The Captains No B.S. Fishing Reports The Captain will update several times a week. These reports will give you the real deal-no B.S. scoop on what's happening in and around Barnegat bay. You can also contact me here

21,July - I ended up last week on Thursday with Jake, 0530 start and nice size weakfish in the boat by 0600- we switched over to fluke with buck-tails and GULP- we did well with most of the fish in a sixteen to just under eighteen inch- we ended up with two four pound flounder for dinner- Thursday afternoon I had my wife out for some fluke - same story more throw-backs than keepers but we got a fresh fish dinner-- On Friday I had Jake with an 0530 start we blasted off to catch an early tide change and we were rewarded with a couple of tide-runner weakfish on BKD's, we changed over to fluke- buck-tails and gulp, then a sea robin got hacked up and that was the ticket!! We fished the edges or a couple creeks and we both went home with fluke and weakfish for the table-- The weaks should start turning on in some spots, but the fluke are plentiful but not a lot of keepers CATCHEMUP   16,july - Last week ended on a good note with some nice weakfish taken on BKD's and some real good action with blues and a few keeper flounder with a lot of under sized flat fish released The past couple of days I have been looking at some different areas looking to find some weakfish, I haven't found a pile of them but there are some around. Fluke are in the creeks along with a couple of areas in the bay that are holding fish, with a lot more released than legal. I am looking hard for some weakfish and I do have some open dates-- CATCHEMUP 10, July- On Tuesday I was burning fuel across the bay at 0515 to pick up, Vickie, her dad and Dan We drifted for fluke and got a bunch with no keepers , we must have boated thirty fish not counting all the sea robins, we had a good day!! On Wednesday an early pick up at Bobbies with Lloyd and his son Chris in from Colorado, We started on the rocks, but a twenty knot breeze was sure holding us back, My hat goes off to these guys -- they fished very hard in some not so nice conditions-- Good Job!! Today I was underway at 0515 wit Tom, brother Bill in from Cali. and J J - We hit a couple of spots in the bay and found cocktail blues in the flats on top water plugs, we had a ball in the shallows-- we moved to Oyster creek and started drifting for flat fish- we boated and released a dozen or so, and a bunch of fish with wings, good fishing, great weather and new friendships were made-Thanks!  -CATCHEMUP   7/7-Greetings- A happy "B" day Summer Flounder for my son on a buck tail!! Good Job!! Last week ended up not bad An early start with, Tom (Pop-Pop) and Matt on Wednesday and Friday with the weakie guys, Ed and Dave. We worked very hard - fished a couple of grass banks thru the tide -- a couple of bumps were had - some blues and small fluke were released- There are some weaks in the bay system and tide runners in some spots- I know it's just the start-- I have a full week ahead all embarking at Bobbies on the Island-  CATCHEMUP 1, July 08 - Under way at 1630 yesterday with Mike Shiffman And his son Matt visiting from Miami, we were bucking twenty plus winds and a spring flood tide that just kept on flooding in, hard conditions to fish and work the boat in and Mike was trying hard to toss my 9wt- The water had cooled down  we ended with blues in Oyster Creek we had a good time and Matt almost went swimming after a new pair of Ray-bans!! I went out alone this morning a looked in some spots for weakfish-- I ended up with summer flounder no keepers-some blues and a short bass on BKD's- Gulp - and poppers -- Fuel and oil and I'm ready for tomorrow CATCHEMUP   6/26--I fished with Hank, Kris and his brother Peter visiting from Poland. A magic hour trip, underway at 1600 in a stiff southwest breeze - we made a couple of stops trying to deal with wind and tide- on the sod banks we got a few cocktail size blues for the smoker - we worked some other areas in the creek and blasted off for the north jetty. We worked the spot hard to get a couple more blues and a twenty two inch four plus pound fluke on a natural color BKD - at the dock at 2045-- CATCHEMUP   Kris and Peter 6/25 A flat fish meal     6/25-Underway at 0545 with Tom, Frank and Les looking for some flat fish! And again the weatherman lied, he got the direction but not the speed - We hit a number of spots out of the wind and were able to get a decent drift in a couple of spots, the larger fish came from the open bay - we ended up with twenty three flatties  NO keepers- Go figure- a bunch at seventeen but not over eighteen,  the hot baits were sea robin and fresh spearing combo, and a few blues for the table. The first time I used bait, yep bait in over a year, I didn't even have a cutting board on the boat!! We had a lot of fun and that's what it's all about. Thanks for a great day!! CATCHEMUP         Jake -  "hooked up" 6/20/08 6/23 - I have The 25th and the 26th open ---  any of you fishing types up for searching for weakfish??? Mornings or late afternoon till dark 20,June--- On the 17th I was underway at 0530 with Vincent and his two sons, Robert from Florida and Frank a Marine Sgt. just back from Iraq (welcome home)-- The weather man got his wind speed and directions a little messed up, but we kept on plugging! We hit a bunch of spots looking for weakfish and or bass  and ended up plugging up a good bunch of two to five pound blues. Robert was using the long rod and got some nice blues on the clouser, a great reunion for Vincent and rewarding day for me! Thursday I had Bill Paul and Hector out looking and we ended up catching and releasing a lot of nice size breaking blues under the birds. Today I was burning fuel at 0530 with Jake, we fished the rocks through the ebb tide ran in to catch the change on the sod banks for the start of the flood. We ended up with released bass and blues, a ten pound very nasty alligator blue that tested the tackle- and a great time was had with a good friend. The fishing in the bay is on the up swing, some nice bass, lots of cocktail blues and fluke are in the bay!! The past week was a lot of fun with a mixed bag of fishing. CATCHEMUP   13, June -- Greetings--On Tuesday I was underway at 0545 with Weakie Dave, Ed and Ron, on the look for weakfish we ended up getting a few blues for the table, and tried to stay cool in the heat the temp and sun was hard on us, but a great day out fishing with friends. On Wednesday I was underway at 0545 with Jeff www.pepactoncabins.com and pal Harry. We headed out to find some bunker schools, start live-lining and possibly grab a bass or two-- we found all kinds of schools with not much feeding on the bunker, we ran back in and found and released a gang of three to five pound blues. A good day with old friends-- If you ever wanted to visit the Catskills check out The cabins. Thursday burning fuel at 0530 with Pete Prestera, again looking for the weaks-- Pete hooked a good one with a "quick release " at the boat, at the change of tide- we moved to a quiet spot and started plugging some nice cocktail blues all released a fun day I even broke in a great long rod combo from  www.wildwaterflyfishing.com Today I fished with Anthony and Neil- underway at 0600 I ran to catch the tide and hopefully a tide runner and or bass, Anthony www.magic-sauce.com  had a nice fish on, but it spit the hook??? We hit a couple of other spots and plugged up a lot of blues keeping a few for the table cutting fish at 1245-- All in all a productive week of fishing and a lot of fun was had by all-- Thanks--- CATCHEMUP 9, June -- I had the boat to South Harbor last week with Tom we fixed some stuff- made some prop changes and ordered some new 4-bladed props for the economy and bite-- The 4th we called for weather- and re-booked --Joe Polumbo is waiting for his Parker to get a face lift-- He needed to fish !!! Joe and pal Anthony got into some blues for the table around the rocks and a lot of fun was had-- Friday I had Mike www.riseformstudio.tv and Joey who works on the 9-11 site out for getting video and some stills!! We were looking for clean water- I was hitting the slime -- we fished in and out of the rocks and got some great footage of some eight pound nastiness in schools of bunker and on fly rods -- in some not so nice sea conditions--found clear water on the grass banks and released some respectable bass !! all in all a great week -fished with old friends and made some new fishing type friends-- I'm anxious to fish this week-- Things seem to be in a transition time--- CATCHEMUP   Nice bass with Larry And Dave on the 28th 6/3/08 - Underway at 0545 with the weakie guys, Ed and Dave- We stopped at a couple of spots in the bay, looking for big Goldie's, all we got was some off color water and some puffy winds- I saw, in the distance a few birds working, we blasted up the creek-- these birds were working over breaking blues and who knows what, we couldn't get below the blues - not just blues- but alligator size- one was a very lean, over 10 pounds, and nasty -- this was happening in three foot of water, off a small creek bed mostly on poppers !! The rest of the morning we targeted weakfish in oyster creek, ran to a couple of other spots in the bay and headed to to the barn when the wind started to tern the bay a little white capped!! Cutting fish at 1215-- CATCHEMUP 5/28/08 - Got underway at 0545 with Larry And Dave, Armed with the log rods. We blasted off head on into a twenty five mph north east wind with a very white capped bay!! I headed straight to the rocks and tried to setup the boat, a little nasty-- I moved to a spot along the rocks that usually holds some fish and started-- Throwing some big pig flies (all home