MORE BOWFISHING FUN 9/3

Headed back out tonight with Capt Rich and Capt Mike of west wind outfitters, for another great nite of bowfishing for carp . even in the rain and with water clarity less than perfect Capt Mike put us on fish. And we shot a bunch.
we were looking to arrow a giant we saw last night , and believe we did get one quick look at him again tonight , but without enough time for a shot.


This is def an addictive  hobby , and I cant wait till all these storms pass and we have clear water again,

http://westwindoutfitters.com/index.htm

.

BOWFISHING BLAST 9/2

Got a call from Capt Rich inviting me out for a trip to bow fish for carp with his friend Capt Mike of WEST WIND OUTFITTERS. 

http://westwindoutfitters.com/index.htm 

Capt Mike is running bow fishing trips for big carp , and when i heard a could do something combining fishing and shooting a bow I knew I wanted to try it 

The boat is equiped with Mission bows and Mike sets them up for each individual shooters draw and weight before the trip. 

we headed out after dark, on the custom rigged Sea Ark , with its raised shooting deck and were into the carp in no time. 
Rich and I made good on the first four before the misses started , 

But while we missed some we thought should have been chip shots even in deeper water, we made some really good ( lucky ) shots through the night. 

water clarity made it a little tough  to see the carp, so shooting was fast paced when you did, with any hesitation they would slip on  by. 

Not sure how many carp we ended up shooting but the cooler wouldnt shut at nights end. 
Partially due to the biggest one Rich Shot was over 39 pounds. 

I had another big one pulling the boat around before it finally pulled free of the arrow. after taking line from me as fast as if i had hooked onto a passing boat 

we saw a few giants we hope to see in clearer water, and get a chance at. 

was alot of fun, and Captain Mike def worked the boat hard all night to get us on fish. 

anyone looking to try something new that likes shooting a bow, give him a shout, Just be forwarned this is def an ADDICTIVE hobby, as even after getting home after 3AM I was up looking at bow fishing equipment last night, and Rich has already swapped his old XI into a bowfishing rig 

Ended the night with me taking a shot showing Rich how to THREAD THE NEEDLE. 

DROP AND REEL FLUKING 9/1

Had Steve and his son David out for a day of bucktailing for fluke. 

Never have seen so many fluke in every area we fished. Move the bucktail ten feet there was another fish on it/ only was mostly 15-17 inch fish . 

They weeded through the tons of shorts to bring 10 keepers boatside. losing 2 while hesitating swinging , but getting 8 into the box for dinner. 

David was pretty green the first few hours but really hung in there and fished HARD between hurls. catching the biggest fluke just over 5 pounds. 

he also had a cool piebald fluke that was half white on the brown side . 

Non stop action from start to finish , today was def about catching, as the guys had well over 100 fluke in the boat today. 

MORE DECENT FLUKING 8/25

Headed out to the ruff stuff  on Scott's boat with him, Anthony and Ed .
decent drifts with pretty much non stop action through the day. Shorts to keepers was probably about 7-1 .
ended up with 16 nice fluke to a little over 7 pounds and a few nice knuckles added to the bag.

Got to fish the New LEXA 300 and balistic frogging rod again , REALLY like fishing this combo. even drug some bait with it for besides bucktailing with it


Fun day with ALOT of hard core ball busting def made for another great day on the water

we were really hoping to catch a double digit today
Todays 10 pounder took 2 fish to make it, a 7 and a 3

FSOS FLUKE TOURNEY 8/18

Headed out today on Scotts boat with him and Anthony to fish the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh fluke tourney. Super nasty wind and rain to start the day  made for tough fishing. But the fluke wanted to chew, and kept chewing till the sun came out.

Anthony was the first to limit followed by Scott , with me working through alot of shorts to fill mine.
We had over a boat limit today under less than ideal conditions ( only keeping our legal limit) with Anthony's PB of 6 1/2 pounds being our big fish today,
with lots of fish between 4-5  pounds.

Def was ALOT more pleasant to fish after the storms passed and the winds got warm [up]

I got to fish a new bucktail combo today. A Daiwa balistic frogging rod and the new Lexa 300 low profile baitcaster.
Def a nice combo that handled bucktails to 8 oz with ease , and yet is light as a feather in hand.

