CHECK OUT RATES /SPECIALS
PAGE FOR 2008 RATES
Captain. Gene's
Weekly Fishing Report
Posted
every Monday /Tuesday
PLEASE NOTE WE ONLY SUPPLY
YOUR WITH ONE DIAMOND JIG PER BOAT ROD. IF YOU LOSE IT THE CREW WILL GIVE
YOU ANOTHER HOWEVER THERE IS ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF $4.00 EACH . WE
WILL KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY ARE USED AND PAYMENT IS EXPECTED AT END OF
TRIP
VISIT OUR OPEN BOAT INSHORE TUNA &
FALL STRIPED BASS PAGE
Most Recent
Report Posted In Yellow
If
you were a recent customer of the Tampa VII and have some pictures
you would like to see on this page mail them to me or E mail a JPG file
for me to post them
Most recent photos will be posted on this page first than moved
to the Tampa VII Customer's Recent Photos
for the remainder of the season. Hope you enjoy them !
Captain
Gene with N.Y. Jets # 80 W.R. Wayne Chrebet (retired)
NOW BOOKING 2009 CHARTER
Fishing reports to start June 2009
What a wild and wacky few week its been!
Sorry this is my first report for 2008 season. I will try to post every
week.
Our largest fluke of the season (so
far)......up and down bluefishing action....water temps on a rollercoaster as
well.....is this really the end of June ???????!!!!!!
Our first 7+ pound fluke was caught off of
Elberon, one of my favorite hard-bottomed locations for fluke...when the drift
conditions are right, I've been working both the inshore rocks, and the
offshore lumps for some action with a decent keeper-throwback ratio....ya
gotta' understand that every time we've had the wind blowing up from the South
lately, the water temps have been dropping like a bomb! And these sudden
changes in temp do have an effect on the fishing, but luckily its temporary as
the water temps fluctuate muchmat this time of year....Sea Bass fishing has
been ok however with regulations its hard to catch alot of 12
inch sea bass .Some wreck or rockpile we catch just few keepers and throw back
60 to 100 fish around 11 to 11 1/2 inches. The same seem to be
with the fluke at 17 1/2 alot of sub 17 1/2 fluke around but some
nice 5lbs fish .
Bluefishing has been a good
last 2 weeks with a hard day every so often. both day and
nights lately......some trips hit it well; others are a slow pick; and a last
night June 21st was total slaughter in at 8pm caught on both jigs and bait we
were in 3 hrs early ,All barrels full .During the day the fish we jig at the moment, we EARN!. Last few
day bluefish has been very very very very good with the exception of this
past saturday morning . But above is picture of the few 30 lbs plus
Striper that were was jigged ,this past friday ,mix in with great bliuefish
action. .In all the years I have run the Tampa VII. I never seen
Stripers of this size coming over the rail like bluefish .One after another.
its was It was unbelievable and couldn't have happen to nicer guys from
Huntington Mechanical
Of course, its all a day-to-day
deal.
Tight Lines Capt Gene
NOW BOOKING 2009 CHARTER
Petes from PA BIGGEST FLUKE OF
SEASON SO FAR 9 lbs caught 7/31/06
2007 FISHING REPORTS BEL0W
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF
AUGUST 6TH
Folks the fishing for blues
has been so damned good lately that they are flying through the windows of the
Tampa VII!!!!!!!!
Wait.Sorry.
That was a charter member who accidentally knocked one of the windows out, not a
flying bluefish!
(And the morale of that story
is simple, folks: please try hard NOT to destroy the boat when youre fishing on
it!) Paying for a charter, and then paying to replace parts from my boat can
turn a "fun" trip into an expensive nightmare!!!!!!!
Another week goes by; another
week of fine fishing on the Tampa……lets see, blues are doing well both days
and nights. They are biting on bait and an occasional jig, and we have started
running North to catch them off the Mud Bouy and various locations nearby. Sizes
range from 3 pounds up to 14 pounds.
Fluke fishing is pretty damned
good when the conditions work with us….we get a nice mix of fluke with
occasional sea bass thrown in at all the usual spots, and pool fish can range
well over 5 and 6 pounds. I hate to be repetitive, but the guys who fill up
their coolers the fastest are folks who bring out their own mixtures of bait and
lures. Spros and bucktails are also doing their share of damage so it pays to
bring a little of everything to augment the spearing and squid we normally
carry. Book now pleasev remember NJ fluke season closes SEPT 10th
2007
Inshore Mudhole Tuna trips
will start shortly but please be advised that bluefin regs are an ever-changing
problem that can seriously dampen any fishing fanatics enthusiasm. Stay tuned
for more details!
Tight Lines!
Capt Gene
FISHING REPORTS THROUGH JUNE
24TH 2007 
Ok….writing reports like this
can jinx a boat, so I'll be very careful in what I say, but, "GET FISHIN"
WHILE THE GETTIN'S GOOD!!!"
The crew of the Tampa VII and
I have been busy running doubles, and the action has been wearing everyone out,
including yours truly!
If conditions and a drift are
present, fluking is as good as its been in a long, LONG time! That’s saying a
lot, but we've got the charters and numbers to prove it. The past few years we
caught dozens of shorts for every keeper. This year, the inshore rocky bottom
has been holding a nice biomass of larger (17") fluke. The offshore lumps
have even larger fish on them, but smaller numbers of them.
As far as baits are concerned,
I have started telling my charters to make an investment in Spro Jigs…various
sizes..light line can throw a 2 oz jig, heavier rods should deal with 3+ oz.
jigs…chartreuse or glow colors….use gulp minnows, sandworms, or squid as
teasers off the jig. The mates will gladly show the entire charter how to work
these baits, and while expensive to buy and use (figure losing at least 2-3 on
rocky bottoms), the results can be fantastic! Ive also had charters do very well
by using frozen mullet and live killies……anything Ive just mentioned in
addition to the spearing and squid we supply will boost your charters success.
Blue fishing has come on
strong the past 10 days…..a few slower trips if conditions are tough, but all
in all, solid….quality…..arm-tiring fishing for blues from 5-12 pounds is
the norm now. Grab this while you can get it.
1 Quick but important note
regarding fish sizing:
This past weekend the TAMPA
VII was boarded by the Fish and Game gentlemen who wanted to check every, single
fish that was caught by our charter. This was handled in a professional, and
timely manner, and there were no violations found out of the 40+ keeper fluke we
dispensed to our charter.
Having said that, I just want
to remind everyone that fluke need to be 17" to be legally kept, and while
the crew on the Tampa VII does its best to handle every single fish caught so
that under-sized fish can be safely tossed back to their watery homes where they
will more than likely die if they were gut-hooked, occasionally a fish will slip
our grasps. Please remember that if the Captain says you can keep a 17"
fluke, its his call and belief that the fish was 100% legal. If you choose to
throw one in your personal cooler that the captain or crew doesn’t
measure…and you are caught by Fish and Game, Im not going to be held
responsible for the fine you receive. (And unlike a parking fee, you don’t
want to know how expensive these fines can be!!!!)
If youre looking for a Fall
inshore tuna trip…or want to get in on this hot action, drop me a line and
I'll see if we can fit you in. We do have a few cancellations and openings
sprinkled here and there, and the Fall still has some good dates available, but
they fill in fast.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF
MAY 27TH
Hi Guys!
Welcome to another year of
lookin' and hookin'' on the TAMPA VII! Its been a long, crazy Winter, but
the Fishing Gods have smiled on us early and our season has gotten off to a
decent start!
Blues on jigs have been pretty
much up and down the beach, and they have weighed anywhere from 2-8 pounds with
a few bruisers mixed in for good measure. Striped Bass have kept our mates busy
measuring and filleting as Ive used a couple of methods to nail some keepers.
This past Tuesday we never even needed a piece of bait to entice 20 keepers from
15 to 25 pounds, as the fish seemed happy to inhale jigs.
Schools of bait are simply
massed all over the ocean…..its a good sign of days to come.
As far as bottom fishing is
concerned, we havent broached those trips yet, so all I can tell you is what Im
hearing from the other boats…there was certainly water discoloration North and
close to the beach which might be impacting the catch a bit….bottom temps are
still chilly. Divers who are hitting the nearshore wrecks say they see fish
present, but they are lethargic and not moving much out of their lairs. A few
degrees of upward movement should inspire these fish to get busy, and as we
start heading out to ply the hills and snags for fluke and sea bass I'll keep
everyone updated with the charter reports.
If you are looking to book the
boat, please call me ASAP for available dates as the season is filling up fast!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report For Week of Sept. 3rd
First off, everyone...I'd like to take a moment to Thank everyone for a great
Summer Season....we had wonderful charters this past Summer...lots of
fish.....very few bad/poor trips where we couldn't find them or they wouldn't
cooperate.....and the crew and I certainly look forward to finishing up our Fall
season with some repeat customers, and what hopefully will be the best action of
the year!
I'd also like to take a moment to remind everyone how thankful the crew and I
are to live in a great country where we have the freedom and ability to partake
in the things we love and enjoy most; things as simple as spending a day on the
ocean....wetting a line....smiling and sharing a laugh with our families and
friends... maybe reeling in that "big one"....or losing a moments
composure as it gets away.
I remember a September's Day, not too many years ago.....when a charter we had
saw large smoke trails filling the Northern horizon as we fished for Blues.....I
remember the shock...the absolute horror that filled my heart as I talked to the
other Captains, trying desperately to find out exactly what had happened as it
became clear that a catrastrophe had taken place.....I remember how
suddenly....how swiftly....the actual act of fishing became a second thought.
The sounds of laughter became the sounds of silence and concern. The thought of
reeling in that big one was replaced by the thoughts our crew...and charter..and
I shared for concern of our loved ones.
I can never forget that day...that morning................that moment when we
heard the news, and we knew beyond a doubt that our
world...our lives would be changed forever.
When a tragedy takes place of the magnitude that September 11th truly was, there
can only be one tragedy worse than the original: when we forget how important
our families....our friends....our FREEDOM is to us all!
The Crew, their families, and I will never forget that day......I hope all our
charters feel the same!
Post Labor day fishing has started...the first major storm of the season came
our way and knocked us out of business for a bit, but it certainly striired up
the ocean and reminded the various fish we chase after that its time to
"get the feed bags on"......Blues have turned on again, day and
night....a wide variety of sizes...some days its all large; others it a mix of
5-12 pound fish...and the first schools of false albies have started feeding on
forage fish...we caught 2 this past weekend while bottom fishing and chunk
fishing. Saturday's charter saw a true mixed bag of species: porgies, blues,
fluke, sea bass, croakers and weak
fish......Sunday, Scott Mack and his group saw great bluefish action up North
with all the 5-10 pound fish they wanted.
Stripers should start sneaking in shortly.....tuna on the mudhole
grounds......and its getting close to your last chance to call me to
sneak in a trip this season. Why miss out on the fun?????!!!!!! My last charter
will be Oct 31st I will then be heading to my winter home in FLorida
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 1ST
to AUGUST 9th 2006
We SURVIVED Hell week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To say it was hot on the deck of the Tampa during the heat wave is an
understatement.....not only did we have our first heat exhaustion client, but we
also had some dynamite fluke and bluefish action that kept things heated up as
well!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you check our picture pages you'll see another near-doormat that came
up early in the week....and all I can say is this: if the
conditions work with us.....if the charter is willing to invest in some spro
jigs or sand eels/killies to suppliment out squid and
spearing.....I make NO promises, but the fish are there this year.....close to
the beach its lots of action with one short, after
another short as we weed through dozens to find some keepers.....off the beach
we catch far fewer fish but the keeper ratio can be superb......so if all the
planets are in allignment and we have some folks who know their stuff, this is
the year to give catching that doormat a shot....its CERTAINLY the year to try
it when we consider the latest info regarding NEXT year's potential....
How's THIS sound for a fluke season in 2007:
1. Open season from June 15th till July 10th.............
2. 2 fish limit per person
3. 18.5 inch size limit on the fish
Think that sounds a bit extreme??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well its EXACTLY what is being considered by the NMFS as a way of
"allowing" us to catch a few fluke next year.......so
folks.....CONTACT YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tell
him or her you've mad as hell and you wont take it anymore!!!!!! A total lack of
laws and rules can create anarchy....it can create total chaos. It can create an
outlaw fishery the likes of which we have never seen before!!!! Now I'm
not suggesting we abandon the laws...the "rules"...but I AM suggesting
that unless we receive a "fair" allotment that gives the fish
protection to breed and perpetuate stocks, AS WELL AS gives the recreational
fisherman an opportunity to catch DINNER for
his/her family, folks.......we are loking at the end of a
legal...."legitimate" fishery. And thats no fish
story................................................
Sorry for my preaching.......
OK......Blues are much more consistant both day and night.....some days its
jigs...some days bait...I'm leaning more towards bait now but its a day to day
deal.......the size of the fish can be 4 pounds one minute...and 14 pounds the
next.....so lets call it a "mix"...and please remember that if we do
use jigs and we start hammering 16 pounders, the charter is responsible for all
jigs after the initial set up......
