Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Christmas in the Country

It was so nice on Friday we took a ride in the country. On our way to the trout streams and the country side, farms and mountains were all covered with snow. There was much more snow in Hunterdon county then we had at the coast. It was like a live Christmas card. The mild temperatures brought out many anglers and many of the popular spots were taken and you could not park along the stream due to the high snow banks. Some spots had lots of ice along the shore line and you had to be careful climbing down to the river in the snow. I got to fish in my favorite spot of the fall season and the fish were very active as I caught four out of about ten bites. I tried to get to some other spots later in the day but they were either inaccessible or occupied. Evelyn took some nice pictures of the winter wonderland and we headed home early.

Hmmmm...

Downtown Jersey City gets more like Hoboken every day. Even the water mains are breaking.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Thursday

A break in the weather allowed us to get out of the house. We took a ride down to see Capt. George on the Angler. All the regulars were aboard and down to Sea Bright we went. I was hoping for some ling for Christmas (or a cod, you know I tried) but all that bit were blackfish. At times it was OK and everyone had a nice bag. On the last drop I hooked into something big and was battling it off the bottom. I was thinking maybe I had a cod as it was backing up my sidewinder. About half the way up I felt it come off and when I got to the surface, there was a keeper blackfish on the hook! What ever was on the line had that tog in his mouth but it didn't have a nick on him. I am thinking it was a big monkfish or a striped bass. Oh well, as Capt. George said "It's just another mystery of the sea." Now it's off to the trout streams, we will try the ocean next week.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Brrrr...

It's been a while since we had a winter like this. The ocean has been very rough, and I can't even go trout fishing because the rod and reel ices up. Some boats fished over the weekend but there were reports of ten foot seas. The forecast shows the temperatures up in the forties towards the weekend, so maybe we will catch a break.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Big Question

Will Jay-Z now stop wearing a Yankee's cap and start wearing a Mariner's hat?

Done for the Season

We had a very busy week getting the boat ready for the winter and it is now hauled out in the boat yard. When I crawled out from under the hull yesterday afternoon, I thought to myself, "your getting too old for this stuff." Oh well, at least its tucked away as it appears bad weather is approaching. I talked to Capt. Steve and he has some days the week before Christmas open for our Holiday trip  and the weekend after that also. We will have to watch the weather but I will try to put together a crew.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Winter

It came fast this year. The below freezing temps that came in the last two weeks of November put the fish on the move. I was going to sail last Sunday with the nice forecast but the combination of falling water temperatures and an extreme new moon tide made me think otherwise. Turns out it was a good move as I spoke to one of the top fishermen in the bay and he told me he spent four hours on the grounds without a bite. Even the striped bass fishing in the ocean backed off (they are only catching shorts now) and the blackfishing seems to be succumbing to all the pressure. Better days are coming.