The reef fishing continued to remain excellent throughout our weekend trips.  I had the Winters family out for some reef fishing on Saturday and they were much saltier than I first gave them credit.  The whole family was jigging buck-tails off the bottom like they were experts and they managed to land at least 25 fluke and sea bass, putting 6 keepers in the box.  The keepers measured 18.25, 18.5, 20.0, 21.0, 22.5".  Did I mention the kids were 5, 8, & 11.

 

Sunday's morning trip to the GSS had Ed Kilfara and friends out for their second trip of the season.  The bottom fishing has improved since their last trip on Faher's Day and they were rewarded with a 1/2 dozen keepers and several sea bass including a nice measurable blue-humpback. The weather was beautiful and the sea surface temps were in the low to mid seventies.  My afternoon trip on Sunday was unfortunate to have the wind pick up to a steady 15 to 20 knots and the ocean became unfishable in 30 minutes time.  We headed back to the inlet and made a few drifts but the fishing gods decided it was time for us to give the fish a rest.

 

The Compass Rose is heading into the shop this week to have some scheduled maintenance done on the engines and other new systems.  I will not be running again until August 28th.  I will have the open boat on Saturday, August 30th and there are still a few spots left so get in on the last week of fluking before the season closes on September 7th.

I had a great day today with Joe McCall and family who cashed in today on his Father's Day gift certificate.  We fished the Garden State South Reef today and had a steady pick of fluke for the entire trip.  We landed around 35 fluke and put 9 keepers in the box.  Largest fluke was 22.5" and we had several over 20".  We also landed a nice size ling and a nice blue humpback sea bass.  It was a great day and the sea conditions were perfect.

The White Marlin and Tuna Tournament was a great success.  We managed to put some nice yellowfin tuna in the boat and the seas were calm and beautiful.  We did not win any money but I proved to myself that this new Regulator boat is a fishing machine and is capable of fishing the canyons side by side with the big boys.  We made it home from seventy miles offshore in 2 hours and 15 minutes which is very impressive.  We trolled nine lines with no problem and the fishing cockpit was roomy and comfortable for the crew of four guys.  I will defiantly be doing some more offshore trips this season just as soon as fluke season closes.

 

Fluke fishing has improved dramatically over the the last two weeks.  This is a direct result of the increase in water temperatures.  Temperatures have finally risen to their seasonal norm of the low to mid seventies.  The fluke were always there, they just needed a little nudge from mother nature to tell them it was time to start eating-and she gave them that order this weekend.

 

Fridays trip was with Dave Wertheim and his family from Hillsdale, NJ.  They had a great day of catching everything from keeper fluke to the electric stargazer.  We fished off the Holgate tower in 35 feet of water and the kids arms got tired from reeling in everything from sharks, fluke, skates, and sea robbbins.

 

Saturday's open boat trip to the Garden State South Reef saw the best fluke fishing of the year.  We caught 30 to 40 fluke all within a two hour span and bite turned off as quickly as it started.  We kept making short drifts over a spot which I had marked on the GPS.  Every time we drifted over the spot we hooked into nice size fluke.  We ended th day with 10 keepers up to 22 inches and most of the throwbacks were in the 16 to 17 inch range.  Jim Addleshein from Boston was the pool winner and Bob O'Deans from Ohio was high hook.

 

Sunday morning was another beautiful day before the thunderstorms rolled in and I took John Richardson from Clarks Summit, PA and his Grandson, Sean, back to the same spot on the GSS.  We landed two keepers before Sean felt ill and we decided to call it an early day.  All fish were again caught on Gulp Minnows and Peanut Bunker.