Sea++ The Captain's BLOG
      Life & Memorable Fishing & Beach Adventures
    • 2006 Sept 01 OK - Time to turn the old 'Capt's Log' into the 'Captain's BLOG' and start working on UFiSH again.  'Glass' has consumed me and left no time to fish or boat these days.  Maine is great though and I wouldn't trade it back for NY anytime soon.  Made a bunch of updates and addition to pages and looking at lots of other redesign issues.  Stay tuned and let me know if you have any ideas...
    • 2004... Too busy Glass glass glass ... No time ... Boat's still on Blocks ... Oh Poo ...
    • 2003 Looking for fish - Penobscot bay, bay, stripers, bluefish and lots of mackerel ...
    • 2002 We've MOVED to MAINE!  August launch - Winterport, Maine - Season's over as it goes in ... Mackerel, crabs ... there should be TOG here...
    • 2001 We're moving ... Packing up NY ...
    • 2000 Y2K's over, Nan's working with glass more and more ... Work is boring ... time to move on ...
    • Nov 1999 We buy the 'Fahm' - Maine here come ...
    • 99 Summer Fall Season...
      • Various Trips...
      • Mostly wreck.  Offshore action for all types was wonderful when I could get out (timewise & weather)...
      • Beach trolling & working the bridges...
    • 99/6
      • Repowering...
    • 99/6/14
      • Striper plugging...
      • Picked up top water, mid water, divers, poppers.  Respooled Calcutta 400s with 14# green Fireline.  Headed out at 1/2 hr before top of tide.  Casted Baldwin harbor for Weaks on suggestion from Ronny @ Sea-Isle, no hits.  Had problems restarting engine.  Flywheel clearly has a big dead spot and needs manual assist (ie: hand twist main gear).  Would not shut off boat in cuts with tide, wind, etc.  Drifted and casted for couple hours and hooked/released one 20" Striper taken on a diving Yozuri plug.  Cool... I'm sure shutting off the engine would have increased hits... Now...Boat needs repair or replace...
    • 99/6/12
      • Family Day @ the Beach...
      • On boat with wife, AJ, Mag, Emily.  Out by 10am.  Picked up hamburgers, dogs, snacks, ice, etc. from Scotty's and headed over to beach South of Loop Pkwy # 2.  Outgoing tide.  Anchored bow out, stern hand-anchored on beach.  Kids had a great time.  Found and rescued lots of horseshoe crabs, seined the water and got shiners, baby fluke, shrimp, etc...  Walked kids to BIRD island over CRAB beach.  AJ and Emily enjoyed.  Mostly cloudy, breaks, then a front with heavy drizzle made us pack up by 4pm.  Long, enjoyable day.  Ride back, kids asleep in mom's arms...
    • 99/6/11

        • Cholera Bank...

      • It was still blowing 10-15 from the East, but, it was to shift to the SE later in the day.  With the wind holding steady and down from the previous days 20-25 the 20 mile bouy was reporting 5' seas (avg down from steep).  With chum, mackeral, herring, etc. from the previous day ready to go, I set out, straight for Cholera.  It was very sloppy and the seas were all of the 5' reported.  At 3000 rpm running semi-displacement I got to Cholera, though, it took a little longer than normal to get out there.  I anchored up and noticed the seas clearly were still a little crappy with a few 7 footers coming in 3's (sisters?) every now and then.  Anchored at the bow they easily passed under the boat w/o much problem (it would have been a bit crappier and dangerous if I was wreck fishing with the stern to the waves).  Chum and wind were kicking and the bait and slick formed quickly.  Chunks, however, were not going with the slick and chum, and, after a half hour of catching nothing on top or with a bait 10' off the bottom I switched to using ballons hanging the bait 10-15' under them.  Without ballons (or a kite) there would have been no way to have baits stay with the chum which was getting pushed along in the top 10-15' of water with the wind.  The current was running under the slick in a slightly different direction.  In no time, the blues were on.  As the day progressed the blues were in tight and baits on ballons out further or freespooled in real close got hits quickly.  The blues were clearly there and it was fun watching them dart in and out of the slick and attack in swarms as a handful of chunks, old clams, whatever I had, were tossed out.  The fish were 8-14#s and I took 4 fish and released a bunch more playing them on light tackle, Fireline, diamond jigs, etc.  After about 4 hours the seas and the pugent smell of chum and fish guts was getting to me and I headed back in.  It was really a fun and fast ride back at practically WOT surfing down the wave-fronts heading NW on the SE swell...
    • 99/6/9

        • Inlet, Wreck & Cholera...

