February 3, 2012

We want to thank everyone that sent in their Tilefish trip payments on time.   There are still a few people who we have not received money from.   We'll give it a few more days to account for the mail, but after that we'll have to go to the waiting lists.   If you feel that we should have gotten your mail and you haven't received confirmation or if you have any questions, please send us an email.


February 1, 2012

THIS WINTER'S GOOD LING FISHING CONTINUES TO HOLD UP.   Warmer than normal water temperatures have kept Ling biting in depths from 95-200 feet.  This fishing should remain good as long as we don't get any big snowfalls or prolonged sub-zero cold spells.

On last weekend's trips, we only had a pick on Saturday with most anglers catching 6-12 Ling and a few catching more than that.    We also had quite a few nice Blackfish up to 9.8 lbs. and a couple of small keeper Cod.   On Sunday, the fishing really improved with many people catching 20-40 Ling.   "Uncle Paulie" was easily high hook with 62 Ling in his cooler by day's end and Dave Galvin from New York won the pool with an 8 pound Pollock.

We will be LING FISHING on WEEKENDS and PRESIDENT'S DAY sailing form 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM.   For those that may be fishing with us on Super Bowl Sunday, we want you to know that we'll be back at the dock by 3:30 PM sharp so you can get home with plenty of time to spare before kick-off.

We may throw a COD trip on the schedule in a week or so and try a few different spots.   At the moment, the water has been too warm for a major migration of Cod, but we're hoping that a few start to trickle in.   Keep an eye on our Trip Calendar and Home Page for the date and time.


January 7, 2012

Good fishing today with buckets of Ling around the boat.   Tony Puzzo had 35 Ling and the pool winning 10 pound Cod.  We will be sailing tomorrow 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM.   Our galley will not be open, but we will have coffee and soft drinks available.   Sorry for any inconvenience.


January 6, 2012

We will be sailing OPEN BOAT LING and COD trips this Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM.   The fare is $65 per person.  Unfortunately, we just found out that our cook, George has the flu and will not be on board this weekend.  Our galley will not be open either day, but we will have coffee and soft drinks available.   Sorry for any inconvenience.


January 1, 2012

Happy New Year everyone!   I hope it brings you health, happiness and good fishing. 

After canceling a number of trips due to poor weather, we managed to get a couple of SEA BASS trips off before the season shut down on December 31.   Fishing was the way it should be with most people catching limits of SEA BASS up to 6 pounds.

As it stands now, we should be allowed to fish for SEA BASS in January and February of 2013.   That is, as long as the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) doesn't pull a fast one on us.  With all the weather blow outs over the last couple of weeks, some people got shut out for the season.  Hopefully, next year's longer season will allow us to get everyone out fishing that wants to go.  

Starting on Saturday January 7, we will be making OPEN BOAT LING and COD TRIPS on SATURDAYS and SUNDAYS from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM.  The fare is $65 per person.  We will also be sailing on Monday January 16 (Martin Luther King Day).

Due to warmer than usual water temperatures, we will start COD FISHING either the last week of January or early February.   We want to wait until a migration of Cod starts to push down our way before putting out our full schedule.   Keep an eye on out on our Trip Calendar page for these Cod trips.


December 21, 2011

Offshore Sea Bass fishing improved over the past weekend.   We had a couple of limits and a bunch of people with 15-20 fish.  Because all of our trips are sold out and a number of people have been weathered out, we are trying to add one more trip to the schedule.

We are trying to put a trip together leaving FRIDAY NIGHT DECEMBER 23rd and returning 6:00 PM on Christmas Eve.

We know this is a tough night to sail, but it also happens to be the nicest weather day of the week.   If you are interested in going on the trip, please send us an email.  We will make a final decision by noon on Friday.


See our Photo Gallery pages for more trip photos from December 16.


















See our Photo Gallery pages for more trip photos from December 14.


















December 12, 2011

SEA BASS fishing improved over the past weekend.   We didn't have super catches, but picked away each day with some drops being better than others.  High hook each day had between 15 and 20 SEA BASS while most anglers had between 6 and 12.  The Sea Bass were nice sized with pool winners between 6 and 7 pounds on each trip.  We also had COD, POLLOCK, and BLUES mixed in.   Fishing should improve daily as the water temperatures drop.

















Don't forget, thanks to our 'friends' at the National Marine Fisheries Service, the season ends when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve.  Because of this short season, trips are booking up fast so if you are interested in joining us, take a look at our Trip Calendar and pick a date soon.   You can hold a reservation by sending us an email.


December 7,  2011

Last weekend's trips were all quite different.   We picked at Sea Bass on the Thursday and Friday night trips with a mix of Cod and Pollock thrown in.  On the Thursday night trip we had a good shot of Cod up to 25 pounds.  On the Saturday night trip we had beautiful weather and saw a better catch of Sea Bass.  Most of the Sea Bass were large to jumbo size.   It was definitely an improvement over the prior days and weeks.  We suspect that things are going to change for the better after today's big northwest blow.  The main migration of fish hasn't really started yet because of the warm weather, but with cooler temperatures coming, the fish are going to start to move our way.

















Don't forget... Thanks to our 'friends' at NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service), the Sea Bass season ends when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve.  Because of this short season, trips are booking up fast.   So if you are interested in joining us, take a look at our Trip Calendar and pick a date soon.  You can hold a reservation by sending us an email.


November 30, 2011

We still have 5 spots remaining on Thursday night's OFFSHORE SEA BASS trip (December 1) as well as 1 or 2 spots for Saturday night (December 3).   At the moment, the weather looks really good.   If anyone wants to grab a spot on one of these trips please send us an email message.


November 27, 2011

Many people have been asking how the OFFSHORE SEA BASS fishing has been so far.  The season has started out a bit slow.  The water temperature is warmer than usual and the main migration of fish has not happened yet.  Over the past weekend, we had a mixed bag of jumbo Sea Bass, Cod, Pollock, Ling, Bluefish and White Hake.  By far, the best individual catch was made by Ed Mackin of Boonton, NJ with 23 keeper Sea Bass, 4 Ling, 1 Cod and 1 White Hake.   Most people only had 3-8 Sea Bass plus some other stuff.  We anticipate Sea Bass will start moving in as soon as we get some cooler temperatures. 

Don't forget... Thanks to our 'friends' at NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service), the Sea Bass season ends when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve.  Because of this short season, trips are booking up fast.   So if you are interested in joining us, take a look at our Trip Calendar and pick a date soon.   You can hold a reservation by sending us an email.


November 20, 2011

We have just posted our 2012 Offshore Fishing Schedule for May through November.   You can view our entire schedule on our Trip Calendar page or just the Tilefish schedule on our Special Trips page.  Below are a few changes in our trip policies and some information about a few new trips.

TILEFISH TRIPS:

Due to overwhelming demand we have made some changes in this year's Tilefish schedule.   The first change is that we have added more trips to the schedule.   This year we will be fishing offshore for Tilefish every week from mid-May through mid-September.   This will give people plenty of opportunities to join us.

The second change is the addition of more two day trips.   Last season, the two-day trips were very popular and fishing was generally very good.

A number of people asked about longer trips so that we might explore some new areas.   In response, we have added a few 2½-day trips.

In addition, many anglers have been asking about manual reel only trips so our fourth change this year is to add in a few trips that are geared exclusively to manual reels.   Those of you that use electric reels have nothing to worry about since the expanded schedule allows for 1, 2, and 2½-day as well as limited man trips all with electrics so no one will get slighted.

Our next change is really more of an addition.   Last year many people got to try ROSEFISH for the first time and learned what great table fare they are.  With that in mind we have added in a couple of trips that will target the tasty Rosefish.

Our final 2-day trip last year was considered by many to be one of the best of the season.   With the tuna fishing picking up, we decided to make an effort at night Tuna chunking between the two Tilefish fishing days.   We had some shots at Tuna and also boated a couple of large Swordfish.   People always ask if we fish at night on the 2-day trips, so for 2012, we included a trip with Night Tuna Fishing.   Make sure you read the trip description as this trip will be a "Captain's Choice" and not a strict Tilefish trip.

Below you will find trip descriptions for each type of trip.   Please read them carefully as some things may have changed since last year.   You will also see a section on our new booking and payment policy.    As you can imagine this is also VERY important to read.

TILEFISH TRIP DESCRIPTIONS:

"MANUAL REELS ONLY" – On these trips electric reels will NOT be permitted.

"LIMITED LOAD" – These 2-day Tilefish trips will only take a maximum of 17 anglers and they offer the most elbow room of any of our trips.   The fare is $550 per person.

1-DAY TILEFISH – These trips leave at 10:00 PM and arrive at the fishing grounds around 6:00 AM.   We usually fish until about 3:00 PM and return to the dock between 8:00-9:00 PM.   We fish depths ranging from 400-800 feet and the catch is predominantly Golden Tilefish.   The fare is $300 per person.

