Established July 1st, 1985

Welcome to a new page where I will try to keep up a running report of what I find during my fishing trips and what I see in the fishing world that affects all of us. If you have questions, comments and general observations or Private messages can be sent by E-Mail and I will try to answer. Please indicate if you would like them posted here.

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January 5, 2010 Welcome to the new year on the frozen tundra, Or at least it looks and feels like it when I look or walk outside.  I'm sitting here at the computer trying to get myself in an indoor working train of thought because there are an unlimited amount of jobs to do, but it is quite a change of venue for me.  This morning I did the first thing and that was to sign up for the National Saltwater Angler Registry.  This is a required registration for the majority of saltwater fishermen, but there are a lot of holes that I feel will allow too many fishermen to slip thru the system without being counted.  I believe that since we are doing this registration we should do it right and that means count us all.

It is very simple and if you are reading this you obviously have a computer in front of you and you have no excuse for taking less than five minutes to fill out the form.  Yesterday Mike Shepard from The Press gave me a call and he was asking what I knew about this registration, which was not much but it did get me to look up the link and fill the form.  I also had the chance to speak with one of the Conservation Officers about this a week or so before it actually went into effect.  It does seem like enforcement will be confusing.  In a nutshell if you are a back bay fluke fisherman you will not need to register.  However if you don't have your registration card and you hook a striped bass you better put it back in the water because you will be in violation.  If you are targeting stripers you will need the card.  If you jump on another boat that goes out past the three mile line for flounder fishing you also need the card.  So avoid the confusion and get signed up.  JUST DO IT!

December 30, 2009, Happy Holidays and welcome winter! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  Things at the Showell household were very good, Santa treated everyone well, but the weather that brought us a white Christmas was not what we needed to keep the fishing going.  Here we are now looking at a new year and a chance to reflect on the one passed.  I am planning on getting a whole 2009 summary done, but for now I'll just spend a few minutes on what is happening NOW.

The cold has slowed the winterization progress for those late season striper fishermen who dropped off their boats last week so I will still be working in the yard for the next couple weeks.  If you have procrastinated I can take care of all your winterizing, shrink wrapping, and storage needs throughout the cold winter months.  Just get your boat to the yard and I'll get right to it.

As far as bait goes I just got done dumping the last of the "rotten" "fresh" bunker and clams off the dock.  My last load of green crabs came in bad shape and died quickly.  It is now too cold to keep them so I'm just about done with any fresh or live tog bait.  I have been getting some calls to that so I guess there are some hardy souls running to the offshore wrecks.  But Friday the limit drops again and since Sea Bass are closed it will be slim pickings on the wrecks. For your best fishing it will probably be hunting for white perch in the rivers and if the weather report for the next week or so pans out we might even get a chance to fish thru the ice at Collins Cove. 

However even that doesn't have as much attraction for me as it did when I was younger. Actually I have a tough time even thinking about being on the water on these cold winter days.  I guess I do have too many days on the Guatemalan Pacific with no wind, hungry sailfish and cold Gallo beer.   Every year my thoughts keep going back to that place and I always hope that this will be the year I get something going again.

But in the mean time I'll just be working on getting the store together for an even better 2010.  I am ahead of the game this year and I already have almost all of my spring stock hung up and if you are doing some winter looking for tackle and supplies be sure to include a stop here in your search.  It's true I am not advertising winter hours, but I am almost always available so if you give me a call you can take plenty of time to look around and we can discuss what your fishing needs really are and how we can come up with the best solution at the most reasonable price. 

I will try to improve the web site and I do plan on bringing back an interactive message board so I can respond to questions and comments.

When March 1st rolls around I'll have all the live and fresh bait in stock and be ready to see the first striper of the season.  I'm sure I'll be offering my rewards as I have the last few years, but we can go into that later. 

In any case I will be getting more thoughts on here so keep coming back and looking.  Once again Happy New Year.

December 14, 2009, It's hard to believe that it is really December. Because today was absolutely beautiful and the fishing was even better.  Kevin and Allen had the luck to pick this perfect day to come with a trip.  A brisk north west breeze had knocked down the chop from the night before, but it looked questionable as I made the first drift in the inlet right at the change of the tide.  I didn't give it much time because I had a pretty good idea what lay ahead on  the outside grounds.  I bee lined for the Brigantine Shoals where I have been doing extremely well.  I had hoped for the big bird play, but the seagulls and gannets were completely absent.  Not to worry because I followed the GPS right to where I had left them on Sunday and we probably didn't have lines in the water five minutes before Kevin hooked up with our first fish of the day.  It was a short but fighting fatty and the good sign for the next few hours. 

It was so calm that the toughest part of finding the fish was drifting into the prime area.  We would pick up occasional fish over a wide area, but eventually we isolated the bait and bass on the top of the lump and had a great time bending rods and eventually filling our six fish limit.  I had put over 30 spot into the livewell and we made good use of them with at least 20 fighting shorts along with the box full.  Spot really seemed to be the ticket.  even half smashed and dead they caught fish as long as we could get them on the hook.  When fighting a fish we were more worried about loosing the spot than the fish.  Several were re-caught in the landing net to be eaten by additional fish.  I did hook two or three fish on my favorite GULP jigs, but today they couldn't compare with the real thing.

I don't know how long this will last, but a day like this is like a Christmas Present even for the guide when you can catch fish like this.  Numbers wise I think this was my best day of the season.  With temperatures of 48 degrees it could go on to New Years, but the cold is going to put a lock on us sometime.  When that happens we won't see fishing of this quality at least until April so If you see a weather window and want to get in on the action give me a call.

December 13, 2009, Yesterday the wind did STOP ! and the fish still are biting ! , Jimmy Hare couldn't have made a better choice of a day to take his brother in law Ray out to catch his first striper.  We started slow about 10:30 because the west wind was still howling.  We were at the exact bottom of the tide and I don't believe I have ever headed out on such a low blow out.  As a mater of fact it was so low that in the area of the first buoys by the AB marker I miss-judged the channel and we watched the windmills turn for about a half hour.  The only good news was as we watched the uncovered bars disappear the wind subsided noticeably.   By the time we were afloat and heading out the inlet the ocean was laid down beautiful. 