      • Hot and no wind.  Dead calm winds with seas a good 4 feet all ground swell.  Did fluking in Jone Inlet and caught a few fish with one keeper.  Anchored over a few pieces of Hempstead reef and got a number of 2-3# black sea bass (humpbacks) and lots of short blackfish (no keeper - only one allowed at this time of year anyway).  Had herring, mackeral and chum and figured a run to cholera was on the plan, but, with the temps pushing 90 and no water to hydrate myself I headed into Pt Lookout to Scotty's and got drinks and lunch.  Headed back out to Cholera and got there around 1pm.  Found some bait and drifted chum bucket to setup.  On the horizon I spotted a dark blue 'haze', it looked wierd and almost seemed like a wave headed my way since it seemed to rise well above the water.  Before I got anchored I saw it was clearly something physically on the water.  On one side of the boat it was DEAD calm glass, the other, 1-2' chop.  It was both awesome and a little disconcerting.   In a few minutes all I could see was chop and white caps in every direction with the wind kicking from what was 1-2 to 20-25 kts.  It still was fishable and I didn't see any clouds looming on the horizon, but, after circling for 5 minutes, listening to the radio, hearing others saying they were heading in and there were 3' breakers in the inlet, and, more importantly debating the issue...I figured I clearly had enough Doubt.  As the saying goes, "When in Doubt, DON'T Go Out".  Being 9 miles OUT already, it was prudent to blow it off.  It was a wet & sloppy ride back, but, not that bad or risky.  Fluking in the inlet for a half-hour produced only shorts so I called it a day...
    • 99/5/22-6/2
      • Bolivar Texas Fishing...
      • Beach trip to the Texas version of OBX (Outerbanks, NC).  1 1/2 hr drive from Houston, by ferry from Galveston.  Beach rentals comparable and comfortable.   Rented Dodge Durango with 4x4 Access on most of all the beaches.  Hard-packed tan sand, relatively wide tracks, muddy water in close which probably doesn't get a whole lot clearer except offshore and places in Galveston Bay.  Shrimp shrimp shrimp everywhere...  Boiled, grilled, in Etoufee and as BAIT.  Fished beaches by car, at the house and at Rollover Pass a man-made cut on the pennisula.  On bottom rigs with shrimp.  Beach fishing had potential for 4' blacktip sharks, but, after wading out to the 2nd sand bar (of 3-4-???) towards dusks a few times was too disconcerting to enjoy.  Caughts lots of catfish and whiting anyways, all released except a few catfish when Dad/Mom came down and caught them.  It was VERY tasty.  AJ had lots of fun on the beach.  Nice people.  Long drives to any big stores or a ferry ride into Galveston.  Went through Memorial day weekend when there were a zillion teens in pickups everywhere.
      • Guided with ??? and casted shrimp jigs.  Found schools on top and casted with a few pickups and fish.  With crappy conditions, we then anchored and waded outside of the boat casting points, cuts, oyster beds, etc.  In the end caught 6 speckled trout to 5#s which were also VERY tasty fried up that night.
      • Other highlights: Offroaded towards Aransas pass (road washed out).  Saw choppers & planes flying along beach.  Saw water spout off Galveston.  Nice off-roading and large areas to explore down towards Freeport area.
      • OH, lest I forget... It's HOT!
    • 99/5/20
      • Inlet, Wrecks & Bay 'Grand Slam' mixed bag...
      • Out early.  Drifted squid/speering in the inlet.  FIRST DROP of the day west-bar of JI inlet didn't hit bottom and as I reeled in I was surprised to find I had a fish on already.  A cocktail blue took the bait on the drop.  Awesome.  A number of drifts later there were a number of shorts, but, 3 keepers of 18-19" and a 2# Sea-robin (aka Atlantic Grunions, which makes great eating, believe it or not).  Before it got busy I headed to the normal haunts on the Hempstead reef and proceeded to bail Sea Bass and blackfish to 4#s.  I kept only a few SB and BFs for the table.  With the wind starting to kick-up I headed in and drifted by Fundy Bay on the incoming (using a sea anchor to slow the drift) and got 2 more keeper fluke...  I guess trying for Stripers might have fully rounded out the catch...maybe next time... Either way, dinner was pretty good that night...
    • 99/May-June
      • Misc Trips...
      • Wrecks produced early in the season.  Lots of Blackfish, Sea Bass in April.  By early May the same wrecks also produced (water around 57) bluefish on top....
    • 99/February

        • Isla Mujeres Trip TO BE Posted ...
        A wonderful trip down to the island off of Cancun.  Caught and release 33 sailfish on the Keen M w-Capt Athony Mendillo and had a number of wonderful trips on the local 'barcos'.  Baracudda to 33#s, kingfish and tons of snapper caught and cooked at the Xal Ha hotel where we stayed.  I can't wait to go back!