2-DAY TILEFISH – These trips leave at 10:00 PM and arrive at the fishing grounds around 6:00 AM.   We fish until sunset the first day and from sunrise the second day until about 1:00-2:00 PM.  We return between 7:00-8:00 PM on the second day.   We fish depths ranging from 400-1000 feet with the catch frequently being a mix of Golden Tilefish, Gray Tilefish, Hake, Rosefish, Wreckfish and Barrelfish.  Last season, these were almost exclusively "southern" trips, but this year we may fish anywhere from the Hudson Canyon to the "southern canyons".   It is our intention to fish the areas we think should be most productive at any given time and not a specific area based on trip description written months earlier.   The fare is $450 per person.

2½-DAY TILEFISH – These will be the longest trips we make.  There will be two different types of trips as noted below, but the times will be the same on both trips.  These trips leave at 8:00 PM and arrive at the fishing grounds around 6:00 AM.  We fish until sunset on both the first and second day.   We leave for home at sunset on the second day and return at approximately 6:00 AM the following morning.   The fare is $525 per person.

•  2½-DAY SOUTHER EXPLORATORY TRIP (Sunday, June 24)
On this trip we will try areas that we have never fished before seeking out deepwater wrecks, rockpiles, sea mounts and steep ledges.  We will try for large Tilefish, Grouper, Wreckfish, Barrelfish, Rosefish and whatever else lives in the deep deep!  Fishing depths may range from 400-1200 feet.

•  2½-DAY WORLD RECORD TILEFISH HUNT (Sunday July 29 & Sunday August 26)
As many of you have already heard a TILEFISH weighing around 69 pounds was caught out of Virginia.   The fish would have been an easy world record had it not been caught on an electric reel.  On this trip we will fish way to the south looking for the next world record fish.  We will only fish with manual reels - no electrics since we don't want to jeopardize a potential world record.  At this moment even I don't know how far we may go on these trips!

24-HOUR ROSEFISH (Friday May 18 & Sunday July 22) – This year we will try a couple trips for those folks that want to fill their freezer with these delicious deepwater fish.   The boat will depart at 10:00 PM.   We will start fishing around 6:00 AM and fish until about 3:00 PM and return at 10:00 PM.   We will fish depths ranging from 500-1200 feet and should also see some Hake, Tilefish and Wreckfish mixed in.  The fare is $300 per person.

2-DAY CAPTAIN'S CHOICE (Sunday September 9 to Tuesday September 11) – This trip will depart and return at the same time as the regular 2-day Tilefish Trips.  We will fish for whatever we think we can catch the most of whether Tilefish, Rosefish, Tuna, Mahi or whatever.  On this trip we also intend to include a NIGHT OF TUNA CHUNKING in addition to the day fishing.   The fishing location will vary depending on the tuna bite at that time.   Please note that this trip has a mandatory weather date or "rain date" (Monday September 10 to Wednesday September 12) that pushes the trip one day later.  DO NOT book this trip if you can't make the alternate date.   This is our only 2-day trip with this policy.   The fare is $500 per person.

Please make sure that you book the trip you want.  Some trips are limited man trips, some are manual reel only trips, and some are both limited and manual reels only, so please read the trip description carefully before booking.

TILEFISH TRIP BOOKING AND PAYMENT:

We realize that many of you that do these trips make more than one trip each year.   Some of you do nearly all of the trips.   We also realize that doing multiple trips adds up to a lot of money.  To make things easier for those booking early, we have made the following changes to our normal "pay in full" requirement.  Below is the timetable we have set out for payment on 2012 TILEFISH TRIPS.

•  You may book any trip(s) you like by calling in or send us an email (email is best) with no money down.   We will put people's names on the boarding list in order that they contact us.   Please contact us even if you had previously mentioned that you wanted to be on a certain trip or trips.  It was quite a while ago and we don't want to forget anyone.

•  A $300 per trip deposit (full payment for 1-day trips) must be received by February 1, 2012 in order to guarantee your spot(s).   If we don't receive your deposit, we will slide you down the boarding list until we need your spot(s) and then we will delete you from the trip.   In other words, please be aware that late deposits may result in a lower boarding number or removal from the boarding list completely.   All deposits are non-refundable unless we cancel the trip.  Due to our strict capacity limit and high fuel costs, we cannot give refunds due to changes in YOUR plans.  However, we always keep a waiting list and if possible, we will try to get you "off" of a trip.  Let us know as early as possible if such a situation arises.

•  The balance for all trips is due by May 1, 2012.   If we don't receive your balance in time, we will slide you down the boarding list until we need your spot(s) and then we will delete you from the trip and your deposit will be forfeited.

•  Anyone booking after May 1 will have to pay in full at the time of booking.

While we always reserve the right to overbook each trip by one person, we try not to do it on Tilefish Trips as space is always at a premium.   Following the payment schedule above will allow us to stick to our passenger limits.

Another change on the 2-day trips is that if the weather is too poor to sail for the two days but nice enough to sail for one day on the second day, we will NOT be making the trip a mandatory 1-day trip.  If we do decide to make the trip a 1-day trip, anglers can opt out of the trip if they so choose.

•  Lastly, if any 2 or 2½-day trip is significantly shortened due to adverse weather conditions, anglers will receive a credit ticket for a future trip for an amount to be determined by the captain.  There will be NO CASH REFUNDS.

TUNA TRIPS:

Our 2012 Tuna fishing schedule will be pretty much the same as last year.  We will be sailing on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7:00 AM on our 30-hour Tuna/Mahi Trips and then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights on our 22-hour Tuna trips. Only one of the Thursday trips (September 27) will be a Tuna/Tile combination.   All other 30-hour trips will be Tuna/Mahi combination trips.   Please be aware that we cannot always fish for Mahi due to wind conditions and/or cool water temperatures.  If that happens, we will put the entire trip time in for Tuna.

If any Tuna trip is significantly shortened due to adverse weather conditions, anglers will receive a credit ticket for a future trip for an amount to be determined by the captain.  There will be NO CASH REFUNDS.


November 7, 2011

We were out on the Tuna grounds this past weekend after a long stretch of really bad weather.    Tuna fishing was decent with a catch made up mostly of Longfin with some Yellowfin mixed in.   We read lots of tuna under the boat for many hours, but just picked a couple here and there between 5:30 AM thru noon.   Had we caught what we read, we should have had 100 fish.   Jigging out-produced baitfishing on this trip.   Most guys that jigged the whole trip hooked or landed three or four Tuna each.

There is still good water in the Hudson Canyon and there are obviously fish in it.

This weekend we will be sailing Friday and Saturday night (November 11 and 12) at 6:00 PM on our FINAL TUNA TRIPS OF THE YEAR.

We still have spots available for both trips.  You can view our entire schedule on our Trip Calendar page.    If you are interested in any upcoming trips please send us an email message.     


WE START OFFSHORE SEA BASS FISHING ON NOVEMBER 17 and will continue until the end of the calendar year when the season closes.   Trips are booking up fast because of the short season, so if you are interested in joining us we suggest looking at our Trip Calendar page and picking a date soon.


October 27, 2011

Our last four Tuna trips ranged from poor to excellent.   On Friday night, we fished an area that had been very productive Tuesday and Wednesday.   Unfortunately, the Tuna did not feed the night we were there and the weather made the fishing conditions tough.  We ended up with few Tuna, landed some throwback Swordfish and lost some bigger ones.

We tried a different area on Saturday night and the fishing started out pretty slow.   We landed a keeper and a throwback Swordfish.   At about 4 AM, Tuna started to school under the boat and the bite started.  At first, we caught Tuna for about 20 minutes and landed about 15.  After that, there was a short lull in the action and then they really started to chew!   For the next 2 1/2 hours, we caught Tuna on both bait and jigs.  By daylight, the entire boat was limited out with Yellowfin and we headed home.

With high hopes, we fished the exact same spot Sunday night.   The fishing was however, quite different.   We waited for the fish to show up around 4 AM like the night before, but there were no signs under the boat.   It was the same at 4:30, 5:00 and 5:30 AM.  Finally at 6 AM, they started to show.   We caught a handful of Tuna and lost some others, but they just wouldn't bite for us.  We read Tuna under the boat right up until we headed in at 9:15 AM, but they seemed to have lockjaw.   This was same condition many other boats in the fleet experienced that night.

