hengstthomas
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CHP 7-29-09
Hit the pier at 1am and found the water dirty and high tide .. by the time I got to my spot the tide had just started to move . I saw a few small Spot and Croakers on my way out but the bite had not started yet .
I found a Spot near the end and rigged up a Sabiki with BWFB and tried for Spot . I missed 2 bites and had one get off in the first 45 minutes and landed NO fish . A friend (Tink) saw me and asked if I need a Spot or Croaker
I said I'd take a Spot if he had it .. Tink was there last night and was still there He had 2 coolers full of large Croakers and only a handful of Spot .
I took the Spot and stripped it out into small chunks and began to lay waste to those Croakers
A family of 8 was on the right end and they didnt have a clue but thankfully they could not cast far and I reached out and touched them The family kept saying they were leaving and even packed up their stuff .. 15 rods , 4 coolers , 6 chairs and other assorted garbage ... Speaking of garbage there was no place that you could lean on the fence without leaning on a bag full of trash I took a large trash bag and filled it with all the pier bags full of crap and picked up lots of trash from the pier .. when I was satified I went back to work
The family finally left around 3am and I moved over expecting the guy next to me to jump into the spot but instead he said "Go ahead Tom I know you are after Flounder" I had no clue who he was but very thankful that he knew me His name was Tran
I tried for Flounder for about 30 minutes and didnt get 1 bite on either side of the pier .. Not even Croakers . Tran was deadsticking and getting a Croaker about every 10 minutes . With no flatties wanting to play I switched back to the Sabiki and put the Spot on .. I lost quite a few nice fish with the small hooks so I rerigged and began to fill Trans cooler. At around 4am Ihear a woman call my name and went to investigate .. Not sure of her name but she and her brother Tim wanted some fish too and they remember me from a few days ago when I filled 2 small cooler and 1 bag full of Croakers .. I said to come down and I would alternate by giving Tran one then give them one
I noticed a guy to my right who had a small Croaker on the deck and I knew it was short so I asked "What are you going to do with that fish?" He said eat it so I asked if it was 8" and he said I think so .. Why dont you check (with a smart attitude) So I did and it was 6.75" and I told him it was short .. He got mad and threw about a half pound of shrimp into the water and picked up the Croaker and walked away .. I grabbed my phone and before I could power it up the and his buddy hauled *** off the pier ! Bastages :angry:
So now I go back to slaying Croakers and keeping a few at 10" for bait .
Tran's cooler could not hold another fish and in fact he removed his bait and gave me his bloods to make room for one more Croaker .
Tim and his sister's cooler was also filled to the top but Tim went in search of something to hold them explaining that he had to capitalize on these big Croakers because what they had were barely legal .. LOL !
When the sun looked like this ..
I caught my first Flounder at 18" on my Croaker rig
I cut up 4 Croakers , put on a tandem rig with two 3" Gulp Squids , added a strip of Croaker and went to work .. Tim and his sister also caught 1 flounder a piece and me ... WELL lets just say I heard "look he's got another one" .. At times it was like a chant
I caught numerous Flounder with 2 more around the 18" mark . At 10am I landed my first keeper at 18.75" and 2 casts later I get one at 19.5" . I got more TB's and lost 2 more keepers trying to flip them .. 30 minutes or so later I get slammed and thought it was a huge Croaker .. It turned out to be a Flounder and when I flipped it it came off in mid air and the wind pushed it onto the pier If there was no wind that fish would have fallen back also ... This one was 20.25"
I had to roll at 10:45am .. The pier had filled up dramatically.
Another great night
CHP 7-30 & 7-31-2009
7-30
Hit the pier at 9:30am and headed right out to the end . Took a few shots on my way out .
Started fishing at the second light from the end with a tandem rig , 2 Gulp Squids with Flounder Ribbons that I marinated in Gulp Juice over night
Picked up 2 Flounder at about 16" and dropped one about 19-20 inches .. Got another slam that turned out to be a HUGE Oyster Cracker that had to be about 4 pounds .. Never seen anything like it and had 2 guys immediately ask if they could have it .. I said sure but honestly wanted to bring it home to try it myself but I had the Funeral to attend and had predecided to not keep anything . At about 11am I walked to the corner and fished the left side and saw thet the guys on the right were not fishing close and were casting straight out so I asked if I could squeeze in and pitch a few to the right for Flounder and said if I got one they could have it .. They said sure and made room I landed an 18" Flounder on the first cast and a few cast later nailed a nice 23"
I picked up another 10 or so with two more over 18" but not 18.5" .. I was about to call it a day when I think I am hooked up to a Horseshoe Crab .. I get it an inch from the surface and see it the biggest Flounder I have ever seen .. My PB is 29.5" and this was ot only Bigger but much much rounder .. It eyes were incredible . The Flounder hit the air and pulled drag and wrapped around the piling once , twice and three times before the line ran out and the Flounder actually hit the piling and pulled the hook .. when it did it shot straight out of the air and upon re-entry acted like it was still hooked and did the backwards shake slamming its head and tail on the surface of the water .. People down from me said "whats that a Ray?" I said yepp a big Cownose Ray The guys who let me in all had thier mouths wide open and I just said SHHH ! When I finally get some sleep I amd gonna dream about that Doormat and its eyes .
