OK,
So we have been boating there since 2004. Fishing in the Bay was really easy for Croaker back then. We migrated to a house on the water in 2015 and fished the bay in a pontoon and had pretty much little luck as I really was not really doing anything different. In 2018 we added a 27' Center Console to be able to head back into the ocean and have had progressively better years. IN 2018 and 2019 our most popular catch was trolling for Bluefish and we averaged about 150 fish each ear. Until this year, I never really did the bay but worked up my flounder experience after going on a charter to learn from a Local. I'm still not great in the bay but got much better this year yet found more success in the ocean working out some honey holes and got LOTS of advice from some locals.
This year was actually AWESOME for fishing including my personal best Mahi at 22lbs (Dolphinfish) and my son handed the rod to his girlfriend for a family record 12lb TauTog. We also went further out (20 miles) to get better Sea Bass fishing which turned into some great Family days as I built up how to find them and how to fish them to the point that I could deal with the low attention span of the younger guests and still get home by 1 with plenty of fish. We often increased our minimum size above the legal limits and only took what we could eat. Here is a subset and some highlights in photos.
New species caught this year:
TaugTog
Almacoa Jack
Sandbar Shark
Red Hake
My eldest (the one that has hunted) also took to Spear Fishing out in the ocean for Mahi. Much slower than the technique we ended up perfecting with late September, but he wanted the experience and challenge. Plus with him in the water watching them, He provided most valuable intelligence on how we were catching them and some tricks employed on one our family trips that was somewhat unlike what most people do.
So we have been boating there since 2004. Fishing in the Bay was really easy for Croaker back then. We migrated to a house on the water in 2015 and fished the bay in a pontoon and had pretty much little luck as I really was not really doing anything different. In 2018 we added a 27' Center Console to be able to head back into the ocean and have had progressively better years. IN 2018 and 2019 our most popular catch was trolling for Bluefish and we averaged about 150 fish each ear. Until this year, I never really did the bay but worked up my flounder experience after going on a charter to learn from a Local. I'm still not great in the bay but got much better this year yet found more success in the ocean working out some honey holes and got LOTS of advice from some locals.
This year was actually AWESOME for fishing including my personal best Mahi at 22lbs (Dolphinfish) and my son handed the rod to his girlfriend for a family record 12lb TauTog. We also went further out (20 miles) to get better Sea Bass fishing which turned into some great Family days as I built up how to find them and how to fish them to the point that I could deal with the low attention span of the younger guests and still get home by 1 with plenty of fish. We often increased our minimum size above the legal limits and only took what we could eat. Here is a subset and some highlights in photos.
New species caught this year:
TaugTog
Almacoa Jack
Sandbar Shark
Red Hake
My eldest (the one that has hunted) also took to Spear Fishing out in the ocean for Mahi. Much slower than the technique we ended up perfecting with late September, but he wanted the experience and challenge. Plus with him in the water watching them, He provided most valuable intelligence on how we were catching them and some tricks employed on one our family trips that was somewhat unlike what most people do.