On our Tuesday 30-hour trip, we headed back to the same area again only to find that the water had cooled down quite a bit.   Due to the stiff winds and choppy conditions we anchored up early in the afternoon.   We lost a Wahoo soon after anchoring and caught a Mahi about an hour later.   Not much happened through the afternoon.  As the sun started to set, baitfish showed under the boat and we read a few Tuna.   We picked an odd Tuna until about 8 PM and then the bites picked up pace a bit.  By about 2 AM, the Tuna were biting bait and jigs pretty well.   We continued to catch Tuna until sunrise when we limited out on Yellowfin and headed home.  Thankfully, the cooler water temperature didn't matter.

















There is still good water within at the southern canyons and a new body of water has arrived at the Hudson canyon.   The Tuna fishing is the best we have seen in the last five years and should remain good well into November.

We still have spots available for the trips on Sunday October 30 and for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights November 3, 4, and 5.   You can view our entire schedule on our Trip Calendar page.   If you are interested in any upcoming trips, please send us an email message.


October 20, 2011

CHARTER BOAT SHEARWATER - As the crisp days of fall approach and the water temperatures drop, STRIPED BASS and large BLUEFISH invade our local waters.  Last fall, we had great action jigging Stripers and Blues from mid-November through mid-December.  Most of the time, the action was within a half hour from our inlet. This fall, Captain John Schaible will be running the SHEARWATER for this great late season fishing.   If it's anything like the spring, we're all in for a treat! 

WE ARE NOW BOOKING TRIPS ON THE SHEARWATER FROM NOVEMBER 11 THROUGH MID-DECEMBER.


We currently have availability for weekends and weekdays, so check with your friends and a pick a date.   For charter prices and booking information please check our Shearwater page.  To book a charter or if you have any have any further questions please contact Captain John directly at 732-773-9477 or by e-mail at ShearwaterCaptainJohn@gmail.com.


October 13, 2011

It looks like Mother Nature finally caught up with us, and we are sidelined with poor weather conditions for the next few trips.   Over the past week and a half, we have had good fishing (except for one real clunker) in both the northern and southern canyons.  Depending on the area, we have been catching Tuna in the 25-30 pound range or in the 50-75 pound range.   We have also had some Swordfish mixed in. On our last trip, we had bigger Yellowfin, mostly in the 60-75 pound range.

















There is good water in the southern canyons and a new body of water moving into the Hudson canyon.   According to the longliners, this new body of warm water has very good numbers of Yellowfin and Longfin tuna in it.   We anticipate the water to hit the Hudson late this week or early next week.   This should extend the good tuna fishing well into November.

Tuna fishing has been the best we have seen in the last five years.  We still have spots available for the last two weeks in October and for November.  You can view our schedule on our Trip Calendar page.   If you are interested in going on any of our upcoming trips, please send us an email message.


October 5, 2011

Sorry for the long delay between reports, but we have been offshore everyday for the past two weeks.   Overall, tuna fishing has been good to excellent on most trips with quite a number of limits being caught.   We did have a couple of slower trips mixed in, but then we changed areas and found good fishing again.   We have been catching large Yellowfin to 80 pounds, Albacore to 65 pounds and Swordfish to 200 pounds.  Both bait and jigs are producing, but which one works better has been a day to day thing.  We have also been doing well on our 30-hour Tuna/Mahi combination trips with plenty of Mahi coming over the rails.  Most of the Mahi have ranged from 5-10 pounds with a few bigger ones mixed in.

We have also been catching some "exotics" on the trips.  Some notable catches were Bob Goliash of North Hampton, PA with a 285 pound Bigeye tuna,  Fred Cosentino of Staten Island, NY with a 125 pound Swordfish, Barry Kaplan of Brooklyn, NY with a 70 pound White Marlin and Ed Palmer with a 50 pound Wahoo.

Canyon fishing has been the best we have seen in the last five years. We still have spots available for the last two weeks in October.  You can view our schedule on our Trip Calendar page.   If you are interested in going on any of our upcoming trips, please send us an email message.


September 15, 2011

Our final 2-DAY TILEFISH trip was one of the best of the year.   We had a great bunch of guys on the trip which always makes things fun and we were treated to the best back-to-back weather days we've had all season.   We also had more great food brought aboard than any trip we've ever been on, something that is always very much appreciated by the crew.  Thanks guys!

This trip was really highlighted by variety as much as anything else.  We caught 10 different species of fish on the trip!  We had Tilefish, Wreckfish, Rosefish, White Hake, Streamer Bass, Silver Eel, Bar Jacks, Mahi-Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna and Swordfish.

It was the first Tilefish trip for Henry Buddle of Lindenwold, NJ and it was extraordinary.   Henry caught Tilefish, Wreckfish, Rosefish, Mahi-Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna and a Swordfish.   He even hooked and fought a very acrobatic White Marlin, but it broke off after about 10 minutes.    The largest Tilefish of the trip was caught by Mike Schmidt of Brooklyn, NY and it weighed in at 37 pounds.   Not to be outdone by his father, Alex Schmidt caught a 150 pound Swordfish later in the trip.  Unfortunately, Mike was not in the pool with his big Tilefish.  The pool winning Tilefish was caught by Lou Dello of Asbury Park, NJ and it weighed 31 pounds.   Lou also won the pool for largest 'other' edible bottom fish with a 28 pound Wreckfish.   Barry Young of Wall, NJ had a limit catch of Yellowfin tuna as well as a bunch of large Mahi, Rosefish and some Tilefish up to 20 pounds.

















Once again, we would really like to thank all of the guys that have sailed with us on the 2-day trips this year.   You guys made these trips some of the best we've ever had.   We're already working on next year's Tilefish schedule and are planning some trips with a few different twists.   Keep an eye out... we will likely be posting the 2012 Tilefish Trip schedule within a month.

As you can tell by the report above, we did some tuna chunking during the Tilefish trip.   We read tuna well at times and had a few shots at them during the night.  We probably would have caught more of them, but fighting the two large Swordfish took up a lot of prime fishing time.   It is pretty common that you don't get tuna bites when fighting Swordfish or even when fighting large tuna such as Bigeyes or Allisons.   It was also good to see tuna biting on the full moon which sometimes slows down the bite.

Good tuna catches were made in almost all of the canyons that same night and we expect tuna fishing to remain good.  There is beautiful water in our canyons and this is the best start we have had in quite a few years.   If you are looking to cash in on some tuna action, now is the time.  We still have plenty of availability on trips in September and October.  You can view our trip dates on our Trip Calendar page.   If you are interested in any upcoming trips, send us an email message.


September 11, 2011

We just returned from our first Tuna Trip of the season and fishing was excellent!   We started catching Tuna soon after anchoring and picked steadily for the next several hours.  The fish were all Yellowfins from 20-35 pounds.  They were caught on jigs and bait with each method being better at certain times.  After a two hour lull, we started to catch some beautiful 50-60 pound Longfin Albacore as well 50 pound Yellowfin.   Many people had limits+ and high hook was Robert Finkle of Sparta, NJ with 9 Yellowfin and Longfin.































There is beautiful water in our canyons and this is the best start we have had in quite a few years.

If you are looking to cash in on some tuna action, we still have plenty of availability for the upcoming weekend trips on Friday September 16 and Saturday September 17 both leaving at 4:00 PM.

Send us an email message if you are interested in going on these trips.


September 9, 2011

We have moved our 2-day Tilefish Trip from a Monday night departure to a Sunday night September 11, 10:00 PM departure to take advantage of the beautiful weather forecast.

Fishing has been good and we still have spots available.   The fare for the trip is $450 and spots can be held by sending us an email.  This will be the LAST 2-day Tilefish Trip of the 2011 season.


September 4, 2011

Between moving the boats around for the hurricane and running Tilefish trips, it's been hard to put a fishing report together. We have made two 2-day Tilefish trips since our last report. 

On the first Tilefish trip, we had poor drifting conditions to start with lots of current.   We managed to catch some Blueline Tilefish and some small Golden Tilefish.   We had good action with the very tasty Rosefish and we caught the largest Golden Tilefish (42 1/2 pounds) on a Rosefish spot.   During the afternoon on the first day, we saw a slow pick of fish with some of them around 30 pounds.

On the second day, things started out very slowly.   We tried three different canyons with no luck at all.   Zero!   We then went to a spot where we were sure there were Tilefish and made a drift.  We drifted and drifted and drifted without a bite.   Just when we started to explain over the loudspeaker how sure we were that there were fish in the area and that it was just a matter of time until they bit, we got our first Tilefish on.    We started to pick at nice sized fish over the next few drifts. We kept pounding the area and the drifts got better and better.   We started seeing more and more fish with some up to 33 pounds.   We even made an extra drift and caught another dozen Tilefish before heading home.  All in all, the trip ended up a good one.   The 33 pound pool winning Tilefish was caught by Jim Rice (Captain Barry Goldman had the 42 1/2 pounder) and the 'other edible bottom fish' pool was won with a 17 pound White Hake caught by Rick Petschaeur from Spring Lake, NJ.

















