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 wasn't 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...
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