2010 Fishing Newsletter

Greetings to all,

After a fantastic cod bite which took place in late February and early March, the spring bite didn't take place until late April. This continued until mid May, when I decided to call it quits, due to an unbelievable number of dog fish that moved into the area. I’m hopeful for better cod fishing this April. Please note our spring discount.

By the 20th of May, we began fishing for stripers. Most of the trips through June 15th produced very good numbers, with the largest fish reaching 30 – 45lbs. After that, the blues moved in and the main body of large bass had moved on. We continued catching a combination of bass, blues, and fluke, throughout the summer months. Good bass fishing took place with diamond jigs during late August, September and October. Throughout the summer and fall, the twilight trips were the most productive. During September and October, we also pursed porgies and seabass with good results.

Shark fishing in late June and early July was like it was 20 years ago. Six to ten sharks a day was not unusual. Beautiful weather with calm seas, prevailed on most of these trips. Groups fishing the Cox’s Ledge area were treated to an added bonus. While waiting for the sharks to arrive, some party members tried cod fishing with jigs and bait. Results ranged between fair and good. We will again continue this method in the coming season. (Please note our June discount) A special milestone was achieved on August 6th when Sean Saari from North Carolina caught and released our 2000th tagged shark. In addition to this special capture, the blue shark was the largest I have seen in my 39 years on the ocean. My estimate was over 12 ft. and between 450 and 500 lbs.

Tuna fishing took place quite late in the season. While August and September are generally the months for tuna, they were a bit off. Our best fishing took place during the last week of September and the first two weeks of October. The tuna ranged from 45 to 100lbs. and were caught mostly in the Mud Hole, 18 miles offshore.

Black fishing proved to be our grand finale with most trips filling the 8 fish/person quota at 16”. Trips began on October 17th and ran through early December. Average size range was between 3 and 5 lbs with daily pool winners hitting 8 through 9 lbs. Pound for pound, you will not find a more scrappy fish than the blackfish which I call the “Bulldog” of the northeast. The beauty of this type of fishing is that anglers are fishing within 25 – 40 minutes from leaving the dock. Due to the prevailing northerly winds coming off land, we can usually fish up to a 30 knot wind in complete comfort, because of our close proximity to land, preventing large seas from developing. With the reduced amount of fuel used, I have priced these trips at a huge savings to you. (Please note our fall discounts) We will again be sailing with small groups and individuals that we put together. This worked out very well with many of our anglers getting along with each other and exchanging email and phone numbers. As a result, a few of the groups returned to fish together on other trips. Please call in advance to reserve space if you plan to sign on as an individual or small group.

A $25 (inshore) and $50 (offshore) fuel surcharge for a group and $5 for individuals will be added if the cost of diesel fuel reaches $3.00 / Gal. and at each 50 cent incremental increase thereafter.

Bookings are already coming in so please don’t wait until the last minute to book a trip.

2010 Diving Newsletter

Photo by Mike Eversmier

Greetings to all,

The 2009 shark diving season began with six or more blue sharks being spotted on all of the early July trips. The seas were calm and visibility was close to 30 ft. My only disappointment was that we were unable to find any basking sharks which was the target species. Captains from other boats had contacted me with the location of the basking sharks during the week previous to our dive and again two days after our dives. I will try once again, to locate these sharks toward the end of June. On a more positive note, we did see herds of whales and porpoises on the way out to the shark grounds, during the same time period. Sightings from one day totaled more than 30 humpback whales. Three of these whales, jumped clear out of the water.

Due to an improvement in cod fishing in the area, we tried jig fishing while waiting for the sharks to arrive. To my surprise, we did quite well. The largest cod tipped the scales at around 15 lbs. These conditions continued through mid August.

By early August, we were traveling 35 to 45 mi. offshore in search of blue water. We were rewarded on most trips where the water visibility was over 50 ft. and sea temperatures were around 72 degrees. The mixture of fish found in the gulf stream water included blue sharks, makos, mahi mahi, bluefin and yellowfin tuna, porpoises, sea turtles, and Portuguese Man of War. Most of these trips required a 12 hr. duration.

September was a bitter sweet month for us. It started out with calm seas and a diverse variety of marine life, with excellent visibility. One of the best days produced three makos. On the following day, we saw 13 blue sharks. Until Labor Day weekend, the season was 100% successful in shark sightings. On September 7th, my luck ran out. What started out to be a beautiful day with very little drift, turned out to be my first strike out day of the season. On another day, also in September, we experienced our second strike out. Due to high seas from extreme winds, we were forced to head in early.

The month of September was not kind to us. Six days were lost to strong winds, with others being questionable. September can be a beautiful month with calm seas, a large variety of marine species and visibility to 80 ft. It can also be our worst month for wind and rough seas. If you are a first time diver, I would highly recommend June or July as the months to try your first dive. They are usually the calmest months, with a good chance to see blue sharks, makos, ocean sun fish, and whales.

There will be a fuel surcharge of $50/group or $5/individual if the cost of diesel reaches $3.00/gal. and at each 50 cent incremental increase thereafter.

Bookings are already coming in. Don’t wait to the last minute, to reserve your date.