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  Had Scott with Ed, and Bob with Rob and Anthony out togging before the storm. Chew was on had bites all day with a lull in the action around lunch time. Had our boat limit to 4lbs with over 70 shorts, no real big fish, but tons of action.
 Had Chuck out with buddies Elia, both Bob's and Lenny. Started on the reef and had a slow pick of keepers and many shorts, ran down to Barnegat and had the same slow pick of keepers and many shorts. Ran back up north and got some more keepers and many shorts. Had lots of action at every stop, just not the right size, had over 60 shorts but only a dozen keepers to 3lbs.
  Had Adam out again this week with buddies Monty, Mark and Eric. Decided to try a Tuna Troll since they are still around and no promising Striper reports. Found the Tuna's and had a great sight seeing trip for them but no bites. Set up on some good bottom for Tog and landed our limit on two different pieces. More quality keepers landing over 30, and over 50 shorts, fish wanted half crab no shell or legs, chewed very hard, no scratch bites.
  Had Adam out with buddies Joe, Mark, Ray and Monty. Original plan was to run south for Bass but dismal reports made us change gears and set up for tog. First drop and limited out the guys with 30 keepers to 8lbs in a couple of hours, released over 50 shorts making it lights out fishing. Didn't expect much with a southeast swell. Greenies with no legs or shell were the ticket. Ran to the north to look for Bass but found the Bluefin instead, trolled through them for an hour with Bally's WWWWBack and one down a planer, also have a Canyon Runner Mini Mamba that imitates sandeels pretty good on but no bites. Went into Striper mode to end the day and landed big Blues to 10lbs and short Bass.
 I had John and some of his family members out looking for some bass. Headed south of the inlet after hearing about all doggies up north. We ended up just north a Barnegat inlet and found nothing for the first 3 hours amidst a massive fleet of boats. I brought along some crabs so we switched gears for a few and went togging nearby. Hit a snag in 50 foot and it was nonstop action but alot of shorts. We ended up with 12 keeper tog and we threw back at least 50 fish in two and a half hours. I dropped down myself a few times and caught 4 nice keepers. Ran North a little and found birds working on sandeels. The readings were thick but it was mainly blues with a few short bass mixed in. We jigged up a load of blues for John's smoker and headed back at 4:30.
  Had cancelled the last 3 days in the row and was getting a little cabin fever. Rounded up a Joe and Anthony and headed out for a couple of hours of togging. Didn't know what to expect with the latest front and 4ft swells from the east. Decided to hit some pieces in 70ft. First drop took a couple of minutes to build the life, once it did it was drop and reel fishing. Had our limit with fish up to 5lbs. Fish bit very hard, no scratch bites, most of the fish hung themselves, very surprised after this blow, they wanted greenies cut in half no shell or legs.
   Had Mike with buddies Chuck, Matt, Scotty "Shotgun" and Jimmy, plan was to Striper jig and then Togs. 3-5 ft seas tightly packed had us start on the Stripers and had our limit with fish up to 20lbs, within the first couple of hours on jigs and deadly dicks in 60ft of water. Released over 20 shorts and over 30 Blues to 15lbs. ended the day togging landing half a dozen before the guys said it was enough. Another fun day with a great bunch of guys.
  Been away on travel with the family and and business for the past month. However on my last trip to Miami on business got a chance to get out. Ran my buddie Pau'ls 33 Intrepid, joined by his buddie Tony, and my client Dave Johnson. Ran to the bait stop and sabiki'd 5 dozen Threadfin Herring in minutes. Went on the drift southeast of Fowey Rocks in 130ft and had instant action. Landed 3 mahi to 15lbs and a nice king, lost many fish to bite offs and short hits. Now looking forward to our local Tog/Striper action. wanted to let everyone know that we will be in Clark's landing Marina for the remainder of this year and all of next.
 Went out yesterday with my cousin and a few of my friends from 1 to 4:30. We were going to go jig some bass first but after hearing about a slowdown in the bite, we setup on some rocks in real shallow water and crushed the blackfish. It took a little while for the big boys to come out but once they did it was silly. Great practice for when the season opens.
  Had regulars Ed Mcginnis (Eamon), Dan Bombaci, with newcomers Bob (Bates) Cameron and Ron Wright. Started out chunking in the Hudson from nightfall to first light with the guys wrestling 8ft Blue sharks and no tuna, stayed on the chunk until after first light and still no go, so we went on the drift for tiles landing a dozen to 20lbs. Congrats to Bob and Ron busting their tile cherries. Changed gears are ran to the Tower/Bacardi area working the draggers for Bluefin, again a no-go. Hit some of the wrecks but only landed ling and dinner plate sized porgies. Mad a run inshore to the ledge and wrestled over 30 alligator blues and tuna still remained elusive. Finally at the last stop further in the hole we had our shot busting off both fish. Very frustrating , but had a beautiful day on the water with great guys.
    Had a seldom off day from kids sports events, and family commitments with a light wind day. Asked the kids if they wanted to go fishing, which they gladly jumped at, had good buddies Mike and Jerry on the assist and made the run to the ledge. Reports from buddies and on the radio were dismal, after 2 hours of no bites, I made a run to the north. Found the fish and had them to myself going 2-2 with a 46 and 40 incher. Fish hot sardines 100ft down on the drift with 40 flouro. Ended the day hitting and inshore wreck with the boys landing 30 seabass with half of them being keepers.