spun) we started to hook up with some short bass- we got mugged bad one boat anchored up in the middle of our drift-- if they had a name on the boat they would have received the first "jackass of the day award"--we were catching they weren't-- we made a few moves in side and again were rewarded with some small but healthy bass-we ended up with around a dozen bass and two jumbo blues -one hit the scale at ten pounds. Larry and Dave gave a 110% in some nasty conditions and were rewarded for the effort - Here is one pic of a small one with more pics to follow. CATCHEMUP 5/23/08- I splashed the boat on Tuesday in the rain-Down pour is more like it- My first trip of the season was on Wednesday With " weakie Ed and weakie Dave!! I was looking to break in and get a few hours on the motors and get lucky an catch some fish. We had a great day, we got a limit of good size spring run blues and looked in a lot of spots for weakfish. On a gut thing - the last stop I made in old creek bed seven foot of water throwing BKD's-- Ed hooked up-- by the time I got to him the fish was taking out so much line and was close to being spooled -- Ed worked the fish for a wile with no mistakes, as the fish came up and came a long side the boat I can honestly say that this fish was one of the largest weakfish I have seen in years!! With no camera on board the fish was released at the boat!! Maybe our grand kids will have some weakfish to catch with our release efforts---Today I fished with Mike Roth and the long rods-- we fished the jetties and out front looking for bass-- With a strong north-west wind and gusts to thirty we headed inside to look-- we hit a few spots and stopped on the sod banks and got rewarded with , four bass on the clouser-- when the tide changed we blasted off to the outflow catching blues on top-waters- My hat goes off to Mike he fished in some not so nice conditions and was rewarded - And Weakie Ed for releasing the fish that dreams are made from!! CATCHEMUP 5/20/08 -0730 - I just received a new7wt matched rod and reel from www.wildwaterflyfishing.com I cant wait to use it - I'm looking to splash the boat today- there looks to be some rain for the next two days - I need to put some break in hours in on the motors rain or shine, any way them big weakfish and bass like the cloudy days CATAHEMUP 5/16/98 - Greetings-The bottom has paint, the hull and topsides are clean, I still have a couple of wires to run, do some 12 volt work and we are ready to start. It's raining and will probably continue for the rest of the day, If I can get most of the stuff done when I get back from work, I should be burning fuel Monday eve CATCHEMUP 5/14/08 - I was out with Bill Tilton This morning --A good release and a photo -- I'm going to pick the boat up now!! 5/13/08 - I nailed a couple of nice bass up in the port this past weekend- I fished a couple of rock-piles along the ship channel tossing six inch shads-this was before the storm hit Sunday night-- I stopped by South Harbor and Tom had his hands full with the storm- I heading over now to help and hopefully finish up !! If the weather holds out I'll be operational after some bottom paint and a good cleaning - CATCHEMUP 5/9/08- 0730 - Things are looking up! Tom and I got the boat inside yesterday afternoon and started to pull cables and wire harnesses through , what a time we had, it took a wile but we managed to get all the cables, and gauges, steering and controls in place and today we should hang the new motors. It's raining and blowing outside and this should mess things up in the bay for a couple of days. So, if things go as planned we should be operational next week!!! CATCHEMUP 5/7/08- We got a lot accomplished today, and it looks like if the remainder of the misc. steering parts should come in tomorrow we should get most every thing done. Since everything is cleared out we are going to rewire most everything, bilge pumps, live well, and every thing going to and from the batteries, new batteries, even to the navigation lights. A few days of getting the boat cleaned, bottom painted and some testing we will be ready!! I talked wit Eric over at www.wildwaterflyfishing.com last night, we have a new 7wt package coming for the boat and some new special packages for the store. These are very good, quality rods and reels that have a great warrantee. 5/2/08 -0750 I'm just about to march my butt out of the house and down to the motor guy. I got the motors off yesterday, the buyer for the old motors is going to pick them up this morning. I'm going to pull what is left of the wires and steering cables out, clean and fix up some 12volt stuff and it looks like all the back ordered stuff will be in on Monday and we will start to install!! I am excited that it's all coming together, a little late but, dollars, sense, and back orders --- The bay is starting to come alive, solid reports of three to nine pound blues and some big female trout around, which should be released are being taken at various locations on the west side and up north to Toms River --- CATCHEMUP 4/29/08- Greetings- I just got off the phone with my web guy www.riseformstudio.tv Mike he has a great shot on his home page you gotta check it out!! He also has some great how to video and stuff for the sweet water guys-- The weather is not nice out, temps dropped a bit but the reports of fish in the bay look good , hopefully the motors will be hung this week and we get the action going CATCHEMUP 4/23/08 - 0824- I have been working on the sled!! Pulling wires cable and the likes, getting ready for the motor guys to do their thing- still need to do a bunch of work rewiring, getting it all clean, getting all the gear on. Reports of fish in the bay that are coming in seem to be reliable, those big weakfish that are entering the bay are brood fish, if you catch -take a picture and release the fish, you'll fell better knowing your grand kids can catch weakfish- don't let this bay end up barren of breeder fish, anyway those big yellow mouth weakies don't taste that good-- CATCHEMUP 4/17/08 2115- Greetings1 I got a jump on the boat today, it was a nice day . I have the hull pretty much cleaned up I've got some problem spots to square away then I need to paint the bottom, the hard part is getting my old ass in between the two sponsons. Tom, from South Harbor Marine, the motor guy came over today and gave me a punch list of prep work to do before I bring the boat to him for the motors. He also said that the new Yamahas were on the way!! We are moving ahead!! It looks good for the first couple of weeks in May and the phone is starting to ring, I have trips booked into the fall already, so guys and gals , if you have some dates or want to talk it's time. I want to do some filming and pod casts in May and June for jumbo weakfish and bass. I sure don't know what the price of fuel is going to be at the marine pump but, I am going to try to hold the posted day rates, discounts for multiple trips, a 10% shot for active duty guys and gals and local tourney dates are available. CATCHEMUP 4/16/08 - The engines were ordered, as of now I am not sure of an ETA . so I'll get my butt up in the boat today and start to do the spring thing and start to take the old motor and wiring stuff out! Some so-so reports going on and I do know that there are bass in the Hudson, upper Newark bay and the upper Raritan bay and river - and and Mike at www.riseformstudio.tv tells me Trout fishing is going strong and!! he got this 36" pike on the South Branch last week-- CATCHEMUP 4/11/08 - I fished with my pal Bill on his boat this morning; Underway at 0600, flat calm and overcast, our first stop was in an area of grassy flats, we saw some swirls but no bumps, we moved to the warm water, and made some drifts throwing a combination of baits, and again no bumps, we blasted off out Oyster Creek and worked a couple of spots before heading to the sod banks, we had a strong ebb tide but kept at it with no takers-- to make a long story short, there were two other boats fishing with no nets being used, we were at the dock at 1030 and the only thing we saw besides the fog roll in was, two harbor seals doing their thing. We had a good time with good friends -- CATCHEMUP 4/9/08- Yes my fishing pals, happy times are just around the corner. I haven't taken the winter cover off yet, but soon I'll be working my butt off to clean up the sled. New motors on the way- the water temps are creeping up, some reports are good and hopefully the big golden mouth weakies will be waiting for the plastic baits we will toss! All kidding aside if everything goes as planned we should be fishing the first couple of weeks in May. The gal with the great smile is My friend Ed Runyon's daughter Jeanne, who lives in Texas where they have been catching stripers on a daily basis in lake Buchanan, north west of Austin-- CATCHEMUP 3/14/08 - Greetings- I helped my pal Bill Tilton Splash his boat this morning, and you know we had a few rods on board!! After a few minutes of casting some small plastics with teasers, I laid into the first hit of the new season and got treated to a double header - One on the teaser and one on the plastic!! Lets hope this is a start to good things to come - CATCHEMUP 2/29/08 - It was cold out this morning, as most of you know that live in the mid Atlantic states, Ed is in Texas, he must be catching every thing from crazy white bass to speckled trout, a couple of my American Legion brothers are in South Florida catching, or should be - and the die-hard trout guys in Jersey and Pa. are all over the fish!! It's probably some of the best time to fish www.riseformstudio.tv for some great video and info on the trout! I hear of some fish around the warm water! The flounder netters are doing good and most likely getting their quotas from the bay-- and we can't fish for them with a rod and reel yet -- Politics-- all in good time-- Hit the local fishin flea markets, load up, and don't forget to change your line, practice your knots, practice your fly casting in the park so to be ready.