    • 98/12/26

        • Family Beach time...

      • While the boats under wraps and skim-ice is starting to show, the NY State 4x4 Beach permit is still good through 12/31.  It was a white Xmas in NY and Santa was good to Arianna and got her lots of presents including a sled.  Loaded up the Navigator w-sled, fishing pole, air-hoses, gauges, jack-boards, pressure gauge & shovel.  Visited Fire Island park by the Inlet/Democratic Pt. wife found lots of shells, baby had fun riding & pulling the sled, playing in snow and Dad  four wheeling around the empty beaches.  Tide on the way out w-ocean calm running less than a foot (great offshore weather)...
    • 98/12/21

        • Codfather Charter Trip...

      • Boat's last remnants cleaned off (lest the portable head freezes on the boat), hauled, wrapped and on blocks... Weather report Sunday was not looking good for Monday offshore, but, Gale winds not expected for later in the day.  6:30, last of crew arrives and we're down at Ritchie's Woodcleft Fishing Station to meet Mike Barnett of the Codfather.  Thomas Ni, Mike Wilder and Ari Yaseminci on board for a day off work and onthe seas.  Watched full sunrise at 7:15 in overcast sky disappear into cloud layer at 7:20.  Seas 2-4', hit at most 3-5', but, great 50 degree plus day with wind's dying down for the most part with a few hours in clear-blue.  Anchored over 17 Fathoms and fished with green-crabs.  Slow pick at first, but, decent picks throughout the day.  In the end, 22 fish up to 20"s/4#s.  A great day to be on the water.  Good timing since Tuesday temps dropped to 30's with wind HOWLING at 42 kts kicking the seas from 8-12'...
    • 98/12/13

        • Last Run for the Sea++...

      • Quick last minute run after taking lots of stuff off the boat the day before and putting things into the storage shed I had put together.  Eerily calm seas, can't argue glass conditions.  Offshore in a flash, though, water density of the colder water defintely noticeable when getting up on plane.  Anchored up, fished with clams & green crabs for Blackfish up to 18"s.  Decent catching and took a few fish home for dinner.  Hard to believe the boats still in the water and I'm fishing!  This is winter?  Called in report to The Fisherman...
    • 98/12/06

        • Surprise surprise...

      • Temps not as warm as the previous 2 day in the 70s.  Yes, it IS December.  Water was Dead Calm.  Glassy conditions are eerie... Tempted to run to Atlantic Reef or 17 Fathoms, did the normal HempReef run on the hook in no time, dogfish on clams again, switched to green crabs, picked through lots of blackfish, took 17" Blackfish, reanchored, started on clams, Surprise, 23" Atlantic Cod!  Decent, quick day, enough action to avoid extra long run down to Atlantic reef though tempted.  Note: Stomachs of fish held primarily baby calico crabs...
      • 12am ... No fish, but, late night run to Fire Island Democratic Point to check out beach access permit before it expires.  Tossed popper in surf for a few minutes, more interested in 4x4 trek down beach & through dune trails.  Cool, beautiful and serene.  Saw lots of rabbits, deer & a racoon in can at air station.  Neat stuff, captured on video..
    • 98/11/14

        • Bassman & Bass...

      • Got all bait night before, 4:30am start w-/Mike 'the Bassman'.  Drifted by 2nd loop pkwy bridge w-NEGRES.  Drifted in Jones Inlet and as Emiril would say "BAM" Stripers.  30" keeper...  Drifted a few more times until boat traffic built.  Went offshore to HR, lots of dogfish & small blacks... Back @ dock by 11:30...  Nice day.
    • 98/11/07

        • Blackfish run...

      • STD SOP run to HR.  Cold, windy / 3-4' heavy chop min. swells.   Clams yielded spiny dogfish.  Green crabs worked for Blackfish.  Decent catching, took one home, sliced fingers when fish fouled in anchor-line and line/hooks yanked on by waves...
    • 98/10/31

        • Boo..

      • Halloween 5AM, cold, very cold.  Boat NO START...  New battery, jump, etc. no luck.  In the end had to replace w-new Starter...
    • 98/10/24

        • Hempstead Reef Run...

      • Quick run over to HR @ 6am w-Thomas.  Cold, windy morning @ lowest of the tide.  Engine wouldn't start.  This just aint looking good...  Ran home, got Jumpstart battery, turned over the engine and got bait at Woodcleft.   Green crabs & clams.  Headed over to HR in nasty 3-4' seas closely spaced and very confused though mostly from the West.  Sucky.  Found an NW  wreck, snagged with wreck anchor and fished.  A decent 3# Sea bass, some shorts and loads of 2-4# blackfish keeping 4 for the table.  Back at the dock by 12...
    • 98/10/21

        • Hempstead Reef Re-Discovered...

