At 4 am with my fingers crossed and my nerves on edge I made the solo drive with boat in tow to Atlantic Highlands. Plan was get out early and catch the outgoing which started at 745. By 530 I was backing the boat down and don't you know it wouldn't start. Can't figure it out. Had it on a charge all night and it took backing out and putting her on a charge for over an hour before it was go time.
By the time I left I was in line with The Fisherman, Sea Tiger II, Mi-Jo and all the small boats you could want to see. At first the boat ran well, except the Bob's Jack Plate wouldn't lower so the motor was higher than I would have liked. I adjusted the trim tabs as best I could and made my way west. Everyone early had the same idea, find the birds, find the bait, find the bass. It was a little rock and rolly and the wakes from the run and gunners, the trollers, and the party boats made for interesting fly rodding and maintaining your balance. One time I almost got swamped by The Fisherman as they moved positions. Before I penned this post I checked out The Fisherman web
site and saw Captains Rons report. And what a report it was. You can read it below the image of his sports that were present for "The best trip of my career". Wow, that is some statement, and he makes that with over 20 years at the wheel. Today was a good day, I guess, depending on what you were
looking for and how you wanted to get it done. For most, it was a jig bite, or a spoon bite, or a drop and reel bite, and of course the-I-don't-get-it the troll bite. The birds were active and at times the fish were up on top so those throwing plugs, and a few throwing flies had a shot, if, if, you were able to get a line wet before the boats converged. The action started mid bay and worked its way west. By 945 the fleet had busted up into two fleets, one off Keansburg and the other off Staten Island.
The action for me was before the fleets split. It took some thinking trying to figure out where the fish may pop up in realtion to where the boats were, were heading, or those that consistently jumped as soon as they started blowing up. Some guys stayed planted, and I hope were rewarded for thier patience. The marks on the screen were low for the most part so those fish in the 25-45 foot depths
I'm sure did better then us who were head hunting. As far as the fish? Perfect fly rod fish, keeper size to, what the pool winner on The Fisherman was, which was 38 inches. I think those big girls may have headed south, or are at least out front. I thought about hitting out front but I just don't know what to expect from the boat yet, regardless that it just came from the shop. I did leave around 11 am and on the way home checked out West Bank and Romer and inside The Hook but there wasn't a bird or a splash to be seen. Again, I know there was at least two fish in those spots, but in the fall I really like chasing birds and finding fish on top. I saw the Miss Belmar Princess made the ride north
unless they moved up to a Raritan Bay berth for the fall. They were stacked on the rail with white and chartreuse shads swinging as they moved from spot to spot. Both of the Belmar boats reported a good day, with the Miss Belmar Princess heading north and the Royal Miss Belmar in waters
unknown. Above are the pool winners from the Raritan Bay today. I don't want to get into a rant, but this slot limit isn't any good. It's good for the big girls and boys that get abover 38 inches, but these
28-38 inch fish (pic above from today aboard the Keyport Princess and Bingo Sportfishing) are getting harvested, along with the NJ Bonus Tag fish in unsustainable numbers. I don't wanrt to hear "one for the table" because out there today that would have been one large pile of dead bass is everyone kept one, including me. I would say, today, 400 fish were killed, just a guess.
So I called it a day before the full moon low tide made it interesting getting the baot out. I know people do it all the time, with bigger boats and smaller trucks, but I just didn't want to deal, plus, the action was good, but I wasn't feeling it, partially due to another rocky start, and not wanting to put my Boat US membership into use. Above is what the motor sounded like on the way back in. A hiccup here and there, not as bad as it was last year and the reason it went to the shop. I think I'm going to change the plugs, which is something I think I can do and then maybe delve into the jack plate adjustment. I hope to get out a few mpre times before the years end.
One the way to give her a bath in Long Branch I stopped at sea Bright. Peanuts in close but nothing on them and looking south I could see a ton of boats which looked like they were off Deal or Asbury Park. Maybe there were some bigger fish out there, but why would the Miss Belmar Princess pass that, and why burn all that gas.