-- CATCHEMUP 2/6/08 - Greetings It's like a spring day outside, but I know the weather will get worse soon! A couple of my friends and clients are fishing in Florida, Texas and beyond, I'll let you know how they are doing. AC boat show starts today thru Sunday, I'm going to visit on Thursday. This is a great show even if your not looking for a boat, one of the largest marine related side shows-- check it out-- it's a good excuse for going to AC--- CATCHEMUP 1/29/08 - I was up in Somerset at the fly show last Friday. One of the most interesting informative and well put together shows that I go to. I was in the www.americanflyfishingschools.com booth with Capt. Mike Corblis and Mike McAuliff www.riseformstudio.tv We had a great number of folks interested in the locations and dates of our classes both, on the salt and fresh water programs. No matter what your skill level is, the classes provide a lot of info and hands on experience that can help you not only help you with casting but also give you a little edge, and some great tips to help, in the stream, in the boat or on the jetties and beach. I had a great time and talked to a gang of folks interested in what I do in Barnegat Bay. AC boat show starts on the sixth, is an annual get together for me and some of the fishing types I know. Hit the shows, support you local fishing clubs, flea markets, and show your interest in the support of recreational fisheries, and not the interests of the big guns and lobbyists who support the commercial fishing types and most of all, think spring! CATCHEMUP 1/15/08 - Greetings! I guess you all can tell what I have been up to.-- I was up at the sportsman show in Edison last week, there was a good turn out of people and I met a bunch of folks that showed interest in fishing in Barnegat bay, especially for the jumbo weakfish, the reason for the pink flies and teasers. I'll be at the fly show in Somerset, NJ on the 25th. If you fly fish, it's the place to be!! CATCHEMUP 1/4/08 - Greetings-Another year in the books, I think back and not only gaze at some of the better days , but look at some of the not so good days and events also. I look at the folks that fish with me and see how excited they are not only to get underway, but to get lucky, hook up, and hear "FISH ON" !! I'm a lucky guy, knowing that I had put you on, but it was you who caught the fish ( with a piece of plastic or fly )!! Looking forward to next season, motors, spring and warm water and jumbo weakfish!!-- I'll be at the sportsman show in Edison on the 11th, with Capt. Mike Corblis and www.americanflyfishingschools.com booth, stop by and say hey. CATCHEMUP Happy Holidays to one and all From Captain Al and his family 12/13/07 - I released this very nice weakfish this past spring, that day we released a few big fish in Oyster Creek on BKD's, along with a couple of flat fish. I have Santa and some of his pals on my boat, parked in front of my house, soon to be covered and put to rest for the cold season. 11/27/07 - LAND LOCKED - I pulled the boat out last Friday, you say "why" Well when your port engine sounds like someone is beating it up with a ten pound sledge it's time to pull it out and make some decisions!! Happy Thanksgiving!!! I fished with my friend Bill Tilton for the past two days. All the action was on shads and AVA's We released a gang of fish both days, yesterday the fish were in the wash, all on the short side, with a good size swell from the southeast, it got a little tricky at times. Today was a mess out front. We fished in about fifty foot of water chasing birds, with a very disturbed sea and an easy five to nine foot swell at times, and you had a sleigh ride into the jetties It was not a nice day outside, but we got bass -- Thanks CATCHEMUP 11/20/07 - Greetings-- on the fourteenth I fished with Hank Garrison, underway at 0730 we made a couple of stops on some small drop off areas tossing shads and buck-tails and blasted off out the jetties and north up the coastline to give a look for some big bass that might want to come out and play -we found birds- we hit blues- The weather started to change up and I headed back inside, we ended up with a couple of shorts on storms and six inch shads--The weather had me land side and replacing doors on Thursday and Friday.--- I ran out this morning to give a look-- Half way up Double Creek I heard some noise from my port motor---??? I have heard it before, It's like throwing a bunch on nuts and bolts into a clothes dryer then turn it up to about three thousand RPM, I thought I got a piston --It was the lower unit--it sh-- the bed!!! I came back in on one ---I'll pull it out on Friday!! More to follow!! CATCHEMUP Happy Turkey day to all 11/13/07 - Last week I ended up with a few nice bass, in spite of some crappy conditions. Monday afternoon I fished with Stuart Gavzy armed with a couple of 9wt's We started off hitting some rips and some fast water where two channels meet, a couple of hits with no takers- we made a couple more stops and ended up on the north jetty in fourteen foot of water and a two foot drop off that holds some fish from time to time- Pay day!!! we stayed on this one spot for a good two hours- catching bass - what a blast, Stuart did a great job of presenting a www.stevessaltwaterflies.com fly, hooking and releasing over a dozen bass and keeping one for the table, and oh!! His personal best bass to boot. A great afternoon of fishing with friends!! To day I was underway at 0700 with Joe, my next door neighbor in the marina, We made a few stops inside the bay with no takers, I headed out to the jetties I looked up the coast line and saw birds-- not just working birds but acres of birds when we came up on them it was heaven-- giant blues on top and bass under, miles of breaking fish and birds diving-- We got a lot of fish all released, I got a couple of bass on the long rod and a bluefish that hit the scale at twelve pounds on the fly-- we had a great day-- thanks-- out early tomorrow --- CATCHEMUP 11/06/07 - Greetings--Thanks to to Mike at www.riseformstudio.tv for the pod cast with more to follow-- We got blown out the week of the 22nd, we did some stuff on the boat, and thanks to Brian we got it fixed up, on the 31st I had Ernie Rudolf with his two sons, Erick and Jim out. We had a great day of fishing- weak fishing that is, We ended up with three limits of weakfish all over eighteen inches with the heavies in the four pound range, happy Halloween!! On the 1st I was underway early with weakie Ed and Dave, we started out looking for some bass and had a couple of shorts, then we ran off to see if the weakfish were still there, and they were, we had to work for them but these guys fish a lot of trips during the season and the have learned the touch to get the fish in a lot of different situations that we run into, we ended up with two limits of very nice weakfish-- and again the big boys were in the four pound class range- good job!! On Friday I had Hank ,Kris and Steve out, underway at 0700 we blasted out of the marina and across the flats and head into a north east wind of a steady twenty and a sea-state of about a three foot, one of those days I was glad to be running a cat!! We fished where we could it was not a nice day, we couldn't work the baits properly enough to hook up where we found fish, but we all hung in there and at it. In spite of the crappy weather we all had weakfish and bluefish in the boat, back at the dock at noon. It looks like it's starting to happen, dress warm and dry and come on down!! CATCHEMUP 10/23/07 - Last Friday I was underway at 0700 with Mike Corblis www.americanflyfishingschools.com and Mike McAuliff www.riseformstudio.tv for some weakfish on the fly on video. Our first stop was bluefish, three to five pounders on a 7wt is some good action, we moved to the rocks and worked the south side with no takers. Conditions were getting worse, a steady fifteen and gusty, and a bunch of rain on the horizon. I knew that there might be some tide-runners in a spot on the flood tide, and we got lucky, we have video of Captain Mike Corblis hooking a good weakfish on the fly in some not so nice conditions. There are weakfish around and the water temps are dropping slowly, so come on down and get some! CATCHEMUP Click To Play Having trouble seeing the video? Make sure you have the Adobe Flash Player. It is free and you can get it here. 10/18/07 - Underway at 0745 with "Weakie Ed, Dave and Randy A beautiful morning for a ride across the bay. There were some birds working a rip, in the creek. Our first casts produced some cocktail sized blues with three rods bent and the drags talking. We kept a dozen and moved on into Meyers. I moved away from the three boats that were in there and started to catch. The fish were all over sixteen inches, and up to four and a half pounds. We ran to the west side of the dike and were greeted to four tide runner weakfish up to six pounds which were released!!! Yep we let them go-- "Some times you just have to use your head and a digital camera" Ed and Dave are great fishing Pals that truly enjoy themselves on my boat, and I have a great time every time they sail with me, but, today was by far one of our best days with quality and numbers-- and a couple of personal best fish. Thanks for a great day!! Four limits of weakfish, twelve blues, and four jumbo tide-runners released!! CATCHEMUP 10/17/07 - We got blown out on the11th and 12, I fished alone on Monday morning with the long rod looking for