Hit the MI at about 0645 with my brother-in-law Dennis. Out front it was dead calm and a little overcast. The report called for increasing winds but, based on what we saw we decided to take a ride to the Rocks and if necessary to Sandy Hook to get in on the blues and stripers slaughter. Made it to the Rocks in great time. Marked some small bait and threw the trolling gear out. Made a few laps, the wind picked up but the seas were still good. Since we had limited time we threw in the towel at the Rocks and headed for the Hook.
About 3/4 of the way there someone threw a switch and the East/NE wind picked up pretty good and the fog rolled in hard. At this time we were fairly close to the Hook so, we decided to just push on an hope for better water on the inside. Thank God for the larger 10" plotter w/radar overlay because I certainly needed it today. Those channels up there are nuts! With worsening conditions and building ship traffic we pulled the gear in and figured it was safer in the open water - we headed back to MI.
On the way back we made our way through 4'+ and a stiff NE wind. At about the Red Church things settled a bit and it was less concerning. We looked around for life and found none. We continued towards MI not marking or seeing anything. Outside of MI we through the plugs and umbrella rig. Managed one bluefish who donated its life to the shark fund and it was back to the dock.
Overall it was a good trip. It was certainly a learning experience with the new ride and electronics. I must say the Grady White was so much more comfortable than my last boat. She rode like a tank and was happy to turn 4000RPM to cut through the closely spaced waves. She was even pretty dry.
Of course we knocked a few bugs loose that I will need to address in the coming days/weeks but, nothing that should be earth shattering our outside of my scope.
