IrishAyes last fluke trip for 2007

[IrishAyes]

Got our usual start at 8am.  Had Bob Cole, George, Ron and Ritchie on the boat with me.  Cleared the Shark River inlet and was immediately met by fog.  Had the radar going and slowly made our way to the England Bank. 

The ride out was slow but no slower than the drift.  NOAA weather predicted 5-10 knot winds and 2-4 foot seas.  Well, there was no wind and there was no seas.  We did have about a one foot swell.  Very long intervals between.  How many of you would still have a job if you were wrong as often as NOAA?

Made several drifts at England Bank then moved to our lump off of the Red Church for a couple of drifts. 

Tally for the day was twelve keeper fluke and a ton of shorts, even with the slow drift.

Another fluke season has come to an end.  This season was much better than last.  Even though it was six weeks shorter.     (still wish I could figure the regulation guys out and how they come about these decisions).

Last year the Irish Ayes had 161 keeper fluke in thirty five trips.  This year there were 461 keeper fluke brought on the Irish Ayes in fourty trips.  My crew will be eating fluke all winter.   

I would like to thanks all who have fished with me this year.  You guys made every trip memorable and worthwhile.   

Now it's seabass time.      

[hareball]

Great season Capt. Joe

I know i'll never forget my trips on Irish Ayes

Thanks!

[pktaske]

Will miss reading your fluke posts!

[bob cole]

THANKS CAPT. JOE for the memorable year fluke fishing on the IRISH AYES.
I was glad to be included on the last trip of the season. You forgot to mension who was high hook today.
Looking forward to the sea bass trips.
HAREBALL--I will remember your trip on the Irish Ayes.

[Capt. Mike]

Great job Again guys!!!

Sea bass you are now on the menu. 

[jozwirk]

lets go seabass,hey joe there catching some wahoo lets go.great 2007 fluke season

[crabcake]

Nice job on the fluke season. Too bad its over for you fellas in NJ.  In NY we also got a royal screwing this year.  We accept the ridiculous 19.5" limit to keep the season open all year long, but they're shutting us down next week anyway.  They say we caught our allocation with no real data to support their "emergency" closure. This violation of our rights has to stop soon. We cannot allow the East Coast to fall victim to regs that mirror the ridiculous laws currently in place in places like California.  OK, enough Hijacking of your thread.  Congrats on a great fluke season!!

[mboy]

Congrats on a great season Joe.

You guys did very well this year and should be proud.
Congrats!

[Hotrod]

Hats Off to you Capt Joe.
I can't wait till my next trip

[tigerrose]

Congrats Joe; It sounds like you had a great year & and a very good last day .From the reply of your crew & the members you sound like you have the respect of many fisherman. Good luck with the rest of your season.
                TIGERROSE

[njdevil]

I know that there is not one animal rights activist out there that gets the respect and admiration from his coworkers and clients as our Captains and their mates.


NJDEVIL

[Luna Sea 5]

congrats.. very nice trip

[IrishAyes]

Thanks for all the kudos guys.  
Crabcake, I have to agree with you.  No way the jacka$$e$ who make the regs know what is going on.  

NJDEVIL, the animal rights activists would rather see a person harmed than an animal.  What kind of human being is that?  Where are their morals?

Bob Cole, everyone knows you would be high hook.    hehe.  Good job Bob.  Great to have you on the boat.  We always have a good catch when you are aboard.  You did have half the keepers today.  

Hareball, LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT FISH!!!  Nice job, buddy.  Doormat club.  I am jealous  

Pktaske, I hope I can post some seabass reports like the fluke catch.  I do have a bunch of guys who fish with me that are catching machines.

Thanks again everyone for the kind words.  

Joe

[Dollar and a Dream]

Capt. Joe,

Congrats on the fine year. I can only hope to duplicate that next year now that I am finally home(love that work) and have the "Dollar" up and running.
Thanking you for sharing all you knowledge and as a result I have learned some places to put dinner on the table. I look forward to reading you reports on the Sea Bass and one day meeting up and possibly getting together for an outing. Thanks again for helping this "newbie" out and I hope that I can be more of an asset for everybody here, in the days and years to come!
Tight lines!
Brian

[sealife]

Very nice job for the season Joe.  I thought when I retired I would get to fish more but 40 trips during the fluke season puts me to shame.  I do have one negative comment for the fisheris people.  Here is a boat and crew that put in a lot of time and obviously know how to fish and they averaged 11.5 keeper fluke per trip.  This leads me to believe that there were very few full limits this summer so how will cutting the season or increasing the size really help in getting to the "mysterious" bio mass number we keep hearing about.  The fisheries mis-managers really need to start looking at the whole envrionment since we will all now start to target sea bass, then blackfish and stripers.  What about the effect of the endangered dogfish on the juveniles of all species?  NY took a real beating this season.  I can not imagine what next years seasons and limits will look like.

[IrishAyes]

Hi Dave,
I can't wait till I retire so I can fish more. 
 

I completely agree with you about the mis-managent of the fisheries.  With all the trips I put in this year we did not have one boat limit.  We did not even have a half limit except on one or two trips!  We did have personal limits, but not too often.  We have had days where we caught well over two hundred fish and most had to be returned because of their size.  There are fish out there.  And a lot of them.

I have thought about the reports and information that the fish mis-managers gather.  It seems no matter what you do they find a way to use it to our disadvantage.  If you catch a lot of fish, it means you are over fishing.  If you don't catch a lot of fish, it means that there are no fish to catch.  Both have been said about the fluke fishing.  How can both be true at the same time?  They will interpret the information provided to them to meet their already formed conclusion.  That is why statistics are meaningless.

[wb]

Congrats on a great season! 40 days/yr doing anything you love is awesome, flukin' that much is even better. I thoroughly enjoy your reports and pix and can't wait for more. Thanks.

[Pops Soul]

  Congrats on a great season Joe  Your going to be dangerous when you retire it get even more fishing time.... It was a fun season, and due to the good weather was able to get a lot of trips in. Now that a lot of folks will be switching to Seabass earlier in the season next year I'm sure we will hear about cuts on Seabass for 2008-2009 

[IrishAyes]

Thanks for the comments WB.

Skip, the seabass will have a lot of pressure on them now.  You will probably have to leave the dock before sun up to get to your favorite spot to beat others to it.

Here's to a good seabass season for everyone.   

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Capt. Joe,

I want to thank-you for all the effort you have put into not only contributing to this site, but also the pleasure you bring to those that are around you.

I have been fortunate to have had the  opportunity to spend a few hours with you. It was a time I would never trade!

To those that do not understand what our site is about, just read the posts folks like Capt. Joe make. Or better yet, go have a coffee or plan a fishing trip with him. Then you will understand what we are about ... Great, Talented, Sharing and Caring People!

I have learned alot about fishing. More importantly, I have learned about being a better person from Capt. Joe.

That exceeds any goal that Rod and I had when Rod pounded out the foundation of this site!

Continued success into your retirement!

Perfect Drifts,

Ed