Archive for 2009
No stripers but scored ling and sea bass
Sunday, June 7th, 2009We figured with the last few weeks being an early bite as well as the full moon being yesterday we should make an effort to get out early…well we shoved off at 4:05 and were out the inlet by 4:40.
Ran a little North found nothing and then decided to be a creature of habit and run to where we had fish three weeks in a row. We found bunker but no bass. Water early was about the same as last week-57.8 degrees. Bunker were flipping with an occasional spray and some coming clean out of the water. It looked like a good unhappy pod. We worked it for a little over an hour, chased down some other pods that were more scattered and returned back to the more active one.
We did not hookup on livies or cut bunker nor did we see anyone else except Capt. Murph hooked up for a few minutes on a mystery fish. Eventually we gave up on bass and switched over to wreck fishing.
With the cold temps we decided to not even bother fluking and went right to some rock piles for sea bass. With the direction and slow speed of the drift it made for nice long, slow drifts over the piles.
We immediately were picking up sea bass and ling. As the day went on the ling got thicker and you had to weed through them to get to the sea bass, a welcome nuisance compared to doggies.
We ended the day with a little over a dozen nice sea bass and kept six ling. Surprisingly at the dock the ling were in high demand.
Good talking to all the Barnegat Fishin’ Hole members and trying to find fish and work together covering a lot of ground.
With the presence of large schools of ling, the temp the sinkers coming up and gulp baits being almost brittle speaks volumes about the water temps on the bottom. I did however hear of a few good catches of fluke to the North with several fish in the 4-6 pound range. We will probably be headed left out of the inlet next week with bass, sea bass and fluke being the target.
Weekend bass roundup
Sunday, May 31st, 2009With a great weekend last week and all the positive reports coming in during the week from those that got out I got a weekend pass from the Admiral and was planning on fishing both Saturday and Sunday weather permitting.
Got down to the marina by 8 pm and unloaded and began rigging up for Saturday. Made plans with the crew to leave a little earlier, hoping to shove off a little before or no later than 5 am.
5:10 Saturday morning just as I am about to call Wayne he rolls into the marina. He jumps aboard and off we go.
Broke the inlet and pretty much steamed right to the spot off Mantoloking I had fish the week before. We had great marks, plenty of bait and conditions looked really good.
We moved from pod to pod looking for bass, each pod looked agitated and unhappy but each time we failed to hookup. Finally about 10:30 Wayne gets a pickup, hooks up and we boat a nice 25.5 pound fish. We continued to work the area but were only able to boat the one fish.
Back at the dock we get cleaned up and the drinks start flowing. Then we all go out for dinner and made plans for Sunday. We would be sailing with Wayne, Danny and his son Michael, again supposedly at or before 5 am.
Sunday morning I was ready to go and had the engine warming up at 4:44…no one was up or ready yet. After knocking on boats and receiving a call from Wayne I figured we would be leaving even later today. Ended up shoving off about 5:35.
Broke the inlet and immediately headed back down to Mantoloking. After making bait and screwing around with a few bunker pods BriTime from Barnegat Fishin’ Hole called me down to off Lavalette. I asked where he was, his reply was you will see when you get here.
Upon arriving at Lavalette it looked like the Tice’s Shoal fleet got lost and ended up on the East side of the barrier island. From the scene today you would never imagine that there was a financial crisis going on. There had to be 300-400 boats converged on this area that was holding bass.
Shortly after arriving we had our first shot at a bass that appeared to be in the 25-30 pound class. It was on the lightest rod we were snagging with and quickly spooled and eventually broke off Michael. I tried to explain to him to loosen the drag as pressure increases when the spool diameter gets smaller but kids never want to listen, they think they know everything.
Soon after that I dropped a fish, there was a reel malfunction. Well, actually someone, I think myself, put the lever to strike and not bait. The fish ran about three feet before dropping the bait due to too much tension on the line.
Then about 20 minutes later we dropped our last hookup as well. Had we left on time we might have had a larger window of opportunity before the boat traffic and full bellies from the bass gorging on bunker quieted the bite down.