I headed out to the exact numbers I had been working the last couple weeks and even though there were absolutely no birds to be found, it wasn't long before Ray was telling Jimmy and me that he was getting bites.  Now we all know that stripers inhale spot not bite them.  But he insisted and a couple minutes later his rod finally bent over and he had his first striper on the line.  Unfortunately it was short of legal, Just, but still short.  Still it proved to me that there were still fish in the area and it was a good omen.  On the same drift Rodney the Rod holder did his thing and we let Ray grab the pole from Rodney and this time he came up with a legal fish.  We were definitely in what would be considered a SLOW PICK and even though it was a while between bites we had enough action to know that we didn't want to move.  I would spot occasional marks on the machine and we would get semi interested fish that would bump the baits and occasionally suck one in.  I suppose with the slow drift we were experiencing they had no rush to attack the spot and would play cat and mouse with them before deciding if they really were ready for dinner.  One time some gulls started getting excited about 1/4 mile to the east and we ran out there.  When we putted into the area the birds disappeared and even though we did have some marks on the machine and one bass stole a spot we didn't get the hoped for blitz.

All in all, except for the missed bites it was a banner day and we ended up with four in the box that would be well appreciated dinners back at Jimmy and Ray's Philadelphia homes.

The evening and the rising tide evidently did bring some fish back into the inlet as Bob and Vicky Piperato reported a couple shorts and a 28" fish for dinner in the rip.  Right now at 6:30 am. as I write this I am kicking myself because it is warmer than it has been in several days and there isn't a breath of wind.  I know the bite at first light would have been great. and even  though the afternoon looks bleak there would have been time to get in a great trip.  I'm supposed to run tomorrow if the weather allows and will try to report on that one.

December 11, 2009, But the wind has to stop! And that isn't supposed to happen until tomorrow.  But the weekend does look like it will work.  I'm planning on giving it a try.  The water in the inlet was still 50 degrees yesterday according to a customer report.  But the creek has shown some ice on the banks with last nights cold.  I did take the last couple days to get all my SPOT into their indoor SPOT SPA and they are happy at least at the moment.  My next move is to get a heater in there because even the shop will go to cold for the spot when it really gets cold.  I do expect the bite to really pick up if this wind ever does give us a break. 

By popular demand I am running a Christmas Sale again this year which is starting today and will run thru the end of the year.  It will run thru the end of the year so you can buy gift certificates and the gifted can get the best prices thru the week after Christmas.  One note on my sale, the Striper season is still underway and If you stop by for bait and a hook or two the sale pricing will not apply.  Sale Pricing on hooks, terminal tackle, rigs and lures will not kick in until the total after sale is $50. 

In any case I will be back with a report after my trip tomorrow and if the weather will cooperate I expect this season to continue at least thru Christmas.

December 7, 2009, When the wind stops the fish bite! Grand pop Harold Mead made a happy grandson today as we were back on the Brigantine Shoal along with some cooperative bass.  The trusty old GPS brought me EXACTLY to the spot I had left them biting on several previous occasions and the SPOT did their trick.  We left the dock early hoping for a big bird play and actually thought we had found it when the Ganats gave us an air show right on the shoal, but there were evidently no bass with them.  However I got on the numbers and drifted the spot and the first drift showed lots of marks on the bottom and the spot were quickly mauled by nice sized bass.  That first drift was a slow one with almost no wind and we kept catching and missing fish as fast as I could net fish and bait hooks.  We probably had three keepers and three shorts on that first drift.  After that I couldn't get back on the mother load, but we had a nice pick for the next couple hours where we filled our three man limit and released several keepers as well as a bunch of shorts before the bass ate more than two dozen spot

Saturday and Sunday were both good days. But not quite as fast.  Saturday was another day in front of the Hotel, not the blitz but a couple nice keepers and a mess of shorts to pull on the line.  Yesterday was another windy one and the fishing was back in the inlet.  Not great but we kept at it picking two nice keepers and a short on the incoming with Dan and Jay and another pair for the box just as it turned and we got a little movement on the outgoing. 

Over all what really has me impressed is that the fish are still big and even today we had surface water temperatures of about 48 degrees.  There is some cold coming, but I am moving my spot into an indoor pool so they will stay happy as long as the fish are biting.  Beyond that I hope I can keep some alive so they are ready for when the season opens up in the spring.  However I would rather move them along so if you are going to fish you really will be looking good if you stop by to take some with you.

December 2, 2009, Spot aren't just for the back bay and inlet any more! It looks like the month of December has started the HOT striper fishing.  After the post Thanksgiving blow I got out Jerry Dipietro out on Sunday morning where we got a good start in the inlet with a pair of keepers and three shorts.  When that bite slowed up we headed out front.  I don't get out in the ocean much but the area in front of the Brigantine hotel has usually been good for me so without any hard reports that's where I headed.  Thanks to the miracle of satellites and modern electronics  I just picked the shallowest spot on the Brigantine shoal and started drifting Spot.  The top of the lump didn't hold anything, but as we started sliding off the side Jerry had his spot banged and it started!  We would drift from 12' to 20' and we had constant bites on the slope. 

Whenever the depth finder showed fish we hooked up.  It was amazing that before we hooked a fish there were a couple very scattered boats in the area and within a half hour there were at least twenty making exactly the same drift as well as some trollers crisscrossing the area.  It seemed like the trolling was resulting in some shorts and lots of bluefish but those fishing spot like us were the ones getting constant bass action.   Jerry had his bonus card so we brought home five nice sized bass a couple slammer blues and released more than we kept.

On Monday the south wind that was building the day before got stronger and the inlet was the color of cafe con leche and only one short and a swing and a miss came out of there.  It took some looking around but I finally found some clean water and scattered fish up in the Little Bay area and drifting the banks paid of again for Ed and his clan.

Friday probably would have been a great day but my trip canceled and I didn't make it out.  Not to worry I've got plenty of winterizing and shrink wrapping to do in the yard.  But the off day let me help Ray catch up so If you need your boat prepped for winter we can now do it almost immediately.  We did so good that Ray snuck off early and drift a couple spot himself.  I believe these are the first two keepers he had a chance to catch all year. They came from the ICW around the 175 marker so it looks like the fish are moving in.

Finally I get to today's action.  It looks like the school migration is ON! Ron Quillam brought a crew down from PA and we were in the inlet at daybreak The tide was still running in hard and I made several drifts.  Since I wanted something a little faster I headed out to Brigantine Shoals where I had left them biting Sunday.  The sun still hadn't quite broke the horizon, but there was plenty of light to see the cloud of birds right on the mark I had left a couple days before.   I stopped so the wind would blow us toward the action, but we probably didn't get fifty feet before two of the rods bent over with nice fish.  By the time we got those fish landed and we re-rigged the marks were off the machine and the birds were balled up a little farther up the shoal. I repositioned and the exact scenario replayed. This time the birds made a departure not to be seen this morning.  Luckily the fish didn't and we worked the drop off and stayed in constant action. 