I packed it in after that at about 2PM .
The Funeral ..
Went very well and Jimmy had lots of friends .. One of the largest turnouts Harrington has ever seen .. I didnt know 20 percent of the people there . Afterwards we all went and had dinner and sat and reminisced of the past and good time we all shared with our beloved Jimmy .. He will be terribly missed .
I got a chance to see the Grand Nephew Noah who was supposed to come fish the Kids Tourney with me this year and I asked him when we were going fishing He said "How about Sunday?" and I said "How about tonight?" He jumped at it and ran to ask Mom who said sure take him We arrived home here at about 12:30AM and were on the pier at 2AM .. I told him we were staying until sunrise and he said OK I have stayed awake for 2 days Noah just turned 11
7-31
So we get out and see Danger Ranger and a few other I know and Noah says "man you know everyone" . We get to the end of the pier and find Sport and Jack in the "Spot" but they both say not much is going on .. While stading there a guy on the left I guess had issues with me walking right to the end and asked me to "MOVE" .. He had an attitude so I just moved down about 20 feet to an open spot. While rigging and baiting up I saw 1 Craoker landed by Sport and that was it .. I didnt see a single fish caught on the way out either . I get Noah in the water and he nails 5 Croakers in a row and dropped #6 .. I didnt even get a chance to fish and was happy to watch him but thats when the winds picked up and the rain started .. Lightening crashed and thunder Boomed and within a few minutes the Pier was closed . Noah and I got trapped in the baithroom for about 10 minutes while it rained cats and dogs and when we got a break we ran for the truck .. by this time many had already packed up and pulled out .. Thats when the rain stopped I got out and walked up to he Rangers Truck and asked about how long they would keep it closed and he said 3:30am which was only another 20 minutes
I saw Rick and chatted with him and told him they were gonna open it up .
3:30am Noah and I are first to head back onto the pier and on the way out we found about 30 dollars in Bloodworms and picked up about a dozen rigs , a pound and a hlaf of lead , A pair of shears , A knife with sheath and a new container of Clam snouts ... I noticed about 7 people who stayed on the pier ?? When we got out there I told them they could get into trouble if they got caught and picked our spot on the left corner where Mr Attitude was .. Mr attitude did not catch a fish either but Noah caught Craokers on almost every cast for the first hour and we gave the fish to the guy in the right corner .. The guy was very happy to have the fish and shoved 3 bucks in Noahs hands
The bite turned off at high on the left but picked up immediately on the right where Sport and Jack and the guy in the corner were so I put Noah on the right where he picked up a few nice Craokers here and there on Bloods and the it was like they just ignored the bloods while Sport nailed Croaker after Croaker on cut Spot . Sport gave me a Spot and Noah was in business .. I was estatic and dont think I have ever smiled and laughed so much in my life He caught so many fish that he kept trying to hand off the rod when he had Big Croakers on the line
We had Stripers crashing in the dark off the end and in between helping Noah I managed 2 schoolies at 19" and 13" and missed 1 more . I then joined Noah and noticed the sky turning blue and thats when Sport nails this
The bite was so furious for Noah that I didnt have time to do much and didnt want to take pics and changed the way things were going . So for the last 50 minutes or so of darkness I helped Noah and when I got a bite I handed off the rod and took his and recasted after taking off the fish from his rod .. He had steady fast paced non stop action for those 50 minutes The sun came up but was hidden behind clouds and the Croakers size shrank and just about halted for everyone but as it did the Spot hit in full force With the sun up I was ready to jig up a Flounder or two but it wasnt meant to be .. Noah started nailing Spot 2 at a time and some times 2 Croakers at a time or a Spot and Croaker .. I would make a cast with the tanden and before my rig hit bottom Noah was hooked up with drag screaming He used one of my UL with 10 pound test Mono
Noah started to wear down and took a break and walked to look for more rigs and Bloods on the pier and allowed me to land a Flounder at about 14" that I thought was a keeper only to find it was foul hooked .. my line was stuck on top of a piling and I could not shake it so I was ready to lose the rig and just reeled the fish up the piling and it popped off
Noah returned with more Bloods and 2 packs of hooks
Noah goes back to slaying Spot
And Croakers
And more Spot
We had to leave at 7:45am so at 7:35am I tell him to pack it in and take the bait off while I make 1 final cast for a Flounder and this time I was letting it hit bottom and jigging it in .. I got a Flounder .. all 10" of it LMAO !
