Eric Bubenicek Charter - Stripers

Had Eric and his buddies out for a bass charter this morning. Started out the morning with a quick troll during the slack tide, Marked some fish but it was tough getting them to chew. Picked up a couple before shifting gears over to clamming. We set up in a few different areas before getting a decent shot of fish. The guys were able to put some nice keepers in the box and lost a handful more before the bite slowed to a crawl. Went back on the troll for a bit and picked up a couple shorts and also tried some chunking. great group of guys that made for a very enjoyable day!

Striper Trip with Kids and Dad

Had a couple of hours to fish today, had My daughter Andrea, sons Dan and Tony and my Dad. Went to GK and netted bunker, however wind against tide conditions made drifting with livies and chunking a no-go. Decided to troll and banged away at the Stripers, got enough for dinner and made a bee-line back to the dock. Great to get out with 3 generations of Gamboa's.

Stripers in Raritan Bay

Went out this afternoon with a couple buddies to take a look around. We started clamming at the turn of the outgoing tide and had steady action for the next three hours. Lots of doubles and even some triple headers! Got the boat limit and stopped counting at 40 fish. When it started to slow down a bit we went poking around and decided to do some trolling. We found a nice batch of fish pretty quickly and picked up another 15 fish and lost a bunch more. We picked away at them on the troll and decided to call it quits around dusk. The wind laid down and it was beautiful for the last couple hours! Tons of action and some nice keepers to 34"

First Striper Trip - Limit

Had My Dad and buddies Mat and Chris today. Plan was to move the boat to Raritan Bay to fish protected waters and upcoming tournaments for the next couple of weeks. Decided we would jig on the way up. joined the fleet and picked a couple of fish, decided to poke inshore and found a mother lode of fish, got the boat limit on the first drift. Chris had the biggest of the day chunky fish that went close to 20lbs. Packed it in and kept pushing to Brown's Point Marina, where we will be for next few weeks. Fish ate storm shads and jigs. Some of the fish had whole bunkers in their stomachs.

Peru Fishing Adventure

Had the pleasure of being invited by my buddy Dan Payet a banker from NYC to fish the historically famous Cabo Blanco coast of Peru. Joining us in the trip was my cousin Pepe who with Dan are native Peruvians. This destination holds the current Black Marlin record of 1600 lbs, and Bigeye Tuna at 440. Travel was easy with a direct flight from Newark to Lima, then an hour and half flight north to Tumbes. The resort we stayed at was www.puntasal.com.pe, which was luxurious, clean, with great security. Fishing was on a well equppied 32 foot Bertram. We were hosted by local legend Pancho Helguero who has caught more Marlin than anyone in Peru, he had his captain Willy and brother Juan to assist on the trip. Were told by Captains Pancho and Willy that fishing for Black and Striped Marlin would be challenging due to fishing out of season, Prime Time is December-February, Full moon, and torrential rains which effected water clarity. The few tailing fish we saw were very skittish and non committal to our trolled offerings, had every intent to throw the oversized demo Waxwings Shimano provided but never got a second look at a fish. However, there was numerous other fish that provided great action. Half a mile off the beach there were numerous school of yellowfins from 10-20lbs, which we landed, did get spooled by something amongst the schools. Made our way to the famous Peru Bank then trolled Wahoo lures provided by Elias from Crook and Crook in Miami and caught monster Wahoo to 100lbs! After that showed the guys how deep drop canyon style with Torsa reels and our rigs. Was rewarded with a type of grouper they called "Cabrillas", tilefish, orange rockfish, and other tasty creatures, reason I know our mate Juan would fillet them and make "ceviche styled fish" within minutes of hitting the deck. All the fish was caught was prepared by the chefs at the resort, and was remarkable, wahoo on the grill with their special sauces, seared tuna in pepper sauces, and so many other prepareds styles, actually gained 5lbs just by eating fish because I couldn't get enough. The crew and staff were friendly and accomadating to every need, compared this world class service to any resort I have visited. Will be visiting the Punta Sal resort during prime Marlin season in December, and look forward to reconnecting with Pancho, the crew and staff!

Fishing in San Diego

Went out fishing with fellow pro-staffer Barry Brightenburg, Always and Adventure Charters in San Diego. Had my co-worker Jason with me. The plan was to run down the coast towards Mexico working the kelp beds with Shimano Wax wings and his own made Fish Trap Lures. Weather first day wasn't having any of it. So we took a tour of San Diego, went by the Long Range Fleet and saw the boat that caught the pending World Record Yellowfin Tuna 405lbs. Went by Point Loma and saw Pelicans working the Sardine schools. Next day made an attempt to run down the coast winds still gusting to 30 knots. Decided to make the best of it and fished San Diego Bay and landed Sand and Rock Bass casting lures. Thanks to our gracious host Capt Barry.

Team Contender Rockfish Challenge VA Beach

Got a phone call from Chuck Arnold, Contender Boats Rep for the US to fish the prestigious Rockfish Challenge out of Virginia Beach, The top Striper Tournament of the Year. Was able to bring my crew, so Capt Max Forlenza, Capt Scott Murdoch, Scott McCall and Jerry Tomasselli took the ride down with me. Left Rudee Inlet and headed south to Oregon Inlet NC and destinations south. We ran Contender's flagship boat the new Contender 39ST Open with triple 350's.Ran the "Big Dog" and had lines in 70 miles south of the inlet in little over an hour, we averaged a 60 knot cruise in calm seas. Had 2 fish on right away but not the size we were looking for. Ran back up North and landed our boat limit in an hour, drop and reel fishing with fish to 30lbs. was the first boat back to weigh, cruising at 65 knots into a 2-3 foot head sea, with helm glass never getting a drop of water. as of last weigh we were in 7th place out of 150 boats. Want to thank Chuck for the invite and my crew for working their butts off.