I had some great reports the last few times out, so here's a mediocre report.
Left the dock 6:30am with 5 of us onboard
That's more than I normally entertain, but Mako Mike was off work and sick. Not sure if it was a "bad back" or a fast acting "cold/flu" that hits every so often when the winds lay down
We found him at the dock ready to fish solo, had to ask him to jump onboard. Plus; I needed a hand with a friend of Lou's who doesn't fish
Left Bodkin, said hello to Uncle Jake, and headed to Chester river to check out a spot I may need for the CBA tournament
Stopped at Belvedere to "glass" the area. It was a "gray" day with not many birds flying.
Hit the throttle and saw Greg sprinting across the bay headed in the same general area
We reached the area I wanted to investigate and set lines. More birds in the river than in the bay proper. Most were "liar birds/terns" that had NO fish under them. They were dipping and feeding on silversides at the surface.
Noticed a small group of bigger gulls that looked as if they may be fighting over a dead fish. Had the lines out, so might as well check them out. Good thing we did, no dead fish, and FF lit up as we passed over the spot. Watch your rods, I yelled as three went down hard.
Two experienced anglers brought in keeper fish, the "new guy" set the hook like Marlin fishing, lost fish
Before I could turn and make another pass, the jiggers found them
Usually, this is not a big deal, they scatter the school and by trolling, I can pick up a few fish from the same area.
This time however, they drove the fish DEEP. Fishing 27 ft of water and fish were laying right on the bottom at 26 ft. My spread (about 17ft deep) passed right over them, not attracting attention. I tried slipping into neutral to "drop" the umbrellas deeper, but nothing.
Chased some LIAR birds for a while and finally left for more productive waters.
No Love at a couple of areas we glassed, so headed to a reliable area after a phone call from "Hook Em".
Dropped lines and immediately had a keeper and a short. As the keeper came to the boat, I kept telling Lou, "We have a net, we have a net". I could tell by the open mouth, it was a nice fish. Luckily, it stayed on the line when lifted over the side.
The day had been progressing like this; a rod would go down, we wanted the new guy to catch a fish, he would grab the rod, lose fish
He never did bring one into the boat
The last hookup saw a bent rod next to Lou, I saw Lou pick up the rod and say. "Here, take this rod". As I yelled "NO" from the wheel, I saw the exchange and heard the expected, "There's nothing on the line"
Came in with 3 in the box and several keepers "quick released" for another day.
Pic is of Mike and the unlucky angler. I swear, I was tempted to pat him down looking for bananas
I'm sure glad we got out yesterday, today's wind looks nasty.
5th
p.s. second photo is of a set of drink holders I purchased off THT. They go in any rod holder and are "gimbaled" to allow your drink to "swing" when waves rock the boat, thus no spilled drink. I'll let you know how they work