What a friggin incredible night He caught more fish than everyone except Sport and most out there dint catch hardly a thing .
I am sure he wont miss next years Tourney and I am also sure he will be bugging Mom to go fishing at the pier with Tom
On the way home he was a bobble head
Think I am gonna keep him another day
CHP 7-31 - 8-1-09
Noah and I hit CHP at 10pm and headed to the end . I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Jimmy (wfad) out there .. Gotta love Jimmy He is always .. and I mean ALWAYS a very highly spirited person who is just full of smiles and laughs .
We set up next to Jimmy and started nailing Croakers .. nothing really big at first but some keepers none the less .
Shortly passed midnight 2 guys on the end left and the rotation began with Jimmy sliding over and letting me and Noah in on his left .. Thanks Jimmy !
We immediately start nailing some decent Croakers .. Well wait back up .. Noah started nailing some nice Croakers on about every cast and most as soon as the bait hit bottom .. if it made it to the bottom . I'm not sure what the deal was but I was tossing his and my rod to the same place with the same rig but I just could not seem to get a bite ?? I ended up leaving my rod on the pier and finishing my coffee . Its kinda cool that when bait fishing I get to finish my coffee before it gets cold
I had a nice guy on my left who I have fished with before but he had a small FW rod and could not accurately cast and was constantly crossing both our lines . No biggie really I'd just reel them in and wait for him to recast .
So at about 1am the guy on the left corner finally got tired of watching everyone catch fish and exclaimed "Well I guess I'm done for the night seems no fish on this side want to bite" . That guy was the same guy I named "Mr Attitude" in my last report !
I watched as no one moved into the corner so I jumped at the chance and BOOM ! First cast is a nice Croaker I grab Noah and move our gear and let Noah catch Croaker after Croaker until he was plum worn out I took over and Noah went and found a seat and talked with the other kids .. There were LOTS of small kids out there and I could hear him telling them about the multitude of fish he had caught
I noticed the Crabs were very very thick and called Noah over to hold the spot and asked Jimmy to watch him while I went to the truck for a net and a bucket .
On my way I ran into Judah and Willie .. Judah had a nice Croaker in his hands and said they were nailing TB Flounder at a good clip , WTG Judah and Willie !
I get back and find Noah still at it and had nailed probably the 2 largest Croakers of the night in a row right before I walked up .. Jimmy you didnt have to do that but I am sure Noah was happy you helped him .
I got to stop and explain just what kind of guy Jimmy is .
We had a couple come out and set up right behind me and no sooner than his line hit the water he gets a Croaker and its at this time I see the Warden approaching He is checking everyone and when he gets to me I tell him about the other Warden who let those folks stay on the pier duting the storm last night . He said he'd check the logbook and look into it and seeing it was Aarons buddy I am sure he will do just that . Then he asks me if the woman behind me is fishing (real quite like) . I turn and look and see its the couple that arrived earlier and she was sitting in a chair with a rod right next to her .. I tell him that I honestly can not say but from the looks we both knew she was . The warden gets to her husband who says he left his license in his car so the warden says "I'll walk with you to get it " . Well that guy never returns and the wife asks me if she could get a license in the bait shop but unfortunately its closed but she goes and checks to make sure ... This is when I notice she is pregnant . She returns alone and we all knew her husband had lied so she packed up and was about to leave and Jimmy jumps up and helps this lady with all her gear and escorts her to the parking lot .. A True Gentleman and I was so Proud of Jimmy .. No one else even moved !
God Bless you Jimmy
So back to the report ..
