in Portugal, the seas here in NJ were quite nice...maybe too nice. Very little wind and not much tide movement resulting in slow drifts with little ground covered...much different from the day before.

Things started off great, I think my first or second cast I landed a keeper and thought it was game on! Well, short after short came up after that with a very slow and spotty pick of keepers here and there by the rest of the crew. With only a handful of keepers in the box, we decided to hit a few other spots between the hook and the ocean, covering a lot of water but not able to find the bite we were looking for...just shorts and one keeper sea bass to show for our efforts. So we eventually headed back to where we started the morning and Charlie worked his magic to get us back on the fish, as we proceeded to land a few more keepers for the box before a storm rolled in. Big thanks to bowguide Scott for the heads up with the weather radar on his boat! We raced back to the barn and got there with enough time to clean our fish and the boat, and get to the trucks just as the rain was starting!

Here's a few pics from the day!

Doug, excited and pumped for a day of fluking!

Scrub, flaunting his man purse..."it's a satchel!!!"

The Edison Pirate, always out of focus lol

Awww look they have matching necklaces...I mean line clippers!

The calm before the storm...in Portugal.

Nice shot of Scrubalicious bringing in a flattie

Really nice day out there...

Our final tally of fish...9 keeper fluke and 1 keeper sea bass.

Overall, given the lack of a bite, not too bad. We fished hard and all got to take home some fillets for dinner! ;)

Until next time...

04/25/2009 - Striper Fishing Raritan Bay

2009-04-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

Quick trip report from today's action.

Hit the Raritan Bay with Charlie, Scrub, and Tom E for some striper action.

Charlie's been putting together some great catches all week, so we attempted to continue the trend.

We figured the crowds might hamper our efforts, but we managed to catch the majority of our keepers in a small window before the tide changes and the bite died.

Really awesome day, with our group landing a boat limit of 10 keeper stripers (2 bonus tags) with a good number of throwbacks.

Scrub lead the way, landing 5 of the keeps!

Unfortunately my camera was acting up, but I managed to get pics of all the keepers except one, along with a few other pics.

Here's some from the day...

Tom E...always smiling!

Scrub...action shot of the infamous two-handed HI!

Charlie...doing a little pre-emptive fist pumping? That, or in an effort to get pumped is punching himself in the face?

Nice sunrise coming...

Little fireball in the hazy sky...

We start off with a triple header....two keepers.

Charlie with his...

Tom E with his...

Hackalicious is on!!!

And lands his first keeper! (ack sun)

Tom E with a shortie released

Charlie with another nice keeper

Scrubster...showing us how it's done!

And again...this time busting out the tie-dye!!! HIPPIESTICK!!! Hahaha

Tom E with another nice one!

Oh my...they must be thick...even I got one!

Close-up, nice shot Tom!

HippieStick with another one!

And our final catch on the day! Good day!

Big thanks to the Edison hick for taking us out to the promise land today!

Great fishing with Scrubster and Tom E again!

Until next time...

01/05/2009 - Blackfishing Out on a Limb, 17lb 8oz Tog! (Pics)

2009-01-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

01/05/2009 - Blackfishing Out on a Limb, 17lb 8oz Tog! (Pics)

Alright boys and girls, let the storytelling begin!
Another day, another trip, and some more awesome toggin aboard OOAL!
The weather was near perfect, NW winds with seas mere 2-4s...we left the dock with high hopes.
An allstar crew with a pair of guys I haven't fished with since our last tog adventure aboard OOAL last season...Al and Matt...rounded out by OOAL frequent fishers Craig, Mike, Doug, and myself.

For those that don't recall...Al hooked up and landed this awesome 16lb 8oz fish last year with his then made famous "candycane" rod pictured in the background!

Well, Al and the candycane legend live on, as today he hooked and landed another BEAST of a tog...this one topping the scales at 17lb 8oz!
Al was dead set on releasing this fish, but it hit the deck bleeding pretty badly.
We cleaned up the blood for a few quick snaps and Al, adamant about the release, tried to revive the fish for 15-20 minutes but to no avail.
I believe he is going to get the fish mounted with his fish from last year...maybe a Dueling Tog scene over a whitelegger!
Big congrats to the "Candycane Man" on another beauty!

Ohhhh the candycane rod! She sure has some juju to her!

And our boat limit for the day with some more keeps going back over the rail for another day.
Man Al's fish dwarfs the hell out of the rest of those fish!
Some decent ones mixed in there, in the 5-7lb range.

One final shot back at the dock after gathering our gear and packing up!

Some more cool photos from the trip!

Some guys on the MIMI trip saw these coming on down our way!

Up, up, and away!

Splashdown! Very cool!

Two rocks and a rope baby! When you know where these badboys are dropped, fishing in CM is EZ!!!

Until next time...

12/27/2008 - Blackfishing Out on a Limb (Pics)

2008-12-27T23:09:00.000-05:00

12/27/2008 - Blackfishing Out on a Limb (Pics)

Another great day on the water aboard OOAL with the boys! Another solid crew came out for the show consisting of Grumpy Scrubby, Anchor Tooth Schues, Help Me I'm Cramping/I'm Dehydrated Bobble Head Mike, Singapore Swinger Eddie, Pinkie Dave, and yours truly!

Nice early start on the water, arriving with some tough fishing conditions...real scratch bite with a few keepers coming over the rail but the boat in a quasi hovering state...not enough wind or tide to sit on the anchors right...and at one point we shifted 180 degrees after reanchoring in a matter of 15-20 minutes time.

But alas, the wind picked up...and we moved to another locale...dropped the hooks and got em sunk in and tightened up nice...right on the piece. Then it was bail city! We promptly filled the box with the remainder of the boat limit and proceeded to release the additional keepers.

All in all, everyone put together solid individual catches and had a great time.

Here's a few pics from the day!

Eddie with a nice 9lb and change tog that was released after reaching the boat limit!

Release shot, midair...nice!

Doug with another big ol' tog...also released!

And the final catch in the livewell...sliced and bled...good eats!!!

Well, that's the quick and dirty report from today! Awesome time, can't wait to get back down with OOAL!

Ohhhhhh almost forgot...Pinkie Dave's Avet...awwwwwwww yeah!

12/14/2008 - Blackfishing on OOAL

2008-12-14T21:00:00.001-05:00

12/14/2008 - Blackfishing on OOAL

Good day on the water with Doug, Doug's Dad, Steve (current leader for the Mugger of the Year Award), Kevin, my Dad and myself.
Captain JR was at the helm and led us to one stop toggin, reaching a boat limit by 11:00-11:30 and playing catch and release for the remainder of the day.
Good mix of fish, no giants but a fair number of 5-7s.
All in all, a great day on the water...glad I was able to get my dad out before he heads back to FL!

Interesting fish from the day...looked like a little football...kinda reminded me of the shape of a giant sunfish (freshwater).
Pictured next to a "normal" tog!

Another angle...

Nice pull Joonya!

11/24/2008 - Blackfishing on Out on a Limb

2008-11-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

11/24/2008 - Blackfishing on Out on a Limb

Well, we headed on down to Cape May for our first blackfishing trip of the season, which opened just a week ago.
Tom headed over from PA bright and early to meet up at my place, where we carpooled down and met up with Craig, Charlie, Mike, and Sam at the boat.

Weather was pretty nippy out, temps bottoming out around 17 on the drive down, but around 23 when arriving at the boat.
Winds were fair, around 10-15 but calmed down in the afternoon.

We had a great day on the water, the tog bite was pretty good, not on fire but really strange conditions having the wind cross-sectioned by shifting currents made it difficult to stay on the pieces.
Nevertheless, we put together a solid catch and finished just 2 shy of the boat limit, with Mike leading the way with a 10lb tog, and a few 5-6lbers by the crew mixed in as well.

Here's a few shots from the day...unfortunately my camera battery died halfway through the trip, so I didn't get a ton of pics this time.

El capitan...leading us to the tog promise land! ;)

Tom, aka the Krieb Factor, ready for some action!

Sam, aka Professor Pantene, looking a little like Satan and getting ready to put on the clinic on his first tog fishing trip ever!

Mike, aka Mike The Mugger...clearly already scheming based on that look!

Scrub, with some kind of surgical camo condom cap...

Charlie, in standard welcoming picture form...lol

Nice sunrise and rays peering through the clouds...

Professor Pantene!!! His hair hates him today after smothering it with that hat. Charlie ensures us Sam surely protected the doo with a pre-hat conditioner treatment...good lookin out Professor!

Scrub...why are you winking at me? Ummm...yeah Hi! lol

The Krieb!!!

JR hiding the GPS coordinates from view...note the hat...it gives him about 8 inches of additional height, but he still can't see over the center console.

Sam with his first keeper tog ever! The Professor was just warming up! Note the Hollywood rod bent over behind him...

Craig with his giant catch!

Then Mike The Mugger coming through with this monster tog! Nice try holding it out with those goon arms to increase the size! Haha
Don't worry, Mike gets the real one later!

JR, The Camo Pope

Later in the day...Sam is still goin strong...

Charlie is still at it and smiling...

Tom...not so much...what's up with the frown! Tom, The Frowning Knome?

Mike...posing and claiming to be doing some anchor work...

Craig, the rockstar, showing a little too much interest...

Alright, Public Notice...Mike was actually working a little on this trip...I know, I know...hard to believe that the full time part time student would take moment out of his laborious days to offer a helping hand...but here we have it...post anchor pull...some really well organized and coiled rope! Haha, good job Mikey!

And he was indeed rewarded with this awesome tog a short while later...in the net!

And Mike The Mugger holding him...nice fish dude! Scaled him out hovering in the 10lb mark! Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!

Wow...even I managed to catch a few this trip! They must be thick!

And then Charlie landed this nice tog! Notice he is so excited he kind of almost has a smile forming...OK...not quite, but we know he's feelin it! ;)

Well then my camera died right when Charlie landed a double header on a single bait! Two hook setup...the fish were hungry!
I missed a bunch of pics including some really solid midday action filled with a mixture of short tog, seabass and the near boat limit of keepers.

Ultimately, a great day on the water with the boys!
The weather cooperated and the tog were chewin pretty good, and despite quite a scratchy bite late in the day, we put a good catch together!

Until next time...

12/11/2006 - Dad's Muzzleloader 11 Pointer and Mount Complete! (Pics)

2008-07-13T19:35:00.001-04:00

12/11/2006 - Dad's Muzzleloader 11 Pointer and Mount Complete!

Here's the story I wrote up when Dad shot this buck back on 12/11/2006:

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Unbelievable season for Dad...he does it AGAIN. This time he scores on an unbelievable 11 pointer from the same stand location he shot his doe earlier this year with the muzzleloader and the same one I shot my 8 pointer last year! I am still in awe with this deer, great buck for these woods.

I can't tell you how much it means to me for my Dad to get this deer, this is what it's all about. I said in the beginning of the year, all I wanted to see was my Dad get a shot at a nice rack this year and man did he come through! As lackluster of a season as this has been, seemingly an eternity of frustration trying to figure these bucks out and waiting days, weeks, months for just ONE glimpse, nevermind a shot...and then it all comes together in mere seconds, the moment of truth where the emotional rollercoaster of hunting takes you for that ride you've waited all season for...one where you decide where it takes you...to the top of the mountain or deep into the valley below. Fortunately for both of us, our shots were true as I took my biggest buck to date in Ohio with the bow, and today my Dad takes his biggest buck ever. I can't even describe the feelings, the excitement, the pride, the accomplishment...and as miserable as I've thought this season has been at times, I have to say today has made it my best season ever!

I have to thank my buddy Steve for helping me set up the ladder stand for my Dad and also my buddy Don for helping drag this buck out today since I was caught in work in Philly and couldn't get there quick enough! I'm very fortunate to have some great friends, so thank you!

The story starts just yesterday when I had rebaited this stand location and checked the trailcam to see what kind of activity was in the area during shotgun week. The entire season, this spot has had some regular doe activity, but absolutely NO racks...some small bucks but nothing to get excited about. Then, as it turns out, this same buck was on the trailcam on Monday evening (6-day firearm opener) but never reappeared. So Sunday, we rebaited heavier than normal and I had hoped it would bring a number of does in, even at night...such that they would create enough commotion to bring a curious buck in to check them out, and possible bed down with the does that night in the area and follow them in that next afternoon as they came to feed. Well I can't say for certain that is what happened that night, but I can say that this bad boy followed a doe right in around 2:20PM that afternoon offering Dad a beautiful 30 yard broadside shot. He put the crosshairs on and squeezed off the shot, the buck dropped in his tracks and the rest is history! Man what a feeling!

Here's a couple BEFORE pics of the buck from the trailcam. Sorry about the quality, this was a hacked IR conversion with an existing cam casing, so there is some flash bleed on the top right...obviously the pics aren't the best, but you can see it is the same buck. Note the split G2 on his right beam.

And here's an AFTER shot with Dad and the buck!

Man, what an awesome day...my first day back at work...and I race home to soak in the great day my Dad had afield!

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

And on Friday, my dad picked up the mount from Carl at All-Game Taxidermy.
Carl did an excellent job, as always!
I snapped a few pics today before heading home from PA.

Here's a few of the shots...

Dad with his buck...

Right profile from below...

Left profile from below...

Head-on from below...

Head-on from above...

And a few close-ups of Carl's work! ;)

Right profile...

Right eye...

Left eye...

Right ear and eye...

Left ear and eye...

Head on, downward angle...

Nose and lip detail...

06/27/2008 - Striper Fishing on Sykk Physh (Pics)

2008-07-11T21:16:00.001-04:00

06/27/2008 - Striper Fishing on Sykk Physh

Sorry for the delay in the report, was out fishing all weekend so just getting back home and to the reports.
My weekend started with a short day on Friday to head out aboard the Sykk Physh again with Captain Joe, Doug, Tom E, and Tom's good friend Larry.
With the insane bite we just missed on Tuesday when the West winds blew, Joe and I discussed getting back out there for them at the next West wind opportunity.
Well that opportunity was Friday, and we were spot on with the time to go!

We all met up in Shark River to drop the boat in and head on out the inlet.
There were a few reports indicating bunker both South and North, but as we made our way out of the inlet, we had reports from guys just coming in with bass that it was on fire just North of the inlet.
So off we went, but with one catch...we didn't have any bait yet! Unlike Atlantic Highlands where bunker are pretty plentiful, they never seem to come into Shark River to allow for netting bait ahead of time. But given the proximity of the fish being South, we opted to head our of SR anyway and roll the dice on either netting or snagging bunker once we got out to the ocean.

As soon as we broke the inlet, we saw the fleet North...and as we approached, we saw the bunker and bass exploding on them. It was pure insanity...just an unreal amount of boat and boat traffic with bunker rushing to the surface and getting destroyed by bass for mere seconds before umpteen boats went full throttle right into the bunker and bass melee! A few boats were tossing plugs and hooking up right away with others trying to snag and drop bunker...and there were some BIG fish in the school!

We started off plugging, and I think Tom E was pitching when he had a V formation of giant bass coming right for his plug. Joey instructed him to slow down the retrieve when the lead bass smashed the lure and took off...Tom set the hook as the fish was just off the boat and turned the fish to see the trebles on the outside of the fishes jaw...a few moments and a few surges later, the bass spit the plug. Then the chaos continued, as we tried to locate the bunker along with 100 other boats...running and gunning, trying to get a net on some isolated pod to fill the livewell. Time and time again, we'd spot bunks, rush to them to try to snag and get one good net on them...but not before 20 other boats came running over as well and sent them right down. We just couldn't get the bait.

At this point, Joe was on the horn with Andrea's Toy informing them of the sick bite up North. As Andrea's Toy arrived, they rewarded us with some of their excess bunker they were able to net on an isolated pod down South! That was a lifesaver and what teamwork's all about...I know Joe works with a lot of captains on sharing intel and resources...and that networking paid off for both the Sykk Physh and Andrea's Toy as they were beating on big bass for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

Craziest moment of the evening was when we spotted a pod of bunker absolutely getting DESTROYED...most insane thing I've ever seen out there striper fishing. It was literally like a 100 yard circle of explosions, with dozens of bass blowing out of the water at the same time over and over with a there was a thresher sighting in the mix! Ironically, Doug let me fish with his infamous Fenwick...I dropped down in seriously in like 10 seconds had a runoff...friggin rod. Anyway, I set the hook on a giant and seconds later came up with cut braid! There weren't any blues in the mix...so perhaps that was the thresher?

We picked at fish in the 20-35lb range for the next couple hours with Doug...once again...topping it off with a personal best 42lber! Drifting live or dead bunks...didn't matter...we had great action...well at least until the storm blew in! It's crazy how we've run into storms both times Doug and I were out with Joey together...both times some unpredicted front blew in hard and took us out of the game. Fortunately this time we were able to beat on the bass a little longer and land some really nice fish!

Alright enough of the story...let's get to some pics!