 Yesterday I had Jim and his buddies for an all day charter. The plan was to fish offshore for seabass (for the last day) and be within range of some bluefin. The tuna weren't feeding so we hit a wreck in 100 foot and it was nonstop action with seabass. The keeper percentage was low on this spot so we then hit a wreck in 140 foot and it was the same. Alot of fish but the ratio was probably 5 to 1. We made two more drops with the last being the best keeper wise in 58 foot and less than 3 miles off the beach. Go figure. We grinded out 88 keeper seabass plus a couple blues for the day.
    Had Regulars Dan Bombaci and Chuck Routar with new customer Fred Monaco out for an overnighter today. Todays trip was a tough one, and Murphy's Law was out in full force, not making excuses, trip was not to our standards but we tried our best. Started out making great time to the canyons and got mahi on the first pot on light tackle, then deep dropped for mahi and got half a dozen in the box, with Dan and Fred busting their tile cherries. Went on the troll, no bites but, this allows me a chance to scout potential night anchoring spots. Right before dark we saw a scene from Discovery Channel, yellowfin tuna skyrocketing out of the water, for over 5 minutes, decided this was where we would spend the night. Upon setting up, we lost our hydroglow due to a busted bulb, nonetheless upon getting the lines out we had our first Yellowfin in the box within minutes, and squid in the slick. Then it went downhill, noticed marker balls drifting towards us, and knew it was game over, we got covered up by longline gear. Saw it while I was trolling but it drifted on us therefore, forcing us to move and leave a great bite, with fish swimming in the slick. Tried our best on the drift but only had 2 more yellows for the night, did some more mahi fishing landing fish to 10lbs. Went inshore to hit some wrecks for bluefin/pollack, no go divers were on the wrecks I wanted to fish, 150+ feet of water go figure, tried the bluefin,but tons of falsies and bluefish. Ran home with my ego bruised. Guys kept me upbeat, glad it was an understanding crew.
 My sunday charter wanted a constant pull on the rods so off for some seabass we went. First drop was local and we sat on it for 3 hours. It was dropnreel fishing!! Alot of shorts but definately enough keepers around. They wanted more quality than quantity so we only kept fish at 13 inches up. After that spot we headed south looking for some big ones but everything was loaded with shorts. We ended with a real mixed bag on this trip. Our total for the day was 68 keeper cbass, 1 tog, 12 porgies, 1 trigger, 1 croaker, 10 small blues and one 29 inch striper. Nice day out!!
Sorry for the bad pics....camera phone.
     Had Adam out with buddies Joe, Eric, and Monty. Started out with the bluefin and landed a ton of falsies. Made a move further east and had more albies and skippies mixed in, finally landed our 27 inch under to start the day off. Fought through more falsies and decided to make another move, finally we landed our over fish on a floated sardine. Made a stop at a wreck to load the box up with more meat and landed two nice Pollack on the butterfly jigs on fish at 35 and 25lbs.
  Had Dan with his girlfriend Gina out for some inshore pelagics. Went right to the butterfly jigs landing half a dozen nice Bonito's and over 3 dozen Little tunny on jigs and light tackle with spearing. Little swell in the morning and ended up being a nice day on the water.
  Had my oldest son Danny helping me and Capt Carlos on the last trip. Danny was up at the crack of dawn setting up the boat, made sure the customers had all of their needs taken care of, and worked his butt off. Most important the customers thought he was a hard working, respectful, appreciative young man at 12 years old. They even allowed him to do some fishing while they took a break in between the action, allowing him to land his first mahi and some falsies. Thanks Rocco and Heather for allowing my son to stretch his wings on his first pelagic charter and allowing him to catch some fish. Look forward to a lifetime doing our thing together Danny!
    Had Rocco and his girlfriend Heather out for inshore pelagics today. Started getting jiggy with it, just getting skippies and albies, so we free lined sardines and had a nice Yellowfin. Bite was very slow so we decided to mahi fish until the bite started, landed 6 gaffers to 15lbs, then went back to the tunas. Action started to heat up and we then landed our over and under, then the fish ate everything jigs, bait it didn't matter. Congrats to Heather for her first pelagics and Rocco for fighting all these fish throughout the day.
     Today I had Keith Duane and his family for a day of fishing. They wanted a few fish for dinner at their vacation home in Ortley Beach so we headed to a spot in 80 foot and got a nice pick of seabass and ling going. We also landed a nice 27 inch fluke there. After there I hit a wreck and we had a few more fish there including 2 more keeper fluke. Everyone had a nice time with the fish cooperating and also the weather was great. Our total for the day was 28 keeper seabass, 6 ling and 3 fluke.
 I had Dr Stone and his two sons out for a 6 hour trip. They wanted to try for some fluke so I went up north to the rocks and the bite was kinda slow for us. We did a couple drifts and ran outta there after boating 3 keepers and releasing a half dozen. After that we headed SE to a snag in 90 foot and we sat there picking away at ling and seabass. Final count for the trip was 17 keeper seabass, 20 ling and the 3 fluke.