Jimmy had now returned and switched sides to join Noah and I and with Noahs help he filled his cooler almost to the top when all the sudden I hear a familiar sound that makes my teeth shriek ! Jimmy had catsed and a loud (loud to me anyways) CRACK erupted from his rod . This is the second time in 2 days I heard this sound . Last night after Sport nailed that Weakie he too had the same thing happen .. Crack a snapped rod .. right dead center . Jimmy's broke on the cast while Sports broke when he grabbed it after a bite and set tghe hook only to find it was stcuck under the fencing
Jimmy goes to s small UL and really could feel the bites or set the hook as it was too light so I offer my Noahs rod for him to use .. Thats right Noah had fallen asleep ! LMAO !!
So much for Noah staying awake for 2 days ... LOL !
The Stripers started going nuts so I rigged up a tandem and went to work .. I tried a few different lures to no avail and then I get hit on a Fin"S" that turned out to be a TB Flounder .. I get hit again .. and again .. and again with small TB Flounder and missed a few as well so I changed up from 2.5" to 4" in hopes of a larger one but got nothing . I changed to Croaker strips and nailed a few more TB Flounder with a total of about a dozen and none over 16" .
Jimmy didnt get a bite and decided he needed more ice and packed it in .
The tide was slack and high and the bite stopped on the left so I squeezed in on the right again although it seemed the bite stopped there too I began to nail nice Croakers on every cast .. Well every cast that someone didnt cross my line .
I began putting them in the closest coolers on my right and left and as a result they slacked up and gave me berth
One idiot decided to squeeze in next to the fence and constantly casted over everyones line ! After about teh umteenth time I woke Noah and packed up and left without a word although I know everyone knew why we left .
On the way out I ran into Andy M and talked briefly with him and told him about the incident and that I had to go before someone went swimming
It was great to see you again Andy and I am sorry I couldnt stay .. I'd had enough .
What a pita too as the sun was just starting to peak and if the night was any indication on the Flounder bite it should have been a GREAT day !
Noah was still beat and pased out in seconds after getting on the road Heck in fact that boy is still knocked out
Maybe I'll wake him and hit some FW We'll see but I think he deserves the rest .. For now anyways !
Jimmy ALWAYS a pleasure And Andy I hope we can meet up again soon !
Judah here is my number incase you forgot
302-353-4567 ! lol
BTW I said Noah just turned 11 well I found out he just turned 9 Man I got to keep up !!
CHP 8-1 / 8-2-09 I got breakfast
Got a call from Sport at 7:30 pm and met up with him at the pier at 8pm . The place was PACKED ! I rode around the parking lot 4 times and there were NO empty lots not even in the overflow .. in fact there were vehicles parked in the grass and on the hill in the back lot . I was about to leave when I saw Bobby (He runs the baitshop) and I said WTF no parking ?? Well lets just say he found me a prime spot
Sport and I fished the first light and were not about to go much farther as it was elbow to elbow and lots of 10ft plus rods out there
We were joined by Fishon78 and a friend Mike . Not much going on except for swarms of bait being nailed by Snapper Blues but we did manage some small Croakers and Sport got some Spot before I got there . People started to leave around 9pm so Sport and I headed out to see if we could squeeze in someplace . We got to the skinny part and found 2 slots on the left .. We both moved out farther and again squeezed in . The bite was slow everywhere .. Water was stained and tide had been coming in for about 3 hours by this time . Sport took the right and I went Floundering on the left close to the end . Sport was picking off Croakers but not frequently and I picked up a few small 10 to 12 inch Flounder . Awhile later the guy in the left corner moved to the right because no one was catching anything on the left . I jumped into the corner and sure enough lay siege to Croakers on just about every cast No one else was doing much except me The guy who left the corner couldnt believe it because he fished that spot for a very long time without a bite and here I was filling his cooler
Jimmy brother was there and kept smiling at me and I am sure he too just didnt know what was going on
The bite never picked up good any place but where I was . Sport did get some nice Croakers on Bloods but could not buy a bite of cut Spot .. Odd because that was the bait of choice for me as usual
At 12:45am I gave the spot back to the guy who left it and was about to go home but Sport convinced me to stay another hour so we could leave together . We fished the right corner and picked at a very few Croakers then it just stopped so I went back to Flounder and got 2 more Tb's before I pulled out at 2:10am .. Sport stayed but ended up leaving about 15 minutes after I did .