Here's Doug as we're slipping in...

And crazy Tom!

His buddy Larry!

And our fearless captain with burger in mouth...hey he didn't eat all day! Haha

A pod of bunks...with birds workin em!

A little while later...I hook up and land this guy...

Same one? Can't remember...

The next one...self pic cuz the action was fast and furious! Getting bigger!

Then Tom hooked up with this nice striper!

Part of the crowd...

Little while later Larry is on and going for a ride!

Get em Larry!

Nice shot coming into the net!

And in the net...

Larry with his fish...pretty sure it weighed out in the mid 30s somewhere!
Released her for another day...

And here's the next one I landed and we released...

Then Doug hooks up and says..."This is a big fish!"
Here we go again! :)

GET PUMPED!!!

Big girl in the net!

Doug with his 42lber! Skies are getting a little darker up above!

Then the storm really rolled in, but not before I caught and landed my biggest to date...finally breaking the 30lb mark with this 32lber!
King Kong has finally got off my back!

Well the rain and lightning rolled in, as we headed for the inlet. It poured pretty good, so no more pics after the above...didn't want to get the camera wet.
We finished up with 15 or so up to 42 lbs and kept two in the 20-25lb range and one in the 25-30lb range.
Was a great time out there with Joe once again, and always nice when the bass cooperate even if the weather doesn't!
Hope to get out again soon and try to break that 40lb mark!

06/24/2008 - Striper Fishing on Sykk Physh (Pics)

2008-06-25T20:20:00.001-04:00

06/24/2008 - Striper Fishing on Sykk Physh

Well, this certainly was an on-the-fly trip as Joey spotted some fish working hard oceanside and filtered the intel to his network of other captains.
As word came in, the bite was on with a vengence!
30 pounders were being caught and released in hopes of the 40+ pounders crashing bunker like you'd weed through short fluke to get to the keepers!
We're hearing over and over about the chaos ensuing, and while Joey makes a run for his boat...I drive up from South Jersey to the Highlands ASAP!

Joey, his nephew Justin, and I get the boat slipped in and Joey heads to the bunker pods to net a quick 70 pieces before burying the throttle and heading out to meet up with Captain Dan of Reel Music Charters. It's already late with the sun sinking beneath the horizon and Joey is considered about the bite dying.

Rounding the hook, we immediately encounter a school getting blown apart...and promptly drop some live bunker on the pod. Immediate bite offs and bluefish raiding the baits...so we nix the pod and head to where the bass are proven to be. We cross paths with Dan making his way back to the marina as we're hauling south. The conditions are beautiful, nice and flat and we're making good time but the sun has already disappeared.

By the time we reach the area, it's dark...and we're not locating any bunker on the surface...they've already submerged and spread out. We marked bass on the fish finder constantly, and Joey eventually hooked up a striper and handed it off to his nephew Justin who landed the 20-25# class fish on his own! I had one runoff, which as is standard for me with stripers, pulled 10 seconds after the hookset.

After that, we struggled to even get a sniff...running over bass left and right, bunker scattered, bass scattered...but constant readings and no takers. We drifted around the area for a couple hours before heading back to port and pitching a few bunks in closer by the marina to finish up in hopes of some smaller bass being under the bunker schools stacked at the wall. No dice.

Another tough outing...and nothing worse than just missing an all out slaughter. An hour earlier and I think we would have had an hour of crushing them. As it worked out, we missed it all and just couldn't locate the staggered fish once the sun disappeared.

Ahhh stripers, continue their beating on me...if Robin had a monkey on her back with stripers until her trip with Dan...well King Kong is on my back! Haha
That's the way it goes sometimes...I'm determined to beat those mofos!

Big thanks to Joey for inviting me along given the short notice of the bite. We'll get em next time dude!

Here's a few pics from the evening...

Joey slippin the boat in...

Justin's ready!

Nice sunset brewing...

Leaving the marina...

And later..she's gone...and took the bass with her :(

Little Justin, tearin it up!

Get em dude!

Bringin em to the net!

Tough angle on the pic...but here's Justin's striper...almost as big as he is! Gotta love it! :)

Well that's all for now...just a quick recap of yesterday.
Hopefully these stripers will hang for awhile and the winds/weather will cooperate and that sick bite will return once more!
I'm ready! ;)

06/22/2008 - 1/2 Day Fluking on the Atlantic Star (Pics)

2008-06-23T09:45:00.001-04:00

06/22/2008 - 1/2 Day Fluking on the Atlantic Star

Due to family obligations, I could only fish a 1/2 day trip today, so I joined up with Doug, Doug's Dad, and Jimmy to do a little fluking aboard the Atlantic Star in the Highlands!
Of course I didn't know what our plans were until 5:30AM that morning, so in true tourist fashion, I arrived at the boat promptly at 7:45AM for an 8:00AM departure! Haha
The boat was absolutely packed...which of course means a nice pool will be brewing!
I head up to the bow to meet up with the crew and am greeted by a few other NJFishing guys...I believe Tireman and his buddy who's nickname escapes me were up in the bow as well.

Tom makes his way out to the fluking grounds at 8:00AM as we're greeted by a light SW to West wind...conditions not looking bad, but we knew a bigger breeze was on it's way later in the day.
We setup on the first drift and had a pick of some shorts at first, then Doug hooked into and landed a nice 5lb flattie!
Moments later, I dropped a keeper (99.9% sure) about 3/4s of the way up...and then it went pretty much dead on the drift.
Tom circled back up and redrifted two or three more times, but it seemed to yield nothing more than some shorts and maybe another keeper or two.

Given the results, Tom made a move up the channel a bit to see if there was more life up there.
Again, we get setup, I toss out a bucktail and 2 bumps and BAM I hook into and land a nice flattie also around the 5lb mark.
I ribbed Doug about possibly edging him out in the pool now and jeered not to feel bad, he might hold on to second place! LOL

Well Doug would have the last laugh...literally on the next cast, I distinctly remember watching Doug cast just prior to me so I flipped mine out a little away from him to avoid any tangles, Doug hits the bottom and seconds later hooks into a real nice one. I see that infamous Fenwick doubled over but the Avet is doing it's job and bringing the fish up...well at least until it neared the boat and that drag started screaming back down! The mate comes up with the net as Doug's bringing the fish back up to the boat and kind of humorously says "I don't really like this net". I started laughing, I think Doug might have thrown up in his mouth a little...neither of us is sure if he was serious or not! Hahaha So Doug gets the fish up to the surface and the mate does a great job netting him...as soon as the fluke hit the deck, I knew he was over and 10 and close to 11lbs...awesome fish!

Here's a shot of Doug with the slammer right after he caught it!

We redrifted the area another time or two as the wind started increasing, keepers coming over the rail but the bite decreasing a bit. Seemed like after the first drift they were on to us, and the same drift wasn't producing...that or they were moving through the area. Either way, the wind got to excessive speeds making for a fast drift, so Tom headed into shallower water for an easier hold on bottom. The boat picked at a some shorts and a few keepers over the next hour or so, but that wind was just fierce...really unfortunate we couldn't continue to hang in the deeper water where those big boys were roaming...but it was still a great day on the water!

We headed in a little after noon time, hit the dock and weighed Doug's fish in at the tackle shop.
Doug's personal best fluke came in at 10lb 11oz, nice job buddy!

Here's a few pics from the day!

Oh baby...she's a little packed today! No doubt the afternoon weather weighed on some minds, as the 3/4 day boats were empty. Of course, Tom always draws a good crowd as other 1/2 boats were also a little light.

Tom...leading the way!

Doug's pumped!

Jimmy's kinda ready!

The 1/2 day trips are short for me, and given Doug's slob fish...I was all about fishing, not so much about picture taking...so here's a few from the end of the day!

Bruce and the 2nd place pool fish, good for 1/3 of the pool!

Doug with his two big fish of the day!

Bruce and Doug together, pool fish.

Doug with the 1st place pool fish, good for 2/3 of the pool! Nice dude!

And a little white side action...

It was a great trip and an awesome time out there aboard the Atlantic Star. Been awhile since I sailed on her, but given my schedule today, it was the perfect time to jump on!
Of course, I don't think you'll get any argument from Doug on that either! :D

Until next time...

2008-06-21T19:29:00.000-04:00

06/21/2008 - Fluking Raritan Bay

Quick little report, since I'm heading back out tomorrow.
Charlie, Lena, and I headed out to do some fluking today but ran into some pretty tough conditions with a virtually non-existant AM bite.
Lena landed the first keeper, with Charlie boxing two more shortly after her. I was sucking wind and keeperless almost all morning.
Fish seemed pretty lethargic as they weren't really hitting but more so just sucking in the baits and sitting on them...perhaps due to the recent South winds and early AM incoming tide.
As we neared 11:00AM or so, the bite started to pick up as the tide neared high.
As it turned, the bite increased and we started boxing some more fish...Charlie landing another keep and me with 5 keepers.
Headed in around 1:30 or so, filleted up and headed on home.

Worth noting, tons of bait around as fluke were spitting up sand eels, rainfish, porgies, and some sweet 6-7" whole squid (see pic below of the bloated fluke).
I dropped one of those squid right back down and landed a nice keep!

Beautiful weather out, but it looks like that South wind has either shutdown the bite a tad, or we just sucked at finding/catching them today...probably a 20/80 split! :D
Heading back out tomorrow to see what's biting!

Little bit of sunrise...nice way to start the day.

This puppy was bloated but he still ate some more when the PM bite turned on! Totally neglecting to take a pic of the squid he regurgitated.

Final catch for the day, 9 keepers.

Thanks to Charlie for taking us out, as always had a great time despite some sleep deprivation!

06/15/2008 - Striper Fishing The Sykk Physh (Pics)

2008-06-16T23:26:00.000-04:00

06/15/2008 - Striper Fishing The Sykk Physh

Alright, so after an absolutely awesome morning hike with Tom Elefante, I met up with Doug and his buddy Jay for some evening striper fishing aboard The Sykk Physh with Joey!
The action's been GOOD, real good...and we were hoping to get in on it!
The weather looked perfect...hardly any wind, overcast with some passing rain and flat calm seas!

The boys getting ready!

The Sykk Physh!

Joey's ready!

Jay's ready!

Doug with a classic face...umm I think he's ready! Haha

Bunker already in the livewell, nice!

We break the marina...bunker all over...but this isn't where we're fishing! :)

We cruised out on the 20' Robalo with the throttle pushed to the hilt headed oceanside and pumped to go!
We arrive at the rocks with some sick bunker pods all over the place!

Oh my!

Joey is flippin plugs on his Cabo and hooks up!

Big ol' slob blue!

Action!

Little while later, I have a serious runoff...and let him go for about 15 seconds before setting the hook hard.
I have him on for about 10-15 seconds of all out drag ripping action with my rod tripled over...Doug looking on with a WOW expression on his face...serious fish and then SPIT...come back with nothing but the hook...and I throw up in my mouth a little. That fish was big, real big.

Then Jay had a runoff, but the fish spit as well before he even set the hook.

The ocean was nice, real nice...

Then Doug gets a runoff and lays the screws to one!

He's not sure what it is...not running hard like a striper...just comes in lazy...but then it surfaces!

Big ol' striper comes into the net, virtually calm as could be...likely full of bunker and just stuffed!

Oh baby, 41 pounds on the handheld!

Joey and Doug with one hell of a bass and Doug's personal best!

We ran around a bunch but struggled...well I struggled. I was getting twice as many runoffs as anyone else and went from 5 second countdowns to the hookset to 15-20 seconds to 45-60 seconds and kept coming up with spit hooks. I just didn't understand it and it frustrated the hell out of me...I felt like Scrubby all evening! Haha

Seriously though, I had 7 or 8 runoffs on the evening, 5 or 6 spit the naked hook or bunker back out...and 2 broke right on the hookset. After the first spit, I switched from 7/0 Octopus to 10/0s...and still couldn't get a solid hookset with BRAID and a 25-30' mono shock leader with about a 3' fluoro leader to the hook. After the second break, I retied with 60# fluoro but didn't get another hit after that as the storm rolled in.

Meanwhile Doug had a few run-offs and spits, and had another one hooked and to the surface when it spit the bunker back at him.
Joey managed to hook up twice with snagged and dropped bunker but they immediately broke the braid on his Cabo...12-14 turn Uni or a Palomar dude! :D
Joey also hooked two on his Chaos rods...landing one and handing the other off to me (no pics in the action, I wanted IN the water again!)

Then the fog rolled in from the north and a sudden shift to east winds put it right on top of us with increasing seas!

Here it comes!

A few sunset shots as the action died down...

And the fog rolled in...

Sinking slowly...

We headed back north to try to locate some more bunker but the seas just got plain ugly.
We took an absolute soaking on the way home but managed to get there in one piece!

Here's a few shots back at the marina...

Group shot...

Doug...

Jay...

And I...

Well it was definitely a fun trip, but a shame that weather rolled in on us like that...and even more of a shame that I lost so many fish...UGH! Stripers drive me NUTS!
We knew we had a great shot at beating our personal bests on this trip, and Doug pulled through as he always does! :)
I was sucking wind while Jay just had a rough time even working up the hits.
Joey got us on the fish, just was a tough bite with all the available bait but had we landed half the friggin hits I had...we'd have limited with ease.
I need to regather my thoughts and per Doug's recommendation I'm going to switch rods...and maybe take a chainsaw to my current striper rod! Haha
Going to go with something a bit meatier and shorter next trip and see if I can get a little more leverage...but with braid, I just can't imagine *needing* it.
Ah well...next time we'll get out there and beat em down!
Big thanks to Joey for running us out there, was a great time and I think we all definitely want to get out again SOON to take advantage of the sick bite that is going on!

Until next time...

06/15/2008 - Hiking and Snake Hunting with Tom Elefante! (Pics)

2008-06-16T23:25:00.000-04:00

06/15/2008 - Hiking and Snake Hunting with Tom Elefante!

Alright, so the ultimate woodsman Tom Elefante invited me out for a little hiking and snake hunting at an undisclosed location! :D
This is Tom's home away from home, and I really appreciate him letting me tag along to such a special place.
The landscape is incredibly beautiful, the elevated views simply breathtaking, and the observation of such pristine wildlife utterly surreal.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...and although I'm sure there's no doubt I could write several thousand words to describe the trip, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking! :)

Tom, his friend John, and I met up around 9:00AM to start our hike. John only had two hours to spend before he had to return home, so Tom planned the hike out accordingly.
Here's Tom, ready to start the day off right!

A little bit of woods as we hiked up and along the mountain side...

And as we reached our first destination, a nice mountain top lake!

Beautiful view...

And we came to a nice little homestead nearby with an old fireplace still standing...

Some great workmanship!

And then we came to this fireplace...see anything interesting?

Oh boy...that didn't take long...the snake master already has us on em!

Actually this black rat snake was a welcomed surprise...Tom had high hopes for the rattlesnake spots!

Uh oh...Tom has that look in his eyes! Snake catching time!!!

I was asking how the snake got up there in the first place...well, apparently he had a hole nearby!

Tom tried to coax him out...

But didn't want to hurt him...so he let him go. So close...but a great sign!

Moving on, we find another homestead and fireplace...amazing how those fireplaces are the last thing standing!

As we head on to another area, a spot a little bit of history's mark...very cool!

We hike along and come to an absolutely massive migration of tiny frogs!

They were everywhere!

I mean 1000s, probably 10,000s!

Here's a nice point of reference...very small!

Then we came across this little dude...who was feeding on his own kind! Definitely taking advantage of the migration!

Along the way, I spot remains of these eggs...

And the hole they came from...

Tom investigates, and is still determining the egg's turtle species.

And another pile of egg remnants nearby...

We move on and hike up a clearcut trail...

Then hike off into the woods and come across this colorful creature!

A little closer for the camera...

And we are back on our way after returning the orange newt where we found him.

Beautiful woods up there, a welcomed change from the pines I'm used to! :)

Then we finally reach Tom's Playground...aka Rattlesnake Country!

We let time take the lead, as we stay on the open rocks...well I was staying on the open rocks because I'm basically a rattlesnake sissy! Haha
John taking a look around...

Tom cruising in search mode!

Tom, looking around...

Anything under there?

Here's a video (poor quality really) of Tom in search mode!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baSvJFAQIfM

John's in the distance a bit...when he hears a RATTLE and spots one!

Tom rushes over rock jumping like an Olympic hurdler to get the snake, but he retreats to his hiding place in a crevasse.
Tom wisely didn't want to pursue him in there, so we backed off.
I did get a small video of the encounter, but it didn't come out all that great...but here it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQgVm0iotDs

After the narrow snake escape, I took a moment to grab a pic of the view...quite nice!

And we kept on hiking...Tom was in all out mission mode!

We came to this nice little funnel area...

And up the ridgetop again, we came to this scenic lookout!