We trolled for about an hour after leaving the fleet with great marks but not one knockdown. After that we pod hopped finding some active pods again but no run offs or hookups.
Running back to the inlet we noticed a large fleet and several head boats just North of the inlet so we decided to investigate. It looked like some of the fish coming up on the head boats were whiting with some cocktail blues mixed in.
I quickly handed out small jigs and we proceeded to get in on the light tackle blues action for a few minutes. This proved to save the day and keep the skunk off the boat.
While it wasn’t the mad dog bite of last week it was a fun weekend with fish in the boat, smiling faces and way too much beer and alcohol consumed once again. The weather was great and we had calm seas both days. Hopefully the bass stick around a few weeks longer. Water temps rose a little from Saturday to Sunday but not by much.
Solo bass slaughter!
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
Woke up at 5 as planned with a nasty hangover, looked around…no fog but also no crew. They were all still passed out. Popped a couple Advil and reset the alarm for 6. Got up feeling much better, put coffee on and still no crew up. Decided to hit the river solo so I called the Admiral and gave her my float plan since I was going solo.
Got to the inlet and saw birds South of the jetty and flat seas, called the Admiral back with a change of plans. From 7:45 to 9:00 it was non-stop live bait bass action.
Had the first fish on shortly after snagging a bunker about 200 yards South of the South jetty in 18′ of water. The fish immediately ran under the boat. Fought it for about 10 minutes under the boat, got it to the boat once but as I reached for the net she made another run under the boat. When she came up you could have shoved a basketball into her mouth. After another few minutes of tug of war under the boat I was now in 12′ of water and decided I had to try and move the boat…unfortunately that caused more rubbing and chafing on the bottom and the 65# braid had finally had enough…but I and the boat did not end up on the beach.
I moved the boat a little South to get back on the bunker, re-tied a snag and got the rods setup with livies on top and heads on the bottom. Shortly after I boated the first fish, a nice fat 27.1 pounder.
The bunker and fish kept moving South. I kept on them and broke off two other fish, had six or 8 good run offs that never came tight and two that ran and ran while I was fighting another fish but by the time I was ready for the second rod they got off.
I ended the day with three in the box using my bonus tag, fish were 27.1, 29.2 and 33.5 pounds. I also released one fish about 20 pounds. The biggest fish came on a bunker head on the bottom. Also, finally got a chance to break in my new Lami/Avet combo. Water was 53-54 degrees, much warmer from the 41-44 we saw on Saturday. The bite started just south of MI and I ended up right at the Mantoloking pipe. Had bunker and fish from 10′ to 30′ of water.
I did setup once with no bunker busting on top but good readings on and near the bottom and had run offs and one fish, the 20 pounder I released.
The fish had remnants of small bait, peanuts and eels in their stomachs, one had nothing at all…probably spit it all up during the fight.
Spoke to several Barnegat Fishin’ Hole members, Bri Time, Capt. Murph, EMALS, and others some of which came up to get in on the action. At first the boat traffic was putting them down but later on it didn’t seem to bother them. I am really glad I ran out despite a lack of crew, was back at the dock about 9:45.
Foggy but managed…
Saturday, May 16th, 2009Stayed at the dock most of the day with the fog and got a few things done on the boat. When it finally lifted in the afternoon we figured what the heck lets give it a shot. Got to the inlet and there was maybe 100′ visibility outside so we headed back up the river. Poked around, threw metal and popers…nothing.
Headed up river to get out of the wind and anchored up and started chumming 10 lbs. of spearing from last year. Figured we could bring them to us. We did get a few fish to come up our slick…no blues, bass or weakfish…a couple of fat fluke.
They are hear and despite the cold water pretty aggressive. Guess I know where I am starting next week at first light before the boat traffic pics up.
Stripers and fluke making a showing
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009I unfortunately did not get a chance to sail this past weekend. Though it seems as if striped bass have really started to make a showing. With Sunday being Mother’s Day and only having Saturday to fish, and then the AC breaking I had do deal with home repair issues.