KNOCKOUT FLUKING 7/28

Fished Scotts marina fluke tourney today . with Scott, Jimmy ,John , and Anthony today . headed out early to the ruff stuff at ODARK thirty. where Jimmy made quick work putting on a clinic and limiting early.
we had a good pick of fish , then started to catch a bunch of shorts as the tide slacked.

when the incoming water started to run it was SUPER clear water flowing in and the fluke really started to chew. scott boxed up next with Anthony soon behind him , both catching a fluke a little over 5 pounds.
John had enough of that and started to catch 2 at a time to start to fill his limit quick  before I had a keeper.
I switched colors on my bucktail and quickly put some fish in the boat.
by our count we had 24 in the livewell with room for one good fish , but decided to count.
we had 24 till Jimmy had two jumpers fly out of the cooler we counted into as he was putting them back in the well.
one making it back into the drink.

Figuring with the bite it was no big deal we started another drift, I hooked up but fell as I swung the keeper into the boat/ Jimmy grabbed the rod and as he lifted the fish Scott had grabbed the teaser to pull it in. only to have the fish shake the bucktail and the pre loaded rod send the bucktail right into his forehead
:(

KNOCKING  HIM OUT COLD.

As well as this team had fished together , now we really worked as a machine .
Anthony revived  Scott with a slow flow of water to his neck , and we made him just stay still . with Anthony supporting his neck , as I drove back to the marina, Jim called 911 and the marina to make sure I would have a clear entry to the floating docks there, and John called scotts wife to tell her to head towards the hospital.
we made our way back as quickly as I could without bouncing him around. to the waiting paramedics , who back boarded him and sent him to the hospital.

Just showed how having fun on the water can turn bad real quick, , and the importance of EVERYONE  keeping a level head.

Scott was cleared  a few hours later, but I can tell he is going to be sore for a few days at best.

we ended up with 23  fluke to over 5 pounds placing third in the small tourney.

.

Decent fluking 7/25

Headed out on Scotts boat with Jimmy and his son Adam to do some fluking in  the ruff stuff. tried a few lumps along the way there that had some shorts  on them . got to the ruff stuff and had pretty much constant action the whole day. Alot of shorts, but Scott and I each limited out , and Jimmy and Adam added another 2, with a bunch more dropped between hand offs.

Biggest of the day was Scotts at about 6 pounds.

Bucktails, gulp and snappers worked equally as well.

I got to try an new light fluke set up . A Daiwa balistic rod  and reel set up that was a pleasure to fish all day. Going to pair this rod up with a Lexa  300 as soon as they are available.
I think it will be alot of fun to fish , with plenty of Back bone when fighting  a big fluke.
Scott was trying the new Black Hole inshore series

.

.

Point Pleasant Elks Tourney

Fished the PP elks yesterday , on Scotts boat with Jimmy and John rounding out the crew. started to prep by penning bait on Saturday so we would not have to worry about it sunday morning.
Day started off BAD with me knowing I had t use sun screen due to being on medicine for lymes and not suppposed to be in the sun.

Knew we would be out fishing a long day so put on some Bullfrog 50 and it jst wouldnt soak in. showed up at the boat looking like BEETLEJUICE.
Got my chops busted pretty bad, but everyone was fishing all day HARD , trying to put a good fluke in the boat.

we had it all , Peanuts, snappers , spot, even Live huge spearing. Bucktails, Gulp , and salmon belly, but just coudnt find a willing taker on any of the lumps that have been good to me before.

Made a long run to fish the ambrose hoping for some nicer water and drift conditions , but it wasnt any better there, with only two shorts being caught .

went back to the ruff stuff , finally having a drift but continued the morning trend of BIG dogfish that were destroying anything we put down there. seemed the lumps were infested with them .

at days end couldnt believe that we hadnt even boated a single keeper, fishing with 4 guys who fished HARD all day that always put fish in the boat.

Then seeing in the truck window when I got back I still looked like BEETLEJUICE , and the crap wouldnt rub off , what a fitting end of the day that was.



congrats to Capt Jerry and the others who made it happen on the right day to do it !!!!!!!!!!!!


Big Thanks to Dakota for going out of his way to add to our bait arsenal for the next bunch of tourneys, saving me a ride to pick it up !!!!!!!!!!

6/30 BUCKTAIL FLUKE

With the boat still in for service Scott let me run his boat around today with him and John looking to bucktail some fluke. Super slow drift till mid afternoon , with alot of shorts being caught per keeper, but put some nice fish to Scott's 7 1/2 in the box. ended with eight keepers plus a few sea bass. We all dropped a bunch of short striking fish today with John dropping  a good fluke he could hardly keep off the bottom , im sure we will be reminding him of for awhile 

DECENT FLUKING IN THE BAY 6/28

Headed out with Jimmy on his boat  last night to see if some engine repairs cured a fuel issue he was having. boat ran good so we bounced around some of the flats in the bay  trying to catch some fluke. had better luck on the higher grounds, and few bites in the channels. putting 9 keepers in the boat, ( with only 8 making thier way into the cooler as Jim lost one while admiring it after he dehooked it and it made its way back to safety.LOL) Jim put on a clinic last night fishing two poles , one dragging bait , the other, bucktailing. while I seemed to master more shorts.