As well as remnants of a great hunter that roams these parts every fall and winter! ;)

Heading over to the point...

Another view...

And the lookout...

Another angle overlooking the treetops!

And a vulture in the distance...

Now that's a little bit of a drop!

We actually spotted some turkeys right around here where we're standing...very surprised to see them up so high.
Couldn't manage any shots of them though.

Well after that, John had to head on out...so he went on his way back to the vehicles, as Tom and I continued onward.
We came up a rock ledge to this topside, which years ago was barren...and now as rejuvenated with new growth!

Looks like the spiders have certainly taken up residence...as this poor fly got caught in the trap!

So...we're hiking along, working out way to some lower ground to check out some other spots Tom has on his mission agenda.
Tom steps off a rock ledge, with me right behind him...we stop for a mere second or two when turn around to see this badboy!

Tom getting in position...

Ummm...yeah, he REALLY IS reaching for the rattler!

Tom is CRAZY! Haha

So uhhh yeah...bring him closer!

He's pissed!

Oh yeah...fang shot!!!

Little rattle action!

Tom's lovin it! Totally awesome!

So Tom puts him back where we found him...he's in strike mode and we're staying away! :)

Here's a few videos from the encounter...again, not the best of quality.
Tom, working the stick to get the snake!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krVGbWfxHHk

The rattle workin it's magic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ReqbGzCfg

And after Tom put the snake back...he wasn't too happy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pio0wEGcZD0

Alright, so after some heart pounding action for Tom...we headed on our way down the mountain!

Tom's GPS working to locate the next destination!

Nice woods...

Interesting open flat...some big canopy here as you can see by the lack of ground level growth.

Then we come to the renown Cave!

Tom checking things out...

A look inside...

The fireplace...

So we hung out for a few and then moved on for our hike out to the vehicles.
We came across a few more homesteads...including this one.

A few shots from there...

Another...

Interesting to see the window formations...

And door formations...

And again, those awesome fireplaces!

Still standing!

So we hoofed it back...and came across this pristine stream!

The other side...

And a final shot as we approach the vehicles...do you see what I see? :)

Wow, what an amazing adventure! I can't think of a better way to spend a morning than hiking a remote mountainside, that intoxicating fresh air, observing all kinds of wildlife and even catching a few! Tom truly is the ultimate outdoorsman...from his uncanny ability to find and capture those elusive rattlers, to his intimate knowledge of the mountains, wildlife, and plant life, to his intrinsic GPS-like navigation skills to get us to every destination. We had concerns regarding potential snake sightings going up given the overcast weather and previous nights rain...but we decided to give it a go and see the country anyway, and it was just awesome to have it all come together, see a few snakes and even manage to catch a rattler!

Tom, a HUGE thanks for giving me the opportunity to join you on an absolutely awesome experience! You are the man and I can't wait to get out again and see some more!

06/14/2008 - Freshwater Bass Fishing on Newton Lake (Pics)

2008-06-16T15:21:00.000-04:00

06/14/2008 - Freshwater Bass Fishing on Newton Lake

My buddy Ed and I hit up Newton Lake for a little pre-fishing bass action before his tournament next weekend.

I got a little twisted in the AM and wound up at a different ramp...apparently I need to get a GPS unit!

In finally figure out how to get to Newton Lake thanks to Ed, and we get his Bass Tracker ready...

Hawg Hunter...

Ed's ready to rock!

We shoved off the ramp around 6:00AM but not without a few ramp obstructions!

Nice sunrise...

The lake isn't much, pretty thin and shallow...probably averaging round 4-5ft with couple areas dipping into the 10-12 foot range.
Water temps were high, real high...starting around 83F and rising to around 86F by midday...likely a result of the murky/stained and shallow water.
Ed proceded to land a bass on like his second cast...so we're immediately thinking this lake might be stacked with fish!

And a short while later, he's on with another one!

I finally shake the dust off, and land my first largemouth of the year...but Ed has that one pic (didn't take it on my camera).
Little while later, I land another one...

And another one...

And a little later, another one...

And here, a little nicer fish...

Ed with another one...

Then I got this giant!

And another little one...

But none touch this MONSTER I caught...GET THE GAFF!!! Haha

Then I was trying to take a picture of this "duck yard"

And caught this nice bass with the rod between my legs and camera in my hand! Ed say's I'm lucky! :)

That's all the pics I have on the day. We called it quits around 1:30 or so...finishing up with 14 bass on the day.
Not a bad showing for the first time fishing and the lake itself.
Black 5" Senkos were the ticket...although Ed had some fish on a white spinnerbait and a couple wacks on a Spro frog.
Real nice day on the water! ;)

Big thanks to Ed for taking me out!

06/09/2008 - Fluke Fishing Out on a Limb, 5 Man Limit! (Pics)

2008-06-09T20:34:00.001-04:00

06/09/2008 - Fluke Fishing Out on a Limb, 5 Man Limit! (Pics)

Wow, what a day on the water!
Just all around sick fishing virtually from the very start to the bitter end.
We had a great crew on board today: Mike, Matt, Doug, Craig and myself with JR at the helm!
Word on the street is JR occasionally finds the fish...like once every third blue moon but only when dead low tide is between 7:03AM and 7:33AM on Mondays with temperatures soaring over 104!
Turns out we got really lucky and landed on exactly one of those days!

We started the day off loading the boat...with enough gear to go offshore for a week!

Under the close supervision of the captain...hard at work!

Good morning sunshine!

Another fireball morning!

Doug's ready!

Scrub and JR, already tangled up!

Seagull get ya in the eye Craig? Or was it the bear in the bushes at the Parkway rest stop? Haha

Matt...now known as "The Ringer".

I didn't get any shots of Mike in the AM, so here's one after the trip...all smiles!

Oh yeah, it's gonna be a warm one!

Doug starting off strong with a quality 4oz pyramid sinker! Nice size dude!

I wish I had a ton more pictures to post, but after that pic and in the interest of beating on the fish...I put the camera down and bucktailed like a mofo to take advantage of the insane bite!
Once I hit my limit, I put the bucktail rod down for about an hour...TRYING to figure out how to fish smelt...but apparently I suck at it...bad!
Everyone is bailing keepers while I'm not doing anything...so I went back to the bucktailing rod for the last 30-45 minutes and landed another 2 keepers and several shorts.

Here's our final catch...just awesome!

The Ringer with the big fish of the day!

Two buckets-o-fillets!

Good thing we had ice...it was a little warm back at the dock!

Overall it was just an all around slammer day fluking with a 5 Man Limit and then some up to 6lbs with us landing back at the dock around 12:30-1:00PM.
This was my first time fluking with JR and what a way to start it off!
As always, great job by JR to get us on the meat!
Thanks for having us out dude, we'll see you again in a couple weeks!

06/08/2008 - Fluke Fishing Raritan Bay (Pics)

2008-06-09T20:32:00.001-04:00

06/08/2008 - Fluke Fishing Raritan Bay (Pics)

Late report, didn't have computer access last night!

Charlie, Scrub and I hit up Raritan Bay for a day of fluking in insane heat. Someone else was on the list of fisherman that day but word is he was partying like a rockstar and subsequent window taps in the early morning wouldn't wake him out of hibernation! :)

Scrub getting ready and already sweating!

Charlie, getting some sun...kinda looks like Powder with Ink! Haha
I totally missed the AFTER shot! He's gotta be hurtin after what it looked like in the PM!

Ohhhh it's gonna be a smoker!

Off to the races by 5:45AM or so...first drop was all birds...so we moved a little deeper and it was slow...real slow. Not much life on long drifts to feel out the area, so we hopped around but struggled to find a good bite. Shorts coming over the rail here and there but no quality, so we continued to cruise around in search mode.

Hit up a nice area and landed a nice sea bass, but not much else doing there, so we kept on searching.
Tough and crappy self pic attempt! LOL

All morning was slow with very few bites despite dropping in "The Fleet". Not sure how they did, but it was STACKED with boats there. We fished it for a bit but not much doing so we moved off.

Eventually we located a good bite and started hitting up some keepers and put a decent catch together.
Here's a shot of our final catch on a tough day with 10 keeper fluke and a keeper seabass.

Well that's all folks, until next time!

06/07/2008 - Fluke Fishing Atlantic Highlands (Pics)

2008-06-07T20:20:00.001-04:00

06/07/2008 - Fluke Fishing Atlantic Highlands

Short report today, heading back out tomorrow morning out of Keyport.
My buddy Ting and I hit up a rental out of Atlantic Highlands for a little fluking action, and that's exactly what we got!
Fished all day and it was a pretty tough bite...not many fluke but the ones we caught were quality.
We finished up with 10 keepers and probably 20-30 shorts with an absolute TON of sea robins and too many blues...several bucktail casualties today!
Not too shabby for our first time renting out of AH and fishing the area!

And this is how I started the morning...WTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Ting! LOL he refused to eat it or toss it away!

Banana Schmanana

Really nice day on the water, absolute scorcher breaking well into the mid 90s!!!
My legs went from powder white to rock lobster red! NICE! Sunblock next time, pants tomorrow...I don't care if it's 97!!! Haha
Good time with Ting, been awhile since we got out dude, we'll be going again soon!

06/01/2008 - Fluke Fishing Raritan Bay (Pics)

2008-06-01T22:13:00.000-04:00

Headed out with Charlie, Craig, and Rob today for some fluke. Were greeted by an early AM breeze at daybreak and knew the gassin winds weren't far behind. Definitely blew pretty hard today but we were able to scratch up a catch.

Just a few pics for today...long night, was uber tired and not into all out pic taking mode! ;)

Nice AM sunrise with some striper fishermen looking to net bunker...

Tom Daly swung on by and said hello!

Not much to say about this boat...other than a BIG THUMBS DOWN!
We set up a drift and the captain of this boat decided to ride in AFTER we were already drifting and get within about 20-30 feet DOWN CURRENT of us, basically cutting our drift off rather than setting up above, behind, or in front of us.
We questioned him (no foul language) and he said "I've been fishing here all week, you come out here one day a week".
Obviously a CLASS ACT!
Note to self, NEVER fish on this guy's boat...EVER.

Anyway, we found other grounds...here's our final catch, 13 keepers.

05/30/2008 - Fluking the Raritan Bay

2008-05-30T19:55:00.000-04:00

05/30/2008 - Fluking the Raritan Bay

Well, the weather looked promising...so Charlie, Craig, Lena, and myself decided to play a little hooky today and see if the fluke would cooperate!
It turned out to be a good decision as we had a great day on the water...the weather was perfect, the conditions were perfect, and the fish were biting!

We headed out of Keyport around 5:30AM and were greeted by a beautiful sunrise and a light breeze. We headed to some of Charlie's old stomping grounds and hit up a few of his spots.
We were on fish pretty much right away and had a nice drift with the outgoing tide.

The bite wasn't on fire, but was relatively steady with some nice sized keepers coming over the rail...really nice fish ranging from 18" to 24".
We continued to fish the same area for all of incoming, slack, and start of outgoing with good results...although the bite faded around slack tide a bit.

Later in the day we tried a few other spots without much luck. I did pick up a nice 20" keeper around the TC Bouy, but that place is SURROUNDED by pots. What's up with that? Some dude literally had pots and lines surrounding the TC Bouy slope. Brutal.

The day wound down, and we headed back to the farm to clean the boat and fillet our fish. At the end of the day, we finished up with 22 keepers...not bad at all.

Here's a few pics from the day...

On the way to Keyport...someone's a little camera shy!

It's OK, I just time my shots! :)
Sleepin already! LOL

At the boat and ready to roll...Charlie and Scrubby

Scrub with no glasses!

Oh and Scrub's WIFF IT Collection!

Lena...looking all designer in his fishing gear!

And we're off...with a nice sunrise...

Nice...

Look who's guiding! :)

Alright, on to some fishing...Lena off to a strong start! Hehe

SCRUBBBBBBBBBBBB!!!!!!!!!!!

Charlie's into one!

Lena's fighting one!

Lena with her first fluke ever!

Then Scrub wakes up with a monster double header!!!

Little while later, Lena and I double up with keepers!

Lena's first keeper fluke! Nice!

Scrubalicious with a nice keeper a short while later!

And then Lena lands our biggest fish of the day weighing in just shy of 5 lbs!

I went into slacker mode for awhile, and was in all out fishing mode.
That was until...SOMEONE *cough* Scrub *cough* left his bail open with his bucktail on the gunnel?
Well...when you're cruising around 30 knots....this is what happens when your bucktail falls overboard with the bail open!
OUCH! Braid down!!!

Back at the dock, had to get a shot of Scrub's bucktail collection again! Haha

Captain Can't Wait to Fillet Fish was into slicing mode before I could get a final fish pic...so this pic is one short of our 22 keeper final catch!

We'll that's all. Great day on the water with an awesome group as always, and a nice bonus when the fish cooperate.
Big thanks to Charlie for having us out again! Can't wait to get out again and beat on some more flatties!

Until next time...

05/25/2008 - Fluke and Seabass on the Raritan Bay

2008-05-26T17:47:00.000-04:00

05/25/2008 - Fluke and Seabass on the Raritan Bay

Short report...

Charlie and I headed out for some fluke, but struggled to find a good bite.

We found some fluke, but no keeps...quite a few in the 17-17.99" range...so we opted to hit some structure and try for some seabass along with the fluke.

We managed to pick a few off some pieces, including a nice 4lb 1oz seabass I landed on a double header. I also managed an 18" liner fluke at the same spot.

We moved around after the bite died, but only managed some more shorts...before moving back in to warmer and muddier waters...where we managed a few more 17.5-17.99" fish...all going back to the drink!

Tough day, and nasty/dirty water out there...but beautiful and calm! [up]

Here's a few pics from the day...

Charlie packing up at the dock...

Morning sunrise...

Another...

One more heading out...

Later in the day...nice seabass I caught...

And another one I landed a little while later...

Then I came up with this sweet double header with the 4lb 1oz seabass

Another shot...

And on the deck...

Charlie in on the action!

But just a shortie...

No after pics...that's all I have!
Tough day fishing, but great to be out flukin again!
Will take us some time to get in the groove, but we'll find em! ;)

Until next time...

05/10/2008 - NJH Striper-a-thon Report (Pics)

2008-05-12T00:48:00.000-04:00

05/10/20008 - NJH Striper-a-thon Report (Pics)

Well, the day of our annual NJH Striper-a-thon finally arrived, but not without some mild weather anxiety as the predicted conditions were less than stellar...depending on if you were looking at the 1-2 ft seas from the NOAA NY Harbor report or the 4-7 foot seas from the NOAA Sandy Hook to Fenwick Island report. Needless to say, those with smaller boats were rightfully concerned given the reports, but as it turned out...NOAA's NY Harbor report was the more accurate prediction of the true conditions come sunrise!

All-in-all, I believe there were around 50 participants in this years NJH Striper-a-thon...ranging from private boats to charter boats to head boat fishermen and women! I was fortunate enough to join up with a great crew aboard the Daly Double: Doug aka Schues41, Tom K aka lefteye, and Tom D aka tdaly25...as well as my girlfriend Lena for her first striper fishing trip!

For Doug and I, the prep for this trip was slated to start on Friday...as we had planned on going out with Charlie for some preliminary striper fishing...but due to the weather, we had to call it off. Unfortunately, that Friday trip also has some bait gathering scheduled...which naturally didn't get done while we were all working instead of fishing that day! Chaos ensued, as we called and emailed each other frantically to make plans to get bait for Saturday morning...which skewed our original plans of meeting up EARLY and being on the boat, heading to the fishing grounds by 4:30-5:00AM since the bait shops didn't even open until 5:00AM.

Once all the bait, ice, hooks, leader, weights, food, all crew members, etc were collected...we headed over the slip of the Daly Double and started packing her up and headed on out for some stripers!

Let's move on to the pics and let them tell the rest of the story!

Here's a shot of Lena, finishing the last bite of her breakfast sandwich as we pull up to Tom's marina...might have been a contributing factor to her strange spell of here and gone sea sickness later in the day!

Then we have Doug and Tom...ummm is Tom wearing shorts...he's insane! LOL

Canned Ham DOWN!!! Canned Ham DOWN!!!

Lena's excited!

Lena was checking out Tom's turkey decoy from his truck...while Lefteye and Doug gave a little reference sizing...yeah she's pretty tiny! Alright, Lefteye and Doug are monsters! That's a 64oz coffee Doug is drinking...with half a packet of sugar...too much sugar huh Doug?

TOm's aboard and ready to roll!

Lena, ready to go!

Tom, throwing his boots on found a pleasant surprise...some freshly tied leaders with some 8/0 hooks! OUCH!

Doug, me, and Lefteye...all aboard! Geez...even I look like a midget next to these guys!

I was shucking clams with Lefteye, when I came across this tasty treat for Tom!