Call me for any openings and to book your Fall trips!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT JULY 22ND TO
AUG 1ST 2006
Yeah, yeah...I know...Ive been behind
in my reports....no excuses but I'm sailing now twice a day most days, and I
have a lot to report.
First the bad news:
I recorded my first donut last Friday evening with T Storms on this blues
trip we then switched to fluke fishing instead. Saturday night was slow in the
mudhole .Then Sunday afternoon trip for a 30th surprise party its was great blue
fishhng . Go figure , and pretty much most of the fleet did as well that
night......for this time of the year thats not 100% unusual, but its not the
norm based on the last few years.
Now for the good news: 2 days later, while moving the Tampa in between
fluking spots for Mick's bachelor party, we came across working birds and some
of the most intense surface action Ive seen from Blues in quite some time, and
again, its NOT the norm for this time of the year! It looked like October action
at its finest, and the fish were ALL in the 12-16 pound class...in fact, the
vast majority were 14-16 pound fish that simply DESTROYED jigs! I'm used to some
4-8 pound fish that we can swing over the rails with our 40 pound test
conventional rods, but these bruisers had to be gaffed or they made childs play
of a couple hundred dollars worth of diamond jigs!!!! Kudos to Brian for the
winning fluke 5 1/2 LBS that day, and my hats are off to everyone on the charter
who didnt give up on that insanity!!!!!!!!
PLEASE NOTE WE ONLY SUPPLY YOUR WITH
ONE DIAMOND JIG IF YOU LOSE IT THE CREW WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER
HOWEVER EACH ADDITIONAL IS EXTRA $3.00 EACH . WE WILL KEEP TRACK OF
HOW MANY ARE USED AND PAYMENT IS EXPECTED AT END OF TRIP
The day before we had out GROUP from Pennsylvania for what was
possibly the best fluking and sea bassing Ive seen in quite
some time! Not huge numbers like the weeks before, but the keeper ratio was
superb, and the pool fish FLUKE were in the 6-6.5 pound range....and we had
quite a few 3-4-5 pound fish as well......same thing with the sea bass......we
didnt fill up any 80 quart coolers with sea bass, but we sure kept our mates
busy cleaning sea bass that were still filled with roe..............a week shy
of August....which again, is not really the
"norm" for this time of the season...it could mean a lot of things (in
addition to the later than usual spawn)...could mean that these fish
stayed out in the deeper waters to avoid the dogfish that take over the inshore
snags each summer now....could mean much colder than usual
bottom temps...could mean a switch in spawning patterns....Hell I give up! All I
know is blues have had good days and bad days.....fluking has
been a pleasant surprise this season...and sea bass have suddenly made a couple
trips more interesting than usual, So far biggest fluke caught this season is
9lbs caught on jighead off a rockpile in 35ft of water. So who knows what
lies in store for us in August: Maybe fluke over 13lbs mahi-mahi and tuna right
off the beach like a few years back!!!!!!!!!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
"The Fluke Machine"
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JULY 20 TH
Ok kiddies! Its the heart of the Summer...and the heart of the
season....and action is heating up on all the fronts.....
This past week we found blues that still had their roe in them so I cant say I'm
100% positive they finished their breeding cycle....but action
has been fairly consistent, day or night...some days we find them right outside
the inlet on jigs...some days we sail South...some days its a
bit North...some days we head off the beach and bait them up on the edge of the
Mud.....it might take a bit of effort but they are there! Blues been slow
to slow pick 7/25 so been leaning toward fluke fishing
Fluking has still been pretty steady if you want to have a lot of fun catching
14-16 inch fish....on one trip this past weekend my mates did
everything they could possibly do to stretch the damned size: close one eye and
pretend the ruler said "17".....use the metric system.....put 2
fish together and swear it was one fish....it became so ridiculous that out of
30-40 fish on a drift, a GOOD drift was 2 legal fish.....it just
didnt matter! In tight to the beach if we have the right conditions I can
place the boat on a drift and watch every single rod on the boat
start dancing for 30 minutes straight.....no joke! The biomass of fish there is
insane, and I kick myself in the ass thinking that when I was a
bit younger they were ALL keepers! If I head off the beach a-ways, out to
the deeper hills and snags, the keeper ratio improves quite a bit but
the numbers caught arent as dramatic because thats where all the boats are
working these days.......
And now the rumor mill (its not really a rumor..its reality) is that our
recreational quota will be CUT IN HALF for 2007 and beyond, which will
pretty much put an effective end to fluke charters unless we fight now for our
rights! I am urging each and every one of my readers...my loyal
charters..to call, email, or just write to your Congress rep and Senator and
tell them how much this fishery means to you...and how upset you
are that next year might see a 2 month season...or very small bag limits and
excessive size limits.....cutting a quota in HALF does NOT mean we
will go from 16.5 to 17 inches alone!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not saying we have to keep every damned fish....hell I'd be happy if I could
get a nice bag of filets for every person in a charter without
wasting 3-400 shorts!!!!! We arent talking rocket science here folks!!!!! Lets
all work to establish a fair....REASONABLE....size and
bag limit so that everyone has at the VERY LEAST, an opportunity to take some
filets home for dinner........
If even half of my charters are willing to spend 10 minutes writing to their
representatives, then by my figures at least a couple thousand
letters will make their way across some Senators desk and its time for the
charter industry to flex our last bit of muscle to save our fishery
from the knucklehead politicians who want to ruin it!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for Week of July 10th
2006
Well after a couple of Summers where it didnt seem like the bluefish wanted to
take a mid-season siesta to spawn, they finally took one this
past week.......the blues that had been loaded with eggs are now leaner and
meaner than ever before, but as has been the norm with this situation in years
past, finally decided to get a bit pickier and finicky
this week......we still manage to put a catch together but it requires a lot
more effort than the usual "anchor...chum...hookup"....in a few days
once the blues finish the spawn cycle , they'll get back to the routine of
feeding, feeding, and feeding more!
Fluking has held up better than
expected with shorts still being the
majority of the catch most days, but the keeper ratio much better when we work
the hills and snags off the beach in deeper water. The dog fish that were our
bane last month in the depths past 35 feet are now mostly gone, and we seem to
catch some much nicer 3-4-5 pound fish on every trip....still not limit numbers,
so dont expect that, but on days when the drift doesnt cooperate, we have been
able to nail some nicer seabass for the first time in quite some time as well! A
4.5 pounder was the highlight of one of our trips this past weekend......
On an "unusual" note, there are still some behemoth Stripers lurking
near the beach and if you need any evidence of that, just ask our most recent
fluke charter who happened to see a 40+ pound striper steal a quick lunch on a
short fluke that was about to be boated.....for a striper to grab onto a 14 inch
fluke just at the surface....well...........lets just say it came as quite a
shock to theguy holding the pole!!!!!!!!! LOL!
Give me a call to book your Fall trips!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING
REPORT FOR WEEK OF JUNE 25-JULY 4TH 2006
The Duke of Fluke made his mark upon arrival this past week as he used a
super, DUPER, top secret bait to catch about......oh hell! I give up as far as
how many fluke he caught this past Monday!!!!!! Honest-to-God if I said he
caught 40-50 fluke it would not be stretching it a whole lot....I just know he
caught a hell of a lot more than pretty much anyone else Ive had on the boat
so far.....while the overwhelming majority of them are shorts, we did manage a
6.75 mini doormat on that same trip, and it was also caught on the same
top-secret bait......Congrats to the Dukester for kicking major fluke butt!
And that in a nutshell is the total sum of our week so far: if theres a drift,
its not impossible for 20 people to catch 3-4-500 fluke on a charter....lots
of fun...TONS of fun.....but the problem is the keeper ratio which some days
can be fair (1 in 10)....or downright awful (1 in 30)....you do the math to
see how many throwbacks we deal with.....we have caught some legit 6 and 7
pounders though, and we do see some nicer 3 and 4 pound fish pretty much every
trip, but thems few and far between!!!! And if there isnt a drift?????? Grab
the sunscreen and enjoy the skates!
Blues are..........there..........we can catch them........on the 4th of July
trip for Tom and his group a quick stop resulted in about a dozen 10-14 pound
blues, but they were not hitting with abandon, or constantly, and a switch to
fluking was slow as well with a non-existant drift....once the waters
warm up a bit the dogfish that are causing havoc will take off for colder
waters and leave our blues to us...right now we have to fight through them to
get to the bluefish and Im not used to saying that this far into the season.
Forget the seabass............its a shame but they just dont show up the way
they used to and with all these doggies to contend with its a fair bet that
they get eaten if they venture too far off the wrecks and snags before they
can make it to our hooks!
Call us now to book your prime dates for later this season!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT
FOR WEEK OF JUNE 22TH 2006
I thought Id
never get to say this and I have no idea how long I can continue to say it but
the best action along the beach right now is for fluke, fluke, FLUKE! June
30th Joe karawlcik from Morgantown PA caught 7.25 lbs fluke .2nd place
was 4 .5 lbs.
Now before
anyone gets excited, lets look at the keeper to throwback ratio, which at the
moment is about 1-20... that's 1 keeper for every 20 you catch.....but heres
the caveat: its not at all impossible to catch 40 fish on a trip at the
moment.....high hooks this past weekend were definitely in the mid 20's to
high 30's....last week we even had one guy catch 50+ fluke!!!!!!! Chris Klemm
and the folks at PSE&G had a fun time on Sunday in that terrible, terrible
weather that ended up being not too bad at all.....everyone seemed to go home
with a few filets and I didn't here one person complain about a lack of
action!!!!
Lots of
fun................lots of fish...lots of fish returned to the ocean!!!!!!
And on the
bluefish front, we can jig them when we can find them along the beach...along
with a few stripers if the schools of bunker show up some days...but the bait
scene for blues is still loaded with dogfish of every shape and size
imaginable!!! You'll catch blues but get used to a bunch of doggies at the
same time!!!! Once the water warms a bit the doggies should move off and we'll
have the solid bluefish action we enjoy every year...of course, you have to
remember that dogfish are an endangered species.....there are only a few
thousand left on the planet...of course...every single one of them lives in
the waters off New Jersey!!!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
First Fishing Report of 2006
(Late May/Early June)
Welcome to the wonderful world of saltwater fishing on the Tampa VII, and it's
starting out rather nicely for 2006!!!!!!!
There was an early shot of stripers along the beach that we jigged up along
with blues of varying sizes, but lately its been mostly blues on the move up
and down the beach.....and I'm going to keep my fingers crossed here but....BUTTTTTT...I'm
encouraged by the early showings of sea bass and fluke along the bottom with a
bit less dogfish than the past 2 years........and again, I'm not going to blow
smoke here by saying the fluke are all gigantic and limits are the norm, but
theres a decent showing of biomass near the beach....lots of shorts.....enough
keepers to keep it interesting....and we'll start working the deeper hills and
drop-offs this coming week so stay tuned and I'll let everyone know how it
looks at that point......sea bass are also in the mix and I have to admit that
it was so bad the past 2 seasons a little action is more encouraging than
not......its breeding time for these tasty critters and the larger fish will
be on the wrecks and snags right about now.......
I have some prime dates available in the coming weeks/months, so if youre
looking for dates, make sure you contact me ASAP to lock them up with a
deposit.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
2005 FISHING REPORTS BELOW
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF
AUGUST 7TH
And what a wacky time its been!
The blues that hit with so much
vengeance all season long became....."picky" for a bit.....like they
decided they didnt like our chum and bait all of a sudden.....most charters
required a few moves to find a pick of fish for the groups but hopefully this
was just a short-term blip on the radar screen and we'll be back to non-stop
action any day now.....
Fluking was strictly zig and
zag last week, and weekend.....here's an example that illustrates what I mean:
Saturday's charter we start off
for blues up North and after seeing little/no action whatsoever we decide to
switch to fluke.....we ended up with 2 legitimate 7 pounders that day but not
a whole lot of action on the usual haunts, oceanside....we get back to the
dock to find that the fluke fleet had discovered a large mass of fish 18 miles
south of the inlet If we had started out fluking instead of blue fishing
we would have nailed 'em!
So Sundays charter with Penn
Reels from Philly (yes, THAT Penn reels!) would be a no-brainer.....we load up
with every bait imaginable......we head south to find the fluke (and
yes...every charter/party boat in creation was there)....and we
caught...................well............................one guy had about a
dozen skates on a Spro jig......I think we managed a few keepers and some
shorts......but it was like a switch had been thrown and the action was
dead......now...for reasons why this happened (because the fish were still
there....the gentleman with the spro jig was actually snagging short fluke
with regularity through their fins and back)...we had a strong South wind that
is the DEATH of bottom fishing....I mean, surface temps dropped almost 8-10
degrees in one day due to the wind out of the South and the swells of the
offshore storm Irene.......
And that, friends, is why its
called "fishing" and not "catching", and why I stress
every week that fluke fishing is all about conditions........when the
conditions are "right" the action is there...when the conditions are
"wrong", its strictly hit and miss on the ocean, and downright
embarrassing for a charter Captain who puts the charter where the fish are,
but cant make them swallow a hook.