Nicest fish was little over 3 pounds

even the small fish were already nice and fat, a great sign that there is more food around this summer than the last few.

Nice night just getting to fish for a change !!!!!!!!!!!!!

SWEETWATER BREAK 6/27

Since the boat is in for service Steve asked me to come and try fishing out of one his Mokai, on the river for Pike. What a cool way to kayak fish . we made a long effortless run up river then  drifted back downstream hitting all kinds of weedlines looking for pike. we caught a bunch on spinner baits, and a few on texas rigged worms, along with a few smallmouth bass. Was a nice break from fishing in the ocean and an even bigger break on the wallet. as we only used about a quart of gas each ALL night. I can see this may be a toy I need to add to the wishlist as it would be alot of fun on the Delaware.

SUNRISE STRIPERS 6/22

Headed out with Scott at O Dark Thirty  this morning to look for a few big stripers.
 Found some nice fish but not quite what we were looking for. still a fun day out.
 finished bucktailing fluke for a few hours. LOTS of shorts and one keeper , which Scott mugged me with the help of  68 IOWEU1  on the phone

MORNING BITE 6/21

Had Lou, John , Cj and Matt out this morning for bass. Bite was good till way too many boats decided they needed to be in the middle of the schools to try and catch bass. The lack of respect shown today by some of the guys was almost hard to believe. was almost T'd by the same boat twice as he would be running down from the helm to start his charter fishing while the boat drifted aimlessly into the pods. really was surprised that no boats did get hit by that guy.
as he acted as though he was the only boat out there.

Guys caught some nice bass with CJ's first being the biggest today

GOOD BASSING 6/20

Had Steve, David, Smidrow, and Greg out tonight . Steve wanted to see Greg catch his first striper. Not only did he catch the first he caught the first limit of the four man limit caught.

Steve had big fish honors last night, and only 3 bass kept that were bleeding , rest released to fight another day.

SLOPPY FUN 6/19

After canceling a bass trip , due to weather and a lack of evening bass bite the last few days and not wanting to sit at home decided to make a run out on scotts boat to try out some new fluke rods, and some lighter spinners I want to use on the boat.

On the way out to the ruff stuff in building seas we stopped on a pod being harrassed to find big blues crushing bunker.
Caught a bunch of blues getting a feel for the new spinners which will be great . keeping a few for a friend for sharking .

moved into the rubble , but even with a HUGE drift sock the seas and drift just were not going to be good for fluking.
Scott had one short fluke and we decided to just fish for the blues some more.

Move back to the same pod we had been working that had been pinned to a big rock pile to find it was no longer blues crushing them but nice bass.
bass kept that pod tight and we drifted with it for over a mile catching 11 bass.

wanting to not be rude and outfish a guy on his boat I shook off the fish that would have put us at six a piece LOL
besides letting him hold the biggest fish of the night ( I caught) in the double pic .

Was a fun night in sporty seas with NOAA def blowing another forcast , calling for light winds which were HONKING , but nice that some bass came out to play.
2 bleeders were kept , rest of bass released to fight another day

.

BLUEFISH BLAST 6/18

Had Randy and his sons Bret and Jared out last night to bluefish , which is def the best game in town right now. And the big blues didnt disappoint, as they def were on the tear. Jared was stealing the show really beating on them , till dad had enough of the ribbing and caught up pretty quick. but Jare still ended up with the biggest blue of the night edging out the win .

Alot of fun and sore arms listening to a family enjoying a day out made for a great night.

Tried for bass on the few pods of bait the last hour with only one miss

.

STEADY SEA BASSING FOR THE OHIO BOYS 6/16

headed out with Craig and Reece to fish for some sea bass to take home back to Ohio for the family fathers day dinner. Reece wanted to see what a fluke looked like so we made a few drifts catching a few just short fluke, once he saw them he wanted to sea bass . made our way to the reef and had non stop sea bass action , with Reece putting a beating on them against his dad [rofl]

and letting him know every minute he was [rofl]

shorts WAY out numbered keepers, but they caught enough for for a few good meals  before we went searching for something a little stronger to bend the rods. Reece wanted to see his dad get sore catching the big gator blues that have been here for weeks. But it didnt happen as we made a bunch of drifts in different areas only having a few bite offs..

But was great fishing with friends for a few days and seeing Reece def hooked on saltwater fishing , and telling his dad last night he will be ready to come back  as soon as they can

Reece with one of the better sea bass

.