I asked Tom E (telefante) what this was at the Jack-a-bob's...he didn't see the picture but by description I think he said it was like a clam's spleen or something LOL...anyone got any tartar sauce? I'm sure Tom will clarify with the picture! :)

Lefteye and I slaving...while Doug drinks his coffee and supervises.
Doug's thinking: "Not a bad job guys, keep up the good work!"

Heading out, not looking too bad!

Tom...looking comically back on deck!

Doug, trying to work the hose...later deemed Out Of Order!

Keep on shuckin!

Lena, hangin out! ;)

Sigh...Doug back to lounging around! Slacker!

Conditions...not bad, not bad at all...

Lefteye waiting patiently...

Lena and Doug, chilling up in the "Captain's Bench" along with Tom and I!

Your's truly...dropping anchor...

Doug...taking some midweek aggression out on the clam shells!

Lena, fishing with the boys! :)

The Three Stooges...I realize I'm bigger than all of you guys, but no need to fear, I'm not the jealous type...you guys don't have to hide in the corner and give Lena and I the rest of the boat! Of course...maybe you guys wanted to be huddled together? LOL

Ahhh so that's where the fish are! Doug start it off strong! Hehe

Uh oh...this season's maiden voyage...saltwater hose down!

Doug...layin the hook to one..."Oh, that's a striper!"

Yep, Doug was right! ;)
First one aboard, little short and went back home!

Uh oh, saltwater hose out of commission...time to break out the 5 gallon bucket with 20,000# tensile strength rope!

Well amidst a flurry of action, Doug caught and landed a keeper for the box, while I had a runoff and got bit off by a blue.
Shortly afterwards, Lefteye snaps into action...had a runoff...

And boats this one in short order!

OK we have two views of the fish now...
1) "Dude that's not even a 20" fish", next to Lefteye

And
2) "Dude, you think the 40# scale will cap out?", next to Lena! LOL

Then Tom got in on the action...ummm perhaps a little too much!
Dude, use the cabin...and lock the door!
Word is Scrubby was enjoying the company of a skate around the same time...must be a full moon or something!

But apparently that sweet kiss and release brought some good fortune to Tom...some other stripers wanted in on the action!
Nice keeper for the box!

Things were slow for me and Lena...I suck at striper fishing...like bad, REALLY BAD...and my bad juju apparently extends straight to one of my setups I let Lena use. Fortunately as we were leaving for another spot, Doug hooked into a yellow demon and let Lena finish the fight! She had a blast! ;)

Geezus man, first tonguing...now fisting...LOL

Atta boy...Tom was beating on the stripers at the next spot...think he was like 5 stripers for 8 drops.

And the demons were around still...I got bit off again, but Doug landed this one...

Unbelievable...it finally happened! I caught my first striper of the season!
Took me long enough, and all day of having stripers caught to my left...stripers caught to my right...and me sitting there not getting a sniff...all of us using the same leader, same hooks, same bait...casting within feet of each other. Ahhhhh! Good to have the monkey off my back...even if it was a little rat! :) Lena, despite being down and out for about an hour...snapped the pic before heading back for a much needed nap.

Daly...with another one!

And Doug...who was on fire all day...literally dropping in and within seconds getting hit by stripers or blues...just silly!
Nice one here, good stuff!

Well after that, I slacked off on the camera as we fished around spots, caught a few more stripers and blues...and then as the bite died, headed back in toward the marina to try another spot or two without much luck.

The weigh in was scheduled for 4:00PM at the Keyport marina, so we headed in around 2:30 to get the boat and gear cleaned up before heading on over.
We arrived just at 4:30PM to see a decent gathering.

Lou, affectionately nicknamed Mariah Carey for the afternoon by Charlie. LOL

And the weigh-in...hkdonfishin and his crew's fish

Lou, doing the honors...

When I took the snap, it was stable around 20lb 11oz

And the other around 21lb 7oz...but I think it was rescaled again from a close second place fish within 4oz...and it's final weight was 21lb 9oz.

Nice ones...

And the one that came up a little short by 4oz...

Team Tuna Tales comes out on top for the first prize of almost $500!
Nice job boys!

Then it was off to the fillet tables...where Charlie and Glenn did the honors of filleting up the catches!

And after that...off to the Jake-a-bob's gathering for some great food and plenty of alcohol!
Doug...one was enough, so he was ordering two at a time!

Then we all had some left over bunker juice and Bailey's!

Courtesy of the man, Tom Daly!

Oh and the antics were in FULL EFFECT with telefante, tdaly, and Scrubby!

And the boys were having a great time!

Then Lou and Tom had some discussion about a bathroom and licking face...

Scrubby was in all out hilarious mode!

We all were rolling...

Who the hell knows what he was doing...

Was this the sprinkler impression?

Final picture at Jake-a-bobs, Robyn came over and said hello...and I snapped a pic of her and tdaly! ;)

And tonight, I ate like a king! Lena made two different styles of striper...one breaded and fried in a light olive oil, and the other recipe courtesy of Bill...striper with onions and cream-of-mushroom on top! Some pasta with parmesan and string beans with garlic to round it off! Mmmmmm mmmmmmm good!

Well that's all I have of this insanely fun NJH Striper-a-thon event! Tom Daly, as always...you're generosity and kindness are second to none...we ALL had a GREAT time aboard the Daly Double! Doug and Tom K...great time fishing with you guys again, one of many future trips ahead this spring and summer! Doug, I don't know how the hell you catch so many fish...but Tom K did catch the biggest...and Tom D was giving you a run for your money! Meanwhile, I was sucking wind and shucking clams like a champ...but not doing much in the way of stripers. Lena started off strong, but had a spell of seasickness that kept her out of the game for a few hours...before she somehow bounced back and started fishing again after the bite already died. Ahhh no worries, plenty of trips ahead of us, and we'll definitely get her in on the fluking action when the season opens!

Another great time with great friends...can't wait for the next trip!

Until next time...

04/26/2008 and 04/27/2008 - Striper Fishing Raritan Bay

2008-04-28T20:14:00.001-04:00

04/26/2008 and 04/27/2008 - Striper Fishing Raritan Bay

Well, another weekend of fishing finally came and with it some pretty nasty weather to start each day.

Saturday...myself, Charlie, and Tom E. were greeted with some "passing showers" mixed with lightning and thunder that kept us at the ramp for a short while before it cleared up enough to allow us to depart. Meanwhile Sam, Tom K., and Craig were prepping for the maiden voyage of Sam's new boat in less than ideal conditions! Looks like a crash course to start his boating career! :)

We headed out of Edison while Sam's crew headed out of Keyport with plans of meeting up at GK to net some bunker and cruise for some stripers. Well that was the plan, until we ran into some whitecaps in the river! Fortunately we located some bait on the way to GKs before it got really rough and managed to net and snag enough for the day. Meanwhile, we were filtering calls from Craig who sounded like he was in a NASA wind tunnel in their Victory at Sea expedition to GK. They managed to snag some bunker over there but were getting pummeled by the wind and rough water.

Charlie opted to hit up a windbroken section of water and skip the GK adventure. It turned out to be a good decision, as we anchored up and started chunking...and within minutes were on some fish...ahhh those yellow eyed devils! I had the first two hookups, losing both at the boat I believe to biteoffs. Love using Fluoro and having blues chew through it like butter...nice! Shortly afterwards, Charlie and Tom were in on the action and it was non-stop blues and biteoffs. Fortunately Charlie had a stock of 100s of hooks! And YES, we needed them at the rate we were going through em!

Around 9:30AM, Charlie hooked into a decent fish, getting him to the boat in short order to surprise us with a nice striper! Ahhh, so there are a few here! Excellent! Well that pumped us up, but that's about all we got out of it as the blues abused us for the rest of the day...not another striper. I lost count of how many blues we had, but they put a serious dent in Charlie's hook stock! RELOAD!!! :D

We pulled the hook and headed in to check out some other spots on the way in. We came across a nice pod of bunker and decided to do a few drifts. Again, nothing but yellow eyed demons! But it was cool to watch them come up to the livies and slash through the water chomping at em! Very cool! Poor bunker...those blues are vicious! :D

Then we headed into the river but nada doing, spent a short while anchored at one spot before calling it a day after going biteless for about 45 minutes.

Here's a few shots from the day!

Charlie and Tom meeting up at 7-Eleven before our departure!

The local celebrity, cowboying up for a photo!

7-Eleven bagel and NOS, Breakfast of Champions!

Tom, forgot his slicks...wondering if he can fit into some that Charlie had laying around! Contemplating the SQUEEZE! :D

Rain, rain, rain

Backing her up...my first time backing a trailer in! Sweet! Sorry about hitting that piling dude, glad you had an extra prop!!! Haha just kidding! :D

Not sure what's going on in this picture...I just went to drop off the trailer and came back to this...a lot of bending over going on over there!

Tom livin it up!

Charlie, ready to roll!

Classic picture of the morning...this seagull couldn't take the pressure anymore and hung itself...poor bugger!
That or an osprey was laying out some voodoo!

Skies clearing up finally!

Tom, contemplating...looking kind of worried, maybe WE should be worried. I'll call this "The Warning" look!

Da bunks!

Swing!!! And a miss!

Not this time...FISH ON!

Awww yeah, bring him in nice and slow...he's sluggish like and taking drag!
Ummmm, uhhh...nice MALE!

Then Larry, Moe, and Curly showed up! :D

And all of a sudden, a familiar and quite deadly waft of air had Charlie and I looking at each other asking, "Did you just *$#@*&( yourself?"
But, no no no...we missed that WARNING sign up in the bow!

Mr. Knocks Out An Entire Starboard Side With A Single Squeak Strikes Again!!! :D

After the air clears...Charlie regains his balance and adequate oxygen intake just in time to grab his rod with the drag screaming out!
A short battle and he lands our only striper of the day!

Tom's into the yellow-eyed devils!

On the deck!

Apparently that Paul Newman sauce is still working it's magic!
Does Grunden make a HAZMAT suit by chance? Haha

Charlie with another slob chomper!

Tom into another one...Hollywood Rod!!!

Golden Energy...

The boys, loungin as we head back in to try another spot...

Quite breezy...oddly doesn't look half as bad as it was.

The boys, back at the dock...final pic from Saturday!

Alright, so I head home...clean up all my gear and head to bed for a quick powernap debating on what to do on Sunday.
I figure I'll sleep in, maybe hit up a trout stream...that was until I got a last minute call from Charlie to go again in the AM with Craig on board too!
No problem, sounds like a plan...so I just stay in bed and get a solid 10 hours of sleep...awesome!

Craig, Charlie, and I meet up at 7-Eleven grab some snackage and head on off to the ramp. Again, more "passing showers"...should clear out by 8AM...yeah OK...more like rained all day long! Ah, it's OK, the fish don't mind! ;)

We headed back on out, came across the same school of bunker and threw some nets and snags and filled up the livewell before shooting across the bay over to the GK. We netted and snagged a few more and saw a few familiar boats over that way...light rain the whole time, so I kept camera action to a minimum...don't worry there are plenty later! :)

Back out to the bay, we move over to fish a channel edge marking fish right away...dropped the hook and started chunking. It didn't take long, mere minutes and we were in blues for the next 3 hours. Craig claims he had two striper runoffs with untouched bait, I think the cigs are going to his head! :D

We continue to get abused by blues, fish after fish after fish...hook after hook after hook...gone! Man they are relentless, but a ton of fun to fight...they never give up! We hung out for a bit hoping for a striper, then opted to move to another area.

We marked some fish and decided to drive some livies, and shortly afterwards all threw of us had runoffs from stripers, whiffing like pros, and coming back with scuffed up bunker but no blues teeth! Drifted again, rinse, repeat...same thing, whiffolas! Well we know they're there, so we opt to anchor up and chunk hoping to draw them near...but we just drew in the blues...more crazy action. We were close to a channel edge as a tanker came through and for fear of getting sucked into the prop and instantly submerged (LOL), we pulled the hook and headed to another area! :D

Again, marked a ton of bait and fish beneath, dropped the hook but landed off the spot as the tide started to change. Lots of salad in the area, and unproductive with little action, so we picked up and headed on in for the day.

Here's a few pics from the day!

Scrub!!!!!!

Charlie, doing a jig?

Another classic Scrubby expression!

Da boat...purty!

Charlie, crab master!!!

Conditions...not bad, far less than predicted

What are these? Sea lice?

TANGLE AGENT!

Another one!

Slob blues, all you can eat!!!

Fish finder! What's what?

Found some new winter flounder grounds! :D

Back at the parking lot...maniac in SHORTS! Hi, it's like 45 in the morning!

I wanna fly away!!!

OK, that's all folks...another crazy weekend out on the water!
Great time as always, huge thanks to Charlie for taking us out!
Seriously, I'm going to break my striper slump and catch one this year! :D

Until next time...

04/19/2008 - Winter Flounder Fishing Raritan Bay

2008-04-20T12:34:00.000-04:00

04/19/2008 - Winter Flounder Fishing Raritan Bay

Well I finally got out for some fishing after a two week hiatus as Charlie, Scrubby, Chris and I hit up the Raritan Bay for some winter flounder.

Predicted weather was nice and sunny with temps expected to rise into the mid 70s. In reality with an early breeze increasing to a stiff 15mph steady all afternoon I don't think it ever felt above 60 all day...but very nice nonetheless and certainly better than being at work! :)

Fishing was tough, we found an early bite around the last bit of incoming and slack tide in the morning and managed 7 keepers over the first couple hours, but then the bite died off and we opted to relocate to try another area. We fished the new spot for about an hour without even a tap, so we pulled anchor and headed back to the morning's area to try in a little deeper water. Things again were pretty slow, but we managed to pick up a fish here and there over the next few hours until the winds and seas started getting a little snotty, so we packed it up and headed back in.

Scrubby was the hot hand, as usual inducing the most bites and WHIFFING! Hehe, but he managed high hook of 4 keepers, adding another on his chum pot (only chum pot fish all day). I managed 3 keepers on the only 3 discernable hits I had. Charlie pulled in 2 keeps, and Chris rounding it off with his 1 from earlier in the morning. Bites came on a mix of clams and worms, but I think most hits were on the worms over the clams. Seemed Pablo's Not-So-Secret winter flounder bait helped out again as well, as Scrubby lead the way with the most hits and was using it all day.

We ended the day with 11 keepers, not bad but not really good either...just a tough day as we couldn't seem to locate a good batch of fish.
But as always, a great time with good friends! ;)

Let's get to some pics from the day!

Ah, my morning started with a drive to Charlie's place. Along the NJ Turnpike, I came across an upcoming ploom of smoke, so I grabbed my camera just in time to catch this van on fire.
Blurry drive-by pic at 70mph! :)

Unfortunately Charlie's morning picture can't be posted, so I'll move on to a Newman series! :)
The trademark THH (Two-Handed Hi):

Newman!!!

Crazy Newman!

RARE PIC! Charlie smiling...one of two on the day!

Scrubby on the Spot!

Ahhhhhhhhhh more coffee!

Charlie's buddy Chris, getting ready!

Charlie, getting ready to drop his new ride in! ;)

In the meantime, I observed this spectacle. Note the wooden dog aimed at dissuading geese from visiting the area.
Funny, they added black silhouettes at my train station to do the same, and geese learned in about 2 days...they pose no threat.
Hilarious.
BTW, does that dog in the pic have a jetpack on?

Boat's in the water...nice!

SCRUB!!!!!!

So pretty!

Some morning shots...

Nice, hazy sunrise...

Super hazy...

Sun peering over the houses.

Ah, the infamous winter flounder hot-spot!

See, this guy knows about it!!!

Hazy fireball!

Alright, finally on the fishing grounds...we have a hatless Scrub!

Shortly later, with his first fish!

Chris in the stern, picking one up on the dead-stick!

Nice!

Charlie is into one!

Two smiles in one day!!!

And another one!

Then I landed my first...blurry pic, but a nice flounder...biggest of the day!

Newman with another one!

Then things slowed down so we relocated and saw a familiar face!

After an hour...fishing kinda looked like this, so we relocated! :)

New spot, Chris enjoying the company of ducks!

Charlie was too!

Scrub, on the chum pot like a mad man...well until he went to drop it back in and the rope broke! Whoops!

Well, we headed back in a short while later and ran into some antics at the dock...had to tow a guy in who kept losing power to his engine.
Then the guy went to get his trailer...see anything wrong with this picture?
Ahhh, no problem...he just pulled her right up on there anyway! LOL

OK, final fish pic!

Well that's all folks, long and tough day of fishing but great to be back on the water again!
Until next time...

04/06/2008 - NJ Musky Trout Fishing

2008-04-07T16:01:00.001-04:00

04/06/2008 - NJ Musky Trout Fishing

Alright, after an all day epic adventure of trout fishing on the opener, I headed home for some much needed rest and recharged my batteries!
Woke up mid-morning and headed back up north for a midday fishing session with Scrubby and Charlie.
We decided to hit some of the same stretch of the Musky as Saturday and see how things went!

