May 10:
The day started clear as a bell back to the west in
Long Beach when I left at 5:30 a.m. for the
trip
to Greenport. We were sailing today with Capt. Dave Brennan on the Peconic
Star in Greenport. The boat has moved next to the rail road dock while they
are working on the waterfront just to the east where they sailed the
previous years. As I continued my trek eastward I could see the clouds
moving in, contrary to the weather reports. It has been a pretty cloudy and
windy spring and much colder than usual as well even if it has been dry the
last month over all. However the weather man did come through and it did
clear around 11 a.m. and not a cloud was to be found by noon, as we all had
our jackets off and were in T shirts by then!
I arrived at the boat to meet up with our members of the web site
as this was a “busman’s
“holiday
as many of our website “fishing buddies” were playing hooky form work or
school. With us were Bob Heller, Kathy (foots), Steve (Grady White) and more
notable names such as “son of a sailor”, Tony T, SI Fisher and other friends
of theirs. As a result there were 15 or so of us on this trip with Capt.
Dave aboard the Peconic Star and optimism was high for doormats. It’s been a
while but I was spent quite a bit of time with Dave in the wheelhouse
catching up and learned quite a few things. Dave comes from a family of
musicians, but we’ll get to how that plays in to the equation a little
later.
However I did learn water temps today (5/10/05) were
the same as they were nearly two weeks
ago when they started fishing and bottom temps were even colder than they
were a week ago. Thus action has been very tough. Face it, the North Fork is
not the place anytime of year for action upon action of fluke like it is on
the South Shore. On the South Shore you can catch 40 to 50 fluke per man on
a party boat trip and shuffle through hundreds and hundreds of fish on a
trip to keep a few and perhaps a limit, but even on the best days on the
North Fork and on the Peconic star they sail full day for a reason. It will
take a full day (8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) for 40 to 50 or 65 people on the boat
to get limits and catch four to five fluke per person.
However you do not see many shorts even at the 17-1/2
inch size limit for 2005. Most
everything
that bites is a keeper or so close if you could stretch a fluke 1/4 inch it
would be. Dave explained it all to me in a very logical way. “We’ve been
sailing full day for a reason for 20 years, it is the nature of the beast,
but where in the world can you come out and catch 3 to 5 fluke per man or
more and have them all be 4 to 8 pounds or larger. We see trips on our boat
where the pool winner could be 10, 12 to 15 pounds and the second and third
place fluke are just ounces, not pounds, just ounces away from being winners
themselves,” Dave said.
Dave also said this is the first time in like forever,
they did not have red hot fluking on May 10 and
there are several reasons for that. Beside the water temperature issue,
there was no small bait in the bay. Captains on the North Fork so far this
year have noticed an unbelievable amount of squid and we jigged dozens of
squid on today’s trip, along with adult sized bunker in the bay in numbers
they haven’t seen in quite some time. “We always thought fluke arrived with
the squid, and would then become active when the water temps hit the 52 to
55 degree mark. This triggered the giant doormats to start gorging on the
squid. This is not the case this year. It seems perhaps the arrival of small
bait such as spearing and bay anchovies play a larger dynamic role than we
all thought,” Dave said.
Dave told me our trip saw the first tern of the season
and by the end of the day we saw two of them.
We also had the first sea robin of the year as well, both good signs the
arrival of smaller bait and bluefish is just a few tides or a day or two
away from causing this bay to explode. We spent most of our time fishing in
the East Marion, Oyster Factory and close to home in Greenport because this
is the ambush point for fluke upon their arrival. “We’ve tried fishing the
Greenlawns where everyone always hears about our monster fluke Rich,” Dave
said, “but the fish are just not there…so we are waiting for them in these
areas because they all have to come through here to get to there
(Greenlawns). It could happen on any tide, tomorrow or tonight!” he added.
“We could wake up in the morning and find 12 pounders…it is just a matter
tie in hours or a day to two.”
Our trip was a struggle and saw a total of
perhaps 25 anglers land a dozen keepers with a 4-
pound
pool winner and a handful of shorts. Many, many squid were caught, the lone
sea robin, but no blues, weaks or striped bass. There were no bass reported
yet in the Race, the Gut or the Sluiceway and even the commercial pinhookers
with tags were struggling to find bass so far. Water temps in these areas
were only 47 degrees as of our trip. There just wasn’t that much life in the
area and mostly because of the factors mentioned earlier…the absence of
smaller bait and water temps, both of which will improve on each tide,
tomorrow or this weekend could see the entire bay explode.