I had filled the live well with over three dozen lively spot and we fed every one to hungry bass.  Most of them resulted in solid hook ups with fish in the 27" to 32" class.  with a majority over the 28" keeper line.  The lunker of the day went 17 1/2 pounds.  We had only one bluefish hooked but he chomped thru the 40# leader along side the boat.  Everyone was well worn down by that time and we headed in with a nice limit to take back to freshwater locked Philadelphia.

When I came back thru the inlet I was surprised to see the inlet jammed with boats.  Evidently when the tide turned there the light switch lit up the bass.  From customer reports everyone caught fish and plenty of them.  My live well was empty so I didn't get a chance to see how good it was, but with the water temperature only touching 50 degrees I think that this is just the start of the school migration thru our area.  If you enjoy bass fishing I hope you haven't put your boat away yet because the very best is yet to come.  Unfortunately tomorrow looks like a blow out, but the weekend looks more than fishable.  Maybe a little on the cool side, but it is December. 

I will be open every day and stocked with all the bait an trolling and jigging tackle you could possibly need until New Years so just stop by and go get 'em.  I will also be hauling, storing and winterizing boats right on thru so if you are getting rushed to block your boat for the season give me a call and I'll keep you fishing and probably save you some money as well.

I'm looking forward to catching these fish as long as they hang in here .  I do have plenty of open days thru December so If you want to make a trip and the weather looks good, give me a call.  If I'm open I can leave the dock with only minutes notice.

November 28, 2009, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I just sort of relaxed it out with the family and it looks like we haven't even begun to eat turkey.  Actually it does because the carcass is in the soup pot as I write this.  I can't have striper because the wind sort of beat me to a pulp yesterday and I finally had to throw in the towel without a fish.  It was bad and today is looking at least as bad so I called this one.  But I believe that this will be the start of the school bass in the back bay and the inlet.  The west wind should flatten out the ocean and let the schools of bass push the bait into the bay.  But tomorrow will tell much of the story and I will be there. 

If the ocean is flat it will be a good day to look for birds and schooling bass.  There have been reports all along the beach front before thanksgiving so if it is calm it should be time to find the fish.  I would like to note that I just was made a dealer for the Strike Point Tackle umbrella rigs that look exceptional.  If you are planning to do some trolling they really might be the ticket to turn on the bite.  It takes longer to explain them than to click over to his web page and see just how good they look.  They are made strong to handle even tuna so you know they will hold up to the biggest bass.  www.strikepointtackle.com

As to pre- Thanksgiving fishing I made a run to the Mullica on Wednesday and fished with the bunker.  We did pick two nice keepers out of there, but we never found the blitz.  On the way home the back of Little Bay supplied another keeper so it was a good day to swim the Spot.  Wednesday brought 5 shorts and one excuse for a slammer that cut the line on the outboard motor.  Most of the fish came in the inlet and I truly believe that the schools will invade after this westerly blow and we sill have fantastic December fishing.  I'll be out tomorrow and try to get a report here.

November 23, 2009, I can't believe 10 days have past since I got a chance to write a report.  So much has happened that I won't get it all but here's a short summary.  The Do It All Night tournament took another hit from the weather as was announced below and even though conditions were tough there were lots of fish caught and all those who participated at least had a great time fishing and that is the most important thing.  Results are here see the Pictures

I went to my final big distributor show to finish my buying for 2010 and it looks like it better be a good one because I found a great deal of great products so I'll be stocked up better than ever.  That load should be in shortly and I have also been unpacking my previous order so my shelves and pegs are completely full of everything you will need for the late fall stripers and everything you will want to get a start at stocking up for spring.  I've expanded several departments.  For the Surf fisherman Tica has come out with a great looking line a little less expensive than the previous models and I have all them in stock.  I have greatly expanded my stock of Penn reels, they really look good now that they are settled in with Pure Fishing.  I've also tried stocking the Daiwa line once again and have many of the popular models in stock.  These are particularly hot with the surf fishing community so I suggest you give them a look.

I've made some additions to my Striper Trolling lures and equipment.  With the warm temperatures we've been having there are still lots of schools of adult bunker still in the area and I have a full line of the Tony Maja Bunker Spoons in stock as well as his Out-Rodders to help you pull them.  Also you won't find a better selection of Mann's Stretch lures anywhere.  I have an array of colors in both the 25's and 30's.

Now back to the fishing for at least a few lines.  On November 17th I had a charter group call out sick, but I wanted to see how the fishing had held up since the storm so I grabbed three of my best buddies, My son Kevin and Truffle and Angel.  We had a quick but great trip. I caught the first one in the Inlet, Kevin hooked up in Clam Creek and I added one more right after. That was enough for dinner and then some so I headed back to the waiting boat yard work.  Since then the fishing has been extremely good, but I wouldn't quite go so far as great, unless you find the bunker and the hungary fish then.  Fantastic would be the word.

November 13, The Tide is High and I'm moving on...  This weather is completely impossible.  The last weekend was great and the weather report for the week thru this weekend and the "Do it All Night" tournament was looking fantastic, then this hurricane decided to get into the act and screw everything up.  Right now the tide is as high as I've seen it in quite a few years.  It's just touching 6 am and it should be peaking right now.  All the boats look ok and since this yard is higher than you would think it is still a long way from coming inside.  Still I think there will be a lot of problems somewhere. 

As far as the tournament goes, the weather report for Saturday still looks fishable even though I figure we will have a very high tide Saturday morning so there won't be much sense of getting too early a start.  I don't expect a blitz but I know that there will be fish caught so someone will bring home the prizes.  I would imagine we will be looking at some messy water so chunk bait is probably your best bet.  I do have plenty of clams, I got lucky and ordered 20 bushels from the last boat out before the storm.  I also loaded up with fresh bunker before the storm and have them sitting as cold as possible to keep them in the best possible condition.  who knows when anyone will be able to get out and fish for bunker or clams.

Before the storm we were looking at some good Striper fishing.  They were just about everywhere from the ocean to way way back in the bay with some real nice sized fish mixed in.  I weighed in a few over 30 pounds during the week.  I know I'm ready to get out again.  I missed a whole week with a mix up over monday and tuesday's charters and the weather blowing out.  I'm trying to sneak out on a sunday charter to do some experimenting myself.  After that I have a big wholesale distributor show on Monday so I can stock up the store with all the latest goodies from all the manufactures,

Next on the agenda is to get this tournament running good and weigh in some fish.  I'll post results and pictures as soon as possible.

