Fished the Middle Grounds July 6th with my Thursday crew. We started fishing around 8 am and by 12 noon we had our limit: 12 fluke 18 t0 19 inches on minnows, gulp and sea robins strips. Captain Gene Sullivan took the picture.

Fished on July 4th with my friends Wil and Paul at my spot near the Garden State South Reef. We ended up with a nice catch of seven fish from 19 to 22 and a half inches, I caught my limit of three. We went back to the same area on July 5th but could only come up with three Fluke keepers and one nice sea bass.

We we’re at it again Monday 6-26 – back out to our same spot by the Garden South State Reef. We caught 4 keepers; I had 3 with one 5 pounds and about 7 shorts. Tuesday went back to the well again but only 2 keepers and 8 shorts with 4 legal size sea bass which we released. Morning had no drift just an afternoon bite .

Headed out to the Garden State South this morning with my buddy John on Thursday the 22nd for a real slow day on the Reef. There was not much wind and only 3 throwbacks so around 2:30 we started working our way back. We stopped just off the reef and picked up a couple keepers and a few more short fluke. The breeze was just starting to pick up and  getting a little bit of a drift. We started working that area hard and ended up with 6 keepers. We had one fish in every inch range from 18 to 23 and a half which was the largest at 5 lb 3 oz. A bad day in the beginning turned great in the end all the fish were caught on gulp.

Went out Saturday morning with grandsons Nick (10) and Vinnie (7). The area near the BI buoy had floating grass, underwater weeds and wind against the tide – terrible conditions. We cut our trip short but on the way home, I stopped along the ICW in Harvey Cedars near the island with the house on it where the water is 12-15 feet deep. We caught 2 shorts and Vinnie caught his first fish – a 20 inch fluke weighing 3 lbs!

When my grandson Nick arrived Friday afternoon,, he immediately began catching shrimp along the pilings. Despite my comments that the perch run was over and we really didn’t have time tonight to fish, he still persisted. About 5:00, Caesar called saying he had some shrimp from Scott’s and asked if I wanted to try one last time for perch. Nick was ecstatic to get his first chance to fish for them. We only caught 8 – Caesar 4, Nick 4 and me 0. But Nick’s fish was 13.25 inches! What a way to end the season and what a memory for a kid.

Went fishing on my friends boat to GSS. Caught this 23+inch flounder at 4.8 lbs and one other keeper. All caught on Gulp. We also caught 3 sea bass.

Phil and Caesar catching blues trolling Great Bay by marker 139.

22.5 inch Fluke,4.4lbs,caught Great Bay behind fish factory, 1/2 ounce buck tail with chartreuse teaser with minnows, out going tide also found small crabs in stomach.

Fishing for weak fish with sheddar crab, high low rig @ deep point, out going tide, Thursday 6/8/2017.

Not a great day – Pops and dad had a few shorts but Nick had one at 19+. Just south of BI buoy on Saturday.

Our Friday morning fluke plan was to return to just south of the Oyster Creek buoys by BI and start drifting. Just past the #42 marker, I saw birds working and fish breaking the surface. I quickly changed from a jig to a spoon on one of the fluke bay rods and started casting. Immediately I hooked up and turned the rod over to Nick. After that, I casted and Nick did all the catching. He probably had 10 hits with several hook ups including a double – one on the jig and one on the teaser. All were ~ 2-3 lbs and we kept  and bled 3 for dinner.
We left them biting to go for flounder. In about an hour and a half before the wind shifted southeast, I had 4 shorts and Nick caught 5 with one at 18″ and one at 19″. All were caught on Gulp and all but one of the 9 fluke were on the jig. A short trip but still very nice!

Yes folks that’s a 13 inch white perch Donna caught in her backyard! Very respectable catch! Maybe next year white perch will be added to the FOM 🙂

Note: This photo goes with Donna’s report from 29 May. Original photo was unreadable

Fished Friday morning with my friend Tom and a neighbor. Caught 5 blues in the 3-5 lb range. Took a walk at low tide and realized we were on a bar in the morning, so on Saturday morning we moved south to deep water I had noted at low tide. Caught a couple blues and then my buddy hooked up with a 38″ stripper, caught landed and filleted for dinner. I had a short and another blue.
Sunday was a bust. On Monday we went down an hour before high. Wind was howling out of the northeast and lots of grass in the water. Decided to fight the grass and used 8 oz. to hold bottom. We each caught 2 blues at 32″. All released. All fish were caught on bunker and 9.0 circle hooks. Changed to 80lb leader after getting bit off twice. Made the difference.

Bill Figley, Nathan Figley, Bill Dabney and I left Figley’s dock at 5:30 am on Saturday aboard the RED HERRING and headed for the ocean out of Little Egg Inlet. Dabney and I were forced to wear blinders and buckets on our heads until we were so far offshore that nothing but the horizon was visible for all 360 degrees – now this is taking secrecy to the extreme! The positioning procedure over the wrecks that father and son Figley used was a marvel to see. From the first drop to our last we were into fish. I have never cranked a reel so much in a day of fishing as I did this day. Fishing in water 60′ to 85′ deep, you really get a workout. I can’t say with certainty exactly how many bass were boated but there had to be 300+ with 22 keepers and the biggest of the day caught by Capt. B. Figley. What a fantastic experience with a great bunch of guys!

Went out Saturday with my daughter Lisa and grandsons Nick and Vinnie. We fished south and east of the BI marker. Nick announced the start of the 2017 fluke season and 1 minute later landed a 20 inch fluke. He also landed one at 18 and one at 17.5. Vinnie had one at 17. Lisa missed one and I ran the boat.

We only fished for an hour and a half before the drift died. All fish were caught on a white jig with gulp minnow; nothing on the teaser with gulp shrimp. Both fish were loaded with grass shrimp and the larger one had 6 small crabs in it.

Caesar Pesarini invited me to join him last night for some white perch fishing on the banks of William Cook Blvd. Since he had the grass shrimp, I eagerly accepted his offer. Along with ~40 perch with half being keepers, Caesar landed the ~15 inch striper pictured. All kept fish were not spawned out so the action should continue for some time.

VHFC’s newest member Carmine Tocci caught a monster striper May 10th while fishing with friends 2 miles off Barnegat Light. Weighed in at FHQ, Carmine’s striper went 42 lbs and had a length of 47 inches. Four anglers onboard landed four fish all over 40 inches on large bunker spoons. Nice work Carmine and you have set the bar high for May striper FOM!