Long Day Stalking Fish

[Capt. Ed]

Hi All,

Some may find this info useful.

Today was an investiagtive run. I like those. We ran to see if some pelagics (bluefin) are in the area. Everyone on the boat was an accomplished angler.

We hit the mouth of the Manasquan Inlet at 4:30AM. The plan was to try to find some inshore bluefin tuna. The water is in the 60s but on the dirty side. The wind was from the east at 5 mph. The water surface was one foot choopy. All systems were go!

The plan of attack was to hit the Manasquan Ridge to the Ledges to the Glory Hole thru the Mudhole to the Shark River Reef and back in. A very ambitious day - lots of fuel to be used as well.

Well we saw a few schools of tuna breaking water near fish pots near the Ledges. The GPS numbers were:  N39 53.535 W73 53.673

We setup on the troll but could not get past the Bluefish. Oh, did I fail to mention that we caught 10 million Blues ... they had there way with the equipment. They ate about $500 worth of gear. But would they hit the inexpensive cedar plug? Nope ...

So, when we finally got to the Shark River Reef, we decided to drop down on Caputi's subway car and we hit some nice Sea Bass. We used high/low rigs with 8 to 10 ozs. of weight. The best bait turned out to be sand eels. The first Sea Bass were taken on squid. No luck on salted clams (go figure?). This was in 120 ft. of water. No fluke around. No other pelagics either ... not even a cool turtle. But the damn Blues were breaking all over. Were they following me?

So we get back somewhere around 2:00 PM and the guys say, what about fluke. Ok ... we run up to the Red Church and the Long Branch Jetties by Seven Presidents. Guys - there are no numbers for that ... you just need a map or general knowledge of Monmouth County shore communities. When you get to the Long Branch area, look for jetties and then work them.

We fished tight to the shore in 24 ft. and less of water. The action was very good but not as good as the last 4 years. The keeper to throwback ratio was about 12 to 1. We had 20 keepers to 20". The keepers all looked like clones. They were taken on a fishfinder rig with a 30" leader on a single spearing and 3 ozs. of lead.

About 6:00 PM, I was done. Started running back along the shore. Saw no bird action. I did see one person hook up with a keeper Striper ... not big.

No bunker schools on top. Read them in a few places off Elberon down deep.

So, my conclusions:

1. The tuna schools are not going through here in force yet (at least nearshore).

2. The water's surface tempterature is rising. The water was dirty and on the green side.

3. Bluefish are all over the place ... and are not small.

4. There are fluke to be had in water 30 ft. or less. My lucky number today was 24 ft.

5. We caught no spiny dogfish today, even in water 70-120 ft. That is a good day alone!

6. I am looking into my JCAA plan ... I think I will fish shallow on the lumps off the Essex/Sussex; Elberon; and Red Church and cull through all the small fish in hopes of a nice one. If not ... oh well.

7. I filled the tanks up on the way in and did not look at the bill. That has to hurt.

8. The mates are still cleaning the boat ... nice!

9. Nothing broke on the boat but a bilge fuse blew. That never happened before. Curious ...

10. Watching a monitor and marking fish and spots all day is starting to hurt. Getting old is rough ...

Fishing was great ... catching could have been better,

Capt. Ed

[hareball]

some ups and downs there captain but all in all some very useful info and sounds like alot of tight lines for the anglers!!

I promise to take care of my limits worth of those blues tomorrow night!

no dogs?!? thats great to hear too

[Hotrod]

WOW!..  gretat report. Made me feel like I took the trip with you.

NO!!.  I was WORKING!!    

[IrishAyes]

Very good report Capt Ed.  The fish will be there before we know it.  I like your plan for the JCAA tourney.  My plan is somewhat similar.  Only difference is, I will not be going south out of Shark River Saturday.  I have been fishing the area south a few days and no BIG fish.  I'm sure there are probably BIG ones there, but I didn't run over any.

Red Church, 7 Presidents (look for all the flag poles lined up on the beach guys), Long Branch, all good spots to try.  I will be there and run out maybe 4-5 miles to see what's cooking there.

Good luck on the tourney.

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Hareball,

These dudes were fiesty. Still one of the best fighting fish in any ocean!

We caught them on everything we throw at them from Ava 47s to white, 3 oz. SPRO bucktails to top water plugs. They dominate the water column!

Have fun with them,

Capt. Ed

PS. I have some pictures but I am a film guy. My digital camera died and I have not replaced it. It will take a while for me to get the film developed and on the site. Any day now ...

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Joe,

I plan to hit the Spring Lake Lumps if all else fails on the way back in. If the wind holds NW, I will stay up north longer. If not, I will run back to the lumps. I hate that run from Long Branch in the afternoon into a quartering sea. It hurts ... Ok - I'll stop crying now.

Good luck all,

Capt. Ed

[hareball]

pics will be worth the wait

I love seeing those big blues and thier monster heads!!

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Hareball,

Still to this day I approach these guys very carefully. I know my time is coming for one of them to put a good bite into me ...

I took pictures of busting birds and one of the blues at the boat. It just doesn't seem important at the time. I have to get better with that.

Last year, I took a charters picture and forgot to hit the fancy save button. No one checked. I cut up all the fish and then get a yell, "The picture did not come out!" So we took another of the group - with bags of fillets in hand (LOL)."

Have fun,

Capt. Ed

[hareball]

hahahahaha thats great

thanks for the good wishes! I love winning the pool. 2 weeks ago I won $42

[ped579]

Thanks for a great report Ed,  I was able to visualize your every move and can appreciate the fun if the fishing even if the catching did not go the way you would of liked.  It just waters your appetite to go out again.

Thanks again.

Paul

[Ruger314]

Capt Ed.

If you ever run a crew trip and need a body.. I'm game.. I will definitely pinch my fare share of $$$$.. to have a chance at some tunas