     I had Colleen give me a call me because she wanted to give her boyfriend (Mat) an offshore fishing birthday party. They were joined by Mat's dad (Al) and buddy (Mark). We started off at the hot spot and set up on the drift. Went 8-10 with 7 fish on butterfly jigs and one on sardine. Everyone in the charter landed their first tuna of their lives! At that point, we went after the Mahis since we had our over and under tuna. We ended up landing 9 fish to 15lbs which also popped everyone's cherries! We added some skipjack and triggers to round out the catch. It was a great day with Mat and his crew. Happy Birthday Mat!
     Had Mark with buddies, Andy, "Gator", Dan and "Rocket". Was originally set as an inshore Bluefin run, but the guys wanted to upgrade to a canyon trip even though the reports have been dismal lately. Started at the 100 square and had a fish on as we set all the lines, good fish but lost him, we had many boils on the lures but, no hookups, took a chance and went to the deep of Jones Canyon to no avail. Stayed in the deep and finally connected on our only keeper Yellowfin. Dropped for tiles and had a nice pick to 15bs. Worked some structure and light tackled some mahi. Since there was a lack of tuna decided to make stop inshore for some Bluefin. Spotted the life and demonstrated the butterfly system, and Andy had an instant hookup for a 48inch Bluefin, wanted to stay to get the under, but the approaching storm chased us out of there. Most of the guys popped their cherry on their first tuna, tile, or mahi. Congrats to all.
     I had an open boat trip yesterday for an offshore venture. We left at 4am and ran to the inshore bluefin spot to find the expected load of boats. Did a drift on some bait readings but no bites so we looked around a bit but never marked anything real nice. Decided to anchor on some structure and wham while catching some real nice ling, one of the guys hooks into a nice bluefin on the jig. Sat there for a bit but no more tuna so we decided to hit an offshore wreck out in the deep. As soon as we anchor up another tuna hits the jig but we lose the fish via pulled hooks . Next drop down and the same guy hooks up again this time the fish was fighting much different. Big pollack are all over this one section of the wreck. We yank 7 big boys off the spot up to 35 plus pounds. Next stop tilefish grounds. The guys decided they wanted the buffet so we hit a spot in 420ft and got a couple but they were small so we went to 550ft and they were still on the small side so we split there after catching 10 tiles. All in all we had tuna, jumbo pollack, ling and tiles. Nice mix and for 4 guys, everyone went home with alot of goodies.
     Today I had Peter, his brother and kids for an all day seabass trip. We started out drifting some rocky stuff and had a nice pick of seabass, fluke, and ling. After the 6th or 7th pass over my crew started falling out one by one due to the southerly swell. We left there and came back into the river for some fluke and after 10 minutes everyone was fine. We made it a 4 hour trip instead. My guys got 15 short fluke in the river plus the handful of bottom fish.
 I had Ed, his wife and two other couples out for some seabassin. Headed south to an area where I was on thursday scouting around and caught real nice keepers there but with the south swell and a hard current pushing up against it those same fish did not bite. We hopped around hitting a bunch of spots with the same results on all. Alot of shorts and 36 keepers was our total for the day. The wind picked up around noon which made for crappier conditions but everyone fished hard until it was time to head back to the barn. Fun day nonetheless.
 Today I had Jack, his two sons and friends out for a day trip. We started out doing some flukin inshore but we only got shorts for the hour spent so we took off to the deep. Went to a wreck in 115 foot on the east side of the hole and sat there pretty much all day picking away at big ling,seabass and cod. Had a hammerhead shark come up and we watched a boat that was trolling stop and hook it. Anyway, we made another brief attempt at fluking on our way in but only shorts again. Our total for the day was 48 ling, 28 seabass and 3 cod. Not bad for newbies to the wreck thing. Great weather out there today too!!
    Today I had my friend Pat whom I haven't seen in 25 years along with his two brother inlaws for a combo trip. We headed east to the bluefish spot and setup on a drift but we got no bites and the reports were not good so we didn't waste time switching over to bottom fishing. First drop was on a rockpile in 110 foot and we had a little pick on some nice size sea bass. After that we went to a wreck in 160 foot and got some big ling and cod plus 2 keeper blacks. We then headed inshore and hit a spot in 70 foot and got a few more keeper sea bass there before heading in. Our total for the day was 18 sea bass, 24 ling, 3 cod and 2 blackfish. We also released a big winter flounder. The weather was great all day and it was awesome seeing my friend after so many years.
     Had Steve "Tico", with buddies Bob, Mike, and Rusty. Charter was originally booked as inshore seabass/fluke, but after meeting the crew and yesterday's swell decided bottom fishing might be a no go. Suggested bluefishing with light tackle and try for sharks as an option, and they jumped at the option. Went to the bluefish grounds and it was lights action with fish to 12lbs, jigs or bait didn't matter, had times were we had quadruple headers at the same time. Once 20 fish were landed,we switched gears and ran to the ,mudhole since we had plenty of fresh bait. Water quality was horrible, hence no bites, but the guys kept busy landing another dozen fish to 10lbs before we headed back. Great day with a bunch of cool guys. Happy Birthday Tico!
