Sandy Hook Reef, 86 LB Drum

[giantfan]

We headed out on Sat morning at the crack of dawn and ran to the tip of the hook to see if we could find some false albies in the surf that we have been hearing about back at the dock. The crew consisted of Jeff, Jeffery (canyon boy) Dave O, Frankie, Johnny work boots, and I. We set the lines in and proceeded to troll along the beach for about an hour with nothing to show for it.

Ok… time for plan B, being the bottom fishing junkie that Dave O is, he was well prepared with the wreck anchor, a bushel of clams, a few large squid and a bunch of salted clam for chum. We trolled our way over to the reef and set up on a sticky piece that we have fished many times in the past. As soon as the lines went in we had nice action with all the sea bass and porgies that we could want. There were a couple of blackfish in the mix too. The action was steady and everybody was having a good time.

Out of nowhere I see Dave lift on a fish and the rod doubled over. Oh boy, is this a monster blackfish that ran into the rocks? Nope! Not in the rocks, the fish is taking line. So I’m thinking cownose ray. After about 10 min he gets it close enough to the back of the boat to see a little color down about 15 feet but the fish must have seen the boat and wanted to get the hell out of dodge as quick as he can. Another 10 min of give and take and Dave manages to get him to the back of the boat where I am standing by with the gaff. Holy Crap! It’s the elusive Black Drum, I hit it with the gaff and it bounced off of this prehistoric looking fish like I was trying to gaff a cinder block. Ok, I won’t try to hit that spot again. Dave gets him up again and this time I stick the gaff in the bottom of the fish and its game over.

Finally! After two years of running the boat down to Cape May and getting our asses kicked with the spring winds and rain trying to catch a black drum. We get one right in our own back yard. Go figure.

Not having a scale big enough on the boat and needing to get some fuel anyway we pulled into Pedersons. Neil offered to help us get the fish up to Crabby’s. THANKS Neil! With the fish in tow they dragged it up the hill and it weighed in at 86 lbs.

Dave O and I decided to head back to the reef on Sunday and had a great day with tons of large porgies, big sea bass, and a couple of nice blackfish for the box.

Below are a couple of pictures from Saturday.