Ran around the back last night despite the crappy tide and the Vikings playing Monday Night Football. Turns out it was a pretty good choice. My first stop was just an effort in frustration. There were stripers cruising around chasing small baits. I cast out and worked my jig back through them, but not a glance. I repeated this a dozen or so times with zero reaction. I though about putting a plug on, or switching to another color plastic, but decided to just move on. My next stop had some seriously low water levels. I tried a few casts, but it wasn't worth the effort. I moved again, and found some stripers. I managed to land two, both around 25 inches. I missed two others. As I was poking around I saw some movement. It turned out tobbe a squadron of squid. They were harassing the hell out of spearing. As luck would have it, I had a squid jig in my tackle bag. I put it on and proceeded to catch a few of the evil little buggers. Every one I landed did its best to shoot ink and water at me. Then, when pulling free of the sharp spines of the squid jig, they try to grab you and bite you with that nasty little beak they have. Evil. But really fun to catch, and they make for great bait and good eats. Once the squid got wise to me I moved on. I hit a bridge and found a bunch of shad flashing in the depths. I put on a sabiki rig and had some fun landing a handful. I really need tobstart bringing the fly rod out. Catching those mini tarpon on a fly is an absolute blast! The sabiki is fun too. I managed to land five, and lost at least twice that many. Once the tide quite they vanished. I checked a few more spots, but the dead tide had them all empty. Hopped back into the truck and listened to the end of the game as I drove home. Good fishing and a Viking victory. It was a good night. Tight Lines!

Ran the lights for the first time a few nights ago. Justin tagged along for the ride. Many of the usual hot spots were out. Thankfully enough of the lights were still on the make it a fun outing. We found the water at the first light was dirty; loads of grass and murky. The current was running hard too. As the tide came in the water seemed to get even more turbid. It was actually difficult to see some of the lights due to the water clarity. Fortunately, the stripers didn't seem to mind. They still bit. The action was sporadic at best as we ran from light to light. Some lights had loads of stripers cruising, others were full of shad (herring?). Some lights the stripers would bite, others, not so much. Sometimes they spooked out after one cast. But that was usually due to Justin slamming his one ounce cannon ball into the middle of the light. Despite Justin's best efforts to sabotage the fishing, I still managed to land four stripers. He didn't catch any. Most likely due to his using rather oversized jigs. Lighter jigs work better. This does change depending on the situation, and many other factors. But normally, 1/4 ounce is plenty. So, all in all, we had a fun trip out. Maybe next time Justin tags along, he'll go lighter... And the fishing will only get better as the water cools. Tight Lines!

Decided to do some bridge hopping last night since the wind wasn't nearly as bad as predicted. My first stop I found some stripers swirling on small bait. They made me work for it, but I finally pulled a 25" out of the melee. All of his friends decided to leave though. At my next stop there was a couple fishing. He was throwing all sorts of bait, while she worked a rubber shad.I made a few cursory casts, then noticed the deep flashes. I tied on a sabiki rig and hauled up 6 shad in short order, along with a short flounder. My next area resulted in another short flounder. Then a dead zone. The tide was changing, so I decided to switch areas. It was a good choice. My next stop was the hot spot. I pulled in four stripers, all 25-27". Not keepers, but a ton of fun on the lite spinning rod. I lost another when lifting it. My leader broke. I wish I could say it was the monster that got away, because, you know, the o es that get away are always the biggest. This one was actually the smallest of the night. In the low 20's. Inches, not pounds. Three more stops after the hot spot. Found stripers on one, but they wouldn't bite. Peanuts, herring (shad), and garfish at another, and absolutely nothing at the final stop. It was past my bed time, so I called it quits. Super fun night! And it will only get better. Tight Lines!

