Fun day fluking at sea...

[JHbowhunter]

Met @buck154 at 5:45 in Leonardo with my boat, and brought my cousin-in-law  / neighbor along as well.    He is a newb to fluking but of course caught the biggest!    Forecast actually did EXACTLY what it said.  It was very overcast and slightly snotty with a  steady 10mph NE wind, but great drifting conditions for inside the bay.  We tried several drifts off the Earl - sucked as it has all season. Tried some spots in and around the channels, still sucked then hit the rips which were boiling with hickory shad (think they are hickories) that were eagerly striking small deadly dicks and even bare hooks. I thought shad were strictly plankton feeders but these were loaded up with small rainfish and spitting them up. Did several fluke drifts i there and only a few shorts.   So far, fluking just bad bad bad.    Contemplated heading to Rockaway reef - 14 miles straight into NE slop.   Weather started to improve.  Called @MGHunter66 who was doing well with 2 keepers and lots of shorts toward the back bay.   Thought about making run to Triangle area- maybe we should have but I wanted to go to the Shewsbury Rocks to Rattlesnake area instead.    The 11 mile run wasn't too bad was able to average 20mph in that slop but nearly got airborn a few times.  We had sporadic action just east of the rocks and all the way to Rattlesnake.   Had one spot that we marked when my cousin-in-law got the best fish of day - a nice 23" so Buck154 hit "mark" on the GPS and we never forgot that spot..  In fact - it will forever be entered in my GPS as "Todd's Puke Rock" .   Right after landing the fish, me and John went back to fishing while Todd was getting re-set... We started hearing gagging and definitely the word "Ralph" and we were like WTF how is this possible...????  Todd lost his breakfast.  His dinner.  And possibly yesterday's lunch and  breakfast.  He may have lost part of his intestines too - not sure.   Wow... Just wow...          Anyway - the rattlesnake was only good for one keeper for John. every time we went back to "Puke Rock" we had instant action in such a localized area.   Usually one of us got stuck on the same rock every time we started that drift.  John got his best of day  later on at 22", he was farting around and I saw the fluke hit, John grabs rod and hooks the rock... The fish got it out of there fortunately.   He did his job and got his limit 18.5, 19.5 and 22".    I got a 21.5" and dropped a 22-23" at the surface.   Truth be told, I thought it might be a keeper, but didn't call for the net (it was in netting range) because I called for the net on a 16.5" earlier and didn't want to be embarrassed again.    The fish looked at me and laughed and let go of the naked 6" fire tiger gulp and swam away.   Anyway - the weather ended up being so nice, really liking my boat and how it's laid out.   Very nice on the drift - very stingy on gas...  Ran about 50 miles overall possibly more on 13 gallons.   Again the weather forecast was right and wind shifted later to SE and we had a nice following sea for ride home at 25-30mph.    I was worried the NE to E forecast would have been 15-25 instead of the 5-10mph, and they got it right for once.   We had enough action to make it fun with shorts many just unders of course, and if I didn't suck so bad at this would have had even more meat in the box. Pictured is my infamous JH bouy off the Earle where we started our first drift of day. Without a hit. Also a guy fishing off the rips with his spinning reel upside down.  We all groaned - like fingernails on a chalkboard. Also a nice squid Todd caught and John rigged up a bottom rig.  Was expecting great things on that but a rock ate the entire rig.   A good day!  

Edited July 5, 2020 by JHbowhunter

[hammer4reel]

Sounds like a great day.!

[BowhunterNJ]

Nice day on the water gents!

[nmc02]

Looks like a great day. What memories are made of 

 

[SPEARFISH]

Nice job guys.  Heading out now.  I won't be running that far.

[Buck154]

Great write up Jack. That covered the day perfectly. As you said it was about time the forecast matched what they called for. Good day and felt good to get back into big water fluke, getting tired of the bay fluking. Might have felt bad for Todd getting sick .....NAH . But he was a good sport and took the joking around from us and only not fished a few minutes. Good times and ok fishing

[MGHunter66]

You guys put in a long day of trial and error but made it happen in the end  Fortitude equals results, great job

[Zipper]

4 hours ago, Buck154 said:

Great write up Jack. That covered the day perfectly. As you said it was about time the forecast matched what they called for. Good day and felt good to get back into big water fluke, getting tired of the bay fluking. Might have felt bad for Todd getting sick .....NAH . But he was a good sport and took the joking around from us and only not fished a few minutes. Good times and ok fishing

Great Recovery Todd!

Jack,  you're a great enough writer to work for a great metropolitan News paper fishing column. Great day, that's what  lifetime memories are made of.  Glad your boat is performing!

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Zipper

[tpr1921]

Been sick a few times myself and at each time I wished I was dead. Nice catch.

[LPJR]

Good day out Jacko. 

Johnboy-Start charging guide fees for your expertise! 

[Buck154]

12 hours ago, LPJR said:

Good day out Jacko. 

Johnboy-Start charging guide fees for your expertise! 

Better get Zipper....I suck this year

[Lphunsjr]

Nice job fellas

[JHbowhunter]

4 hours ago, Buck154 said:

Better get Zipper....I suck this year

Or Hammer, he had his two person limit before his engines got warm!

[Zipper]

9 hours ago, Buck154 said:

Better get Zipper....I suck this year

Well Jack  does love Luigi's Deli. Lol. 

[Live to Hunt]

Nice guys.