Raritan Bay Fail

[JHbowhunter]

First skunk ever in the salt with me at the helm.  Thought we had a great plan but maybe the execution sucked.  Gotta report the bad along with the good so here it is.....

Launched Keyport 6:30 am, to look for bunker and work East.    We found some here and there, got some in the well, but not finding many bass marks and hours of casting shads and topwaters yielded nothing will also livelining.  Hundreds of boats, never saw a single fish caught.   I ended up beyond the hook and covered all the usual spots.   Ran to back bay, found some better marks near the AK and actually had 5 hits on live bunker but no hooksets.   Ran way up into the AK with no success. 

Ran back near Keyport and hit every spot where a buddy did well day before on fluke, and 2 hours with three of us trying yielded nothing but sea weed.   Not even a single hit.    Last ditch effort - ran to back bay and found insane best marks of the year near lighthouse in 19-25'.  Got a few followers on shads and a few weak hits,  but with no live bunker it just wasn't happening.  I bet they turned on later and into evening with this full moon. 

Epic fail all around. Still licking my wounds.   On the plus side - boat ran great and ran 54 miles overall yesterday plus 32 trip before according to trip logs, and boat took 31 gallons of gas so that is around 3mpg.   - 

Other fails -

• My raw water pump decided to not work, after only 3 uses.  This will be my 3rd pump in less than a year. 
• One of my trailer breaks looks shot - not even a year old on new Loadrite
• My son tore our cast net on first toss - it caught a rod holder mounted on the bow rails.  

Edited May 9, 2023 by JHbowhunter

[SPEARFISH]

12 minutes ago, JHbowhunter said:

First skunk ever in the salt with me at the helm.  Thought we had a great plan but maybe he execution sucked.  Gotta report the bad along with the good so here it is.....

Launched Keyport 6:30 am, to look for bunker and work East.    We found some here and there, got some in the well, but not finding many bass marks and hours of casting shads and topwaters yielded nothing will also livelining.  Hundreds of boats, never saw a single fish caught.   I ended up beyond the hook and covered all the usual spots.   Ran to back bay, found some better marks near the AK and actually had 5 hits on live bunker but no hooksets.   Ran way up into the AK with no success. 

Ran back into Keyport and hit ever spot where a buddy did well day before on fluke, and 2 hours with three of us trying yielded nothing but sea weed.   Not even a single hit.    Last ditch effort - ran to back bay and found insane best marks of the year near lighthouse in 19-25'.  Got a few followers on shads and a few weak hits,  but with no live bunker it just wasn't happening.  I bet they turned on later and into evening with this full moon. 

Epic fail all around. Still licking my wounds.   On the plus side - boat ran great and ran 54 miles overall yesterday plus 32 trip before according to trip logs, and boat took 31 gallons of gas so that is around 3mpg.   - 

Other fails -

• My raw water pump decided to not work, after only 3 uses.  This will be my 3rd pump in less than a year. 
• One of my trailer breaks looks shot - not even a year old on new Loadrite
• My son tore our cast net on first toss - it caught a rod holder mounted on the bow rails.  

We've all had those days.

Those pumps suck.  Maybe if you run antifreeze through it it will last longer, but I changed a few.  Just redid my trailer breaks last year.  First time for a 2005 trailer.  Saltwater is tough on everything, especially electronics.

[kohunter]

Did you at least get to enjoy some Porkroll while you were down here?

[electric10162]

Still beats working!

Trailer brakes can be a bitch. Easier just to buy new from etrailer.com

[SoxFan]

It happens. The good days far outweigh the bad ones, so get back out there and give it hell again. 

[hammer4reel]

Cast nets will catch every single thing they pass

.

every loose screw, rod holder  , loose spot on rail etc

area being used needs to be totally clear as it takes a lot of area to throw the net as well as bring it in when it’s too full .

 

wash down pumps usually take a lot of abuse . Might want to check wire size going to it that’s its big enough to carry the load .

 

wish I got that kind of MPG 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by hammer4reel

[rgw]

Very tough fishing this weekend , we only boated a couple fluke fishing for them all day, plan was to fish both days but after Saturday lack of fish I couldn’t do it Sunday. I’ll wait till the full moon is gone 

[Mallard1100]

Glad we weren’t the only ones!! Lol. We did much of the same. Covered a lot of water. Pulled 1 bass off a rock pile on top water and that’s it’s. Spent a lot of time fluking and all we could muster was 1 short. Found a pocket of big gator blues. Buddy caught 1 and I lost 4 or 5 on the fly rod. They started to disappear as we lost the tide. Went back to fluking again and it was done right Brutal.  Beautiful day but for some reason fished didn’t want to chew. 

[BowhunterNJ]

 

Haha j/k, tough day Jacko, better luck next time.  It'll only get better!

[MGHunter66]

Yall suck, only problem we had was finding slots 😛

Edited May 8, 2023 by MGHunter66

[sxs]

THIS IS WHY THAT CALL IT FISH'IN AND NOT CATCH'IN

[Swamprat]

Next time cut one of those bunker in half. Use the front portion with a hook thru it's back. Fish finder rig just enough weight to keep on the bottom.  Bass are like us....lazy and want an easy meal. 

Also take some surf clams with you next time. Same rig. Same method. 

[Gunsmoke]

Tough day.  You did all you could.  Appreciate the post.

[Cousin Brown]

It happens....still nice to be out there!

[JFC1]

And I got skunked too at the back bay on Saturday. Only real action I had was a big bass' attempt to eat my tsunami popper after I left it laying 15' in front of my feet. But when i tossed it back out and left it floating for long periods between pops and reeling I got nothing. Nor did the two friends fishing w me. It was a tough weekend for catching, but yes it was great to be out there