Fresh Stone Harbor Fishing Reports

Ran a few back bay trips this week. All three I tried to get out onto the reefs for flounder. Two of the trips we came back in due to the choppy conditions. One we came in because of a little dudes sea sickness. Again, due to choppy seas. Suffice to say, the weather prognosticators got it very wrong as far as the sea state was concerned. Each trip was an absolute blast in its own way. The personalities onboard, the shared laughs, the ribbing, the bonding. Michael and his group came out on Wednesday. We tried to get out front, but the chop was a bit much. We stayed in the back and landed a ton of croakers. Wanting so.e fish to eat they kept fifty. Cleaning them was a chore, but they had a nice bag of meat to show for their efforts. Thursday I had Matt and his gang onboard. We made it out front and fished the reef for about an hour before his son started feeling ill. We came back inside and played with the croakers for awhile. Then we took a ride to get away for the voracious little buggers and tried for flounder. We had quite a few hits, dropped one, and then Joe landed the buzzer beater for the win. Last drift of the day, just about to call it, he nailed a 17" keeper. Perfect ending to a fun day. Final trip for the week was a fun trip with long time friend Tim. We planned to hit the reefs, but as usual, the forecast was off. Bumpy seas and increasing wind forced us into the back bays. We skipped the croakers and hunted for flounder. We tried various areas, and most appeared fishy, but luck wasn't on our side. After a lot of well intended, but fruitless drifts, we decided on a hopeful long shot. It paid off. We found some sweet bottom contours holding bait fish and worked the area over. Tim got hammered, dropped back and was rewarded with a rod bending, drag pulling flounder. It measured 22.5 inches. It made our excellent, though fishless day even better. In subsequent drifts Tim hauled up another just short flounder. I landed a doggie. Not my day. Once the tide finally turned the drift was all messed up and the little bite we had died out. We called it a day. If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now. I love what I do. This is what I plan to do in retirement. Regardless of having to get up at 4 am, or struggling with over stuffed sharks in the sand, this is the greatest "job" in the world. I get to follow my passion and share it with others. Nothing better. Well, maybe just one thing, that being family and being married to the love of my life. But this gig is definitely the icing on the cake... Tight Lines!

Hit the surf this morning with Ed, Andrew, and Joe. We met at 6am, which was fortunate given the fact that my stupid alarm never went off. Suffice to say, it was a mad scramble getting there on time. Surprisingly, I made it and was able to set up before the guys arrived. I set up four poles to start, two with bloodworms, one with clam, and one with a chunk of bluefish. Bloodworm was the early and consistent winner throughout the morning. The clams and bluefish were picked off by persistently pesky crabs. The first fish of the day was a small kingfish. It was kind enough to volunteer for shark hook duty. We landed a small butterfly ray on it's tasty head ( remember: fish heads, fish heads, rolls Polly fish heads...). The other rods rigged with Brown Dog Bomb kingfish rigs hauled in kingfish, croakers, weakfish, sand perch, spot, and a cool looking tropical fish (looked like a hogfish). I think the final tally was 22 fish. Nothing huge, but steady fun. And we missed a bunch of bites, and had a few pop off in the surf zone. The morning started off really nice, but very humid. Around the turn of the tide the wind came up fairly hard. The once rolling ocean became a white capped maelstrom. The water got dirty, and the bite really subsided. Around the time we walked off the beach it began to spit. Fortunately it never materialized into a proper rain. I didn't need another deluge soaking on the beach again. So, all in all, a fun day on the beach with repeat clients. Hopefully the bite continues to improve. Tight Lines!

I got an invite from Chris last night to tag along out front for some flounder and anything else we could find. I wasn't really sure what to expect given the crappy weather we've had over the last few days. But, you can't catch them if you don't go. We left the marina shortly after 7am and cruised out a good distance. We checked out so.e secret squirrel stuff we did and it looks like it will be doing well in the very near future. We tried a wreck while out there, but it was covered in sea bass. Unfortunately seabass season is now closed. So, we worked the wreck over and decided we had wasted enough gulp and other baits on the bass, we needed flounder. As we headed toward one of the reefs we had a good sized tuna explode in fro t of Chris's boat. Never expected to see that. The water was quite blue, but only 68-69 degrees. Chris had three big marks streak across the sounder down to 40 feet then shoot off. There were loads of storm petrels and Jaeger birds out there too. Jaegers are fun to mess with. We poked around d for the tuna, but no luck. As we raced off for the reef we came across two large sea turtles, one had a tern sitting on its shell. That was cool. Then we passed a big stick floating and decided we should check it out. As we approached we discovered there was a cobia floating along beneath it. We rigged up eels to throw at it, but the cobia vanished. We arrived at the reef and set up a drift iver so.e rubble. I got the first keeper, just slightly over 17". We had a steady pick at short and keeper flounder each drift. We moved around finding new rubble to try and it always paid off. We each had our over and one slot as the clock was ticking down. We each pulled up over fish that we of course released. That is painful, not gonna lie. Finally, on the final two drifts of the day, we each landed our final slot fish to get our limits. It felt good. We tossed a lot of shorts back, a few overs, and some that were just too damn close to call. Not to mention some nice sea bass. But, regs are regs. It was an epic day out of the water. The sky was gorgeous, with big puffy clouds, and blue as could be. We ran home triumphant knowing we'd be eating well. I'm gonna have Lisa make her killer flounder milanese. If you haven't tried it, you are depriving yourself. Put it on your hit list! Tight Lines!