Some slightly better news on
the BluefinTuna front for our Fall trips....the regs changed TODAY and we are
now allowed to keep 3 tuna per trip for the entire month of September (2 from
27-47 inches; 1 over 47 inches)....hopefully the masters of the regulations
will ease this up yet again so we can share in this Fall fishery which
while nowhere as productive as it once was years ago, can be pretty darned
interesting as some of our charters these past 2 years can attest to!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF
AUGUST 1- 7TH
For so many weeks now catching
blues has almost been like fishing on auto pilot:
Leave dock
Bait lines
Catch blues
Come home early 'cause arms are
tired
Wake up early and repeat
process next day
That I'm afraid to say that
this past week saw the first "dent" in the action for both days and
nights....it was actually slow going a few trips and we had to work like
hounds to scratch out decent catches.....this happened around this same time
last year and it only lasted for about a week so I'm hopeful that its just a
repeat and nothing more...in fact I'd bet money on it!
The crew from Susan's Catering
(which included Susan of course!) had one of the better-timed trips this past
Sunday...looked over mud hole then started out at 17 fathoms but only managed
a few blues to hit our baits when I decided to lift anchor and head a few
miles closer to the beach for what proved to be a well-timed
decision......instant action and several multiple hook ups resulted in a nice
catch for the entire crew including Jimbo...alas, only Megan struck
out.....and this on a day when the entire fleet was struggling to put fish in
the coolers! Afternoon trips have been a 1 -2 pick then wait but we did manage
to fill one barrel up each trip .It just took few hours instead of
filling up in just 1 or 2 hrs .
Fluking is still a "pray
for good conditions" deal and please dont believe the reports of non-stop
limits from the party boat fleet......I'd love to see these "limits"
in person when I know its a struggle to get past short fluke and
skates.....we do catch fishalot of shorts but like I said...pray for a
good drift!
On another front, its been
encouraging to see bluefin tuna so close to the beach flashing through our
bluefish slicks....now if only we can convince the NMFS to open up the limits
for the Fall fishery so we can bring back some nice tuna loins!!!!!!Also been
few big mako sharks in the slick everyday which also slow bluefishing down
since this is what mako's eat for dinner. The water 10 to 15 miles out
is nic blue canyon water and we have caught few mahi mahi.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK
OF JULY 25TH
Blues all over the
ocean....
Fluke all over the ocean (when
they feel like cooperating).....
An occasional sea bass mixed
in.......
And these are supposed to be
the DOG DAYS of summer!
It was hot as hades early in
the week but the air temps didnt bother the blues who hit anything thrown at
them....we even had a nice shot of 10-12 pound blues just off the beach who
were hitting jigs (which almost NEVER happens this time of year)...and I do
mean JUST OFF THE BEACH!!!!!!
Fluking was either damned great
or damned not-so-great! Perfect example: this past weekend we had a great
group out on Saturday who had a nice day weather-wise, but absolutely NO drift
North of the inlet! No drift = no fluke, right?????!!!! Ummmm...no....we
had folks on the boat with 4-6 keepers...almost everyone had at least one nice
keeper...but what amazed me was the sheer quality of the biomass we caught
that day: all nice 20-22 inch fish....we barely had to measure the keepers
they were all so obvious...and pool fish while not being huge by any measure
all were in the upper 3 pound/ low 4 pound range.....it was a great feeling to
see the mates checking out SO many fish for the pool winner.....Spro jigs or
fluke bombs seemed to have the advantage that day in the very slight drift,
and some of the folks from the charter like Rich and Joe (who obviously knew
their stuff and their results proved it) agreed with me that with a
better drift we could have nailed a lot of limits.
Now move forward to
Sunday....one day later....another great charter group...and MUCH better
conditions than the day prior.....better drift.....excellent bait......and the
fluke either vanished or developed lockjaw, only to be replaced by the
face-huggers of the sea, the ever-present skates! We did have a couple nice
fish but nothing I'd call "good fishing" type of fish.......for
the second straight day Spros and Fluke grenades kept the action busy so
a word of advice to anyone chartering for fluke in the coming weeks: pick up a
few jigs and ya never know when it'll make a difference for your group!
Final note: the dockside areas
at the marina are LOADED with snapper blues...perfect size for fluking.....get
down to the boat at least an hour before we sail...bring an ultralight set up
with a size 12 trout hook on it and one small splitshot...grab a 5 gallon
bucket and just a few small scraps of squid...catch a half dozen or so
snappers for bait and make sure you're in the pool on the boat because you'll
definitely be in the running for a big fish!!!!!!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEKS OF
JUNE21ST THROUGH JULY 10TH
Sorry for lumping so many
trips together but its been hectic as all heck lately and the season has
definitely kicked into HIGH gear!
I'm updating the website with
some photos of the striped bass fishing just before the 4th of July...the
jigging was fantastic on some trips! 40 inch bass were inhaling jigs near the
bottom as we drifted North of the inlet chasing after schools of blues!
Several charters scored well with both blues and stripers simultaneously!
In adition to the jigging which
has slowed down considerably in these past few weeks, the blues have turned
onto bait both day and night off the beach a ways! When the weather doesnt get
us banged up its been no problem catching all the blues a charter wants from
dawn to dusk and then some!
And for those of you wondering
when the fluke fishing would finally get into gear, just as the charters we
took out this past weekend who fished with us right after the remains of
Tropical Storm Cindy wandered through our waters....Saturday saw a lot of
shorts and skates mixed into the bag of keepers, but Sunday saw our best
action of the season to date! The pool fish was 6 pounds, but what I found
simply fantastic was the keeper/throwback ratio, and the surprisingly small
number of fish that actually had to be measured from the 50 + keepers our
group hadI I'm talking 75% of the keepers were all 19 + inches long, and
it seemed like every drift netted 3-4-5 pound fish with consistency. This was
tough fishing
though because we went through a TON of rigs as we worked the
rough bottom to our North.
So my message to everyone this
week is simple: if youve been holding off booking a trip...waiting for word of
good fishing..NOW'S the time to move! Call me or email me today and we'll see
what open dates I have for the remainder of the season.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JUNE 6TH to
JUNE 14TH
After a great start to our summer season,
weirdness, strangeness, and lack-of-fishness sprang up along our shores this
past week......
Water temps that had been hitting the low
60's just a week earlier ( still a bit cool for this time of year) plummeted
down to the low 50's on the surface (and...I'm not making this up...there were
brief surface recordings of 49-50 degrees in one rather cool patch off the
beach) and that means the bottom temps HAD to be at least 5 degrees cooler
than the surface temps!
What this spelled for the entire fleet was a
week of tough fishing on ALL the fronts that extended into the weekend!
Now...those of you reading all about the
"wonderful" fluke fishing in newspapers have got to wonder who's
zooming who in world here! In order to find the warmest water temps we
have to stay very close to the beach in shallow waters (these waters warm up
faster than the deeper, colder offshore lump areas)...naturally in the
shallows, we catch a lot of smaller fluke and skates.....so after hours of
drifting in these shallows and picking up 20-30 short fluke with a keeper of
ratio of exactly ONE in TWENTY, well..all I can say is please be careful about
what you read and who you believe and I'm going to leave it at that!
Maybe with a shift in the wind and some
new, warmer currents coming our way the ocean fluking will improve, but.......BUTTTTTTTTTT....now
for the bad news: the offshore lumps have our unfriendly fiends from last year
inhabiting them in large numbers: DOG FISH!!!! Its gonna' be tough until they
decide to move off the beach or NOT eat our baits, one or the other......
Thankfully, our old reliables, the
ever-present bluefish are around in good numbers for folks who dont mind
working a jig.....this fishing was unstoppable a week earlier, but this
past week saw some smaller fish hitting the jigs and the numbers down a
bit ( to put it mildly) from last week....I had to run the boat 15 miles or so
from the inlet to chase after schools of working birds (unlike the previous
week where we could stop almost right outside the inlet), and while
stripers are still present under the blues, even that action slowed down a
bit........
Some more great charters this past weekend with
MAXIMUM fun quotients for everyone on deck, and all I'll say about the
upcoming weeks are, if you have any doubt we wont search near and far to find
some fish for our charters, just ask the folks from Saturday and
Sundays's groups! We burned a ton of diesel but we got the job done!
If anyone is looking for some prime dates,
reach out to me now and lets see what we have available for upcoming months!!!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JUNE 1ST
And did
we EVER start the season off with a BANG!!!!!
First trip of the new season and we just
about clear the inlet into swarms of diving birds, working over bait and
game fish!!!! Drop a jig down...crank it up..... and we were into blues
and stripers immediately.....the passengers boated a 37 inch striper on one
of our first few drifts, and the tally for blues was better than 50 in just
a matter of an hour or so without much effort involved....while those fish
stopped eating around 10:00am, it was a matter of searching out some new
schools for action, but WHAT A WAY to start off the season!
Saturday's trip was the exact opposite: very
few fish until around lunchtime when we ran further up North into
school after school of rampaging blues.......
Sunday's trip was basically a repeat of
Saturday except we started up North right from the get-go! Ray and his
charter from Har-Lee Rods in Jersey City basically had all the action
with 1-5 pound blues they could ask for......it was a shame we couldnt nail
any Stripers because as one would expect from this charter, the amount of
first rate equipment on the boat was well beyond my ability to fathom! When
Ray told me they would only need a few boat rods for that trip I was leery,
but Man was I wrong! Some of the best damned rods Ive seen from a charter in
a long time, and one of the nicest groups of guys anyone could ask for!
In fact all our charters from this past weekend were just wonderful people
to work for, and a hell of a lot of fun to boot! (Except for the casting
lessons required on Sunday!)
; ) Just
kidding..........
Lots of action on jigs...I expect Stripers
to improve as the waters warm just a tad...and sea bass are around for
sinker bouncers....the water temps are still on the cold side for fluking in
the ocean, but with some warmer temps, I expect that action to improve as
well...........
IMPORTANT NOTE:
We just had a cancellation of a great
weekend date...........June 26th is now open, so if any of you folks are
looking for a Sunday and have been told by me that we are booked up until
the Fall, give me a quick ring or email and lets get out for some of this
action!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Happy New Year
GREETINGS TO ALL OUR TAMPA
VII FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!!
Its only January 9th but
I've already got cabin fever, so I figure its that time of the year already to
give you my annual 2004 recap and to hand out some info for the upcoming 2005
season...
2004 YEAR IN REVIEW
And what a long, strange
trip it was....
Stripers in great quantities
and in EXCELLENT size graced our late Spring and early Summer months to set
some Tampa VII records.....and believe me: it made up for what turned out to
be a terrible seabass and flounder period.....we kept waiting for the
flounder run to develop in our rivers and northern bays, but with only a few
exceptions, flounder fishing was poor at best......the law enforcement boys
have basically shut down any Tog fishery with insane "1-fish" limits
in the shoulder season of the summer....and with the exception of one early
June wreck trip where sea bass cooperated, sea bass was hit-and-miss at best
due to.......????????????? I dunno'. Colder bottom waters keeping the
migratory spawn off? Dogfish rampaging through our inshore waters in record
numbers like Ive never seen before???? The biomass being at a
"low" cycle? Overfishing? I think the only correct and honest answer
is: ALL OF THE ABOVE.
With fluke fishing being so
damned inconsistent these past few years, more and more boats have fallen
back on the old reliable seabass fishery to make for nice mixed-bag catches.
Thats placed the biomass in a depression.....the inshore waters held stripers
well into late June due to cooler bottom temps...the cooler bottom temps kept
the dogfish hanging close to the beach like Ive never seen before...add it all
up and I think it makes the most sense. There were days
when.....................My God.........no matter where I moved, dogfish
followed us like a plague...charters had to have nightmares because thats all
I had on many nights after fruitless days of fending off the non-stop-feeding
machines.....Seabass was worst season in years. Blues was great as you all
know.
THANK GOD for the
finest.........easiest....most consistent bluefishing Ive ever encountered
over a 4 month period! It seemed like they never spawned...or at least, never
turned off the feed to spawn! And we never had to deviate on 90% of the trips
from one location up North....just get out early enough to get a prime
spot......anchor...chum...catch fish.......we went into catch-and-release mode
on most trips by 11:00am, and thats not an exageration! Think of it: enough
fish to keep the mates fileting for 90 minutes while letting fish go, all by
11:00am!
Day or night it didnt
matter...the action held up for pretty much the entire summer.....
Fluke fishing can always be
summed up these days in one word: inconsistent.
We caught several large fish
last year....and we did have a few trips where multiple 5-6-7 pounders hit the
scale....but again....the truth is if we fished in close to the beach, we
seemed to catch nothing but shorts ..if we moved off the beach to
the deeper waters, we caught more keepers but had to deal with dogfish in the
colder waters....all in all it was tough going.
