Had Newcomers to the boat Mike, Corey and Gary.
Original plan was to hit the canyon for a day trip
But didn't like afternoon forecast. Stayed inshore
So we netted a livewell pull of peanuts and headed to the
Grounds, water was cold and somewhat clean so decided
To chunk for tuna instead of mahi fish. Put out our spread
And the deep bait gets picked up. Corey and Mike did a
Great job on the fish and had the 300lb thresher boatside
In a little under 45 minutes. Continued chunking no takers
Tried trolling no takers, hit a few lumps to jig again nothing.
Guys decided to head in as the wind started to pick up.
Good guys that will enjoy some fresh steaks!
Saturday had the Mark Krute crew, out went everywhere,
Chicken,Bacardi,Coimbra, nothing on the troll missed
A few fish on poppers.
Sunday had the Scott Nangle and son out made the
Decison to try for tuna but the bail out would be mahi.
Ran to Bacardi, didn't like the conditions and headed
To the Hudson. Saw mahi on the pots in clean gray
Water and started nailing them, would up with a dozen
Ran inshore through chicken looking for surface fish to
Cast to, ran into a dragged that had hauled back.
Dropped a jig and had an instant bite, lost him,
Dropped another jig and fought this fish for a while,
Wound up being a 150lb brown.
Had Oscar out for the Brett Bailey shark tourney. Got underway
And had the fish hit the short bait in first hour, took and hour
To land the fish. Got back to Hoffman and weighed 215lbs, which
Got us 4th place.
Had Andy back with brother Chris and cuz Mike
And Mike T. Made bait and went on the hunt for stripers,
No luck with them so we picked away at sea bass and ling
With way too many shorts. Ended up the day sharking
And busted off a nice thresher! Ugh!
Had Paul back with son. His son Will wanted to see an land
A shark. Made the run out and found what we were looking for!
Son did quick work on the 8 foot blue. Conditions got a lot bit
Sporty so headed Inshore to look for some stripers, no luck
And called it an early day.
Had Todd back again from last weeks striper trip with Dad
and his buddies. Made the move back to Point Pleasant the
previous day And gave the boys an option for stripers or sharks.
The guys choose sharks, so we made bait took a few drifts for
Stripers with no luv and headed to the shark grounds. Got to the first
Spot no luv, went to second spot and game on landing a 7 foot
Blue. Winds picked up and headed back Inshore for a striper drift,
South wind picked up and shut everything down and headed to the
Barn.
Had Derrick out for the first time with his son Chris, Brother Adam, and Father in law Andy. Plan was to head offshore for Bluefin, but Mother Nature Altered those plans. 30 miles out the wind came on early and gusted to 20, Looked around and found some life and set up on it, tried sharking for an hour No bites so we went on the troll, just small bluefish, didn't like the water so we took a run to the south and water looked great but no life. Hit a wreck and loaded up on pollack,ling, fluke and seabass waiting for the wind to settle. Subsided a bit and made a major run to the east, found a scallop boat and went to work, landed 3 quick Bluefin and headed to the barn.
Had first time customer Bob with high school buddies John and his son, Mark, Ed, and Max. Got our bait and headed north, on the way we decided To try for a shark since we had been seeing them, baited a 6 foot Hammerhead but lost him, few miles further saw a huge thresher but No luv. Headed to the striper grounds and got our bites early then slow Pick the rest of the evening. Ended up with 5 fish to 35lbs.
Had a weather window and decided to make a trip quick to the canyon, Had a last minute cancellation but mates wanted to make the trip. Got to the Canyon and night was slow only landing a longfin and sharks. In the morning During daylight hours decided to put in the time and it payed off! Around 8am The fish went in the feed, had to drop to 25 flouro but had 10 bites, only got 3 to the boat but well worth it to get the bites. Jigged some Mahi, then ended the trip inshore seabassing.
Second Birthday trip of the week! Had Bob up from Alabama with long Time buddy Bud and family members Scott and Collin. Started bottom fishing And had some ling to start the day. Made our way to the hole and started sharking, had some bites and the Brown sharks started with Bob landing the first Around 4 feet long, had some more bites and looked for Mahi on the pots, water still Dirty. Hit some more wrecks in the hole and Bob got a nice lobster. Good guys To spend the day with!
Had Bill Poletti and son with Tim Drag. These are 2 Customers that had slow trips on the Toy and I wanted to Show them a good time. Told them todays trip would be Captains choice only going for what made sense. Cleared The inlet and saw conditions were fine. Ran east until I Saw clean water found it 30 miles off. Talking to other boats With no tuna action decided to drift wrecks for bottom fish And sharks. Had Pollack, Cod, ling and seabass, when the Sharks Showed up Bill JR landed the biggest fish of his life, a 6 foot shark!
Had the opportunity to fish the Warriors and Brett Bailey Shark Tournament. Had regulars Joe, Dan, Mike and Louie. Made out way to the grounds this morning and tried multiple areas, not finding any life. Finally we found some life Porpoises, read some bait and cleaner water. Then the bites started to happen, released a nice 66 incher. Next fish that hit was an 84 inch male decided to Keep him. Fish hit one of Tom's TNT tackle mako rigs. Made it back to the scales of Brett Bailey by lunchtime and won the 3k prize for first eligible mako. Had good weather, with good friends and some fresh mako steaks for the grill.
Had regular Oscar out for a mixed bag, got him limited out with seabass and then went on the hunt for sharks. After a long drift came tight on a 7 foot blue, wasn't what we were looking for, gave Oscar a good workout and got him ready for offshore fishing this summer!
Had Louie out with his dad and plan was to pre fish for Weekend tournament and do some bottom fishing. Had a decent drift but only saw blue Sharks. Decided to Bottom fish some offshore wrecks and landed cod to 15lbs, Ended the day Inshore bagging there seabass limit in an hour. Glad to be fishing offshore again!
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.