     Had John with buddy Dan today. Goal was to multi-species trip in the canyons, a challenge I truly enjoy. On the way to the grounds saw some fishy water with bait,birds, dolphin and whales, dropped the lines in and was rewarded with an over 47 inch and under 47 inch bluefin to start the trip, both ate plastic baits at 5-7 knots and were full of sandeels. Got to the Hudson and wasn't happy with the water temps and lack of bait, tried trolling for an hour but no bites, made the decision at 9pm to hit the Tom's on the way took a shark drift since conditions were perfect. On the drift we harvested a 60 inch Mako, and had a sword in the slick that wouldn't commit. Up in the morning we went on the troll and had fish on within minutes. All short yellows and skippies, so we headed to the next spot. On the way there we had the most insane tuna bite I ever had, landed over 15 yellows with 5 on at a time, they ate everything in the spread. Unfortunately there were no keepers, but wild action which kept the rods bent. Decided to switch gears before the wind chased us out and tried to tilefish. First drift landed one and half Tiles to 15lbs, John fish got sharked, payback from the night before. Guys were hardcore and hardly slept the whole trip except for the bean bag ride back home. Trip was a success for both guys, they popped there tile cherries, Dan landing his biggest tuna, and John's first shark. Great job guys! Thanks to Capt Keith and Mark on the assist.
   Got a call from my buddy Jeff Yapalater to help the govenment/NBDC with repairing buoy 44066 at the Hudson. They needed a boat to get the engineer and technician to repair this valuable piece of equipment, So I agreed. Made great time there and started the work, unfortunately after 6 hours we couldn't get her fixed. Figured we had 2 hours to fish so we made the best of it. Started with the triggers on the buoy since no mahi had taken residence and landed a dozen. On the troll we had over 10 bites landing short yellowfin and tons of skipjacks. Then deep dropped for tiles and got them to 20lbs. Kudo's go to David and Kyle for trying the best to get the buoy operational.
Had a group of guys from north jersey for an all day sea bass trip. First drop was in 65 feet and produced about 2 dozen keepers plus some ling. From there we headed further south to another wreck in 58 foot and had steady action with keepers and a ton of shorts for 3 hours. On our third drop in 75 foot the current made it in a real pain to setup where I wanted so we drifted over a few times and only got a few so after a bunch of attempts we finally got right on it and it was drop and reel for the remainder of the trip. All in all we filled one of our boxes to the rim and a five gallon bucket for 128 keeper seabass plus 12 ling and one big porgy. Awesome day!
Had John on board with his son Timmy. Had a very ambitious trip planned based off of the lack of reports and weather today. Left the inlet to be greeted by southeast wind at 15-20 knots which slowed our attempt at the Glory Hole, Went to the Monster, and the bait was unreal with sandeels everywhere, had great marks deep but bluefish up to a quadruple header at a time kept us busy and kept any Bluefin in the area a chance at our trolled offerings. Once the sea laid down made it to the Glory to a lifeless hole. Hit a nearby wreck which had plenty of bottom life with Ling and even monster flounder, but no Cod. While on anchor had a couple of shots of schoolie Bluefin busting around the boat, but no takers on the live bait of the bottom or jigs. Went back to the Glory Hole for a shark drift but, south current at 3knots vs a southeast wind gave us no drift. Made a last attempt at sharking at the ledge where we started but no takers, long day, but great famlily to fish with.
 Had Ron and some of his buddies for an all day sea bass trip. We started in the same area that I caught them real good a few days back but the water was real dirty and the anchoring were horrendous there. I think we got 15 keeper sea bass there plus some ling and a keeper cod. After that wreck I came inshore a bit and we picked a few more off of that one. I made a seven mile run to the south to another piece and it was game on with doubles of sea bass with keepers and shorts. We didn't have any real big fish today but we caught 97 sea bass and ling with the one cod. Awesome day with some real cool peeps.
 I had Don and some friends out for some afternoon bassin. We started at 1pm so we did a little bottom fishing locally to kill some time. The short seabass were plentiful but we did get a few nice keepers. At 3:30, we got our bunker in the deep and headed inshore looking for the stripers. I spotted a small school of bunker that were getting pushed about a mile off the beach and set up a drift ahead of the school. We had those fish follow us for a mile hooking up the whole time. We landed 7 keepers up to 30lbs and dropped double that due to pulled hooks. As soon as the crowds showed up it was over but the storms came anyway. Perfect timing.
  Today I had the Petersons out for an all day seabass trip. We left at 7:30 and ran to the southeast and hit a wreck in 70 foot. There was no current or wind so we setup on top of the wreck and started catching right away. We had nonstop action with shorts and keepers for 4 hours on that piece. 2 more pieces provided the same hot action. We ended up with 114 seabass and ling plus one keeper tog for the day. Alot of filleting at the dock today. Nice!
 I had Andrew and a bunch of his friends from Romania for a bass trip. We headed north to the rocks after getting bunker and setup on some real estate. We fished there for a while and had alot of bluefish but no bass. After that, I figured we'd bottom fish for 2 or 3 hours until the bass turned on. Hit one wreck in 50 foot and we got a couple keeper seabass and a bunch of fluke off it but only one keeper. One more drop in 50 foot resulted in a dozen ling and a few more seabass plus a silver eel. After 3pm we started heading back south to where all the bunker and after getting some baits off a friend of mine we ran into a large school of busting bass and we got 6 big ones up to 30lbs. Good day out!
