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11/03/2011 Hmmm, very interesting trip today. No wind, slick calm conditions, long time client, 49 degree air, 49 degree water and ready to rumble, especially coming off my Halloween Havoc trip. We skated across the water to our first spot of the day and @ 200 yards+ away we could see giant pods of Bass rolling on bait . I mean these fish were happy, and the basin was so thick with Bass you pretty much could have walked across them. Our second cast we raised our first Bass of the day....but missed it. Then a few casts later we raised another beastly Bass...but he missed it. Then suddenly it became like Permit fishing in the keys. These Bass were happily rolling and feeding non-stop until we got into casting range, then they stopped and disappeared. I mean really disappeared. We could not buy a strike on top, below, deep....nada, it was truly puzzling. How they sensed us, I do not know, because we were silent...really silent. Now this type of Bass cat and mouse game followed us for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes, which resulted in 1 Bass to the boat and another that dropped the hook. We did the run and gun, fishing deep, shallow, mid-depth, fast current, slow current.....you name it, we fished it. Then I said to my client we need peaceful surroundings, wind at our back, smooth, good flowing water, so off we went to one of my old school hot spots that would fit the description just right....a spot so shallow at the entry that the Bass can’t even pass through, which means they are trapped until the tide is high enough, which means if they are in there it can be like shooting fish in a barrel. and we did just that. In our last hour of the trip we put 9 Bass in the boat, lost 3 more that came unhooked, and missed a handful of short strikes before things cooled off. It was a great 9th inning rally that delivered Bass from 23" to 29" and FAT. Things are full steam ahead..
10/31/2011 Ah yes Halloween, same clients every year for the past 6 years+, same results every year....we were on them from beginning to end. This is one of those easy reports to write. We pushed off from the dock with light ESE wind good moving current, water temps prime at 50-55 degrees with the history of good mojo flowing. We had action the entire trip today except for the 15 minutes we spent at our first location but once we got the ball rolling it was game on for the next 3 hours and 45 minutes. In total for the trip we had between 15 and 20 Bass ranging in size from 20" to 32". Topwater, subsurface, deeper water, shallow water you name it we fished it and stayed in front of Bass as the moved throughout the backcountry. Most of the bass were about 24" with the biggest coming as a finale at the end of the trip a beautiful 32" 12lb. brute, which is a great way to conclude the session. All I can say it's time to "hop on the bus Gus"
10/28/2011 We had our work cut out for us today. it was one of those days that a bunch of small hurdles equated to the sum of tough trip. We had 15-20 knt winds. predicted to be 5-10. Straight from the N...should have been NW. this held the water up un the back country vs. blowing it out with the NW wind. As the trip went for the day we had 3 nice Bass on and lost all 3. It was just one of those days. Water temperatures are prime @ 56. My next report will be on Halloween...and you should know by now about Halloween fishing, it should be a good report.
10/21/2011 Well today was one of those days that just wasn't going as predicted as we pushed off from the dock in a stiff 15-20 west wind that should have been 5-10. We slipped into our first spot, looked good, saw some Bass tailing and working bait in the shallows...but with all of my arsenal ready we just could not get them to eat our offerings. Being snubbed at the start of the day I could see that the bass were not going to make it easy for us. We hit a couple of hit and run spots throwing top water to no avail so we settled in on some shallow water structure and went subsurface. It took about three casts before we had our first Bass of the day on the line. He was a micro bass all of 12 inches. A few casts later we were tight again and to our surprise it was a nice 4 lb Bluefish. Then, no more than 5 casts later, we had a nice Bass crush the lure and start taking line as he ran with the current. It was a very wise battle as he worked his way down the flat edge but a few minutes later we had a nice 25" Bass boatside. A quick photo, then released. Then someone flipped the switch and the action was done. We decided to make a run to some more structure with good current. We fished for about 10 minutes before our best bass of the day arrived and this guy was really a wiley coyote as he did circles around and under the skiff and every time he did my client had to do the same and with every lap of the skiff the hurdles were, go around the push pole, under the trolling engine, over the platform, behind the motor, up on the back, in the cockpit, up on the bow....then finally we had him boat side, a nice 29" Bass. A quick pic and released. Despite getting on Bass again at our next 2 areas, each with lock jaw in the shallows. That Bass marked the last Bass of the day.