The Fall season brought another
fast inshore tuna run that didnt seem to last as long as 2003, but had some
nice catches for a few weeks.....we saw large masses of bluefin but getting
them to hit on very light flourocarbon made for tough days of missed fish...on
the bright side, the mid-offshore tuna fishing was fantastic, and for 2005 if
that same season develops, consider discussing a longer run with me to boat some
monsters!
FOR 2005
WE will still be at Belmar,
but I'm not sure of our slip assignment at the dock because of pending
construction in the offseason. As soon as I know, I'll post it here on
the site.
A bit of bad news is the
ever-rising cost of fuel at the dock, and, unfortunately, I will have to pass
along a slight increase in my charter rates to help offset prices that
even I couldnt anticipate and plan for...... I can't believe that diesel cost
more then gas. We are looking at over $2.00 per gallon. I thought $1/50 was
expensive WOW I was wrong/
Hopefully the new year will
bring us some good weather......some great fishing...and some wonderful
memories in the making!
Reach out and book your
prime dates with me as quickly as possible and lets get this cold winter
behind us!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST AND THOUGHTS ON COMING WEEKS
How 'bout them weekly reports I've
been posting up here lately!!!!!!!
It means one of several things things:
A. I've been too damned busy catching bluefish day and
night to find the time to write about it
B. My computer no longer automatically types out fishing
reports whenever I ask it to
C. I'm so caught up in my new video game, "Pornstars I
wish I dated" that writing fishing reports is no longer a priority
D. Spending so much time in the recording studio lately
putting the finishing touches on my latest CD, "Charter Boat Blues"
E. All of the above (but really just A.)
The life of a charter boat Captain.......I guess its
safe to say that its no secret that this past summer has to rank as one of, if
not THE all-time most consistant bluefish summers in years!
Sure, theres always going to be an "off" trip where
large numbers didnt come on board, but we never had the mid-summer
slump....never put together consecutive slow trips...this past Sunday is an
example of just a "decent" day: get on the anchor in sloppy conditions at
8:00am.....a slow pick of medium-sized fish until 9:30am.....for the next 90
minutes it was pretty much catch at will...multiple hook-ups...bow or
stern.....never a "mad dog" type of bite, but by 11:30am or so, its catch and
release mode and 25 passengers can each take home a nice bag of filets while
releasing several dozen fish.......now a nice little "bonus" for the day:
while on anchor, we catch 4 keeper fluke...all over 20 inches....largest was
approx. 5 pounds....on bluefish bait and rigs......
Again.....that was a decent day...typical of the average
summer charter this past month......
While sea bass were few and far between this past summer
for whatever reason you choose to believe...and fluke were tough as is the
norm for a highly-dependant wind/sea conditions fishery, bluefishing was as
good a bet as you'll ever get!
Current and future outlook:
Fluking has seen an improvement in recent days when
condtions were right......and the biomass of fluke in our bays and rivers
should start getting the urge to migrate out along the beach with the first
real tastes of Fall or a hard Nor' Easter.....they will begin feeding heavily
in preparation of the offshore migration and usually when the first mullet
runs show up, you know its time to head on down for fluke......
Overall, I'm pleased with the signs Im seeing....we had
one trip 2 weeks ago where we picked up more than 200 short fluke on three
quick drifts....and not one keeper! Yet almost every one was only an inch or
so shy of legal size, and if they feed heavily, they might make it to the
legal mark by Fall. Contrast that with picking up some really nice flatties in
recent trips, and I'd say our best fluking days are just ahead of us.....
Seabass?
I'm "hopeful"; repeat: HOPEFUL that there will be some
nice fish in the Fall, but this past year's catch was way off by anyone's
standards.......Worse I have seen in the 15 years I have been running
charters.
Bluefishing should stay strong for many weeks to
come.......I just cant see it declining and there have been no signs of a shut
down anywhere.....
THINK TUNA AND STRIPERS FOR THE FALL, and come on down
and sail with the crew of the Tampa VII for some fast action! We will start
Inshore Mudhole Tuna fishing 3rd week of Sept thu the end of October. E mail
for details
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
WEEK OF JUNE 20th to 30TH
Recipe for catching bluefish right now:
1. get on boat (preferrably the Tampa VII)
2. grab fishing rod (preferrably one that has a
hook and line attached to it)
3. leave inlet and take boat anywhere from 2000
feet to 10 miles
4. drop hook and line into water
5. pull back rod 30 seconds later and start to
reel in bluefish
6. repeat steps 4 and 5 till arms are tired and
cooler is full
Yup.....its that easy most days...this past
weekend saw silly fishing. Just....plain...stupid...silly....it doesnt get any
easier than this-fishing....day or night...we had to ride North of the inlet
and anchor over bait readings and all it took was time for the chum to hit the
surface before someone hooked up.....on our daytrip this past Sunday, we had
40 guests who had more than they could ask for in 4 hours!
The last couple of days its been jig fishing
just outside the inlet and along the beach.......multiple hook ups....charters
returning to the dock early.....its a nice feeling when the charter looks up
my way a couple hours before the scheduled end of the trip and says, "Ummmmm...Captain
Gene, I think we've had enough!"
Fluke fishing has also improved as of late,
with a lot of shorts and a few keepers being caught along the beach, and
larger fish starting to wake up on the deeper hills.....as always, the only
problem with the deeper water is the ever present horde of dogfish waiting to
inhale our baits before the fluke get a chance to. Its just still too damned
cold along the bottom....the seabass are virtually non-existent because of the
colder temps, and its anyones guess when they will show up and turn on.
If you want a damned good shot at some great
fishing, nows the time to get in on the action...I never promise a "sure
thing", but when its good, I call it like I see it, and bluefishing is pretty
damned good right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEKS
OF JUNE 2ND AND 14TH
I know I skipped a week, but with the weather
we had the weekend of the 5th and 6th putting a major "damper" on the fishing
activity, I didn't want to get everyone excited with reports of AMAZING
fishing just yet!
Hi folks!
Lets see where to begin....striper fishing got
much trickier with the stalled Noreaster that hit us on the 5th.....LARGE
stripers had been hitting our baits with regular abandon up until then, and I
had several charters where the smallest fish were in the low 20's...all that
came to a screeching halt with the 30 knot winds that pummeled us....we
managed one striper here and there, and even the bottom fishery got picky.
Blues, which have been our mainstay these past few years, also decided to get
picky during the daylight hours....its been a matter of being in the right
place at the right time, and sailing as many as 26 miles to pick away at them.
This HAS to change....it MUST change......it simply has to be a
temporary situation. And I am knocking wood right now as hard as I can. Water
temp on the bottom are still very cold.
Fluking has been a matter of drift conditions
on the open ocean.....this past Sunday, the winds increased as the day
progressed, which is the exact opposite of a "typical" day, and the drift was
a bit tricky for a charter.....some short fluke.....some keepers...a pool fish
around 4 pounds...but nothing to write home about...the day before, our
charter had to fight through doggies and skates on the offshore bumps to
manage to throw together a catch of seabass. Sea Bass fishing has alot to be
desired .Since each wreck or rockpile is just hold few fish. Its just plain
tough to put together a good catch since water temps are still cold and
dogfish are everywhere.
Again.....fishing got "tough" for some reason,
and even having one of the nicest, friendliest, and sober-est guys as part of
the charter (yes Mark.....we speak of you here) did not make up for a tough
day of fishing, although it DID drive a couple of my mates to seriously
consider taking up drinking as a second hobby! : )
Something tells me we'll have to contend with
Mark and his friends later this Fall when we go out for tuna, and THAT should
be a "not-to-miss" charter!
Oh well.....all in all, the boat is now running
true and well after some work on it last week.....the weather HAS to start
improving...and the fish WILL start cooperating and finding their way on our
hooks very shortly....
Please contact me if you would like to sail
with us on the evening of July 4th as we view some local fireworks along the
Jersey shoreline....more details will follow....
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for Week of May 24th to June 1st
Well, it looks like Mother Nature is finally cooperating
with us!
Bottom fishing finally started to roll along
this past week as several charters managed some nice catches of seabass.......the
jigging for blues along the shoreline showed some signs of slowing a
bit....the stripers we were catching on jigs also slowed down and have now
started taking clams and bunkers.....and its only a matter of days before the
bait fishery for blues out at the mudhole heats up.....
The latter portion of the week was tough as
currents blasted along at more than 2 knots....Saturdays charter was one of
our toughest in a while, as holding bottom even on the anchor was tricky at
best, but we managed to nail some nice size seabass at one of my favorite
secret spots North of the inlet......on Sunday, we had Enzo and his party from
Michaelangelos Restauraunt on the boat for a fun trip of bottom fishing...in
addition to some great eggplant lasagna, and despite those same
terrible currents and the arrival of some of the largest, and hungriest
dogfish I've ever seen, we managed to put together a nice catch of seabass to
3 1/2 pounds, and even a 3 pound winter flounder who successfully evaded the
doggies! The throwback ratio was about 1-1, but I suspect that this fishing
hasn't even come close to peaking yet, and many more larger fish are bound to
show up in the next few weeks....REMEMBER: water temps this Spring are just
crazy!
Fluke fishing is showing some signs of
improvement, but are still up and down depending on the drift and
currents......
We still have some prime openings for trips
this coming season...make sure you call me ASAP for details and booking info!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF MAY 18TH to 25th
THIS has been the typical morning charter this
past week:Except for Friday's
charter when Striper action was slow since best tide didn't start until later
in the afternoon on the knoll. We did
Leave the dock in fog.....go through inlet into
thicker fog....head North of inlet into even thicker fog.....run
slowly.....hope to find birds working (which is a bit tough when visibility is
less than 50 yards)....wait till fog burns off (usually within an hour or so
of leaving inlet).....chase after flocks of surfacing birds working over bait
being chewed up by school upon school of 3-5 pound blues and big striped
bass.....catch lots of blues (usually).....catch a few striped bass in the
12-25 pound range.....catch a few larger blues mixed in (8 to 10
pounds)...lose a couple of much bigger stripers....Saturday afternoon trip I
personally caught a 25lbs Striper off the top deck while working a diamond jig
with green tail off the bottom. The charter I am sure enjoyed this fish for
the Barbeque.
There HAVE been exceptions to the rule....this
past Sunday started off with all the signs of a "typical" day.....but after
getting a few brief shots at fast action, and after chasing birds for a little
less than an hour or so, everything died down to a snails pace for the rest of
the day...ZERO bird activity.....no signs of surfacing fish......the fleet was
just off the inlet picking away at a few blues daring or stupid enough to hit
our diamond jigs....and that my friends is why fishing can still be
frustrating to all of us....there never is a "sure thing", even if the action
has been that way for a couple of weeks straight.......
Bottom fishing has been slow to get started,
but a few more sea bass are beginning to show up on the rocky snags they
inhabit for the summer months...fluking in the ocean has been tough....the
water temps are still struggling to get into the 40's on the bottom (top line
temps have only been hovering around 60 degrees).....the key here folks, is to
pay attention to reports like these that are updated every week......because
once bottom fishing breaks open, you'll know that the summer fishing season is
finally upon us.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF MAY 10 OF MAY 17th 2004
"Welcome back my friends to the show that
never ends!"
Yup....its that time of year again guys and
gals! The Crew and I would like to welcome everyone back to another year of
singin' the blues, and catching them too!
Our season OFFICIALLY got started this past
weekend with the usual, and NOT so usual suspects coming over the
rails......Friday's charter saw lots of fog, and not quite as many fish as I'd
like, but it was very difficult to see birds working as the blues and stripers
invade our area...water temps at the bottom are still on the chilly side, and
fluking and sea bass are still not making big feeding pushes in the
ocean......sand dials, and some sea robbins are showing up......
Saturday was a different story alltogether....perfect
conditions...no fog.....and fish as far as the eye could see under lots of
working birds....all the 3-5 pound blues a charter could ask for, and some
nice striped bass mixed in.....we boated several in the 12-18 pound range, and
lost a couple more that would have made those look like babies......
Folks, this is pretty damned good right now,
but I have to remind everyone: its day by day...MOST days we can grab stripers
up North...and load up on blues....but there have been a few tough days mixed
in...its not 100% consistent yet (when is it EVER 100% to be truthful!!!!!??),
but if you want a try at some damned good "Spring" fishing, nows the time to
book a trip!
We did manage a 6 pound fluke (on a jig)
yesterday, but again, that fishing is still not hot and steady yet.....However
the sushi the charter made out of this fluke tasted great but to much
Wasibi.(VERY Hot)
I have a few great openings left for choice
dates on some weekends, so if you want to book a trip, call me now to hold and
confirm an open date. My Cell 732 995 5389
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT WEEK OF OCT 13TH TO 20TH.
With very few exceptions, Mudhole tuna fishing has been
fantastic!!!!!! with odd day mixed in.This past weekend saw the only negative
trips as the NOAA boys blew the forecasts right out the door with winds and
seas being just a "tad" worse than the predicted conditions. In fact, it felt
downright stupid getting our butts pounded 20+ miles off the beach in winds of
25-30knts, and seas that NEVER rolled less than 5 ft but often hit 8-10 ft.,
while the weather boys were REPORTING winds of 10-15knts, and seas of 2-4
feet. Stupid it felt; funny, it did NOT! I don't mind the unpredictable nature
of Fall weather, but I DO mind forecasts that are down right assinine!!!!!!!!