Even my good friend WABC TV Channel 7’s meteorologist
Bill Evans explains the same principle with the trees and flowers. Bill
says, “Because the weather was so chilly, damp and wet this spring, the
pollen counts have been very low for this time of season, but hay fever
sufferers should be forewarned that when we do get a stretch of warm sunny
weather all the trees, plants and flowers will explode with pollen causing
us all to suffer even worse than usual.”
However our group and others on the boat, who
recognized The Fishing Line, didn’t seem to
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mind
at all action was slow. “Why?” I asked several anglers and the answer all
came back to the same things…the tunes and the crew! The crew of Kelly (19
years) and Dennis (12 years) have been with Dave a long time and know the
customers very well and are right there lickity split to help anyone that
needs a hand. The crew tales well tro newcomers and children and make al
feel welcome and at home.
The tunes on board were extraordinary. Capt. Dave, as I
mentioned earlier, comes from a family of musicians so we had lots in common
to talk bout being a musician myself. He had cases and cases of mini discs;
I mean hundreds of them, loaded with hours and hours of tunes including the
Ipod with 12 hours of music he had plugged in to one of several decks and
stereos he had in the wheelhouse for today’s trip. No matter what race,
creed or religion you are, there is something on every single disc for you
to keep your toes tapping!
The amount of time and effort that goes into each of
these discs is massive and has to take hours and hours of time and caring,
to put together. I loved the fact that we would hear tunes you knew were
familiar, but not done by the original artists was fascinating and the
sprinkling of fishing tunes mixed in was awesome. The large 15 to 19 inch
professional speakers on deck were never too loud but had fantastic bass
response the drivers were crisp and clear…although unless you’re a musician
or are in to stereo systems you may not know what I’m talking about. Let’s
just say it sounded great!
Even if the fishing is slow on a trip you take, you
won’t be disappointed in your trip and you will definitely expand your
musical base of knowledge and learn some new tunes. Make sure to keep your
ears open for those fishing songs sprinkled in too. Reach Capt. Dave and the
Peconic Star at
www.peconicstar.com or call
631-289-6899
May 17, 2005. Air 55, Water: 54 Wind: NW15
:Our
trip to Orient Point started with stronger winds than predicted, NW 15
instead of 5 to 10 and that ruined our fluke drift for the morning trip
on the Celtic Horizon. We had wind against tide for the entire morning
and then when the tides shifted the wind did too so again it was wind
against tide. We did not catch a single fluke that day…it was
unbelievable that on May 17; there were no fluke in the Greenlawns, Bug
Light, and Greenport, east Marion or Orient area. As a matter of fact
the Peconic Star only had a half dozen keeper’s buy noon this day. Tons
of squid everywhere, on our baits on the squid jigs we could not escape
them. One of the members on our trip, Bruce Behr of Oceanside did use a
whole squid to catch an 11.5 pound weakfish. We caught a few to maybe a
half dozen blues, had a few other bite off’s and perhaps a fluke bite or
two but we did not catch a single fluke, short of keeper on our trip. Be
broke it of around 1 p.m. and went to the Gut for seven stripers to 17
pounds. I caught two keepers and a short, Deli Mike from the LI Gourmet
Deli in Mineola, Long Island caught two keepers and a short and Bruce
had a short bass. All on the bucktails in 100 foot of water on the
incoming tide. A very strange day. The food that Deli Mike supplied from
his deli was awesome!!
May 19, 2005. Air 55, Water: 54 Wind: NW10 to 15
:
I sailed a last minute trip for fluke on the lady J V (www.ladyjv.com)
in Point Lookout on May 19. They sail a nice schedule of 8 a.m. to 2
p.m. Winds were brisk and it was brisk most of the day, where is the
spring weather this late in May? We hit the area southeast of the JI
Buoy and drifted and we were into fluke just about right away. I used a
fluke ball and teaser rig for two keepers to 21 inches, a few shorts and
had a great time with the crew form the Bronx and the Entenmann’s were
flowing. There were 25 anglers on board and we had 28 keepers for the
day and some good shots of life on shorts and a few bluefish along with
squid still in the area. I always have a great time on this clean and
comfortable fishing vessel. incoming tide. A very strange day. The food
that Deli Mike supplied from his deli was awesome!!
