What a great assignment. I am working on an assignment that put me on the scallop boat Lucky 13 out of Viking Marina in Barnegat Light. The editor and myself spent the 16 hour trip interviewing and shooting the crew at work. Once they started hauling gear, I couldn't sit and watch. So I got some pointers from the Captain and mates and off I was. We caught around 7,000 scallops, and each needed to be "cut". The key move is to not slice up the abductor muscle, the part that we eat. I spent the good part of six hours happy as a clam! "cutting" scallops along with the crew. We were 50 miles out and had flat water and good tides for most of the trip. One thing, you never know what you might "dredge" up at there. Check out this miserable bastard of a fish. "Poor mans lobster" or monkfish as it's officially known.
My dream of casting to busting BFT's behind the boat never materialized. The algae bloom that runs from Brooklyn down to Cape May DOES exist, and it's keeping fish of their normal haunts.
After talking with the Captain I hope to spend some more time on that part. More to follow. Enjoy the video!