Well our first open boat Inshore Tuna was a success
with some nice size bluefin up to 45 lbs being caught on mostly jig. I
am still waiting for someone to e mail me the pictures of the fish. I am
trying to plan another trip on Oct 30th or 31st . E mail me for details
We had 5 straight trips of tuna, and the fish were generally
getting bigger by the report....we caught and lost fish in the 40-50 pound
class, and also lost several fish that we simply couldn't stop and smashed
through 80lb floruocarbon like it was dental floss! On the worst day of the
Fall season (weather-wise), we had no action.....but every other day we
scored! I am guessing there are few 80 to 100 lbs fish around. The fish are
starting to bite on bait . This action should pickup in next few days.
Reports are steady, and action is scattered over a very wide
area, but if you still want a shot at tuna and dont feel like spending 2 days
on a boat...or $400 a person...this is your last chance to get in on the
action while its still hot!!!! Call me ASAP for some mid-week trips (mid-week
trips are the best due to less fishing pressure)! I am still booking charters
for inshore Tuna Charters and Nov Striped Bass .
Also, striped bass are starting to show up a bit with
fish being caught on bluefish trips on jigs, and lots of bird activity along
the beaches starting to signal that fall season's start. But still not hot
bass fishing yet.
Blues are still all over the place and hungry ,biting
day using jigs along the beach, bait on the afternoon trips with fish up to
15lbs.(water temps are still warm)....and sea bass & porgies are all
over but, as always sizes vary dramatically. Fluke fishing seems to have ended
early this season we just caught handful after hurricane Isabel.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT SEPT 27TH TO OCTOBER 7TH 2003
THE TUNA ARE IN!!! THE TUNA ARE IN!!!! 25lbs to 30 lbs
class with few bigger fishi waiting to be caught
Its taken a lot of effort....and a lot of
chunking....and all our initial trips to the Mudhole area showed signs of
encouragement, but this past weekend the Tampa crew and charters finally
coaxed those finicky schoolies to hit their baits and jigs!
Bluefin reports had been increasing in an
area that ranged from 20 to 50 miles off the beach, but it took a lot of
zigging and zagging for us
to finally connect this past Saturday. Louie and Big Pete
(Big....like...REALLY big!) braved a blown forecast for our first taste of
bluefins.....the bite was a mid-morning happening, and though we read them
under the boat most of the morning, they hit in spurts, usually 2 at a
time......jigs got the majority of the action.....sardines and whole butters
got bit up too, and as is the norm with tuna, we lost more than we caught!
These early fish were in the 27-33 inch class, and as long as the weather
holds up (no more major storms or nor' easters), this action might last for
weeks. The good news is, as these fish start feeding out there, the larger
Bluefin will be following on their heels.......
On Friday's trip, we chased readings much
further offshore and tried trolling which resulted in multiple hook-ups of
skipjack tuna......we were in the right church, but just a couple pews away
from where the action would eventually take place the next day....
Bottom fishing for porgies and sea bass is
doing fine, However there is still alot of small fishing that are not legal to
keep. and blues are still abundant and feisty, as always this time of
year, but stripers should start mixing in with the blues moving along the
beach just about any day now. We are now booking Striped Bass charters until
end of november
The Fall fluke run never happen Sept 03 with
bad weather did them in all but vanished after the big storms of the past few
weeks, but this....THIS...is Fall fishing at its finest, folks! Get out and
get in on the action while its hot! We have a few more openings for our open
tuna trip on the 17th of this month, and a few scattered weekdays are still
available......call me now for more info or to book your last chances to fill
up a freezer with filets!
TUNA, baby!
Its what makes it all
worthwhile......................................
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 20TH TO SEPT 1ST
Some days you get the blues; some days the
blues get YOU!
Its been wacky...one trip we load up; the next
we have to work for 8 hours to catch a half dozen. One day they are all 3
pounders; the next all 12 to 1`5lbs
If I didnt have any faith in the fact that
bluefish start re-schooling and RE-feeding all over again every year at this
time in our area, in preparation for the Fall migration, I'd start worrying
and open an Italian Ice shop!
Really.
Trust me.
Any day now you're going to start reading and
hearing about slammers breaking fishermens knuckles as they get tired of
catching them from our usual haunts.
Just......not last week.
We took out Hugh from Brielle this past weekend
and his group of friendly neighbors for some bottom fishing, South of the
inlet. Fishing in depths from 30 feet to 75 feet gave up varying results on
each drift, but loads of short fluke were caught (and no joke...half of those
shorts were 16 inches on the nose! But we gotta' do our part to respect our
fishing authorities!), and we grabbed our share of legal sized fish as
well.....the winning pool fish were in the 23 inch/4 pound range, and Hugh
shared in the pool money. The key on that day was to use fresh snappers or
even fresher strip baits from SEA ROBBINS! Sea Robbin belly filets worked like
a charm as I believe both pool fish were caught using them. Sea bass were
mixed in and we did manage a fair mixture of both to keep everyone busy.
Somedays pool fish are around 8lbs .Sea bass is closed as per NMFS until Sept
16th on the 16th we can start keeper them again.
Drift conditions are oh so important for this
type of fishing as the early morning drifts needed 10 ounces to hold bottom,
and by lunch time 2 ounces would have done the job rather nicely.
THINK TUNA everyone! Its just about that time,
and we get serious about it starting right after Labor Day, so if youve got an
itch to try for some inshore bluefin and light tackle albacore and bonito,
call me now for details and open dates! The new regulations for school bluefin
are over 27inch 1 per person up to 35 per boat. Looking to book open boat trip
Oct 3rd e mail me if interested
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 11TH TO 19TH
The blues are back in town!
Spawned out...hungry....looking around for
something to snack on......3 to 15 pounds, day and night.....its time to come
out and get some folks!
The inshore water has cleared up from a bunch
of nasty weather earlier on this month, and the water clarity and temps are
finally "prime time"! Even some "not-so-regular" species have been making the
papers (Tarpon!!!!!!!).......we've been catching some 1-3 pound trigger fish
on many of our bottom trips, mixed in with some gorgeous fluke! Not huge
quantities lately, but the offshore areas have been yeilding up some nice 5,
6, 7 and even 8 pound fish for those who put the time and effort in! Thats
what I call QUALITY! Plenty of shorts on the sand bars in the surf wash, but
we stay out in the deeper waters for the action when drift conditions permit!
Sea bass are also available in numbers, but
once again that pesky 12 inch limit means plenty of throw backs on a big
number of 11 inch fish. However, the occasional 3 pounder makes up for the
quantity issue.Look like there is going to be closed seasonm for Sea
Bass from Sept 2nd to 16th approved by NMFS
Tuna fishing exploded out at the canyons in
recent days, and I expect you'll read lots of reports of mahi and bluefin
starting to circulate out at the mudhole any day now. The next big storm or
Nor' Easter will shake things up and thats when you can expect word. If youve
been contemplating or planning a mudhole tuna trip, now is the time to reach
out to me for the available dates these next 6 weeks when our FINEST fishing
takes over!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JULY 29TH THU AUG 8TH
What a wild and wacky week its been!
Our largest fluke of the season (so
far)......up and down bluefishing action....water temps on a rollercoaster as
well.....is this really the end of July???????!!!!!!
Our first 8+ pound fluke was caught off of
Elberon, one of my favorite hard-bottomed locations for fluke...when the drift
conditions are right, I've been working both the inshore rocks, and the
offshore lumps for some action with a decent keeper-throwback ratio....ya
gotta' understand that every time we've had the wind blowing up from the South
lately, the water temps have been dropping like a bomb! And these sudden
changes in temp do have an effect on the fishing, but luckily its temporary as
the water temps fluctuate muchly at this time of year....Sea Bass fishing has
been ok however with new regulations this season its hard to catch alot of 12
inch sea bass .Some wreck or rockpile we catch just few keepers and throw back
60 to 100 fish around 11 to 11 1/2 inches. The same seem to be
with the fluke at 16 1/2 alot of sub 16 1/2 fluke around but some
nice 5lbs fish .
Bluefishing has been a struggle both day and
nights lately......some trips hit it well; others are a slow pick; and a few
barely manage to catch even a pick. Dont believe the papers that say "Its the
slaughter of all time!" The fish we catch at the moment, we EARN!. Last few
day bluefish has been very very very very slow with just few fish caught on
bait and some 1 lbs fish being jigged few miles from the inlet . Some or the
boat have even been getting what we call a donut. NOTHING . I have been
talking some of my daytime charters into fluke .seas bass . Hoping blues
will pickup anyday.Let keep our finger crossed.
Of course, its all a day-to-day deal, and as
the first wisps of a cool breeze start to hit our area, watch the Fall action
heat up again!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for week of July 20th to 29th
Well.....the blues have decided to take some
time off to make young blues, and fluke fishing is "day-to-day", so lets see
if I can give you a basic rundown of where we stand.....
This past weekend saw 2 straight bottom trips
with comparable results, but vastly different drift conditions....On Saturday,
we had ZERO drift all morning...4 ounce sinkers were holding nicely in 65 ft.
depths....does that picture sound scary?????? It means we covered very small
patches of bottom, and usually results in poor results, catch-wise. 40
passengers saw a pool fish of 4 and a half pounds, and maybe a dozen and a
half keepers with the usual short throwbacks and a few keeper seabass mixed
in.....
On Sunday, Pat Nelligan brought his CTC charter
out and saw the exact opposite conditions....brisk Southerly winds had dropped
the inshore water temps 10 degrees overnight, and the drift was equally as
"brisk"...10 ounce sinkers and lots of line held bottom, but the catch was
still down and again, many more shorts and 10 and a half inch sea bass filled
out a catch....what was unusual was the similarity in size of the larger
fluke...the pool was spilt by 2 21 inch, 3 and a half pound fluke that looked
like genetic twins. We had several 3 pound fish, but numbers were down......
Day and night bluefishing has been up and down
......and the smaller Taylor blues of 1-2 pounds are starting to fill in a bit
for the larger spawned-out adults....hopefully, this will be brief as
the after-spawn adults usually feed voraciously to make up for lost body
weight and to prepare themselves for the coming Fall migration......The past
few trips both day and night has improved. During the day we are both baiting
and jigging blues between 4lbs and 12 lbs. Te past few night/ afternoon tripos
has been very good with pool fish up to 15lbs. The blue fishing is not as good
as it was in June .However its alot better then last july since water temps
are cooler this season.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JULY 14TH
Ya know...its getting hard to catch blues with
all these makos running around in our slicks!
Twice this past weekend...not once but twice,
we had makos cruising through our slicks, scaring off the blues....on
Saturdays trip to the edge of the Mud hole, a 150 pound class mako was spotted
by our mates litterally chasing 10 pound blues right out of the water behind
our boat. Its truly a sight to see one of the meanest predators in our ocean
being chased 4 feet out of the water by an even MEANER predator who would
think nothing of swallowing them whole if they had the chance! Makos are one
of the few sharks with the speed to track a bluefish down.
With a large charter on board, its hard to
switch to shark baits immediately, but a friend used our numbers later that
night to catch that mako in EXACTLY our same spot.
Not to be outdone, our very next blue trip on
Sunday afternoon even CLOSER to the beach, we had a 150 pound class mako
come right up to our bluefish baits and take a whole butterfish.....our
charter hooked him and had two gorgeous jumps before severing the line, but
the presence of the shark scared off the blues for the rest of the
evening.....
And this is an important fact that everyone
should remember about setting up a chum slick: if you have sporadic action
with blues during the course of the charter....a quick flurry, followed by
ZERO action for 30 minutes or so, followed by another round of blues and more
dead time, it can quite often be the result of a shark, or several sharks or
even large tuna, cruising through the same chum slick. Blues can get VERY
skittish when they know that THEY can be on the menu without even getting a
hook in their jaw!
Blue fishing has been holding up nicely both
day and night, with fish running 5lbs to 12lbs with pool fish in the 15 lbs
range but I'm expecting the spawn to happen any day now, and we all know that
action can get very spotty for a short period once it takes place....so stay
tuned here for updates.....
Bottom fishing is a day by day, drift by drift
deal right now....when the conditions are good, we pick some nice fish and
lose a lot of rigs on hard bottom...but when there's no drift, we usually end
up catching a lot of shorts, both sea bass and fluke-wise plus skates and more
skates along with sea robins Remember all of you who have the boat
chartered for fluke...don't be afraid to bring down some live
snapper blues to use as bait...the snappers should be showing up any day now,
and a live or fresh-caught snapper is eye candy to a large, hungry fluke!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR JULY 1ST THROUGH JULY 13TH
I'm condensing a few weeks here folks to keep
the spacing down and to let you all know that, if, IF...you have been
contemplating a charter, but have been holding back because of our terrible
early summer weather or lack of quality fish reports, its time to put your
concerns aside and see
if we have any dates still open!