The trip that we just returned from was a bit different. We started in some proven Tilefish areas with little success.  We then moved to a Rosefish spot and picked away at them.   While fishing for the Rosies we caught some White Hake up to 10 pounds, Wreckfish up to 25 pounds, Barrelfish to 7 pounds, and some small Tilefish.  A Wreckfish won the 'other edible bottom fish' pool and was caught by John Szymanski from Philadelphia, PA.  We then targeted Tilefish again, but fishing was just a slow pick.  Fred Pohlig from Bellmawr, NJ caught the pool winning 35 pound Tilefish during this time.

On day two, we steamed to the most productive area from the previous trip.   With a very slow 'wind against tide' drift we only picked a few.   During the day the breeze would pick up and the boat would drift and we would catch a few, but then the drift would slow down and so would the fishing.  We did manage one pretty good drift late in the trip that really helped out.   The strange thing about the day was that most of the Tilefish were small.   There were a few in the 10-20 pound range and a couple in the mid to upper twenties, but most were 5-10 pounds.  After seeing the nice quality in the area the week before, we were surprised.  The big ones either moved or just didn't want to bite that day.

If you would like to enjoy some of this fishing, we have added one final 2-day Tilefish trip to this season's schedule.  It leaves 10:00 PM MONDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 12 and returns Wednesday evening between 7-8 PM.   Before you book, please note that if the weather forecast is poor for this trip, we reserve the right to change this into a 1-day trip and refund the difference (this means we can shorten the trip on either end). If you have any problem with this policy, please do not book this trip.  The fare for the trip is $450 and spots can be held by sending us a email message.  We will hold spots for 5 days while you send in your payment.  There are still spots available.

We also have a few spots left on our final 1-day trip leaving at 10:00 PM SUNDAY NIGHT SEPTEMBER 18.   The fare for this trip is $300.


September 1, 2011

Due to popular demand, we have added one more 2-DAY TILEFISH TRIP to the schedule for

10:00 PM MONDAY NIGHT SEPTEMBER 12

The boat will return Wednesday evening between 7-8 PM.

Before you book, please note that if the weather forecast is poor for this trip, we reserve the right to change this into a 1-day trip and refund the difference.   (This means we can shorten the trip on either end.)   If you have any problem with this policy, please do not book this trip.

The fare for the 2-day Tilefish Trip is $450 and you can hold spots by sending us an e-mail.  We will hold the spots for 5 days while you send in your payment.

If you are already booked on a 1-day Tilefish Trip in September and want to change to the 2-day trip, we can switch you over and apply your fare to the 2-day trip.

Photos from our latest Tilefish Trips are posted on our Photo Gallery pages.


































August 14, 2011

Due to poor weather, we were forced to cancel our 2-day TILEFISH TRIP tonight.   We've rescheduled the trip and are leaving Tuesday night August 16 at 10:00 PM, and fishing Wednesday and Thursday.

Because of this change, we have had a few spots open up.   If you missed out on these trips earlier in the year and want to go, please send us an email message.  The fare for the 2-day trip is $450.


August 5, 2011

TILEFISH REPORT

We've made a few TILEFISH trips since our last report.   Fishing has been good on both the one-day and two-day trips. 

On our last two-day trip, we caught a variety of species including Rosefish, Streamer Bass, White Hake, Silver Hake, an unknown Shark, an unknown pinkish Hake, and of course, TILEFISH.  

We targeted Rosefish at the beginning of the trip with some anglers catching 30, 40, and even 50 of these tasty critters.  We had good fishing on Tilefish in the 10-25 pound range with a few bigger ones mixed in.

Emil Jaskot of Elmwood Park, NJ had the pool winning 44 pound Tilefish just edging out Lou Petosa of Plainville, CT.



Our last one day Tilefish trip was good with smaller fish being the most plentiful.   We still had a number of 8-15 pound Tilefish in the mix which kept things interesting.

Jim Matunas of Florham Park, NJ won the pool with a 25 pound Tilefish.

Keep an eye on our Trip Calendar since we may be adding one more two-day Tilefish Trip to the August schedule!




LING REPORT

Ling fishing remains good with a few Cod mixed in.   We have been fishing depths ranging from 120 to 200 feet.   Last weekend's high hook was Drew Bell of Camden, NJ with 30 Ling.   We are sailing open boat for Ling Wednesday through Sunday at 7:30 AM and Saturday night from 6:30 PM to 12:30 AM.


July 31, 2011

BLUEFIN TUNA REPORT (From our 6-Pack Charter Boat, the SHEARWATER)

Captain John Schaible reports that two out of the last three BLUEFIN TUNA trips aboard the SHEARWATER have been very good.  Each trip caught 10 or more Bluefin averaging 40 to 60 pounds.   One trip was very slow with one large 75 to 100 pound fish being lost at the boat.   Most Bluefin have been caught on jigs with only a few caught on bait.

We have some availability on this week's Thursday and Saturday (August 4 and 6) Open Boat Trips. These trips are limited to 5 anglers and the cost is $300 per person (not including tip.)  All fish are split equally among the anglers.

The SHEARWATER leaves at 2:30 AM and returns by about 5:00 PM.   RESERVATIONS AND A $100 DEPOSIT ARE REQUIRED.   If you would like to book a spot or have any further questions, contact Captain John directly at 732-773-9477 or by e-mail at  ShearwaterCaptainJohn@gmail.com.


July 17, 2011

LING & SEA BASS REPORT

LING fishing was pretty good over the past few days and on Saturday night.   A good number of the fish have been large to extra large with pool winners up to 5 pounds.  We have also been seeing a few Sea Bass and some Cod on the day trips.   Over the weekend high hooks were between 15 and 20 fish per trip. 

This week, we will be fishing for Sea Bass, Ling, & Cod on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday morning at 7:30 AM.  We will NOT fish Friday morning July 22 since we have a private charter.   We will also be sailing for Ling on Saturday night at 6:30 PM.

TILEFISH REPORT

Our last 2-day Tilefish trip was good while the weather held.  We started fishing in calm winds and seas slugging away at quality fish in the 10-35 pound range.   As the day went on, the winds increased and fishing slowed to a pick.   The fish were still quality, but there were not as many of them.  We also picked at some Rosefish and a couple of White Hake.

















The pool went to Mike Desimone of Long Branch, NJ.   Mike caught a triple header Tilefish including the 35+ pound pool winner.  The weather turned much worse by the morning of the second day and we called it quits early as conditions became unfishable.

BLUEFIN TUNA REPORT (From our 6-Pack Charter Boat, the SHEARWATER)

Captain John from the SHEARWATER reports that after a slow day on Friday with only some large Mahi to show for their efforts, the Bluefin Tuna fishing bounced back on Saturday.  The tuna schooled up on Saturday and responded well to both bait and jigs.   The fish ranged in size from 40-65 pounds allowing both an "under" and an "over" fish to be kept.   There were also reports of some 100-150 pound tuna caught in the area.   Captain John thinks that things are shaping up for some really good fishing in the weeks ahead.

The SHEARWATER will be sailing every Thursday and Saturday in July and August when not chartered and we still have a couple of spots available this Thursday and Saturday, July 21 and July 23. If you would like to book a single spot or group charter or have any further questions, please contact Captain John directly at 732-773-9477 or by e-mail at  ShearwaterCaptainJohn@gmail.com.


July 6, 2011

Last week I had the privilege of taking a Tilefish trip aboard the VIKING STARSHIP with Captain Steve Forsberg and crew.   The trip was designed to scout out new grounds for both of us.   For a report (and photos) on what we found, visit the Viking Fleet Report at http://www.vikingfleet.com/fishingreports/montauk/default.asp?LOC=NY
and scroll down to Friday July 1.

In an effort to continue this exploration, we added two more 2-Day TILEFISH TRIPS to the VOYAGER's schedule.

The first 2-Day trip is a 17-passenger limited load trip leaving 10:00 PM Sunday, August 7 and returning between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM on Tuesday.  The fare for this trip is $550.

The second trip 2-Day trip is on Labor Day weekend leaving at 10:00 PM Friday, September 2 and returning between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM on Sunday.  This trip is limited to our normal load of 21 passengers and the fare is $450.

If you are interested in going on these new trips, please send us an email message soon since spots will surely go quickly.  We will hold your spot for one week from the date of your e-mail while you send in your payment.


July 3,  2011

Captain John Schaible reports BLUEFIN TUNA fishing aboard our charter boat, the SHEARWATER, has been RED HOT!
Last week, Dale Woika landed 10 Bluefin himself.  On our July 2 open boat trip, the group of five anglers landed 25 Bluefin.   The fish were caught trolling, on bait, and on jigs with bait fishing being the best.  They ranged from 20 to 60 pounds and a few larger ones were lost.

















