awful sea bass opener

[bulletbob]

For me anyway,- and for lots of others on the head boat I was on.. Several skunks, and lots of ones or twos... Ground swell all day.. You dropped a high low rig down with clam, and soaked it, moved it around, and 15 minutes later up it came intact, not even bergal bit.. Never saw sea bass so negative.. Fished hard all day, with clam, Gulp, frozen peanut bunker and my tally for the day was an 11 inch ling and one skinny 12 1/2 inch sea bass... Oh and a Pout and keeper size tog that went back.. Capt worked his butt off. I mean he really put the heartfelt effort in, but the fish either weren't there, or just refused to hit. One guy did get 6 I think, but it was a terrible day for most of us on a packed boat. Not bitching, it was just not the day for the boat I went out on. I was going to go to another port, but didn't, but that turned out to be a bad choice as some of the boats reported better fishing than we had..Been a while since I hit the right day.. Hope it happens soon.. Can't complain I guess. One keeper is better than none.. Water looked awful as well.. Brownish with a nasty looking slime on top in some spots... bob

[shrimpman steve]

Nasty looking slime this time of year is usually pollen.

Sorry the fishing sucked. Hopefully you enjoyed the day on the water.

[bulletbob]

Nasty looking slime this time of year is usually pollen.

Sorry the fishing sucked. Hopefully you enjoyed the day on the water.

Thats kind of what I thought, but never saw it so thick.. it seemed to get a bit better as the day went on...
As always, a lot depended on where you were on the boat.. The bow was simply dreadful.. Very few keepers, and not even that many shorts, but we did see several nice tog come up.. Stern was the same,... Guys told me a total of 3 keeper sea bass were caught along the stern all day. Best position was along port and starboard rails midship, but a lot of guys got skunked there too.. Captain tried drifting early on but the currents were too strong, and it was a mess on a packed boat.. He would anchor up and was constantly moving around at anchor- adjusting, repositioning, letting out rope, taking it in, trying very hard to get us on a somewhat consistent bite, but the fish just would not cooperate, not even the bergals... We'll get em next time...

[SplitShot]

The fish like to keep us on our toes Bob .... next time doubles will be coming up all day until your arms are tired..... that's what keep us coming back!!! :D

[milhouse]

Meanwhile a few posts down, a boat had a full limit of sea biscuits by 7:30am. That's what makes fishing crazy

[bulletbob]

One of my biggest problems I think is the fact that I am getting older.. [62 in a few weeks], and I keep looking through the backward lens to the days of full buckets all around,and no great skill set required to catch a few ling or seabass, simply drop a rig with clam down, lift hard when you get a bite, and start cranking... Its been a while since its been like that, and I need to embrace reality!.... bob

[bulletbob]

One of the days highlights was a good size boat maybe 35 feet, comes swooping in right close to the bow while the mates were anchoring.. I mean not another boat within a mile or more, and this guy gets within a few feet.. He got super close, made a sharp turn right in front of our bow and then tore out of there,. Only thing I can think of is he got close enough to "steal numbers".. Gotta feel for these captains.. Decades of hard work, and paying dues on the water, now can be usurped in seconds by any creep with a cellphone... Modern tech, gotta love it... bob

[milhouse]

One of the days highlights was a good size boat maybe 35 feet, comes swooping in right close to the bow while the mates were anchoring.. I mean not another boat within a mile or more, and this guy gets within a few feet.. He got super close, made a sharp turn right in front of our bow and then tore out of there,. Only thing I can think of is he got close enough to "steal numbers".. Gotta feel for these captains.. Decades of hard work, and paying dues on the water, now can be usurped in seconds by any creep with a cellphone... Modern tech, gotta love it... bob

did you get the name of the boat? that's BS

[bulletbob]

did you get the name of the boat? that's BS

No name I could see... they also did their thing and then tore ass out of there... I asked the mate about it and he said boaters are doing it quite a bit these days... Its just laziness.There are mile long lists of "numbers" that a small boater can take fish from, without stealing them from party/charter captains..

[Capt Joe]

" Decades of hard work, and paying dues on the water, now can be usurped in seconds by any creep with a cellphone"

Thats funny! Something "new" going on here?
Every little piss-ant in a plastic urinal has been doing the same shit for years. Aint been "decades" for most of them either.