08/19/2007 - Fluking Angela Rose II
Well boys and girls, get ready for an absolutely awesome trip report...hands down the best fluking trip I think any of us have ever personally experienced. The numbers alone were phenomenal, but what set this trip aside from all others was the sheer quality of the fish being caught. I've worked many fluking trips and fished a ton, and I've seen some pretty good ones over the years...but never a trip with this many big fish coming over the rail...and all on a mere 6-pack charter! Above and beyond all of that, I was able to achieve two personal best fluke and put an end to my long and painstaking dry spell of complete big fish retardation!
Captain Anthony was at the helm of the Angela Rose II today, with his mate in-training Kevin taking us out of Ken's Landing in Point Pleasant for some deep water fluking. Our crew featured an awesome line-up of guys: Craig (Scrubby), Tom (tdaly), Tom (lefteye), Sam (sam3), Steve (stevejar), and myself. This was my first time fishing with both Sam and Steve, I've met both in the past and knew they'd be adding to a great crew!
As we exited the inlet, we're greeted by absolutely perfect conditions for deep water fluking...overcast skies, a mere breathe of west wind and a calm ocean...all translating to nice slow and steady drifting in those deep, sticky haunts of big flatties...the ultimate! Anthony led the way and set us up a few miles out of the inlet, as the incoming tide started working its way into shore. A healthy mixture of baits is provided, and we're on the fish right away, bringing a few shorts and a keeper or two over the rail. Then, not 10 minutes into the trip, Tom (lefteye) hooks into a nice fish, putting a digital Rapala scaled 6lb 12oz fluke over the rail and in the box! WOW, we're minutes into the FIRST drift and already a big fish is in the box...which has the rest of us thinking...this is either going to be an
insane day of fluking or Tom has our group's pool locked up in mere minutes of fishing! It turns out it wasn't the latter as the fishing was just starting to warm up!
We continued to drift the area a few more times, putting some nice keeper fluke and seabass in the box, but the bite slowed down and Anthony detected it immediately as he decided to bump up a little ways North to some other numbers he had stowed away in his hip pocket. Well, that single move turned out to be the best move of the day. We hit a few patches of fish at the next spot, with some nice seabass mixed in with the fluke. The bail was on with Sam stepping up and boxing a nice 4-5lb flattie shortly after we arrive in the new area. It's absolute drop and reel fishing between the fluke and seabass, with Craig beating on the flatties while the rest of us were putting up an all around solid catch. At the time I was fishing long strip baits with a bucktail and Gulp tipped teaser above it but wasn't getting
near the action Craig was. So I hijacked his style and went with the exact setup he was using, a 1.5oz glow Spro tipped with a Gulp 4" Pearl White swimming mullet, with a plain hook teaser dressed with a Gulp 4" Chartreuse swimming mullet tied about 18" above it. That simple, baitless rig seemed to be just the ticket for the day as I started beating on the fluke just as fiercely as Craig was. Everyone else was experiencing a little slower fishing, so everyone started switching over to pure bucktailing rigs to get on board with the catch.
It's 10:07AM when Craig hits his limit, and I'm not far behind. Anthony is on top of the ball and continues to make minor adjustments on subsequent drifts, continuing to put us on the meat. Then the major catch of big fish start coming over the rail! It's not long before I hook into my first good fish of the day, and give my soon-to-be standard "Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude, THIS is a good one!", as a short battle ensues. I finally get the fish up to the boat, as Anthony steps in and quickly sweeps the fish into the net and up over the rail. A near 8lb fish hits the deck, as we throw it on the digital Rapala scale, it hovers between 8lb 2oz and 7lb 13oz...either way, making it my biggest fluke to date (and yes, I am THAT big fish retarded!!! Haha). Then shortly after, Steve hooks into a nice fish and lands a beauty weighing in at 5lb 10oz. Everyone continues pulling in nice fish...just about every one of them over 3lbs with a bunch of 4lbers mixed in. Then I hook into another nice fish, and again..."Duuuuuuuuuude this is a nice one" is in effect! I get the fish to the boat, and again Anthony nets another nice one for me putting a 6lb 5oz fluke in the box!
