609-494-5739 Like many others, I am guilty of using the term “epic” in describing the day of fishing we had. With that said, yesterday’s open boat trip was “epic”. By no genius of mine, mind you. It was all because Capt Gene Linder on the Side Chick, currently sailing from Shark River, NJ gave me the call.
We broke Barnegat Inlet early in the morning and made the left. It was not feeling good, the water was still a little murky from the storm, the wind was up hard, and we didn’t have any life until Seaside Heights. We had blackout readings, lots of bird play, but not a touch trolling and casting. We kept moving north and found a small group of boats working a big bunker pod off of Belmar, but no bent rods or nets going over. Just then we got the second phone call from Gene that we should get up there as the bite is now topwater with breaking fish. Up there, as in the Atlantic Highlands.
Off we went, and I warned my crew that I have taken these rides before only to hear how good it was and we should have been there earlier. Also, we were arriving right at slack tide, so I told everyone on board that it was going to be a slow hour or two before we saw action again. Fortunately, that all proved to be wrong. We got into fish immediately and it got better every hour both with casting topwater lures or snagged bunker. Mostly all were 26″ to 36″ fish which meant people were also going home with Ziplocks.
The videos say it all:
youtu.be/3clog9oDdZc
This was the first real workout on the new set of Fishermans Headquarters INS701MHS Spinning Rods I paired with Battle lll 5000’s and they were perfect. Flexible enough to enjoy the fight and still had enough backbone to throw heavier lures and set a hook. Could not be happier with these outfits.
I just looked at the marine forecast and it is going to blow W or NW for the longest stretch I have ever seen. Most of it at low velocity. We will be sailing every day starting Wed Nov 16 thru the first weekend of Dec.
It’s probably best if you don’t use this trip as the expectation for your trip as this doesn’t happen every day. It’s fun to to know that it is possible anytime you go out, but this is not a typical day. But if given the information, we will go wherever the bite is. Number one rule: Fish where the fish are. Also know that our scheduled end time is not always our exact end time, we often go later.
Tues thru Fri 10AM to 5PM. $250 person.
Sat, Sun, and Mon’s 6:30 AM to 2:30 AM. $275 person.
Four people max on all trips, all fish are shared.
Any of these days are also available for charter.
Pics:
Roger Rabain of Delaware (black hoodie)
Stuart Lombardi of Demarest NJ (orange hat) Stu also gets credit for the videos
Bill Buckham of Lansdale, PA (red hoodie, black hat)
Phil Falato of Seaside Park NJ (green rain jacket)
Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674 cell
