Daily Reports From The Deck

   That was some weather we had yesterday afternoon/evening. We are out today with only a dozen customers, so I will be doing some play - by - play again.

Conditions - West wind around 7 - 10 knots and an outgoing tide. We will have the tide change at 9:30, and unless we get a wind shift, it's going to be a long day with the wind against the tide.

First Drift - Began on the western end of the Reach with absolute perfect conditions. Had a slow pick of shorts with 1 keeper being caught about 20 minutes into drift. One outbound ship just came through and left a trail of sand that it was kicking up from the bottom of the channel. This will kill the fishing for a while. UGH!!!

Second Drift - Not so good, but we did catch 1 keeper.

Third Drift - Not good. Looks like the thunderstorms from last night have the fluke shut down for now. Hopefully things will get better with the tide change.

Fourth Drift - Still not that good, but better than the last two drifts. Larry Gove caught a 4 1/2 pounder on this one. He is the superstar so far with two keepers in his cooler.

Fifth Drift - No good. A few shorts. Leaving the channel and trying one on the flats.

Sixth Drift - Not good again. Heading east. So far just a pick of shorts.

Seventh Drift - Made a stop on the hard bottom in the channel before passing it up, but more of the same. Our drifting speed was 0.0 knots. Only movement we had was when he kicked the boat ahead. Going to continue heading east.

Eighth Drift - Made one around the tip of the Hook. Barely moving at all. Heading into the ocean.

Ninth Drift - Best of the day so far with a steady pick of shorts and 5 keepers, with one of the keeps being a 4 pounder. Running up to make one more drift.

Tenth and Final Drift - Caught 2 more keepers on the last one.

Overall it was a poor day. The weather from yesterday had the fish that we were catching in the back of the bay not wanting to eat. We did have a decent shot of fish at the end of the day, and managed to grab 7 keepers out of it, but still the majority of the fish were short. Larry Gove who started the day on fire, ended on fire too, by being high hook with 4 keepers, and winning the pool with the 4 1/2 lb fluke. . . On a positive note for tomorrow, there was no signs of bait life in our harbor this morning. I was looking to grab some peanuts for bait, but there was nothing in sight. This afternoon it is back to normal. Just needed to go through a tide cycle to get the runoff out. Hopefully this will be the same for the fluke tomorrow. We will see.

Larry Gove, S. Bound Brook, NJ, win yet another pool.