My sanctuary

I recently spent a week back in my home town to target a lake I've dialed in over the last couple years. Also because this place yields a chance at tiger musky, though a very rare occasion according to local sharpies. The pickerel bite was red hot I soon discovered with most fish 15-18in range. I did manage severel 24-28in fish, which slammed my flies. One morning just after sunrise I had a much larger fish (still think it was a tiger) slam a 5 in creation of mine and cut my tippet. Musky 1 Dave 0.

About 5 years ago this place had a die off of mostly the bigger bass due to low o2 from the ice over. They have slowly recovered but I have not had a bass over 12in in years there. So I was surprised when I hooked into a 16in bass that was sitting next to a stump on a quiet flat being warmed by the late morning sun. A very memorable fish. For me it wasn't about the size of the fish but about putting my offering right in front of him from a good 75ft and watching him hammer it. I hold this place dear to myself. Enjoy the few pics I managed to snap.

Afterhours darter

I was lucky enough to pick one of these up on stripersonline.com. They sold out in like .0001 seconds. Can't wait to throw it.

Gearing up

Just picked up the New Simms Oceantek boot. I have not had the chance to get them wet yet, but testing them in my apartment they were very comfortable but I noticed the soles seem pretty stiff. Reminded me of new snowboard boots. I'm sure they will break in so I'll revisit this during a better review once I actually use them. Stay tuned!

Hurricane Sandy

This post is very late but I wanted to share some pictures I took of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point area where I fish. I fished Sunday 10/28 when the leading edge of Sandy had begun affecting the south shore of Long Island. I arrived at the beach at sunrise and the full moon along with Sandy winds had the tide to the dunes.

From 4x4 exit looking towards Jetty

I decided to give driving down the bottom half of the dunes a try as the tide was going out. Lucky for me I was able to make it all the way down where I found 3 other anglers fishing the inlet side of the jetty. The jetty was under water but the conditions looked perfect for bass so I suited up and ventured out as far as I felt safe. Ended up casting the whole bag for not a bump. Saw some birds working 300 yards south of the jetty but they never made it any closer. I went back to my truck and caught some sleep and waited for the incoming tide in the early afternoon. By 2pm the wind was blowing pretty hard and the tide started coming in so I suited up and ventured back out on the jetty to give it another try. I was only fishing maybe 30 minutes when the Federal park police showed up to kick us out and close breezy point as there was a mandatory evacuation being issued. So I made my way out of breezy point and made a stop off at Fort Tilden to check for birds. By this time the wind was blowing pretty consistently around 30kts and I didn't see any signs of fish. I called it a day and went home to ride out the storm.

panoramic shot of Ft Tilden as Sandy moved in.

Sandy's destruction meant a 3-day hiatus from my job. I decided the day before going back to work that i would go out and check how sandy changed the beaches I fish. Out of respect for the people who live there I didn't plan on parking in Breezy Point nor would I have been able to anyhow. I decided to park at Fort Tilden and make the 3-4 mile hike down the beach to the jetty. The following pictures are just a sample of the many photos I took. I was speechless as to how the beach had been reshaped. Ten foot sand dunes had been wiped out of existance.

Someones stairs washed up

Old Building at Ft Tilden

Road at Ft Tilden is all washed out

Silver Gull Club

Cabanas

Looking towards the Jetty (where are the dunes?)

Flooded 4x4 path

New sandbar on inlet side of jetty

Looking back at sheepshead bay from Jetty

Whats left of a sand dune

Its now 2013 and for most the storm is just a memory. For many its still a reality. I have stayed away from the beaches since my walk. Mainly due to the fact most access is still closed or very limited. I will be interested to see my options come springtime. Until then I will be pursuing trout in the Catskills....stay tuned

the blog has a heartbeat!

Sorry for the lack of updates. Its been awhile!! Ever since hurricane sandy fishing in my neck of the woods has been hard. Most of my access is closed still. Ive recently turned my focus to fresh water species. Being winter its been slow but i spent 3 weeks in my home town in upstate ny and found some great water to fish come spring. Be on the lookout for updates. In the meantime enjoy this video of some dolphins next to our boat while looking for tuna offshore.