bass, I ended with a lot of casting practice and two small weakfish and a small blue. I had Ed Runyon and Jim out on Tuesday, We ran north and worked a couple spots with not much luck- We hit a couple of fish on traps in on a small spot, then headed to the light house and we found a good bite. We made some tackle changes and scaled down, and started hitting some nice fish. There were about six boats working the area and one boat that was short drifting everybody, even getting in the way of a couple of draggers. He had no name on the boat but, still gets the "Jack-ass of the day" award. We had great weather, for this time of year, and ended up with two limits (12) of nice weakfish for the table. Today I got underway at 0645. To make a long story short, I had a change of tide, very little wind and not much traffic. I worked a couple of spots in the creek and hooked one blue, I ran out to the main outbound channel and got lucky with two bass on a green and white clousers and a 7 wt, a great ego boost!! The tide started to flood and I hit Meyers and released nine weeks in less than an hour with BKD's and buck-tails. Things are looking up and the weaks should stay for a bit! CATCHEMUP 10/10/07 - Underway at 0645 with Jeff www.pepactoncabins.com Todd and Harry in the fog- I ran north and fished a couple of spots wile looking for some tell-tale signs from Mr. weakfish. With not much action, I ran to an area where we got some nice fish yesterday and it paid off, we got weakfish to four pounds. The bite slowed down as the tide changed and we blasted off to Meyers where we got them good until a large dolphin came in for some snacks!! We ended up with two shy of four limits of fish for the Table and freezer, some good fishing weather and fishing pals, equal up to a great day-- Thanks - I have an open week next week-- Interested?? CATCHEMUP 10/9/07 - Greetings, I think I got my stuff figured out and My desktop is back working, Thanks to McAwful for keeping up with my reports. The past couple of weeks has been great fishing in the bay, Last week ended up with limits on weakfish For Ed Runyon his daughter Jean and pal Nicole in on vacation from the "Lone Star State"!! The first casts took fish, these gals knew what to do to catch and I thank the whole crew for a great day. Underway at 0645 today with Anthony and Neil. We landed a couple out in the bay, but it wasn't as strong as it has been north of the BI. We searched about and ended up in a spot picking on some good sized weaks on traps, with Anthony nailing a six pound weakfish runner that tested the angler. In a matter of minutes the temps dropped over twenty degrees and the wind came up gusting over 20. Back at the dock at 1300 with two limits of fish for the table - Thanks for a good one--- CATCHEMUP 9-28-07 Last week ended up with some of the best fishing of the season. Limits of fish on Friday for EdRunyon and the Group from Mulligans The 25th Ed was out with bob for limits of blues and weaks hot and heavy fishing and a lot of fish to be cleaned!! the 26th Underway at 0630 with Leo and Jean into weaks and blues on the catch and release! We released more than three limits of weakfish and a bunch of blues. Today I had Anthony Mirando out for a limit of weaks on traps-- Some real good fishing going on lets hope it stays this good as the bass start CATCHEMUP 9-25-07 On the 19th I was underway at 0600 with Hank, Kris and Henry. We fished two drifts close to home and blasted to the north where we found fish working on top, we stayed on them for a wile all weakfish and a few blues, but most were weakfish in the eighteen to twenty four inch range, we made a few small moves and stayed in to fish, we had our own fish away from the small fleet of boats that were working breaking fish. We ended up with four limits of weaks and a bunch of blues for the smoker. On the 20th I had "weakie" Ed and Dave with "Rattle trap" Steve out and underway at 0600 I went to where we got them the day before, as I was getting to the area I saw some swirls and I saw gangs of fish on the bottom and it was "FISH ON" time, steady catching for two hours, we ended up with just about four limits of weaks and a dozen blues, a great day of fishing! On Friday it was Ed Runyon and pals Bob and Jimmy, underway at 0715 we went straight back to the same area, The only difference was there were about fifty boats working the spot. Every time some fish would break water or some birds started diving a hand full of boats would speed off and most of the time would put the fish down to sound. I moved off about a half mile and got into some nicer weakfish and some crazy two to four pound blues. I moved off and had a gut feeling about a spot and went for it and found fish busting. We tried to get below the blues to get weaks but Ed said he'll keep the blues-- I tied on poppers and away we went three rods bent most on the time and the well was getting full! We went into release mode as I counted fish-- I said two more and we are done keeping!!! Four limits of blues, a few nice weaks what a day, blues on surface plugs- it doesn't get much better!! Thanks for a couple of exceptional days of fishing-- and it really doesn't get much better unless the have stripes! CATCHEMUP 9-17-07 Greetings--Last Thursday the 13th, I fished with "weakie" Ed, Dave And "rattle trap" Steve-- Burning fuel at 0600 we made two stops nearby then went north , there were a few boats looking, and when they came alive, we saw some small pods of fish breaking with some boats scrambling about, I laid back and ran over and stayed with a nice school of fish, they came up and we kept on the same drift, we moved when the bite slowed a bit and found fish in a few other spots. All in all we had four limits of sixteen to twenty five inch weakfish and kept a few blues for the smoker- I had a good day with some good fishin types -- On Friday it was Stuart Gavzy and a 7wt-- we worked a couple of spots in the bay and ran in to the sod banks where we got into some breaking blues, in some fast water and a stiff wind, Stuart, with www.stevessaltwaterflies.com in a couple of patterns put it to a few small blues, we had some fun and moved to the jetties to take a look, a good heave and a breeze, we found birds working three to five pound blues and some albacore mixed in, and on a 7wt!!! We hooked a couple of fish , it was not so nice trying to stand up and cast, with the state of the seas and wind we came back in and tried a couple of spots and hit some blues and a short bass. A good day with a good fly fisherman -- Thanks---CATCHEMUP 9/14/07 - Greetings- Underway at 0800 with Ed and Jim, We ran north, in a north north east breeze , we made one short stop on some breaking bait and kept on north. We made a few drifts and found a found some nice fish, BKD's worked for us, the bite got slow as the wind increased- we headed inside at 1000 to check out Meyers and get a break from the wind!! Hard fishing, with wind and tide situations. A couple short of two limits, Ed and Jim went home with two big bags of weakfish fillets for the freezer, but most of all, fresh weakfish for the table with friends tonight! 9/12/07 - Last Friday I fished with Ed Runyon, LT. Tom Olski and Jim D. We were underway at 0800 and hit some spots on the west side, with little action I blasted off to the area we got them the day before, We made a long drift and had a pick going, we fished a couple of spots and boated and released a few, we ended up with a dozen weakfish, all in the twenty to twenty four inch range - cleaning fish at 1400. Yesterday morning I fished with the McAwful aka the web guy, and Joey G. The weather wasn't to good but we were burning the fuel at 0600 armed with 7 to 9wt long rods, we had not much luck in the bay, rain and wind, wile fishing the sod banks we got some small blues then blasted off for the rocks and found bigger blues. We put time in some other spots and ended up with blues, all fish were released, with falling water temps, wind and rain to hinder our abilities we still managed to land a bunch!! I have a solid week ahead and into next week--- CATCHEMUP Click To Play Having trouble seeing the video? Make sure you have the Adobe Flash Player. It is free and you can get it here. 9/8/07- Hello A2Z people! McAwful from www.riseformstudio.tv here because Al's computer is down for the count. In the meantime I will be updating reports for him until he gets it together. My first act as webmaster and report guy will be shameless self promotion! Take that Al. Friends like these right? I just finished a new video about fly fishing for Carp. Yeah, I said Carp. These brutes get none of the respect they deserve. Our boys Shaq and Nushranger from www.theanglersnet.com have applied a flats or sight fishing model from the salt to fly fishing for carp. You can learn a thing or two about flats fishing from this video so check it out. Al and I will be filming salt footage starting in the next few weeks thru Dec or Jan so keep an eye out for some crazy SALTWATER FLY FISHING VIDEOS! --GOGETSOME 9/6/07 I have a glitch in my stuff, I need a computer Doctor!! I'll back track a bit- The week of the 20th - 26th we had some rain wind and not so nice conditions I managed to get out on the afternoon of the 23rd to find lower water temps and dirty water. The 24th I fished with one of my American Legion brothers, Jake Jernick, we got weakfish in a couple of spots and took a few for the table. On the 25th I fished a local club tournament with Doug and Augie -we hit the weaks good from the first casts in the bay, with traps on a small piece of drop off- we took two fish to the scales and took the #2 spot for weakfish, a couple of bucks for fuel, bragging rites and good time was had by all- I took a couple of days to