10/19/2011 Off the water rescheduled for the next 2 days as this stormy cold front moves through. Next update will be over the weekend.
10/18/2011 We pushed off today with a stiff SW wind,15 knt, sunny skies and water temps hanging on the edge of the magic 50's. The water looked good today but it was slow going at the start, covering a good amount of water with no results. Saw some bait, some lathargic, smaller fish... So I decided that we would run to a few of my older haunts and once we settled down in our new old grounds it didn't take long before we had our 1st taker. This was a very nice Bass that took control right out of the gate with a long reel singing run with the current towards the shallows. After a few minutes of back and forth he came, rolled and gave us back our lure, as he swam away off the flat. It was all good, we got collected, got right back into position to put another cast in there and bang, good strike but not tight, then 3 casts later, bang, it was game on with another nice Bass that gave a good battle and a couple of minutes later we had him posing for a photo. This guy was smaller than our first that we lost, but he was still a scrappy 26’ bass. We worked the area for another 45 minutes but as the current slowed, the bite did as well. A short skiff ride put me back into a good flow of water and I knew we would be into bass in no time. We got into position and our 2nd cast in we had a nice strike and a miss, so we layed another cast out in exactly the same spot, and bang we were tight. This bass came to the surface fast, slashed, went down and was gone. A few strikes later the water slowed, winds kicked up, and we pulled up stakes to hit one more spot on our way home. As we skated across the water I could see that the spot was looking fertile, egrets, herons....you name it was there like an oasis in the desert. We slid into the basin poling a decent speed, with the wind and the current, pointing out the areas to cast to. My client laid the perfect cast in and no sooner did it hit the water and he was tight to a bass, and off to the races as he sped around the shallows towards the back of the basin. That’s when we saw another group of 5+ bass move that were silently laid up. A few minutes later we had him boat side and released a nice 23" Bass. We called it a day.
10/4/2011 Once again today, fall is in the air. We pushed off from the dock with air temps @ 50 degrees and water temps @ 59 degrees with overcast skies...We rolled into our first area of the day with all looking very good but we worked it for about 1/2 hour with no luck, despite how great the spot looked. With a strict tide time schedule, as always, we ran to our next spot that offers a very small window of opportunity. We pulled up to the and spot, which showed all the signs that it would produce Bass. After a handful of casts we laid the fly up into the pocket perfectly and the result was a nice Bass crashing on it, but unfortunately it did not hook up as we had only the one shot at him...you know the "one and done." With another handful of casts under our belt with no results we pressed on to another opportunity and an opportunity it was indeed. We settled in, staked out, and worked our mojo waiting for the Bass to come to us. After about 5 minutes we were solidly hooked up with our first Bass of the day which ended up boat side a few minutes later. A quick pic and we released this nice 24" ocean Bass. It was but only a handful of casts later and we were again tight on a Bass only this time it was a cut bigger as he was sporting those Fall Bass thick shoulders and giving us a run for our money, but after a shrewd battle this 27" beauty was boat side and smiling for pictures. Once released the day changed quickly. The sun popped out and it became a bluebird day...the action shut down as fast as it started. The water temperature during high sun was 61, which is just a bit too high for the high sun bite of the fall.
10/02/2011 Hello Fall....Well what can i say fall was definitely in the air and in the water today with NE winds 15knts, 49 degree air temps, 60 degree water temps and the Bass on the move. For the exception of our first stop of the day we stayed in front of Bass the entire trip today with the Bass at most locations tracking and moving very predictably and very willing to cooperate. Despite the plethora of bait running, the top water action was nada, but subsurface presentation was the hot ticket. We had 12+ Bass today ranging in size from 20" to 32" plus a few dropped fish and 1 bruiser that broke us off. The Fall is officially here....let the games begin.
