Seabass Charter Report w/DownDeep! (6/10)

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Last year we booked our first trip with Down Deep ahead of my uncle's major surgery, and it was lights out fishing. This year's charter mark his first fishing excursion post-op, and it almost didn't happen because my aunt (understandably) withheld her consent. It took a combination of my uncle putting his foot down and Capt Mario personally assuring her that Uncle Mike will be 100% safe and comfortable (and that the boat will head back at the first sign of distress) to turn the tide in our favor.

We left Keyport at 7:30am, and steamed out into the ocean. Capt Rob is taking us to his magic numbers:



Uncle Mike, an old pro at bottom fishing, tying up:



Took a long ride out to the wrecks, nautical conditions made anchoring a challenge but deckhand Joe and Capt Rob got it done with the double anchors and off we go.

What followed was the most incredible seabass jig bite I've ever experienced outside of Cape Cod: to my chagrin, I boated over 20 keepers straight with a 1 oz jig + gulp. Unfortunately, they were only picking at the clams...and my uncle is a die-hard bait fisherman.





My cousin Marc (who took all photos with his Sony point and shoot) hooked up this healthy Jersey bacalao:



While I was literally drop and reeling seabass on the jig, the rest of them were picking away with clams, eventually putting together a boat limit of seabass with a couple of huge ling mixed in.





For whatever reason, jig outproduced bait by a wide margin, and with a perfect keeper ratio to boot. My uncle, a very competitive fisherman, vows to master the jig on our next trip!

Capt Mario runs a first class operation, and Capt Rob puts you right over the fish. Deckhand Joe was on point with all mating duties, and the boat itself offers a comfortable platform to fish on even in rough seas: a very important consideration for my uncle's trip. He held up better than any of us after a long day's fishing, and vows to seek his revenge in the Fall...that is, if we can convince my aunt to do another charter!

My uncle's specialty: steamed seabass



Short clip of the jigging action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjIMPIK5YUY

[Down Deep Sportfishing]

Thabk you for sailing with us. That jig you use is deadly, nothing but keepers We look forward to the this fall and fishing with your Uncle again. He is one great man. We are back at it right now.

[Scojo]

Awesome report, sounds like a great trip.