Im back

After neglecting this blog for a year ive decided to give it another attempt.  I will begin uploading some images shot this past season so far. As the fall run progresses be sure to look for updates. Thanks again and sorry for the hiatus. I leave you with this little gem. Check this video out by Angryfish.tv shot off of island beach state park nj. Sharks blitzing bunker!! Pretty sweet

There's something about catching a new species that can turn even the most seasoned angler into a giddy 12 year old that just hooked their first pan fish. That was me this past Saturday. Captain Ken Jones asked me to come out this past Saturday to chase these bunker schools that have had some 30-50lb bass on them along with bruiser blues, and thresher sharks in the mix. We found the bunker early and chased a few schools but there was nothing harassing them. Captain Ken made the call to take a run offshore and see if we could find some hard tails or mahi. After alittle searching we found the blue water and water temps in the mid 70's. We set up a nice spread and were on the troll for about 10-15 minutes and we had our first mahi on. The action stayed pretty steady while we trolled a very nice ledge. As always it was another memorable day on "sweetpea". Enjoy the photos.

This little guy started it off

I love the colors these fish turn during the fight

The bigger one of the day

Fiesty

 

Fathers Day

Capt Ken Jones of Kenjo Flies asked me to fish on fathers day with him and his dad on sweatpea. We hit our usual spots and there wasnt much going on so we went south looking for warmer water and some possible tuna action. As we headed west back towards NJ we found the motherload of bunker schools. Schools so big it looked like a never ending river of bunker. With the occasional blowup on the bunker we chased these fish for miles. When bait is that plentiful it can definately be tough getting fish to eat your offering. It was only fitting that Kens father hooked the new record fish for the boat. The bass bottomed out the 30lb boga. After a few pictures she was put back in the water and swam away nice and strong. Putting these breeding size fish back to see another day is more important than ever with the amount of pressure put on these fish. It was another great down out on the water and an honor to share the memories are boating that large bass with ken and his dad. Enjoy the pics!

Ken and his dad with a nice 40lber

Ken with the slob

stripes

Nervous water

bunker getting pushed to the surface

bunka

Not much to post lately. Ive been hitting the breezy point jetty the last couple of weeks and caught a few small fish but not much going on. Fished during the thunderstorm this past saturday and saw a nice group of diving birds in the same spot i always seem them near the shipping channel. Ill be out this weekend with Capt Ken so hopefully i will have a update with lots of pictures and video!! On another note, i recieved my first native fish for my aquarium today. I now have 2 grass pickerel!! Upon dumping them in the tank one grabbed the first minnow it saw which was over half the size of the pickerel. I think these things will fun to observe. Check them out...

Meet Mr Pickles

Hiding out

My setup....Cant wait to have the space for a bigger tank!!

Finally an update

I was lucky enough to get asked by my good friend Captain Ken Jones of Kenjo Flies to fish with him this past weekend as both of us haven't spent our normal time on the water the last couple of weeks. Kens boat "Sweetpea" is in the water and geared up for the spring migration. Saturday we decided to stay in the confines of Jamaica bay to find these bass everyone has been talking about. I think the winter doldrums have people alittle antsy. A good 10 hours or so on the water produced a handful of fish on top water between the 2 of us. We scouted many of Kens honey holes throughout the bay but didn't read too many fish nor bait on the sonar. With the nicer weather on Sunday we decided to head outside and look for fish out front. We found some birds working early in the morning and Ken fooled one nice bass on a top water plug but that was all we had to show for our efforts. THEN WE MOVED! A 20 minute run from our initial area was all we needed to have a steady pick of bass in the mid 20lb range for most of the day. Football field size schools of bunker in every direction with bass and blues trailing them. We had bluefish up to 15lbs. Most fish were on live lined bunker but Capt Ken managed to pull up a really fat 29in bass on a kenjo fly he produced and i managed some cocktail blues on a pencil popper. A truly memorable outing that went from zero to a hundred with a 20 minute run. Special thanks to Captain Ken Jones for finding the fish.

Capt Ken Jones with a nice bass

For reference that bunker is about 12in long

Humpback whale feeding around the schools of bunker, bass and blues!!

Striper Chasing Capt Ken's Bunker on the surface

Me with a nice bass

nice linesider

One of many fish