It's been awhile since I've put anything up. Slacking, but I felt like I was in a rut posting the same old bridge hopping reports. Well, I finally changed it up over the last few weeks. I got out with Jesse and Troy on the Brynnie-B II for some tog fishing. We ran out and scoured the reefs and wrecks for the feisty brawlers. Ot didn't take long to find them. Every piece if structure we fished had plenty of willing nibbles tearing up our green crabs. Troy was the newbie on the trip, but he caught on quickly. Jesse was the high hook on the day, with Troy taking second. I was in a distant third. We brought home four keepers. Should've been five, but Jesse had o e slip through his hands and over the gunnel. We landed 70 some odd fish between the three of us. It was pretty much a bite every drop. Today I went out with Justin and his wife Amy. We ran out to the reef hoping to get onto a decent tog bite. It was a little choppy early on, but calmed out nicely. Our first wreck didn't disappoint. We pulled up a load of tog, with three keepers in the mix. Once the bite slowed we moved to another wreck. Another solid bite with keepers in the mix. Our third option was already taken by two other boats, so we cruised on to a small, nondescript wreck. That turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. It was covered in tog. We landed several keepers, including Justin's tog of the day, a 20" 6# beast. Finally we made our way to another reef and worked over a variety of structures. We landed a few more keepers, several shorts, and added a bunch of sea bass to the bag, including three nice keepers. Overall it was an epic day. Amy was the newbie to tog fishing on this trip, but you wouldn't have known it. She absolutely slayed them all day. We landed upwards of 100 fish today, counting all of the tog, sea bass, and the few spiny dogs in the mix. It was non-stop action all day. And it was an absolute blast! The only other fishing I did was down in South Carolina from the surf. Lisa and I finally snuck away and hung out with my parents for a week. It was really nice catching up and relaxing. Anyway, I landed a bunch of croakers, some snapper blues, and a tiny pompano. Not what I was hoping for, but it was fun. And the best part, while beach combing, we found four sharks teeth. That will be a new obsession to go along with sea glass hunting. Still waiting for the striped bass to move in off our beaches... Tight Lines!

It's been a fun few days. I ran a morning surf trip with Bryce. We had nice conditions, though the surf was rather big. We had fairly steady action all morning. Bryce hauled in kingfish, weakfish, spot, doggies, and a blue. No big sharks or rays though. The following day I had the pleasure of guiding Don and his family on the beach for an early evening outing. The action was a lot slower. We managed a few kingfish and small doggies. Again, no large sharks or rays. And it wasn't for a lack of trying. For both surf trips I put rods out with spot, doggie, bunker, and kingfish. Usually automatic hook ups. Not so this time. As has been the case this spring and summer so far, prevailing south winds have cooled the water. And it was cloudy. During the morning trip we had a massive school of bunker push in just outside of the break zone. I snagged a few and we tried them for bait. Not a touch. Not normal. The ospreys were killing it as usual. We had a few pelicans swoop in too. And the usual outstanding dolphin shows took place. In other news, bloodworms have been scarce this year. They seemed to have made the difference between the trips. I had bloods for the morning trip. I used them with bits of Gulp bloodworm. For the night trip I decided to try night crawlers soaked in bloodworm juice. I used Gulp bloodworms and Fishbites too. The crawlers didn't get touched. The fake stuff caught kingies. I still think the crawler thing could work. Maybe just need more juice. I'll keep ya posted. This morning I ran a back bay trip with Jillian and her family. More south wind today. We tried to punch it out to the reef, but about three miles out the waves began to get steeper and the white caps were growing in frequency. So we turned around and stayed in the back. They missed a lot of bites. But managed to get one 18" keeper and a short fluke. Not a banner day, but we had a lot of fun. In the end, that's what matters. Got some great news regarding some fish I have been after. Next nice day I will be out searching. Tight Lines!

Ran out to a local reef this morning with Chris to see what we could find. We had damn near perfect conditions; light wind, enough cloud cover to keep it nice, and a fairly calm sea state. We made it out to our destination fairly quickly and set up a drift over a nice wreck. I got it right the second attempt, and Chris hooked up immediately. We made a bunch of short drifts over the wreckage and picked off sea bass and flounder fairly consistently. We ended up with three keeper fluke to 19", and two keeper sea bass. Chris was high hook. Around the time the bite slowed up a dive boat rolled up and asked if we planned to move any time soon. We I formed them that we were in fact making our last drift and they could have the spot. They were grateful and proceeded to tell us all about the myriad of species we were fishing over as the structure holds loads of critters. I asked if they ever came across lobsters? They said they did, but not lately. After our informative conversation we cruised off to try some rubble. Not a touch. We checked another wreck. Dead also. Given the suddenly dismal fishing we decided to try our luck at trolling. We ran a little ways off the reef area and deployed a variety of metals and a teaser bird with a Clark spoon attached in tow. We cruised around doing 5-6mph. The water on the reef was 71-72 degrees. The area we were trolling was 75-76 degrees. And the water was a clear and blue as could be. As we trolled around we marked all sorts of bait schools. Then we had a few flying fish erupt from the water. Those little buggers are so damn cool, and pretty! There were little storm petrals flying here and there. And a huge leatherback turtle came up to gulp some air. Finally, the bird teaser Clark spoon got hit. Chris hauled in a little false albie. No other action. We ran back to the reef to give it a try again. We were one of five boats left on the reef. We drifted over the structure three times, got a few hits, but no hook ups. Decided to call it a day. Even though all of our good action came from one wreck, we had a great time. Things are finally starting to look up and shape up to where they should be this time of the year. Finally... Tight Lines!