We continue hitting up the same 100 yard drift as an east wind starts to pick up. Boats are all around us, not catching much of anything from what we can see...but we continue to bail em. I drop down and almost immediately hook up another nice fish, definitely bigger than my last...as Anthony swoops up another big fluke putting my 7lb 5oz flattie in the box. I continue on my assault, catching 4lb and 5lb fluke like they're 17" keepers...it's absolutely insane fishing for me...I've never seen so many big fish. Steve hooks up with another nice fish and puts a 6lber in the box...and shortly afterwards puts another 5lb and change fluke in the box too! At this point, I'm totally losing count of big fish and who caught what...so I break out the Blackberry and start recording the details while dead sticking my bucktailing rod in between my legs!!! I'm taking tallies, asking everyone what they've caught thus far when suddenly a fish whales my rig...I set the hook with my one free hand and instantly feel BIG weight. Holding the rod high, I handoff my Blackberry to Anthony as I give him another "Duuuuuuude"...and it's on! The fish is out and away from the boat a little bit, and starts pulling hard, so I move down the stern to the
starboard corner...as I hit the corner, the fish goes on his run...hammering the Daiwa Tierra 2500's drag, peeling line out on five quick 10 foot spurts...WOW, just WOW...the power of this fish was incredible...but the Tica 6'6", Daiwa Tierra and Fireline Crystal 3lb/8lb is doing the job! I continue fighting the fish for a few more minutes, slowly making progress and working it up to the boat. Anthony is ready with the net once again, as I ease the fish up closer and closer, finally getting it into the net. It's a good one, a real good one...as Anthony swings it into the boat, the "Oooohs and Ahhhhhs" start...as we initially suspect it to be over 10lbs. We promptly throw it on the digital Rapala scale and it hovers steadily at 9lb 12oz...soooo close to the 10lb mark...but now my *new* biggest lifetime fluke...with my top two being caught on the SAME trip today! UNREAL! We're all ecstatic, and everyone knows...no one more than myself...that I am having the fluking day of my life! I think we were all just in absolute awe.
The day continues and the big fish keep on coming with more 4lb and 5lb fish coming over the rail for the remainder of the incoming tide. Craig, certainly not struggling with numbers...finally gets on board with a big fish, hooking into and landing a nice 6lb 4oz fish. Around the same time, Tom (tdaly) dropped a nice fish as well. Then...as hot as the fishing was, the light switch flipped when the tides changed as the bite immediately shutdown. The weather started to turn, as the east wind picked up and we had wind against tide conditions. Anthony tweaked the drifts into some new areas in the vicinity, but we just couldn't seem to locate a hungry patch. We moved off to some new water for the last hour or two, as we hit up a few more drifts and box another two handfuls of keeper fluke and a few more keeper seabass...but the day's prime bite was definitely over, although not before we could put a serious dent in the fish box...nearly filling it to the hilt! As the rain started going from a drizzle to steady, we decided to call it a day and head into the dock for a nice picture session and some lengthy filleting time!
Well, unfortunately that rain turned very steady once we hit the dock, inhibiting our efforts for picture taking somewhat, but we did manage to get a bunch of shots in various form.
Here's a bunch of mine throughout the day...
Tom (tdaly) starting off the morning!
Tom's Googan bucket! Goooooooooooooog!
Sammy, what's up buddy!
Craig and his standard morning two-handed "Hi!!!"
Kevin, getting things ready on board the Angela Rose II
An early morning plug...
A beautiful start to the day...
Not quite as beautiful...but here we have Popeye dancing to avoid the camera...what's up Twinkle Toes? Haha
What are those, canned hams?
So, it's about 6:26AM slated for a 6:30AM departure when the last man shows up...what's up Steve!!!
Wait we can't go just yet...Captain Daly Deuce needs a key!
Ahhh all better, let's roll!
Tom and Sam, all smiles...pumped for the trip!
Craig and Steve as we head on out...
Anthony in an out of focus pic, sorry buddy...there are better ones later anyway!
Kevin with the thumbs up!
Breaking the inlet...ohhhhh the conditions look promising!
Nice!
So ummm...what was it like...7:00AM? Steve wasn't wasting any time! Haha
Setting up...boy is it nice out!
Tom, wasting no time hooking up!
Tom, the other one, with a nice seabass...kick his ass seabass!!!
Steve, right behind him with another nice seabass!
The man, hooked up and all smiles...great time!
Sammy into a fish!
Tom with a fluke...
Then Tom, the other, other Tom...hooks into something nice!
And in the boat!
Nice fish Tom, 6lb 12oz!
In case no one has noticed...there is actually a 6th man in this trip...his name is Craig, AKA Scrub...who many moons ago coined the term "Scrubbed it" for all the fish he drops on a given day. Notice how there have been no "action" shots of Craig yet...mainly because unless I'm Bruce Lee with the camera...I'm not fast enough to catch the swing of the rod and whiff of the fish. In the spirit of our standard hilarious and incessant busting on Craig's chops...Captain Anthony brought out the most classic piece of paraphernalia I've ever seen..."The Scrub Count!"
I think this was on by the second drift...hahahaha, poor SCRUB!