      • Up all nite/morning cleaning basement/house for electrical guys to AMP-up house and consolidate fire-hazard of jury-rigged fuse-boxes... RE-programmed in all Hempstead Reef (3.2nm-SE-JI) Loran TDS into the DGPS (by chging cursor display to TDS after plotter got 'zapped' and lost ALL previous numbers w/o GETTING HARDCOPY version)... 5 hour break as house was 'down', time to catch dinner ... 2-4' from West, waves 4secs...  Search for West Dock, no luck, found another on the hook, got his Lat/Lons (TD conversion obviously is not very accurate), search East side, got 2 more wrecks, grappled and set down with clams on blackfish hook.  Lots of bites, hard to set hook, switch to green crabs.  Blackfish immediately pegged and pulled in a 14" Blackfish.  Continued, classic blackfish routine, some black sea bass mixed in w-one 13" 'keeper', took 2 more decent blackfish and released other keepers and shorts for an hour.  Ride back was 'fun' (quartering into the seas)... Picked up baby, took baby and fish to Hunan Restaurant.  John cooked one BF as 'crispy fish' and classic/simple steamed Sea Bass w-ginger/blackbeans...  AJ liked the fish...  The End...
    • 98/10/18

        • 1 Fish, 2 Fish, 3 Fish, Bluefish...

      • Fishing w/MikeW @ 5 am, drifting eels off the Loop Parkway Bridge on last of the incoming, no luck, lost rigs, tried again by 6:30 on in the inlet by the jetties and Westend-2 field... No luck, lots of other boats, noone else seems to have had much luck.  Got chum, mackeral, clams, squid, etc. and headed to Cholera Banks considering FLAT 1-2' seas.   Nothing in 20 minutes but a few dogfish and small 'cheap'-skates, THEN, non-stop Blues from 4-8#s hit the slick and bust open.  Fish-on until 2pm every 5 or so minutes on mackeral filets... Conventional and ultra-light action with lots of fish swimming in and out of the slick next to the boat or following hooked friends...  Took about 7 home, release many more...  A good day...
    • 98/09/28
      • NE Wind 25kts.  Offshore 3-4'.  Small Craft Warning... Yeah yeah yeah... Beatable off-shore... Anchored over Coal Wreck loaded up with Med-Large Porgies and Small Black Sea Bass.
    • 98/09/xx
      • Misc Wreck fishing for Sea Bass to 3#s, Blackfish (most short), Porgies and as always Blue on chunks @ Cholera with False Albies mixed in!  With new Simrad DGPS Chartplotter & Wreck Anchor from mail-order (must post site) every loran spot is now pin-point accurate.  Reprogramming and putting in new points a discovery in itself.
    • 98/08/xx
      • Not much fishing.  Spending more time with family on outings and other comittments...  Bluefishing every now and then.  Some great dusk light-tackle trips for Blues working with birds just outside the inlet.
    • 98/07/xx
      • NC OBX Rental House, Fishing and Offroading was VERY cool!  Corolla was really mellow and surf fishing was with worms for flounder, croakers & kingfish.  Not enough time to rent out of Oregon Inlet.  Next year...
    • 98/07/12
      • Can't Wait!. Northern Outer Banks NC Trip coming up.  House in 4x4 section of Swan Beach.  Hmmm Sufcasting, Pier fishing, inshore Flats and Offshore Gulf-stream.  We'll see...
    • 98/06/05-xx
      • Saturday.  Still bummed, Week 3, NO BOAT... Out of commission with blown piston and valve work after great day of fishing on Friday with the SWAT crew.  QGuard is holding up the show...
      • Last of May and most if not all of June SHOT with boat in dry-dock for at least 6 weeks.  The BEST months of fishing in 98 blown...  Hopefully Fall will work out...
    • 98/05/13
      • Friday.  Mild winds.  Seas 2-3 feet... Great day... Offshore SWAT team 'meeting'... Crew of Hany, Medhat and Ehab, first light, frozen chum, mackeral, crabs & clams on the Hempstead reef.   Blues to 12#s on the surface tairing off mackeral chunks & fillets, Blackfish, some Porgies?!? (that's early), lots of Dogfish (small sharks) & Black Seabass to 3#s.  Some sick crewmembers, off anchor by 1pm.  Slow go though, engine not running right...  Crap!..