November 6th, The Wind didn't forget to blow, but... The fish didn't forget to bite.  I got out early to the inlet this morning with Dick Fedder and his two sons and we did manage to slam fat bass before the wind became completely unbearable. Actually seven keepers up to 18 1/2 pounds and one short caught by yours truly. Finally we figured we had enough beating and we wanted to get somewhere calmer to eat a sandwich.  Clam Creek by the Borgata was a good calm place, but our drift thru there brought two more keepers and a short so it was hard to get the sandwich down.   we did a little more poking around before just being completely blown away and added a few more shorts to the total.  ( keepers and 6 shorts and back to the dock on the windiest day possible tells me that the fishing is as good as it gets. 

Yesterdays trip was just as good if not better.  Brian Grobelny and Gene Szymkowiak came down from Philly to experience the bite and we got into the inlet early enough to beat the crowds.  The bite was hot and the fish were big.  We put five in the boat and then when the boat numbers became almost unbearable we shot down the beach looking for the golden trail of bunker.  No good on that count so we went into wreck inlet and found our last keeper and a release fish in Little Bay.    A short came out of Broad Creek and we released another good one back in the inlet to make sure they were still going to bite on the outgoing. 

We left them biting and there were lots of great reports throughout the day.   Including Vicky's husband Bob who came out with the big one on the Fishical Therapy four fish limit. Capt. Tony our most irregular of regulars brought in his limit on the clam and even broke the 20 pound barrier for the first time this year.  Lots of pictures are up so check them out!  Fall Pictures

November 4th, PM after the limit, Dave Morris made a solo run today and it was a great one.  The bite was in the inlet and on SPOT.  We picked four on the incoming tide then had a slow turn around, but they started biting as the outgoing got to ripping and Dave filled out his bonus card.  I don't think the overall bite was as good as yesterday, but we did see fish being caught when we left.  We made a couple stops on the way back, but for some reason I haven't found much in the back the last couple days.  That should change as we are on this nice weather stretch and have the north west predominating for the rest of the week.

I just got a flash that Mike Brennan and Sonny Conover hit it LARGE in front of the Brigantine Hotel in a school of Bunker with this 44 pound beauty and the 24 pounder came from the inlet right at the top of the tide.

BTW the Spot I got in this morning are beautys, but they may be the last I see for the season so unfortunately there are no price breaks after the $35 a dozen.  But the good news is that I do have SPOT.

November 4th, 5:30 am and excited to go ! Yesterday the inlet finally turned on, not on fire but a definite light showed up for just about everybody fishing here.  Steve Goshard brought down his Outback Steak House Crew from PA and with six people we had to split between two boats.  I got a hand from Kurt to use his past experience to take half the crew and they raced to the Inlet where they hooked up almost immediately.  I stopped on the way and we missed a couple of hits around mankiller, but when we got the news of the inlet bite we headed over.  The tide was still coming in and we hit a nice keeper on the first drift.  we then dropped a fish or two and then picked up another right by the green can slow trolling with the electric motor.  It seemed to die completely so I headed to the Flagship where the outgoing had already begun.  The swell coming in from the previous storm made it a bumpy drift, but before I could call it off and head back Steve hooked up with a nice fish and we had to fight a frisky 15 pounder in the slop. 

After starting the outgoing back at the cans it looked like the cabbage would win and things were slow so I did my hunting in the back.  For some reason the bass seemed to desert the haunts I had been finding them in.  Since the parties were testing back and forth it seems that the bite picked back up in the inlet and Kurt had picked up several more including 3 more keepers.  I finally did manage another fish for the box and in total the group took home 8 beauties.  The other boats were hooking up pretty well according to Kurt and as usual the spot was the bait of choice. 

Speaking of Spot, I have a truck on the way in as I write this so my supply is solid for the future.  unfortunately I won't be able to offer any quantity discounts at this time. 

November 1st 2009, It's Striper Month!, Well I had good intentions to get a report, but I also had more work so actually this is a November 3rd early morning report.  The weekend was a little slow.  Saturday Dan Potkay and Jay each caught keepers and Pat just couldn't get the hook in anything.  To make maters worse I was trying to help him and I couldn't hook up either.  I missed  five good hits so there are fish around, but it wasn't my day and Pat even had one pick up a spot and run back under the boat, but still managed to miss the hook.  Jay still takes the best pictures I get and it's great to see how good a fisherperson she is.  It looks like she willl be getting a FisherGirl (click for web site) ensemble for Christmas if she has her way.  If you have a special Fisher Girl in your life stop by and see the hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts along with rods and reels that this company has put together in PINK. www.fishergirl.com

Sunday the wind didn't forget to blow and even with the trolling motor fishing was tough.  We only managed one fish and that was at the end of the day.  BUT we did get one! and as you know yesterday was a blow out again at least for sane boaters, and I have to be sane.  However I had several reports that the beach was on fire from the North end of Brigantine to O.C.  In the evening the wind calmed down and started from the west.  It is supposed to blow a bit today but I feel we need the North West and I think that this might just be what brings the bait and the bass into the inlets and hopefully right into the bays.  I'm heading out with a double trip in just a few minutes and I hope to get some pictures and a good report very soon.

The clam man finally showed up, or should I say one of the clam men.  this bad weather has made it tough to get enough clams, but the west wind will also let them work so I hope to have my cooler filled for the rest of the season which hopefully will last thru the end of the year.  I'm still waiting for my next spot delivery, but I do have plenty and the word of a good man that plenty more are coming.  However it doesn't appear that there will be much of a price break unless someone has a big truck and makes a long haul from much farther south.  Still the clam bite has been better than the last couple years already and I am going to start stockpiling a secrete weapon for the late season inlet bite.

October 27, 2009, The Rain and the Fish Continue! Yesterday was one pf my last catch up days before I really get into the swing of finding these bass.  I'm putting the boats away, but I still have plenty of room so give me a call for any of your winter storage and winterizing needs,  I personally guarantee it will be done right and at the right price. 

But more important I fought the rain this morning with Ron Quillman and company this morning and despite a pre dawn start it was a slow one.  I hoped that this would be the day that the fish hit the Absecon inlet and I did a few drifts at the bridge and along the rips as well as some of my inside spots.  NOTHING, so even though the rain and north east wind were in my face I went north.  Finally we GULP'ed a 29" fish in the back of little bay to kick the skunk out of the boat, but that wasn't the start I hoped for.  So run again to the back of Little beach and drift the Great Thorofare holes.  We did pick up a short and a couple misses, When we came to the intersection of Little Mud there was a school of bunker in the area.  While the crew drifted spot I tried to snag one for bait.  When I hooked up the supposed bunker took off for the inlet and though a bit confused I kept the line tight and eventually landed a 25 pound bass hooked in the side.