Bluefishing right now...TODAY..is at its
Pre-spawn peak/best! The fish are all in prime condition...hitting baits AND
jigs day or night....and size is a nice mix of 5 to 12 pound fish....these
fish are mean right now...just..downright nasty...getting a bit testy because
nature is telling them that they have to go on a diet shortly to make lots of
baby blues, and they are hitting with reckless abandon! This past weekend, two
charters hit it just about as perfect as a group can hope for! 30
minutes from the dock, blues were everywhere....one drift...as soon as the
boat came to a halt in the water, 2 poles were bent in half...and what
followed can only be described as "silly" fishing......we were in catch and
release mode 90 minutes later. 90 minutes! Keepers for everyone, and it was
time to just start having fun hooking up! We switched from all bait to jigs
shortly thereafter, and it was the same action......drop it down, engage the
reel, and if you cranked fast enough, you were hooked up as soon as the jig
came up off the bottom....
And speaking of "bottom", bottom fishing has
been hit and miss due to drift condition .If we have no driftis its hard to
keep the dog fish and skates off the lines and our friendly
neighborhood commercial draggers....are netting over 1000lbs each a day on the
offshore lumps that were producing so nicely for us just 2 weeks ago, are now
on a "you should have been here 2 weeks ago!" routine! Its like fishing a
completely different area! We pick away at a few keeper fluke..and deeper
waters still give up nicer-sized fish.....but as is the usual story, shorts
exceed legal by a vast majority!
Closer to the beach, there are many doggies to
contend with...and sea robbins are starting to outnumber fluke again, but hard
bottoms and snags will still give up sea bass with regularity.....its just
tougher to get those 12 inch fish....many...many more shorts there as
well......Some drops you will catch 20 sub legal sea bass to keep just one
legal fish. As for porgies same story. The regulations are killing us .But we
as member of United Boatman of NY & NJ along with RFA are fighting
them and are winning the small battles.
I expect we'll start hearing about the
occasional mako shark showing up in the bluefish slicks any day now.....and
the water clarity in the mudhole area is as nice as Ive seen it in any year
past .......this can only mean good news for the nect 12 weeks of our prime
season! Its only a matter of time till we start talking tuna, and our Fall
trips are booking fast, so call me if you have any questions, and lets see if
we can get your group out for this action!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF 6/23 to 6/30
This season is going to go down in history as
having some of the finest early summer Striped Bass fishing, as well as
finally showing some amazing signs of fluke recovery!
Now...please dont read
TOO much into this! I'd love to say to you that the once-in-a-lifetime fluke
trip we had this past Sunday could take place on a daily basis. If it did, I'd
be turning away fluke charters from now till October.
I'd also like to promise
you all early summer striped bass fishing where 20+ pound fish come over the
rails every drift.
But I just dont know.......OK....
Fluke fishing this past weekend had people
talking about the quality AND quantity of keepers NON-STOP!
One drift alone
accounted for 30+ keepers, and I doubt that ONE of those was less than 2 plus
pounds! Multiple 3, 4 and 5 pound fish....6 + pounders took the pool...bigger
fish were lost at boatside! It was one of those days the charter wont ever
forget!
Now...I should qualify this by saying the
draggers (commercial boats) have had their season closed for a bit.....and
that HAD to have some effect....add in a major temperature rise that put a
slow-down on the stripers, but seemed to "turn-on" the fluke feeding
mechanism...how long this will last is anyones guess....but Im sure that once
the commercial quota opens again, we wont see such major hits all at once.
Still.....maybe things will improve in any
event over the last several years.....
Sea bass fishing is showing signs of a slow
down....the fish have spawned out.....and larger fish are now getting fewer
and further between all the 11 and a half inch fish we seem to catch in
droves......still, if we find good pieces of bottom that havent been hit hard,
we manage a catch.....
Blue fishing has been great, pretty much day
and night.....no particular preference.....bait ...jigs....day/night.....5 to
12 pounds seem to be the "norm"......
If anyone wants to see the fireworks in NYC,
heres your last chance to grab a ticket on the Tampa VII....call or email me
ASAP for details and to leave a deposit.....
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JUNE 16TH TO 23RD
Well technically I'm writing this for the week
of June 15th, but by the time its posted it will be the 24th or so....and all
I can say is, with hot temperatures, HOT fishing has followed!
Its been incredibly tricky some days due to our
weather.....in fact, its felt like one....LONG...Spring to all of us, the fish
included! Striped bass have been everywhere, and for small groups fishing
North of the inlet, some days have been banner trophy fish days! However, as
water temps rise, its only a guess as to how long this fishery will last....
Bluefishing has erupted into STRONG early
season form...the fish are everywhere...and day and night trips have had solid
action as the fish begin their eating binge in preparation of spawning,
which.....this year? Its anyones guess as to when this will occur, moon phase
or not! I think bait pressure....water temps....a LOT of factors will come
into play this year...and we could see a late spawn....but again...thats just
a guess....
Bottom fishing has been fantastic and its
incouraging to see HUGE porgies just about at every drop we make for sea
bass....I'm talking BIG, cover-an-entire-dinner-plate-1.5 pound-fish that are
mixing it up with the sea bass.....once the season opens for these critters, I
predict a fantastic fishery for everyone!
Sea Bass should be spawning any day now as
well, and fluking has finally picked up on the deeper lumps offshore.....our
Sunday trip this past week managed a 3.7 pound fluke off a wreck as we drifted
in insane 3.5 knot conditions......I think if a drift condition is good, we
should see some nice-sized fluke on every trip from here on out.......
A good tip from one of our customers this past
Sunday.....if youre using clam bait for sea bass, make sure you change baits
after every catch, REGARDLESS of how much bait you saved from the fish...Sea
bass seem to like a new bait each drop.....also....if you have your own bottom
rigs, dont be afraid to try colored bucktail teasers on the hook.....many
larger sea bass seem to go for the extra bit of "flash"......
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JUNE 8TH to JUNE 16TH
Saltwater Fishing has definitely picked up this
past week!
After some, yet again, tricky weather made for
tough fishing on yet another weekend, the Tampa VII took out a charter for
BronKobold USA on the 10th for some striped bass. Jacques Bron and Kevin
Schill took out guests from Sinar Bron and ProSource, and bass of 22 and 21
pounds were lifted on the very first drift North of the inlet....as action
slowed down and dogfish,skates, and short fluke started grabbing the clam
baits before the stripers could, we moved the boat further along up the beach,
eventually anchoring over a small wreck near the hook, where sea bass and
blackfish grabbed the baits as soon as they hit bottom. As anyone who has ever
fished for Tog can relate to, they can be insanely tricky to catch with soft
bait like clams because of their amazing ability to leave an empty hook before
you even feel them. Nonetheless, Jacques, who hails from Switzerland and had
never fished for them before, showed everyone how to do it by nailing Tog of 3
and 4 pounds, and providing some nice filets for those who couldnt quite get
the "hang" of it. Only our limit was kept as these fish are spawning now, and
shorts were released, but this small wreck should provide us with nice shots
of blacks once the normal season for them opens. Many thanks to John and Mike
for driving down from Connecticut to join in on the fun.
Later in the week, charters saw superb seabass and
bottom fishing once the off-colored inshore waters cleaned up and anchoring
conditions improved...pool winners on Thursday and Friday were 4.5 pounds, and
limits were caught for many.
Fluke fishing should steadly improve once we focus
on them and water temps climb a bit, but we did manage a 6.5 pounder last week
on spearing and squid.
Blue fishing the end of the weekfishing 15 to 20
miles NE of the inlet opened up nicely both day and night....action
should improve steadily, but just yesterday, it was one stop shopping with all
you could catch once we got past a mass of dogfish who seem to be lingering in
the still cool waters........BLUES ARE RUNNING UP TO 12LBS WITH A FEW CLOSE TO
15LBS COMING OVER THE RAILS
If anyone is interested, we will be sailing on
July 4th for our annual fireworks cruise to NY harbor...please contact me for
ticket info and sailing times.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF JUNE 2ND TO JUNE 9TH
Summer is going
to get here.
Eventually.
Having said that, its
nice to be able to say that the typical early summer fishing HAS arrived for
most species, and this past week the Tampa and her crew kept them coming over
the rails REGARDLESS of the lousy "Summer" weather.
Midweek trips for
striped bass gave the charters excellent shots at limits, and in addition to
the usual "slot" sized fish, Thursday's trip ended up witn some of our best
quality, AS WELL as quantity fishing. The bait of preference: Fresh clams. The
area: North of ther inlet. LOTS of 20+ pound striped bass with an few fish
close to 30+ pounder inhaling baits...However we did lose one close to 40lbs
boatside the action moves from day to day, and while its not guaranteed
fishing, if we can find the bait, we have a great shot at fish. Best fishing
has been on overcast and foggy morning ,which we have had alot of lately.
Bluefishing is
beginning to round into form in our area. Night trips this past week on the
Northern grounds had fair catches, and fair catches.....fish range from 3
pounds to 13 pounds.....The the dogfish take over and it gets hard to catch
blues
The inshore waters
were rather discolored this past weekend, and temps were still down in the
high 50's many days due to the insane, raw, stormy weather.....this hasnt had
any adverse effects on the seabass fishing which is in full gear as I type
this....water depts anywhere from 60-80 feet.....wrecks and rocky
bottom......drift fishing or anchored.....its PRIME time to fill your coolers
with these tasty critters.....lots of 2-3 pound fish.....but we still throw
back a lot of shorts.....
The cooler temps have
kept the ocean fluke season a bit behind schedule.....some trips we manage to
scratch out a few keepers.....but I think once the temps creep up another 6-7
degrees, you'll see a major improvement in that fishery. The fish are
there.....I just think theres still a bit of lethargic action in cooler
waters. Look for a stretch of consistent warm weather for a week or so, and it
should open up.Yesterday's trip we anchored on one of my striper spots and
started to catch blackfish up to 6lbs on clams meant for the striped bass. If
we only had green crabs.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF MAY12th to 20th
As the air temps warm up, don't
cha' know the fishing is doing likewise!
The Dry Nor'easter that snuck
through our region this past Friday and Saturday made for a big ocean
swell but we were still able to scratch out a catch this past Sunday with
a variety of species coming over the rail. Some decent keeper fluke were
caught along with a few sea bass (water temps still a bit too cold), and a
lot of smaller blues......the blues are all over our region already this
year (earlier than usual), and along with stripers up North (if the
conditions are right, its fantastic fishing in the Raritan Bay right now)
should make for great trips these next few weeks!
Reach out for us if you want to
find out what choice dates are still available for 2003, and stay tuned
for more upcoming reports as the action heats up!
PS I have one last Saturday
morning open because of cancellation so June 14th is now open call
for details.
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF APRIL
27th to May 5th
"The human race is basically broken
down into two groups of people: Those of us who fish; and those of us who DONT FISH!"Ladies and gentlemen, the 2003 fishing season has officially
begun, as our 2 and a half knot faster boat slipped out the inlet chasing
after those Spring mackeral that have been holding just to our South.
20 plus miles of scattered readings resulted in 70-150 fish for each charter
so far (which is a far cry from excellent when the macks are concentrated),
but I'm still hearing from other boats that the main body of fish is to our
South.
The gorgeous weather we are finally
experiencing on a weekly basis will help push the water temps up a bit, and
with that movement all the other species we target will start arriving off
our shores. As I write this, the first reports of scattered blues are
starting to hit the docks as more boats target the Spring-run striped bass.
Its nothing of any major consequence so far, but hey...SOMEBODY has to catch
the first stragglers, right???????
Once I see temps climbing a few
more degrees over the inshore wrecks, I'll start breaking out the bottom
gear for those early jumbo sea bass the Tampa VII has become famous for.
We're talking a matter of days here folks once the temps stay consistently
warm.....
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
2002 FISHING REPORTS BELOW
Fishing Report for
weeks Of Sept 3rd ,10th,19th
Hey guys! It has been
one crazy couple of weeks!
My laptop is finally
back in shape, and I have few back to back trips finally over, so here's an
update....
The last few weeks have
seen improvements in sea bass and bluefishing during the daytimes...weakfishing
is improving a bit, and the end of the fluke season is finally at hand
...but with the passing
of one season, the beginning of another i vs at hand...and what a way to start
things off on the inshore tuna trips! Our first inshore tuna trip
resulted in a "mad dog" bite for several hours after a slow start
out in the mud hole. Now this is FANTASTIC for a start, and with some luck and
decent weather we might finally have a decent season! Multiple hookups...3, 4
bluefin on at one time...some nice 20, 30 pound fish, with bigger fish
lost,,,plenty of albacore and blues/bonito...MAN! I hope this keeps up for
another 2 months! Watch for open dates on the Tampa where we'll run open boat
tuna trips. Email me for details, and if you have a group of 10 or 15
people, call for whatever open dates I have and charter the entire boat for
some amazing action while it lasts! Tight Lines! Capt.