I arrive at the parking area when I look and see none other than, WOJ!
What the...is WOJ carrying SPINNING TACKLE!!! BLASHPHEMY!!! Haha

The boys are already down there and fishing, so I head down with Woj and get busy!
Here's my first...another vegan brookie! :)

I was totally slacking and didn't take any pics really.
Woj and Charlie headed upstream as the action was good but not great.
Scrub and I hung tight and catch a few more! ;)

Then we all joined back up and cleaned our fish before heading off to another spot.
Here Craig cleaning his fish with Woj looking on.
Tom E will have some feedback on this one after the tog fishing trip commentary! :D

Woj is so good, he fishes with his eyes closed...and no rod!

Bucket-o-limits! Can't wait to get some smoked ones back!

Well we all headed to another spot, and it was pretty fishless.
They were there, but it was a little difficult access wise, and pretty shallow in most parts...and being fished in the deeper holes.
We cruised through for about an hour, with just a few hits between us but no hook-ups.
After that, Charlie, Craig, and Woj headed on home while I continued on...but not after much needed refreshment!

Here we have Craig Light.

And Mr. Cooler, aka Captain Pink

And Woj...wearing a Cowboys shirt! Oh boy...

Nice cooler! :D

Alright, off they went and I headed to the next spot.
I found some fish pretty quickly and landed a few...
Here's a nice little brookie...

And another...

And another...

Then picked this vegan brookie out!

And this one that just wouldn't give up! :)

Ah there ya go!

Few fish later, snapped a pic of this final pictured one...

I went on to catch quite a few more fish, but slacked off on the pics! ;)
Was another great day out on the water with a good number of trout caught...probably ending the day with 30-40 fish caught.

Another father, son, and daughter came on down to fish toward evening at the spot I was at and commenced to catch fish left and right.
The father was just observing, as the son (probably 14-15 yrs old) caught fish after fish...landed one, then handed the next off to his younger sister (probably 10 or so).
Was a good time, they really enjoyed themselves! ;)

Alright that's all for now, until next time!

04/05/2008 - NJ Trout Opener

2008-04-07T15:36:00.001-04:00

04/05/2008 - NJ Trout Opener

Well Doug and I met up for the 8:00AM start of the NJ trout opener on the Musky.
We thought we'd check out a few holes before the start to see what was going on and several of them were railed.
We opted to hit another spot that had no one there...no seriously, and it was our expectation that F&G didn't stock the spot
But we figured what the hell, we'll give it a go and maybe they stocked a few there or we'd hit some holdovers.
Plan was to fish it for a little while and let the crowds die down elsewhere.

Well, as we expected, there were no fish to be found. We fished the spot for about 45 minutes without a bump...so we skipped out of there and headed upstream to another spot.
We arrived to see crowds already thinning out, guys leaving, all with fish.
So we gave it a go...and started catching a few...

Doug's into the fish!

Nice one buddy! ;)

They must be thick...even I got one!

And another one!

Doug, into another one!

Then I hooked this one, he wasn't too happy!

And later another nice brookie...

Then I got this brookie with a lip tag!

Another nice brookie short while later...

Same one, different angle?

Good ol' Doug, battling...

Here's his fish...

Alright one more of mine...

Doug and I headed off after our morning stint, grabbed some lunch, and Scrubby met up with us for the afternoon session!
Scrubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb!

Scrub and Doug getting ready

We tried out a little spot upstream, looked promising but not much action...few stockies up there it seemed.
But I did manage to land this nice brownie...my only one on the day!

Nice...

Then I caught this "vegan" brookie! ;)

And later caught this brookie as well...

Then I hear an outcry of a NICE fish...and Doug is into the battle!

Oh and it's a MONSTER...ummm...sucker! Nice size Dougie! :)

Alright, action being a little slow, we relocated for the remainder of the afternoon to a spot that was a bit more crowded during the morning but started fading off towards evening.
Doug and Scrub...Doug has guts getting that close to the MUSH! Haha

Doug...beatin on em...

You can see the dad and kids in the background. I took this pic because this dad was awesome, he was hooking fish left and right and handing them off to his kids who were having a blast...very cool!
Dad of the Day Award! ;)

Well I was slacking on pics in the afternoon, was pretty good action as we all caught some fish.
Not sure how many Doug or Craig wound up with on the day, we all kept our limit and caught far more.
I think I ended the day at dusk with 60+ fish.

Really a nice day on the water, river conditions were beautiful...not high and fast as others lead us to believe.
Pretty much as perfect of an opener as you can ask for, great time all around! ;)

Until next time...

2008-04-04T21:59:00.000-04:00

03/29/2008 - Winter Flounder Fishing Angela Rose II

Well boys and girls, I've been getting crushed at work and had no time to really write this report until now.
With trout season starting tomorrow, I figured I'd better get this one knocked out quick to make room in my head for this weekend's reports!

I have to admit, my picture taking skills are off...I was slacking big time, out of my game having not been on a trip in some time now!
Obviously I have to correct that immediately and start fishing far more often! :)

Alright...so this trip features yet another great crew, all day busting chops and having fun!

Team Flundie 2008:

Craig, aka Scrubby, aka Captain Batwing
Tom D, aka tdaly, aka Tom Drinks Daly in honor of his Friday night partying! :)
Tom E, aka telefante, aka Captain Takes Out An Entire Starboard Side with a Single Squeak
Doug, aka Schues, aka Captain Needs a Nickname
Steve, aka stevejar, aka Captain Looks Like He's Wearing Socks, aka Socks -n- The Magic Bus!
Captain Ant, the man, the myth, the legend of the Angela Rose II!
Mate Kevin, eats his own body weight per hour.
And yours truly!

Alright, let's move on to some pics and let them tell the story a little!

Tom, all smiles as always...ready to hit up some flundies!

Nice sunrise coming...

Moon still hangin around...

Tom showing Craig his sausage...note the beaming smile on Craig's face. Haha

Craig in total panic mode as he was running late and got there only 5 hours early instead of 8 hours early.
Word is, he LOST his corner due to tardiness and here is upset his rods aren't in his designated spot.

He refused the trademark Two-Handed Hi until we gave him a spot in the stern.

Ant's hangin loose and ready to go after some flundies!

Alright back to Steve's Magic Bus for some breakfast!
Doug...chillin

Oh boy...Tom Drinks Daly, little tipsiness lingering? Nah...he's always smiling! ;)

Of course, he must have thought we were going fluking in the dead of August wearing his standard loafers!!!

Tom E, apparently LOVES to show us his sausage!

In all seriousness, Tom's sausage patties and links are friggin awesome!
Those links are some of the best I've ever had, man...mixed with some sharp provolone in there...WOW!

Craig cookin up a storm! Good stuff!

Tom, wondering if someone put some extra cream in his coffee? Craig?

SOCKS!!! The owner of The Magic Bus!

Alright, here's where my lack of pictures skips a beat and we wind up back on the boat where Kev and Ant are mixing up the chum!
Don't forget the corn!

Mmmmmmmmm chum!
Those are actually little Italian meatballs we mix with some marinara sauce for lunch! Goooooood! Haha

Tom Knapp...errr I mean Daly...apparently thought there was a sporting clay event off the stern that day.

Wow, look at this sorry crew! Doug, Tom E, Steve, Craig licking Steve's ear aggressively, me, and Tom D!

Kev, doing what Kev does...eating!

Steve with a flundie!
Note Ant in the background observing the catch!
Now see...this is an important picture...because his standard mode of operation is to WAIT until someone catches a fish, before he himself starts fishing.
Where this becomes important is because I made the cardinal sin of all fishing mistakes and not so quietly EXCLAIMED a missed fish on the other side of the boat.
Ant was like a Roller Derby expert on performance skates...he was in on that fish and got him to bite before I blinked an eye and BAM nice one in the boat! MUGGER!!! Hahaha
C'mon I had to call him out on that...and again, SLACKIN...no pics of that event!!!
I could have had T-shirts made up and worn it on every ARII trip!!! Ant, muggin my fish!!! Ahhhhhh LOL
It's all good, I'm gonna break the 10# fluke mark on the ARII later this summer and have him stand next to it in a picture to see who's bigger! Haha, just kiddin Ant! :)

Oh, in case you missed Kev finishing HIS sandwich earlier...this is Ant's sandwich...in Kev's hands! :)

This guy looks cold, good thing he packed his beach towel for the winter flounder trip!
Craig's got competition for the Cape of the Year award!

In the meantime, apparently Steve was fishing near the chum bag...errr...no wait, he was fishing ON the chum bag.
Nice catch SOCKS!

Things began to slow down, so Tom Drinks Daly decided to take a nap...

And apparently had an affair with Minnie below deck!
Note the shooting glasses...still on!
And is it just me or does Minnie have one hell of a smile there? She looks pretty happy. Good job Tommy Boy!!! :)

Little later, Tom E brings in a flundie

Then I went into full slack mode, as we started to catch more fish, I was all into catching and not enough into taking pics.
Here's a final shot of our catch at the end of the day...on the table as the filleting begins!

Tom E also put a nice story together too, and I think it's well worth including in my own for a nice, joint report!

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

What a day. I learned a few things.....

Capt. Anthony is a super guy with a tremendous work ethic and a great sense of humor. He will do anything to get fish in the boat....even if he has to mug you, after you miss a fish, and catch that fish right out from under you.

Kevin, the mate, is a fine young man who will be a great Captain himself one day....he just needs to watch where he puts his hose.

Scrubby is an awesome cook, a great fishermen, and he knows everybodys secrets. He is also flat out funny. In fact, he is surrounded by an aura of funny. Beyond that, he is a guy who likes to bring people together for good times. He always has both oars - and his line - in the water and can see 20/20 through anybodys BS. I have to believe that Craig has a fishing schedule around which he plans work.

Matt is another expert fishermen. This guy can actually smell fish through the water and catch them. It is like watching a squirrel dig an acorn out from under the snow. He casts, tightens up, and at the first indication of a bite he goes into a position that I call "The Mantis". Arms extended, elbows tucked in front of his chest....head slightly foward. He is feeling the water molecules colliding with the braid. At the next tap - bam - fish on. He caught 1/3 of the fish on the boat and was one of seven fishermen. When he is not hauling meat out of the sea he is going through some well oiled comedy routines with Scrubby. You just can't touch this.

Steve is a real good fisherman too. He is the builder, owner, and operator of the magic bus....a 4X4 camper van that is a hunting, fishing and tailgating paradise. He is also the nicest guy you'll ever meet. (Actually - he is tied with Shues) He handed off his spot at the chum pot after getting a fish. He will laugh at your lamest jokes so that you don't feel like a stooge. He is a true gentlemen.

You can see eye to eye with Doug....if you are standing on a step stool along side him. Shues can fish right along with the best. He is yet another "NJH" hunting and fishing machine. Wherever he is, he takes it all in....quietly....and does not miss anything. (He can find two rotting deer heads in a lagoon. ) He lives under the rule of a two year old son....that makes him both a subject and a King.

Tom Daly is like a Saturn Rocket - blasting through a nuclear explosion - leaving a trail of good wine and good times in his wake. This man has never done anything half way in his life....he is wide open - full blast - 24/7/365. There is no other way to put it. He will infuse any mission with pure, positive energy. One huge flounder got the best of him. It took him exactly 15 seconds to get over it. Quick wit - power naps - and a humming web phone keep him going...and going...and going.

It was a great day of schooling for me. I learned a lot - but not as much as "The Last Flundie" who watched, with periscoping eyes, as Capt. Ant filleted his comrads from the livewell - one at a time - until it was time for #15. He actually got nervous when Ant. reached #13. He really learned a lesson.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Well that's all I got this time folks!
Until next time...tomorrow! ;)

Tight Lines!

Matt
mmateyak@hotmail.com

02/08/2008 - First Gray Fox (Male)

2008-02-08T14:12:00.001-05:00

02/08/2008 - First Gray Fox (Male)

Well it was another crazy night out in the woods chasing nocturnal creatures around, as first timer Doug came out for a preview of the fun, just to run the light and see what it's all about.
We met up shortly after darkness fell and proceeded to hit a few sets on some public land.
Wind and conditions were great, dark moon, light winds, quiet...real quiet.

I ran Doug through the procedure, the quick list of Do's and Don'ts, and we were on our way to the first set.
We ran through a series of distress calls with Doug panning the light like a champ, anxiously waiting for eyes to light up...but to no avail.
After 30-35 minutes, we deemed the first spot a total bust...nothing at all came in to check us out.

Off to the other side of the park, figured I'd escape the range of the caller and hit a more distant piece.
I hunted this set earlier in the week and had yotes calling back at me, but they wouldn't come in.
When we got to the spot, the wind was getting shifty...and quartering to our back going in.
I knew where they were located, so we swung around and were hoping our wind wouldn't carry that way.
We got set up and settled down...put the caller out and upwind of us about 35 yards.

We started in on some distress calls for about 15 minutes with nothing showing...then Doug caught eyes in the brush for a quick second.
I got ready, but the wind was shifting all around, and the eyes never showed again.
5 minutes later, we hear something behind and downwind of us, sounds of movement through the woods about 100+ yards in.
Nothing we can do, we do some desperation calling, but it's a yote downwind...we're done.
We call that set quits shortly afterwards and head back to the truck.

Off we go to the total opposite side of the park. Nice field, low cover, good visibility. Walking in, I see no signs of footprints or tire tracks, good sign.
Wind is near perfect when it's blowing the expected direction, but there are some easterly kicks hitting the back of my neck from time to time.
We set the caller out and in front of us, quartering the wind to our right and anticipating movement from our front or side left.
I start off with some mouse squeaks for about 5 minutes or so...nothing is interested.
We move on to some more distress calls...it's quiet, real quiet...they are reaching out nicely...something has to hear them.
We hear a crash behind us in the brush and sounds as if something climbed a tree near semi ground level...could have been a raccoon, but it was fast as lightning and we never saw eyes or anything up the tree a mere 15 yards from us. Have to wonder if something didn't come on the ground behind us, then turn and burn after getting spooked and hit some brush against the tree real hard. Who knows.
We continue calling and sweeping for the next 30 minutes, then try out some coyote locator calls, interrogation howls, and invitations...but no answers...and they are reaching out far.
Another bust...no eyes.

It's after 11:00PM now when Bill calls. He's on his way out to meet up with us, so after 3 busts...we decide to head off to some other woods...a nice private piece Bill and I called two foxes in the other night but couldn't get a shot off in time. Good part is, no shots were fired...questionable part is...will they come into the call again this early since the last time.

The three of us meet up and head on over to the patch. After some discussion, Bill decided we should head deep in to the other end of the property to call into some new woods rather than setting up in/near the same spot we did last time. We head in, and as we come up to the old spot I flash eyes out in the field...a couple deer...and one looks nice. He's at least 250+ yards away...but Doug and I swear we can see rack. We move up closer to get a better look, but they eventually spook and we never did get a solid confirmation on the buck.

We continue on, and eventually get setup in some high grass in the middle of the field. It's a seemingly odd tactic, setting up standing mid-field...but we wanted to experiment...as many of the eyes we pull come right up to the wood's edge and lock up. Meanwhile we are tucked in cover on the other side of the field and well out of shotgun range. So this time, we grab a little cover and plan on relying on the lights blinding the targets and keeping us hidden behind the glow.

Bill sets the caller out 35 yards quartering upwind and close to the edge of the woods. We're rolling through some fox distress calls, as we did the night before, and again nothing is happening. We're about 20 minutes in and getting antsy...again like we did the other night. We know they are here...but I tell Bill to sit tight...they took awhile to get to us the last time. We pass the 25 minute and 30 minute mark, still nothing. Bill cycles through another call, it's about 35 minutes in when I sweep through a section and see nothing, I pan off to the right about 30-40 yards when Doug picks up eyes where my light was 3 seconds earlier.

"Pssst, PPPPPSSSSSSSTTTTT...THERE!!!", Doug says in as much of a quiet but urgent whisper he can manage. I pan over and light him up, get shouldered, safety off...and Bill whispers "Take him".
BOOM, the 3.5" SBE2 speaks...the fox rolls but keeps moving...BOOM...another shot, my lens pops off and I lose the fox in the light from the recoil. We're certain he's DRT...but when we get up there...nothing. Say what?!?! How in the world!

Bill is like a bird dog, running around the immediate area looking for the downed fox...meanwhile Doug and I are looking for blood. On the shot it looked like the fox was headed left, but upon further review, the second shot must have spun him...because he ran 180 degrees in the opposite direction and completely right. We have good blood, and follow it about 15 yards to the nastiest briar patch on planet Earth. I mean, I've been through my fair share of briar patches...but this one was virtually impenetrable...and naturally...right where the blood trail leads.