August 1:
Air: 90 Water 72: Winds: None...I sailed this
past Monday (8/1) on the Peconic Star
(www.peconicstar.com)
out of Greenport with the TV crew for an upcoming episode of The Fishing
Line. We scored big time from the first drop it was incredible and is
still going on like that. We had some of the largest porgies I had seen
in some time with great action and it should turn out to be a great show
as well. I have added some pics. I limited out as did nearly everyone
and some limited three times or more throwing them back. Incredible
action and it will only get better as the fall progresses, so get out
there. Remember starting in September you can keep 60 porgies!
Nov. 20: Cold and breezy. I
fished on the Flamingo III Sunday (11/20) out of Gerritsen Beach. Twenty
six anglers were on board for what turned out to be a slow pick for most
of the day. The winds were cranking at dawn and the fist drop just
outside the Breezy Point Jetty produced some fish and my first fish of
the day was a keeper bass. This died after 20 minutes and as the day
progressed it got nicer, warmer and the wind dropped out. Not a good
scenario for fall diamond jigging. We went as far south as Bradley Beach
south of Long Branch (2 hour ride home). Pool winner was a 16 pound
bluefish and about a half dozen bass of keeper size were caught with
good numbers of shorts, but not overall action was not as good as his
last two days of fishing. Plenty of bluefish…some drifts had better
action than others and everyone on board had bluefish to take home. This
is only going to get better, particularly after this blow on
Tuesday/Wednesday coming up. Then we’ll see the great fall action we’ve
been waiting for.
Nov. 21
:
I filmed a TV show
Monday (11/21) for the 2006 season with John
Richey II of Terminal tackle in Kings Park. You know his dad John Sr. who
has been with us since our inception in to radio and TV and who is currently
doing his live radio reports for us each week. His son whom I now cine he
was 13 know has a charter boat called the Drifan V. It is a beauty and 35
foot in length. We did a “Trophy Tog” show with my
sights set on looking for 10 pounders or better with green and hermit crabs
on the Smithtown Reef and points west. We had great success with fish from
of course 14 inches and shorts, but a vast majority of 6 to 9 pounders!
Couldn’t break 10 pounds but came close with two 8’s and a 9 pounder along
with a fish I lost that bent the rod better and fought much harder than the
8 pounders and we all knew would have been over 10 pounds! Great boat and
great trips and yes we caught fish to 8 pounds on the Smithtown Artificial
Reef. Capt. John is accepting tog carters for the few remain weeks of the
season and plans on fishing into the first two weeks of December. His number
is 631-748-4705.
Dec. 1
:
I took a trip on the Ocean Eagle V out of Sheepshead Bay on
Thursday (12/1)…I had to get out of the office…I was going nuts so I
figured I’d let the blackfish do it instead of people on the phones all
day (LOL). You know…every time I get on the Ocean Eagle I kick myself
for not getting on the boat more often…it is actually closer to me than
Captree, the crew is spectacular with Kathy in the galley (more on this
later), Capt. Greg, his brothers Geoff and Glen together or
individually…there may not be better blackfishermen around! I always
learn a lifetime of stuff just being on deck with them asking questions
and watching how they fish…still with old sidewinders!
So anyway I get to the boat and find I have an
antifreeze leak in the motor somewhere, but I go fishing anyway then
find out today it was just the bad radiator cap. So any way we have a
new moon the day of this trip and I personally never catch anything of
any species the day of any moon and preach for years to sleep in on
these days, but the days leading to and following the moon are always
super!
We turn the Breezy Point Jetty to find a pretty
good ground swell staring at us…not a good sign for bottom fishing as
the ground swell can be the kiss of death as tog and other bottom fish
do not like it at all. The surge you see on top is 10 times stronger on
the bottom according to Capt. Al…so now I wasn’t expecting much, but was
anticipating a good education from Capt Greg and his brothers and
sharpening my togging skills for an up coming TV episode we’ll be
filming on the Ocean Eagle in the next two weeks (I’ll let you al know
when.). The wind is blowing 20 to 25 after
being forecast for W/NW 10 to 15 and it is out of the NE instead….in
other words the conditions were not that good. I love a good W or NW
winds and the stronger the better for blackfish as it knocks down the
ground swell and gives a “wash tub” effect to the ocean. Tog love a good
chop on the water!