   Mark drove in with his buddy Brian over the weekend from Ohio, to do some Shark fishing. However mother nature and blown forecasts put the trip in jeopardy. With today's blown forecast and work conflicts back home it was do or die today. Told them we should go with the sure thing and get on Stripers which they agreed upon. Made bait and had our Striper limit on the first drift, the fish as has been the case this whole week were eating the livies on the surface. Not only was it the most exciting way to catch them, it was also their first Stripers ever, and also their biggest fish to date. Made a couple of drifts and released 4 more and headed back early to the barn to grill up some fresh Striper on the grill for their long drive back to Ohio. On the way home weighed the 2 biggest fish at Hoffman's and they both weighed 40lbs. Great bunch of guys who now want to come back and sample some Canyon fishing "Jersey Style."
   Had the boys from Philly in the house for the first time on Andreas Toy. Duane brought his son Duane Jr, brother Derrick, and buddies Earl with son Raheem and buddy Ron. Started out chunking to start the trip, no current no bites. Went to bottomfish and that sucked, got a call from Capt Paul Bounty Hunter that the fish turned with the tide. Got back to the same #'s I started at and the fishing was unreal. Had surface bites for an hour straight, as soon as a live bunker hit the water there was a bass blowing it up out of the water. Wound up landing 8 fish to close to 40lbs, with many missed fish. At the end of the bite the Bluefish turned on and caught them up to 12lbs. Congrats to the guys who most of them caught their first and biggest Stripers.
  Had repeat customer Gerald with Buddies Mark and Eric. Left the inlet not knowing what to expect with the conditions from yesterday. Once we cleared the inlet had a big swell but bait everywhere. Since boat traffic was low we looked for bunker pods being sprayed. Found the right one, had our limit on the first drift. Once the boats showed up, it was game over. Congrats go out to the guys who not only landed their biggest Stripers and Eric's first they went 6-6 with no lost fish. Once the bite died, and since we had our limit we tried for other species, seabassing sucked because of the swell, and no Fluke to make it worth our time.
 Had repeat customer Mark with the usual suspects of Mike, John, Graham, and Rob. Had our shots early with fish to 30 plus pounds in the deep on the livies, later in the day the bait got closer to the beach and all the guys got a chance to land a fish each. Landed 5 for the grill and lost a couple of others, even under Rob's best efforts to lose them, LOL, my man. Cool fact about the trip after fishing with me for 5 years, the guys each landed their personal best Stripers.
 I had John, his two sons and a couple of his friends out for some bass. We left at noon and headed north and after doing a drift in the deeper water with no bites we headed in closer. As soon as we got into 20 feet I saw a school of bunker getting busted by big bass. We had that school to ourselves but as soon as 5 or 6 private boats came flying thru it was over. We got 4 bass up to 30lbs there and dropped 4 others. My friend Ritchie called and he was into fish off belmar and we got 2 more bass and dropped another 3 there. Good trip with alot of action.
 Had Brandon on board today with brother Nick and buddy Ernie. Made our bait to the south, but made the run north of the inlet to fish. Started a drift in 60ft and landed 3 fish. Offered the guys a chance to run back into the inlet to certify our catch on a scale and get some appetizers and drinks at Wharfside and they jumped at the chance. Went to fisherman's supply and our biggest fish went 40lbs even. Went back out and to the north, missed the short lived bite at Asbury so continued north and found the bass busting on top, easily got our limit on the first drift with multiple hookups. Played with the bass some more and headed back to the barn. Congrats to Brandon and Nick for their personal bests, and Ernie for his first Striper of his fishing career, with a limit to boot.
    Today's charter left at 9am and they wanted blues so I headed north to the rocks where I went yesterday. When I got there the tide wasn't right so we did a few drifts nearby and we boated 23 keeper sea bass up to 3lbs plus alot of shorts. After the tide change we setup and the blues ate everything we had. Dave and his buddies took home 20 gators and released another 20. No stripers today but we did have a few baits come back whole so there around. Nice trip with good friends!
   I had Mike and his boys out for a midday fun/fish trip. We left at 11am and filled the livewell with freshies. From there we headed north and setup on a rocky lump. Started chunkin and got a 22.24lb striper right away. After that the gators were nonstop with tons of big blues up to 15lbs. The guys had a blast with the tunes rockin and we caught some fish to boot!
   Had My Fraternity brother Kevin back again with his crew of, Neil,Dave,Henry,Lee, and new guy Sonny. Plan was to hit a wreck early for Seabass and then Striper fish. After netting the bait, we headed south(bad move) and worked the bunker pods for an hour with no takers till we hit BI inlet. We then hit a wreck and got 40 Seabass and ling for an hour of fishing. Went back to Stripers with no action on the pods, went North after hearing the bite was on. Made the run and caught the tail end of the bite. Landed 3 fish to almost 30lbs, and missed some others before the bite ended. Congrats to Sonny, Dave, and Henry for the first Stripers of their fishing lives, luv popping cherries.
 I had Sascha and his friends out for some bass. We left the dock at 6am and found the bunker right outside the inlet. We snagged a bunch and drifted thru numerous pods without any success. After 2 hours of NE winds and some mal de mar going on they decided to head back in and do some fluking in the river. We got 5 keepers there plus 15 shorts.
  Had My Buddy Brian out with his son Andrew and his friend Eric. Brian being an accomplished outdoorsman and offshore fisherman had never experienced live-lining for Stripers. With his hectic schedule and our charter schedule we tried to fit in a couple of hours this afternoon. Fortunately the fish gave us a couple of shots, first drift we missed some fish until the guys got comfortable. Wound up landing 2 fish close to 30lbs, and left the bite as it started to develop. Congrats to the boys on their first stripers of their lives.