visit my friends Ann and Jeff at www.pepactoncabins.com --- on the headwaters of the Delaware River, with the river less than fifty yards from your cabin, Eagles flying over head, not to mention some great trout fishing-- you have to check this out!! This past week I had Dave Roland and his family out for two days of fly fishing. Both days were sort of slow, we worked hard for what hit the flies, but all things concidered, we did managed a few nice fish. Today was a different situation with the wind, I fished with "weakie Ed" and Dave and "Rattle trap" Steve. Burning fuel at 0600, Our first stop was a forty five minute drift, with a couple of hits and one fish- I blasted off north- to find some breaking fish with solid weakfish under blues and hard to the bottom, two hours later we kept a few short of four limits of eighteen to twenty four inch weakfish, twelve blues around two pounds each and one flattie, and released a gang of weaks and blues! What a hot day of catching! BKD's and traps!! IT'S TIME! -- CATCHEMUP 8/20/07 - Things did a little slow down from the middle of the week, I had Tom and Frank out on Wednesday we worked our butts off for a few smaller weaks, more throw- backs than keepers. Thursday I fished with Jake, we ended up after a couple of hours of searching with a few better fish for the table, and on Friday I had Ed and Coupe out, we worked very hard for what came to the net- we fished some regular spots and ended taking a ride north to check out some area's on the back side of Island Beach, we did find some fish , but they were on the small side in the mid-day. It was all bass kandy and other artificial bait patterns that brought the fish to the boat, no bait this week. I am looking for bigger fish than the average sized spikes that are around the bay. I have a local tournament to fish this coming weekend and the week of the 26th I'm heading up state New York for some Trout and R & R with my son, on the Delaware and Beaver kill rivers. CATCHEMUP 8/14/07 - I finished up last week with Chris Ritter on Thursday with a half dozen weaks from a few areas, we didn't find them easy and we worked for what came to the net -- no throw backs, all over 18 inches - the same held true for Friday for Leo and Jean, we fish in wind and rain for the better part of the morning, and ended up with five weaks and a very good time - On Monday I got underway with Mat from Baton Rouge, La - we again worked hard for what hit the net-- a slow catch and release kind of afternoon. Today I had Ed Runyon, brother Bob and Jimmy, under way at 0730. We got a couple of real good weakfish the first drift in the bay stayed with it for about an hour in two spots and blasted off for the light house, we found nice sized weaks in two spots and started to put a solid catch together. we fished two other productive spots and went back in the bay and got lucky again-- we ended up with fifteen weakfish and a couple of flounder for the table nothing under sixteen inches was kept and the larger fish were in the mid twenties-- one of my better days, It looks like it is going to be a good fall fishery-- CATCHEMUP 8/10/07 - Two New videos from www.riseformstudio.tv ! Web/media and fly fishing guide Mike McAuliffe has finished his latest video podcasts. Here is part two on fishing for Smallmouth Bass in the Delaware. Oh yeah, THEY HAVE ALSO BEEN PICKING UP FRESHWATER STRIPERS !!! If you missed part one, scroll down and watch Rise Form Studio Episode 5. You can also book Smallmouth trips with Mike atwww.riseformstudio.tv. The second video is footage of a great day Fly Fishing for trout up on the West Branch for some Rainbows. We will be filming with Mike in the salt sometime in the next few months. Keep an eye out for some salt videos soon. Having trouble seeing the video? Make sure you have the Adobe Flash Player. It is free and you can get it here. SMALLMOUTHS PART II Click To Play TROUT ON THE WEST BRANCH Click To Play 8/8/07 - Underway at 0525 with the weakfish guys, Ed, Dave and Ron, that fish a lot down in the Delaware Bay. In limited visibility, our first stop in the bay it was windy with a medium chop- no traffic- we hit one area hard for almost an hour to take a couple three to five pound weakfish on www.basskandydelights.com -- Blasted off from there to catch the change on the grassy banks, we had a couple of good bumps, two throw-back flat fish. We were on the search, fished a few spots in the rain and mist and changing winds-- All the fish that hit the net to were all over twenty inches. The bottom line is-- we took home seven nice sized weakfish and one flounder for the table. The heavy weak was over four pounds. My hat goes off to these guys they give 100% and most of the time, get rewarded for their effort-- Catching on plastic and flies might not net a large quantity of fish, but what you do bring to the boat are Quality fish!!!-- CATCHEMUP 8/2/07 - Burning fuel at 0530 with Doc. Bill McCoy from Key West with the long rod in hand!! We hit a bunch of spots and conditions, we fished both tides, and went the extra mile with just a couple of blues to the boat-- A hard day of fishing, but we planned a couple of trips in the fall. Today I ran out by myself took the fly rod and picked up a small fluke and a couple of blues. CATCHEMUP 7/31/07 - I fished yesterday afternoon with my son Zack and his bud Paul, we were underway at noon - we ran to a spot where I got some fish on Friday we picked a few blues with no weakfish, We ran to a creek bed in the bay and ended up with four weakfish to three pounds two keeper fluke and a few blues-- we had a great fish dinner. Today I was underway at 0530 with Hank, Chris and Henry , we got the tide and one weak that hit the boga at four pounds plus. We had a mixed bag of fish, a bunch of small blues a few short stripers three fluke, two very big gars that were in the air a few times, a god day of fishing was had by all, and all on bass kandy and misc. plastics. I out early in the AM--- CATCHEMUP 7/26/07 - Greetings!! Here's the deal!! I found some weakfish this past week, they are not stacked up but they are in a couple of spots. Steve Melillo fished with me twice this past week, with his kids Joe and Michelle on Tuesday we had a slow day but we still came home with a few blues and flounder in the box. On Wednesday I fished with the brothers Vigiano, Chris, John and Mike we had a mixed bag of blues and fluke. On Thursday Steve Melillo with his son Mike at 0600- we hit the rocks on the north side and the south we had no takers with the long rod or plastics we hit some spots along the sod banks the ran up into the bay and got lucky with some two to four pound weakfish, on the fly, traps and Bass Kandies over a dozen released and a couple for the table. Today I fished with Ed Runyon and his pal Jim Donavan, we had a slow day but ended with a tide runner weak at seven pounds, a keeper flounder and some small blues and a couple of short bass. I hope this is the start of some respectful sized weakfish coming into the bay system CATCHEMUP 7/23/07 - I had some motor issues last week, but we got it taken care of by our friends at South Harbor Marine in Waretown. I fished early Thursday with the long rod in the bay and ended up with a couple of small blues, Friday out with Ed Runyon and pals Jim and Ray we had a hard day, we were looking for weakfish, I saw some tell tale signs and readings and worked them hard, but had a hard time getting them to take the plastic, we did have a few blues. I have a solid week in front of me with a few double trips in line -- CATCHEMUP 7/13/07- New video from www.riseformstudio.tv ! Web/media and fly fishing guide Mike McAuliffe has finished his latest video podcast. It is a two part deal on Smallmouth Bass in the Delaware. The cool thing about fishing for Bronzebacks is that all of the gear is stuff you saltwater fly guys already own. Part one deals with the tackle and techniques. Next months will show it all in action. You can also book Smallmouth trips with Mike at www.riseformstudio.tv . Having trouble seeing the video? Make sure you have the Adobe Flash Player. It is free and you can get it here. Click To Play 7/11/07- greetings! I fished on the fourth with my son Zack, we wanted to break in a new rod and reel I got him for his birthday, we were burning fuel at 0545 and into a patch of blues by 0600, as the traffic started to build we took off for the rocks and Zack hooked up with two short bass, a chip off the old block, he has the knack!!! We got back in early for the BBQ. Underway at 0600 the 6th with Mike Melia and Justin Masericola , we hit a few new spots looking and trying to see if the weakfish have come to visit. Traffic again was a problem and early, we ended up catching and releasing a bunch of small blues that were taken on poppers. On the 10th Anthony and Neil got into the blues again in a few spots. Water temps vary so much From area to area that I can understand why the weakfish are basking in the warmer waters south of us. Yesterday I was underway at 0530 with Bob Marsiglia, with the long rods, his son Chris and his wife Dawn, casting the Bass Kandy. Pea soup fog!! "O" visibility-- at a very slow and safe speed we hit a couple of spots in Double creek and then to the sod banks to catch the tide, conditions were perfect, no traffic, a good drift clean water , but not much cooperation from our finned friends! After the fog lifted, around 1030 we hit the rocks and a few out of the way spots, and going the extra mile we ended up in the bay popping up a bunch of blues released and a couple for the table. We fished hard, even got a few of the tackle eating blues to take the fiy. Thanks for a good day-- CATCHEMUP 7/2/07 - I had the boat out for a couple of days, some needed upkeep