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...
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