  Had Scott on board with wife Melba and daughters Ella and Charlotte. Goal was to have each family member land a striper, and catch one bigger in size than Charlotte. Mission accomplished with a boat limit to boot on the first drift. Capt Carlos spotted the bunkers getting sprayed along the beach and it was game on. First drift all the family members got in on the action landing fish to 35lbs. Family made the decision to release their fish once everyone landed one, awesome gesture on their part. After the first hour went into release mode, letting half a dozen big girls swim free, bringing the count to 10 fish. Family was a pleasure to have on board, warned them that the bar is set high and all fishing trips aren't like today. Also, on a side note once we were in release mode, Melba brought out the bananas for a snack, amost had a heart attack, but it didn't make a difference.
I had Jack and his two sons out for an afternoon striper trip. We headed north and hit a rockpile for some sea bass. It was slow pickins on keepers so we went looking for the bunkers. We got plenty of bait and started out in deeper water with no results. Came back inshore and found some schools that were getting harassed. Had a runoff right away but that was it :-( Couple keeper sea bass for dinner.
I had Miquel and some of his buddies out for an afternoon trip. We left at 1:30 and headed north to make bait. Bunker were everywhere so we got our fill pretty quick. From there we headed off a little and did a drift in deeper water. We got bit right away and had a big bass on for a little but the hook pulled. After another pass and no bites we headed back into the bunker schools. A couple more drifts thru those schools and nothing so we headed north to the rocks and anchored up on a lump. The blues tore us up there for an hour without any bass so we left. On our way back inshore I had some good marks and we had some bass runoffs there but flubbed them all. I had my guys out an extra 2 hours but all we had were bluefish to show for our efforts :-(
 Today I had Todd and his guys out for their second day. We headed north to Deal and did a little trolling but got no takers. From there we headed south and got into alot of bunker schools that were getting attacked by big bass. We had fish boiling all around the boat and my guys got their limit with fish up to 35 pounds weighed at Hoffmans. Awesome guys and a great catch to boot! We also broke Josh's curse who never caught a striper in 3 previous attempts.
     Had Todd with buddies Dave"Stumpy", Guzzi, and Josh. Netted some fresh bait and made our way out to the grounds, had a nice wind to push us along but within an hour of setting up, the winds died and so did the drift, did manage 1 released blue shark for Todd that was about 7 feet long. Decided to power chum for about 2 miles while trolling live bunker behind the boat, had blues chopping the baits. Once we set up at the next stop and shut off the engines it was game on. While setting up the lines we had a 2 sharks on, one hit a live bluefish and the other bluefish fillet, both Blue sharks at 6 and 7 feet. Landed 3 more on our Striper rods for light tackle action. No mako's today but, the guys got a chance to pop their shark cherries, on a flat calm day.
 Today Tony treated his son Will to his 21st birthday with a seabass trip. Had his buddies Joe, Bucky, Corky and Rich along. Crew decided that today would be a bottom fishing day. Hit a couple of snags with plenty of action but that half inch hurt the keeper ratio. 3-1 shorts to keepers but still wound up with 60 keepers and some cod and ling to add to the catch.
   Had Charles back from Miami for the last 2 days with buddies Larry and Paul. Yesterday was plugging and jigging withlight tackle day and they had tons of Blues to 12lbs but no Bass. Today they fared much better with 5 Bass to 30lbs, and tons of blues to 12lbs again on bunker and lures. Live bunkers and heads on the bottom was the ticket.
 I had Roger and his friends out for some stripers. Left at 6 am and snagged bunker for a while. Ran to the area where Capt Fred and myself have been catching pretty steady. First drift we nail a nice 20 pounder and I'm thinking it's on. We made a few more passes but no takers. We find out that the rocks had some fish going so we fly north but we get there a little late and we miss the hot bite. Tons of big blues but that's it. After that we hit a wreck for a bucket of seabass and ling. Nice day on the water.
   Had Frank out with buddy Sacha. Got our live bait today and looked for some trophies, first fish was a nice 30lb'r. Next couple of drifts nothing, got the call from Capt Richie that there was a good bite going, and left fish to get more. Cardinal rule never to do, on the way there we saw a throw ring with a strobe light which was on, which we called into Coast Guard and eventually delivered to them, no one missing, fortunately. Good karma, got to the bite before it ended and limited out the box for the guys. Rather than catch and release we decided to do some bottom fishing, we landed half a dozen keeper seabass to 2lbs, and another half a dozen 2lb Ling to top out the box.
  Had Mike back out again this year for the second time with buddies Chuck, Rick, Dave, Mat and "Aussie Leo" from down under. Bait was hard to get marking them deep, was able to get enough bait to do some quality drifts. The crew had minimal bites, but made them count. Wound up 5-7 with the biggest fish of the year a 47 incher, that came in over 40lbs.
      Had Chuck with buddies Alia,Kevin, Rob, 2 Bob's. Pea soup fog and 3-5ft swells early on made for a tough chore in finding the bunker, went south and north and couldn't find any bunker on top. Marked the bait deep 15-20 ft down. Did it the hard way and put out the spoons until we found some feeding bass. Once we landed our first a 46 incher on a green and white TGT spoon, we went back up the line and light tackle jigged them. Ava 67's plain on the bottom was the trick. Landed another 5 to 47 inches, clopse to 40lbs. In between the Bass bites we mixed in some bottom fishing and was pleasantly surprised with the ocean ground swell of a fantastic bottom fishing bite. Landing doubleheader keeper seabass and Blackfish. Total tally was 30 keeper seabass, a dozen Blackfish to 5lbs all released.