My wife and the daughter were supposed to meet up with beauty at 4:15am to go crabbing but when I walked in at 2:30am the wife said Tina couldnt go .. I was pissed as it was her idea to go . I tried to call Fran to let him know we wouldnt be there but his phone was off . I waited until 4am and was still upset and had to get out so I made coffee and headed back out . I was planning on hitting RI but thought about all the Croakers I have been reading about and decided to just hit the pier since the Flounder were biting even though they were small I had hopes that might change
when the sun came up . It was pretty foggy or misty when I arrived . I pulled in and found that the lot had emptied out some but there was still lots of people . When I parked I had someone start to walk towards me and had no clue who it was so I rolled down my window and he knew me and said how are you Tom ? I said good and had to ask who he was He said come on I just got done picking your brain and I knew it was Tim (wingding) . We chit chatted and got geared up and headed out to find a spot . We ran into Timmie who said he was getting some small Spot and Croakers near the beginning of the pier but was about to head to IRI for Tog . He gave me some Bloods and headed out and Tim and I continued on out .
Tim decided to stay at a spot near the skinny part by a light and I gave him some last minute tips then waked out a bit farther where I ran into Kwan and Jimmy
Kwan said it was slow but he was getting small Croakers and had a Flounder at 18" .. Kwans buddy was nailing some TB's near the Spot on the left that I did earlier . The guy who's cooler I had filled was still there and all smiles when he saw I was back .. he was still nailing Croakers in the spot just as I showed him how before I left .
Kwan and his Buddy left soon after that and headed to IRI as well for Tog so Jimmy and I picked at Croakers until they stopped at around 5:30am . I switched back to Flounder and got 2 more TB's and just as the sky lightened up Jimmy decided to leave and go take a look at RI before he headed home . Atleast Jimmy got to see the Pilings and asked questions on how to fish them .. I told him the "how to's" and exclaimed the big Flat ones were deep within the pilings and that it was a daylight bite .. He had wonder why they had just about quit biting during the night time and I filled him in
Soon after the sun peaked up .. well it got light but no sun , Jimmy left .. Was long after I nailed a slot Striper at 20.5" . I could have sworn it was a Weakie
It had sea lice on it :anxious:
So as I have been saying all along the sea lice is not an indication that its fresh from the ocean as I know its a resident schoolie .. Sea lice does not mean its a sea run or fresh from the sea like many claimed .
I wish I had known I would get a few nice Sooks with most being the largest I have seen at around 7 to 8 inches and heavy .. I kept tossing them back and should have kept them .. Oh well next time
The crabs slacked off and the fish began to bite .. I got a nice Flounder at 19" and moment later had another at 21.5" that got stuck on a piling but a guy with a net had showed up and scooped it off the piling for me .. It was tangled up in some heavy braid .
Picked at Flounder for the next 2 hours with 3 right at the 18.5" mark that went back and 2 more at 18" .
The sun finally broke through at about 9am and as it did I got SLAMMED ! Turned out to be a 20" Flounder and a 18.5" WEAKFISH !! Best double I have ever had The guy with the net kept saying keep it in the water and got his net and I exclaimed do not worry about the Flounder just net the Weakie He did and lifted the net and the Flounder stayed hooked and both hit the deck .. I got swarmed after that with guys casting right on top of me . By 10am I had had enough and got my gear and headed off the pier .. I felt like a celebrity as I strolled off the pier with a beautiful stringer
Got home at 10:30am and took a few pics...
Had a nice Trout breakfast
What a sweet morning
Nice to see some friends and meet wingding .
Did I say it was a beautiful morning
Hit the pier at 1am and found the water dirty and high tide .. by the time I got to my spot the tide had just started to move . I saw a few small Spot and Croakers on my way out but the bite had not started yet .
I found a Spot near the end and rigged up a Sabiki with BWFB and tried for Spot . I missed 2 bites and had one get off in the first 45 minutes and landed NO fish . A friend (Tink) saw me and asked if I need a Spot or Croaker
I said I'd take a Spot if he had it .. Tink was there last night and was still there He had 2 coolers full of large Croakers and only a handful of Spot .I took the Spot and stripped it out into small chunks and began to lay waste to those Croakers
A family of 8 was on the right end and they didnt have a clue but thankfully they could not cast far and I reached out and touched them
The family kept saying they were leaving and even packed up their stuff .. 15 rods , 4 coolers , 6 chairs and other assorted garbage ... Speaking of garbage there was no place that you could lean on the fence without leaning on a bag full of trash I took a large trash bag and filled it with all the pier bags full of crap and picked up lots of trash from the pier .. when I was satified I went back to work The family finally left around 3am and I moved over expecting the guy next to me to jump into the spot but instead he said "Go ahead Tom I know you are after Flounder" I had no clue who he was but very thankful that he knew me
His name was Tran I tried for Flounder for about 30 minutes and didnt get 1 bite on either side of the pier .. Not even Croakers . Tran was deadsticking and getting a Croaker about every 10 minutes . With no flatties wanting to play I switched back to the Sabiki and put the Spot on .. I lost quite a few nice fish with the small hooks so I rerigged and began to fill Trans cooler. At around 4am Ihear a woman call my name and went to investigate .. Not sure of her name but she and her brother Tim wanted some fish too and they remember me from a few days ago when I filled 2 small cooler and 1 bag full of Croakers .. I said to come down and I would alternate by giving Tran one then give them one
I noticed a guy to my right who had a small Croaker on the deck and I knew it was short so I asked "What are you going to do with that fish?" He said eat it so I asked if it was 8" and he said I think so .. Why dont you check (with a smart attitude) So I did and it was 6.75" and I told him it was short .. He got mad and threw about a half pound of shrimp into the water and picked up the Croaker and walked away .. I grabbed my phone and before I could power it up the and his buddy hauled *** off the pier ! Bastages :angry:
So now I go back to slaying Croakers and keeping a few at 10" for bait .
