6/29/2010: New Boat Record Striped Bass!

The existing boat record of 42 lbs. was broken by a monster 45 lb. Bass on sunday night! Of all the people who have fished on my boat, this beast was landed by my girlfriend. It was her first trip out on the boat, and her first ever saltwater fish. This fish took a live bunker and nearly spooled the reel on its initial run. I had to move the boat in order to pick up all the line we had lost. 15 minutes later the cow bass was in the boat. I am still in shock that the one striper she has caught in her life is bigger than all the ones i've caught in the past. I'm never going to hear the end of this one lol. Here's some pics.

6/25/2010: Striped Bass, Fluke, and Dolphins

Today was an overall great day on the water. We fished the bunker schools and caught 6 striped bass total in 2 hours. The pool fish was 31 lbs, but we also had another 30 pounder, a 28 pounder, and a few smaller 20 pound fish. When the striper fishing slowed down we headed inshore to do a little fluking. On the way in, a pod of dolphins popped up right in front of us. They were surfacing and jumping everywhere, they even came within 15 feet of the boat. It was an amazing show. As far as the fluke bite went, we got one keeper fluke within 30 mins of fishing and over 20 shorts.

Dolphins diving

Dolphins surfacing

31 lb Striper on live bunker
30 lb. Striper on Live Bunker

Early morning sunrise

6/22/2010: The Bite is On!

Got on the water last night around 4 p.m. and headed straight for the Jersey coast after hearing all the hype about 50 pound bass being caught chasing the bunker schools. The conditions were perfect,a light 5 mph wind with a glassy flat ocean. On the way out to Jersey we had a bunker school pop up right in front of us. We netted bait and started fishing along the edges of the school. About 10 minutes in, the bass showed up crashing through the bunker schools making them fly through the air. Four of our live bunker got slammed on the surface at once but we only managed to hook 3 of them. Fifteen minutes later all three fish were in the boat. We had one 32 pound bass, one 30 pound bass, and one 25 pound bass on the first drift! From here on out the bite slowed down a little so we continued down to jersey and caught a few more big bluefish on live bunker. I only expect these bunker schools to stay here for another week or two so now is the time to come if you want a shot at big bass. The fluke and seabass fishing is also starting to pick up.