More bass were showing on the fish finder and it wasn't long until Ron hooked up with one on the spot.  And it kept going. Total was 5 fish under the bunker school, all on spot, but I had one great surface attack on a snagged bunker but i tried to pass off the rod to a crew member before I set the hook and the bass managed to get rid or the treble.  I'm looking forward to my afternoon trip tomorrow but the weatherman is making it sound even worse than today.

Besides the great day I had today there have been a whole lot of fish coming in to the scale the last few days.  Frank Hannum had a 41 pound beauty yesterday fishing with Bill Scull.  Down in Great Egg inlet Mark knapik has been doing a job on the Pipe Wrench with his buddy Doug Petroch and they each have brought in a 25 pounder

If you want a chance to get in on the fishing with me I suggest you hurry since my days are filling up fast.  At the moment I still have next monday the 2nd open, but after that there is nothing until the 10th and 11th.  With the great start we're looking at I expect a great season.

October 24, 2009 Windy, Rainy again! But the fish are here.  I have wanted to get a report out since last tuesday when I started the season with Dave and Jimmy and after a long day Jimmy finally hooked up on the home stretch and battled a 22 pound beauty to the boat. And here in the store the weigh-ins have started.  check the pictures to see what else has showed up. I didn't make it out again until Thursday when 10 year old Katie took her dad out for a day of striper fishing.  The weather was great and we found a consistent bite of fish almost everywhere we tried.  Katie didn't last too long on the rod when fighting but she kept coming back for more and we had a great day bringing two keepers to the net and four more short releases.  We did hook up with a great fighter but that one managed to pull dad's hook and is still swimming for someone to catch..  With the first two trips under my belt I am very confident that every trip will be a great one.  I've been busy here in the store and in the yard trying to catch up with the winter storage boats since starting next week I'll be fishing just about every day and Ray and Kurt will be on tough duty in here.  If you want a trip I suggest that you call soon since the days are filling up.

I got my Pure fishing and Shimano orders in so I have just about everything you could possibly need for striper fishing.  Even better the spot man promised me a full load so i should be in great shape with those fantastic little baits throughout the season.  I've been having some problems with the web site so I hope I get this uploaded.  I'll try to continue this soon

October 19, 2009, The Weather is here! It only started Thursday but I thought that the northeaster would never leave.  This should have been the first weekend of a real effort by striper fishermen, but it was a blow out.  Was there a good side? I'll find out tomorrow when I make the first official striper trip with Dave Morris and the regular suspects.  There was a constant buzz around the store and I got a good start on entries for the "Do It All Night Striper Tournament" which is now less than a month away.  See who got in at the following links and if you want to get a shot at the additional $100 gift certificate get your entry in before the end of October.  Boat Anglers List, Land Anglers List 

Friday Morning I unloaded another 2,000 beautiful SPOT and now I am happy to report that I can bring my price back down a notch to $3.00 each or $30 a dozen.  I also have a confirmed load coming in so if you want to stock up I am pricing them at $2.25 each for 100 or more.  I know it's not cheap, but they are healthy wild fish that are perfect size to keep in cages.  If you are of the school that believes that big baits catch big fish like I am I have special jumbo sized baits at $3.50 each or $35 a dozen. 

For now I have to get to the ton of outside work that has piled up with the bad weather and get ready for the Safari season which officially kicks off tomorrow.  If you are thinking of making a trip be sure to call asap because the phone has been ringing and the calendar is filling up.  BUT don't hesitate to call even at the last minute because cancellations happen and I do have a good feeling about the upcoming season.

October 15, 2009, IT STARTS, Yesterday I thought I had a decent report and almost got it up after my short trip and two fat shorts in the back.  I fished one of the closest cuts to the Absecon channel and fed them spot to put the first two bass to the boat.  I was on a report from John Fish that he had a small blitz on tuesday, on the ICW up to 30".  I'm glad I waited because last evening I got a call from Farm Market Joe to keep the door open and warm up the camera.  Here's why.  Joe and Sean Fox found the big boys bustin' bunker in the inlet after spotting up a nice 30+ inch fish back on a sod bank. 

It looks like the weather will put a damper on the weekend, but I think it will be the key to giving the northern fish the push they need to bring them down to our back yard.  So It's official the season is underway and I will be looking to fish every day starting Monday.  So if you have a hankering to get your rod bent give me a call and set up a trip today, because my days are filling up fast.

October 12, 2009, I know that this just ain't  right jumping from mid summer to Mid-October with my reports, but I'm going to try something different and that is to get the highlights on the first page of the web site so that every time i log on I'll have it looking at me and try to get something new up here.  In any case here we are at Columbus day and the weather definitely has a feel of fall in it.  I've been trying to fill my bait tanks and this year there was a lack of local spot to catch and the mullet did a great job of avoiding me.  There are some reports of corncobs still hanging around and I hope to catch some of these speedsters before I give up the baiting and get down to serious striper fishing.  Just because the local bait catching was off don't worry I've got a great supply of SPOT coming up from the south and as always my EEL man is catching and delivering all I want.  Despite any news to the contrary the Clam Boat is getting out and bringing all I need so BRING ON THE BASS.  

Which brings us right to the meat of the mater, Stripers!  The reports are just about normal for this early October time period.  The surf is where the first fish always seem to show up and several of the hard cores have been bringing in keepers and shorts.  Bill Chamberlin has brought in a couple that have been just short of what is needed to register for the Atlantic County Surf Fishing Derby.  And John McLaughlin, the owner of Atlantic City Sea Tow has been making the beachfront just about every morning.  Poppers seem to be doing most of the catching in the surf.  The bait dunkers have been bothering a lot of sharks, but the worm sales have finally picked up with the kingfish bite. 

The back bay bite is starting, I haven't had the chance to see for myself but out of this marina Sean Fox has been  catching keepers along the ICW at several of the regular spots.  I'm figuring the end of this week with the tide high early in the morning will be my starting point.  As usual the best fishing will start about the end of the month.  To see how good it gets I suggest you take a look at the web video show I shot with Bo-Higbee last October 30.for "Fishing The East".   The fishing had been good up to that point, but the day before was a blow out North West wind and it was still COLD and windy, but it was the only chance to shoot so we went and thank the great mother striper we did!  Only one other boat was in the inlet when we got there and he was hooked up when we came past.   A definite good sign.  As soon as we stopped Bo's Brother started rolling the camera to show us baiting up with the SPOT and you will see how quick it was until Bo hooked up the first fish.  From there it just got better and you will see great action with plenty of double hookups and nice sized fish. 

