Had Dave, Naked Ed, Jeff and newcomer Cal on board today.
Got to the dock and found some nice spearing swimming near the boat. Threw the net and had enough bait for two/three trips. Can't beat fresh spearing for fluke bait this time of the season.
Loaded up the boat and tossed off the lines. Broke the inlet and pointed the nose north. Made our first stop a few miles out from the Red Church. Drift was over 1.8 knots so the drift sock came out. Slowed us down to a respectable drift. Several drifts produced five keepers and numerous shorts. The drift then went down to near zero.
Picked up and headed further north. Got a text from Capt Allen from Reel Class that he was into the fluke pretty good. Headed to his area and we found a few keepers there for ourselves (thanks for the info Allen).
After a while it was time to start the ride south back toward SRI. Earlier in the day Naked Eddie put in a request for some bunker if we saw them so he could have some crabbing bait. On the way back south I ran close to the beach with eyes out for some pods. Never did find any.
Got to Bradley Beach and headed back toward deeper water to drift one more spot to finish off the fluke trip. Got to our spot and stopped the boat to make a drift. As soon as we stopped a huge bunker pod popped up out of nowhere. I had the guys put some fluke lines out and Eddie and I threw the snag rigs to the bunker. We hooked up with enough for Eddie for his crab bait and put out a live line.
Finished out the drift with a short fluke hook up and release. Drug the bunker back to the boat and kept him in the water until the fluke lines came in (didn't want to deal with the live well so figured I'd keep him in the water till we were ready to move so he had a better chance of survival while we traveled). The bunker was next to the boat and about a foot or two deep. As I was holding it there Naked Eddie says, "Wouldn't it be neat if a fish came along and ate that thing right there?!" Well, as soon as he got the word 'there' out a striper slowly swam out from under the boat and inhaled the bunker right in front of our eyes! Damn, what a sight!!! Off she went with the bunker and a hook imbedded in her lip.
I passed the rod over the newcomer Cal as he earlier stated that he never caught a striper. After a short fight he landed his first ever bass. A thirty pound class linesider.
Needless to say, the fluke fishing came to an abrupt end and the striper gear came out. Several drifts around the bunker pod produced more bass including Dave's personal best at 41 pounds. This also turned out to be Dave's Happy Birthday Bass as today is his birthday.
Back to the dock and cleaning station where the blade went thru nine fluke and five bass.
Nice day on the water.
