Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

I wonder if that guy in picture caught this fish off the bridge ? Why I'm asking I'm not sure it's a legal size tog ?? :cool:

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

As we all deal with this crappy weather I was surprised to get a picture with text entitled who is this guy. from good friend Carlos Bastos aka seabass7 on njfishing that put a smile on my face and warmed me up. Carlos use to write some of the best articles for the Fisherman magazine. Picture he sent me is from one of those articles. I am thinking article was from the 90's. Hopefully he will read this and respond back with year.

It bought back some great memories as looking back I can thank/blame Carlos and his 17 ft proline " Bottoms Up" for this fishing addiction especially blackfishing. I learned a lot from him fishing on his boat not to mention blackfish road trips to Buzzards Bay and VA where I caught my first DD tog.
No digital cameras back then so all pictures I have are in a photo album. Boy did we catch a ton of fish on that Proline. He really knows his bottom fishing and could anchor boat on piece the size of a Volkswagon. Now that he is in Fla he is picky up right where he left of in Jersey and has been putting some impressive catches together. The only difference now instead of seabass, blackfish, stripers, fluke the target is now Grouper, Snapper, Amberjack. Can not wait to get down again this year and do some damage on some southern bottom dwellars like we did last year with my two brothers from another mother. Carlos(seabass7)and Rob (Fishguts)

Amazing that this hobby we call fishing has blessed me with 2 of my best friends who just happen to be some of the best bottom fisherman and Capt's I know.

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

That was 1998.

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

It feels good to post a report as my last trip was on 1/23/2015. Received a last minute invite from friend Donald to fish 6 pack out of OC, MD 4/11-4/12
My Calendar was full for sat and had blocked out my Sunday to get my tax papers in order. Go togging or being stuck at home all day doing paperwork. With killer forecast and chance to fish one of the top big blackfish capts. in MD you can guess what my choice was. GOING FISHING.

Saturdays group had slow fishing as they only had a few keepers targeting the deeper water, topped off by Donald's 10 pounder on his new super light outfit he purchased from Yong at jigging world. (Cheap plug for sponsor) Water temps just not right yet as fish were cold and not chewing. They did some drops on the way in and found water to be warmer in 4the shallower stuff. Not what the guys were hoping for but that is why they call it fishing.

Left my house at 2 am for the drive down for Sundays trip. Arrived at the boat about 5:45 am. Within the next 15 minutes the rest of the crew showed up (Donald, Bucktail Bob, Tyrone and Ken Westerfeld the new pending blackfish world record holder. First time fishing with Ken so it was a pleasure to relive the catch we all dream off with him. Super nice guy so I am very happy for him as he has put in his time and knows his stuff.

Being water temps were warmer in the shallow water, Capt decided to focus in that area as fish in the deep previous day were not on the chew. Weather was warm, winds were light and had crew of really good fisherman. Could not have asked for better bait as we had (Whiteleggars, Greens, clams and giant hermits) One thing I did notice were the whites were very light. I guess from hanging and not eating all winter there is not much meat on them.

Overall fishing was a grind. Never could get a real good bite going as we would get a few on each spot before bite died and we would move on.
Capt is one of the best so it was not for lack of effort. Capt gave us extra 2 hours and worked his ass off making 9 drops.

I managed 6 keepers with pool fish going around 6 pounds. Changing bait helped as I caught on all 4 baits as I would switch things around as the bite died and seemed to put a few extra fish in the box. We ended the long day with 11 keepers for 5 of us. Numbers were not good and no big fish but it was nice to knock the rust off and fish with great Capt and crew of guys. Will be doing a 3 day trip early may so water temps and bite should be much improved by then. Expect to add to the double digit count on one or a few of those days with the hope of getting into the 20 lb club. Till next report

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

Nice post Alex.

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

Alex was in the city and saw this. Your new career)

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You're amazing.