I received many reports of bass and some good sized fluke with some bluefish mixed in were caught both inside and outside over the weekend and early this week. Fish have been caught on various jigs, bunker, herring, spoons and umbrella rigs. One common theme seems to be that you needed to search them out. There might not have been tell tale signs of birds diving and fish busting but if you searched out structure, bait and kept an eye on the sonar you found the fish.
Hopefully I will get out this weekend, it all depends on if I can get my current work project done early…if I really move my butt, which I am planning on doing I may be able to fish both Saturday and Sunday.
Winter Flounder Board Approves Addendum I to Initiate Stock
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS
May 5, 2009
CONTACT: Tina Berger
(202) 289-6400
Winter Flounder Board Approves Addendum I to Initiate Stock Rebuilding of Inshore Stocks
It hasn’t been set in stone yet by NJ but it looks like ASMFC will not completely close winter flounder. With a two fish recreational bag limit they believe we will achieve about a 50% reduction in harvest with a 50 pound commercial possesion limit is estimated to achieve a 65% reduction.
Rainy day blues
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009Left the dock about 7 am with high hopes of heading outside and looking for some bass and weakfish. When we got to the inlet the fish gods had other plans for us. After watching the Paramount disappear behind a swell only showing the bridge of the boat when in the ditch we decided to wait out the change of the tide. There were some pretty tall breakers across the inlet mouth with the SE breeze and outgoing current. The dredge was also finally gone from the river.
I setup on the mussel beds in hopes for a stray flounder. Didn’t have live worms so we set out Gulp! sand worms. He had a couple of hits and bite offs and figured it was blues. The inlet had seemed to have calmed so we picked up and headed out. It waited for us to just about clear the inlet and then a big breaking wave appeared out of no where. She took it better than I did. Still have a bump on my head from hitting the pilothouse roof but we didn’t take any water over the bow or the pilothouse.
Once outside there were big rollers of varying sizes. They would be 3-4′ for a while then a set of three or four over 5′. There was a ton of bait around but nothing wanted to chew. We tried spoons, plugs, mojo’s, bucktails and umbrellas. There were definitely some small schools of bass and also some larger schools of what looked like weakfish along the bottom. Those who get out today may fare better with calmer conditions.
After about an hour or so of no action and marking tons of bait and fish we decided to head back in for the change of the tide further up the Manasquan River to see if there was any action inside. Finally the right decision. We had light tackle, non-stop action with blues for the next 2-3 hours. Fish varied in size but most were 2-4 pounds. I had two that went 6.7 and 7.75. Yo-Zuri crystal minnows and small swimming plugs produced the best.
We also decided since we wouldn’t be flounder fishing anymore to hang the chum pots over to draw more fish to the boat and clean them out…it was a blast having the blues coming right up to the transom and exploding on plugs right at the boat. I was going to get the fly rod out but then realized I left my box of leaders and tippets at home. Probably would have had my first fish on fly…oh well, next time.
The rain came and went throughout the day until we got back through the canal, then the sun sort of came out…figures. Water temps ranged from 51.3 to 59.8.
I got my b-day present installed on Friday afternoon and had some fun testing it out. Got the Faria Fuel Manager from Lacey Marine. I don’t really know what the fuel burn was before having the wheels done but at a 26kt cruise (3,800 rpm) now I burn about 12gph, at 22kts (3,600 rpm) at 10gph. The factory sea trial has a fuel burn of 9.5 gph at 3,500 rpm at a speed of 25.7 kts and at 4,000 rpm, 31.6 kts at 12.9 gph. So with bottom paint, 3/4 fuel, two people, 1,000 pounds of gear, 10 gallons of water, beer, ice and about 25 lbs of fish I think I am doing pretty good.
Flounder are on the move
Saturday, April 25th, 2009Set out late due to the pea soup fog with Tommy and Wayne on the morning trip. Made a quick stop where we had fish the week before, but after twenty minutes without a touched bait we headed right to the river.