This is a tale of two beaches. Saturday I went on the ocean side. I had been hearing of all of these great stripers being caught, along with occasional blues and kingfish. So I grabbed bloodworms, clams, and bunker and hit my spot. I set out three rods, one with each bait. Now I just needed a fish to cruise along and play. The weather on the beach was perfect. It was nice and cool with a slight breeze. The sun was out and the sky was blue. The water however was di gy looking and very green. There was just enough seaweed in the area to be annoying. My first fish of the day was a three foot sandshark. It ate the clam. My second "fish" was a skate that ate my bunker. Not another touch. The guys on either side of me didn't catch anything decent either. Just one of those days. Frustrated and just not feeling it, I called it quits. Walking back over the dunes the sweltering heat came crashing down to smother me. It only got worse as I traveled inland... Sunday I hit the Delaware Bay with Johnnie in tow. Johnnie has been having a bit of a rough patch, so it was nice to get him out and laughing. We set out five rods (I know, overkill). We used the same baits (leftovers). We started at what we thought was dead low, but the tide just kept going out. The horseshoe crabs were a massive pain in the ass. They stole a lot of bait today, and made reeling in tough a few times. We had a few solid hits throughout the morning. The rod would heave over hard and then just go still. It was infuriating. Then, finally, around 11am I set out a fresh clam bait. Shortly after I cast it out it went over hard and began a drag screaming run. A real fish! I pulled the rod out if the spike and palmer the spool to slow the fish and ensure the hook was set. The battle was on. Johnnie pulled in the other rods while I tried to steer the fish away from possible tangles. After a nice fight I guided the striper o to the sand. I grabbed the leader to pull it up and it broke. The 30 pound leader wasn't enough. I quickly jammed a thumb into the stripers mouth to lip it and bring it up for a photo op. Lisa had just arrived with Idgie and Bubbalouie. She took some quick pictures, and the little boy and his dad sitting g near up popped over for a quick picture of the little dude with the bass. She measured out at 40" on the nose. I revived her in the water and she swam off briskly. Earlier in the morning we has a massive school of fish blowing up just beyond casting range. They were moving in, but then just a suddenly they turned and went the opposite way and vanished. Then dolphins came in and put on a show, splashing, porpoising, and jumping. Always fun to watch, but never a welcomed sight while fishing. We continued to fish until around 11:40. We decided to call it a day due to the intensifying heat and lack of bait. We ran back to my place, cleaned up the gear, and parted ways. It was a fun weekend, even if I only landed one fish. It was a load of fun. Tight Lines!

Surf fishing continues to be a blast! With the incessant wind, ocean swell, and nasty greenheads making back bay fishing miserable, the beach is paradise. Kingfish provide consistent action. Weakfish, bluefish, spot, and sea robins are making appearances as well. And then we have the heavy hitters providing thrills for anyone willing to grab the screaming rod and reel, sharks and rays. Logan had the pleasure of reeling in two nice sandbar sharks and battling a massive ray into the surf before having it part the line. Missed another knock down. Chris and his crew had two big rays try to tear their shoulder out of the sockets yesterday, along with a few knock downs. The majority of the kingfish being caught are of the southern variety, as opposed to the usual northern. Had a huge school of bunker come in fairly close today and there were some very large fish tearing through them like torpedoes on the surface. Really fun to watch. A few Brown pelicans even came in to feed. And dolphins. And judging by the explosive splashes, I'd say a few sizable sharks. It was busy out there. So, if you want steady action, occasional drag burning battles, a good meal, and just flat out fun..., hit the surf. Tight Lines!

Had a really fun morning surf fishing with Scott, Mike, and Jack. I put four rods out, two for kingies, two for potential sharks cruising about. Bloodworms on Brown Dog Bomb kingfish rigs did their job, quickly and efficiently. The boys hauled in single and double headers of kingfish throughout the morning. I ended up switching the shark rods from mackeral to fresh kingfish. That did the trick. Mike was up first when the first rod went over. The shark went airborne on the hook set and screamed off down the beach. Mike fought the beast well and finally got it into the wash for a quick photo and release. Pretty sure it was a black tip shark. More kingfish ensued. Then the second shark rod went over and Jack was up. The little sandbar shark gave Jack all he could handle. The fight raged back and forth, but Jack prevailed and got the little brownie into the wash for a CPR (catch, photo, release). Scott called the day after two hours of nearly nonstop catching due to work responsibilities. And two hungry boys. Had an absolute blast. I think the boys are now hooked on surf fishing... Tight Lines!