We have expanded our open boat Bluefin Tuna schedule for those that can't get enough people together for a private charter.

The SHEARWATER will be sailing OPEN BOAT EVERY THURSDAY & SATURDAY in July and August when not chartered.

Our next trip will be this Thursday July 7.  The boat will be leaving at 2:30 AM and returning by 5:00 PM.  The trips are limited to 5 anglers and the cost is $300 per person not including tip.  All fish are split equally among the anglers.

RESERVATIONS and a $100 DEPOSIT ARE REQUIRED.  If you would like to book a spot or have any further questions, please contact Captain John directly at 732-773-9477 or by email at ShearwaterCaptainJohn@gmail.com.


July 2, 2011

COD REPORT

Last week's Cod trip was slow with some keepers coming in and a bunch of shorts.   It may have just been that the fish were not biting that day or maybe that they have moved elsewhere with the influx of warmer water.  We will probably try a different area this week.

We will be sailing for COD on TUESDAY, JULY 5 at 5:00 AM.   If fishing is good, we will continue with our weekly Cod trips, if not, this will probably be the last trip until fall.

LING & SEA BASS REPORT

Ling fishing was good over the past few days, and we also saw some Sea Bass and Cod on the day trips.  High hooks were between 15 and 20 fish per trip.   On Saturday, Andre and David Huwyler combined for 31 Ling and 6 Sea Bass.

This week, we will be fishing for Sea Bass, Ling, & Cod on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning at 7:30 AM.   We have a private charter Sunday and our open boat Sea Bass, Ling & Cod trip is canceled.

It seems that folks have been having trouble battling the shore traffic to make it down to the dock for the Friday night Ling trip.  With this in mind, we have discontinued the Friday night trips and will only be sailing for Ling on Saturday nights.


June 26, 2011

The BLUEFIN TUNA bite has just gotten into full swing with fish being baited, jigged, and trolled.   The fish have ranged in size from 30 to 150+ pounds.

For those that can't get enough people together for a private charter, the SHEARWATER, will be running open boat BLUEFIN trips.   The first trip is scheduled for Saturday July 2.   The SHEARWATER will be leaving at 2:30 AM and returning by 5:00 PM.  Trips will be limited to 5 anglers and the cost is $300 per person not including tip.  All fish will be split equally among the anglers.

If you would like to book a spot or have any further questions, please contact Captain John directly at 732-773-9477 or by email at ShearwaterCaptainJohn@gmail.com.  Click here to learn more about our charter boat SHEARWATER.


June 22, 2011

COD REPORT

We had a better crowd on this week's Cod Trip and fishing was good with most anglers catching 2-6 keepers plus shorts.   We didn't have any big fish this week, but we had more keepers than last week.   We had a tie for high hook honors with both Gene from Belmar, NJ and Steve Singler from Philadelphia, PA boating 10 keepers.   Steve also took the pool with a 16 pound Cod.


















Due to a scheduling conflict, next week's COD Trip will sail WEDNESDAY MORNING JUNE 29 at 5:00 AM.

LING & SEA BASS REPORT    

Ling fishing was very good this past weekend on both the day and night trips.  High hooks were between 20 and 30 fish per trip.   We also saw a smattering of Sea Bass on the day trips. 

This weekend, we will be fishing for Sea Bass, Ling, & Cod on Saturday and Sunday morning at 7:30 AM.  We will be Night Ling fishing Friday and Saturday night at 6:30 PM.   There is NO Friday morning trip this week (6/24) because we have a private charter.

TILEFISH REPORT

We did not have any Tilefish Trips scheduled this week.  Our next Tilefish trip leaves Sunday night July 3 at 10:00 PM and we still have space available.   If you are interested please send us an e-mail.


June 17, 2011

TILEFISH REPORT

We made our first two-day Tilefish Trip of season and it was a good one!  We had to alter some of our fishing plans due to both predicted and unpredicted winds.   Shortly after arriving at the canyon, the light winds quickly picked up to 20-25 knots from the northeast.  Needless to say, this made fishing difficult.  Most people used 3-4 pounds of lead and still had to have lots of line out.   Undaunted by the tough conditions, we picked throughout the day with fishing improving as the winds eased off in the afternoon.  On some drifts, we would catch 5-10 Tilefish and on others, close to twenty.   The Tilefish ranged in size from 5-30 pounds.

















We steamed for a number of hours overnight to try a different area at first light.   Once again, the morning sun brought more breezes which were coupled with a strong current that made it difficult to hold bottom.   We picked a few fish and were then forced to move shallower because of the fast drift.  In the shallows, we caught some Blueline Tilefish as well as some Golden Tilefish.  The winds then diminished and we tried the deep again.   With the now better conditions, we started to pick at nicer fish with many in the teens and low 20's.   A good number of 25-30 pound class Tilefish came over the rails as well.   Dennis Muhlenforth of Hockessin, DE edged out Dave Arbeitman for the pool with a 36 pound Golden Tilefish.  

We still have a number of openings on our one-day Tilefish Trips. If you are interested, please send us an e-mail.

COD REPORT

We had a light crowd on Wednesday's Cod Trip and fishing was good with a high hook of 10 keepers.  One spot we fished was holding short and just keeper sized Cod if you were bait fishing, but larger fish if you were jigging.   We think the larger fish were moving on and off of the wreck chasing sand eels.  We picked at Cod and Pollock with some real beauties coming over the rails.

















The largest Cod of the day, and of the season, was caught by Kevin Kovach of Lanoka Harbor, NJ and weighed 44 pounds on the certified scale at the dock.  Eddie Aspril had the second largest fish on the boat with a 34 pound Pollock.  On another spot, we had good action on shorts with a decent amount of keepers mixed in.   All of those fish were caught on bait.  Most people ended up with 2-6 keepers and some had a couple more.

We will be sailing open boat for COD on TUESDAY morning JUNE 21 at 5:00 AM.

LING & SEA BASS REPORT

Due to our offshore fishing schedule, we were not out much this week.  This weekend, we will be fishing for Sea Bass, Ling, & Cod on SATURDAY and SUNDAY morning at 7:30 AM.  We will be NIGHT LING fishing FRIDAY and SATURDAY night at 6:30 PM.


June 12, 2011

COD REPORT

Friday's COD Trip was good with a high hook of 14 keepers.  Some people had 7 to 10 Cod, and most people had between 2 and 6 keepers.   Overall, the Cod were a bit larger on this trip with a number of fish in the 8 to 12 pound class.

















Unlike Tuesday's trip, we caught fish on both sides of the boat at different points throughout the trip.   The pool fish was a 20+ pound Pollock and the largest Cod was in the mid to upper teens.

We will be SAILING OPEN BOAT for COD on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 at 5:00 AM.
Unfortunately, our galley will NOT be open on the COD trip.

We are chartered Thursday, June 16,  so there will be no LING trips until Friday morning.


June 8, 2011

LING & SEA BASS REPORT

After a few days of northwest winds the bottom fishing bounced back and we had good fishing on both the day and night trips.   On Saturday, we started out on some Sea Bass spots and picked some nice ones but no great numbers.  Some people had 5 or 6 keepers as well as some shorts.  We then moved to the Ling grounds and picked away for the remainder of the trip with some people catching 12-15 Ling.  There were also a few Cod mixed in.  On both Friday and Saturday night, we had decent Ling fishing with some anglers catching close to 20 Ling.  Surprisingly, we had very good shots of Cod at night with Friday night being better than Saturday night.  On Friday night, we caught about 60 Cod and 1/3 of them were keepers.   On Saturday night, we had 20-25 Cod and kept about 1/3 of them.   We expect the night and day fishing to get better as the season progresses.

We will be sailing for LING and SEA BASS Wednesday through Sunday from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Our NIGHT LING trips sail every Friday and Saturday evening from 6:30 PM to 12:30 AM.

TILEFISH REPORT

We finally got in the first one-day Tilefish Trip of season and it was a good one!   We started out searching for Wreckfish and wound up catching some nice Pollock on a deep water wreck.   The Pollock ranged in size from 10-20 pounds.   We then moved to a Tilefish area where we usually catch some big ones.   We picked 3 or 4 per drift with some very nice fish coming in, including the 35 pound pool winner caught by Andy Vasquez of Cherry Hill, NJ.   We then moved on in search of better numbers.   After a short steam, we slowed down and made a drift on some time-tested Tilefish grounds.  The first Tilefish was hooked within 5 or 10 minutes and it was 'game on' from there.   For the next 4 hours, we made a number of drifts catching up to 20 fish per drift including a number of double headers.

