What a fun day out! Skel and I ran out to see what we might find. First stop was the reef. We spot locked over a pile of rubble and hauled up short sea bass, after short sea bass. I managed three blues and a triggerfish too. Made a move to o eof the wrecks, but it was barren. Ran a few miles further out and tried another wreck. We found more sea bass, but they were even smaller. The question burning in our minds was simple; push further out in search of bigger sea bass, or, run back inside and enjoy the bent rods? We ended up pushing further out. We found some sea bass pots and worked the area in between them. There were clouds of fish! We started off with bait, Mole crabs, clam, and squid. Then I changed up to jigging. Jigs were the ticket. Bigger fish and quicker results. While hauling up a ton of short sea bass, we slowly drifted close to one of the pots. We noticed some movement and realized there was a big school of little mahi holding to the structure. We tried chunks of peanuts, whole peanuts, and all sorts of lures. Skel managed to finally get one of the slightly larger mahi to bite his chunk. It bent the rod for about three seconds and spit the hook. I finally had enough. I ran back over to the little piece of rubble and dropped our jigs. We started right back where we left off. The sea bass were voracious, and for some reason, bigger. We hauled in fifteen keepers in short order, along with loads of shorts. I even got a big porgy. Unfortunately time wasn't on our side. I could've stayed out there all day. But, obligations take precedence over fun at times... The autumn bite is just getting started. The sea bass will be moving in as the water cools. The tog bite will get even better. Stripers are already holding around the back bay structures and will be migrating along our coast in due time. So much fun yet to come! Tight Lines!

Took a steady client and his boys out today. Wayne is always fun, whether we fish the beach, or on the boat. Dude just has a good sense of humor, and his kids are a blast. Today was a boat day. We raced out on calm seas to a nearshore lump and tried trolling. The 68 degree, green water didn't bode well, but we gave it a shot. I put out four rods with a Clark Spoon, a Gitcha, and two with little teaser skirt things (that's a technical term). We trolled around the lump between 5 and 7mph hoping so.ething would grab one of the offerings. No dice. On the plus side, I marked a ton of bait. Huge schools holding in the middle levels, super thick. When the water warms back up it should light up. Given the trolling thing didn't work out we ran back inside to the reef and set up drifts over ststructureThe fish were hungry here. Our rods got thumped often by hungry fish. We missed a lot, but we la ded quite a few too. All told the boys landed 16 flounder, with one keeper. Keeper honors go to the youngest, Luke. He handled that fish like a champ. Vin, the oldest, landed a sweet triggerfish. And between them they landed eight sea bass. And Wayne got one skate too. Lots of action, loads of fun. Hopefully things pick up when the water warms up again... Tight Lines!

Ran out this morning with Randy, his son Sean, and buddy Matt. The weather prognosticators finally got it right today, we had the calm seas they called for. The water was clear and warm too. Perfect conditions. We ran to the reef and set up our drift over some rubble. These guys were new to salt water fishing. So I explained the finer points; bounce your rod, give line to the fish when they hit, feel the weight and set the hook, don't reel all the way up, don't lift the fish out of the water,...and so on. It's a lot if you don't do it often. Getting the feel takes time. So, we drifted over the rubble, they got hits, missed, and gave out free meals to hungry fish. You're welcome PETA. Eventually they got the hang of it and started to pull up fish. Matt started things off with a sea robin. Then Sean got a sea bass and a sea robin. Around that time I decided to make a move and switch up tactics. We set up over a really large piece and I back trolled to hold us over various parts. The drift was slow anyway, but I figured it was worth a shot. It worked. Sean got a flounder. Then Matt got a keeper, but due to a SNAFU, it shook the hook. I won't mention any names...Matt! As was his usual today, Matt reeled up way too far and lifted. He was also tangled in Randy's line. The flounder saw it's chance and bolted. It was of course a nice sized keeper. To Matt's credit, he did land another keeper on a subsequent drift. He listened this time and it went into the box. Things slowed up on the rubble piles so we took a ride and spot locked over a wreck. We picked at sea bass and fed a bunch. While sitting there a school of striped fish took up residence beneath the boat. Not sure if they were pilotfish or banded rudderfish. We dropped small baited hooks down, even a jig, but they wouldn't touch anything. Would've been nice to catch one to see what they were. We called it a day when the bite slowed. I think a few of the boys were feeling a bit green beneath their gills too. But they endured the entire trip and did very well. We had a blast, and a lot of laughs. We won't discuss the ride behind Avalon in the no wake area... let's just say, there are some serious idiots driving boats out there. And I can't always hold back my 12 Guage, hair triggered mouth. The Coast Guard had a word with them, so all is right in the world. And overall, it was a great day! Tight Lines!