10/01/2011 With all the factors working in our favor today, good tides, overcast skies, descending winds...we rolled into our 1st location of the day and were greeted with tight pods of tailing Bass in some very thin water. That's the good news, the bad news is that they were VERY ignorant uncooperative Bass due to the immense amount of bait, Mullet, Peanut Bunker, buckets full of shrimp, you name it, it was there. The problem with that is it offers too much competition unless the fly is put on their nose. We had 4 brief hookups in this spot but just could not keep them tight. We decided to run to an area that would offer a better balance of bait / water ratio. As we rolled on to the flat we had slick calm water and rolling Bass and it was not long before we had our shot at a tailing Bass on the edge of the flat. No sooner did we zero in on him then we were hooked up and a few minutes later we had a nice teen Bass boatside. As we got back into position we could literally see rolling and tailing fish nearly as far as we could see down the flat. As we worked our way towards them they just moved along with us not giving us a good clean shot. These Bass were shallow and spooky and as we worked further up the bank a thick amount of bait started becoming an issue once again. We managed a few more brief hookups but could not bring anymore boatside
09/20/2011 The bottom line right now is that since the hurrican came by the water has been very dirty and hard to fish. What is needed is a good NW wind and cooler air temps to put the fall run into gear. I believe that within the next week or so we will wake up one morning and fall will be here. My next update will be around the 1st week in October.
08/25/2011 Hurricane approaching and I am retreating. I will be taking the next few days preparing the boats, dock, ....and everything else that is needed to safely weather out the storm. Once the storm passes it will take a few days to get things back in order. Not knowing what to expect from this storm I have taken precautionary measures and rescheduled all my dates for next week. I will resume my time on the water after the labor day weekend. Now is the time to start locking in your Albie dates for September and October as well as securing dates for the Fall striper run. I will post an update on the conditions down here Monday or Tuesday. Be safe take no chances and see you post hurricane.
08/18/2011 Well here we go again. Today's trip was postpones due to severe storms marching thorough the area. Hope to get back on the water on Monday.
08/11/2011 Today we broke the inlet at first light and we had a good ocean until about 20 miles out then the winds took hold and delivered some very snotty seas 4 ft with 4 ft intervals equating to a tight heavy chop. We ran about 30 miles until we decided to revert coarse and fish our way back inshore until the water became more fishable. Right off the bat we had a small dolphin hooked up, followed by 3 more about 15 minutes apart. We worked the area bit more with nothing sop as we continued our westward travel we cruised about a 1/2 hour then we found some fun smaller Bonito to play with picking up 3 more followed by 3 bluefish. Actually for a snotty day we ended up with some pretty good action 4 Mahi, 3 Bonito, 3 Blues. My Next report will be on 8/18
08/09/2011 Well here we are in the heat of the summer, the bay is boiling hot, bait is everywhere,and the Bass are strapping on the feed bags on a nightly basis in anticipation of making the run south. With the waters in the backcountry a steady 78 degrees in the shallows, my attention for a few weeks has switched to running the 32' SeaCraft east to head offshore for all the Pelagics you could want. Fall will be here before you know it so now is the time to setting your sights on booking for the fall Bass run. For a list of my open dates you can reach me @ 609.432.6618 or shoot me an email.