The only problem with the day is that Bo didn't realize how cold it was and how windy.  He wasn't exactly dressed for the weather so as soon as we had enough film in the can for a show he was ready to head for home.  I told him that ain't how it works in a blitz and we did make a couple more drifts to give his brother , the Camera man a chance to catch his first limit of stripers and me a chance to fight a couple more as well.  So take a half hour to see some great striper fishing here. "Fishing The East"   If you want to get in on some of this kind of live bait fishing don't hesitate to give me a call.  My calendar is filling up fast, but there are still plenty of holes in it to find you a trip.

As to other fishing world events you probably have heard that the Sea Bass season has been shut down in federal waters and since it is almost impossible to catch legal bass inside the three mile line we have lost a traditional fall, winter and spring fishery.  This along with the flounder foolishness is putting a serious crimp in our fishing possibilities.  It looks like I will be getting more involved with the RFA and they will begetting a Nj chapter together and putting more pressure on the government to put some sense in our fishing laws.

Now back to the work of keeping this place going, but I will ask you to come back and check the web site and if you don't see a new report up at least every week do  little bitching and I probably will do a little more typing.

August 5, 2009, Weakfish Time has begun, Wow that was a long absence and a lot of work since I wrote anything down.  It has been a good season but the 18" flounder size limit has taken a big hunk of fun out of the fishing lately and the response by the average angler has been to back off and find some other activity to do.  I plan on writing a lot more on that later, but right now it is time to be upbeat and let you know what has been good.

Weakfish appears to be the bright spot.  Everyone always seem to want them to get in earlier than usual, but now that August has come around there seems to be a nice bite building in the deeper holes along the ICW.  I spent the last couple days dunking GULP topped with shedder in Main Marsh and released a load of spikes but put four nice ones in the boat each day.  On Tuesday Greg Lauk and his girlfriend did the honors with nice 3 and 4 pound class fish.  Yesterday Budd Luzzi took his 9 year old sons  on their first saltwater fishing trip.  A careful count showed that they landed a total of 50 fish. Over 30 were weakfish with 4 keepers, 3, 15" fish and a 18" lunker.  There were about 10 flounders with two keepers including a nice 4 pounder.  The rest of the catch was sea bass, snapper blues and sea robins.  They had a great time and I'm sure it wont be the last time they hit the salt

Even though I was concentrating on the weakfish the flounder bite still seemed pretty good.  The most important thing is to fish the edges.  Not the deep and not the shallows, and make sure your fishing at the top of the tide.  There is only four weeks of fluke fishing for the season so you better get out there.

May 28, 2009 PM: Bass Still on the attack! I had the Dave Morris regular crew out today and we had a steady pick throughout the entire incoming tide.  Shorts outnumbered the keepers slightly and we did have about 8 spot shortened by the bluefish.  But since we planned on fishing hard we had loaded the well with three dozen candy bars and used them quite well with 6 keepers up to 17.5 pounds.  We  were fishing mostly near the inlet in the Mankiller area, but I made a last minute stab at Meadow Cut and was pleasantly surprised to find a good body of bass still hanging out way in the back.  It looks like the stripers are on the move and hungary and right now even though the SPOT is the bait of choice we should see some great sod bank Popping starting soon.

May 28, 2009: BASS FISHING ON FIRE, GIANT FLUKE, It has been a busy couple of weeks and I know I should get out more reports, but the season is coming together.  I pretty much had to get a report out as there is too much going on.  I didn't get out with any charters during the sale week I hope you were in to take advantage of it, Yesterday I got Gene from Iowa out with his family and having been off the water it took a little looking but I found us a nice pod of fish in Mankiller Bay and we had a ball boxing 5 keepers and releasing even more shorts.  When I hit the dock they were waiting with a flounder that beat all my stripers and brought the scale to 15 pounds. 

May 11, 2009,  The Weather is here, The Fishing is Beautiful !,  After a true blow out, rain out day on the 7th a break finally came thru on Friday.  I had Tom Newman and his nephew fishing.  The only slight difficulty was that I had to leave the dock and make my way out under instruments as the fog was as thick as it gets.  Thanks to the satellites we made it out to the Mankiller area and poked around and finally found the first fish at Little Panama.  It was another of those fish that just wont spread past the 28" mark.  I kept looking and the bite was too slow for my liking so when the fog lifted enough, I headed back into the back and made a stop at Meadow Cut.  I made my regular drift and was almost past my "hot spot" when a HERRING was eaten and a keeper hit the deck.  I kept the drift going and we did it again.  It was a hot hour and we had  four in the boat up to 17.5 pounds.  When the bite dropped off I did some looking around and really couldn't match that success. 

Saturdays are really tough for me to get out on a charter, but Ray Marinara talked me into it and I found the same bite on a beautiful morning.  Ray caught his first striper a 27+" fish, at the ever popular 178 and we missed a couple others there.  When it wasn't hot I ran back up to check out Meadow Cut where I had success the day before and we repeated almost exactly.  The bite died just about the time we ran out of HERRING and we sat the last hour with Clams and only got a couple fat sand sharks to show for that effort.

As I am writing this I am looking at a beautiful day and I didn't have a charter so I'm stuck painting boats and doing paperwork.  I'm also selling a LOT of clams as the bite on the beach has been on fire for the last couple weeks and shows no sign of stopping soon.  All the fish I've cleaned still have eggs and I've had reports from Saturday that there were a good body of fish that were heading up the Mullica and the bite was on and the spawning is still taking place.

Notable by there absence have been the bluefish which are usually a staple for mothers day.  Through all the live bait fishing I've done I still haven't lost a HERRING tail.  Not that I really care when I'm in a bass fishing mode, but there is nothing more fun than to head up to Great Bay  and cast poppers on the Egg Island Flats for fish up to 12 pounds on every cast.  Yesterdays big west wind and todays calm may give the choppers a chance to chase the bait into the bays and we might see some real action shortly.

May 6, 2009 "IT STARTS" The Bait and Fish are Here! The weather man scared off my potential charter this morning threatening rain for the morning.  The rain turned out to be only fog and mist with no wind at all.  By the time Ray came in at 8:30 I knew I'd have to give it a try.  I made a quick run to "Straight Place" and let the dogs have a run on the marshes.  I put out a pair of HERRING and trolled the boat thru this narrow channel.  As soon as I hit the 15' hole one rod went off and I thought I had dinner, but when I put it on the ruler there was still daylight between the tail and the 28" line.  By the time the fish hit the deck and I picked up the other rod a bass hit the other HERRING.  I pulled the bait out of his mouth, but a couple chased it to the top so I just gave it a toss and it got eaten almost immediately.  Again another 1/2" short, but I did have the fish in the barrel.

