Ran Open boat today and had NJSWF Member Dj76 Dennis, his dad Dennis and Lori and Bill from Haggerty Lures back onboard for a return trip. Left Dock at 6 a.m. in dark skies. Headed south east to deeper water in hopes of putting some ling in the box first. Got to where wanted but the wind started cranking as a good sized storm approached....was just too fast for the depth to drift. Then the rain started pelting the crew. Got a bit sporty so i ran a little further east to some shallower water. Drift still a little too fast so we set the hook on a piece that looked loaded with life...caught a couple of just short sea bass, but not the action i was looking for. Storm passed, so i ran south after some Intel from Netkeeper. Drift was nice...put a keeper fluke in box and a couple of shorts. Still not happy, ran onshore a bit to rough stuff. Started to lose the drift on slack tide...couple short fluke, but managed a beauty of a 4lb sea bass caught by Dennis Sr. (actually busted my reel handle on the retrieve). Ran a bit back north to catch some tide. This would wind up to be our most productive drifts of the day with some short sea bass at first, but the fluke started coming over the rails in force...Dennis Sr had 3 double header fluke come over the rail. Wound up with 6 keepers out of this spot. Did a drift at the GUG on the way home in the bay,but all shorts here. Must have had over 40 shorts today but the keepers were just elusive today. Had a blast with the crew tho! Thanks a ton!