Setup on a spot that has produced in years past with the water temps at what they were, 51.3. We had fish in the boat before all the chum pots and rods were set. We thought it was going to be a banner day. Well, it was if you were fishing for Jersey Snow Crab, aka the spider crab. There were also tons of giant green crabs around as well.
In the morning for the incoming we had four fish one being short before we had to head in to drop Wayne off and Tommy had to let the dogs out. Once Tommy returned we headed back out for the afternoon tide.
We figured lets take a peak outside first but the ESE blow had things stirred up pretty good and we decided not to venture out past the jetties, head back and look for more flounder.
I put the boat right back on the spot we were in this morning. Again we had fish right away, and again the Jersey Snow Crabs made a fierce showing. We finished the day with another three fish for the box with the biggest going just over two pounds.
Bait of choice once again was live sand worms, Gulp! chum and clam chum. I feel it has made a huge difference in our flounder season this year. We have had buddies pull up in our slick and not catch fish, other boats along side us to either side or off the bow and not catch fish. The Gulp! raised fish are always covered in little bits and have it in their stomachs as well. It has definitely earned its place in my tackle locker this spring.
Winter flounder finally biting good
Saturday, April 18th, 2009We fished Friday and Saturday this weekend. Friday was not so hot but we did boat two fish. Actually they two fish were boated pretty much right after we got setup at our first spot.
Saturday was another story. We went back to where we had fish on Friday and did not have a single fish for over two hours. Then we got one and then no more bites there. Deciding to make a move and try another spot for or last 30-45 minutes of fishing time was a good move. We had fish right away and steady action for the next 40 minutes. We ended up boating 13 fish total to 2 lbs.
Water temps ranged from 47.6 to 51.3 degrees, the water was pretty clean and clear and winds varied throughout the day. A few of the fish that were not that fat did have roe in them.
I also heard reports of limit catches to the South off of The Water’s Edge on Friday and pretty good catches on Saturday as well. It looks like the bite is finally turning on, hopefully it will continue for another couple of weeks.
April showers
Saturday, April 11th, 2009Some years we have a dry spring and some years you think you are living in Seattle. This year we are having a very wet spring. The forecast from the night before had the showers ending around 10 am so we figured we would be able to get a solid half day of fishing in. Wrong! The raid did not stop until I got into my truck to head home around 5 pm.
I did get cabin straightened out a little more and got some ideas for gear storage which I will implement next weekend. I also picked up a five foot length of 5/16″ BBB or short link chain to add to my rode in what seems to be a never ending attempt to anchor the boat easily. Hopefully this will do the trick.
Once the little chores were done and some other guys showed up it became a boat hopping beer drinking day. Shotting the shit with good friends and making plans for the rest of the season. This coming weekend looks to be much nicer and I may even get out Friday and Saturday which would be awesome!
NJ 2009 Marine Recreational Regulations
Thursday, April 9th, 2009The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife has updated the NJ marine recreational angling regulations. The most notable changes are the 2009 summer flounder season and the increase in minimum size for black sea bass from 12 to 12.5 inches. There are anticipated changes in 2009 for black sea bass and sharks, we will just have to wait and see what the changes will be. I believe the changes for sea bass will be minimum size as well as a reduction in bag limit to 10 of 15 fish from the current 25 fish limit.
Spawning or on the move?
Sunday, April 5th, 2009Got a late start yesterday due to having to finish a work project that ran late into Sunday. Hit the Parkway at noon, stopped for bait and lunch and we pulled out of the slip on Tommy’s boat at about 1:30. At this point I am still waiting for Volvo to come and replace the fuel pump, I was promised it would be fixed this week so we have our fingers crossed. It is now going on three weeks.
Tried up by the Mantoloking Bridge for a little but, not a touch and saw no fish caught. Then headed back to where we had fish last week. Only saw one short caught.
