dales529
06-04-2016, 10:54 AM
Was lucky enough to get the invite again to the Greg Heiser annual Fluke trip. In the past I may have inaccurately portrayed this group as farm boys and may have titled the thread " Fluking with the Shepards" , Fluking with the Hatfields or "Dems Rebs can Fluke" but not going to do that this year. I have grown up and wont stoop to that level of BB. So I wont use Hillbillies or sheep terms oh no I wont.
Greg, Chris, their families and friends I have now known for 8 years and they are the finest community of fishermen who also give back year in year out to SSFFF, RFA-NJ and any other fishing related fundraiser we do. I am lucky to fish with them and have them call me a friend. Great people who are fine fishermen and just class individuals. As typical they let me run a 50/50 and we generated a nice donation to our groups that fight for our fluke.
Left Port at 6AM on a (used to be Sponser) out of the lonely North Jersey Port and headed into Raritan Bay.
Mike (Two Guys Rod) and Chad made up our group. Fishing and catching was great and the weather held off most of the day. Chris Wilson and Danny put on a clinic as usual in the pulpit. I think Chris had 2 keepers before most were rigged up.
I fished between Greg and "Special Eddie" (OK that's accurate:eek:). Eddie is one of a kind. We picked Keepers and shorts early with wind against and minimal drift until the tide change and then it died out for awhile. After the swing the bay came back to life with some great long drifts with some really nice fluke caught along with too many shorts to count , sea robins and a smattering of Blues.
Our group finished with 9 Keepers (3 apiece) to Mikes 6.5 lber which was just 3ounces shy of the pool. Insert "they must have been thick" here. :rolleyes:
Greg was facing humble pie but connected on a few solid fish finally on the the last drift, however I wont mention that the Mrs beat him square!! No wont mention that
Realistically though you had to work the bucktails and baits hard all day and those that did were rewarded. Not sure if Bucktails and gulp out produced bait but chartreuse was the color that worked best for us. I heard the keeper count on the boat was over 80 and many many just short fish. I believe there was three who had limits and most had a keeper to 3. Great to see the bay alive with life and the Sea robins back thick. Great news for the present and future season. Also just a note there was a ZERO mortality rate on the 100's of throw backs, seriously 0. That's good fishermen.
Add in the catered food (3 types of Chicken, short ribs, pasta dishes and best of all a huge platter of prosciutto, olives, parmesan cheese, soprestto, salami) etc . What else can you ask for.
Capt Mike and mates Jessie and Larry did a great job all day as usual
Greg, Chris, their families and friends I have now known for 8 years and they are the finest community of fishermen who also give back year in year out to SSFFF, RFA-NJ and any other fishing related fundraiser we do. I am lucky to fish with them and have them call me a friend. Great people who are fine fishermen and just class individuals. As typical they let me run a 50/50 and we generated a nice donation to our groups that fight for our fluke.
Left Port at 6AM on a (used to be Sponser) out of the lonely North Jersey Port and headed into Raritan Bay.
Mike (Two Guys Rod) and Chad made up our group. Fishing and catching was great and the weather held off most of the day. Chris Wilson and Danny put on a clinic as usual in the pulpit. I think Chris had 2 keepers before most were rigged up.
I fished between Greg and "Special Eddie" (OK that's accurate:eek:). Eddie is one of a kind. We picked Keepers and shorts early with wind against and minimal drift until the tide change and then it died out for awhile. After the swing the bay came back to life with some great long drifts with some really nice fluke caught along with too many shorts to count , sea robins and a smattering of Blues.
Our group finished with 9 Keepers (3 apiece) to Mikes 6.5 lber which was just 3ounces shy of the pool. Insert "they must have been thick" here. :rolleyes:
Greg was facing humble pie but connected on a few solid fish finally on the the last drift, however I wont mention that the Mrs beat him square!! No wont mention that
Realistically though you had to work the bucktails and baits hard all day and those that did were rewarded. Not sure if Bucktails and gulp out produced bait but chartreuse was the color that worked best for us. I heard the keeper count on the boat was over 80 and many many just short fish. I believe there was three who had limits and most had a keeper to 3. Great to see the bay alive with life and the Sea robins back thick. Great news for the present and future season. Also just a note there was a ZERO mortality rate on the 100's of throw backs, seriously 0. That's good fishermen.
Add in the catered food (3 types of Chicken, short ribs, pasta dishes and best of all a huge platter of prosciutto, olives, parmesan cheese, soprestto, salami) etc . What else can you ask for.
Capt Mike and mates Jessie and Larry did a great job all day as usual