and maintenance. I ran out early today to shake it down, catch the tide, and every thing seems to be up, even the wind! I did find a couple of small blues and a few short flat fish on plastic and gulps, back at the dock at 0930 -- CATCHEMUP 6/27/07 - Fishing with Chuck Cleinhenn and his son Dan from up in PA. Burning fuel at 0615 ,our first stop we found some small blues up in some shallow water off the channel. We moved to Oyster creek to catch the tide. We lost two nice fish, (I'm feeling weakies) some blues and a lot of eel grass. Dan hooked up with garfish about four feet long to end the day off, a beautiful fish, Took a pic and released!! We did end up releasing a bunch of blues in the bay, saving a couple for the table. We had a good day!! 6/26/07 - Underway at 0545 wit Bob And Dave, as we left the dock and gave the cat the fuel across the flats, the bay was a sheet of glass. We ran up the creek and stopped on a patch of bluefish got a few and a few got us. We blasted off to catch the tide in a couple of spots in Oyster creek. The second stop I had a hit Dave got hit and Bob hooked up, We had a small area to ourselves and kept on working it till we ended up with , five weakfish all over five pounds and the heavy scaled over eight!! We ended the day up, getting worn by drifting and throwing poppers catching and releasing blues in the back bay!! Good weather- not to many bugs - and one of my better days of quality weak fishing this year!! Thanks www.basskandydelights.com -- CATCHEMUP 6/25/07 - We ended up last week on an ok note. I fished with Uncle Johnny from Cali. Paul and Chris on the 20th, wind against tide, and rain made it a bit interesting, but the end result was good. We picked away at blues and fluke in the creeks then ran up north a bit to a secluded area and put the wham bam on some three to five pound blues on plugs "fish Tacos" was the word!! Thursday I ran out early to check out some areas for weakfish and ended up with blues and a couple of juvenile bass, Friday was a blow out. CATCHEMUP 6/19/07 - Burning fuel across the bay at 0545. www.riseformstudio.tv Mike McAuliff and John Collins both these guys are fly guides up around the South branch, Pequest and Musky rivers and guiding up in the gorge. We started out flipping some clouser and shrimp patterns and plastics into some shallow flats and working the drop offs. We got some bumps and two keeper fluke. We ran out spent about an hour on the north jetty for a few bumps, It wasn't to nice on the rocks! Ran back up in side, to catch a tide change, One good weakfish and a few bumps and went back up in the bay to a small spot and it was bluefish on topwaters!! Bangers and poppers, Christened poles and reels, and I have to say, We all had, not that bad of a weather day, a bunch of crow to be had by me, made some new friends, got some fish and told a bunch of fish tales-- all in all a good day Thanks CATCHEMUP 6/14/07 Underway at 0545 with Ed and Dave a.k.a. the weakie guys, and their pal Ron. The weather was unpleasant and a look at the northern sky said we had until tide change, before the weather was going to turn bad-- We made some drifts in Oyster Creek getting a few blues , the wind against the tide made it a little tough to work the baits. We worked a couple of sod banks and back to the creek for the change. The weather started to change as did the tide and the rain came-- we all gave the nod and headed for the barn, the flounder was in the bag at 1045. These guys fish with me weekly till the end of the season and understand the ups and downs of the weather patterns CATCHEMUP 6/11/07- Greetings I closed out last week on a good note! Under way at 0545 wit Tom ,Mike and his son Matt, in pea soup fog we made our way north in the bay, I made a stop on a high piece of bottom to drift off to five to seven feet, in about five casts we had a couple of blues and a keeper flounder. I decided to make a move via the GPS up Oyster creek, we got to where we wanted with no problems and started fishing. We had about fifty yards of visibility until the fog started to lift about nine . We had some good bluefish in the box and they were sure doing a number on the tackle. There was a small rip that had produced for me and I continued to make drifts over it, knowing there was something there with our name on it down there. I got hit and looked up to see Tom get hit and set the hook and Mike was also holding a rod with the drag screaming out line. Mike fought his 11 pound weakfish to the net wile Tom was still trying to get some line back to the reel, after the fish walked Tom around the boat a few times, it was a monster weakfish 36 1/2" 13 pound beauty. after a bunch of high fives and "Holy ----'s" it was time to get back to it. Next drift Mike nailed another ten pounder. We ended up with fourteen blues and three personal best weaks, all on www.basskandydelights.com baits, had a awesome day, booked a few more, but realized we all had a great day of fishing with out the help of bait!!! Thanks for a day that will stick with me for a long time!!! CATCHEMUP 6/10/07-Webmaster and www.riseformstudio.tv fly guy McAwful has a new pod-cast that you can see below. The freshwater mayfly emerger technique he is showing can be adapted to the salt for fishing grass shrimp or cinder worm flies over weed beds. Use a bigger float with a floating line and set the distance between the weight and the float to the depth of the top of the weed bed. Set the distance between the weight and the fly to 25 inches. CATCHEMUP Click To Play 6/5/07 - I ended up last week with some real good trips on Thursday the 3rd I got Leo and Jean at the boat and underway at 0545 we had a great day with the blues on top and on the bass kandy. On Friday I got underway at 0530 with Bill Paul and His pal Hector from Pa. On our first drift Bill landed a beautiful 36" trout that scaled out at almost 13 pounds, this fish was a male and had spawned out, it looked like a 15 pound fish. We spent the rest of the day on a search mission and were rewarded with some great top water action with the blues-- My pal Bill Tilton got a personal best flat fish that scaled out at 10.1 pounds on a pink BKD-- Good job!! www.basskandydelights.com and tell Capt. Steve that I sent you!! CATCHEMUP 5/30/07 - Underway today with Anthony Mirando and Erick Franz from out East and Johnny G. From Seaside boardwalk YO!! It's "Johnny G's pizza factory" best on the boardwalk!! We started out in the west part of the bay, hitting a few spots we located some bird play and we worked our way to get fillets for dinner. The money was on weaks-- late in the morning I went back to a spot where we got a bunch of blues we released, and Johnny G. hooked up and gingerly fought a beautiful 11 pound weakfish to the boat- took some pics and released --- His personal best-- next drift( same spot) Anthony nailed a 12 plus, that Anthony had to be talked into releasing!!! He is understanding, after a bunch of years fishing with me, that You should release these fish, if you want your kids to be lucky enough to catch weakfish !!. A PICTURE IS WORTH TEN THOUSAND WORDS. We had a great day, fantastic weather, and long time friends out on the water doing what we like to do--- Thanks- And especially for the release CATCHEMUP 5/28/07 - Happy Memorial day and a big heads up to all the troops in harms way! I ended up last week with (weakie) Ed Thomas without his pal Dave who had to get some "rear end" work done-- I wish him a speedy recovery!! We got underway at 0545 Thursday and traveled south only to find off color water and a strong wind making things a little hard for us, on the way back we stopped at a couple of spots in the open bay, we ended up stopping on blues in a couple of spots behind the lighthouse all in all a good day, we were looking for weakfish, but for the past few weeks the netters have been doing a job on the "BI-CATCH" of adult fish and shipping them out- check your local fish house and see the fillets of weakfish they have!! Give it a year or so and the Feds will say the recreational fisherman have to tighten their belts and the commercial guys will keep on getting their bi-catch of weaks and other game fish to market!! Oh well enough -- CATCHEMUP 5/22/07 - Underway at 0545 with Doc. McGrath, a well traveled fly fisherman. We had good conditions and clean water in the creek, Doc. was tossing flies and I was chucking poppers and BKD,s. We hit a bunch of spots, got a few hits but not much to put any kind of a bend in the Rod. I made a move out front to catch the change on the rocks, we were rewarded with some great bluefish action for almost two hours. It does me good to see Doc. hook a seven pound bluefish on a fly rod fight it to the boat knowing he is going to enjoy eating and especially for those fillets to hit the smoker!! Doc. and I had a great time fishing today and every time we can get together, Thanks for a great day. CATCHEMUP 5/17/05 - Greetings! We had a little rain last night which seemed to contain the fire in the pines, all my friends are back at home safe!! I battled some strong wind conditions with Mel and Bob From Pottstown Pa yesterday. Underway at 0600 we made one stop in the bay then moved into Double creek where we slammed the three to nine pound blues, on poppers and plastics, a good way to do inventory on your tackle box! The blues were the main course, we also released one short bass, dropped one good weakie and released a gang of blues. At the cutting board at 1300 CATCHEMUP 5/15/07 - I fished yesterday with Hank, Kris and Janet. Underway at 1530 The wind was up but not all that bad, fishable, On our way across the bay the wind picked up and made things a little tuff. Our first stop I had both engines under power and not able to hold