Gr8ful Fish
07-21-2007, 01:08 AM
My buddy, Johnny C. ("Byte Me" on the Barn) just got back from spending 3 weeks working in the CA desert enduring triple digit heat while being forced to wear a flame retardant suit all day. :(
As if the heat wasn't bad enough, what made matters worse for him was that he had internet access from his hotel room at night, so he was reading my BB reports and seeing photos of all of the big fluke I have been hammering in the past few weeks. To say that he was itching to get back out on the waters of Sandy Hook bay for some angling would be an understatement of mammoth proportions.
Took him out on my "Bertha" and we immediately spotted some birds and breaking fish just outside the security zone of the Naval Weapons Station at Earle on the Leonardo Flats. Eager to get Johnny on some quick action, I ran him over, and I positioned the boat for him to be able to throw a jig into the fray. Unfortunately, the fish were up and down quickly after the swarms of tiny peanut bunkers that were fleeing for their lives all around the boat. They also were very keyed on the <1" long peanuts, so they would not hit his larger jig.
Moved around throughout the Sandy Hook Bay area in what can only be described as severe conditions with a stiff NW wind honking at ~15-20 knots and piling up waves that were sloppy and tight together.
Our first stop near the #1 can had very little drift, so I decided we should try some power drifting on the knoll and the SH channel. Power drifting quickly produced 2 nice keepers for me from 18 - 19 inches along with another 19 incher and a just barely 17 incher for Johnny. Put the three bigger ones in the box, and Johnny tossed back the smallest keeper to grow more for next year. :cool:
Thought we had them dialed in, but our "keeper fest" quickly turned into a "short fluke and smooth doggie extravaganza." :confused: Bounced around a few different areas in the SH channel finding more shorts and a few bats before I finally sunk the hook in a good one that turned out to be 23" and 5 lbs. Not long after that one, I decked another that was 22 inches/4.5 lbs. :cool:
Continued picking throughout the remainder of the day with a single bluefish, some bats, more dogs, and a couple of birds.
Later in the day, I noticed some more birdplay between Romer Shoal and West Bank Light. I quickly moved Johnny into position and told him "get ready, because these were big blues when I found them in the same area a couple of days earlier!"
On Johnny's first cast, he hooked up with a good fish that put up a sporting fight on the relatively light casting rod he was using. However, when he got the fish to the side of the boat, we immediately noticed that his "big bluefish" was very white with black stripes. :eek: It was a really nice 25-27 inch surprise striper that we quickly brought aboard photographed and released. :cool: Sadly, as quickly as the bird play appeared, it was gone.
Went back to fluking in the SH channel, Romer Shoal and swash channel areas where we continued to get buffeted by wind, but managed a steady pull of shorts, keepers and other junk.
At the end of the day, we had 10 fluke over 18" in the box (7 for me & 3 for Johnny) along with another 3 or 4 other keepers from 17-18" that we released I had the two biggest of the day at 5 lbs. & 4.5 lbs. :cool:
Winds were brutal throughout the day, but boat traffic was almost non-existant. Water temps ranged from 70 - 76 degrees.
All fluke were caught on squid/smelt, squid/sea robin or squid/brined bluefish strip combos.
Took some nice photographs of the fluke and the striper, but unfortunately, they were with a cheap disposable camera as my digicam took a crap on me during my last outing. ... I will be sure to post them up as soon as I get them developed.
Johnny ended the day with huge smile on his face despite the "victory at sea" conditions that we endured the entire day ... including on our run back to the marina.
In fact, the wind was still whistling through the rods in the T-top as we were cleaning up the boat and unloading to head home. :(
- Gr8ful
As if the heat wasn't bad enough, what made matters worse for him was that he had internet access from his hotel room at night, so he was reading my BB reports and seeing photos of all of the big fluke I have been hammering in the past few weeks. To say that he was itching to get back out on the waters of Sandy Hook bay for some angling would be an understatement of mammoth proportions.
Took him out on my "Bertha" and we immediately spotted some birds and breaking fish just outside the security zone of the Naval Weapons Station at Earle on the Leonardo Flats. Eager to get Johnny on some quick action, I ran him over, and I positioned the boat for him to be able to throw a jig into the fray. Unfortunately, the fish were up and down quickly after the swarms of tiny peanut bunkers that were fleeing for their lives all around the boat. They also were very keyed on the <1" long peanuts, so they would not hit his larger jig.
Moved around throughout the Sandy Hook Bay area in what can only be described as severe conditions with a stiff NW wind honking at ~15-20 knots and piling up waves that were sloppy and tight together.
Our first stop near the #1 can had very little drift, so I decided we should try some power drifting on the knoll and the SH channel. Power drifting quickly produced 2 nice keepers for me from 18 - 19 inches along with another 19 incher and a just barely 17 incher for Johnny. Put the three bigger ones in the box, and Johnny tossed back the smallest keeper to grow more for next year. :cool:
Thought we had them dialed in, but our "keeper fest" quickly turned into a "short fluke and smooth doggie extravaganza." :confused: Bounced around a few different areas in the SH channel finding more shorts and a few bats before I finally sunk the hook in a good one that turned out to be 23" and 5 lbs. Not long after that one, I decked another that was 22 inches/4.5 lbs. :cool:
Continued picking throughout the remainder of the day with a single bluefish, some bats, more dogs, and a couple of birds.
Later in the day, I noticed some more birdplay between Romer Shoal and West Bank Light. I quickly moved Johnny into position and told him "get ready, because these were big blues when I found them in the same area a couple of days earlier!"
On Johnny's first cast, he hooked up with a good fish that put up a sporting fight on the relatively light casting rod he was using. However, when he got the fish to the side of the boat, we immediately noticed that his "big bluefish" was very white with black stripes. :eek: It was a really nice 25-27 inch surprise striper that we quickly brought aboard photographed and released. :cool: Sadly, as quickly as the bird play appeared, it was gone.
Went back to fluking in the SH channel, Romer Shoal and swash channel areas where we continued to get buffeted by wind, but managed a steady pull of shorts, keepers and other junk.
At the end of the day, we had 10 fluke over 18" in the box (7 for me & 3 for Johnny) along with another 3 or 4 other keepers from 17-18" that we released I had the two biggest of the day at 5 lbs. & 4.5 lbs. :cool:
Winds were brutal throughout the day, but boat traffic was almost non-existant. Water temps ranged from 70 - 76 degrees.
All fluke were caught on squid/smelt, squid/sea robin or squid/brined bluefish strip combos.
Took some nice photographs of the fluke and the striper, but unfortunately, they were with a cheap disposable camera as my digicam took a crap on me during my last outing. ... I will be sure to post them up as soon as I get them developed.
Johnny ended the day with huge smile on his face despite the "victory at sea" conditions that we endured the entire day ... including on our run back to the marina.
In fact, the wind was still whistling through the rods in the T-top as we were cleaning up the boat and unloading to head home. :(
- Gr8ful