   Got to the boat today and saw Victory at sea conditions this morning and cancelled today's trip. Mark got on the phone with his buddies and rescheduled for later in the season. Had to do some work down at the boat, so I had Mark meet me at the boat anyway, to try light tackle Stripers. After some searching we found them in the Canal on the drift with the light action. Wound up with 2 to 30 inches. We opened up the big one's belly and it had 2 flounder and some shrimp. Got pictures of the inlet this evening and it looks like tomorrow is a go.
 Capt Carlos had John's family out today, on the way to the grounds one of the family members became violently ill. Carlos turned the boat around and made a bee line back to the dock where he received medical attention. Fortunately, he was fine but that incident ended their day. With an epic bite going on Capt Carlos decided to have some play time for himself. First drift he landed his limit to 30lbs to have some fresh fillets for his family for Memorial Day weekend. Glad I moved the boat back to Point, timing was right on this year.
 Was in Keyport ready to shove when I spotted Rick while he was on the dock. After a few words and a cold one I invited him for a boat ride to Manasquan. On the way we hit one of my Seabass spots which was loaded, one drift and we he landed a half a dozen seabass for Memorial Day bag of seabiscuit fillets. We will now begin sailing out of Garden State Marina in Point Pleasant for the remainder of the year. Tight lines to everyone and be safe on the water.
 Had Gerald with buddies Ted,Hal,Eric and Rick. Started out getting bunker. However the trip ended before it started. Had boat difficulties and never made it Striper fishing. Decided to try and save the day and fished our way home. Wound up with a bunch of Blues to 7lbs. Glad I had a bunch of understanding fun guys on the boat. Have rescheduled them for June and look forward to getting them out. Good pic of Ted Sgt Slaughter taking it out on the bunker.
   Had Chris out today with John, Steve and Dad (Bob). Started out chunking and had a decent pick landing 4 Bass to over 20lbs, when a party boat anchored in our slick and shut the bite down. Picked up and tried to make it happen elsewhere but, all we got was blues. Decided to do some jigging to save the day and get the guys some action and jigged over 20 in short order.
Had Mike and 3 of his friends for a striper charter. We set up in a good area and chunked heavily for 4 hours there. We got some blues and had a big striper come unbottoned right away but that was pretty much it for us there. Had 4 other bass bites but we dropped those too Around noon we left there and headed down the beach to the clam beds. We found a ton of blues on the surface there so we jigged for a while and crushed them but my guys wanted bass so after getting no bites on the beds we headed off to Romer and dropped a bushel there with no bites. Frustrating day on the bass for us.
 Had Shawn with buddies Barry, Mat, and Steve out do some Striper live-lining had slow bite, losing a couple near the boat, and breaking one off. However, we were able to land 2 nice fish to 20lbs.
Had Jack and some of his friends for a afternoon striper trip. Left the dock at noon and got bait. We hit every spot that's been holding fish but we had no bass and only 4 blues One of those frustrating days!!!
   Had a rough day with kids in our annual tournament. Pea soup fog conditions all day, every spot we hit tons of blues to 12lbs, but no Bass. After a long day of fishing took my mate John's advice to try way up the river, where we finally scored landing a 15lb Bass which put us in second place for the Junior Angler standings. My kids were dissapointed in the standings and not being able to be on top after 2 years in a row. But I told them I was proud that they were up at 3am at the first sound of the alarm, worked hard all day chunking and fighting bluefish one after the other. Told them that life is about hard work and working until the last minute and that allowed us to get at least 1 Striper. Thanks to crew my kids Antonio and Danny,and John, Mike, and Jerry for a fun day on the water.
  Had Chris with buddy John. Had a slow pick on the stripers tried chunking in numerous spots until late in the trip when we finally scored some keepers. Caught many blues up to 10lbs, until we landed John's first and biggest striper at 15lbs.
   Had Mike on board today with Dad Charles, Brother Jim, Uncle Rick, and buddies Chuck and Ed. Started out live-lining and had blues to 10lbs. Decided to clam some fish to get some stripers in the box. Set up and it was a mad dog bite with strong south wind and incoming tide. Landed a dozen fish with 7 keepers in an hour, the fish were fresh from the ocean with a nice purple hue and sea lice on them. The fish were so aggresive that they were hitting dead stick rods right under the motors. Unfortunatley 1 of the charters got mal de mar before we could limit out, so Capt Carlos and I decided to get him in to calmer waters. Finished the day live-lining but just landed more blues to 12lbs.
 Had John on board with buddies Vic,Bill, Bob and Fred. Gave them the option to fish the bay with the sporadic reports or run down the beach to try to get in on yesterday's great bite. Well knowing these hardcore fisherman I wasn't surprised when they said lets run down the beach. Made stops at all the usual spots with only bluefish until we got to Spring Lake. The bait wasn't on top but down deep but the marks were still there. Had two Bass on, one came to the surface and smacked the bunker. Only action we had, decided to try back in the bay, on the way we made a stop to see if the Seabass were on the chew, but tough anchoring conditions made that a brief attempt. Made stops all the way to the back of the bay with only bluefish to show for our efforts. Great bunch of guys made the long day a bearable one.