Mel Deak of Perth Amboy, NJ had a 32 and 10 pound double, Dennis Muhlenforth of Hockessin, DE had a pair of 25s, and Bill Bushnell of North Haledon, NJ had two double headers.   Overall, fishing was very good with both quality and quantity.  We still have a number of openings on our one-day trips, if you are interested please send us an email.

COD REPORT

This week's Cod trip was like a tale of two boats.   If you were on one side, the fishing was very good, if you were on the other side, it was a tough day.  We had a pretty strong current running under the boat and if you were on the side with the lines going under, it was hard to get a bite.  No matter how we positioned the boat in relation to the wreck, we could only get one side in on the action.   This is not unusual with Cod as they will frequently feed "up" the current line.  The thing that is unusual is that this condition usually changes at some point during the day allowing everyone a chance to catch some fish.  Unfortunately, this time it stayed the same way all day.

















  That being said, we still had very good Cod fishing with lots of action with both keepers and shorts.  High hooks were in the 10-12 range with a number of folks having 4-8.   We also saw some nicer fish this trip with a number of chunky 8-15 pound Cod and a 30 pound pool winner caught by Mike McCrobie of Colonia, NJ.

WE WILL BE SAILING OPEN BOAT FOR COD ON FRIDAY MORNING JUNE 10 AT 5:00 AM.


June 3, 2011

With COD fishing being as good as it is, we are adding ANOTHER TRIP to next week's schedule.

OPEN BOAT COD TRIP - TUESDAY JUNE 7 at 5:00 AM

OPEN BOAT COD TRIP - FRIDAY JUNE 10 at 5:00 AM   NEW!

Just a reminder, we still have one spot available on this Sunday night's TILEFISH trip.


June 2, 2011

COD REPORT

















COD FISHING remains very good with lots of action on both keepers and shorts.  We had a good spread of fish around the boat for a nice size crowd.  Most people had 3-6 keepers and a few, including Tom Dudek Sr. and Jr., Freddy and Cliff Calkins had 10 or more.  Bait was the ticket this week and only a couple of fish were caught on jigs.   Last year, Cod fishing was good well into June.   WE WILL BE SAILING OPEN BOAT FOR COD ON TUESDAY JUNE 7 AT 5:00 AM.

LING & SEA BASS REPORT

SEA BASS season opened last weekend but nobody told the Sea Bass.  Southerly winds kept the bottom fishing slow with some Sea Bass and some Ling being caught.  Most of the Sea Bass were medium to large, but the main body of fish is still in route.  Fishing should improve as more Sea Bass move inshore and we have a few days without the southerly wind.  For the next few days and for the weekend, they are calling for northwest winds and we expect better fishing.  Last year, Sea Bass fishing got good around the first and second weeks of June.


May 26, 2011

Excellent COD FISHING again yesterday.   Tom Dudek Sr. and Jr. combined for 50 keeper Cod.   Mike DeSimone and Dave Baldwin each had keepers in the high teens.   Many others had 6 to 12 keepers.

We will be sailing for COD again on TUESDAY, MAY 31 at 5:00 AM.

















SEA BASS season opens this Saturday, May 28.   From the 28th on, we will be targeting both Sea Bass and Ling on our daily trips, starting the day looking for Sea Bass then moving to areas where we catch both Ling and Sea Bass together.  This year's Sea Bass possession limit is the same as last year's at 25 fish with a minimum length of 12½ inches.


May 23, 2011

Well everyone, it looks like Mother Nature has thrown us another curve ball with a poor forecast for early this week.  As much as we hate to keep changing the schedule, we are going to switch things around a bit.   This will be the last week that we switch things since we are going to start SEA BASS fishing on Saturday morning and we don't want to confuse anyone as we get into our 'summer' schedule. 

Here is the schedule for the next couple of days...  Our OPEN BOAT COD TRIP will be sailing on Wednesday morning at 5:00 AM.   This will give the ocean time to settle down after the strong southerly wind.

We are trying to put a TILEFISH TRIP together for Wednesday night into Thursday, if we can get enough interest, since that day offers the best weather window.   If you are interested in the Tilefish Trip, please send us an e-mail.

Because of these changes, there will be NO full day LING FISHING until FRIDAY MORNING.


May 22, 2011

COD REPORT - Despite a large southeast groundswell and poor anchoring conditions on Friday's COD TRIP, we managed a very good catch of keeper Cod with about 20 Pollock mixed in.  The fish were biting on both bait and jigs throughout the day.   The Cod ranged in size from shorts up to 22 pounds and the Pollock went up to 30 pounds.

















Kevin Feaster of Downingtown, PA had a super trip with close to 20 keepers including seven Pollock (and the pool winning 30 pounder.)   Some other great catches were made by Barry Goldman of Tinton Falls, NJ with 14 keepers, Mike DeSimone and Greg McCloud of Long Branch, NJ combining for 28 keepers, and the Wayne and Jim Campbell group of PA with 29 keepers.

Last year, Cod fishing was good well into June.  WE WILL BE SAILING OPEN BOAT FOR COD ON TUESDAY MORNING AT 5:00 AM.  

LING & SEA BASS REPORT - Ling fishing was decent on Saturday with a high hook of about 25.   There was a lot of current Saturday night and it really affected the fishing.   The trip was slower than expected.  On Sunday, we tried a different area with just a slow pick on Ling and some keeper Cod mixed in.

We started seeing some Sea Bass mixed in with the Ling on Saturday.  The Sea Bass season is scheduled to open on Saturday May 28.   From the 28th on we will be targeting both species on our daily trips, splitting the day between Ling and Sea Bass fishing as conditions permit.   This year's Sea Bass possession limit is the same as last year's at 25 fish with a minimum length of 12½  inches.

TILEFISH REPORT - The weather forced us to cancel tonight's Tilefish Trip since winds were predicted up to 20 knots.  We are going to try and put together a SHORT NOTICE TRIP on either Tuesday or Wednesday night, whichever seems to have better weather.  We will make a decision Monday after the 11:00 AM marine forecast.


May 18, 2011

The winds and seas are finally supposed to ease up Thursday and Thursday night.

WE WILL BE SAILING OPEN BOAT FOR COD ON FRIDAY MORNING AT 5:00 AM.

There will be NO Ling Trip Friday morning, but we will be sailing for Ling Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.

We still have a couple of spots available on this Sunday night's TILEFISH TRIP, so if you are interested in going, please send us an email.


May 17, 2011

We want to take a moment to introduce the latest addition to our fleet, the six passenger charter boat SHEARWATER.
The SHEARWATER is a 35-foot Bruno and Stillman "Downeast" style vessel offering charter fishing trips from Point Pleasant, NJ.  The boat has a huge cockpit area making it comfortable for six fishermen to fish at the same time.   Powered by a 300 HP Volvo turbo diesel, the SHEARWATER boasts the latest in GPS, Radar, fish finding, and USCG approved safety equipment.  The SHEARWATER will be crewed by faces familiar to many VOYAGER regulars including Captain John Schaible, Captain Tracy Rothenberg, Captain Joel Lisotto, and Captain Jeff Gutman.


The SHEARWATER is available to fish for Striped Bass, Bluefish, Fluke, and Bluefin Tuna as well as bottom fish such as Cod, Sea Bass and Ling.   In late May and June, we will be focusing on livelining bunker for Jumbo Striped Bass, a specialty of Captain John Schaible.   Later in the season, we will concentrate on Bluefin Tuna and light tackle Bonito and Albacore fishing.

For a complete list of charter rates and booking policies please see our SHEARWATER page.   If you have any questions please contact Captain John by e-mail at ShearwaterCaptainJohn@gmail.com or call him directly at 732-773-9477, or you can send us an email from our Contact Us page.


May 16, 2011

We were back out on the Cod grounds on Friday and we were treated to some of the best fishing of the year. We caught Cod on both bait and jigs.  Most people had 8 to 10 keepers or more and they weighed from 5 to 10 pounds along with a few bigger fish mixed in.

Bill Tevlin of Freehold, NJ had 18 keepers up to 10 pounds.   Mike DeSimone of Long Branch, NJ was a close second with 15 keeper Cod.   Jay Santiago of Colonia, NJ and Steve combined for 24 nice Cod.   Dennis DePalma of Montville, NJ had the largest Cod at just under 30 pounds, and Richie Mansfield of Wall, NJ won the pool with a 38 pound Pollock.   (This was the second time in just over a week that Richie took the pool with a large Pollock.)

















WE WILL BE RUNNING 5:00 AM COD TRIPS ON TUESDAYS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE MONTH AND INTO JUNE.
At the moment, the weather looks poor for the Tuesday Cod trip this week.  If we do cancel Tuesday's trip, we may try to schedule a "short notice" Cod trip for later in the week based on the weather (possibly on Friday), so keep an eye on your emails.  The crowds have been light and the fishing excellent, so you might want to take a trip before it ends and catch some Cod while fishing in pleasant 70+ degree temperatures and T-shirts.   Last year, we had good fishing well into June.