position to good with wind against tide, I saw a total of four boats out and those guys were tossing the stinky clams! When I passed It didn't seem like much was going on. I headed off to get some shelter and had a couple of hits but no takers- I made one move to the dike area and we got a couple of three to five pound blues. We put seven in the box for Kris's smoker, apple and hickory wood, and released a bunch. These fish were not as big as the alligators we got last week but great fun and good table fare! It was cold and very windy but we made the day and got a bunch of fish, had fun and booked a few more trips. CATCHEMUP 5/11/07 - Underway at 0615 with Anthony Mirando, Pete kolis and Neil. We started out in the same area as yesterday tossing poppers to breaking fish, it was Pete's first experience, I gave Him a crash course on casting and working a popper-- two casts later we boated a thirty two inch striper, his first- during the fight we boated and released two more stripers at thirty inches, we continued to catch and release bluefish in the seven to nine pound class every drift, and bass that were in the keeper range, we had these fish for about an hour and a half till we got mugged by four other boats -three of which were local ( guides ) They ran in -put the fish down and left after a couple of short drifts - I went back to the same area and hammered the blues and bass again while the other guys moved to the main channel anchored up started throwing the stinky bait!! We hit the dock at 1230 with two bass and a couple of blues for the table. We released a bunch of bass and too many blues to count, a great day was had by all -- thanks CATCHEMUP 5/10/07 - I was underway at 0545 with Doug Smith this morning in pea soup fog, I had about a half mile of visibility as we left the dock, then it socked in good, less tan fifty yards, thank you for GPS. We had a ball, no boat traffic and the fish were there and on top. Our first stop was on fish breaking and swirling on top, turns out to be a school of bass in the thirty inch range. We boated three bass released two and Doug kept one for the table. The bass stopped as the big seven to ten pound nasty blues came in, we were casting to breaking fish for two and a half hours till another boat came in and spoiled the party. We got blues in every spot we stopped, I wasn't counting but we had fish on just about ever cast for the better part of the trip, a great day with very light tackle. I was cutting up Doug's dinner at 1130. I'll be out early tomorrow. CATCHEMUP 5/9/07 - I hope you all like the video as much as I do, more to follow. I fished yesterday, burning fuel at 0600 I ran south a bit to look around, blind casting and working some birds I found 3-6lb blues that attacked pencil poppers in a couple of spots, I ran up into the creek, working a couple of drop off areas -again the blues came to visit to tear up some BKD's, and poppers, these fish were larger than what was in the bay, very nasty !! I ran to an out of the way spot and started casting and after a few drifts I was rewarded with two weaks in The 7 pound range, a couple of juvenile bass, one via the long rod and a self tied bunker fly, and a couple of blues that I teased up with poppers and plastics. The condition of the water was great and the temps are on the rise. I'm going to head out this afternoon and try out a new 7wt and some new lures a distributor sent me. CATCHEMUP 5/4/07 - CHECK OUT THE VIDEO!!!! First trip of the year with Webmaster/Media Guru/Fly guy Mike McAuliffe www.riseformstudio.tv and Joey Gilbo. Just missed out on the Stripers and Weakfish by a couple of minutes. But we did get a bunch of big Bluefish with surface poppers on the Fly Rods. Check out the video! It starts out with some trout stuff for you freshwater guys, then goes into some nice action in the bay! Having trouble seeing the video? Make sure you have the Adobe Flash Player. It is free and you can get it here. CATCHEMUP Click To Play 5/1/07 - The aluminum guy came thru today, new pumps in, I fixed up a bunch of odds and ends - my spring order from Capt. Steve www.basskandydelights.com came in along with some custom jig-heads are here and ready to go on board. I have a bunch of honey-does to get done and I should be shaking the sled down and burning fuel Thursday. The talk is the fish are in the bay , blues, bass and weaks. My next door neighbor was eating weakfish tonight and had bass on Sunday!! I don't know about you -- but I am ready!!! CATCHEMUP 4/27/07 - I'm pretty much ready to go, The aluminum guy said He would have my stuff ready for me when I get back from work. The word is that it's starting to happen!!! the guy next door has been catching pajama fish on a steady basis from the dock-- go figure-- I also got a call the other day that a couple of guys throwing flies were catching some bass in back of the inlet-- I'm ready-- Are you?? CATCHEMUP 4/24/07 - Greetings! I got in from work yesterday and got after it! The bottom is done the hull is looking good and my back and knees are hurting!! The satisfaction of sitting down with a cold one and looking over you efforts is rewarding to me, a lot more than getting a check book out and paying some one to do it for you-- pride I guess!!! Today I have a couple of new pumps and hoses to install and fuel filters to replace, I'm waiting on the aluminum welder to finish up some stuff. On the fishing front, the local word is that there are some bass being taken on bait, a night bite, and some large weakfish on the mud flats. I should splash this week baring no problems, start looking for myself and let the "self proclaimed professionals" tell their B.S. to the papers! CATCHEMUP 4/19/07 - The weather has been cold and damp for the past week, but I managed to get some stuff done and things on the boat are shaping up. The water temps in the back bay are still low and the bay water along the west side is dark with a bit of fresh water run-off mixed in. It looks like the weather will break next week and I should be able to finish up and splash and start looking, CATCHEMUP 4/11/07 - I have been putting some time in on the boat, getting the sled squared away in the spring is something that over the years either you enjoy it and do most all of the work yourself or you absolutely hate it, and pay and trust someone to do the work for you!! Well I feel it is the right thing to do is to get to it and work on it to where you are satisfied with it, unless you are unable. So I'm gettin er done!!! It's been a little too cold to do waxing and painting, but it's all clean and ready for the shine, and the water temps in the bay are still a little cold-- but there is some talk in local circles about some bass and blues, I'll get ready to shake it down next week some time if the weather is good-- CATCHEMUP. 4/2/07 For all of you freshwater guys, opening day is on Saturday! My buddy McAwful from Rise Form Studio (who designed the new site) has been doing some really cool video stuff. He is doing a monthly Fly Fishing Video Podcast, so for all of you itunes and video ipod people check out Episodes 1&2 here. If you don't have itunes and want to see some interesting video footage of trout being stocked in Ken Lockwood Gorge go view episode 2 here. There are also some interviews with local Guides explaining the best methods and flies to use for early season trout. McAwful has promised to feature A2Z in at least 1 episode this year so be on the lookout for a great feature on us! of 4/2/07 Last Friday I helped a fishin-pal of mine Bill Tilton get his boat in and tied up and you know we had to bring a couple of rods with us!!! We got tied up and threw the lines off to shake the boat down. We hit the warm water discharge for a couple of drifts then took off, playing and setting up the GPS up in Oyster Creek , we made a couple of drifts at the sod banks and up in Double Creek. We had good weather but no bumps-- it really didn't matter-- just getting out on the bay was what we both needed after a long winter. The water is still a little cold -- I'll see what this week brings, never the less, I got some stuff done with the boat and the gear to day -- CATCHEMUP 3/28/07 For the past couple of days I have been doing the spring get the boat ready to go thing. I have been getting some honest reports of some flounder pounders catching bass and I overheard a conversation of a weakfish being taken, I don't know if it was a fact but it sure gave me some motivation to get my butt in gear! CATCHEMUP 3/20/07 Greetings! It's up and running, and we are fixing and adding as we go- I'll take your feed back. I got a good report from the bay and the beach, there are some fish moving about but the water is still cold, you can fish for winter flounder this weekend if there are any left after the netters, they have been banging them up for a weeks!!! I have been working on my gear, tying flies and just starting to get under the boat cover to look at things-- I shoot for mid April to launch CATCHEMUP 3/9/07- Greetings! We had a shot of spring weather last week, it snowed on Wednesday and this morning it's 28 outside my door. I have been tying flies and teasers getting a bunch ready, but, the good news is I'll have a new site up and running with in a week or so, we all know how the computer guys are. One of my clients is working on it and I get to look at some of finished stuff, Check him out www.riseformstudio.com he has a video pod cast up on the shannons site I think it will look good and I look for your input also. I stopped at the marina the other day, got the rent paid on my slip, Larry, on the gas dock is in Cost Rica catching the big ones, cant wait for the pics and the wrench guys, Brian and Andy are keeping busy. My phone is starting to ring with guys and gals with the fever to go, I have a good bunch of trips in the book. If you would want to check out some good fishing and want to secure some dates, give me a call and see what the specials are for multiple trips!! CATCHEMUP 3/1/07 - The winter is coming to an end!! For the past week I have been tying some flies and teasers, and today I'll get into some of my gear and a few honey-does. The boat is under the big blue blanket for a couple of weeks, I have the aluminum guy working on some rod holders and scuppers, I'm working on the site' we got a few new pics up in the home page under highlighted "quality fish" The water temps are starting to come up a bit, this usually gets my fish blood starting to boil, I'll go to the ball field with my fly rods and practice!!! CATCHEMUP 2/22/07- Greetings Last week my son Zack and I took a day to visit Cabela's up in frozen Pa. and yes Rt.