I pulled the boat to the bank and got out with the dogs and threw lures off the bank.  I did get one follow, but no takers so I went back to the boat for another HERRING and tossed it off the bank.  It was eaten almost immediately by a good fish and I had some good help with my helper Truffle I beached the fish.  I had my camera with me so I got a few photos of the action. 

I finished up my limit on the next deep hole in the thorofare with a 4 fish  for 4 HERRING ratio.  I changed areas and blew my perfect game at the 178 marker where I got a hit and a miss and lost my last HERRING.  But I'm eating Striper for dinner tonight and confident that tomorrows trip will be great.

April 15, Tax Day and Rain Again, The fishing is probably HOT right now, but the weather isn't and it is hard to fight the rain.  Sunday Ray and Tony kicked off the Tog the Bridge and hide from the cops season with five nice ones.  Striper reports have been coming in steady, but only a few hard cores have been trying.  Finally the weatherman is giving a good weekend so I expect things to break loose.  The Rivers and the River mouths are still the hot spots and the fish are moving up fast so it is hard to pin down where to catch them.  The best bet is keep moving or set up with clams and chunks of HERRING and intercept them.

Fishing Gulp for Stripers:  I usually use the GULP jerk shads even though I feel the action of the 6" grubs are actually more attractive. The problem with the Grubs is that if there is a bluefish in the entire bay he will find it and clip off the tail and the Gulp is expensive.

I personally use a 3/4 oz kalins ultimate jig head. You see the grub in the picture is a customer and he likes the extra body of the bucktail. I don't feel it's necessary and the barb on the kalins head keeps the bait intact much longer.

I fish them swimming as little as a foot below the surface and can slow bounce the bottom over 20' deep with the same head. Not much action is needed and drifting the inlet many bass can be caught just deadsticking a GULP on the bottom.

As to color I like all the colors as long as it's char truce. I believe high visibility is most important when fishing GULP because if you can get the fish to see it and get them within the scent zone they will eat it!
 

April 12, 2009... HERRING RANT, Late winter and early spring is a tough time in the bait and tackle business, especially at the Jersey Shore.  February a couple perch fishermen ventured out and I can sell a grass shrimp net or two, Finally March 1st opens striper season, but bass are few and far between.  There are few things that can be done to actually improve the bottom line at this time.  One thing that I have learned to do is to stockpile live bait for the HOT striper fishing that will come in late April and May.  The live bait of choice is HERRING.

I have been catching and selling live HERRING ever since the striped bass recovery brought about the demand.  For those of you that can remember Striped bass were for all practical purposes EXTINCT in South Jersey waters just a few short years ago.  With the comeback of the striped bass there also came the comeback of live lining HERRING  in the rivers and back bays.  Back then there was no real restrictions or they were not enforced.  In any case everyone has to remember that HERRING have been captured in the South Jersey Rivers since the only inhabitants were Indians.  They have been the primary fertilizer for South Jersey farms since the first native American buried one under his corn plant.  Farmers have taken them out by the horse drawn wagon load and later by the trailer load to farms all over the area.

As the HERRING harvest became more under control and there was a limit and restriction on sale out of fresh water, I was actually informed by a NJ Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officer how I could obtain a Fresh Water Unlimited harvest bait license for HERRING, which I did and for two years I took HERRING from the Mays Landing Dam and the Train Trestle areas.

When the state stopped issuing fresh water commercial bait licenses,   I began buying HERRING legally caught in fyke nets by a commercial netter in the Mullica River and also began fyke netting myself as this is bacicly the only legal method of obtaining any quantity of LIVE HERRING for sale in NJ.  I was actually pointed to the spot in the South River where I currently have my nets set by the same Conservation Officer as mentioned above.  The area is below the high tention Power Lines and in MARINE WATERS where the use of a fyke net is completely legal and I have been very careful to set the nets in accordance with the rules set down in the NJ Commercial Fishing Regulations as seen below.

line starting at aid to navigation channel marker flashing red number 8 (latitude 39°33.36'N, longitude 74°28.39'W), bearing approximately 229°

to a point on the western shore of Collins Cove at latitude 39°33.09'N, longitude 74°28.72'W and the Garden State Parkway where it crosses the

February 4, 2009 Winter Doldrums, I really have to figure out an easier way to get reports out, but here we are at exactly half time 24 days before the March 1st Striper Opener.  I've got a lot to say, but believe it or not there is a lot more to get done to be ready for the upcoming spring season.  For the winter I am usually here, but don't have any regular hours.  Please give me a call to make sure I'm around before you come and if you do stop by make some noise because I may have the door locked and be in the back office.

 October 25th, 2008 Windy today, BUT Bass Fishing is turning HOT! I made my first serious striper trip Thursday with Dave Morris crew and despite a stiff north wind it was an unqualified success. I made all the rounds trying to get a feel of what was going on,  Little beach is one of my favorite spots on the outgoing tide with a north wind and I had hoped that the bass would have piled in there.  No real luck even though we did get four fat fish with one of them crossing the 28" line.  Spot were the main meal

October 15th, 2008 Stripers and Weakfish on the bite. Monday and Tuesday were my first two official striper season charters and they were excellent.  Monday was Mr. Buner and his son and buddy.  We started up behind Little beach and Charlie found two shorts before Andrew nailed a 34" beauty.  All were on spot on both sides of the top of the tide.   I was under some time restraint but we made a stop at Black Point on the way home and found the weakfish thick and hungry.  They were jumping all over the GULP and we pot a dozen nice ones in the box and released several that were right on the 13" line.

Yesterday I had the Dave Morris Crew out and we started in Mankiller Bay working a couple blank banks until we found bait on the north side.  I got my first bite on the GULP 7" Jerk shad right at the side of the boat where I watched Mr. Bass inhale the lure.  That one stretched the tape to past 27 1/2" but there was still daylight on the 28" side so back he went.  Charlie hit next on the same drift with a spot and caught my fishes twin.  Charlie changed to a corncob and on the next drift he got slammed by a better fish that liked the flashy bait.  As the sun got higher the bait and fish seemed to disappear so we moved out thru the inlet looking for bunker which wasn't there so we worked our way back thru the waterway to Little Beach where two more shorts ate our spot. 

Main Marsh wasn't the spot for Weakfish but when we got to Meadow Cut they were still there and biting and a couple drifts put the first limit of weakfish for the year in the boat.  Again all we used was chartreuse pepper neon GULP.