Please check our Trip Calendar page after 6:00 PM the night before any of these Open Boat Cod Trips to see if we have canceled because of bad weather.

Unfortunately, the big easterly swell slowed down LING FISHING over the weekend. We're sure the Ling will start to bite again after we get a few days of northwest winds and calm seas.


May 12, 2011

As of 6:00 PM this evening (Thursday, May 12), the Coast Guard has OPENED Manasquan Inlet to boat traffic without any need for escort.   ALL TRIPS FOR LING AND COD WILL BE SAILING AS SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND.


May 11, 2011

A commercial dragger/scallop boat overturned in Manasquan Inlet this morning.  Fortunately, no one was injured, but the Coast Guard closed the inlet to all boat traffic.  As of 5:00 PM this evening, the Coast Guard had not announced if the Inlet would be open tomorrow morning.

Not wanting to bring people down at the crack of dawn just to find out that we can't leave the Inlet, we have RESCHEDULED the Thursday morning, May 12 5:00 AM COD trip to FRIDAY MORNING MAY 13 at 5:00 AM.
Because of this change, there will be NO LING trip on Friday.  Sorry for any inconvenience.


May 9, 2011

Due to a marginal offshore weather forecast, the Tuesday morning 5:00 AM MAY 10 OPEN BOAT COD TRIP has been RESCHEDULED to THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 12 at 5:00 AM.   Because of this change there will be NO LING TRIP on Thursday this week.


May 7, 2011

First day out on the Ling grounds today and we picked at fish throughout the day.  High hooks had in the mid to upper teens.   Fishing should continue to improve as more fish migrate inshore.  We will be sailing Sunday morning at 7:30 AM.
 
Our Trips This Coming Week...

OPEN BOAT COD - 5:00 AM to 4:00 PM TUESDAY MAY 10

OPEN BOAT LING - 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM WEDNESDAY 5/11 THROUGH SUNDAY 5/15

NIGHT LING - 6:30 PM to 12:30 AM FRIDAY 5/13 AND SATURDAY 5/14 NIGHTS 

DEEPWATER TILEFISH - 10:00 PM SUNDAY MAY 15.   Spots are still available.  Reservations are required.


May 5, 2011

We made a few COD Trips over the past weekend with varying results.  On Saturday, we had very good fishing with over 100 keepers landed.  The Cod ranged from keepers to fish in the low 20's.   Anthony Scardino of Point Pleasant, NJ was high hook with 13 keepers, Drew Bell of Collingswood, NJ had 9 keepers, and a few others had 6-8 keepers.  Our Sunday trip was quite slow, which was a real disappointment after Saturday, but we did start to see some LING showing up.  

















On Sunday night, we did an offshore trip for COD and POLLOCK.   We really expected fishing to be much better than it was, especially with large Pollock.  Some guys did pretty well, but many didn't.  Despite hitting quite a few wrecks, the bite was always in the same little portion of the boat which probably had something to do with the way the current was running. Some highlights were Mike DeSimone of Long Branch, NJ with 15 keepers including a 25 pound Cod for second place in the pool, Kevin Kovach of Lanoka Harbor, NJ with 9 keepers, and Rich Mansfield of Wall, NJ with 7 keepers including a 30 pound Pollock that took first place honors in the pool.


















We will still be doing 5:00 AM COD TRIPS EVERY TUESDAY in MAY and into the beginning of June.   Last year, we had good fishing well into June.

We are now fishing for LING and COD EVERY WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM.  The fare is $65.

Our NIGHT LING TRIPS start on Friday night May 13. The boat will be leaving at 6:30 PM and returning at 12:30 AM.   The fare for the night trip is $60.


April 28, 2011

COD FISHING remains good with bigger fish still showing up in the mix.  On our last trip we had a good shot right off the bat with most of the action on jigs.   When it slowed down, we tried a few different spots and picked nice fish on each one.   Mike Buonacquista of Middletown, NJ was high hook with 8 keepers including a 21 pound pool winner.  Kevin Kovach and Chris Frka each had 7 keepers and the counts went down from there.


















The weather looks very good for Saturday's 3:00 AM OPEN BOAT COD MARATHON and for Sunday's 5:00 AM trip.
You can check our Trip Calendar after 6:00 PM the night before any of these open boat trips to see if we have canceled for the following morning.

Starting on WEDNESDAY MAY 4, we will switch over to open boat LING and COD TRIPS on Wednesdays through Sundays from 7:30 AM to 3:30PM.    We will continue our 5:00 AM COD Trips EVERY TUESDAY in May and into the beginning of June.


April 21, 2011

We will be sailing Friday morning at 5:00 AM for Cod.   Saturday's Marathon Cod Trip is up in the air since the weather forecast keeps changing, and there is NO TRIP on Easter Sunday.  You can check our Trip Calendar page after 6:00 PM the night before any of these open boat trips to see if we have canceled for the following morning.

COD FISHING HAS BEEN GOOD and we have been seeing some bigger fish mixed in with pool winners in the 25-30 pound range.   Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks (and there are plenty more on our Photo Gallery page.)


















Next week, we will be sailing OPEN BOAT COD TRIPS on WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY and Sunday at 5:00 AM, and at 3:00 AM on SATURDAY.

We still have a few spots left on our OFFSHORE COD AND POLLOCK TRIP leaving 10:00 PM Sunday May 1.  Reservations are required for this trip, so if you are interested in going, send us an email.


March 16, 2011

COD FISHING has been good over the past couple of days.   Yesterday, a number of anglers including Al Moretti, Mike Desimone, Archie Stewart, Tony Puzzo, Dave Arbeitman and John from the REEL SEAT in Brielle landed between 5 and 8 keeper cod (sorry if we forgot anyone).  Al Moretti of Highbridge, NJ had 8 keepers including a 15 pound pool fish.  We will be sailing Thursday morning March 17 at 5:30 AM.   This will be the last trip for a couple of weeks since we are going to the shipyard for painting and general maintenance.

We will resume OPEN BOAT COD FISHING on Friday April 1 with a new sailing time of 5:00 AM.   If we happen to get done in the yard earlier than expected, we will resume sailing before April 1.   We have also added an EXTENDED OPEN BOAT COD TRIP for Saturday mornings (starting April 2) leaving at 3:00 AM and returning at 5:00 PM.   The fare for the longer trip is $100.   Last year, April and May were great months for COD.   You can view our complete schedule on our Trip Calendar page.

Please check the Trip Calendar on our web site after 6:00 PM the night before any of our open boat trips to see if we have canceled because of bad weather.   We don't want people coming down to find the boat dark and no crew around.   Please make sure you hit the refresh button on your browser.


March 13, 2011

We just wanted to let everyone know that we are sailing for COD this week on Monday March 14 through Thursday March 17 at 5:30 AM.   The weather looks great for three of the four days with Wednesday being the only possible question mark.

On Friday, March 18, we will be heading to the shipyard for a couple of weeks of painting and general maintenance.

We will resume OPEN BOAT COD FISHING on Friday April 1 with a new sailing time of 5:00 AM.   We have also added an EXTENDED OPEN BOAT COD TRIP for Saturday mornings leaving at 3:00 AM and returning at 5:00 PM.   The fare for the longer trip is $100.   You can view our complete schedule the Trip Calendar page.

Please check the Trip Calendar after 6:00 PM the night before any of these open boat trips to see if we have canceled because of bad weather.  We don't want folks coming down to the dock only to find the boat dark and no crew around.   Please make sure you hit the refresh button on your browser.


February 19, 2011

The last few days of fishing were up and down for us.  We caught Cod on most spots with throwbacks out numbering keepers by 3 or 4 to 1.  Thursday was the most productive with a high hook of 12 keepers caught by Chris Frka of Staten Island, NY.  There were also people with 4-6 and others with one, two or none.  The other two days we had high hooks of 4 or 5, but again, some people had one or none.  Some other notable catches... Barry Goldman with 9 Keepers, Harry Haimowitz with 5 keepers, Larry Gutman with 7 keepers, Kevin Kovach with 6 keepers, Skip Pietropaolo with a 12 pound pool winner, and Jerry Lombardo with a 8 pound pool winner.   There seem to be some Cod everywhere, but there has also been a lot of pressure on the wrecks with the warmer weather and larger fleet of boats.   We're sure that with a couple days of rest, the wrecks will be more productive again.

We are sailing SUNDAY and PRESIDENT'S DAY MONDAY at 5:30 AM, weather permitting.   Next week, we will be sailing WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY and SUNDAY.  All trips will be leaving at 5:30 AM.