08/04/2011 - 08/08/2011Finally the air temps dropped dramatically and in turn so did the water temperatures triggering some spectacular top water action for both my Fly as well as light tackle anglers. Good sized tightly packed groups of Bass made their way into their usual shallow water haunts and with the cooler water they were willing to show them selves readily as they balled up huge schools of peanut bunker and Tinker Mackeral as they made their way across the flats. Most of the schools this week could be spotted as they pushed water/waking as they made their way over the thin water sections of the flats making it easy to pole the skiff in front of them offering good head on or ¼ angle shots as they would approach the boat Most Bass throughout the week jumped in size from the warm weeks prior with only a few smaller fish in the 22"-24" range but the bulk of our catches were between 31" and 33" with my Saturday and Sunday trips catching nothing under 10lbs and all were taken exclusively on top water both on the fly and 6lb light tackle gear. Water temperatures stabilized at 75 degrees and with it being forecasted to remain reasonably cool over the next week with another front to pass mid week and thefull moon approaching I can only think that this week will be action packed surely making up for the past couple of weeks prior.
08/02/2011 Today was really much the same as last week with a lot of warm water and loads of bait. The Bass are seem to still be spread out up on the shallows and slow on the take on the deeper flats only giving you 1 chance at the top water hook up and not willing to chase it if missed the first time around. The Bass this evening were willing to show them selves in some very skinny water early on our trip. Greeted at or first spot with a nice size single Bass pushing big wakes as it moved across the shallows, a great site to see but this time moving a bit to quick to get off a good shot. This was really the pace for the rest of the evening, getting a shot or two and raising Bass at most locations but unfortunately we were not able to get the skunk out today. Cooler weather and cooler water on the way and should come together by Friday.
07/26/2011Refer to 7/21 trip and you'll have today's report.
07/21/2011 Water temperatures are still very high ranging between 79-83 degrees when we left the dock today. The action consistency trough out the back country picked up some since my Tuesday trip. We had action at all locations that we visited today both on light tackle spinning gear as well as on the fly, topwater and subsurface with most strikes once again commitment free in attitude. The Bass this evening would only give you one chance at the hook up especially on top waters. After raising a half dozen or so Bass and a very nice run off/break off , we did manage to wrangle 1 nice Bass to the boat tonight a nice specimen about 24". Water temperatures should cool off and stabilize with the passing of these low pressure systems over the next couple of days and we should be back on track with the approach of the full moon.
07/12/2011 Tonight was just on of those nights that enabled us to get on to Bass right off the start, good moving water, no wind, slick calm
conditions and no boats. We had our first Bass about 5 casts in to our first area getting the skunk out of the boat quickly with a beautiful 10 lb. Striper that really took off on its initial run peeling 40 yards out instantly, Landed and released we got our selves back into position and about 15 minutes later we had our 2nd 10 lb. 32" bass boat side. After the current slowed we made a move to the honey hole were things really heated up. Our third cast in we had a nice size bluefish tight on the line and boated after a very fun battle which turned out to be a nice specimen weighing 6 lbs on the boga. We remained in this location for the duration of the trip with getting 5 more Bass boat side all over 10lbs with the largest being 35" 14 .lbs all taken on topwater, this does not include the 20 or so + that we raised also on top. A very fun trip with quality size Bass taken from the shallows that never exceeded 4 feet in depth and as skinny as 13" of water. Total for the evening was 7 Bass and 1 Bluefish
07/11/2011 1 Today was the first morning trip I have run in a while to go in search of laid up Bass that settled down during the night time hours. Often times, as was the case today, laid up morning bass can be big and plentiful and found in some very shallow waters. With slick calm conditions all morning seeing Bass tailing or waking was not difficult. Upon entry to our first area on the morning we were greeted with a great pod of Bass pushing across the flat as they coraled up schools of peanut bunker. Our second cast of the morning we raised our first bass and our next cast got the first to the boat a nice 23" Bass that just exploded on the topwater we presented. We pulled another 3 Bass from this school 3 @ 22"- 24" and 1 nice 31"10.lb fish all taken on topwater in about 16" of water. Through out the remainder of the morning we continued to raise fish at all of our areas wrangling up 1 more Bass @22"to the boat before heading back to the dock. Water temperatures a stable 77.
 07/10/2011 To make a long report short this evening was a carbon copy of yesterdays trip right down to the order that they were caught only today we completed the slam on the fly a true achievement on an achievement. Next report 7/12.