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

Hi Alex, I thought, I was bad meaning my last tog trip was 2/9/15, a PB for not fishing. I did do 1 cod trip in March but that doesn't count. I have my own calculations for attaining PB's. lol I could have gone to the " Flemish Cap" with the other Capt from down south but passed like must of us screen watchers did.
Personally speaking, I think it's going to break Wide open with another week of warm weather! Not all PB's live in the deep as we know! I forgot to say, nice job on putting fish in the box that helps with the Longggggggg ride back home. Dennis

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Great job Alex looking forward to seeing you this season

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Yes Steve this is one of my side bussineses. I also own the massage parlor next store the you stopped in for your happy ending. Lady said that you were in and out of their in 2 minutes. :D

Best of luck to you this year.

MVP- Entrepreneur

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Totally agree with you Dennis as with weather and my insane work schedule it was difficult to get out. When you get invited to fish on someones else charter anddoes feel good to contribute to the box then everyone has fish to take home. I feel as long as i can contribute they will continue to invite me back. Saw are friend Monty working hard to continue to build habitat so we can continue to drive down and have shot at catching some nice tog. From Chatter on the radio he was working with guys on barge to deploy a couple of thousand's pounds of concrete. Wish we did more of this kindof stuff in NJ. Look forward to fishing with you this year.

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That's a great shot of Monty coordinating the drops, I'll forward that photo of it, compliments of you! I'll let him know it came from you. Always remember, the fish you catch next to me are the ones that I would have caught....maybe lol Dennis

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Thanks Dennis as I appreciate you letting me catch a few;)

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Monty a survivor in a tough business , he insures his own success by stepping up whenever he can help.
Where would R winter fishery be w/o SRR ! :cool:

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Received invite to fish with Bill - ytuna and his group of all star toggers
(Eric- Mortgageman, Henry - jigemup, Dave - DROD)
to Fish Ocean City, MD on 5/4- 5/6. We had good forecast for all three days so expectations were high.

5/4 Capt. decided to stay in closer rather than making the long run as it seems like fishing has been more consistent for him in shallower water After about a 45 min run lines were in and the anticipation of the Bite was at a fever pitch. Fish started to come over the rail at a nice pace. Henry was using a 1.5oz. banana jig and was putting on a clinic catching them at a fast pace. We were all catching put Henry was catching them at least at double the pace of the rest of us. If you did not believe that jigging for blackfish produces, I can tell you that under the right conditions they can be deadly in the hands of a skilled angler. Ended the day filling the box with some really nice quality 4-7 pound blackfish highlighted by Eric's 9.5 lb. pool winner. As a bye catch we had caught about a dozen nice cod that made it to the box and some nice seabass that were released do to closed season.

5/5 Had some higher winds predicted for day two that would not allow us to make the long run so stayed in sight of land and had another productive day with even more action then the day before as I believe most of us must have had at least double limits + of keepers. Again all nice quality 4-7 pound fish topped off by DROD 10 pounder. Ended the day keeping our 28 blacks and another dozen or so cod. As a group we decided to through back many of the bigger fish as well as each of us releasing many of the female keepers. These fish are currently on the spawn so wanted Momma to have chance to make more babies so we can continue to sustain this great fishery.

5/6 This was the day we were all waiting for as conditions were mint to make the long run to VA. 2 hours later we were anchored near some commercial guy working his pots who told us he speared a nice 23 pounder out of this area recently. If that does not get your juices flowing then there must be something wrong with you. Cod started coming over the rail much more so than blackfish. If we fished clams I am sure the cod catch would have been even better but we were not here for cod and were in search of the ONE. About 35 min. into the trip I get the bite that i have traveled thousands of miles and have spent 10's of thousands of dollars for over the years. I get about 3.5 cranks on him on my Australian loads up and is bent over in the shape of a U. Fish has me in his hole and can not get angle on him to budge him. Put reel in free spool hoping he/she swims out like my last trip i had in April but no such luck. After several a long wait of trying to entice him out fish has other plans and i cry uncle reel down and bust him off. I normally fish longer leader about 16- 18" which when fishing wrecks that have deep drop of puts me at disadvantage with that longer leader rather than the traditional shorter snell or snafu. Wish I could have gotten a few more cranks on this one to truly access what was at the end of the line. Will never no if this was the ONE. If you catch huge tog with 18" 60 pound leader tied to 5/0 owner hooks and a little green glow bead please make sure not to call me.
When fishing slowed Capt. made move to second wreck which had similar action. Towards the end of trip Henry gets bit on his traditional bait rig and lands the highlight of the trip which weighed in at 16 pounds and his PB. Could not have been happier for for him as he truly has put in his time.
We did not limit out on blackfish this day but did go home with more cod. Told the guys on day 1 that if i only caught 1 fish all three days and it was 15+ pounds or better i would consider it a successful trip. At this point i love the action but it is more about the hunt for double digits that keeps me coming back for more.

