NJ Saltwater Fisherman Forums
NJ Saltwater Fishing Reports and Information => NJ Saltwater Fishing Reports => Topic started by: Bucktail on May 17, 2015, 08:33:32 PM
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Had the opportunity to fish the Hi-Mar Striper Tourney this Saturday with Eddie (Hunter 2), Capt. Joe (Irish Ayes), Al (BigAl13), Johnny Oz and Bob S. on Eddie's boat, Hallie Loren. The tournament format called for most combined weight of two fish.
We left the slip around 6am and Eddie took us to the bunker pods. We snagged a few, but Capt. Joe made the biggest contribution with the cast net throwing skills. After filling the livewell with bunker we set out to find the stripers.
The striper fishing had been tough (and today was no different). Eddie put us on some good spots where we livelined bunker. At first we had a lot of bluefish chomping our live baits (and my plastic ones) in half. We came tight with a few and landed some, but mostly we were just being harassed by the yellow eyed demons.
Finally, Joe's unweighted bunker came crashing to the surface with a striper hot on it's tail. It took a few minutes before the striper got it in it's mouth, but when it did it was game on! Joe set the hook and we put our first fish in the box! It was a fat fish that looked around 20 lbs.
After toying with the bluefish for a little while longer, Eddie made the call to go on the troll. Out came the Tony Maja bunker spoon rods (http://www.njsaltwatertackle.com/saltwater-fishing-tackle?page=shop.browse&category_id=1) (shameless plug), the bunker spoons, and a Stretch 25. We tried a few spots with nothing to show for it until Eddie found life again. Mostly more bluefish until one of the bunker spoon rods came tight with our second striper.
Bob S. grabbed the rod and reeled in our second keeper striper and Al Put the net under it. Another decent fish.
We didn't see another striper for the rest of the day, but at least we had our two and we headed for the weigh-in station.
Final result was one 18 lbs and one 18.6 lbs, for a total weight of 36.6 lbs. We finished just outside the top five. Official Results Here (http://hi-mar.com/2015/05/sea-horse-ii-wins-2015-spring-tournament/)
It was a great day getting out on the water with some good friends and some great fishermen. Eddie worked hard all day to put us on the fish, and was a great host (as always). Al did a terrific job of playing first mate (even though I think he scared away a lot of fish with his "secret sauce") ;D Always great to fish with Johnny Oz and Capt. Joe. And it was great meeting and fishing with Bob S. as well.
Thanks for the invitation Eddie. It was a much needed day on the water for me. t^
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Great trip and write up !!
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Thanks for the report Bob. It was tough locating the Stripers. It was a fun day fishing with the crew. Everyone gave 100%. chrz Congrats to the winners. t^
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Sounded like a great time!! t^
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Hell of an effort guys, nice to bring two to the scales and have a great time together.
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Great write up Bob I had a blast. Thanks again Eddie for putting it together. Joe for catching the bait. Can wait to do it again
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With this crew how could it be anything but fun? Lotsa laffs, Lotsa bites. Unfortunately most were from the blue fish and not the stiped ones. But we did manage to get enough to weigh in.
Thanks for the hard work Eddie on the helm and Al's mating skill all day.
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t^
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Sure you guys did every right ,fish just haven't been co-operating . 5hrug
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With the craziness in the marine weather and the water temps bouncing all over the place many boats got zip.
I was listening to the marine VHF portable hand held I carried yesterday to get rid of the boredom of not watching hardly any fish being caught during the tournament at IBSP.
Good going guys.
Happy Catching
Paul
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chrz t^ chrz