Then, we hear another fox barking at us from about 150 yards away. It sounds an awful lot like the FoxPro Red Fox Rally. So we hit the caller and do some distress, hoping to bring him in too. Doubtful, given the shots fired, but what the heck...why not give it a try. We assume they are grays and from what Bill has read, they often travel in pairs...so we are guessing I must have shot the female and the male was pacing in the woods line rallying to her?

The distress calls shut the rallying fox up, but it isn't coming any closer. We give up the call, and proceed to look for the fox I shot again. 5 minutes later, we get rallied at again...LOUD, over and over...so Bill proceeds to rally back at the fox...it's back and forth, back and forth...but the fox won't come...which is what we figured anyway. Ultimately, we give up again and just focus on finding the fox I shot.

Doug does the good deed of the day and dives into the briar patch following the blood trail. I circle around and enter in from the other end to see if I can cut blood in a more open area. Nothing on my end, and about 20 more yards in Doug sees fur! He belly crawls through the briars and eventually reached the downed fox and retrieves it.

Doug gets him out of the briars and into the field, a beautiful male gray fox...and my first gray fox ever! Awesome!

He didn't go too far, about 35 yards. I just couldn't figure how he went anywhere. I hit him smack in the center of his chest head on at probably 30-35 yards with a 3.5" Dead Coyote #T load...broke one leg too...yet he still somehow kept going after getting rolled...and took another shot...and still kept going and made it 35 yards and into the briar patch.

Well, overall a short tracking job...just a hellacious recovery.
Big thanks to Doug for braving the briars! ;)
Also a big thanks to Bill for holding back and letting me take first crack at the foxes...it's his turn now!

Alright...enough story, let's see some pics!

Here I am with the male gray and my SBE2.

Bill and I.

Doug and I, me having a little fun! ;)

OK, OK, no rabbit ears...

Beautiful coat.

Pretty animals.

Nice full tail.

That's all for now folks, until next time...maybe Monday evening if the weather looks good.
NJ's night season is coming to a close on the 18th...so we'll be hitting the woods heavy next week trying to score on a few before it does!

Equipment Used:
Shotgun: Benelli Super Black Eagle II
Shell: 3.5" Dead Coyote T
Choke: Ported Rhino .660 2" Extended
Call: Knight and Hale Mouse Squeaker, FoxPro FX5

01/31/2008 - Predator Hunting, My First Fox!

2008-01-31T11:46:00.001-05:00

01/31/2008 - Predator Hunting, My First Fox!

Alright, I was finally able to score on my first fox ever last night hunting with my buddy Bill during NJ's Coyote and Fox Special Permit Season!

Our night started off more like an Abbot and Costello act with all the issues we ran into. Bill and I each drove about 45 minutes to the area we planned on hunting to find that Bill forgot his FoxPro caller at home! Ack! It's already 11:00PM, and I suggest we go without it and use hand calls instead, but Bill insists on going back. So, I decide to head to a different spot down the road a ways and give it a try on a solo hunt with just my hand calls.

Well, I park, get my gear and gun packed up and head on in for a 10-15 minute walk on the property. I arrive at the spot, get settled in and flick on my Lightforce 170 to find...well it's not working. I spend a few minutes toggling switches, checking fuses, disconnecting and reconnecting all the points to no avail. Then I check the one adapter and find the dual wire harness broke clean off from inside the adapter. UGH!

So Bill is in transit and we're without the Lightforce 170! Well, we contemplate calling it a night, but Bill won't have any of that either and brings along some of his other lights...less range but will work just fine. I backout, and head back to the spot Bill and I met up at earlier and begin to disassemble the adapter to see what went wrong with my light and also to see if I can patch it for the rest of the night's hunts.

I wind up getting it apart, and to make a long story short, I needed a soldering iron to resolder the contacts. I tried to hack it with a lighter, but was wasting my time...just can't get hot enough to melt the solder and reform the contacts.

Alright, we ultimately concede and settle in on Bill's lights. We head off to another set with the FoxPro and are ready to call in some predators! We hoof it in a little ways to a nice field, wind is a little shifty but should be OK.

We set the FoxPro about 40 yards crosswind and behind us as we watch the field edge cover in front of us, which is where we expect the fox or yotes to come from. We start off with some mouse squeak hand calls but receive no response. We then fire up the FoxPro with some screaming rabbit calls, and again no response. We then progress to a Grey Fox Distress call and about 2 minutes later, a nice red pops out of the woods 35 yards to my front left.

I get the light on him, flip the safety off, settle in and squeeze the trigger. He goes down and is kicking, we figure he's dead, but in retrospect...should have shot one more time to put him down for good. As it turned out, we had to perform a little tracking and finish the job, but it all worked out OK in the end...except for the point blank shooting which hurt the front of the coat (face/legs)...this is where a .22 would have come in beautifully...dispatch shot to the head, game over...instead, a 3.5" Dead Coyote load at a few feet...not pretty.

It was a great hunt, and both Bill and I were stoked to finally score! One down and many more to go!

Here's a few pics of Bill and I with the fox, nice moon background too! ;)

Equipment Used:
Shotgun: Benelli Super Black Eagle II
Shell: 3.5" Dead Coyote #T
Choke: Ported Rhino .660 2" Extended
Call: Knight and Hale Mouse Squeaker, FoxPro FX5

01/21/2008 - Blackfishing on MIMI VI (Pics)

2008-01-22T12:49:00.000-05:00

01/21/2008 - Blackfishing on MIMI VI (Pics)

A group of friends from NewJerseyHunter decided to get together and head out on a toggin trip with the Mimi VI out of Point Pleasant.
As it turned out, the weather was BRUTAL cold with only our group of 11 plus one other guy showing up to go.

Here's the allstar crew:
Craig aka Scrubby now known as Scrubby Crocker
Charlie aka catfish hunter known as Captain 150 of the Smallest Whiteleggers on the Planet That Smell Like Dead Mackerel
Steve aka stevejar, previously known as Captain Socks but now as Captain Roller Skates
Tom aka telefante now known as Captain Silent But Deadly or Captain Knocks Out The Entire Starboard Side with a Single Squeak
Tom aka lefteye now known as Captain Tries to Lift Up The Wreck When Snagged
Schell (sp?) aka jerseyhunter now known as Captain Sorry, I Thought Your Thermos Was a Piling!
Bill aka REEL ER IN
Glenn aka Cat
John aka jrhunt
Vic aka jrhunt's friend
Your's truly

Craig, temporarily Captain Grouchy, and Bill arrived at the dock around 1:00AM...OK it was more like 4:00AM...I guess their alarm didn't go off and they overslept. Fortunately the boat doesn't leave until 6:30AM!
I arrived shortly afterwards, with the rest of the crew not far behind.

Captain Roller Skates was nice enough to bring a camper van that was all rigged up with a kitchen, refrigerator, the whole nine!
Scrubby Crocker took over the kitchen with Captain Silent But Deadly offering a helping hand.
Hats off to Tom for bring along those kick ass venison sausage patties, and especially those ones with the sharp provolone inside! They were GOOD!
Scrubby tore up the stovetop, hooking everyone up with some great breakfast sandwiches.
And for being such a great guy, Schell decided to knock over Scrubby's thermos, shattering the inside when it hit the ground. Apparently he thought it was part of the piling LOL! That really turned the Grouch on in Scrubby! :)

Alright, enough craziness...let's get on the water!

We headed out of Point around 6:30AM and headed for some toggin spots to the south. Throughout the day we hit a bunch of spots, but the fish just weren't cooperating at any of them. Kenny worked his butt off trying to find the meat, and Chris was running anchor drills like a champ in freezing temps. We were on great bottom throughout the day, but the bite just never got hot. We picked at a few fish throughout the day at each of the spots, but just couldn't get them chewing hard. We fished shallow, we fished deep, we adjusted all over the sections of each spot we dropped the hooks at...we had greens, we had whiteleggers, we had shrimp...but those elusive tog just wouldn't get on the feedbag! Ah, what can ya do, we did everything we could but it just turned out to be a poor fishing day...that's why they call it fishing and not catching! ;)

The trip was still a great one with a ball busting crew. I'm sure the one other patron thought we were all maniacs! Non-stop laughs throughout the day, as always and just a great time with great friends!

Big thanks to Kenny and Chris for having us out and working so hard to make it happen, we'll catch em up next time! ;)

Extra thanks to Chris for finally washing out Charlies cooler...possibly the first time ever...no seriously!!! Hahaha

Main lesson learned was when Tom (telefante) starts giggling like a schoolgirl behind and upwind of you...RUN!!! Run for the hills or save yourself the trouble and just jump in the ocean...FEAR IS COMING! No more provolone, venison sausage patties for you in the morning! I swear those bibs had a hole through them after that one! Hilarious watching the chain reaction go down the starboard side in short order.

Lefteye Tom, one of these days, seriously you may very well pull the plug on the ocean bottom...but rest assured you won't break nearly as many rods as Charlie does! LOL

Alright, so anyway, we'll be keeping an eye on the reports and try to get back out again...hopefully it was just an off day and the tog are still around chewing somewhere in the NJ waters! I'll probably head out this upcoming weekend for a trip if the weather looks favorable. Also, word on the dock is Scrubby booked a fluke trip for August with the Mimi VI...one of only two weekend dates that were still available for the Mimi all summer! That'll be a good one, can't wait!

Here's a few pics from the trip...

Captain Roller Skates arriving on the scene!

Pimp My Ride hooked Steve up with this sweet ride! Man, talk about a camping/fishing/hunting rig...NICE!

Captain Grouchy with his half-arsed two handed hello...BS, you're fired!

Bill, freezing at 4:30AM, but ready for some toggin! :)

Schell, arriving and looking for a thermos to knock over! Haha, sorry I can't resist!

Look Ma, I can cook without looking! Pablo would be proud!

Tom, hookin it up with the venison sausage patties! Awwwwww yeah!

Lookin gooooooooooooooooooooood!

Chris, thinkin we're all nuts.

Tom, enjoyin the fruits of his labor!

Cat has arrived and is ready to hit up the tog!

The man, Charlie, finally arrives with mackerel infused whiteleggers! Haha

There he is, good ol' lefteye Tom!

Vic and John enjoying the warming cabin!

Groucho, wishing he had his coffee

Charlie, stuffing his face! Haha

Tom, all smiles!

A nice little sunrise in freezing temps!

Captain Roller Skates...camo jacket, orange bibs, and hot pink roller skates!

Craig and Tom, ready for some action

Charlie, biting off my Kojak pops!

Tom with a tog

Craig, after about 75 swings, finally hooked into this tog! Haha

Steve with a nice keeper

John, handling a nice fight...Chris is ready by his side!

Conger eel...ugly!

Tom with another tog

And Steve with another keeper

Then lefteye Tom hooked into a MONSTER!!! GET THE GAFF!!!

Apparently his BIG brother didn't want to miss out on the action, so he jumped on Tom's hook too!

Nice size Tom!!! Hehe

Little while later we headed in and I took a few pics before I took my own little nap!
Schell, snoozing...probably dreaming about grabbing onto pilings!

John's out like a light!

Tom, after those two long battles with GIANT bergals...much deserved and needed rest! Hehe

Cat, the only one to wake up after the flash went off! :)

Alright, nearing the inlet...nice little sunset shot.

Sure was cold out there and on the way in!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

That's all for now...until next time!

Permit Shotgun, Some January Doe Management! (Pics)

2008-01-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

Permit Shotgun, Some January Doe Management!

Well Doug and I have been working on one of the properties we hunt to cut down the doe population.
It's pretty overwhelming how many mature does are on there, and some pretty big ones too for South NJ!
We've managed to take 6 off there so far, and are still going...but the season is nearing an end.
Next year, now that we have a better grasp on the deer numbers there, we'll be starting much earlier with the bows!

Here's a few pics of some of our latest does...

Doug with a nice doe from back on 01/12/2008:

I got my first deer with my SBE2 this morning, 01/19/2008.
Remington 3.5" 00 buckshot through a .660 Rhino choke at 25 yards.

And this evening, I made my longest shot ever at this doe (freehand while sitting in my treestand).
I haven't gotten an exact range but it's somewhere between 150 and 170 yards.
That H&R sure is a tack driver!
Sorry about the pic, that W80 sucks in low light! Should have used my H1!

01/18/2008 - Gutpile Predator Trailcam Pics

2008-01-18T19:10:00.000-05:00

January 2008 - Gutpile Predator Trailcam Pics

Hey, where you goin?

Turkey buzzards flying in!

Looks good!

Tastes good!

C'mon everyone...group photo opp!

Uh oh, daddy hawk is in town!

Lots of him...

Another...

King of the Pile!

Standin guard!

They didn't waste any time getting in there once he left!

Party time! Damn those things are ugly!

What's up Francis?

The crows are pretty low on the gut pile food chain!

Sneaky, sneaky!

He won't come in...

OK, if he won't come in...I will! :)

Early morning snack...

Tear it up dude!

Then his girlfriend showed up!

Gettin Stringy With It!

The couple, back in action.

Another...

Look who's back! Same pose, different day!

C'mon, you know you want some!

You can't stand there all night buddy!

That's it! Drive by!

Puffier tail?

Than this one?

Down, Set, Hut Hut, Hike!

Last one! ;)

That's it...no yotes, maybe 2 foxes...and tons of pics of that redtail and his bride! :D

2008-01-10T19:33:00.000-05:00

01/10/2008 - NJ Permit Shotgun 9 Pointer (Pics)!

Well, this buck and I have quite a history together...it's been a very long journey, with some unforgettable ups and downs, but patience and perseverence ultimately paved the way to my best NJ buck ever!

Let's begin by first taking a step back to the Winter of 2007, a time when I was paying my dues on this property in hopes of getting permission to hunt it. A few friends of mine actively hunt the property on occassion, but due to the proximity in which they live, don't have the ability to frequent it very often. Given that I live a mere 15 minutes away, it only made sense to get me involved to help manage the property more effectively. So, to earn my way, I started off just helping out...patrolling, posting, baiting stands, and also setting out my trailcams to help gain some intel on what was around.

Well, besides a few trespassers (which has been addressed), I was fortunate enough to capture some good pics of several young bucks and a really nice 8 pointer.

Here's a few pics of him from back in December of 2007 and January of 2007...

I liked the coincidence of having pics of him from 01/10/2007!

We were unsure on whether to pass on him or not, so John decided to get a closer look one day in late January. Late season...John arriving in the morning.

The big 8 was there 30 minutes before John arrived to hunt the stand.

No one ever did get a look at that buck while hunting the late season, but ironically, as I was helping pull stands the day after the 2006/2007 season closed, a group of deer came running right by me at 25 yards...with the 8 pointer in the middle of the pack. Needless to say, he looked pretty big then and very well have been considered a shooter! ;)

As the winter progressed into Spring of 2007, I continued helping out by scouting the property and locating a few nice terrain features and potential stands...ironically, one of which led me right to this buck (more on that later)!

In the late summer of 2007, we re-posted the property and thankfully I got the go ahead to hunt the property for the upcoming season!

Now...fast forward to October 2007, already having several stands hung before the season opened and I'm well into heavy camming mode...a few small bucks on cam, but nothing worth chasing...as a matter of fact, we hadn't even hunted any of the stand locations on the farm yet.

Then this guy showed up at one of my pre-hung stand locations...my first look at him on October 7th 2007.

I had quite a few pics of him throughout that week, but entirely at night...and at several cam locations on the property.

I also opened a mock scrape when I checked one of the cams, and he (and other bucks) found it!

After some analysis, I was pretty confident he was the same 8 pointer from the year before...same brow tines, same sweeping antlers...just a bit bigger!

From spring scouting, I felt I found a nice core bedding area but wasn't sure how heavily it would be used during the bow season. Once I spotted him on my cam in that area in October, I didn't waste any time, and went right into where I had cleared a spot in the spring but not yet hung a stand. I waited for a rainy day, and midday on Sunday October 14th crept in, hung my stand and got out! Another result of my spring time scouting was that I had found several old scrapes in this area from the previous rut...one of which was within 15 yards of my stand setup. As it would turn out, that was a key to what would happen next.

October 18th...I decided it was time to give it a shot. He was in the area regularly based on the cams, and the conditions were nearly ideal for the stand.

Everything worked out about as perfectly as I could have planned...almost!

As it turned out, the buck moved back into the area the night before as evident on the trailcam pics. Of course I didn't know this until after I had hunted the stand...and my first time in that new stand was that morning. As I had talked about with a couple buddies, the only way I thought I'd get him to come in given a lack of daylight movement was to coax him with calling and/or rattling...that is IF he happened to be bedded nearby.

Well, that's exactly how it worked out...around 8:00AM I did a sequence of calls and just a few minutes later...he came right in behind me. He worked his way to my right through some cover, allowing me to get into position and walked right to and hit that scrape less than 15 yards from the stand, completely clueless to my presence. As he finished pawing the ground and licking the branch above, I spotted an opening ahead of him and once he was about to clear the brush, I drew back. Then...just as I got to full draw...the arrow came completely off the bowstring!!!