 07/09/2011 Today dished up some great conditions offering us NW winds and cooler air temperatures and our first grand slam of the season. As we left the dock things looked great with fairly good moving clear water and virtually no other boats. Our first two areas offered us a couple of missed strikes but 3 was the charm today with our 3 stop of the trip putting us on the board with a weakfish and a flounder and numerous other short strike bite- offs right at the hook shank which always lets you know that the blues are in the vicinity. With the 2 fish to the boat we instantly switched into grand slam mode so when the window closed at location 3 off we went to complete the slam. We settled down at a spot that should give us our first Bass of the evening. Our 4 th cast in we raised a nice bass that followed the topwater plug back to boat before drifting off. Putting a cast right back into the hot zone we raised 3 others but could not get the hookup. So we made a quick skiff ride spot #4 and I knew that we would be closing the deal. A few cast in we raised another nice Bass whacking the plug all the way back to the boat before drifting off. We put a perfect cast back in the cove once again but this time our Bass took our offerings with full commitment, boated, photograhed and released we were instantly one fish away from the slam. We stayed in front of this tightly packed school of bass for 45 minutes raising countless fish as we took shots at then as they finned and waked up in 6"-8" inches of water on this small flat. We pulled and additional 3 more Bass out of the school all were cookie cutter sized fish about 20-22". Being only one fish away from slam completion we put our selves towards the front end of the school (up current) knowing that if the bluefish is going to be there that he would be leading the way and that he was as he blasted the top-water plug and ran straight at the boat on his first run and a few minutes later we had a nice 5.lb bluefish to complete the slam and which also marked the end of our trip. Water temps. very warm at a steady 78 degrees.
07/07/2011 Today we left the dock under the usual conditions with light winds and forecasted storms that never came and no other boats. As we skimmed over the shallows to our first destination the waters looked very good with nice seams, clear water and ultra low water which would put us in spots through out the trip that would offer small windows of opportunity but often explosive. Timing is everything on the ebb in the skinny water and as we approached to settle down in area one we could see bass busting and as we made our way up on to the flat they were gone as fast as they came. Being a bit late for the window at that spot off we went to get set up at our second location to be assured that we would be set up and ready for when things opened up. As we settled down things looked right for the action to start and as we took a few casts in wait we could see the birds getting ready as well.. About 15 minutes passed and right on time a mini blitz popped up behind the boat but went down as fast as they came up only offering us a couple cast. A few minutes passed and up they came again but thicker and longer and seemed to be a combination of Bass and blue and getting into position we got off several good cast before the would go down again and from that we got two hookups both Bluefish in the 3lb range one taken on top and the other on sinking line. The window was short but active but we could not get the fly through the blues to get to the Bass that in conmbination of the unpredictability of the schools made it hard to get in front of them as they crossed the flat. Off we went to our next window that produced the same results but this time we had a few bumps and two break-offs 1 Bass that came right at upon the hook set before taking the fly and the other which seemed to be a sizable bluefish popes the fly off instantly and this would end our trip for the day. Water temperatures are high ranging between 76 and 78.
07/05/2011 With high expectations coming off my last trip I hoped to have a repeat performance but that was not going to be the case this evening. Stiff SW wind when we departed our first couple of locations dished up a couple of quick bumps which were very non -committal to say the least. As our shadows got long the winds dropped off and it seemed that things were ready to start up raising 2 bass that were laid up in wait. Then one more perfectly placed cast and we had our first hook up of the evening a smaller schoolie size Bass about 20". Quickly released we got back in to the pocket hoping to keep things rolling and a few minutes later we saw a nice Bass rise and quickly put a cast in on it which blew up on our topwater 3 casts in a row but the 4th cast was the charm as we them had our 2nd bass of the evening boat side. This Fish was a cookie cutter size of the last one and definitely not the one that we raised on prior casts, so back we went in for a few more shots and raised one more nice Bass but we could not keep him buttoned up and spitting our hook as things seemed to be shutting down as the winds began to be on the increase. We managed one other brief hook up during the remainder of our trip but the short strike was once again our nemesis.
