Fall fishing at it's finest!
October 14, 2023 Stone Harbor 8 photos

Trip Summary

What a fun day out! Skel and I ran out to see what we might find. First stop was the reef. We spot locked over a pile of rubble and hauled up short sea bass, after short sea bass. I managed three blues and a triggerfish too. Made a move to o eof the wrecks, but it was barren. Ran a few miles further out and tried another wreck. We found more sea bass, but they were even smaller. The question burning in our minds was simple; push further out in search of bigger sea bass, or, run back inside and enjoy the bent rods? We ended up pushing further out. We found some sea bass pots and worked the area in between them. There were clouds of fish! We started off with bait, Mole crabs, clam, and squid. Then I changed up to jigging. Jigs were the ticket. Bigger fish and quicker results. While hauling up a ton of short sea bass, we slowly drifted close to one of the pots. We noticed some movement and realized there was a big school of little mahi holding to the structure. We tried chunks of peanuts, whole peanuts, and all sorts of lures. Skel managed to finally get one of the slightly larger mahi to bite his chunk. It bent the rod for about three seconds and spit the hook. I finally had enough. I ran back over to the little piece of rubble and dropped our jigs. We started right back where we left off. The sea bass were voracious, and for some reason, bigger. We hauled in fifteen keepers in short order, along with loads of shorts. I even got a big porgy. Unfortunately time wasn't on our side. I could've stayed out there all day. But, obligations take precedence over fun at times... The autumn bite is just getting started. The sea bass will be moving in as the water cools. The tog bite will get even better. Stripers are already holding around the back bay structures and will be migrating along our coast in due time. So much fun yet to come! Tight Lines!
Frank Breakell
Stone-harbor, New Jersey, United States
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Whether you’re a novice or seasoned angler, Brynnie-B Inshore Fishing has a trip just right for you! Captain Frank Breakell offers something for every level of angler – every trip is fully customizable to suit your needs and desires. Everyone ...

Other reports from this charter

Back Bays, surf, it's getting better!
Back Bays, surf, it's getting better!
June 2, 2025
It's been quite the week. It started off with me and my two friends trying to get out for some flounder. We launched the boat, cranked her over, and realized there was no water coming from the engine indicating that it was pumping cooling water through itself. We trouble shot it at the ramp, but no luck. I tried trouble shooting it at home without any luck. I ended up going up to South Jersey Boatworks where Matt took time out of his busy day to swap out the pump. She's working great now. Memorial Day, Andy and I launched for our second attempt at chasing some flounder. Engine fired up and pumped water like a champ. We had some frozen spearing that we wanted to thaw out. Tossed it into the live well and hit the pump switch, dead. Tried the hose, also dead. Went to turn on my electronics and realized my house battery was dead. Great. So, we fished old school. Boat, motor, and gear. No electronics. We had about an hour and a half of incoming tide remaining and the ICW all to ourselves. We drifted along some ledges, got some hits, and missed quite a few. Finally, Andy broke the ice with a fat 20 inch flatty. Shortly after he landed a doggie and a skate. Then the tide slacked. Around this time a dozen boats moved in and joined in on our drift. The outgoing tide excited the bite from the shorties. We pulled in two 16-17" flounder each and missed a bunch more. Most of the boats in the area were catching and releasing short flounder. We saw two keepers taken. All of this during the first hour of the outgoing tide. We tried a few other areas and missed more fish. Called it a day about half way through the tide. Andy shared his flounder with me and Lisa turned it into a delicious dinner of flounder milanese. If you know, you know. If you don't, try it! You will not be disappointed. I took my battery back to West Marine where I purchased it. I explained how it was suddenly dead, wouldn't charge, or accept a charger being attached to it. Gave bad readings. They said their warranty for batteries is one year, mine was two. Out of curiosity they asked to keep the battery to test it out. Why not? They called the following day and said that it was in fact defective, and that they will be replacing it. They stand behind their products! Thank you Weat Marine. Hopefully, that's the last of the issues with the boat. Today, I had a surf fishing trip with a favorite family that comes back every year. Christopher and company met me on the very chilly, and windy, beach at 6am. I set out the rods in hopes of finding some stripers, kingfish, and maybe some blues. What we got were a bunch of little smooth doggies, croakers, a spot, and a little ling. Not the day I was hoping for. The wind, and chilly, dirty water conspired against us. On the plus side, they had a blast despite the conditions and lack of quality fish. Hopefully the wind takes a break for the remainder of the summer. Wishful thinking I'm sure. Finally, night time bridge hopping has been fairly productive. Some nights are better than others. But it's always fun! Looking forward to more adventures as the fishing season heats up. Tight Lines!
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