Had a fun day out of the reef with Mike and Kyle today. We drifted over wrecks and a lot of rubble. We found a massive school of small weakies. We caught two and left them alone. Got one big sea robin, which volunteered to be bait. Landed a stray sea bass. And caught a bunch of short flounder and three nice keepers. You couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Calm seas, lite breeze, and clear water. There were big schools of bait cruising around, but nothing on them. The drifts were nice and slow, though changeable at times. Everything we caught was tight on structure, big and small. Subsequent drifts over the same areas rarely yielded another fish. Didn't make sense. The water is warming up, so things out on the reefs and lumps should really begin to light up. Can't wait to see what will show up. Tight Lines!

Spent Father's day morning out on the reef and wrecks with Jesse and his father, Rod. We set up on various wrecks and drifted over structure in hopes of catching some flounder and sea bass. Our first spot had a huge school of fish hovering over the structure. When we dropped down out baits were immediately attacked. Jesse and I pulled up a weakfish each. Then the school moved on and vanished. We continued to work over the wreck and pick at little sea bass. So many were just shy of the 12.5" limit. Or close enough it wasn't worth risking a bad measurement. Jesse pulled two keepers from out of the structure. The bite was fairly slow overall, so we moved out into the rubble field. We picked at some short flounder, and finally Jesse landed a nice 19.5" keeper. Again, hlthe bite was slow, so we decided to go find some wrecks elsewhere. We got to the next wreck only to have another boat move in on us. The guy explained that he had landed several sea bass here the day before and wanted to try again. Yeah, that excuses your intrusive behavior. So, we drifted around him and finally spot locked over a pile of sea bass. He moved off. We worked it over and then went to the next wreck. On out final approach over the new wreck, we dropped our lines to see what we might find prior to setting spot lock. My rod got hammered! I thought I caught a big flounder by the way this fish was fighting. Instead, I landed my personal beat sea bass. It was 19". Biggest I ever caught! Not much else on this wreck, but we picked a few more sea bass. I got a big tog too. I wish they were still in season... Our final stop of the day was occupied by another boat who was trying to hold his position with his outboards. He was struggling. The wind had come up quite a bit. We moved in and onto the structure. He took off. Guess we offended him. Not like there is much courtesy on the water anymore. He must've caught them all before we got there. I got a dink flounder and one sea bass. It was enough to put me ahead of Jesse in the fish count. So all was good in the world again. We called it a day. And a fun day it was! Happy Father's Day dad! And to all the dads out there. Tight Lines!

Had a fun night out last night with Jesse, his kids, Alyssa and Collin, and his dad, Rod. We ran the bridge circuit in hopes of finding something. Given the dismal reports as of late, we didn't have high hopes. Our first stop of the night was all ours. The water looked a bit stained from the wind that howled all day. There were signs of bait and some tasty looking rips along the structure. We worked the shadow lines on the up and down current sides. Finally I had a feisty striper inhale my jig. After a spirited battle I landed and released the fat 22 incher. Of course I forgot to snap a pic... The next two stops were devoid of all signs of life. But the fourth held promise. As we were setting up, a gentleman who was already there hooked up. He had a terrific battle before the big blue bit him off. Good sign! Jesse hooked into a nice blue, but was also bitten off as he tried to land it. They are rather toothy. Shortly thereafter he landed another, and then Rod hauled one in. They were kept for beach baits. Collin and I both missed our opportunities. The next area was quiet. The final stop looked fishy. I missed a solid hit in a shadow. And then Rod got hammered in the same spot, but came unbuttoned too. At this point it was getting late. We figured we'd try one more spot, but couldn't agree on where to go. So, Jesse and his group tried an easy spot I recommended, while I went off to check out some other areas. They landed a short flounder. I found cruising dogsharks. They were everywhere! They are fun to watch swim at least, but are harbingers of poor fishing. For whatever reason, when doggies are cruising, fishing is slow. So, I called it a night. Had a blast hanging out with Jesse and his crew. Just wish the fish had been more willing... Tight Lines!