    • 98/05/03

      • Sunday.  Got to the boat before 6am, but, due to fog dawdled around getting bait and gas. Went to Hempstead reef and got 7 Blues off the wreck on top on mackeral & bunker chunks with 4 on light spinning tackle with 8# test until the rod broke.  A number of short Tog and 2 seabass (the larger a nice 2#r) aking clams and green crabs. One small pollock, no cod... GREAT DAY!
    • 8/05/029
      • Saturday.  Ocean weather was iffy with seas steep at 5-8' and 20kt winds.  Took AJ and Kristan to Short Beach CGS collecting shells and stuff.  No other boats tied up and minimal boat traffic.  AJ loved it all...
    • 98/01/xx
      • Trip to Nassau Bahamas.  Beaches weree so-so.  Hotel so-so.  Big city and far from pristine.  Expensive for basic things like car rentals, food & sadly fishing.  3 Fishing Trips: 1st Inshore on ??? charters.  Rusty hooks and tried to convince me a snagged hook on the reef was a fish.  Small yellowfin snapper and a cero mackeral trolling back in.  Cooked up at restaurant in hotel which was actually very excellent.  2 other offhore (Tongue of the Ocean) trolls were skunks!  Capt Brown on Brown's charter slow trolled to save fuel & barely worked the lines, Chubasco Charters sped around at 12 kts it seemed, but, put in a good effort and logic on Wahoo made sense.  For $1000+ clearly not worth it and better spent on Radar or something else!  Give me my Boat, Key West or the Codfather ANYDAY!
    • 97/Fall (Sept)
      • Travelling down NJ coast. Stopped in Ship's Bottom, chartered out of Barnegat Light Matt on Light Tackle Charters and braved the seas in a 17` Whaler.  Ocean was 2-3, building to 4-5 on return.  Went ~15 miles to Barnegat Ridge and anchored.  Chunked with butterfish on light spinning gear.  Great time with lots of action with False Albacore (~20#s, not worth keeping/eating), a small 'chicken' Dolphin (tasty!) and a nice, though not big, keeper Bluefin Tuna (~35#s).  Wet ride home w-quartering seas in a CC.  Cleaned fish and ate at Seafood restaurant down on southern end of LBI.  Cooked up nicely. Garlic/butter MahiMahi and Fried+Blackened Tuna...  Whenever and wherever find a restaurant that can "Cook Your Catch"...
    • 96/November
      • Took AJ down to Miami (~9m), rented a Sebring convertable and drove to Key West.  Surprise, hot as hell, A/C on most of the time and this town is std built-up 'Burb America.  Drove down to Key West and hung out.  Shopping, Dove once on Dry West Rocks, Jet Skied a couple of times and saw porpoises... Most important, fish... Chartered Cowboy and fished inshore (with Baby and Mom) for Barracuda.  Trolled around and used fresh-caught bait on balloons.  Great fight, got citation after wife & I landed 8 fish all of which went airborne!  Trolled on way back for nice Gag Grouper.  "Cook your Catch" 3-ways all INCREDIBLE.  Take-2... Want Mahi-Mahi, says best for Sailfish.  Drift fish live-bait on weedline.  Suprise, no sailfish, but, Bull Dolphin, a Mutton Snapper and a Kingfish.  Baracudda knockdows and UFOs... After fileting fish, skin was fed to 100#+ tarpon cruising under the docks for scraps.  CYC at another restaurant on Far East side of KW by Airport (forget name).  Ok, not as good as other place in KW.  Snapper the best this time.  Lots of nice houses and canels.  Pretty squeezed though.  Trading decent plots of land for open, blue, water... Gotta come back sometime...
    • 95/September
      • Quick vacation & drive up in the Miata to Rhode Island.  Figured it was less crowded than going near the Hamptons on Labor day.  Boy were we wrong.  Stayed at some place on a cliff which was passable, but, nowhere near as nice as expected.  After Labor day everything cleared out, ahhhh quiet.  Visited town, had nice drives through the townhouses and local roads.  Looking for charter, found really old local salt advertised in the bait shop and hooked up.  Met boat on east piers and boarded his 17' boat which was probably as tired as my first 17' Crestliner from the very early 70s.  I guess it flotas.  Anchored near bridge abuttments and dropped chunks over w-double trebles.  Caught some ~12# blues & some small stripers.  Decent action.  This cap didn't give the blues much chance as he WHAPPED them hard as they came over.  Trolled with lead-core line and eels around the bridges and broken docks of the abandoned Naval yards near shore, on their own little islands and in the bay area.  Pretty neat boating area with a lot of history and beautiful scenary.

     

     

     

     

     
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