Had to wait out the fog, it was really bad till about 2-3 pm. It was amazing how many boats were out blind and on plane or going as fast as they were and in no wake zones today.

I got some things done on the boat in the mean time.  I put the sink back in, hooked up the hoses, filled the domestic water tank, put some more tackle away, rearranged gear and tried the 3M non-skid cleaner on the deck.  This stuff worked really well.  Finally a non-skid cleaner that works without a lot of effort and claims to be safe for fiberglass and gel coat.

Anyway, finally about 3:30 we shoved off to give it a shot. Since Mike was done with working on his boat he decided to go on a boat ride with Tommy and me.  When we got setup the surface current was flying with the howling SE wind but the bottom wasn’t too fast. Had 51 degree water and fish on within minutes of the chum bags hitting the bottom.

We ended up boating our three man limit with only one short and several missed fish in about 2 hours.

Left the dock later than I planned but was in no rush, especially with the chill in the air. Plans got derailed a bit early on when a call came out over the radio about someone in the water in the canal.

Got setup in the spot we caught on Thursday…I was very skeptical due to the drop in water temps. I thought my transducers were wrong but when I double checked with the thermal gun-I was shocked. Temps were down to 35.3.

I waited out the change in tide, figured since the action was very slow to none I would straighten out the pilothouse and put away a crate of tackle I brought down. Once I was done with that I worked the rods for a little while, had two nibbles, and the slime and salad started to pick up.

Water temps rose to a balmy 37 on the beginning of the outgoing and with no increase in action I decided to head in and get some work done on the boat. Water temps at 4 PM at the slip only rose a bit more to 39.1.

This weekend should be a whole lot better with the warmer weather returning again.

The Admiral let me have the day off today.  First I was headed to a few bait and tackle shops in hopes of adding to the list of participating weigh stations for the BFH Year Long Tournament.  I was able to add Fisherman’s Supply, Co. to the list for the Manasquan Inlet members.

Then we headed out with Tommy about 11 this morning for a couple hours.  We had about a dozen fish and kept our two man limit.  Water temps were 48.x to 51.2.  Biggest was a little over 14″ @ 1.63 lb.  We were back at the dock and cleaned up by 1:30 pm.  Only burned .7 gallons…priceless!

FOR 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.

Left 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.

Set 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.

We 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.

Got 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.

I 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.

NJ 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.

It 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.

I 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.

I will start off with what a day! It was beautiful out. I first ran outside just to take a peak and run the boat a bit. Started marking bait here and there, then started marking tight isolated pods of fish.

Thinking this was going to be a bass and flounder day excitement started running high. Had to take short drifts with 1 or 2 shots to hook up on each drift over the fish. First few drifts ended in frustration with the fish just mouthing the baits. Felt strange though and not like bass. On the third drift about an 8lb weak was brought along boat side. I continued working the weaks for another hour and half There ran from 8 to about 12 pounds. I lost one boat side due to it not fitting in the net, so I have no idea of the weight.

All using my homemade bucktails. When the current went slack the bite died off. At that point I decided to run back inside and get on the hook and try for some flounder.

With most reports during the week coming from the river side I setup in a hole between the main channel and the old channel. I baited two rods and put them out. Before I could get the first chum pot in the water I had a fish on, nice 15+ incher and fat. Got the first pot in and the second rod goes off. Another nice fat fish. It did not matter gulp sands live sands they both produced. Fished four about an hour and had the best fishing of the season with non-stop action till the water temps rose above 51 degrees. Not one short and all fish over 14″ with many over 15 and a couple in the 16-18″ range.

What a day on the water. Great weather, great fishing, life does not get any better.

The morning weather was perfect, sunny, light winds, warm…the winds quickly picked up late morning but not to a unmanageable state. Reports from many boats were not good for the morning tide but we decided to give it a shot anyway and pulled out of the slip about 11 AM after we all finished up some work on our boats.

We decided to stop a little south of Dale’s Point since a buddy was closer to it and had no action, we figured we would give a different spot a try. Had a few real light hits and taps but no hookups, just lost worms.

We then moved to just outside of the canal on the North side, didn’t stay there long as the current was pretty much at max flood stage.

Our last stop was a hole off the north channel along the golf course. Again a few nibbles but no hookups and a few crabs almost keeper size.

The water was 51.2 to 54.5 degrees. After speaking with a few guys that fished during the week we came up with the consensus that they are having a late spawn this year. A few guys had fish during the week that still had roe in them. But we don’t feel that they will stick around long if the water stays in the low to mid fifties, maybe two weeks three tops. Would be nice to see them stick around till a good bass bite materializes but not likely.

Also several guys had heard second hand reports from divers with fish stacked on top of each other at the Mathis Bridge and Mantoloking Bridge. Which would be consistent with them spawning. Earlier in the week a buddy was down to Island Heights and had limit catches and near limit catches of good sized fish.

The boat has been running great and I was hoping to stay in the water through spring…but today we picked up about a 5′ x 2′ length of carpet in the wheels. I will be hauling out this week to make sure there was no damage and the wheels don’t look damaged.

Anyway, on a lighter note, we did manage to get some fishing in. With water temps still low (41.2 to 43.5) we managed only one flounder at 13.5″ and very fat. In speaking with some of the local captains and guides it seems that the fish have yet to spawn. Many of the fish caught during the week were full of eggs and sperm. Which is good news, we still have a shot at them. Last year we had similar water temps this time of year and the mad dog bite on winter flounder didn’t really pickup until mid April.

Hopefully this week will warm the water a few more degrees to that magic number and the bite will turn on. And hopefully the carpet incident was a minor one and we will back at it this weekend again.