Always willing to share info to help others improve their catch. Been tog fishing for about 30 years now and still learned a few things on this trip.
1. Jigging for blackfish under the right conditions can be very effective.
2. Experimented on different ways to hook crab which improved my catch.
3. Was getting hits using 8 oz sinker but fish would not commit to bait and give me something to swing at. Dropped down to 5 oz. and had 3 fish in a row.
4. Do not be afraid to cast around to find the bite. Fish will follow your bait as it is settling into zone. Get more bites this way when fishing slows down.
5. A little movement is not a bad thing
6. Do not fall asleep with MVP and DROD around. Bad things can happen.
7. Reason why MD fishing is so good as is there is little pressure on these fish as I saw a total of three boats out in 3 days with 2 of them being commercial guys. Can you imagine being anchored up on the sandy hook reef in the middle of November and not seeing any boats around you.
8. DROD does not even smile when holding up a 10 pound blackfish
9. Should go on the corn hole circuit to help pay for my fishing trips
10. Went through a lot of trouble and expense to bring whiteleggars on this trip. Do not think they made much of a difference this time of year vs. the greens.


Big fish honors go to:
Henry - 16 pounder

Honorable mention:
Drod - 10 pounder
Kane- 10 pounder
Eric - 9.5 pounder

Even though everyone produced and added to the box on all three days my MVP award goes to Henry for his jigging prowess on day one and his 16 pound female that was released to swim another day. Could not have asked for a better group of guys to fish with. Looking forward to the next togging adventure.

MVP

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

MVP-
Great report as always. Henry (actually he is my uncle) can really put on a show fishing for tog. He has been jigging fish for quite a while and really knows how to work those banana jigs. Looking forward to more 2015 reports.

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Great report Alex!

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Great report!

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Bill thanks for putting the trip together as well as putting together the group of anglers. Would fish with this group anytime. Alex great report and where is my trophy. Thanks.

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Lessons learned fishing with Kane a couple days later.

1. Alex will never land a big fish on the Australian. Not my opinion, but what I heard from some Marylanders.
2. DRod brings to many rods.


DRod will smile if you remind him that his wife will see the picture.:)

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

Great report Alex

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Congrats Henry on your PB and its release. Would've been somethng if you hooked it on the trout-rod jigging stick :eek: Great write-up (as always) Alex - your pursuit of the elusive 20-lb'er will soon pay off :)

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Did catch one about 8# on the second day of the trip on the "trout"jigging stick. I must admit that the 16+ would have been a real challenge getting the first few feet of braid back. Would love to get the chance to do it.

Re: MVP 2015 Fishing Reports
 

Tim, Joe and all the guys from High-Mar. Can not thank you guys enough for putting together such a well run event.