 I had John Liptock and his friends out for some clamming today at Romer. When we got there it was wind against tide so I figured the fish would turn on during the outgoing but they never did. We dumped alot of clam for 4 keeper stripers and 10 shorts. One of the keepers was caught in the back bay on the way home along with four bluefish. The day started out windy and cold but finished out pretty nice. Back at it on Weds.
 Today I had Big Willie and his guys out for a striper trip. They were also entered in the NJ Hunter tournament. Left the dock at 5:30 and hit some thick fog on the way to Romer. Set up and had fish on pretty quick. The bites after that came in spurts but we picked away for 7 keepers up to 14.8lbs. plus we threw back about 8 fish. We then headed back into the bay for an attempt at some bunker chunkin but that was a bust. Water in the back was pretty dirty where even the blues wouldn't bite. The guys were great to fish with and can't wait to see a few of them again in 2 weeks.
  Had Rich with wife Barbara and buddies Maryann and Norman out today. Plan was to troll stretches during the slack and chunk the incoming tide. Went to Great Kills and netted some bait. Went on the troll but no takers, set up the slick with the incoming tide went through at least 30 Blues to 12lbs until we landed our first Striper, unfortunately we had some other nice run-offs that could have been Stripers but they dropped the baits. Same pattern as last year hopefully they turn on in earnest soon. Finished up with more blues and headed back to the barn. Most of our Striper bites came on smaller chunks than heads or livies. The keeper was loaded with mantis shrimp but none of our chunks, or any bunker.
     Saturday I had Dave and his best buddies out for day 2 of their three day bachelor party weekend. We left the dock at 10:30 and headed across the bay to do some clamming. Setup in 10 foot of water and got it going right away. We had steady action for 3 hours but all of the 20 bass caught were just under the mark . From there we headed back across to the flats and just crushed the blues for the remainder of the trip. The guys probably caught and released 40-50 big blues keeping three of the smallest ones for the barbi. The guys were awesome to fish with and the weather held out just enough.
Had my kids Danny, Antonio, and Andrea hammering me for a fishing trip, today was my only shot with Striper charters starting this weekend. My oldest Danny invited his buddy Derrick and sister Samantha. Had a small window this evening, waited for the storm cells to clear, thanks to Garmin's overlay XM weather, and made my way to the grounds. Had an hour of fishing and made the best of it, fish bit on the outgoing tide on clams, light 20lb leader and small circle hooks, water temps 55 degrees. Had a nice bite landing 5 keepers and releasing the same amount. Great start to hopefully a good run for Spring Striper run.
Today I had Wilson and his business associate Gary Harbet for a 6 hour bottom trip. We headed south and fished some local rockpiles in 70 feet. My guys toughed it out and limited with tog up to 5 pounds plus a few extra from my bucket. With the tog, they got a half dozen nice seabass and 2 cod with one being a keeper. It was a real slow bite with the water temps being way too cold for this time of year. Fresh skimmers and a lot of patience was the key today.
 We cancelled our tilefish/wreck trip for today due to the bad offshore forecast so I got 3 of my friends to hop along for a couple of hours of fishing. Besides a southerly swell, it was pretty flat inshore so I figured I'd head a little off to the SE and hit a small snag in 95ft. First drift we hit a nice keeper cod right away so I set up on it. We sat on that piece for 4 hours and we had 6 keeper cod ,3 throwbacks, a lonely seabass, 5 short tog and a handful of ling. The bergalls didn't seem to mind the cold water temps. We breezed thru a bushel of clam in no time! With some warmer water, the fishing will really pick up. Can't Wait!
   Took advantage of today's small weather window. Had Ed"Eamon", Alex"MVP", Chuck, Sam, and My Dad. First wreck was a slow pick, but got a chance to try the Lucanus system which caught Seabass in a way I have never had before. Working the system I was getting bites up to 30 feet up from the wreck. Made a move and the second stop was a brief one, but lock and load fishing. From the time we got there till we left it was drop and reel, Ed was getting tripleheaders off the wreck. Wound up with over 100 Seabass to 5lbs, 3 dozen dinner plate size porgies, ling and Pollack. This was the last trip of the season but what a way to close with great guys today.
  Had Bob on board today with buddies Mario and Steve. Made our way south for some togs. On the way there, I could not believe my eyes but saw a mile long stretch of gannets off of Seaside, had to make a brief drift. In half an hour we landed over 30 bass with mutiple rods bent the whole time. After the detour we set up on the pieces, current was running hard but had a decent pick, landing a ton of shorts and some keepers. Went out deeper but wind was honking and conditions weren't very comfortable, came back inshore and ended with a decent pick. Total tally was 25 tog with almost a boat limit of keepers up to 4lbs.
     Tried to make it way offshore to the Giant Seabass grounds, but mother nature wasn't having it. The weather window was 4 hours max before today's storm so we opted to stop short and try some inshore pieces. First stop we jigged some Cod to 12lbs, but not enough life. Next stop was drop and reel fishing, had cod to 15lbs, seabass to 6lbs, ling and pollack, after we loaded the box, we made the run home to avoid the weather. Great time with a great crew of Capt Carlos, Joe, Bob, Steve and Senior Gamboa.
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