Got a call from Regulars Adam and Larry with a severe case of cabin fever, felt the same to get my fish itch scratched. Rounded up a crew with Mike and Josh filling in and watched the weather. Had a very small weather window and made our way offshore, hit a wreck which I didnt suspect had much on it, wrong! First drift had 5lb seabass coming up with nice market sized cod. Came back around anchored and pounded the wreck for an hour, landed over half a dozen cod to 15lbs, and over 50 Seabass to 6lbs. With wind beginning to honk we headed back in with one of the boxes loaded up.
Had the Adam back with buddies Brian and Mark, and Mark's son Mark Junior. This was a trip that had to be made since Mark Junior will be deployed back to the front line tomorrow. So no stinking wind was going to keep me from getting Mark out on this trip. Made our up north and had action right away, wound up getting fish at every stop winding up with over 50 bass and 5 keepers for the guys for the grill. Made a stop for tog but that was a hack. Did get a shot at some bft on the surface and Adam made a perfect cast into the middle of a pod of fish but no takers. Lets all wish Mark Jr, a safe tour and back home safely!
Had Roger out with us for the first time, along with buddies Rich, Mike,
Glenn and son Clay. Started offshore looking for BFT to cast to, no
luck, ran inshore and started our quest for Stripers, settled in some
birds and started to pick away had half a dozen nice fish to 30lbs and
it slowed. Ran further south and found another patch of birds and
started hammering way having our limit by 9. When count was up to 20 and
fog rolling in we decided to head back early. Great time with some good
guys.
Had Adam back for our first fall trip. Glad his crew of Mike, Brian,
Joe, and Steve had a chance to get in on the action. Started jigging
from our inlet North under birds, nothing to hang your hat on. Got the
call from Capt Mike and off we went, saw some sporadic surface busts but
decided to put the rigs, in a few hours later we had 7 fish to 20 lbs
in the box and dropped some fish before the bite slowed. Good to see the
guys again, and look forward to seeing them again in a few weeks!
Had new customer Eric with cousins Salvador and Jose, and buddy Dave. Plan was to wait for the weather window and it came after a 5 hour wait leaving at 6pm, made good time to our spot in the Hudson and began chunking, had our first bites around Midnight landing 2 Longfin, missed some more fish whille the guys got comfortable with the fish and the gear since Eric and his cousins were Tuna newbies. Around 1 pm had a unreal bite which each of the guys fought for close to half an hour which was lost after wrapping itself on a lobster pot. Started chunking again and around 4 am it happened, had a steady bite for the next hour, even with just keeping one rod in the water the guys landed 13 Longfin to 40lbs, Yellowfin to 70lbs, and 20lb Bull mahi. After the dust settled and boxes filled the charter opted to run home in flat seas, great night with the guys and congrats for all 3 of the guys busting there tuna cherries!
Had regulars Dan Bombaci, Art Hoover and Adam Conley out for an overnighter. Got to the grounds and started out with a light tackle mahi session with fish to 12lbs. Arrived at the previous nights hot spot to find a slow bite, trolled for a few minutes and had 4 banger of Longfin, landing 2 to 30lbs. Went on the chunk early but didn't have action till around midnight, missed a few fish then battled a big fish on 60lb leader that eventually chafed the gear and was lost, probably a big sword. Landed a few big Blue sharks to 10 feet till the right bites started, went 1-4 on tuna, and also landed a small sword that was released. In the morning, went on the troll but with a semi full box, guys decided to call it for the day. Good to see long time customers all out together.
Had newcomer John on board with son Nick and future son in law Todd for a canyon trip. Left for the canyons Saturday late afternoon after winds subsided, 1st stop was all we needed, had action right away, landing some nice sized Yellowfin, had a visit with some sharks till the right one showed up, landed a 70 inch beast of Mako that came alive when we had her boat side, after that had a nice 50 inch Sword hit and harvested her. Had a few more bites and converted them to more 70lb yellows. At daybreak made the decision to add some longfin to the mix, landed half a dozen in half an hour to 30lbs to add to the catch. Guys decided they wanted to switch gears and try for more species. Tried some Tilefish wind against tide made for tough conditions but got into Blueline. Switched gears again and went mahi fishing, found a nice patch of fish and landed a 15lb to start but once we lost a few fish the fish scattered. Back at the dock by lunchtime Sunday and beers at the dock with a great crew.