Please check our Trip Calendar page after 6:00 PM the night before any of our open boat trips to see if we have canceled because of bad weather.  We certainly don't want you to drive here only to find the boat dark with no crew around.  Please make sure you hit the refresh button on your browser.


February 14, 2011

We were out Cod fishing over the weekend and it was very good with Cod up to 12 pounds.  There were times where the fishing was as good as at Montauk with 6 to 8 fish on at a time.   Cod were caught on both bait and jigs.  We had an hour and a half where single and double-header Cod were flying over the rails on jigs and teasers.  Some high hook anglers were Chris Mackin of Point Pleasant, NJ with 15 keepers, Mike DeSimone of Long Branch, NJ with 12 keepers, and Bill Tevlin of Freehold, NJ with 11 keepers (Bill also won the pool with a 12 pound Cod.)   Many other anglers caught 5 to 10 keeper Cod.



































Due to the good fishing and nice forecast, we will be adding THURSDAY to our schedule this week making our Open Boat Cod schedule WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SUNDAY.   We have also changed our sailing time to 5:30 AM.

On MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, we will offer an Open Boat Cod Trip to celebrate Presidents' Day.   We will try to add trips to the schedule on all nice days over the next few weeks.

Please check our Trip Calendar page after 6:00 PM the night before any of our open boat trips to see if we have canceled because of bad weather.  We certainly don't want you to drive here only to find the boat dark with no crew around.  Please make sure you hit the refresh button on your browser.


February 10, 2011

WE WILL BE SAILING FRIDAY and SUNDAY FROM 6:00 AM - 5:00 PM for COD.   The weather looks good for both days.

The Friday night Block Island Cod Trip has been canceled due to weather.   We will be making one more Block Island Trip next Friday night, February 18 at 7:30 PM.

20-40 MILE COD TRIPS every WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY AND SUNDAY (weather permitting).   Please check our Trip Calendar page after 6:00 PM the night before any of our open boat trips to see if we have canceled because of bad weather.


February 5, 2011

Yesterday, we tried some stuff a bit further offshore than on our last trip.   We had a handful of Cod and some Ling.  All in all, it was not nearly as good as we had expected.   We did snag a few Cod on jigs leading us to believe that they were off of the wrecks chasing the large schools of Herring that were around.   Some fish even spit up a few herring on the deck.   Archie Stewart of Nutley, NJ won the pool with a 12 pound Cod.   Fishing should improve as we get further into the winter and the spring.

We know some folks were talking about fishing on Super Bowl Sunday.  At the moment, the weather does not look great.  Please check our Trip Calendar page after 6:00 PM the night before any of our open boat trips to see if we have canceled because of bad weather.  We don't want people coming down to find the boat dark and no crew around.   Please make sure you hit the refresh button on your browser.

We have changed our schedule around just a bit.  The only dates for Block Island Trips are now February 11 and 18.   We have changed the February 25 Block Island Trip to a Northeast Cod Wreck trip leaving at 11:00 PM.   The fare for this trip is $150.  If you were on the February 25 Block Island trip, you have the option of moving to another Block Island trip, going on the February 25 Wreck Trip, leaving your fare money on credit for a future trip, or requesting a refund.  If you are interested in going on any trips or need to contact us, please e-mail us.

20-40 MILE COD TRIPS every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday (weather permitting).


January 31, 2011

We made two trips over the weekend.  The first trip was an offshore overnight wreck trip.   The offshore fishing was picky with a number of small Cod, but not enough keepers.  Mike DeSimone of Long Branch, NJ won the pool with a 14 pound Codfish and also took high hook honors with 5 keepers.

On Sunday, after being sidelined due to bad weather and dock construction for most of January, we finally made a 20-40 mile Cod trip.   Fishing was good with a lot of action.  We kept about 50 fish and threw back between two and three times that many.   Frank, Archie, and Mike combined for 16 keepers for the day.  Fishing should continue to improve as more fish migrate into the area.

They are just about finished with the dock repairs at our slip.  Between the uncertainty of construction completion and the lousy forecast for Wednesday we will NOT be sailing on the 20-40 mile trip on February 2.  After that, we will be fishing on schedule, every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday morning from 6:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

We have been updating the trip calendar on our web site by 6:00 PM the night before the 20-40 mile trips to indicate if we are canceling for any reason.  Please check it before you come down.

This Friday night is our first BLOCK ISLAND COD SPECIAL of the year.  So far, fishing has been good there this season.   We still have room so if you are interested please e-mail us.


January 27, 2011

As most of you know, we have been doing construction on our dock.  As of today, the work is almost done.  We will be running our Friday night wreck trip and the Sunday morning COD trip this weekend and then moving the VOYAGER out of the slip from next Monday through Thursday so everything can be finished up.   This means we will NOT be sailing on the February 2 open boat 20-40 mile COD trip.  After that, we should be fishing on schedule. 

We have been updating the Trip Calendar on our web site by 6:00 PM the night before the open boat 20-40 mile COD trips to indicate if we are canceling for any reason.  Please check before you come down.

We still have room on this Friday night's overnight wreck trip.  If you are interested, please email us.


January 24, 2011

The frigid weather has slowed down the repair work on our dock.   Unfortunately, this means we will NOT be sailing on our 6:00 AM Cod trips this week, Wednesday January 26 and Friday January 28.

The dock repairs will NOT affect the Friday night, January 28, Overnight Wreck Trip.   And hopefully, we will be able to sail on the Sunday January 30 morning trip.  

We will continue to update our trip calendar to indicate whether we are sailing or not.

We have room on all Friday night MONTAUK / BLOCK ISLAND COD TRIPS in February.   Last year, February was the best month at Block Island.  If you are interested, please e-mail us.


January 15, 2011

We just got back from our offshore wreck trip.   Unfortunately, the offshore fishing was slow today.   The seas really kicked up this afternoon with a strong southwest wind.  With the rough seas and decent breeze predicted for tomorrow, we are CANCELING OUR SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 16 COD TRIP.

PLEASE NOTE:   The Wednesday and Friday morning Cod trips (January 19 & 21) will also be canceled this week since the bulkhead at our dock will be undergoing repairs and we have to move the boat.  The bulkhead work will NOT affect the Friday night, January 21, Block Island trip.

We still have room on next Friday night's BLOCK ISLAND COD TRIP.   If you are interested, please e-mail us.


January 5, 2011

The VOYAGER will be running trips to the MONTAUK-BLOCK ISLAND COD GROUNDS during the Months of January and February.  We will be sailing on the following FRIDAY NIGHTS:

JANUARY 21,  FEBRUARY 4,  FEBRUARY 11,   FEBRUARY 18   and   FEBRUARY 25

All trips depart at 7:30 PM and return the next night between 8-10:00 PM.  And this allows us to fish both the "night bite" and regular "day bite".  The trips are limited to 33 anglers and the fare is $250.  Advance reservations are required.

Last year, the Cod fishing off Block Island was super, so if you are interested in booking a spot, please e-mail or call us at 732-295-3019.


January 3, 2011

We will be attending a regulatory meeting for BLUEFIN TUNA Wednesday January 5, so the WEDNESDAY COD TRIP FOR THIS WEEK HAS BEEN CANCELED.

Yesterday's COD TRIP was slow.   We fished a number of wrecks from 100-225 feet with little success.   We battled through dogfish and eels to catch a handful of keeper Cod, about 15 throwbacks and a few Ling.   Fishing should improve as more fish start to migrate down from the northeast and the bottom settles from last week's storm.   We expect to see a push of fish in the next week or two. 

The Voyager will be sailing to the 20-40 MILE WRECKS FOR COD every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 6:00 AM weather permitting (please e-mail if you have questions about a specific day's weather).   We will try to post whether or not the trip is canceled due to weather on our trip calendar page by 6:00 PM the night before the trip.  The boat returns around 5:00 PM and the fare is $85.

We also have an OFFSHORE WRECK TRIP scheduled EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT at 11:00 PM and we will be fishing for COD, POLLOCK, PORGIES and LING.   The fare is $150 and RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED on these overnight trips.

We will be posting our MONTAUK COD schedule shortly, so keep checking your e-mail and our web site.


January 1, 2011

Here's a quick schedule update...

The VOYAGER will be sailing to the 20-40 mile wrecks for COD EVERY WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, and SUNDAY at 6:00 AM.   The boat returns around 5:00 PM and the fare is $85.   Our first trip of the season is tomorrow morning, SUNDAY, JANUARY 2 and the weather forecast looks good.

We also have an OFFSHORE WRECK TRIP scheduled EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT at 11:00 PM where we will be fishing for COD, POLLOCK, PORGIES and LING.   The fare is $150 and reservations are required on these overnight trips.

We will be posting our MONTAUK COD schedule shortly, so keep checking your e-mail and our web site.

We wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year.

For earlier fishing reports, see our Fishing Report Archive page.