It was a nice sunny day with light winds in the mid forties. Water temps ranged from 39.5 to 43.2 degrees. Despite the mild winter we had I was surprised the with the water temps. Especially since it has not warmed much with the recent slightly warmer weather we have been having.

Armed with plenty of flounder chum, corn and blood worms we set out for our first spot. It was slightly less crowded than I thought it would be. There was only about a dozen boats just South of the Mantoloking Bridge. We set the pots out, started a heavy corn slick and had not even a tap after about an hour. We did see a few fish netted from a sailboat about a hundred yards away.

At our next spot along Herring Island we boated a nice 14″ flounder in no time, but that was it for that spot. After moving over near Dale’s Point we managed two more fish…a 14.5″ and 15.25″ blackback.

While it was not a stellar day, despite the wind against the tide conditions and cool water temps we managed to keep the skunk away.

There is a lot of buzz around here the past few days. I have been preparing rods, reels, jigs, rigs, sinkers, and list goes on. It is only a few short days till the opening of Winter Flounder for 2008. I have for many years fished opening day and am sad to say this year I will not be due to family obligations and the Easter Holiday.

In seasons past I have also typically caught a fish over four pounds on opening day and hope I can continue that tradition fishing the day after the official opener. if you are out on Monday the 24th give me a shout, will be glad to share real time reports.

We did not make it out for winter flounder opening day but we did make it out for day two. This will be the first time in many years that I have not gone out on opening day. I did not hear any great reports from yesterday and figured I would start out in the bay. We tried all our usual spots and could not put a bite together. After talking to a buddy on the radio we decided to head for the river. We setup in the river and had the same results…no bite. After that we decided to make a bold move and try the inlet figuring that if the fish are there and we are not in the right spot maybe they are on their way out and closer to the inlet. Not even a nibble in the inlet, plus the wind was against the tide making anchoring a chore. We then decided to head back up river and give that one more shot but when setting up on anchor lost forward gear. After several minutes of trying to get back into forward I was getting ready to call Sea\\Tow but just as I was about to hail them got the boat into gear and decided to head back to the barn. That ended up being a good call because after getting back to the slip I was not able to get back into forward after backing in, actually had to stop the reverse motion manually because I had no forward to pop into to slow the boat. Shortly after cleaning up it started to rain anyway so heading in was probably the right thing to do anyway. Hopefully the Volvo dealer was right when they said it is not a big job to fix and with some luck they will be able to work on it this week and have me ready for next weekend.

Our suspicions were correct…the flounder have migrated out to the continental shelf following the heavy rains we had last week. Reports up until the blow prior to the rains were good but only a really slow pick of a handful of fish or no fish at all after the rain.

It was a beautiful day on the water. The winds were no where near the 15-20 knots as predicted or the gusts. We got setup at the first spot about 9:30 and had nothing. The water was gin clear and you could see bottom and watch crabs walking by in 10′ of water. At 11:30 we moved out to the inlet when we received a phone call from the the Norma K II which just caught 4 keeper flounder and a few fluke. We setup in the inlet and immediately caught a 20″ sea robin and numerous spider crabs. We also had one suspect bluefish due to the typical bite off when using very small, short shank hooks. When the K II headed in we moved to slightly behind where they were which did not produce any fish either. The current was ripping all day. The 4 fish that were caught on the K II were caught at slack tide as were the fluke. All in all it was a great day on the water and I am glad I did not let the forecast dictate my decision to leave the dock.

We did also take a quick cruise across the bay to blow out the cobwebs…we got up to 34.6 knots (With 3/4 fuel, 25 gallons water, and full load of gear and 2 passengers) before the channel turned and scrubbed some speed. I have to find a big enough, straight stretch of water to see what my WOT speed fully loaded really is. In any case 34 knots is plenty fast for me and most days you can’t do that outside anyway without getting really beat up.

I got back in the water late Friday afternoon. We planned on getting to the dock with plenty of time in case there was still mechanical problems with the steering affording us time to get over the party boat so we did not miss a day of fishing. We got all the gear loaded, started her up and at the dock everything seemed fine. It turned out to be a fine day. Mostly sunny and warm. Could have been a shorts and T-shirt day had I brought shorts. We were joined by my cousin Dave who caught the biggest flattie of the day. It was 1 lb. 15 oz. and 16.5″ long. It was great to see him again. We had fallen out of touch for a few years after being very close growing up spending summers at the shore in and around LBI. My mother was high hook with 4 fish, I had 3 and Dave had 2 for a total of 9 fish for the day. We had as many shorts and a couple lost at net unfortunately.

The water was not clear but despite the rain and the wind the past few days it was not bad. There were really no weeds and grass to speak of in the bay and the water temp got as high as 56.7, which was at 5:30 when we started to head back in. All in all it was a great day on the water and a successful first fishing trip on the boat this season, hopefully followed by many, many more.

I went out on the Norma-K II again this Sunday. Still waiting on Volvo to show for warranty work. The morning have about 25 passengers if I had to guess. WE had about 10 keepers and a half dozen shorts. I personally got skunked probably due to my great opening day outing. The afternoon trip though provided its passengers with over 70 keepers to 2 lb. 4 oz. and dozens of shorts. The afternoon fishery is definitely much better in the early season and this just goes to prove that fact. Well next week we will definitely do the afternoon trip whether it be in my boat or the K II.

Opening day was a success, went out from 2 to 6 PM in the bay and had four keepers to 2lbs. 13oz, 19.5 inches. It seemed they would only bite on first drop at each spot. The fish that were caught were very aggressive, they were not sluggish at all. In hindsight probably should have tried drifting for them…might have been more productive.