# 78 was closed, we managed to find a couple of back roads and navigated are way, but we had the place to ourselves!! I was impressed at the size of the place and the folks there were friendly and had good product knowledge, we picked up a few things had a good meal and we were on the road.- After a mild day yesterday I had a couple of steady clients check in with the fishin fever! We talked about some plans for the season, tactics and tackle. One of my clients said he attended a seminar and listened, but wondered , what is it that made this person a "expert" I had a hard time answering. My client has been fishing the local water for over 50 years his family had been in the fishing and charter biz and he probably forgot more stuff that this person thinks they know-- Oh well, we just compare notes find fish in some out of the way places and enjoy fishing together. I have been working on the site with more to come-- CATCHEMUP 2/7/07 A couple of weeks back I headed up north with my friend Capt Mickey King (Kingfish charters) to the fly show, we got in at a good time, talked with a lot of old friends and made some new friends and even spent a little on some related stuff! Last week I had a day at the AC boat show, that was a good show, spent some time with the guys at Furuno, Sitex and Simrad and the guys at Twin Vee boats. I saw a lot of interesting marine related gear and goodies. There are some good flea markets coming up --so support you local venues and stock up on some gear and get your stuff ready, cause the days are getting longer and spring ain't far away. CATCHEMUP 1/23/07 Greetings!! It's time for flea markets boat shows and the likes! I'm going to try and hit the fly show in Somerset this week and of course the Atlantic City show next week, is a annual trip for me and a couple of fishin pals. For me thinking about the spring is going back over my notes from years past, tuning my brain not to forget the basics of the style and mode of fishing I enjoy to pass on to my clients. To think back and remember how excited I got and the looks on clients faces when we challenge ourselves to catching fish on man made baits! The fly guys that I had last season had some good days and some slow days, this is most challenging to me as a guide and as a angler. For me, last spring I got into blues and weaks and in the fall the bass with the long rods, but most of all a few days some very large weakfish and bass on a 9 wt. rod was a highlight. It's something to battle a eight to twelve pound fish on light tackle but on the fly rod, the challenge sort of takes a different stage! I hope in the future you can be a part of the trend to leave the bait behind and challenge yourself to some real sport fishing on the light side!! CATCHEMUP 1/2/07 Happy New Year!!! Greetings, the last day I fished on the beach was Christmas eve. I got one short, watched a awesome sunrise, then I sat back to watch a few guys on log boards have some fun in the breakers. The boat show , sportsman and fishing flea market season has begun, it's time to start getting your plan together and get some deals on tackle for a new season. Don't forget to talk with Capt Steve for plastics and tell him Captain Al sent you www.basskandydelights.com CATCHEMUP 12/19/06 - Seasons Greetings! For the past few weeks I have been hitting a few spots on the LBI beachfront, I have to admit it's been some time since I worked and walked a stretch of beach, especially in south Jersey. I have a gang of knowledge of the upper coast. So I set up a surf bag with some plastic and plugs, got the waders out and searched out a few places to work on the beach, The first spot I stopped I tossed storm shads topped with yellow teasers, I was treated with a nice short bass at about twenty two inches. The next morning I got out in the dark and was casting a yellow swimming plug topped with a yellow teaser, and again I was treated with a few nice bass, I saw a lot of birds off shore with no boats. For as many days as I had fished there hasn't been much of a skunk going on, and that keeps me feeling good! So as long as the weather holds out I'll try to get out a bit. Happy Holidays and think spring !!! CATCHEMUP 12/1/06- I'm landlocked!! I took the boat out on Tuesday afternoon, To get a jump on the winterizing. It's easier when the weather cooperates, and we do have a storm going to slam us this afternoon! In the next few weeks I'll do a re cap on the season , all in all I had good fishing, good times and made some new friends along the way, I would like to say thanks to all for a great season of fishing, all the good times we had fishing together. A special thanks goes out to, Ed Runyon and his buds from Howell, Anthony Mirando, AKA "Joey bag a donuts" and his friends, the fly guys Mike McAuliffe and his pals, Weakfish Ed and Dave, Just to mention a few of the folks that had their names in my book a lot this season. CATCHEMUP 11/28/06 - Greetings! Thanksgiving week was a wash, between the weather and the lack of fish to be found, on black Friday I fished with Mike, Chris Ritter and Joey- all we found was dirty water-- Monday I fished alone and had a good day both in the bay and out front and up the beach. I got a lot of fish but all on the small side. Today I fished with Mike McAulif, Just out side the inlet we had all the bass you wanted, on the fly on plastics or just about any thing that was white. We made a move up the beach to see if we could locate some larger fish, we found some pods of bait and a few fish . We saw a small wale an a couple of seals. And the JACKASS OF THE SEASON goes out to a boat called "O FISHLBUSINESS" out of the Barnegat area, Here we were all by ourselves working a small pod of bunker that we were on and into fish and here comes this boat steaming up and into the pod of bait- he throws his baits out and then backs his boat up and into the fish again, but, this all was with in twenty yards of us and actually over our lines where we were casting. I asked him where his brains were, and after a few choice hand signals and phrases by him, that his children, that were on the boat, were, I'm sure were proud to hear him shout out, I realized that not only his brains but his ability to act like a sane person were left in the toilet at some roadside rest area!! I can't believe that this guy didn't know what he was doing! It was a great day of fishing, with a good friend and real good way to close out the season!! CATCHEMUP 11/22/06-Underway on Tuesday with one of my American Legion brothers, Lenny at 0700. With the air temp at 27, the wind at 20 plus out of the north, and the boat heading dead into it at 25 mph, it was a little cold!! We tossed shads in two spots in double creek, no takers, we moved on some birds in front of the light house along with a handful of other boats. There were herring and some small blues in the mix and a short bass taken that I saw, not much action to speak of. We tried a few other spots, with no bird play, and not reading any bait on the machines we headed back to the barn, at the dock at 1100. We have a strong coastal storm pushing on us, with the winds gusting over forty, and it looks like it is going to stick with us for the next 24hours or so. I am going to shape up in the morning for the annual run, but I doubt we'll go, but you never know!! Happy Turkey day!!! CATCHEMUP 11/16/06 - With water temps in the high 50s low 60s, The down slope of the moon and 1000 different excuses, the bassin has been slow. I have been catching a few, but I can honestly say we have been working our butts off for every hit and every fish that came to the boat! On Tuesday I got underway with Anthony and Neil at 0645 we had great weather -- but a lack of help from our finned friends, on Wednesday I had Doc. Jim McGrath down from PA, with the long rods, a ditto on the weather, overcast, light winds, a perfect day for the fly rods. We worked areas in the creeks, in front of the light house, all the way down to the rt.# 72 bridge looking for fish and back to the creek for the change of tide we landed a short bass and a few herring that were around, Doc. Jim gave it 100% plus, my hat goes off to Jim for 6 plus hours casting the long rod, and did not attempt to pick up a spinning rod!! Not bad for a guy over 70 years young !!! We have a front moving into the area and the temps are expected to fall in the next few days, I'm hoping to eat striped bass on Thanksgiving--- CATCHEMUP 11/13/06 - Greetings on a very rainy Monday morning! Last Thursday I fished with Tom Sanders and Guy Critelli, underway at 0730, a great day for this time of year, we had big time rain and wind on the day before, I was hoping the bass would like to eat-- well we nailed a couple of fish but we worked very hard for what came to the boat. All the fish we were had on plastic shads and buck-tails topped with white Bass kandies.