06/24/2011 After yesterday’s trip both my client and I were ready to get our game on again today, and man I tell ya, the conditions were prime...smooth water, good visibility, light winds....the only thing missing was BASS. We started today with a quick hit and run in a small cove to look for laid up bass and produced nada. Then we made a quick move to the first area we hit yesterday when we had them good. It only took a handful of casts after we got into position to get hooked up by a good size Bass that was stemming in a nice current seam. After a few minutes on the fly rod we had him nearly boat side when he popped off. We threw a few more casts then ran to the shallows to hunt for waking Bass on the move. We saw good movement in a few areas along with a few followers, but no more takers...in fact no more takers for the remainder of the trip. It was as if yesterday was spring and today was August...
06/23/2011 The back country was once again working its magic today, much like it did on Tuesday. Bass moving shallow, laying up and tracking fairly predictably. There were a lot of similarities between Tuesday and today with some bruiser Bass cruising the back country, very skittish in the smooth water, rolling on the fly and lure instead of crashing, and a lot of action with a low catch count. Today we had 2 Bass missed and a handful of others, but stayed in front of Bass nearly the entire trip, and all on the fly. We saw a good swath of activity, a few waking Bass, some rollers tight on the grass picking off shrimp, and then had submarine Bass encounters, when big toad size Bass are cruising in the shallows pushing a wake like a sub before it hits the surface....always very exciting, needless to say. No photos today to busy fishing
06/21/2011 Well thankfully my crystal ball was correct. Today truly delivered a fine example of the magic of the SJ back country. We pushed off from the dock with a slight WNW breeze and slick calm conditions, and very fishy. We rolled on to our first flat of the day and right off the bat we could see good groups of Bass pushing water in the shallows. Our second cast for the day we raised our first Bass of the day, but no hook up. We continued to get shots at moving Bass for the next 20 minutes or so but I tell ya these Bass were very shallow and in turn were very sensitive today and skittish and required leading them by 20 feet when casting. We continued working the flat and in a short time we had a hog Bass roll on our Plug and miss, only to have its schoolie cohort take it and run. A few minutes later we had the skunk removed from the boat. We had a couple more shots at singles but for the most part the area became pretty quite so we up'ed and ran to hit another flat...we thought. Always on the scan when I am running from spot to spot I am always keeping in touch with my gut and what it is telling me and today it was screaming at me, so on our run I passed an area that was looking far too good to pass up so we carved our turn deeper in the back country. We hadn't been staked out more that 10 minutes and things started hopping. Like clock work the Bass popped up from the channel on to the flat as they feasted on grass shrimp, crabs.....They had their blinders on as they gorged, but were still skittish. We stayed on this school for about an hour getting solid shots at Bass. We had a lot of followers, raised a few more, and managed 2 more Bass to the boat in the 24" class. At one point we had a train of a dozen Bass rolling their way down the flat edge before we plucked ours. In these schools there were some brute size Bass but they were very hard to hook up. We raised one that came completely out of the water when crashing the top water plug. That guy was a solid 30"+. For the day we had 3 Bass to the boat with solid consistent shots. Water temps 60 degrees. I will be on the water the remainder of the week. My next update will be over the weekend..
06/15/2011 I will be moving the remainder of my personal belongings from old house to new house and will be off the water until Monday 6/20. Happy Father’s Day...
6/14/2011 I have to say that today we should have been on Bass from beginning to end, but it was pretty much not the case. Despite beautiful looking water, cooler air temps and a light breeze, we had action only at the first stop of the day. We rolled into the area and were greeted with a huge school of Dolphin, with their puppies rolling and playing their way across a very shallow flat. It was an amazing sight. We got up on the flat and quietly worked our way down seeing a few Bass roll and had 1 hook up on the fly with a surface crease fly that delivered a nice 23" Bass. That was it..