Water temperature was 50.5 degrees and the water was a bit cloudier than last week. We did hear a few reports of some fish caught in the morning. I have two theories though, one, either the fish are having a late spawn due to the sudden rise in temps from below preferred spawning temp to above in a week and a half or two, the first wave of fish to move out already started and they are on the North side of the canal in the river already. I guess we will have to wait until next week to prove that theory.
NY summer flounder regulations and lawsuit
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009Minimum size: 21″
Bag limit: 2 fish
Split season: 5/15 - 6/15, 7/3 - 8/17
NY has a lawsuit pending and New Jersey’s regulations are being threatened by a recent ruling by a Brooklyn, NY federal judge. The judge found for the state of NY and a coalition made up of the United Boatmen of NY, the NY Fishing Tackle Trade Association and the Fisherman’s Conservation Association to include Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) in the lawsuit. NY is looking to change the coast-wide allocation of summer flounder. It appears that Brooklyn’s Senior Federal District Judge, Charles P. Sifton, has made an unprecedented change to the status of the ASMFC, which, if left to stand, leaves the ASMFC at the mercy of the courts in the allocation of species under its management.
In the mid 90’s, for the first time, a coast-wide quota was set for all coastal states where each competed for a quota. After being in place for several years, this system was found to be unfair to some states and it was agreed by all parties that a change to the coast-wide system needed to happen. The current state-by-state system was determined over twenty years ago by extensive discussion by the coastal states to come up with a fair and equitable system. Ironically, it was NY that made the motion to switch from a coast-wide to state-by-state model.
If NY is successful in changing back to a single coast-wide quota system, then NY anglers will be able to increase their catch at the expense of NJ anglers. As a result New Jersey’s catch will be substantially decreased and this will have a significant negative economic impact on New Jersey’s economy during these troubled financial times.
Please send a letter to the Governor asking that NJ intervene along with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Secretary of the Federal Department of Commerce to challenge the case brought by the State of New York to change the coast-wide allocation of summer flounder. I have included a sample letter below.
Letters should be sent to:
The Honorable Jon S. Corzine
Governor of New Jersey
State House, PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625-0001
Dear Governor Corzine,
The vitality of New Jersey’s recreational fishing industry, which generates 1.3 billion dollars to New Jersey’s economy, is being seriously threatened by a recent ruling by a Brooklyn, New York Federal Judge concerning the data and methodology used to establish quotas for summer flounder, locally know as fluke, for East coast states.
I request that New Jersey intervene along with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Secretary of the Federal Department of commerce to challenge the case brought by the state of New York to change the coastwide allocation of summer flounder. Further, I am concerned that Brooklyn’s Senior Federal District Judge Charles P. Sifton has made an unprecedented change to the status of the ASMFC, which, if left to stand, leaves the ASMFC at the mercy of the courts in the allocation of species under its management regime. The judge found for the state of New York and a coalition made up of the United Boatmen of New York (UBNY), the New York Fishing Tackle Trade Association (NYFTTA), and the Fisherman’s Conservation Association of NY (FCA) to include the ASMFC in the lawsuit.
The summer flounder fishery, one of the most important to our state, is jointly managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the ASMFC. The NMFS has management of responsibilities over fisheries within three to 200 miles and the ASMFC is responsible for the water from New Jersey’s shoreline to three miles out to sea. For nearly twenty years now, each state has been allocated a catch limit based upon its historical catch. Because of its large participation by anglers, New Jersey has historically had the largest allocation of any state.
If New York is successful in changing back to a single coastwide quota system, then New York anglers will be able to increase their catch at the expense of New Jersey anglers. As a result, New Jersey’s catch will be substantially decreased. This will have a significant negative economic impact on New Jersey’s economy during these troubled financial times.
I am deeply concerned that this legal decision may result in a court-mandated injunction that would disrupt the 2009 summer flounder season for New Jersey’s anglers. Because of the large impact a federal ruling could have in this matter, I again request that New Jersey’s interest be represented by our Attorney General as a friend of the court.
Thank you,
Your Name
Your Address
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the above information was obtained from the April JCAA newsletter.
