bulletbob
01-15-2016, 11:13 PM
Got back at 10 PM!.. NJ traffic is insane, Goes on forever, from the shore all the way to the Water Gap..
Anyway, Fishing was not great, but a couple fares had as many as 3,some 2 or 1, a lot had none.. Pretty good crowd for this time of year, 25 guys I think... Day started beautifully, light breeze, just enough to hold the boat on the hooks. I started my day with 2 keepers quick, and was figuring I would have over my limit by days end , and would help out guys that caught less.. Those thoughts lasted until the breeze shifted into a stiff steady SE wind, and conditions turned to crap in just a few minutes.. After the wind shifted, I never got another bite all day.. Crabs were coming up in the same condition they went down for the rest of the trip. One of the mates did get a limit, and as stated, other guys had 3/2/1/none.. It was amazing to see how something like a wind shift can totally shut fishing down. I was getting fairly steady hits until the wind went east. I also stayed with greens, which may have kept my catch rate down,although several of the guys using whites got skunked, so who knows... Whites did seem to catch a few more fish over all.. I spent some time in pleasant conversation with an 87 YO fisherman thats still going strong, and looks 15 years younger than his age. It was a pleasure conversing with him about the belmar party boats of 30-40 years ago that we fished on...
Nice guys on the boat, good crew, and Capt Ron was very outgoing and engaging toward this newcomer to his boat.. I assured him I will return to fish with him again... Think I will wait until the spring to come back down.. Togging has got to slow up soon, if it hasn't yet, and ling and cod are too sketchy for me to blow $150 on... Hate to say it, but I am just getting weary of slow fishing once the weather gets cold.. Getting old is all.. Anyway, I suppose I can't complain, I lucked into a couple, and several very good fishermen didn't. Found another boat that I like a lot too, so it was certainly a good experience... Also got gas for $1.61!,,, Thats $.55 a gallon cheaper than here in NY state!... Can't wait for June to be here, I want to go fluke fishing.... bob
Anyway, Fishing was not great, but a couple fares had as many as 3,some 2 or 1, a lot had none.. Pretty good crowd for this time of year, 25 guys I think... Day started beautifully, light breeze, just enough to hold the boat on the hooks. I started my day with 2 keepers quick, and was figuring I would have over my limit by days end , and would help out guys that caught less.. Those thoughts lasted until the breeze shifted into a stiff steady SE wind, and conditions turned to crap in just a few minutes.. After the wind shifted, I never got another bite all day.. Crabs were coming up in the same condition they went down for the rest of the trip. One of the mates did get a limit, and as stated, other guys had 3/2/1/none.. It was amazing to see how something like a wind shift can totally shut fishing down. I was getting fairly steady hits until the wind went east. I also stayed with greens, which may have kept my catch rate down,although several of the guys using whites got skunked, so who knows... Whites did seem to catch a few more fish over all.. I spent some time in pleasant conversation with an 87 YO fisherman thats still going strong, and looks 15 years younger than his age. It was a pleasure conversing with him about the belmar party boats of 30-40 years ago that we fished on...
Nice guys on the boat, good crew, and Capt Ron was very outgoing and engaging toward this newcomer to his boat.. I assured him I will return to fish with him again... Think I will wait until the spring to come back down.. Togging has got to slow up soon, if it hasn't yet, and ling and cod are too sketchy for me to blow $150 on... Hate to say it, but I am just getting weary of slow fishing once the weather gets cold.. Getting old is all.. Anyway, I suppose I can't complain, I lucked into a couple, and several very good fishermen didn't. Found another boat that I like a lot too, so it was certainly a good experience... Also got gas for $1.61!,,, Thats $.55 a gallon cheaper than here in NY state!... Can't wait for June to be here, I want to go fluke fishing.... bob