Here I was...at full draw...the buck of my dreams standing broadside less than 15 yards away from me, wide open for the shot...and the arrow is OFF the bowstring and just teetering on the front of the riser!

Simulating the same draw sequence later that afternoon, I determined the root cause was that the arrow did not come up on the rest (lack of Trophy Taker arrow guide), and given the arrow's shorter length, when the back of the broadhead hit the front of the riser (arrow resting on the riser shelf instead of up on the rest)...it basically pulled the arrow right off the bowstring.

Lesson 1 learned...use the #&$#* arrow guide!

So I had a critical decision to make with the arrow teetering on the riser. I could let down and try to grab the arrow before it fell, but with the buck broadside less than 15 yards away and wide open, he'd certainly see my movement. Or, do as I did, and use the giant oak I'm in to hide the movement of the arrow falling and let it fall behind me, while trying to slowly guide it to safe/quiet ground. Well, half of that worked out...I slowly let down, reached back behind me, tilted the bow and let the arrow fall off the riser, but as it neared the bottom, wind caught the vanes and steered it right into the base of the big oak I was in and CLANK CLANK CLANK the rest of the way! The buck immediately snapped his head up looking at the base of the tree, then at me, then at the base of the tree. At this point, I used a different oak between us to block my movement to take another arrow out slowly. He might have spotted movement or just got cautious as he turned and ran off about 25 yards blocked by some cover. I quickly knocked the second arrow only to find the fletching wasn't aligned!

Lesson 2 learned...be sure to align all fletching, not just balance broadheads with the arrows.

Dumb on my part, I actually put that arrow in the quiver the night before this hunt, since I shot a doe on the previous Saturday and needed a replacement. 2nd arrow in the quiver, never expected to need it for an "on the fly" shot like that...again, lesson learned.

Alright...so at this point, he's 25 yards out, not sure what's going on, turns around and puts his head down. So I take that opportunity to rotate the fletching as quick as I can to get it close to where it needs to be. Bad idea...he either spotted some movement or just didn't like what was going on...so he turned to run...I clipped on the release, spotted a small opening ahead of him as he bounded, drew the bow (arrow on the rest this time), when he hit the opening I grunted at him and he stopped about 30 yards, quartering away but obviously on high alert. I found the opening, tight, had to crouch down about 4-6 inches to make it happen, squeezed off the shot and let the arrow fly. I caught the tailend of the arrow's flight...right to where I was aiming and I was pretty sure I hit him good, having the 30 yard pin just above his heart and right behind the pocket near the last rib and my 20 yard pin high on the back of the lungs. At a glancing range estimation, I knew it was more than 25yds but not more than the low 30s...say 32.

He ran off hard, and I could see he had trouble with his right front leg while running. I gave him an hour, then got down and took up the trail. I had no blood or hair at the hit that I could find, so I started to follow up in the direction he ran figuring he didn't make it all that far.

After about 40 yards (which he ran in about a second and a half), I found good blood and followed it to an absolute ton of blood...literally 15-20 1 foot by 2 foot wide pools for the next 100 yards...just about every few steps...I expected to find him down any moment. Then I hit a point where it appeared he might have bedded, but it was small and just some kicked up leaves...so I continued. Another 40 yards later, and I found another similar spot but with coagulated blood in it...so I assumed that was indeed a bed and backed out and waited for my buddy to arrive.

About an hour later, we took up the trail again. We found some more blood right away, and shortly afterwards the other half of the arrow and the broadhead...entrenched with meat, tendon, and sinew...not a good sign at all. The blood trail at that point was fair, but no where near what it was before...usually an indication of a muscle hit, but with the sign on the broadhead, I had to have been somewhere in the leg or shoulder. If it was the leg, I couldn't imagine not hitting the artery and that buck going down ASAP...but the leg was so much farther down than I had thought I hit on the shot...so we leaned towards the shoulder. Eventually we bumped the buck right by my other stand and cam...and upon review of the pic, he really looked almost as healthy as could be...unbelieveable!

My buddy had to leave for work, so I followed the decreasing to non-existant bloodtrail for another 300-400 yards...really just wandering potential trails and fresh tracks and occasionally coming across a random drop of blood (thumbtack size) every 50-60 yards. I kicked him up again, and kept on him, believing at the time, given the amount of blood early on in conjunction with the bedding blood clots found that I needed to reopen the wound and push him to bleed him out. As it turned out, he clotted up and I lost blood after a long ways of tracking over the next 5-6 hours.

After reviewing the pic in more detail, my one buddy highlighted the path of how he believes the arrow traveled based on the marks on the body.

Here's a comparison photo of where we believe the broadhead ran across his rib cage and exited through the front armpit. Note, this picture was captured 3 hours after I had shot him.

It appeared as if the exit was by the front armpit, entrance appearing where the yellow lines start. If you look behind that path, you can see a vertical dark (reddish) patch, which might be from him getting poked/punctured by the jagged shaft after it broke?

If that path was correct, then I would have hit exactly where I was aiming...and given he was on high alert, it's possible he may have ducked or lunged to the side resulting in riding the side of him from center body above the heartline, and entering through the backside of his front leg and exiting the front of the armpit (noticeable dark mark there).

I'd have thought with the amount of blood early on, given the picture information, it would have been an arterial shot, but the fact that he didn't go down in 500-600 yards made me believe otherwise.

It was incredibly disheartening and dejecting not finding him...I can't even describe. He would have been my biggest NJ buck ever! After tons of analysis, we believed his front right leg was pretty messed up, but we didn't think it would be fatal. I went back the following day to check for any birds circling, but to no avail.

A lot of lessons learned from that bowhunt...ultimately, where I needed to get lucky, I got lucky...but when it came down to executing the shot, some minor things I had overlooked turned out to be major malfunctions resulting in not getting this buck that morning.

Some may wonder why I never shared that hunt, and my perspective was that it wasn't a story I wanted to share until I could bring closure to either the season or with this buck...so I opted not to tell it until now.

So, after all of that and the addition of the arrow guide on my riser shelf, on October 27th I headed to North Dakota to hunt with my buddy DJ and was able to score on a really nice droptine 9 pointer from a ground blind on November 1st. That helped rebuild my shattered confidence and re-instill faith in my equipment, but that buck from back home was still weighing heavily on my mind.

I returned to New Jersey from North Dakota on November 6th and promptly hit the woods on November 7th to check my cams and see what kind of action there was while I was away. Well, to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. On the 3 properties I had cams hung on, I did not have one single shooter roaming through during the peak of the seek and chase phases! I couldn't believe it! And worst of all, still no sign of that 9 pointer I had hit back in October.

I continued to hunt some other areas, with no success and little confidence that I'd see anything I actually wanted to shoot. So I continued along over the next few weeks, that big 9 constantly on my mind...knowing I should have made that shot in October...and I'm sure as we all have done before, wishing I could rewind and replay those sequence of events just a little differently.

Then it happened...November 20th, the big 9 pointer suddenly reappeared on the other side of the property! To say I was relieved and pumped he was alive and back in the area wouldn't cut it...I was ecstatic!

Here's a few pics from back then on November 20th...note, that is just a leaf on his back. You can also see that his right leg is clearly not being used anymore as a result of the injury.

Still looks healthy, amazing how resilient these animals are.

No visible entrance or exit wound.

The sad part was indeed the shape of his leg. It was clear he lost all mobility of the right leg but otherwise seemed very healthy. Nevertheless, I vowed to spend the remainder of my season trying to pattern him down and get him. As it turned out, he sure didn't make that very easy.

I was on stand early the morning of November 23rd (Friday after Thanksgiving) and saw a good number of does, including a big, old brute of a 5 pointer. That was a great hunt, truly memorable, as I witnessed him back down two other smaller bucks and breed a doe a mere 30 yards away from my stand!

But the big 9 pointer was no one where to be seen. I kept close watch on my cams, and hunted the stand I had been getting pics of him at very sparingly...not wanting to risk over-educating him. Unfortunately his movements were entirely nocturnal for several weeks...and highly variable. He would appear one random night and be gone for two or three, then reappear and disappear again...just no discernable pattern.

Then the 2-day muzzleloader season rolled around, as my father joined me. The goal was to get him on that 5 pointer I saw during permit archery season or even a shot at that 9 pointer. I actually pushed the very perimeter of the property on the 2nd afternoon and believe I kicked the big 9 up toward my dad...but he never saw him. With 45 minutes of light left, I jumped in one of my stands and that 5 pointer wound up stepping out and was down shortly afterwards. Just a few minutes later, I heard a shot from my father's direction as he downed a doe.

Afterwards, the property got a rest until the 6-day firearm season opened the following Monday. After power scouting our other hunting spots and checking cams with the similar disappointing results, we opted to just hunt the farm that big 9 pointer was sporadically appearing at in hopes that he'd slip up and give one of us a shot. Unfortunately, he was no where to be found...no sightings and no cam pics at all that entire week. In fact, all of the buck movement on the property ceased...I didn't see a single buck all week!

Once 6-day firearm was over, and that 9 had become essentially invisible, I opted to rest the area and keep an eye on it with cams...just heading back to rebait, check pics, and patrol.

Then, just like the evasive ghost he has been, he magically reappeared once more on the morning of December 15th...leaving the scene just before first light.

But then he slipped up...and actually came in with some shooting light that very same evening! Note the skylit background.

As circumstances turned out, I wound up using my permit muzzleloader tag on that 5 pointer, thinking permit shotgun was the entire month of December! Well as you probably know, permit shotgun closed for a few weeks and then re-opened on January 5th. Ironically, the 9 pointer showed up the very first day AFTER permit shotgun closed on Friday December 14th! Well, there was no sense in beating myself up, because I probably wouldn't have been sitting there that day anyway...although...someone else would have been targeting does with the bow and had a hell of surprise (*cough* Doug *cough*)!

So as the following week progressed, I jumped in that stand on two different evenings with the bow in hopes of getting him, but to no avail...he stood me up...again...with his movements being completely nocturnal.

Here's a few pics from back then...

And then...once again, he disappeared for a few days and suddenly reappeared at another stand location.

And again, was gone for a few days, but showed up right on time for Christmas morning!

And once again in the evening! Of course, in NJ, we can't hunt Christmas...but I wouldn't have been there anyway! :)

So now, he started showing signs of slipping up again...making some daytime appearances...unfortunately I hung and prepped this particular stand specifically for use with my slug gun...a good 50 yards off the trails and bait, and although I still had a bow permit, I didn't want to risk going in and busting the spot trying to hang another stand there. So I had to be patient, and wait until the permit shotgun season re-opened.

Then just prior to permit shotgun season re-opening, a major cold front hit for two days...and you guessed it...the big boy slipped up both days and came right in with plenty of shooting light...and virtually at the SAME time...talk about a nice pattern!

January 2nd...

January 3rd...

Once the season reopened on January 5th, I was in that tree...anxious and waiting. With the cam pics showing recent early evening movement, I was pumped and confident I was going to get a crack at him that day!

But, as luck would have it, a group of does came busting in from behind me in the late afternoon, exploding into the dry, leaf covered woods in front of me...running straight back to where I believed this buck to be bedding. And as I suspected, I did not see him that evening...probably startled from his bed by those does and headed the other way.

Then a major warm front hit, temperatures soared into the 70s...it's JANUARY!!! No sense in hunting then, and I didn't want to put any pressure on him or risk getting pinned in the tree at last light, figuring he'd move well after the sun went down. So I hung tight and waited for better conditions.

Then, on Thursday, January 10th, the weather and winds shifted...temps dropped down from the mid 70 highs two days earlier to the low 30s at night. I figured with the relative 40 degree drop, that 9 pointer might just bed early that morning and slip up that very evening...coming in at last light.

So I took the afternoon off from work and climbed in my stand around 1:40PM that afternoon. Given an odd slip up the 9 pointer made at 2:00PM that previous Sunday...I figured I should be there in case he did it again!

Unfortunately, he pulled a no show for the 2:00PM movement, but other deer started milling around the stand site around 3:00PM. I had 3 yearlings come in to feed, followed shortly afterwards by a nice sized doe with a half rack buck on her tail. That half rack came in, scent checked, sniffed and chased all 4 deer right out of the area. Then around 3:15PM, a group of about 20 turkeys came in and made all kinds of racket, but it was pretty neat to watch! ;) After that it was dead quiet for nearly an hour...when around 4:30PM I heard the sound of approaching deer. I got ready, praying he was with them! 7 does trickled out of a nearby thicket, followed behind by that same half rack buck! The does worked their way out and away from the thicket, but that half rack buck hung close to the cover and fed the entire time.

About 20 minutes passed when I heard movement approaching from my front right...maybe I was making myself believe it at the time in hopes that it was him, but I swore I could hear a distinct limping cadence. I peered through the thickets out front and picked up movement about 90 yards away...confirming that convincing limping cadence was indeed HIM!

There was no mistaking it, it was him and he was coming right to me! I got into position, sitting down in my stand, left foot on the footrest, hammer back on my H&R 12 gauge, the gun shouldered and ready to bark! Now...I'm just waiting...waiting for him to work his way closer and closer towards my shooting lane! With the gun shouldered and ready, I check the scope and position relative to the shooting lane...everything is good to go!

The big 9 pointer is 40 yards away from the lane now...30 yards...my heart is beating through my chest...20 yards...I'm breathing like I just ran a marathon...10 yards...he's almost there, just a few more steps...

Then it happens...he locks up! He's literally TWO STEPS from being in the wide open...my crosshairs are on his forehead...waiting for him to clear that last tree...a tree that has his entire chest completely blocked. That half rack, hanging tight to the cover all this time, must have heard them coming...maybe thought they were does, and started working his way back over in the dry, crunchy leaves.

The big 9 pointer is at full attention, just staring in the direction of the half rack...he doesn't know what it is, and I'm not sure if he's going to calm down or bust out. Anxiety attacks me, it's such a critical time...he's inches away from my gun going off, but those inches might as well be miles because if he spooks, I'll have no shot at all. I'm in between a forced calm and an uncontrollable panic as I search for an opening in case he turns to run...I find one, just a few feet behind him, it's my only hope if he turns to go but hesitates...it will happen fast. It's seemingly been an eternity, but really 5-6 minutes of waiting with my crosshairs on the 9 pointer's head...frozen, ears forward, eyes scanning...trying to identify the source of the sound in front him.

But Lady Luck was on my side this fateful evening, as that 9 pointer identified the half rack buck as the source of the sound, flicked his tail in a calming and accepting fashion...and at that very moment, the second his tail flicked...I knew he was mine. He put his head down seconds later and took a step forward, I settled back into the crosshairs and as soon as he cleared the tree and stepped into the lane...he stopped, offering me an excellent quartering towards shot. I put it on his left shoulder and squeezed off the shot...the woods erupted at the thunderous report of the shotgun...the 9 pointer was hit hard, running straight at me...falling and expiring a mere 15 yards in front of my stand!

Excitement and relief simultaneously overwhelmed me as I sat and just absorbed every second of the long and arduous journey leading to this buck laying in front of me. I reflected back to last year's December and January cam pics, this year's October bow hunt, his reemergence in late November, and now...full cycle to this January's ultimate success...finally! I can't even put into words the gratitude and respect I have for this buck and the sense of accomplishment I felt upon finally catching up with him...the culmination of days, weeks, months of scouting, preparation, and hunting...all merging into moments of shear mental and emotional chaos...and ultimately transforming success into such a unique, irreplaceable, and everlasting memory. He is one buck I will never, ever forget, and my biggest buck ever to date!

Finally...some pics from after the hunt.

Unique 10th point.

Hole in the horn.

Well, it's been a great season, a truly unforgettable one! This 9 pointer completes a season long quest, and gave me the opportunity to close a chapter in my hunting adventures that I wasn't sure I'd ever have another chance to do. The entire experience of chasing this buck has proved to me that without trailcams I would have never known he even existed given his nocturnal nature. Springtime scouting, virtually year round camming, patience, and persistence helped me achieve such a long sought after goal of mine and to overcome all of the adversity along the way!

Now it's time to go back to the drawing board and seek out next year's buck! We're doing some intense doe management on the properties now until the end of the deer season here in NJ, then it's time for late Winter and Spring time scouting in hopes of fine tuning our current stand locations and finding some new areas to hunt as well!

Until next season...

Equipment Used:
Shotgun:	H&R 12 Gauge Tracker II Plus
Scope:	Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40mm
Slug:	Federal Premium 2-3/4" 3/4oz, 1900fps Barnes Expander
Trailcams:	Homebrew IR SnapShotSniper, Sony DSC-P41, Pelican 1040

01/04/2008 - Blackfishing Out on a Limb 4

2008-01-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

Well, Craig, JR, Bobber, Jim aka El Diablo, aka RiverRat and myself decided to go on another blackfishing adventure out of Cape May today and were joined by two of Craig's friends, Al and Matt.