06/10/2011 Man-o-man we saw good water most of the day today, worked it equally as good, but at the end of the day we had no Bass to the boat. We had our best shot of the day at our first area of the trip when we had shots at single Bass working the edges, rolling happily on grass shrimp. These guys were tricky today showing themselves once, then laying back motionless, or sliding away under the radar at nearly motionless speed. Then there's the old "Bass popping up where you just poled from" trick which inevitably leads you around like a dog chasing his tail. So it is not that we didn't have Bass, we just weren't catching them today. Water temps are warm, hanging at 71. My next update will be on 6/13.
06/08/2011 Today was pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday’s trip, only today the Bass were laid up in small pods rather than singles, but the end result for the day was exactly the same. What was a good sign was how the bass were tracking. At our first stop, 2nd cast, in 10" of water, our perfectly placed offering landed into a pod of 6+ Bass and no sooner did it hit the water and we were hooked up and after a blistering run a few minutes later we had our selves a nice 25" Bass. We continued to work a long stretch of Flat till' we came across a few single nice size Bass tailing and rooting for shrimp in the grass. We worked these guys for a good 1/2 hour + but just could not get them to eat. That area was the highlight spot for the trip, the remaining time on the water we had a handful of Bass turn aggressively on our lures but did not have any takers, we lost a bruiser Bass then we hooked up but he swam free when the hook bent.The water temperatures are still on the climb getting up to 71 today in the high sun. Next report will be on 6/10.
06/07/2011 Today we were greeted with calm winds to start our day and SW @ 20 to end it. We had all good ingredients today for the exception of the SW winds which in turn made today tough to get on a solid Bass bite. We started the day with a quick hit and run which produced a SOLID grab but no Bass, followed by the same results at our second area for the day. I think I am seeing a pattern here. This was our gig today, 1 bite per area with no follow up action. All the Bass today were laid up motionless and seemed to be in singles instead of small pods of feeding Bass. All day it looked as if things were going to open up into a Bass bonanza but it never happened. Water temperatures jumped big time with the SW winds to 68-70 degrees. So in all today, delivered 6 hook ups, raised 2 on topwater and 1 Bass landed in the 26" class who absolutely crushed the top water plug when we spotted him laid up and stemming the current. My next update will be on 6/8
05/30/2011 Happy Memorial Day Folks. I will be taking this week off to take care of some personal tasks, but may slip out for some quick Bassin' if time allows and I will update my results. Other wise I will resume my updates 6/6
05/29/2011 We ran early today with all the right ingredients once again. A small weather window gave us an opportunity to shoot out before the weather turned sunny and the waters become crowded. We had 2 bass this morning both healthy in the 29" range along with 2 bluefish both about 6 .lbs. As we did in the days prior we raised constantly nice size bass on top water but just would not stay unbuttoned up after the explosive strike. But in all for a couple of hours we had quality fish and the waters to ourselves.
