07/15/2007 - NJH Fluke Charter
Another longgggg delayed trip report...quick one...due to the water affinity of the boat...picture taking was severely supressed.
The NJH crew met up for their annual fluke fishing charter on the Norma K II out of Point Pleasant. Despite some recent tensions, a good number of people showed up for a fun filled day out on the water, with high hopes of hooking into some big fluke and earning some much desired bragging rights to flaunt on the boards!
Rich started things up right by instigating a $10 pool all around, and EVERYONE except ONE person went in it...my buddy Ting. Any guesses on who *would* have won the pool? I'll give you 40 guesses, but you'll only need one! 
OK in all fairness, Ting is a very laid back guy, he never enters pools despite catching big fish regularly...it's just his personal belief...he likes to fish for fun, not for competition. With that said, Ting...buddy...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?! Better, yet...what the hell was I (or John) thinking?!?! I was soooooooo close to fronting his pool...dumb, dumb, dumb! HahaOK enough pool talk, let's move on with the trip. I met up early with Craig (Scrubby) and Ting (high school friend of mine) to hook up some snappers, tinkers, and herring in the bow to be used later for fluking. Rich (35Whelan) was there EARLY...first one to the dock...I think I saw reminants of a campfire and some burnt marshmellows in the parking lot...hehe, we know he comes down right after work and was catching up on some ZzZzZs! Paul (Ghostbear) joined in later to fish for some bait as well...then my dad arrived, as did Tom (lefteye), jerseyhunter and a bunch of others. Of course, lots of familiar faces, John (jrhunt) came up, snapped some pics and busted balls a little, I got to meet Steve (stevejar) and make some additional plans for our tuna trip, Lou showed up with a monster 5 hours of sleep...and I finally met Lou's dad (woodpecker)...also caught up with Frank (buckhunter1) on his trailcams while he held Maria (buckhunterschick) back from beating me up. I got to BS with JJoe a little bit as well here and there on the trip, said hello to Paul (Nitestalker) and enjoyed his venison treats...also met his buddy Bill...honestly I need to make more of an effort to go around and say hello to more of the members...but we all wind up getting caught up in the fishing too much!
The boat wasn't the fastest in the world, and she sure runs wet...very wet...but it was roomy and comfortable...with a good amount of fishing room all around. Fortunately the cabin was nice and large with a reasonable amount of seating to shield us from the weather which grew quite snotty as the day went on. The captain and mates were very nice, roaming the boat, talkative and helpful.
The fishing was quite slow though, but much of that had to do with the weather. We were greeted by a fair South wind as we broke the inlet, which steadily increased into sub gale force winds shortly thereafter! Hah. The captain headed up to where he had some luck the day before...up and around Deal and Asbury Park. We started in close, probably in 25 feet of water or so, some rough bottom...mixture of rocks and mussels with a few shorts being picked up here and there but only a handful of keepers on the whole boat. The drift was picking up and the captain headed out to deeper water for what we suspected was a series of drifts before the wind got unmanageable and we had to retreated closer to shore. Oddly, that isn't how it worked out...we fished the deeper water pretty much for the remainder of the day...not far out, but in 35-45 feet of water on average with a very fast drift and a ton of sticky bottom...sub optimal conditions for sub optimal strategy IMHO...but it is what it is. We picked at fish here and there, with the best bite coming right when we hit deep water for the first couple drifts...that is when most keepers were boxed by everyone. After the wind really started to crank out of the S/SE...things got too fast and too snotty to fish that kind of bottom...A LOT of lost rigs, teasers, Spros, and lead all around.
Overall just a very tough day on the water, would have liked to see things get mixed up a little more, fish more friendly bottom given the conditions...and to move around to search for a better patch of fish...but the captain did the best he could give the adverse conditions and we were able to put some decent fluke and sea bass in the coolers. With better conditions, I think we would have done far, far better.
I'm not sure what total fish counts were, and I didn't even get pics...but my dad had 2 keeper fluke, I had 2 keeper fluke and a keeper seabass, my buddy Ting (usually beats on the fish) had only one keeper fluke but it was a good one at 6# (digital scale) and 2 keeper seabass, I don't think Craig (Big Fish Magnet) had any keeper fluke, nor did Tom (lefteye). I spoke with JJoe, and he had 2 keepers and a seabass I believe. I'm pretty sure Paul's friend Bill won the pool. (??? not sure). High hook on the boat I think was only 2 keeper fluke, shared by quite a few anglers. Unfortunately, given the conditions...all that bait gathering in the AM was for nil...as we never got into a solid patch of keepers to really take advantage of it.
Ultimately, despite the tough fishing, we all had a great time...well some of us...word on the boat was one particular female was talking a big game about drinking herself into Margarita oblivion but wound up on the sidelines laid out from sea sickness. Her hubby was nice enough to ACT like he was sick too, as to not make her feel bad, and even induced some serious Gatorade (fruit punch for the detail oriented) vomiting to add to the effect...good job Frank...team player, nice! Hahaha, I think Paul got some good shots of that action!
I didn't get to make the NJH fluke trip last year, but I'm glad I was on this one...was really a good time!
Like I said above, not many pics due to the inclement weather and adverse conditions...but here's a few from the day...
jerseyhunter, doesn't he make fish sticks...or is that Captain Gordon? Hehe
My buddy Ting, in the bait fishing action!
Paul...the spearing king!
Craig says Hi!
Ting with a double header!
Paul missed out on breakfast...so he decided to tap into some fresh spearing he caught...err snagged...with a Sabiki rig
Tom (lefteye) arrives and is ready for action...telling stories already to John...almost certainly about how he lost someone else's keeper the day before that was already IN the boat!
Ting tying up his super special ball-o-XLess fluke rig!
You thought I was kidding about Frank bringing his trailcam didn't you? Dude is serious!
The man, the myth, the legend...Lou.
My dad...thumbs up, he's ready!
On to some fishing...here's dad...laying into one!
Errr wait...what is that...a plastic bag?
REWIND to the Winter Flounder trip this past March...the man is good I tell ya...rags, plastic bags...they all fear him!!! Haha
Craig didn't believe there were any fluke down there...so he opted to go check it out...
What's it raining outside?
Proof there are some fluke down there buddy!
Oh she was getting too breezy, and very wet...so the camera went away for awhile...
My man Ting with his nice 6# fluke!
And back at the dock with the mates
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