Very grateful to be able to participate and contribute to such a worthy cause
Team Eastwick made the board again for the 3rd straight year
1st place 2013
3rd place 2014
5th place 2015

We squeaked in this year with 40 lb total. I had the first bass of the day at 24 lbs. Nice way to break the ice and get us started. Raul then followed up with a 13 lb. bass. Keeper put not what we were looking for. With are two bass in the first hour we know we had a shot if we could upgrade that second fish. Sounded good in theory but blues had another plan in store for us. As all we could get to bite were the blues. Did not matter what we tried. Fished 2 lines on bottom and 2 on top. Live bunker, Whole chunks, heads butterflied. Did not matter as blues destroyed all our offerings. At around 1130 am we decided to swing for the fences and head to the rocks in search of one decent bass. Fished a few spots with our bunker but had no LOVE. Only 2 others boats in area who were trolling but only had bluefish to show for their efforts. Broke out my custom Australian spoon rods for about half hour hoping they would work their magic on custom made Legacy spoons but bass were not present as water was 52.5 degrees

Knowing we needed one more decent size bass we headed back to our morning spot that produced are two keeper bass. As the tide picked up Raul got his second bass of the day that weighed in at 16 pounds. Not the 20+ we were hoping for but it was an upgrade from the earlier 13 pounder.
After being inundated with blues again we pulled the plug at 310 and worked our way back for 4 pm weigh in hoping that with all the bluefish action that are 2 bass would hold up. Final weigh in takes place and team Eastwick makes the board for the 3rd year in a row.

Can not thank the guys from Hi - Mar and Barh's Landing and sponsors enough for hosting us as they put on very nice spread:
Clam Chowder, Fried Stripe bass chunks, cheesesteaks, onion rings, rice with shrimp and scallops, sautéed mushrooms and onions and peppers. NICE

Congrats to all the winners and everyone who participated
Looking forward to next year already as our 5th place prize is free entry into next years tournament

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5/21/15 RI Blackfish/Fluke Combo Trip Report

Received call from Capt. I fish with in the fall for blackfish out of Newport, RI.
He asked me if I was interested in doing a combo trip of Blackfish, fluke and possibly squid. His biggest blackfish of the year are normally caught in May. He knows how to get my attention. Sounded like an interesting trip and with chance for one last chance at catching blackfish so I sent out text to see if I can get a crew together to fish 5/21. Put a great crew together (Capt. Lou, Kurtis, Bob Bates, Mark (AWAD) and myself. Timing a trip like this is difficult as it is towards the end of the blackfish bite which has been very good the last 2 weeks and the beginning of fluke season for them. Squid fishing has been lights out in Hyannis, MA so they usually come in after the Hyannis run. We were coming off the moon on 5/18 so I thought my timing was going to give us a shot to get all 3 species in.

Met everyone at the boat at 5:45 and were off to the grounds at 6 am in cold windy conditions. The nice thing about fishing Newport is that the scenery is amazing and you are normally fishing great bottom in minutes as the run to the fishing grounds is short. Game plan was to limit out on the blackfish in the morning and then focus on the fluke afterwards. Come in have dinner and then head out for squid in the evening. Sounded like a great plan but conditions and migration of fish and squid had different idea. Squid were not in good numbers so Capt. decided to scratch the squid rather than taking us for a boat ride in the evening. SW winds that day may have bought in colder water and must have effected the blackfish bite as we tried early and later in the day and only managed 4 keepers for the 5 of us. Fluking was a little better but still below par as the bite is just starting.

I was disappointment with the results as I have been fishing RI for blackfish for 20 years and have only had 2 slow days in all that time. Not a bad ratio of good to great trips vs slow days but still disappointed as I wanted my guys on my trip to experience the great tog/fluke fishing I am use to. Felt like I let them down even though I know it is out of my control. Capt. moved around from blackfishing to fluking back to blackfishing and finishing with fluke as bite is truly effected by the tide. It was not for lack of effort as Capt. worked to get us on the bite. Total count for the trip was 4 keeper blackfish and 10 keeper fluke for the 5 of us. Can not thank the guys enough as they are seasoned charter fisherman and no you have to have a few slow trips to appreciate the really good ones. Even though Capt. Lou loves to bust my chops all the time my MVP Award went to him for catching the 3 biggest fluke of the trip including pool winner that went around 7 lbs. Will most likely head up to fluke fish in late July targeting bigger fluke in deeper water and then blackfish in late Oct.