Had John with nephew Mike and buddy Mark. Made our way to the canyon, on the way to the trolling grounds we stopped on a pot and landed half a dozen mahi to start the trip. Evening troll bite was slow, set up for the chunk and had a 30lb yellow to start the night. Good start for a slow chunking season, had a few other bites that we missed. Blue sharks and mahi through the night kept the crew busy, at 5 am we had nice flurry going 2-5 on nice size yellows. Went on the troll and had no luv, after a few hours crew really wanted to try tiles. Had a decent pick with everyone busting their tile cherries. Final body count, 3 Yellows to 65lbs on Clarks scale, 15 mahi to 12lbs, and 7 Tiles to 25lbs.
Had regulars Dan Payet, Oscar Carillo, and Jerry Tomaselli out for canyon trip with help from Joe and Ed , goal was to compete in 4 categories tuna,mahi,sword, wahoo. Left to canyon in bad seas making for a long brutal run, knowing that next day in morning would be nice to run home in. Wound up going to Lindenkohl due to good sat shot. Only 1 mahi on evening troll and night chunk. Troll next morning was slow until we found a school of mahi, broke out the spinning rods and went to work on them. After some discussion with crew we decided to make the long run home in calm seas and weigh in our mahi. At the the time we missed first place and 6k by 2 oz! Great guys to fish wth.
Had regulars Dan the Jigaman, Ed Eamon and newcomers Paul with his son Jack. Made our way to the grounds and looked around a bit, heard it was pick. Ran over some nice marks and began jigging had a fish on right way, Dan did a great job and we had a nice 46 incher on the deck. Looked around again and found some more marks, and hooked up again, this time young Jack went to work and landed his first tuna of his life in short order, which we then tagged and released for the Tag-A-Bluefin foundation. After a while the crew decided to look for some mahi, where Paul landed one, then went bottomfishing, that was slow with only ling to show for it. Made a run inshore and worked bunker pods for sharks, but wound up jigging our first Bonito of the year and blues.
Had first timer Jim on board with son Brett and buddie Stan. Made our way to the Bluefin grounds for an afternoon trip, got there after lunch and looked for the life. Saw a small pack of tuna chicks on a nice oil bait slick, first drop we jigged a nice 55 incher, 80lbr that all the guys took a turn on, landed him and went searching for more. Had the marks but no bite, with a nice over in the box we changed gears because Jim wanted some Cod for his "Cod Casino recipe". Hit a wreck and had fish up to 20lbs. Nice afternoon trip for a good crew.
Had John out for his bachelor party with buddies Anthony, Ron and John. Orginally they wanted to fluke fish, told him if weather was right we should move off a bit further, he agreed. Left the inlet to flat seas poked around some inshore lumps but all it was all Hammerhead and Brown sharks which were fun on spinning rods, after a morning of shark action we hit some wrecks getting over 30 Ling and Cod. Good luck on your marriage and had fun fishing with your crew.
Had newcomers Pete, Chuck and Allen on board for an overnighter. was torn on which canyon to start at based on recent reports. Went with a sat shot and off we went, settled in the Hendrickson canyon and found the life I wanted, bait,birds and mammals, trolled but nothing doing. Hit some pots and landed half a dozen mahi. Trolled some more and with the amount of life and no touches made the 30 mile run to the Hudson to try to get in on the big eye bite, got there and very few were landed, set up for the night, instantly had squid and bait, flying fish, schools of bait and squid all night but no tuna. Deep rod gets slammed thinking a swordie, turns out to be a 200lb shark, let him go and nothing rest of night. In morning get on the troll and of the 50 boats a few Bigeye were landed. Crew decided to change gears, went Tilefishing and landed a dozen blue-lines. Went mahi fishing and landed another dozen and a half to 15lbs. On way home we found some scallopers and tried chunking and jigging but no luck. Tough trip with no tuna but great guys and great weather made the tuna skunk a little easier to bear.
Had regulars Larry and Murry, with newcomers Ron and his son Ranger. Started out finding the life I wanted right away and released our first Tuna in the first 5 minutes, had a slow pick on the troll for the rest of the morning. Did have some nice fish going 3-4 on fish to 50lbs. Tried chunking and jigging and had nice Mahi to 10lbs. Wound up the day hitting some wrecks and had half a dozen baseball bat ling and Cod to 20lbs.
Had newcomers to the boat John, Jeremy, Fran and his brother Tom. Left the inlet in the dark to get to the spot early. Half a dozen boats there and thousands of tuna chicks! Was going to troll but the machine had lots of good marks so we started jigging, had one on right way, nice job John. Decided to troll to find some bigger models, Jeremy was up next popping his Tuna cherry. Went back on the jig and the Foley brothers landed theirs, tagged and released some more. Since everyone had landed one we decided to look for mahi, found a pot with a bunch of gaffers but only landed one and losing the rest. Hit a few wrecks on the way home to nail a dozen cod and ling. Lots of fun with a bunch of new anglers to the TOY!