Tran's cooler could not hold another fish and in fact he removed his bait and gave me his bloods to make room for one more Croaker .
Tim and his sister's cooler was also filled to the top but Tim went in search of something to hold them explaining that he had to capitalize on these big Croakers because what they had were barely legal .. LOL !
When the sun looked like this ..
I caught my first Flounder at 18" on my Croaker rig
I cut up 4 Croakers , put on a tandem rig with two 3" Gulp Squids , added a strip of Croaker and went to work .. Tim and his sister also caught 1 flounder a piece and me ... WELL lets just say I heard "look he's got another one" .. At times it was like a chant
I caught numerous Flounder with 2 more around the 18" mark . At 10am I landed my first keeper at 18.75" and 2 casts later I get one at 19.5" . I got more TB's and lost 2 more keepers trying to flip them .. 30 minutes or so later I get slammed and thought it was a huge Croaker .. It turned out to be a Flounder and when I flipped it it came off in mid air and the wind pushed it onto the pier
If there was no wind that fish would have fallen back also ... This one was 20.25"
I had to roll at 10:45am .. The pier had filled up dramatically.
Another great night
CHP 7-30 & 7-31-2009
7-30
Hit the pier at 9:30am and headed right out to the end . Took a few shots on my way out .
Started fishing at the second light from the end with a tandem rig , 2 Gulp Squids with Flounder Ribbons that I marinated in Gulp Juice over night
Picked up 2 Flounder at about 16" and dropped one about 19-20 inches .. Got another slam that turned out to be a HUGE Oyster Cracker that had to be about 4 pounds .. Never seen anything like it and had 2 guys immediately ask if they could have it .. I said sure but honestly wanted to bring it home to try it myself but I had the Funeral to attend and had predecided to not keep anything . At about 11am I walked to the corner and fished the left side and saw thet the guys on the right were not fishing close and were casting straight out so I asked if I could squeeze in and pitch a few to the right for Flounder and said if I got one they could have it .. They said sure and made room
I landed an 18" Flounder on the first cast and a few cast later nailed a nice 23"
I picked up another 10 or so with two more over 18" but not 18.5" .. I was about to call it a day when I think I am hooked up to a Horseshoe Crab .. I get it an inch from the surface and see it the biggest Flounder I have ever seen .. My PB is 29.5" and this was ot only Bigger but much much rounder .. It eyes were incredible . The Flounder hit the air and pulled drag and wrapped around the piling once , twice and three times before the line ran out and the Flounder actually hit the piling and pulled the hook .. when it did it shot straight out of the air and upon re-entry acted like it was still hooked and did the backwards shake slamming its head and tail on the surface of the water .. People down from me said "whats that a Ray?" I said yepp a big Cownose Ray
The guys who let me in all had thier mouths wide open and I just said SHHH ! When I finally get some sleep I amd gonna dream about that Doormat and its eyes .I packed it in after that at about 2PM .
The Funeral ..
Went very well and Jimmy had lots of friends .. One of the largest turnouts Harrington has ever seen .. I didnt know 20 percent of the people there . Afterwards we all went and had dinner and sat and reminisced of the past and good time we all shared with our beloved Jimmy .. He will be terribly missed .