First drop we get on the piece and not much life
but we gave it time to build up and the life started to come as green
crabs caught a few blackfish around the boat. The stern was having a
good day because of the winds and the way the boat was laying, but there
was nothing the captain can do about that. A few tog of 2 to 4 pounds
were caught and after while there were a dozen keepers on the boat for
18 people.
Next drop was my drop as the winds and “lay” were
in my favor and I proceeded to catch some shorts, a tiny bergals, then
my first keeper and then over the next 45 minutes I caught a dozen tog
with five keepers to 4 pounds and a dogfish. I was in a tizzy as the
bites were coming fast and furious and of course I choked on numerous
fish otherwise I may have limited out. We left this drop because the
rest of the boat really wasn’t on the piece because of wind direction
and the way the boat was facing in the current…a hard current by the way
because of the new moon…I was using 12 ounces to hold bottom and that
was tough.
Next drop the middle of the boat seemed to be
catching and I had a bite or two, but we were now in the middle of the
hard outgoing current and the all of a sudden the wind dropped out
completely to almost nothing, the ground swell got larger and the bite
just inexplicably stopped! The last few hours of the trip, no matter how
many times Capt. Greg moved the boat, repositioned the boat, let out or
took in anchor line…the fish were not cooperating at all with a very
slow pick that came to a stop for the last 1-1/2 or two hours of the
day.
When the tide turned to incoming and there was no
wind to knock it down, the ground swell grew to 5 to 7 foot glassy
swells spread far apart, but the damage was done and the bite was done
for the day. We stayed later in all of Greg’s efforts getting back to
the dock near 4 p.m. The crew is great and some of the best fishermen
around, Kathy in the galley makes one of the best bacon & egg sandwiches
around with real butcher bacon not the stuff you buy in the grocery
store. It was like eating an omelet on a roll! She also made sausage and
peppers, chicken soup and even octopus…it is like gourmet dining. I gave
been on trips where they cooked fresh caught tuna steaks and other great
meals! I will certainly be on this boat several times before I get
locked into the NY Bat Show and my off season boat show tour begins. The
Ocean eagle’s number is 718-258-4126.
Dec. 8:
I took a trip on the Ocean Eagle V out of Sheepshead Bay on Thursday
(12/8)… Winds were NW 15 to 20…perfect fo5 togging and the ocean good
with no ground swells and they have been kicking the heck out of the tog
the last three trips. We turn the Breezy Point Jetty to find large
flocks of gulls screeching and hovering over schools of keeper bass and
feeding on herring…but we are togging today. We took the 1-1/2 hour ride
down the Jersey Shore and on the first drop the entire boat had the life
as I had three keepers in 45 minutes long with plenty of short tog. The
stern was hammering fish on this drop with most tog going to 4 pounds.
About 10 a.m. the winds started to drop out and
eventually we had no wind and the bite started to taper off. These
blackfish do not like biting in no wind situations this fall. It was
cold out and when the winds died it was quite pleasant on the water. The
bite proceeded to drop and drop and it turned out to be a very slow pick
around the boat the rest of the day. I was killed by bergals in the bow
all day and even some of the best anglers, Geoff Nardiello included were
having a tough time of it as Geoff only had 12 keeper size fish of the
day. We did a special drop in 65 foot to look for some large fish and a
few to 6 and 7 pounds were caught and I choked several times on decent
fish. I finished the day with he same three tog I had at 9:30.
The stern though continued to hammer fish on the
some of the drops because the current direction today. We stayed out
much later than usual and Greg even gave $3 coupons on the next trip
because fishing was slow. We did stop and jig a school of bass on the
way home, I had a short, other shorts were caught and the keeper bass on
the boat I think numbered three. Still a great time as the menu today
had curried pork and onions over rice, sausage and peppers deep home
fried chicken (best I ever had) and of course egg sandwiches and
burgers.
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