Gene h detaiuls
Fishing Report for
Weeks of August 12th and 19th
Sorry for condenticsing the last two weeks
but The Tampa crew has been incredibly busy, and these next few weeks
promise to remain as busy as ever!
This has been a weird summer hasn't it?!!
Its darn near almost Sept.......and the
blues are STILL being finicky as all hell! One day the bite is a
"daytime" bite; the next its strictly "night".....one day
the action is up North; the next its due straight East.....our favorite August
haunts like the Mud Buoy are as erratic as anything.....some of our BEST blue fishing
is on small hills just a few miles off our coast, but even THAT fizzles out in
a few days. It has simply become one HELL of a trying time period if you want
blues, and I have to admit that there are days when I think I have them
figured out, only to look like I've never fished for blues before on
others. We DO struggle to put together decent catches, but the good news is as
follows:
Most trips the Tampa VII has
consistently put together catches on par with any boat in the various fleets;
some days we beat the fleet to the punch! If we agree on a 7:00am leave time,
please make sure you tell your groups to be ON the boat and ready to sail by
6:45...this way we aren't still at the dock at 7:20 waiting for one or two
stragglers stuck in traffic on that notorious traffic monster, the Rte. 35
Manasquan bridge!
Also...these past few days I have marked
huge, and I do mean HUGE schools of baitfish just off our beaches, and these
schools are being randomly set upon by a variety of predators.....I believe
its just a matter of time till we are jigging for blues, weeks, and stripers
right off our beaches as they prepare to move in and out of our bays! All
it should take is one good storm to push through and stir up the water column
to remind our local fine-finned denizens that its time to get up and go! So
watch this column for the latest and greatest news!
As far as fluking goes, its still a matter
of drift....this past Sunday, we managed 10 keeper fluke out of about 40
shorts, which actually isn't a bad ratio.....but the sea bass were a bit on
the smaller side. This situation also changes from day-to-day as different
pieces of bottom get worked over by the fleet, and when we have a ne drift it
can be a tricky decision whether to bait up for fluke or focus on sea bass.
Also, for those of you who want to "try
for that doormat", remember threes no better bait right now than live
snappers, and our creeks/docks are loaded with them....try getting down to the
boat early with an ultra light, and a few small strips of squid. Use a 5
gallon bucket for the live snappers, and don't overload it with fish.....you
should be able to keep a half dozen live for the short rides out to the
grounds.....
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 5TH
OK, can someone PLEASE shut off the heat and cool this place off already!
Thank God for air-conditioning in the pilot house! LOL
The fluke fishing last weekend came to life a bit on those offshore lumps as some nice 5, and 6 pound fish were caught in 50-60 ft. depths on the usual suspect baits! Throw in some nice sea bass that make it past the size limits (ratio is about 50-50%, keeper/throwback), and
bottom fishing is holding up nicely....
Blue fishing is still a bit uneven, but most trips are happy with the results as larger fish are starting to dominate the catches again...day and night is fine, with most of the action now squarely North of the inlet......
For those of you awaiting the first inshore tuna trips coming up next month and thereafter, I got a nice report from one of our crew members Mr. Joe Boyko, who took a two day break from work to cruise the canyons on one of our friend's boat, the Purple Jet II......after a 5 hour run south, his charter connected with a 450 pound blue marlin trolled up on a ballyhoo, and approx. 70 minutes later tagged and released that beauty.....after numerous run-ins with giant manta rays after dark on the chunk, they also had shots at small yellowfin and makos, before returning to the troll the following morning and another hour-long battle with a 240 pound bigeye tuna. (Mr. Eyeball is currently being sold to our friends in Japan) A shot at a white marlin and a 30 pound longfin tuna rounded out that successful trip, and it should be noted that another former crew member of the Tampa VII, Scott Boyko, managed to fight that marlin for 10 minutes on stand up tackle before having to give up the rod to a crew mate.
Those tuna(well, bluefin for sure) are gonna eventually make their way to our mudhole wreck areas this Fall, so keep your eyes and ears open for that fishery to develop, and then give me a call or send me an email for details about heading out to battle one for yourself!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene Becker
Fishing Report For Week of July 29th
Hello again everyone, and welcome to the wonderfully wacky world of Summertime Saltwater Safaris, courtesy of the Tampa VII!
And what a truly wacky week its been! Bluefishing improved, and then slumped back a bit in terms of size.....as anyone who by chance was out on the ocean last Friday night when some rampaging squalls passed over our area can attest to, if conditions deteriorate, so does the fishing!
It does look, however, as if our best bluefishing is now just around the corner.....the alligators will start their southern migration from points up North and East, once the first tastes of fall storms sneak over us......
Bottom fishing was also a bit up and down, but overall, the fluking has improved on the deeper hills off our beaches.....this past weekend saw a couple charters nail several 3, 4 and 5 pound fluke mixed in with some nice 3 and a half pound sea bass.....our biggest problem has been the sudden influx of truly large skates in the shallower waters. I'm not talking those silly little baseball-cap sized skates; no, no.....these are all 6 to 10 pound fish that give us all visions of a monster fluke as we lift them up, only to be
dissappointed by those spiny, winged critters! And speaking of winged critters, the annual late summer migration of eagle rays is taking place along our beaches. Weighing in anywhere from 10 pounds, to more than 100, its a sight to behold as hundred of these "swimming wings" lazily make their way South.....quite often, we unintentionally hook into one of these big puppies (usually foul hooked), and then its a sight to behold as they drag us around the boat before usually breaking the 40 pound test line......
I also expect to hear the first reports of weakfish jigging to happen any day now as these fish have been massing inside our bays and rivers, and its only a matter of time before they start working their way out to the deeper waters off our beaches to feed with blues and stripers.
WE are still booking charters for the best fishing months of the year, September and October, so if you have any questions and would like to check on what dates are still open, send me an email or drop me a line as they always book up fast once folks are back from vacation!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report For Week of July 22nd
The weather certainly started heating up towards the end of the week, and with it the "dog days" of summer saltwater fishing seem to be slipping away as well...
Large, gaffing-sized blues took a serious vacation for a bit.....they must have all schooled off Asbury to hear Bruce Springsteens warm-up concert and were too lazy to hit any bait or jigs!
Larger fish were few and far between, but 26 miles south of the inlet, the Barnegat Ridge found some decent fishing for 2-4 pound blues....its just a heck of a run, and a lot less fishing time to get at them....closer to home, we find pockets of the same size fish scattered both North and South of the inlet at the Farms, Klondike, and Shrewsbury Rocks....most of this fishing is on jigs right now.....stay tuned though because it looks as though the late season haunt for Blues ( The Mud
Buoy& 17 fathoms ) is finally starting to show some life.
Fluking on ridges in deeper waters is "hit and miss" with the drift conditions...less fish caught each drift, but the keeper ratio is better, and there are enough 5 and 6 pound fish to keep the pool money honest each trip!
Sea bass fishing is holding up but nothing at all like the early season fishing.....one spot produces one day; the next its wiped clean.....but we can usually scratch out a catch that keeps the charters happy.
Bonito have shown up as well with the schools of small bluefish, and are being taken on jigs......
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for Week of July 8th
FINALLY! Some decent fluking reports to talk about!
Towards the end of the week, with some faster drifting action, fluking finally picked up to the point where the short to keeper ratio ventured
down into the 8-1, 9-1 range, and if you still think thats bad, there
were quite a few trips where people caught 50 shorts to throw those 3 or 4 keepers in their coolers! LOLOL!
Kidding aside, we managed quite a few 3, 4, 5, and even a few 6 and 7 pounders in this past week, primarily working North of the inlet, and
varying between offshore lumps, and very rocky inshore waters.
Yes, we lost quite a few rigs. YES, when the drift died down the action did as well, and we had to make do with some gorgeous sea bass in the
2-3 pound range with many a "square blue" head mixed in. This can be
very tricky fishing, as 3 or 4 consecutive days will see lots of action...but the 4th or 5th day the bottom seems as barren as the
surface of the moon! Its as though some commercial boats came through
and wiped it clean! I mean, not even a sea robbin or skate!
Let me stress here some important info for any of you who will be bottom fishing on the Tampa shortly......when we drift over a knot...1.3, 1.5,
1.6....you can almost forget about sea bass on the drift.....those you DO catch will almost always be keepers...and we have to shift to 10 oz.
sinkers or even better......its important you keep those rigs on the bottom as we move, and if you dont feel that gentle "thud" of the sinker
striking bottom every now and then, you have to let out additional line to change the angle between your rig(under the water) and the tip of
your rod (above the water).....the less an angle; the more line let out,
the easier it is for your sinker's weight to keep itself along the bottom....now...again...think here for a second......if you're on the
side of the boat where your lines are going directly off the rail, this
is an easy task. HOWEVER, if you're on the side of the boat where your line is going UNDER the boat, you have to be careful not to
let TOO much line out. Otherwise, you'll increase your chances of tangling with lines from the opposite side of the boat. If in doubt,
check with the mates for help.
Another important thought.....some days, the basic spearing and squid is all thats necessary to do well with fluke.....but in general, the folks
on the Tampa who generally score better, are the folks who bring along
and try different rigs (colored teasers...stinger hooks....jigheads), But dont
complain when we drift over rocks and you lose it Also different baits such as live killies and fresh spearing......you can
even try fresh grass shrimp for fluke, and very soon (a week or so), thesnappers should be the perfect size for fluking if you feel like
catching a few snapper blues in our river.
SPEAKING of the river...we even had a fairly successful run of nice-sized keeper fluke in the Manasquan!River
this past Thursday when the wind was blowing 25mphn out of the North and
drift was to fast to fish the ocean .We did better then the boats that fished
the ocean that day .However on the afternoon trip the ocean was calm but fluke
just didnt bite
Bluefishing has been, for the most part, great! Looks as though the spawn was quick this year.....the action is fairly consistent, day and
night, just be aware that the sizes of these fish now are rather mixed
every trip...and should improve as the summer moves along! However as I post
this report the last few days it has been up and down the boats dont catch
them in the morning then we do our afternoon blue fish trip and catch them very
goods. So right now afternoon and nights has been better last 3 days
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for week of July 1st
Well...after weeks of steady bluefishing, the inevitable happened....it
slowed down quite a bit at the end of the week. Maybe the blues were tired from watching too many fireworks displays along the beach...more
than likely however, they stopped eating to spawn for a few days.....Friday and Saturday saw previously productive grounds 18-20
miles Southeast of the inlet devoid of any choppers with the exception
of 4-5 poor, lost souls who clearly didn't have a date for the mid-summer spawn.
NOW...the question remains to be answered......."Is it over yet?"....Sunday and Monday saw the blues bouncing right back in prime
fashion....and every time I asked them if they were still horny; still
cravin' that bluefish ravin', they just stared back at me as we unhooked them and put them in the cooler.
So folks, your guess is as good as mine. I'm hoping that....its a done deal...and we pick right up where we left off.....but these next few
days should tell for sure as the Tampa VII is sailing double trips every day solid for a week......
As far as fluking and sea bass are concerned.....the ratios of absurdity seem to be improving....I still had guys out last week who managed....NO
JOKE...25 shorts per guy...but by weeks-end the ratio was improving back
into the 10-1, 8- 1 range we've all grown accustomed to.
Sea bass are still on the smaller size with many, many throwbacks, but we manage to put together a catch almost every trip, and as we get
deeper into the summer, we'll start hitting a few wrecks that might give up some nicer-sized humpbacks.
Start watching now for the mid-summer catches that nobody expects:
Mahi-mahi and occasional yellowfin tuna at the various inshore lumps....some schoolie bluefin tuna....craokers along the beach...and an
occasional mako in our chum slicks.....you never know whats going to show up on any given day from here on out!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 24TH
Bluefishing is as close to a "sure thing" right now as we can get, both day and night. Its simply been excellent fishing with numerous limits,
and early trips back to the dock. However, and I hate to remind everyone of this but I have to, the mamma
and pappa bluefish should be getting the urge to procreate any day now, and this usually means some smaller fish, and slower action till they do
their duty to the bluefish stocks of the future and fulfill their responsibilities of providing more limit catches for our charters down
the road!
All kidding aside, its important to remember that this can take place ANY day now, so watch the newspapers or this coloumn for signs of a slow
down in the bite.
As far as bottom fishing is concerned, dont let anyone kid you if they tell you the keeper ratio of fluke or even sea bass at the moment is
high. Right now, its necessary to catch quite a few fish to put together a good or even decent haul. The ratios are quite often 10-20 shorts to
every 1 keeper, and thats fair and honest. Doesnt matter whether we work
the offshore lumps(usually bigger fish, smaller numbers), or the shallows near the beach(more action, smaller fish), its only worthy of a
"FAIR" rating.
Now, in all honesty, this can change from week to week.....a lot dependsmon fishing pressure.....a lot depends on how many boats work a
particular piece of bottom....a lot depends on weather conditions......the drift, the current, what bait is in the water at the
moment.....