I got a chance to see the Grand Nephew Noah who was supposed to come fish the Kids Tourney with me this year and I asked him when we were going fishing
He said "How about Sunday?" and I said "How about tonight?" He jumped at it and ran to ask Mom who said sure take him We arrived home here at about 12:30AM and were on the pier at 2AM .. I told him we were staying until sunrise and he said OK I have stayed awake for 2 days Noah just turned 11 7-31
So we get out and see Danger Ranger and a few other I know and Noah says "man you know everyone
" . We get to the end of the pier and find Sport and Jack in the "Spot" but they both say not much is going on .. While stading there a guy on the left I guess had issues with me walking right to the end and asked me to "MOVE" .. He had an attitude so I just moved down about 20 feet to an open spot. While rigging and baiting up I saw 1 Craoker landed by Sport and that was it .. I didnt see a single fish caught on the way out either . I get Noah in the water and he nails 5 Croakers in a row and dropped #6 .. I didnt even get a chance to fish and was happy to watch him but thats when the winds picked up and the rain started .. Lightening crashed and thunder Boomed and within a few minutes the Pier was closed . Noah and I got trapped in the baithroom for about 10 minutes while it rained cats and dogs and when we got a break we ran for the truck .. by this time many had already packed up and pulled out .. Thats when the rain stopped I got out and walked up to he Rangers Truck and asked about how long they would keep it closed and he said 3:30am which was only another 20 minutes I saw Rick and chatted with him and told him they were gonna open it up .
3:30am Noah and I are first to head back onto the pier and on the way out we found about 30 dollars in Bloodworms and picked up about a dozen rigs , a pound and a hlaf of lead , A pair of shears , A knife with sheath and a new container of Clam snouts ... I noticed about 7 people who stayed on the pier ?? When we got out there I told them they could get into trouble if they got caught and picked our spot on the left corner where Mr Attitude was .. Mr attitude did not catch a fish either but Noah caught Craokers on almost every cast for the first hour and we gave the fish to the guy in the right corner .. The guy was very happy to have the fish and shoved 3 bucks in Noahs hands
The bite turned off at high on the left but picked up immediately on the right where Sport and Jack and the guy in the corner were so I put Noah on the right where he picked up a few nice Craokers here and there on Bloods and the it was like they just ignored the bloods while Sport nailed Croaker after Croaker on cut Spot . Sport gave me a Spot and Noah was in business .. I was estatic and dont think I have ever smiled and laughed so much in my life
He caught so many fish that he kept trying to hand off the rod when he had Big Croakers on the line We had Stripers crashing in the dark off the end and in between helping Noah I managed 2 schoolies at 19" and 13" and missed 1 more . I then joined Noah and noticed the sky turning blue and thats when Sport nails this
The bite was so furious for Noah that I didnt have time to do much and didnt want to take pics and changed the way things were going . So for the last 50 minutes or so of darkness I helped Noah and when I got a bite I handed off the rod and took his and recasted after taking off the fish from his rod .. He had steady fast paced non stop action for those 50 minutes
The sun came up but was hidden behind clouds and the Croakers size shrank and just about halted for everyone but as it did the Spot hit in full force With the sun up I was ready to jig up a Flounder or two but it wasnt meant to be .. Noah started nailing Spot 2 at a time and some times 2 Croakers at a time or a Spot and Croaker .. I would make a cast with the tanden and before my rig hit bottom Noah was hooked up with drag screaming He used one of my UL with 10 pound test Mono Noah started to wear down and took a break and walked to look for more rigs and Bloods on the pier and allowed me to land a Flounder at about 14" that I thought was a keeper only to find it was foul hooked .. my line was stuck on top of a piling and I could not shake it so I was ready to lose the rig and just reeled the fish up the piling and it popped off
Noah returned with more Bloods and 2 packs of hooks
Noah goes back to slaying Spot
And Croakers
And more Spot
We had to leave at 7:45am so at 7:35am I tell him to pack it in and take the bait off while I make 1 final cast for a Flounder and this time I was letting it hit bottom and jigging it in .. I got a Flounder .. all 10" of it
LMAO !What a friggin incredible night
He caught more fish than everyone except Sport and most out there dint catch hardly a thing .I am sure he wont miss next years Tourney and I am also sure he will be bugging Mom to go fishing at the pier with Tom
On the way home he was a bobble head
Think I am gonna keep him another day
CHP 7-31 - 8-1-09
Noah and I hit CHP at 10pm and headed to the end . I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Jimmy (wfad) out there .. Gotta love Jimmy He is always .. and I mean ALWAYS a very highly spirited person who is just full of smiles and laughs .
We set up next to Jimmy and started nailing Croakers .. nothing really big at first but some keepers none the less .