It was just brutal cold on the drive down as my truck's temperature gauge read a bone chilling 8 degrees!

Craig and I arrived first, and met up at the local Wawa for some coffee and to get some lunch, and then proceed over to the boat launch. Al and Matt arrived shortly afterwards with Bobber and JR not far behind. JR and I had plastic duty again, but things went together a little smoother this time! The guys loaded the rest of the gear and bait up, and we slipped the boat in just as Jim arrived.

Craig...being Craig. Newman!!!

JR...growing the beard for his airline pillow attendant! Haha

Bobber, wishin he was in Florida!

Oh so pretty!

Backin her in, Al is ready on the dock!

Reverse angle as we pull away...

A nice morning...

Nice sunrise as we cruise out to the inlet...

Alright, why not a few candid shots?
How about JR mid battlecry?

Al looks tired huh? Don't worry, he'll wake up quickly later in the morning!

Matt, hangin out...ready to get out there!

El Diablo and Bobber!

And Newman, errr I mean Craig, workin the hair...alright, I'm just jealous!

Alright, it's off to the races! Another beautiful morning, cold and crisp, but a promising forecast of 10-15 out of the West, shifting to the SW later in the day and 2-4 foot seas. We cruised out to our first spot and it wasn't too sloppy but it wasn't exactly flat either out there...more 4s and later 5s+ than anything with a ripping breeze.

We dropped the hooks on the first spot and got set up over the piece. The current was ripping pretty good to start, far more than earlier in the week and the bite wasn't nearly as fierce, very subtle scratches and bites. Jim and I were on fire early, bailing tog left and right while the others started putting together a steady pick of keepers with a few throwbacks mixed in. We adjusted as we went and picked through the spot and managed to put a good number of keepers in the box.

Here's a few shots of our results in the morning...

Matt with a nice tog!

Bobber, tearin it up!

Al, warmin up with a nice one...

Jim, landing a nice tog!

JR...well...ummm...not quite a tog...nice skate buddy!!! Haha

Mr Isolation, Craig, landing a nice tog in the bow...

Bobber with another nice one, JR...El Diabloing him!

The bite started to die a bit, but that's just when Al was getting started. Midmorning onward, Al started beating on the tog nonstop with a solid mixture of keeps and throwbacks. In the meantime, the bite died for the rest of us and we contemplated moving and were just about to pick up the anchors when Al lands a 16lb 4oz giant (weighed on two different hand scales back at the dock, hovering between 16lb 3oz and 16lb 4oz).

Here's a pic of the beast! Congrats to Al on his personal best tog ever, and he's fished for them since he was 12! Nice!

After that, we fished for a bit longer but the bite pretty much totally died, so we opted to pull the hooks and move elsewhere...well that was the plan anyway. Unfortunately one of the anchors got snagged in the wreck, we circled around it trying to pop and pry it free but the anchor line rubbed against an edge down below and got sliced. Ack!

Well, we hooked up a backup anchor and headed off to the next spot. Once we arrived, we drop a single hook to feel out the area and managed to hook up a few fish but not the kind of life we expected, so we picked up and moved off to another area. Once there, we dropped a single anchor again and had some decent action, so we picked at them for a bit and then rolled up and dropped the second anchor and sat back on a different section of the structure. We spent the next couple hours there and managed to catch a few more keepers and a healthy number of throwbacks too. Both Al and JR hooked up with some solid 10lbers too!

Here's some more shots from the trip!

Al lands this nice 10lber shortly afterwards...

They must be THICK down there!!! Here's El Capitan, JR with a beauty of a 10lber! P.S. I didn't catch anything big, today so they weren't that thick afterall!

Pile-o-tog with THE CHICKEN!!!

Al with his two big tog from the day!

And we can't forget the hero shot with his candycane fishing rod!!! Al is now known as The Candyman! Chicken Approved!!!

Well, another great trip aboard OOAL4 with another great crew! The fishing was very good, as we caught over 40 keepers and just as many or more throwbacks...keeping our 7 man, 4 fish limit. Big thanks to JR for having us out again, sorry about the anchor dude! And it was great to fish with Craig, Bobber, Jim, Matt, and Al! Hope we can do it again real soon!

Beautiful sunset in the making!

What a day!

12/30/2007 & 12/31/2007 - Blackfishing

2008-01-01T00:33:00.000-05:00

12/30/2007 - Blackfishing Searcher II

Well Craig, Doug, Doug's Dad, and I decided to hit up the Searcher II out of Barnegat for a little blackfishing.

I spent the night in Brooklyn and headed down to the boat early...well early for me at least. With the closure of the 8 limit season coming in another day, we figured the boat would be packed, so we planned on arriving well before any crowds.

For some, *cough* Craig *cough*, that means getting there at 3:15AM! Hi, the boat doesn't leave until 7:30AM!!! Friggin sicko! Ironically, another guy beat me there, arriving at 3:50AM...well known togger Sam (aka NYBayman, and current World Record Blackfish holder from what I understand). Well I eventually arrive around 4:30AM, while Doug and his dad arrive around 7:29AM...OK, OK...they were there around 6:30AM...good thing we locked some spots up for them. Of course, Doug had the blue claws, so we couldn't complain too much...thanks dude!

So anyway, Doug and I fished the Searcher II last year and had a great time with Captain Wayne and first mate Tom. This year, Wayne is obviously still running the boat, but Tom moved on to a new job and some new mates stepped in but I didn't catch either of their names. Unfortunately that was due to pretty slow action and not much needed assistance/netting required by the mates.

The ocean was nice, conditions seemed perfect as the ocean laid down after a big swell the day before. We headed SE out of the inlet for a solid 40 minutes and setup on a piece. We had some limited structure and caught a few fish but the bite wasn't very good.

Wayne picked up and headed NE a ways, another 30 minutes or so. They dropped the hooks, got setup, but unfortunately our side of the boat wasn't on the piece as we struggled with all soft bottom. We sat there for quite some time, Wayne eventually made an adjustment and we finally got on some rough bottom and hooked a few keepers...but he fired up the engines and moved the boat just a few minutes after adjusting...meh, just when it was getting good.

We headed East even farther out, setup on another piece but same thing...our side was on soft bottom again...not getting any hits or fish. The other side was hung up a lot, meaning they were in the good stuff, but they didn't get a lot of fish either. Sam, landed a nice 11 and a half pound tog on the spot which won him the pool. But even he was struggling with the fish and not getting much of anything.

Wayne hopped around to another spot or two and kept us out a little later than the 3:30PM return time trying to make up for the slow action, but it never really got good. We all finished up with some keepers: Craig, Doug's Dad, and I having 3 keeps a piece, and Doug having 2. Was a nice day on the ocean, but unfortunately the rain started coming down at the end of the day, so I didn't get a ton of pics.

I was slackin on the camera, could be that I didn't sleep at all the night before, but I'll blame it on the rain late in the day!

Here's a few shots...

Craig with the standard 2 handed hello...What's up Newman? Haha

Some people that are handy in the garden are said to have a green thumb...Doug on the other hand, has a black middle finger...courtesy of a frozen rump roast (?) falling out of the freezer and directly on it. Nice!

Doug's Dad, Art, is ready for some toggin!

Craig, playing with his pliers from Toys-R-Us

Doug, tying rigs and making funny faces

A little lighthouse shot...

I asked Craig how many keepers he had...this was his answer. Blame Newman, not the camera man! LOL

Doug looks well rested...afterall, he made his dad drive down while he slept.

Art again, and some great background humor. Mugger of the Year was surprisingly very calm that day. His roller skates must have been broken, but he's in full story mode as usual...and on his 2nd or 3rd...Hi, it's like 7:45AM. He's not a bad guy, but he'd mug the shit out of his grandmother even if her last dying wish was to catch a keeper tog...he'd be sure to rip it out of the hole before she had a shot at it! Haha

Conditions are nice...

So nice...

Doug and Craig...sleep fishing...

And wow do I suck...I don't have a single fish picture on that trip! My lord, I must have been tired.
Don't worry, there are some on the next one!

This was a great trip with Craig, Doug, and Doug's dad. We always have a good time, just wish the fishing would have been a little better. Definitley going to get back out with Wayne again, and I'm sure we'll get on the meat next time!

12/31/2007 - Blackfishing Out on a Limb 4

Alright, so after the Searcher II trip, Craig and I headed directly down to Cape May and stayed overnight in a hotel to catch some shuteye. Obviously with the lack of sleep, I crashed immediately. Craig wasn't far behind.

We woke up around 5:00AM, got cleaned up and headed to Wawa for some coffee, breakfast, and a packable lunch with some snacks. Afterwards we headed over to the boat ramp to meet up with JR, Bobber, Kevin, Chris, and Jim...all ready to board OOAL4 and beat on some tog!

The others started loading up the boat while JR and I struggled with the torturous jigsaw puzzle otherwise known as securing the zippered plastic enclosure panes to his center console. Not to mention I got one sip of my coffee before resting it on the gunnel and knocking it over...one sip would be all I was getting that morning. Alright so after some frozen hands and a few bloody knuckles, we finally get the plastic all attached and zipped together, and the gear loaded on board, as well as some whites and blues. JR commences to drop the boat in the water, while I run and get the rest of my gear and Grundens on.

I started takin pics early, but then JR grabbed his camera once we were setup on the water, so I eased off picture mode.

Shot of Bobber before we board. He went with the peace symbol, if he wasn't carrying those charts, he'd probably have had both hands together praying the boat doesn't break down again with me on it! Haha

Captain Newman...two handed Hi!

There she is!

JR, still sleeping?

Scrubby with his blaze orange 80s workout headband.

Jim, aka RiverRat

Chris and Kevin

Everyone's pumped for a good trip as we work our way through the channel and inlet, heading for open ocean.
Here's a few shots riding out...

Nice front view...

Sailboat with the rising sun...

Rising sun off the North inlet jetty

So we finally break the inlet and are greeted by some relatively rough seas with some 3-5s plus. JR is taking it easy with OOAL4, only going about 30-32 knots! ROFL Meanwhile, Craig is holding on for dear life in the back of the boat getting absolutely drenched by spray rolling off the top of the center console roof and right onto his head. We ask him if he wants to join us under the center console, but he refuses to move or let go. Basically, he was 50/50 on dropping a duece in his shorts on the ride out.

Funny, I was sitting right next to him but when we started getting wet, I got up...holding FIRMLY onto the backrail of the seat just as JR hit a big wave and sent me flying. Had I not been holding on, there was a chance I could have gone flying right over. I sat back down for a second, Craig had the look of fear in his eyes and says "DUDE, YOU ALMOST JUST WENT OVER!!!". I didn't think it was as close as he did, but I took advantage of the moment and said, "Yeah man, the sick part is...if you go over in this cold water, you aren't going to live very long with what we have on!" I guess that was the clincher in Craig holding on for dear life until we got to the fishing grounds. Seriously, he refused to move an inch...hilarious! Poor guy! Haha

OK, so JR finally lets up and we cruise around to get setup on the spot. Craig and Chris are up in the bow and help set the anchors. I spot Bobber hooking up a crab in ASAP fashion, so I commence to do the same...I know his plan, and I want in! Haha They get the hooks set up and we drop down. We're off the spot a little bit, some soft bottom, so a little adjustment and we're on it. Bobber gets hit and asks me if I'm ready...he swings, hooks in briefly but drops the fish. Moments later, I get absolutely railed and whiff...normally I don't swing at the first hit but I was seriously slammed hard. I drop back down immediately, a few seconds pass and I get railed again, set the hook and it's on with a big fish. My rod is doubled over, and I know it's a good fish. I take my time once I get him off the bottom, he's taking drag with some hard pulls...he's a good one.

I eventually work him up to the surface and Bobber nets him swiftly, a nice 12lb 9oz tog hitting the deck...my FIRST fish EVER on OOAL4 and my personal best tog! Woohaa!

Then the 80s blaze orange Rockstar comes to life with a keeper!

And a little later, Chris lands a whopper of a tog!

And of course, Bobber wasn't missing out on the action and lands this slob of a tog!

The 80's Rockstar puts down the blaze orange headband and pulls this beauty out of the snags below!
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After that I eased off on the camera, and didn't get any of Kevin or Jim. Kevin was really on fire, beating on the tog left and right...Jim started off slow but was on a rampage toward the end of the trip yankin tog out of the depths while the rest of us weren't even getting a nibble! Coach bags Jim, right?

Then there was this flying tog episode where Jim flipped a keep over the side and I have no idea what happened to the fish but the rest of his rig went up and in between rods in the rocket launchers above. Bobber said someone would love a shot of Jim trying to untangle the mess...TANGLE AGENT ALERT!!!

Now which way does this go?

Alright, all untangled, back in the launchers...

And some end of day shots...

Pile-o-tog

Little out of focus, but our final catch...7 man limit, 8 fish limit...12 fish over 10 by 10:30AM...nice!

Kevin with two nice ones.

Me and Bobber with some of the big boys...

Me, being a ham with Kevin standing behind me incogneto like...Haha

Group shot...

A nice sunset as we end our day...

Well, that's all folks! Sunday's trip wasn't the best, but Monday's more than made up for it! I was able to catch two personal best tog amidst my 14 keepers, one at 12lb 9oz and the other at 11lb 8oz...and we had 4 people with personal bests on that trip...and I believe Kevin had the biggest one weighing in over 13lbs! I know Craig had his best at over 11lbs and 9 keepers to boot! Bobber broke off a fish that he said was by far the biggest tog he's ever fought...his biggest ever is over 15lbs, so that one had to be BIG! Chris also caught his two biggest tog ever...I think he had one in the 10lb+ range and another in the 12lb+ range! Great day on the water with a great crew, and FINALLY a trip on OOAL4 where we didn't have any boat problems! Black clouds have finally lifted!!!

Until next time...

11/27/2007 - Dad and I, Double Header Muzzleloader Hunt!

2007-11-28T00:38:00.000-05:00

Well Dad and I have been out for the last two days for the NJ muzzleloader opener with limited success in respect to sightings. It's been pretty slow overall, and the rain yesterday put a little bit of a damper on the morning hunt. Today was a beautiful day, but very warm and windy. As it turned out, the deer movement was virtually non-existant in our neck of the woods all day long.

I started my hunt perched in a dynamite spot before sunrise. Just at daybreak I heard from rustling behind my stand and spotted a deer, nose to the ground, about 45 yards out. I couldn't quite make it out in the lowlight, so I scoped it but it was already in the brush...and soon after caught my entrance prints and skirted off but didn't snort. And that was it for the entire morning until I got down around 11:30AM to do some light pushes on the perimeter of the property for my dad. He had been sitting since mid morning and hadn't seen anything.

I circled around and basically checked the property line and postings to ensure no one had ripped them down, and figured at the same time maybe I'd kick something to Dad. Well, that didn't work out too well. I kicked up quite a few deer as I circled around the farm, but nothing ran or meandered past his stand as a result of my walk/drive.

It was about 3:45PM by the time I finished, and I was pretty sweated up. By the time I got back to my truck on the other side of the property it was about 4:00PM and I figured, what the hell, I sprayed down real quick and packed light and headed into the same stand I sat in the morning. I got situated around 4:20PM, and not two minutes later had a small doe come in from my behind left, followed shortly afterwards by a bigger doe. They were a little antsy as they were at the brink of being dead downwind of my sweaty but sprayed down self (with sinking evening thermals)! Fortunately they didn't bust...the little one came out in front of the stand, and seconds later a young 8 pointer emerged as the doe from earlier bounded off...unsure if it was the eight or me, but it didn't matter...I was glad to not have her snort and not have a deer downwind of me any longer!

The 8 and small doe fed for a bit, as other deer started to work their way through the woods. Soon I had a 3 pointer, a spike, and that 8 in front of the stand when suddenly a new deer approached and they went on alert. Out steps a complete genetic nitemare of a buck, but a mature and dominant one I've seen before on the property and one that was on the management list. I've personally seen this high 5 pointer challenge every single buck he's come in contact with and tonight was no different as he immediately stalked the 3 other bucks and pushed them out of the area only to return to the two does feeding out front. Meanwhile the 3 pointer and the 8 pointer were fighting, more than sparring tonight...unlike a few days ago when I watched them tickle tines for awhile. I decided to take the 5 pointer and made a good 25 yard quartering away shot putting him down in about 80-90 yards or so. Just a few minutes later I hear a shot in the distance, not realizing it was my Dad who had taken a young doe at last light.

Well, here's some pics!

Shot of Dad and I...

The 5 pointer I shot.

Fresh puncture wound and fighting scars...wonder who actually challenged him back, hadn't seen a buck do it.
That young 8 backed down ASAP at the sight of the 5 pointer, as did several other younger bucks.
He definitely had far more body size and age than any of the other bucks.

That's all folks, until next time...shotgun season!