Remember: if youre in doubt about what type of trip to book, you can always leave that decision till just a few days before your charter to
see what the conditions have been doing, and what the weatherman is predicting for your day or evening. I will also give you an honest
accounting of the local action....currently I'm running the boat day and night, and I see first-hand whats biting...and whats not!
Tight Lines,
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for Week of:
June 15 to 24th
YOU DONT HAVE TO BE A BLUES SINGER TO SING THE BLUES!
(or catch them for that matter!)
Solid, solid, sometimes "silly" bluefishing this past week....only one evening
Friday was "slow " fishing, but for the most part, its been "limit catches and back to the dock early" kind of fishing!
Jigs, bait....day, night....some trips are 12 miles northeast of the inlet; others 14.....theres a long line of readings and a long string of
boats most days....fish are 5 to 10 pounds, with plenty of larger fish mixed in...depends on what sized school wanders through the slick at any
particular time.
Now FLUKE fishing on the other hand???????????????????
Grab me the microphone 'cause its time to sing them blues!
Its not due to lack of action....one charter this past week, and please, we are actually watching these counts very carefully...one charter
caught over 120 fluke during a charter to the grounds North of the inlet....of those 120 fluke, only a handful were keepers, and heres the
sad part: at the very least, a dozen fish were "deep hooked" and still
had to be released....and by short here folks, we're talking an inch....maybe an inch and a half short of legal! Its getting absurd!
While the commercial boys drag away filling their quota, our charters have to scrap away for a couple of fish, ONE INCH longer then the vast
majority of the bio- mass out there now! This is complete insanity, and
if the rumors are correct about a 17 inch size limit WE NEED HELP FROM THE
PUBLIC OUTCRY
Its time we all, and I mean ALL of us, got together and screamed at our representatives for some fair size limits and bag limits. At 15.5 or 16
inches, at least 40 keepers would have been added to the coolers last week on one trip alone, while STILL making us release more than half the
overall catch!
Now kids, this might just be Uncle Gene ranting and raving here, but I think ALL of us would take a throwback to keeper ratio of 1-1, or
2-1...but 5-1? 10-1? 20-1?
50-1?????????
All because of 1 extra inch of length?
This is quite simply the biggest scam being perpetrated on the recreational public in history! All to the benefit of the commercial
fishing industry because we dont have a 50 /50 split on the quota but have a 60
/40 and guess who has 60% not us
Oh wait...
Sorry. This is the weekly fishing report. You want to read about our trips and what we're catching, not listen to me standing on a soapbox...
WEll, the infamous "Mr. Buff " from Deer Park LI NY took his group out this past weekend on the
Tampa VII, all the way from beautiful downtown Long Island for some bottom fishing...hitting some snaggy bottom up North got everyone some
nice sea bass filets, as well as a pool-winning 4.5 pound fluke that beat the sea bass to his hook. Mike Cardina(sorry if I spelled it wrong)
lead the charge hoisting some medium size fish over the rail, but all in
all enough action to keep everyone happy. Except of course for me, because "Mr. B" didnt bring along his FAMOUS sausage and macaroni
caserole for the crew! I expect to see the new recipe in August! ;)
Tight Lines Everyone!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for June 17th to 21st
With all the action heating up our waters right now, I dont even know how I'm finding time to write this, but here goes:
BLuefish............ Friday night was slow pick but last night was a slaughter
fishing with blues up to 10 lbs
In a word, FANTASTIC! All the action we want at the moment, with some nice gaffing-sized fish on every trip about 12-15 miles NE of the
inlet....just nice, solid fishing day and night....some jigging working now but bait still nails em! Good average sizes above 10 pounds, but we
see some 5, 6, 8 pounders mixing in depending on which school passes
through the slick.
Fluke Fishing.........
watch the drift! Pulled a few nice 4 and 5 pounders off the deeper ridges, but the action is totally dependent on the drift. In fact as I'm
typing this on my trusty laptop, we just ran over a patch of bottom that
gave up a few keepers mixed in with some shorts....but this is by NO
means consistant action! Again...gotta' wait for the draggers to finish raiding our bottom before
the action picks up.
Bottom/Sea bass.......
Still holding up nicely on the snags and wrecks, but more and more medium and smaller sized fish coming over the rails....a few nice
blackfish show up as well as a few ling on some drops, but this has been
a SUPER early season for bottom fishing.....no complaints WHATSOEVER!
We are hearing nice reports of sharks being caught offshore, and its only a matter of time before you read of a few makos and blue sharks
making their way into the bluefish chumslicks that we set out each
week........
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT WEEK OF JUNE
7th to 14th
"Bluefish bite by day; bluefish bite by night.
If you aint catchin bluefish, you aint doin' something right!"
That's what my wife told me on our first date many moons ago, which is why I married her! (Had nothing to do with the fact that she's good
lookin', I was just thrilled I finally met a girl who knew what bluefish were!)
ANYWAYS... that pretty much sums up the action right now: Solid both day and night. Lots of slammers in the 10-12 pound range, a couple nice gaff
fish every trip that hit 15-16 pounds. All the catchin's on bait at the
moment, and yes...here we go: My annual "CATCH THE BLUES NOW WHILE
THEY'RE ROUNDING INTO PEAK EARLY SUMMER FORM BEFORE THE MID-SUMMER SPAWN"
routine. This is nice, solid action...as the biomass of blues flood our waters, they feed heavily once they "settle in"....as the urge to
procreate draws near, the action can be downright silly at times as they gorge on baitfish. So for the next few weeks, you should expect similar
reports.
Still lots of Sea bass on the ocean floor on the snaggier bottoms, but we're starting to see a lot more mid-size fish as the inshore migration
ends.....these fish are here now for the summer, and if you're looking for tasty "lets put something on the grill" fare, you cant ask for
better. PERIOD!
As far as fluke are concerned, its time for my annual "IF THERE'S A DRIFT
AND WE LUCK OUT BY FINDING A RIDGE THAT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN HAMMERED BY
THE COMMERCIAL DRAGGERS WHO ARE POUNDING OUR SPOTS WEEKLY WE CAN CATCH A
FEW KEEPERS" routine! God its sad to see the horde of commercial boats
dragging the bottom and picking up anything in their paths! And its like this: we drift for
20 minutes....a couple shorts...drift another 10...4-5 nice keepers.....drift over again....1-2 keepers....drift again...nada!
Then repeat ad nausea....and if we happen to drift over the same areas just dragged, we catch nothing at all.
So "why", you ask, drift over the same areas as the draggers? Simple: Structure draws fish. Commercial and recreational fishermen ALL work
many of the same areas, and when it comes to fluke, there are seldom any
"secrets".
From what Im hearing however, the Raritan Bay boats have it even worse than the lower shore boats at the moment....everyone hears about the one
or two big fluke being weighed in every week, but have you read of any
limits being caught?
If you've only been a fence-sitter all along with regard to our voted-into-office representatives sticking up for more fair size limits
and bag limits for recreational fishermen, while maintaining large quotas for the commercial guys, its time you wrote your representatives
and asked for action in our favor.
Pretty soon the keeper fluke size limit will be 19 or 20 inches if we don't start pressuring our government to act on our behalves!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF MAY 27TH
to JUNE 3RD
I'm going to keep it short and sweet this week 'cause the bottom fishing is hot right now and The Tampa VII is sailing daily to keep the coolers
filled!
Working on the various wrecks and snags I fish out in 50-65 foot depths is providing limit catches of sea bass to 4 pounds......ling to 3
pounds....and the occasional keeper fluke that's chasing bait down by the rock piles.
Closer to the beach the water temps are still a bit on the chilly side for big numbers of fluke, but as more and more biomass starts flooding
our rivers and bays, I expect the keeper/throwback ratio to improve a
bit.
Blue fishing is starting to get a bit more consistent, for both day and evening trips. Bait is accounting for all the action on gaffing-sized
fish, about 15 miles from the inlet. Last week we ran into some "less than perfect" weather
conditions, and that made for some tough evening trips. The wind also was a factor later in the week.
All in all, on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being poor and 5 being simply outstanding, Id rate it like this:
Bottom/wreck/sea bass/ling.......4.5
Fluke....2.5
Blues........3
Striped Bass.......some days 1, some days 4
That's about it for now...
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report For Week of May 19-27th
Hey Everyone! Fishing in our area is rounding very nicely into a "PRIME TIME" state of affairs when it comes to the various fine-finned friends
we have inhabiting our waters currently!
Striper fishing North of the inlet is hot and cold from trip to trip, day to night...when the conditions and tides cooperate, we can nail
stripers to 20 pounds or better while anchored on clams and bunker chunks. Obviously, the occasional blue inhales a bait designated for
one of those stripers, but we still don't see much striper activity along the beach near our home inlet......
Fluke fishing is starting to get better on the offshore lumps and ridges when the commercial boys
don't wipe them out. We saw a few to 5 pounds
brought up, but the best of that fishing is still to come and I expect it to pop any day now as water temps sneak up.............
Sea bass fishing is "stupid" fishing most days at the moment, with many limits to 4 pounds caught and the Tampa back at the dock early. A few
blackfish to 8 pounds are mixed in on occasion, and yes the occasional fluke or blue inhales a
sea bass clam bait. If you've been waiting to
hear this report, well, GET MOVING and book your trip now!
We also tried a shark trip this past weekend about 30 miles offshore, but big blues were all we could tease to our slick......
Our 4th of July fireworks cruise is starting to book up now. If you'd
like to be placed on the reservations list, or want more info about purchasing
tix, call or email me me ASAP for details!
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF MAY
18TH
Fluke season officially opened this past weekend and ran head-first into a true Nor'Easter which I'm "suspecting" put a bit of a crimp in most
fishing plans. I know it did in mine.
Charters were forced to scratch their heads and wonder when it would "let up", and truth be told I didnt expect wonderful water conditions as
the surf and shallows were ripped up Saturday morning for my charter on Sunday, but after some tough bottom scratching on the shallows North of
the inlet for a NO keeper fluke...some shorts and sundials and assorted other bottom denizens.....I decided to try some bottom snags in 55-60
ft. depths.....and after picking away during some fast drifts on keeper sea bass, it was time to "set the hook" on a piece of rough bottom. WEll
folks.....we bailed 'em! As many keeper sea bass as you could legally take.....all nice sized....all hungry...it was a good, old fashioned
"slaughter" and a great way to start the inshore bottom season off! Even yours truly managed to catch a few to grill at Casa de Gene!
LOL
Water temps were still a bit cool inshore....54 degrees...but that was attributed to the storm conditions...as temps climb, you'll see catches
of fluke increase, and 4 and 5 pound sea bass start taking off!
If you've been waiting for "good news", its here! If you want some of the tastiest critters to use fins, NOWS the time to book a trip for the
early season! We still have a few dates available so reach out ASAP.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
Fishing Report for Week
of 5/13/02
C'mon...admit it.....you've been waiting for some reports right?
RIGHT?!!!
The season is kicking into gear rather nicely on our inshore grounds even as I type this report.....
This past weekend saw some nice-sized sea bass to 3 pounds coming over the rails, along with some blackfish to 5 pounds, and ling to 3
pounds. All the early action has been on clam baits, and I expect this fishing to get better and better as the larger humback
seabass start occupying their favorite inshore haunts in the 30-60 ft. depths...
Now add in the blues that are starting to invade the usual hunting grounds as they force the
Mackeral that never seemed to get tired of our waters off to their summer
grounds.......
ITS TIME TO GET THOSE RODS AND REELS DUSTED OFF, OILED UP, AND READY TO
ROCK!
Make sure you change your line. Remember that monofilment wears down once its subjected to the elements, and you dont want to lose one of those
slab-sized fluke that we'll start chasing this coming weekend. Early
reports indicate an excellent size class of fluke are already making their way into our bays and rivers, and it becomes LEGAL next
weekend!!!!!
Last year the Tampa VII saw more than its share of 4...5...6..and a few 8 pound fluke grace our decks....lets see how many we can coax this
year. Lets see if Joe Boyko Sr. can actually figure out how to set the
hook on "the one that got away" every trip last year.
Remember.....choice dates book fast. Thats always a fact of life. Call or email me now with your charter requirements to discuss booking a
prime date this season.
Tight Lines!
Capt. Gene
.
Tight See what Tampa VII was catching last few season Captain Gene
2001,2000 / 1999 Fishing Reports
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forget to E mail your address to receive special trip offer & Open
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Tight Lines---Captain
Gene |
Tampa
VII complete fiberglass job during the winter of 1999 in North Carolina plus
WINTER 2001 refit
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Charter Rates I Captain's Corner
Boat History I Recent Photos I Directions I
Links I50yrs of Historic photos I Mailing List I NJ Regulations I NJ State Fishing Records I FAQ
Fishing Reports
Tampa Fishing Cruises Inc
PO Box 1001
Point Pleasant, NJ 08742
1-888-31-TAMPA
E-Mail Capt Gene
click below
CaptainGene@tampavii.com
