Well, it's time for another story. This one is a tale of blackfishing...well at least I think that's what we were going for. Doug, Doug's father, my father, and I headed down to Sea Isle City to fish aboard the Captain Robbins. Word on the street is that the Captain Robbins is probably the 2nd best boat down in South NJ next to the North Star, which is the boat on which the current world record blackfish was caught.
Anyway, my dad and I got down there nice and early to secure spots on the boat. Doug and his father ran into some major issues on their ride down, getting a flat tire and having to change it and hustle down on the 2.5 hour trip to make the boat in time. Fortunately they did get there in time! Well, I guess that depends on your perspective, because the fishing pretty much sucked.
Let's run through the trip's PROs and CONs...
First, the boat is pretty old and slow. She's an old wooden vessel, and she rolls BIG TIME in moderately ligth seas. 3-6 footers feel like you are rolling in 10-12s...not very fun. Second, we left late...slated for an 8:00AM departure, we didn't sail til about 8:45AM. I think they were low on bait and waiting for a delivery of green crabs because the mate snagged a cooler from a private boat dropoff and then the engines started right up and we left. On the plus side, the captain did stay out late and hit a few spots after our slated return time. I think we hit the dock a little after 5:00PM.
Probably the biggest issue I had on the entire trip was the fact that the captain only set out ONE anchor. I've worked on the boats, I've been out bottom fishing many, many times...and I've rarely seen a captain sit on ONE anchor...especially for blackfishing. It's an absolute must to set two hooks out, ideally 45 degrees out from the bow on the respective left and right. Find the wreck with your GPS/LORAN and depth finder, hover the wreck for a minute to make sure you are on it...ideally towards the front of the wreck (assuming it is a big enough to slip back on later), shoot out to one side, drop the first hook, barrel back in reverse to the wreck, hover it again momentarily, then shoot out to the opposite side at 45 and drop the other hook and trim back the first anchor line until you are positioned on the wreck...and then tie them off.
The goal here is to set out two anchors in opposite directions so the boat lays back on the wind and current and sits on the anchors...positioned directly over the wreck/structure you are fishing. Setting out two anchors opposite of each other 45 degrees in front of the bow prevents any LEFT/RIGHT swing over the wreck. The right anchor prevents you from swinging to the left and the left anchor prevents you from swinging to the right...ideally keeping you directly above the wreck. This is a MUST because if you set ONE anchor, then you have no counter balance to keep the boat from swinging around in the current like a barn door. Then you are on the wreck for a few seconds, and off it, then on it, and then off it. The problem here is wrecks/structure are what they call "sticky" and since you are fishing on the bottom, when that boat swings, it drags your rig across the structure and you get snagged/hung-up and lose your rig.
Well being ABOVE the wreck/structure is a major requirement of actually catching the fish that are there, but we were swinging so bad that 90% of the time we were OFF the structure and on SOFT bottom. This is horrible, you will NOT catch ANY fish if you are not on the structure. If you are on the sand, you are wasting your time, period. So to counter our barn door swing, the captain was running the motor and trying to power drift us into the wreck...again not good. The sound of the motors (in my opinion) shuts down the fish, especially the big boys. Secondly, to catch the bigger fish...the primary goal is to keep your bait STATIONARY on the bottom...no moving, sinker on the bottom at all times with your line tight enough to feel the hits. If you are bouncing that sinker around like gymnast, you just aren't going to catch many fish, nevermind the big ones. So swinging around like we were, 90% of the time OFF the structure, the other 10% of the time it was like rolling craps trying to get your bait to sit still long enough to get a hit before you drifted off the spot and off the fish again.
The other benefit to the two anchor system is if you position on the top of the wreck to start and it is a big wreck...you can pick the front half of the fish off, and then loosen up both anchors equally and fall back on the wreck incrementally and continue to catch fish throughout the entire wreck. The key is staying OVER the wreck/structure, I really felt like we were doing a combination of fluke drifts and tuna power trolling for most of the day. Tangles were a nitemare, a lot of customers on board and all that swinging and power drifting runs the lines together and over each other and it's a real pain in the ass.
Ultimately, it was a total nitemare of a trip. I spoke with many of the regulars on the boat and they said this was the worst trip they've ever had all year. They also said the 2nd anchor was a new addition this year, yet the captain doesn't use it much. For the life of me, I can't imagine how they even fish structure with one anchor. I've seen captains hover a wreck and do some quick anchorless drop downs to see if there were fish on the spot, and if there were then drop 2 hooks. I've also seen the very infrequent single anchoring technique on very, very small wrecks/structures where you may only fish it for 10 minutes or so before you pick it out and have to move on. Even then, the conditions have to be right to sit on one anchor and still catch a reasonable number of fish. Oddly, the regulars and even general reviews say this boat is a prime blackfishing boat. Well, I don't think any of us were impressed by any stretch.
The one great thing was at the end of the day as I was packing up, the owner of the boat drove up and asked me how things went. I gave him the thumbs down (before I even knew who he was), and then once he told me who he was I took the opportunity to tell him how the trip was in detail, both from a customer perspective and from a former-mate perspective. He agreed with 100% of what I said, and even completed alot of my "points" on how things are generally done from my experience. He clearly knew what needed to be done and he was baffled at why the captain, who he said is one of the absolute best in the state, didn't set out two hooks. He said the boat needed them after only running on one anchor for many years, and they should have been used today. He said he'd talk to the captain and find out what happened. He was also somewhat apologetic, but reported that other blackfish boats didn't do well today either.
I'd have to say with the number of regulars on the boat, the boat must be catching fish and some good ones at that, otherwise they wouldn't have the loyalty of regulars. So perhaps we just hit them on a bad day, but to be honest, I can't handle the frustration of sitting on one anchor and struggling to find bottom all day. I want to sit directly over the structure and learn the topography of it, find those nice holes, those dropoffs, etc...so I can sneak down to the fish and STAY THERE.
I think next time down we'll try the North Star, and hopefully they run the boat a little different. Eventually I might try the Captain Robbins again, but the first impression was not a good one, that's for sure.
All in all, it was still a great time fishing with Doug, his father, and mine. Nothing like being out on the ocean, and the conditions were super mild and nice for this time of year. Can't wait to get out again!
OK enough of the story...let's see some pictures!
Shot of the Captain Robbins, she's old and slow but she gets you there!
Some of the slips and houses down there by the dock...
The boys, getting ready for some toggin'!
Note how Doug's head almost hits the overhang...Hi, he's like 6'8"...I feel like a midget next to him.
Doug, giving an instructional on how to change a tire on your way to a blackfishing trip...
Doug and his dad, tired...wondering where the hell the fish are and more importantly what planet the captain is from...
Sun dipping down from the bow...
Another shot of the sky, little brighter
The boys, general sentiments on the way home!
The above picture could also have to do with the fact that I had the ONLY keeper in our group and therefore won our private pool! As an FYI, I'll be signing autographs this weekend...get there early because there WILL BE crowds of people waiting in line...trust me! I have to admit Doug outfished me in numbers, but I got the one that counts...NICE!
Shot of my dad and I with the fish...he's clearly jealous!
Another sunset shot...
My dad, claiming deafness when I attempt to collect my pool bounty for the biggest keeper!
He slept outside last night BTW...
Dad and I, on the way back in...
Doug and his father, on the way back in...
That's all folks, despite the poor fishing, we had a great time. Hope to do it again real soon!
Until next time...
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