Labor Day Weekend.
September 02, 2023 Bellevue 4 photos
Spanish Mackerel
Spanish Mackerel
Bluefish
Bluefish
Flounder
Flounder

Trip Summary

Well I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend for Labor Day. I sure did.We fished Saturday and both am and pm trips saw first time boaters and fishers. The cool nights and full moon sure had things messed up for the weekend but we made the best of it. Saturday am we saw few Mackerel but no Bluefish wiling to play. We split the trip and went to bottom fishing with some nice catches of spot and a few hardheads(still under size). But boy did we get a surprise with a couple of just under size flounder. They are 1 of my favorites that we don't see much of around anymore. They are tryin to make a come back tho. I think that makes 4 for this year so far. Saturday pm was a better with Spanish Mackerel and some bluefish feeling hungry. Still wasn't a really good bite like I like to have tho. But that was ok because I already had some bottom fishing planned as Jie had his 3yr. old son on his first boat ride and fishing trip. We want kids to enjoy fishing so we always prepare to bottom fish. It allows them to catch and not be bored. The fun is what we want them to remember. Fun it was they were non stop catching and Mason was steady laughing. They took home some nice fish for diner also. Well the heat is back this week. then a cool down again. This heat will turn on the blues and Mackerel. I am not sure how much longer they will stay after that hopefully awhile. Once they thin out we will target Stripers primarily also with some bottom fishing mixed in. Fall is knocking on the door and it is 1 of my favorite times to fish. It is a good time to learn light tackle jigging. As the fish school up and feed heavy. Don't be wishing book a trip and lets get fishing!
Richard Phippin
Bellevue, Maryland, United States
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Other reports from this charter

Rockvember
Rockvember
November 10, 2025
Fall fishing is in full swing! The Striped bass are schooled up and feeding for winter. Water temps are in the mid 50's. We had a bit of a warmup Friday night with air temps at 58 to start the day. Wind was a little more than we like but still doable. We left the dock with the intentions of trolling first then switching to jigging. Sure enough the birds were right where we left them last week. We dropped 4 rods in and started trolling. Birds were working but not hard and they were jumping around a lot. Once I marked fish I could see that they were deeper than previous trips. So we readjusted and deployed all 6 rods accordingly. It took about maybe an hour and we started getting hits. Usually this is fish hitting the teasers and not the hooks. But we kept at it and not long we had a fish on. Josh was up first and before he could get the fish halfway to the boat another rod goes off. Kyle jumps on and then a 3rd rod goes off. We boated all 3 fish. Beautiful fat fall keepers. Nice and healthy. In the box they went. We circled back and after a few passes another fish on. Thats 4 in the box and 1 more to go for a limit. A couple more passes and fish on. Before that fish gets to the boat another rod goes off. We boated them and that makes a limit with 1 to throw back. We made a couple more passes and managed 1 more throw back before the bite died. This time of year the fish may or may not feed for a long period. At that was the case. We stowed the trolling gear and went looking for a jigging bite. The wind was dying down perfectly. Its hard to jig on fish with 1 to 2 foot waves but it was dying out like predicted. We went to a reef that is old bridge decking and concrete rubble. There was a boat there and they were catching. After a few minutes they pulled up and left. We made several drifts and sure enough Josh hooks a Nice 26 1/2 inch Striper. Couple more drifts and several more Stripers and I notice commotion off the Starboard side about 100 yards. They are busting on the surface. With no birds around. We motor over as quiet as possible and everyone is hooking up. They didn't stay on the surface long as there was a boat that kept trolling by. But they did pop back up several times and we were able to get the them before they went down. We caught and released numerous healthy Stripers. Mostly over the 24 inch keeper size limit. After a while Josh hooked into something huge. It wasn't a striper that's for sure. We had to follow the fish so he didn't get spooled. It came near the surface a couple of times. With the fall water being so clear on the last time near the surface I was able to make out the color. It was copper, a big Bull Red. Unfortunately after a 15 minute battle he got it near the boat and it went straight down. It stayed there, then wrapped the reef and pulled the hook. These are some powerful beasts that is for sure. We got back at it and caught a few more Stripers before calling it a day and heading back in. The ride back in the water was almost glass smooth. Back at the dock we measured and weighed the fish. Then filleted and packaged them for their ride home. The smallest was just over 4 pounds with the biggest at just under 6lbs. They made for some nice dinner filets for the table. We still have dates available. This cold snap coming should fire them up even more. Big ocean run fish are on their way. We usually start seeing them within the next week give or take. Every year is a little different. The largest fish ever on my boat was a 46 1/2 inch Striper caught on Veterans Day. That was definitely the fish of a life time. You won't know if you don't go. So contact us to set to a trip. Till then Tight lines everyone. We are going to get back at for now.
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