Merry Christmas

Wishing all the best this Holiday Season. Merry Christmas

Winter Fishing

I like to try to keep fishing during the winter if weather allows. This year we have been out a few times during December and fishing stinks. There are no ling and cod yet and all that seems to be available are blackfish and they seem to be succumbing to all the pressure and cold water temperatures. Usually this time of year the ocean is full of life with herring and mackerel attracting whales, dolphins and all sorts of birds. The past few trips the ocean looks like the dead sea, and seems barren. I feel like it is due to "pop" any day now and the fish to start biting. I hope I'm right.

A Week of "One's"

We were invited on a mudhole wreck trip early in the week and enjoyed the warm weather and flat calm seas, but the spots were full of eels and dogfish and we managed only one ling and one blackfish for the cooler. I thought maybe I would do a little better trout fishing and walked almost five miles trying different holes along the stream but only caught one brown trout. So yesterday we figured inshore blackfishing would be better but it was cold and windy and we only caught one keeper sized blackfish. Better days are coming.

Nor'easter

We have been having some rough winter weather and another storm is on its way. The ocean buoy reports are showing seas at 8 to 10 feet. Yesterday was nice and sunny so Evelyn and I took a ride to the Lake Mohawk German Christmas Market. It was very nice with about fifty different vendors selling all types of goods and treats from huts on the boardwalk around the lake. One room in the club house was full of imported cookies and candies, with all proceeds going to charity. We made a nice donation. A little over an hour was all that was needed to see everything and we left as it started to get very crowded. Now it's time to start a pot of fish chowder and get ready for the storm.

Haul Out

We spent the week in the cold and rain getting the boat ready for winter storage and hauled out. With that completed yesterday afternoon, I ventured out to the trout streams. The water was very cold and I could not buy a bite with the lures that have been producing all fall. A change to winter tactics made the difference with two browns and two rainbows, the biggest a thick bodied Kamloops rainbow over twenty inches.

December

The hard cold weather that we had the past few weeks dropped the water temperature in the bay and ended our season early. I wanted to sail on the holiday weekend but the fish stopped biting in the bay due to the cold. Some boats made the long run down to the Sandy Hook Reef and did well. While I was changing the oil and preparing the boat for winter storage yesterday, I saw Mark (AKA Big Bubba ) return with a nice catch of blackfish.  The boys had some eight and nine pound fish on the dock. They told me the big ones bit on white crabs that the tackle shops are selling for about $10 per dozen.