April 18: Winds N 5 going SE/E 25 by noon:
On a beautiful Sunday (4/18) I took a trip toBroad Channel Queens and
rented a skiff from 
Smitty's Fishing Station to get in the excellent flounder fishing. I
brought along my 5-gallon chum pot and chum along with three dozen sandworms and hit the
water around 7:30 a.m. I set up between Smitty's and the Cross Bay Bridge and proceeded to
catch a flounder or two right away, but more importantly I had bites right away as well.
They start to bite as we approached slack high water and they the bite lasted for the
first two hours of the outgoing. If I had hooked the fish that bit I would have easily had
a limit. I was using my usual "soft" flounder rod, but should have used the Tuf
line braid instead of the mono and I would have stuck few more fish with the small
flounder hooks I was using. I finished the day with six flounder, dropped a few large fish
half way up and saw many folks cleaning fish at Smitty's come day's end. The winds kicked
in around 11:30 and it blew a steady 25 knots or more out of the east and made any kind of
fishing nearly impossible. I met a lot of nice folks at Smitty's that are regular viewers
and listeners of our shows and took some pictures of them Look for some here and some
under Smitty's reports.
April 20: Winds NW 15 adfternoon trip & nice
warm day.
I took a trip on the Angler party boat this afternoon (4/20). I figured the bite would be
slow in 
hard northwest winds forecast for...and
delivered for the morning trip...and the bite would be good in the afternoon when the wind
layed down. I guess I goofed again as the bite was good in the a.m. as they Angler had 35 flounder for
7 to 10 anglers and the afternoon trip I was on had maybe a dozen fish for 20 anglers. Oh
well...I still had a great time as it was good to see old friend Capt. Tony again and of
course Capt. Ken Tokar, his partner in crime in this party boat. Remember on this boat you
have to bring your own worms, which you can get at Capt., Mike's Fishing Station and the
worms I got from Ronnie were real beauties..plump, fat, fresh and BIG. The boat supplies
mussels for you but remember to bring your own bait and lunch as there is no galley. Bring
your lunch and catch your dinner as they say. I had a great time as I met some members of
our message boards on the boat like Joemamma and a few other fans from the TV & radio
show. Janet from the Bronx won the pool with the huge flounder while her husband Mike was
there to watch and had a smaller flounder while their friend Carlito had the pool all
day...till Janet won it with only 20 minutes or so left on the trip. Make sure you get
down to see these guys. I had a great time and will be back very soon. Check out the
pictures from the trip above.
April 25. Winds N 5 Air 55 winds turned SE 20 and
rain at 2 p.m.:
I took a trip to Smitty's again this Sunday (4/25). I stopped in at West End 
B&T in Long Beach where I ran into surf
fishing local Keith who I talked into going floundering with me. With my trusty 5-gallon
chum pot, a second anchor and three dozen sandworms we proceeded to catch some good
flounder action between 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. Keith finished with four keeper flatties and I
had 10 keepers and threw back another three that were borderline or too small and we both
missed another three or four each. The best move we made was about 10 a.m. when we went up
into the shallows, about 8-foot of water opposite the North Channel Yacht Club and had
seven fish in an hour. Here are the pics and the bite was on incoming water.
April 28. Winds NW 25-30 Air 42 wind chill 36
warming a bit
I hit the Capt. Lou VI in Gerritsen Beach yesterday (4/28) with friend Joe LoCocero, our
Boater's World Tip of the Week expert for this TV season as we were looking for some
flounder action...against my better instincts as winds were forecast for 25 NW and gusting
to 30...which it obviously did. Action was a slow pick all day. We got off to a late start
leaving the dock and hit the grounds off Jersey. We saw a little bit of a flurry as soon
as we got there then it died off. I had three nice flounder in the first hour, then only
had two real bites from about 10 a.m. till about 2 p.m. when I picked another three
flounder in the last hour before it was time to head home. I finished with six flounder
and Joe had six and of course we dropped a few others when the decided to bite as
the wind was brutal and it was very cold for late April. A couple in the back corner had
the spot next to the chum pot as both limited out and two other fellows in the port bow a
little forward of the cabin door had 20 between them. Everyone else on the boat averaged 4
to 6 fish per person and some had less than that as there was only about nine to 11
anglers on the trip.
April 30: Winds calm, air 70...turning S/SW 20 or
more by 1 p.m. and temps dropping.
I
stepped aboard the Flamingo III today (4/30) to see my good friend Capt. Bob Wiegand...and
of course looking for more flounder fillets and as usual was rewarded with six fine fish
although it was a slow day for the 30 or so passengers on today's trip. There were a few
with eight flatties, one or two limits and a few times were two friends combined for a
dozen fish. Overall there were about 100 flounder or so caught today. The bite was on
mussels although I caught five of my six fish on worms. Again we were off the Jersey shore
in 20 foot of water or so as these fish are hi-tailing it out of the Raritan Bay area as
bass and now a few bluefish moved in. I have attached some pics from today's trip and of
course the mates today, Bernie and Bob's son John did an outstanding job. The day was warm
and great until the southerly winds kicked in around noon and by 1 p.m. it was howling 20
or more.