First batch of butterfly jigs
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
I molded a dozen butterfly jigs last night. I could not wait any longer, I needed to see what the finished product from my new mold looked like. I am sure the neighbors were wondering what I was doing in the driveway at 9 pm last night but hey…it is what obsessed fishermen do!
The first few pours wrinkled a lot and did not fill all the way down to the head. The mold takes a very long time to heat up due to its size. Once heated thoroughly almost every pour produced a full jig. The wrinkling was still present and I am fairly certain that opening the pour holes will rectify that. I will try the mold a few more times before retooling the mold though.
I am very impressed with the Dragon Fly paint from CSI Paint. The new line of candy, metal flake paints are really cool. The picture does not do the jig and color justice. Moving the jig around in the light produces flashes in the light, I am hoping that this will be the case in water as well. If so I am definitely going to need to pickup the Sapphire, Baby Bass Green and Ruby Slipper colors as well!
In the coming weeks I will start to put together some more detailed pictures and videos on molding jigs and finishing them.
Butteryfly jig mold
Monday, March 30th, 2009
The new Do-It Molds butterfly jig mold finally came in at Sun Harbor Bay Club. I ran right down yesterday when Joe called to tell me. It looks great, the mold actually has a lot more detail than the pictures on the web site. I can’t wait to mold up a few jigs and see what they look like and see how they perform in water.
First flounder trip
Sunday, March 29th, 2009I am still waiting for Volvo to come out and replace the fuel pump so we hopped on Tommy’s boat and headed out for some flounder. We got a late start, after talking to everyone at the marina and heading down to Sun Harbor Bay Club to pickup the new butterfly jig mold and then a stop at Lacey Marine for fuel filters we shot back to the marina, loaded the gear and headed out.
We just ran down to the end of the creek where it meets the main channel. I have usually done well here early in the season and the water temps seemed right for this spot. It was about 2:30-3:00 pm when we got there and weren’t sure how long we would stay due to the storms coming up from the South, so it was all or nothing with only fishing one spot.
We stayed there for about an hour and a half and had two fish. One at 14″ and the other at 17″. While Tommy was not as excited as I, with these being my first fish caught for 2009 he was happy that the boat was not skunked and that these were the first flounder ever caught on his boat.
It was probably a good idea to head in early and only make it a quick trip. Just as we finished cleaning up the fog rolled in again and it began to get cold and damp as the sun disappeared again. Water temperature was 44.5 degrees, we used clam and Gulp! chum and live sandworms. I had a rod out with Gulp! sandworms but it did not get a touch, both fish were on live worms.
2009 Fish Consumption Advisory
Saturday, March 28th, 2009NJ DEP has published the 2009 Fish Consumption Advisory. Pretty much the same as last year, biggest changes are for some of the species from Raritan Bay and its estuaries. What I am curious about is what the recommended intake on sea bass, blackfish, porgies, tunas, shark and mahi would be. Some are mentioned briefly in the Federal Advice for Fish Consumption, but other than that they are not mentioned. Since these are the species most desired by family and friends and the species we target more often than others it would be nice to know the state and federal governments would like to control our eating habits.
Winter flounder opening day
Monday, March 23rd, 2009It was to be our first trip of 2009 and we were very anxious to get lines in and bends in the rods. I rigged up four rods, iced down the boat, loaded the second anchor and rode, chum pots, picked up bait, lunch and beverages. I also picked up a bucket of Gulp! chum to give a try.
Tommy and I headed South to the Mantoloking Bridge. While heading out there was a whining noise, we checked and thought at first it was just the new belt settling in. While trying to get set on anchor in our first spot the motor started sputtering and the whining got louder.
We performed some more troubleshooting and determined the noise to be coming from the fuel pump, most likely the low pressure pump. We decided that with a fuel delivery problem and breezy conditions it was best that we scrapped the trip and limp back to the marina. We were able to get back safe under our own power.
I did speak to a few guys that fished catches ranged from not even a bit to about five fish per person.
After clearing the cockpit we dropped the fuel filter and water separator and there were no signs of any water in the fuel. Put new filters on to be on the safe side and fired her up again. The filters filled with fuel so it is not a line or tank issue.