05/26/2011 Due to a lack of time today to update today can be summarized as "just short of Mondays" My Next report will be on 5/29
05/25/2011 Recheduled
05/23/2011 Recipe: all day overcast skies, a dash of wind from the East, new moon approaching, and good tides with fast moving water. Bring to a boil with a 4hr half day trip and simmer at the dock afterwards. That is the recipe for the today which offered the best sight fishing opportunities of spring so far with daily shots at quality size Bass. From our first area to the last we had seen finning Bass in the shallows on the quest for grass shrimp dinners to those jumbo Bass that could be seen pushing 7" wakes behind our well place topwater as they tracked it down feverishly as it makes it way towards to the boat. We had 12 Bass total for our trip not including those fish that came unbuttoned or the countless fish we raised on topwater that plane and simply missed the plug during the strike. Most fish ranged in size from 16' - 28" with larger 30+"bass both seen and missed. Water temperatures are stabile @ 60-61
05/19/2011 Ok, Ok, I know, the lack of updates has been a bit brutal ...Sorry about that...but the fact is that the season got off to a great start and then came a brief cold snap and there has not been much to report on since. So here is the skinny on what's been going on over the past 2 weeks. Since my season began on May 1st I have only been able to run 5 days resulting in 7 bass 1 trip (22"-28") , 3 Bass (25"- 27") on another and 3 days of seeing dirty water, wind and no action. The remaining May days of my season thus far have been rescheduled due to the relentless parade of bad weather, wind & rain and on top of that a evil flu virus is making its rounds seemingly attacking everyone. The water temperatures are still pretty cold sitting between 50-55 and dirty which is about 5-10 degrees off the norm and this has the Bass hunkered down and sluggish. Now being the seasoned optimist I am...the tough Bass fishing to me can mean only one thing... that the back country waters are coiling it's springs and is very due to unleash its magic. With the warmer weather finally moving in there is some small bait around (shrimp...) and with this most recent full moon on the 17th delivering a good hatch of crabs shrimp.... this should start filling the bay with tasty treats and in turn the Bass should be on their heels especially if we get some nice NW winds to clear up the water. So my crystal ball tells me Bass bite is around the bend and with these incoming schools there should some nice Racer size Slammer Bluefish in the 5-9 lb range which are always a treat to run into. Good tides coming and I'm feelin' good. My report update will be on 5/23. Have a great weekend
04/12/2011 Alright folks here we are knocking on the door to another banner Bass season. I am working on the boats daily prepping them for the season which will kick off for me on May 1st. Those of you looking to get in the game shoot me an e-mail for my available dates. Until my may 1st I will be shaking down the boats..... so we are fine tuned for Bassin. Until then keep checking back for updates on my shake down Bass action. Also you should check out the latest issue of "On The Water" magazine lots of good articles including my latest piece on Back Country tactics, it was fun writing it and hope that you all enjoy it the same. Looking forward to seeing you all again this season and until then remember...Keep it reel.
03/17/2011 Welcome back every one. I managed to survive my 1st winter up here in about 15 years and I gotta tell ya it was pretty cool. Well here we are once again perched to start another season and I can feel it in the air it going to be a good one. The days are getting that "long sun" feel to them, the "birds" are showing up the sod banks and so as far as I can see we will have a couple of head fake warm days followed by one more taste of old man winter then Spring will spring. I will be unwrapping the boat this week, gearing up, shaking it down... then and over the next couple weeks making some runs to make sure that "all" is on schedule and during the process visiting some long range virgin territory I have been looking at. I will start guiding again and posting my reports regularly starting mid April. For a list of my open dates shoot me an e-mail. Until then... Keep it reel.
02/11/2011 Well here we are again perched on the edge of another Striper season and much like those in the past I expect a lot of good action. First off I would like to give a quick up date on what's been going on. Usually this time of the season I am in the keys guiding for Tarpon and Permit, but with my moms recent passing we decided to just stay up here in NJ for the winter and regroup and slow our pace down. I will return back to my normal schedule next season. During this Keys hiatus it has allowed me to get some things off my plate that has been on my things to do list for quite a while. This Spring you will see the launch of the full 20 minute length episodes of Iowa Fortune TV, as well as a few article that I have written for "on the Water Magazine" which should come out during the Spring. Along with staying busy with those 2 projects I have another that I will remain silent about until its launch in March. I will start updating my reports section weekly for now keeping you abreast of what's going on down here in SNJ along with my update emails. Being here in NJ for the winter this year I will more than likely start my season early this year and will start testing the waters in March with a little freestyle fish brand new unexplored areas that look to be very fertile grounds. I will keep you posted. Those looking to set up dates for the Spring 2011 season e-mail me for available dates. Looking forward to seeing you all again this season old and new. Talk to you soon.
Reports Archive 2010