May 21: Winds calm SW5 / damp summer like night,
buggy 70 degrees. I just returned home (11:05 p.m.) from a last minute night bass
trip tonight (5/21) on the Angler in Howard Beach. Action had been very good...until I
hopped on the boat and with no breeze, no current and the incoming tide to contend
with..action was very poor with five bass total I believe on the boat, pool winner about
20 pounds and a scattered few (6 maybe) bluefish on the boat including my 3 pounder. Just
one of those nights where you should have been here yesterday or tomorrow (LOL).
May 27: Winds calm N 10/ cloudy cool...mid 50's to
60 degrees. Sunny warm by noon: I took a half day trip on the Jib 6 this morning
(5/27) from 8 to noon and the first fish I caught was an 18 inch keeper. I then had a HUGE
fish I thought was snag...couldn't get it off the bottom with 20 pound Tuf line XP
Braid...then it started to pump and the Capt. tried to get the boat started to back to the
fish as I had lost a ton of line the drift was so fast...by the time we got started to
move back to the fish...I pulled the hook. I caught one short and skates the rest of the
trip while those around caught well and had keepers. Twelve anglers on the boat this
morning in cool cloudy conditions and there were probably a dozen keepers on the boat.
Sept. 22
:
I fished with Capt. Steve Fallon of the
Swedish Princess charter boat in Port Washington on Wednesday (9/22) and we
hit Manhasset Bay with chunks and hopes of bluefish. I arrived at 6:30 as
scheduled and we were anchored up and chunking just minutes from the dock by
6:45. The bite this day happened to be slow with a slow pick till 8:45 a.m.
We had five blues from 3 to 5 pounds but this bay is loaded with spearing
and peanut bunker. This could explode any hour of any day. On the way back
we found some 2 to 3 pounders going wild under birds on the peanut bunker in
and around the moored sail boat fleet and proceeded to catch a blue or two
on surface plugs. This is going to be some fall in his area. You should
contact Steve to find out the plans for this falls fishing!
Nov. 23
:
Took a trip on the Flamingo
III out of Gerritsen Beach Brooklyn today (11/23) since I knew the birds and
keeper bass were off the Rockaways for the last three days. First thing was
a trip to jersey off Sea Bright instead because they hammered the fish there
yesterday. Took 1-1/4 hours to get there and the fish were on top. Big blues
from 8 to 13 pounds swirling on top and some bass, but they were moving
fast. Not migrating mind you, just pushing bait around. Fished here for a
1-1/2 hours and when that slowed it was back to breezy Point. After another
hour ride we found the fish where they had been for a few days and had fish
on all times with many folks getting keeper bass and tons of shorts. Diamond
jigs were far and away the best choice today as they were feeding on
anchovies or what we call “glass minnows.” I also saw bass, shorts and
keepers, toying with and feeding on herring on the surface. This was great
action to finish up the day. I finished with what would have been the pool
winning fish, a striper of 15 to 17 pounds, and some giant bluefish to 14
pounds. I lost count of the fish I caught today well after 25! Anglers like
Frank, Tommy and Jet fan Johnny all scored keeper bass and tons of action on
shorts and blues. Mate Bernie did a terrific job as usual and Eddie the
other mater actually fished on his day off today. A pair of anglers came
down from the Bronx and scored well with giant blues, assorted 5 to 8
pounders and bass as well. Passed tons of life and birds on the way back to
the inlet.
Dec. 9: NW 5 to 8 knots, flat
calm...turned SE 10 to 15 slight chop.
Mostly cloudy day with a few bright patches. I fished the Flamingo III in
Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn today as we filmed an episode for the TV show on
diamond jigging the fall run. Great action today. Headed east to the
Rockaways and found patches of birds and bass. Still gorilla blues mixed in,
but still 95% bass right now. The boat had 15 anglers scoring 27 keepers to
25 pounds and most were way over the 28 inch limit and most over 32 inches
with most in the teens! I had five keepers, keeping two to 21 pounds while
the pool winner was a 23 pounder. I threw back three keepers as well and had
several that were just short. Lots of great action today and there is still
more to come.
Dec. 12: NW 25 or better and choppy dirty water.
Sailed on the Flamingo on Sunday (12/12)
and we all saw very tough fishing on the new moon, strong
tides and a 3 to 4 knot drift as winds were howling out of the NW at 25 and
better. The pool was a 9 pound December bluefish and the largest bass today
was 26 inches with most of them all 14 to 22 inches in very, very tough
fishing.