Next I called Volvo to find out parts availability and cost. I also inquired to see if it would be covered under extended warranty, supposedly it will be. Which is a huge relief since on my motor it is one part for the filter mount, high and low pressure pumps and not individually serviceable with a cost of $659.
Now I am waiting for a call back from my local Volvo dealer to schedule the repair, hopefully they will be able to get to it this week or next.
This is just the kind of thing I try to avoid by going in the water the end of February or the beginning of March. Now due to the soda blasters damage and my going in the water just days before our first trip I am now down taking away from fishing time. Going in early gives two to four weeks to run her weekly and work out any kinks if any and get her running at peak performance for the season ahead. In a perfect world our boats would go to bed working 100% and wake up after their winter’s naps running 100%. But after sitting idle for several months there is always something that is not happy about being idle and being exercised during its hibernation. In the end I am sure we will have a great season, we are just off to a slow start once again.
Saltwater Fishing Expo
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009Next to us in the JCAA booth at the Saltwater Fishing Expo we had Joe Calcavecchia of Saltwater Custom Flies. He had a pattern that caught my eye right away. It was a mummichog, or more commonly known in NJ as a killie. Joe Calcavecchia wished he had known earlier that we called them killies here in NJ, he would have changed his display to read killie imitation.
It is his signature fly and a very good imitation of one of our staple baits here. I picked up a few from Joe and can’t wait to try them out. I will also attempt to recreate them but on a smaller scale. The ones I picked up are in the four to five inch range which should prove deadly on stripers, weakfish and blues. When I try and recreate them I will do so in a three inch model. I think the smaller incarnation would be very effective on summer flounder and sea bass, and probably deadly on mahi mahi in any size.
NJ Reef News 2009
Friday, March 20th, 2009The 2009 edition of the NJ Reef News is now available. There are a few new wrecks listed…update those plotters!
Tide & Current Charts
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009I just posted the first tide and current charts for 2009. I will typically post weekly updates on the Tide & Current page for the weeekend days and any weekdays that I will have the luxury of fishing.
If you need a chart for a specific day feel free to e-mail me and I will try my best to get it uploaded in a timely fashion.
Got wet today!
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009Happy St. Patty’s Day! We went in the water today, about a month late but we finally launched for the 2009 season. It almost didn’t happen, when I arrived at the marina at 8 am the boat was not in the condition I had expected and I wasn not sure if I should go in or wait until I could have the boat detailed properly.
The stains were about 60% removed. About half the boat was still covered with rubbing compound that was not buffed out and the residue washed off. There were compound splatters all over the windows, railings and other parts of the boat. Some of the manufacturer logos, pin striping, reg numbers and other decals were burned off or damaged from the polishing wheel. About 3/4 of the waterline had compound and polish along it about 4″ wide, I had already touched up the waterline so it needed to be sanded off and re-touched up.
I spoke with marina and others and we decided to redo the bottom and put the boat in and haul out in a few weeks and have the boat cleaned by a professional. I gave the guy who caused the damage a chance to do the right thing as per his wishes despite my reservations. I am done playing games after waiting almost a month for a less than marginal job.
On to the shakedown run…she was an absolute beast! I had the wheels reconditioned and about 2″ of pitch taken out of each wheel on the recommendation from Jim Anderson of Jimmy’s Marine Service. Pate Whalen at Eastern Propeller did a great job of taking my WOT info, make model, year and spec of the motor and getting me to where I need to be with the boat fully loaded. Previously I only got 4,250 RPM at WOT with full fuel, gear, ice, bait and crew. Now I get 4,950 with full gear, fuel and crew. Did not load ice and bait but shouldn’t loose that much RPM from another 10-80 lbs. The boat jumped right out of the water as compared to before, came out of the water more when on plane. There was a huge increase in throttle response and no more hesitation at all. I also gained about a knot at cruise and almost 2 knots at WOT. The ride and sound from the motor is much, much smoother now as well. According to the scans the wheels were out a little but what a huge difference after being balanced on the computer.