Wait, we see Craig in the background there...of course Steve is in the forefront with another nice seabass...he ain't Scrubbin It!!!
OK, now things are getting serious...Anthony hooks up with something "BIG"...it's an epic battle!!!
And we're really not sure who's winning until Anthony drops the "fish"...well he got part of the fish in the boat! Haha, nice size buddy!!! GET THE GAFF!!!
Steve is a seabass machine!
Tom is too...well kinda! Haha
Uh Oh, Sammy is gettin serious!!!
Ant, gets em in the net!
And Sammy with a real nice flattie! Way to go buddy!
Wait a minute...who is this masked man?!?!?! OMG...I AM BRUCE LEE...I actually snapped a picture before he had a chance to drop this one! Actually I must have been slippin with the camera, cuz Craig was starting to go on fire, beating on the flatties!
Tom, admiring a fine sandwich while we move around for another drift...
Here's my first big one of the day, a nice 7lb 14oz flattie, and my biggest to date (at that time of the day)
And here is the nice 5lb 10oz flattie Steve caught moments later!
Then Tom hooks into a nice 4lb and change flattie...
Netted and in the boat!
Little later, Tom's on again...
Then Craig lands this slob blue who promptly turns into more fluke bait!
Tom's got another one on...as Ant waits with the net!
Then things got serious...and I landed my big fish of the day, this nice 9lb 12oz fluke!
And of course the humor started to filter in...here we have Captain Looks Like He's Wearing Socks, aka Captain Candycane Legs!
And here we have Captain Cape of Zorro...I can't remember why he was hiding from the camera though!
Sam's just sitting back, quiet as a church mouse, thinking to himself..."These guys are F'in crazy!"
Captain Deliberation, aka Captain "Which Way Are We Going To Drift This Time?", with Captain Tangle by his side.
Kevin's having fun out there!
Anthony, the man...landing us on the sweet spots!
Toward the tailend of the trip...Tom pulls up another nice seabass...sorry out of focus!
And Craig, not to be out done...catches a MONSTER...ummm...bergal! Nice size!!!
To refuel after that arduous battle with the bergal, Craig steals one of Tom's boiled eggs on the way in!
Alright...back at the dock...so ummm we almost filled the entire fish cooler on the boat!
We weren't worried, they had more coolers up front!
Captain Anthony swimming in fish...literally!
Well he did say if we had the best trip ever, he'd throw the Grundens on and take a dive! Haha you're nuts!
More catch photos...
The final pile of fish on the deck...just silly!
My two biggest of the day and ever!
Another shot...
One more...
Our final layout of fish on the dock...what an insane day!
What a day!
Well there you have it...the report, the pictures, our day...and boy oh boy, what a day it was! Our final tally was 54 keeper fluke and 15 keeper seabass...just a ton of meat! Of the 54 keepers, we had 17 fluke scaling over 4lbs and might have a missed a few on the borderline 4lb mark during our haphazard in-the-rain weigh in, and probably 35+ over the 3lb mark...just an incredible day of fishing all around!
Here's a few of the ones we scaled back at the dock...
Fluke9lb 12oz
7lb 14oz
7lb 4oz
6lb 10oz
6lb 5oz
6lb 4oz
5lb 13oz
5lb 9oz
5lb 8oz
5lb 6oz
4lb 9oz
4lb 8oz
4lb 8oz
4lb 7oz
4lb 5oz
4lb 5oz
4lb 3oz
Seabass2lb 15oz
2lb 14oz
2lb 11oz
Well that's all folks...just an awesome, awesome trip! And I have to admit, I was definitely NOT big fish retarded today. I'm not sure how many fish I had over 4lbs...but there were quite a few, and best of all, I topped my personal best fluke not once, but TWICE...and both in the same day! Wow, what a day! A HUGE thanks to Captain Wayne, Captain Anthony, and mate Kevin for having us out...absolutely a great crew and the best fluking trip we've all ever had. It was great to be part of the day, and be able to share it with such good friends! I can't say enough good about the Angela Rose II, I was out with them for a winter flounder trip back in late March and it was a phenomenal trip. This is my second time aboard, and this trip was above and beyond what any of us could ever expect. Even without the quality of fishing, it's abundantly clear Anthony works hard to proactively find the fish and make the necessary moves when the bite slows down. Factor that in with the beauty and comfort of the Angela Rose II and you have an ultimate fishing charter! Anthony is just genuinely a great guy, the whole operation is top notch and comes highly recommended from myself and all our crew! Keep up the great work Ant and the Angela Rose family, we'll definitely be seeing you again real soon...those deep water fluke trips are the ticket!
Until next time...