The Fall season is officially open and I will be running until the stripers get frozen out so if you want to get in on the fun give me a call.

September 20, 2008.  It was a buzy summer and getting even busier but I've got to get this report page going in time for striper season.  It looks like it's the "YEAR OF THE SPOT" and I've been buzy trying to fill my tanks and pens.  Here is a little about why Spot are the HOT bait.

May 22, 2008, I finally got fishing this week between the showers.  Monday I made a trip with Gene from Iowa who came back to fish with his parents. The weather started beautiful, but it took some looking to finally find some fish.  I had them fishing two HERRING and one SPOT and again out one keeper jumped on the GULP I was jigging. As the day went on the wind picked up, but we pushed all the way up to Main Marsh where the birds showed that there is at least one school of bluefish working the bay since the last weeks Nor'Easter.  There were also quite a few short bass working the sod banks around the blues and we picked up about a half dozen on the GULP jigs.  mom and dad stayed with poppers to get the maximum fun out of the savage blues.

The sale has kept the store jumping so I've been busy between the raindrops and we're getting all set for the start of flounder season Saturday.  My son Kevin has taken charge of the minnow catching duties and filled the tank with some beautiful fatties yesterday and should be picking up a good back up supply all week. The crab shed has gotten off to a start right on schedule at the full moon and the crabbers brought in the first shedders yesterday.  There will be plenty of bait for the flounder start, but I don't think we will see many softshells until  next week.  If you want to stock up the weekend at the end of May should be the best time to stock up for quality and price.

Right now it is time to get back to the physical side of the work around here so everything keeps running smoothly.

May 16, 2008  I know it's been a while since there has been a report, but the weather has really been against the fishing.  we have been in a serious east wind pattern that hasn't let anything good build up and the icing on the cake was the big blow last Monday that must have stirred up most of the mud on the east coast into Absecon Bay.  Wednesday was beautiful and I made a trip with Dave Morris and crew and I may have shot my first complete skunk EVER.  The only thing with fins to hit the deck was one sand shark that   first stole a herring head then jumped on my GULP.  With the rain today even I had to cancel a trip for this morning.  It will let me get some progress finishing up the details on the sale that started today. if you haven't seen them yet jump to the Grand Slam Customer Appreciation Sale.  On a better note we are looking at a good weekend and some welcome west wind so hopefully we will be looking at some great fishing in the near future.

May 4, 2008,  Yesterday was another East wind day and as an old sailors saying goes, "Wind in the East the Fish Bite Least".  I can't say that is exactly true that they weren't biting.  I had Dan Potkay and Victor out for the morning and we had the rods bent most of the time.  However most of the bends were caused by bluefish, which is not a bad thing and we did land about 8 short bass.  We just couldn't find a keeper.  The weather pattern isn't good for pushing bait in the bay and no bait equals no fish.  The Blues were spitting up spearing and Grass shrimp, so there is plenty of small baits available.  It looks like an extended weather change is on for today and this week and another part of that saying is "Wind from the west fish bite best".  We have a great morning high tide this week and I have some empty days available so if you want to jump on board I think the fishing should improve and I should be able to find some keepers.

If you visited the message board you will have seen that I have a great offer from Tom P. the gregarious host of "Rack and Fin Radio"  He is offering to pay for a charter with Yours Truly and himself to be put out for raffle during the Grand Slam Customer Appreciation Tournament to send the proceeds to the SSFFF.  I still have to talk to him to work out all the details but it sounds like there will be a great day of fishing available.  Keep an eye out here for complete information as it becomes available.

May 2, 2008, HERRING season is over and it went out with a flop.  Current price is $4.00 each $40.00 a dozen.  Now the good news.  The Bass are Biting if you can get thru the Bluefish.  Tom Newman and his nephew fished with me yesterday and we pushed hard with the live HERRING and GULP.  The GULP won, at least it got 5 bass and lots of blues on the hook.  There was only one keeper and that one jumped on a 7" GULP Sardine Jerk shad at Meadow Cut.  It took that over the HERRING that was swimming along side. Here is his picture.  Today looks beautiful, but I have to catch up on painting boats to get them ready for the customers that want to fish this weekend.  Remember if you want to get your boat in quick and easy we can paint and prep your boat for less than you think.  Give us a call and we'll have you fishing before you could do it yourself.

April 29th, 2008, SPOT have arrived and it is a good thing because it looks like the cold rainy weather has ended any chance to build up the HERRING supply.  I do have plenty of HERRING at the moment.  Current Pricing is Spot $2.50 each $25.00 per Dozen, HERRING are $3.50 each and $35.00 per dozen.  The HERRING price WILL be going up next week, if not sooner because when they are gone they are gone!  The fish have turned on especially in the rivers.  I have a couple pictures to post very soon one 25 pounder that crashed a popper at the Mays Landing bulkhead.  I'll be spending the day tomorrow pulling my nets and finally have another trip Thursday. 

April 27, 2008  I know I probably won't be able to keep up with the reports as much as I would like, but I'm going to try.  This should be a simple easy to read account of what's going on in the fishing world local and beyond.  I will try to share these reports with any of the various message boards, web sites, newspapers and magazines that I visit and include anything of interest that I might find.

Of interest right now is that Barbra Jenkins caught a 37" striper on Friday which had a stomach full of lead weights and stainless steel hog rings.  "click picture" Evidently they are the result of a New England Fishing method called "Yo-yoing Pogies where dead Bunker are rigged with internal weights and deep jigged, Reading several New England striper message boards I got quite a bit of information   The weights are pushed into the "Pogie's" mouth, (bunker to south jersey anglers)  and the mouth is stapled shut with the hog rings.  A bamboo skewer as used for shish kabobs is pushed thru the baits eye back to the tail to keep the bunker in a straight position so it won't bend or spin.  Many times a stiff metal wire is used in place of the wood and this also ends up in the fish. 

A large treble hook is embedded in the bunkers back and the bunker is drifted along the bottom with a yo-yoing motion to make it life like and it supposedly is VERY effective especially for big fish.  Most of the fishermen using this method are hook and line commercial fishermen and are keeping just about all the fish they catch so that is not the problem.  the lead gets in the fish when the bait fish falls off the hook while fighting a fish and another fish waiting below eats it and ends up with a gut full of metal.  The results are in the picture above.  This can't be good for the fish eating the metal.  I'll expand on this shortly.

September 20, 2008.  It was a buzy summer and getting even busier but I've got to get this report page going in time for striper season.  It looks like it's the "YEAR OF THE SPOT" and I've been buzy trying to fill my tanks and pens.  Here is a little about why Spot are the HOT bait.