The Pat and Jim also anticipate a big savings in fuel, possibly doubling my 1.5 nmpg to close to 3 nmpg. I was happy with the 1.5 but if we do really see numbers closer to 3 it will make us much more comfortable running off for tuna this year and dipping into the last 1/3 of a tank to come home.
Shurhold Buffer
Sunday, March 15th, 2009I saw a few searches lately for the Shurhold Buffer. I guess a bunch of you saw it a while back on ShipShape TV. It is finally listed on Shurhold’s web site but is only available for pre-order and should be shipping in the next few weeks. It looks to be a decent unit at a lower price point than professional, random orbit buffers. According to the ShurHold web site it retails for $149.98 so I would imagine that the street price would be anywhere between $100 and $129. I was hoping it would be released prior to my spring launch as I am in the market for a new buffer but I guess I will have to wait till my mid season haul out, painting, zincs and cleaning in June.
You can sign up to Pre-Order and be notified when the buffer is ready for shipment, have a unit reserved for you and receive a free bottle of Pro-Polish.
We used Pro-Polish for the first time last year and were extremely pleased with the product. Diesel soot easily washed off of Mark and Tommy’s boats after an offshore trip and the finish held up all season long on our boats and made cleanup very easy on my boat as well as the others that used. I highly recommend this polish, the best thing about it was how easy it went on and off in 35-40 degree weather. All of us usually go in the water in February/March and it has been a difficult procedure of polishing our boats in cold temperatures until we discovered Pro-Polish.
Getting there…
Sunday, March 15th, 2009I got to the marina early and measured for wiring up the inverter. Then we headed down to Lacey Marine to pickup some supplies, including the wire for the inverter project. We got to speak with the Interlux rep and got some good ideas for some painting projects on friends boats in the marina.
From there we headed over to the Lacey Elks Fisherman’s Flea Market. There were some interesting items at the flea market. Met Brian from GarbageFish.com and picked up a sticker. Bought some raffle tickets for the Billy Gale Rod and reel from Lacey Marine. At the door they were trying to get everyone to fill out a pots off the reef card, most were filling them out. Hopefully Roberts will get the message soon.
On out way back to the marina we got a call that the soda blaster that damages several boats had shown up and started washing mine and Tommy’s boats. We had Mike stop them and wait for us since we were only about five minutes out.
After speaking with the soda blaster for a while he said he would produce a proper proof of insurance and would like the opportunity to clean the boats. He pretty much finished Tommy’s yesterday and should hopefully complete mine today. If he does I should be able to get wet on Tuesday.
Tommy and I got the inverter hung and wired. I still need to wire in the breaker/switch at the battery but will do that next weekend. It looks as if I will get in just in time for the winter flounder opener and be serving piping hot coffee and hot chocolate throughout the day.
Busy weekend
Sunday, March 8th, 2009It was a busy weekend, everything but detailing the exterior is done. On Saturday Mark and Tommy got the gimbal bearing and bellows replaced and installed the blocking kit. Fresh zincs were installed and then Mark and I installed the outdrive, pressure tested it and refilled the gear oil. With the drive back in place I sanded and painted the helmet and transom shield. Later in the day, after a late lunch, I removed the winter cover.
Sunday I removed the winter cover frame and then replaced the thermostat, PCV valve, zinc pencil, raw water pump and serpentine belt. What a pain the belt was, I inserted the ratchet into the hole and before I put much pressure on it to loosen the tensioner the hole snapped. We managed to lift up on the tensioner and slip the belt off. The batteries and battery charger went back in and then I washed the boat, which turned out to be a futile process since none of the dirt or stains from a botched soda blasting job on another boat came off.
After lunch I cleaned up the tools and organized everything in the cabin. The only thing left to do is install the inverter but that can be done on the water. So basically all that is left until she can get wet is to detail her, put the plug in and drop her in. Hopefully the marina, soda blasting company and the boat owner come to some sort of resolution soon.