Shortly passed midnight 2 guys on the end left and the rotation began with Jimmy sliding over and letting me and Noah in on his left .. Thanks Jimmy !
We immediately start nailing some decent Croakers .. Well wait back up .. Noah started nailing some nice Croakers on about every cast and most as soon as the bait hit bottom .. if it made it to the bottom . I'm not sure what the deal was but I was tossing his and my rod to the same place with the same rig but I just could not seem to get a bite ?? I ended up leaving my rod on the pier and finishing my coffee . Its kinda cool that when bait fishing I get to finish my coffee before it gets cold
I had a nice guy on my left who I have fished with before but he had a small FW rod and could not accurately cast and was constantly crossing both our lines . No biggie really I'd just reel them in and wait for him to recast .
So at about 1am the guy on the left corner finally got tired of watching everyone catch fish and exclaimed "Well I guess I'm done for the night seems no fish on this side want to bite" . That guy was the same guy I named "Mr Attitude" in my last report !
I watched as no one moved into the corner so I jumped at the chance and BOOM ! First cast is a nice Croaker I grab Noah and move our gear and let Noah catch Croaker after Croaker until he was plum worn out I took over and Noah went and found a seat and talked with the other kids .. There were LOTS of small kids out there and I could hear him telling them about the multitude of fish he had caught
I noticed the Crabs were very very thick and called Noah over to hold the spot and asked Jimmy to watch him while I went to the truck for a net and a bucket .
On my way I ran into Judah and Willie .. Judah had a nice Croaker in his hands and said they were nailing TB Flounder at a good clip , WTG Judah and Willie !
I get back and find Noah still at it and had nailed probably the 2 largest Croakers of the night in a row right before I walked up .. Jimmy you didnt have to do that but I am sure Noah was happy you helped him .
I got to stop and explain just what kind of guy Jimmy is .
We had a couple come out and set up right behind me and no sooner than his line hit the water he gets a Croaker and its at this time I see the Warden approaching He is checking everyone and when he gets to me I tell him about the other Warden who let those folks stay on the pier duting the storm last night . He said he'd check the logbook and look into it and seeing it was Aarons buddy I am sure he will do just that . Then he asks me if the woman behind me is fishing (real quite like) . I turn and look and see its the couple that arrived earlier and she was sitting in a chair with a rod right next to her .. I tell him that I honestly can not say but from the looks we both knew she was . The warden gets to her husband who says he left his license in his car so the warden says "I'll walk with you to get it " . Well that guy never returns and the wife asks me if she could get a license in the bait shop but unfortunately its closed but she goes and checks to make sure ... This is when I notice she is pregnant . She returns alone and we all knew her husband had lied so she packed up and was about to leave and Jimmy jumps up and helps this lady with all her gear and escorts her to the parking lot .. A True Gentleman and I was so Proud of Jimmy .. No one else even moved !
God Bless you Jimmy
So back to the report ..
Jimmy had now returned and switched sides to join Noah and I and with Noahs help he filled his cooler almost to the top when all the sudden I hear a familiar sound that makes my teeth shriek ! Jimmy had catsed and a loud (loud to me anyways) CRACK erupted from his rod . This is the second time in 2 days I heard this sound . Last night after Sport nailed that Weakie he too had the same thing happen .. Crack a snapped rod .. right dead center . Jimmy's broke on the cast while Sports broke when he grabbed it after a bite and set tghe hook only to find it was stcuck under the fencing
Jimmy goes to s small UL and really could feel the bites or set the hook as it was too light so I offer my Noahs rod for him to use .. Thats right Noah had fallen asleep ! LMAO !!
So much for Noah staying awake for 2 days ... LOL !
The Stripers started going nuts so I rigged up a tandem and went to work .. I tried a few different lures to no avail and then I get hit on a Fin"S" that turned out to be a TB Flounder .. I get hit again .. and again .. and again with small TB Flounder and missed a few as well so I changed up from 2.5" to 4" in hopes of a larger one but got nothing . I changed to Croaker strips and nailed a few more TB Flounder with a total of about a dozen and none over 16" .
Jimmy didnt get a bite and decided he needed more ice and packed it in .
The tide was slack and high and the bite stopped on the left so I squeezed in on the right again although it seemed the bite stopped there too I began to nail nice Croakers on every cast .. Well every cast that someone didnt cross my line .
I began putting them in the closest coolers on my right and left and as a result they slacked up and gave me berth
One idiot decided to squeeze in next to the fence and constantly casted over everyones line ! After about teh umteenth time I woke Noah and packed up and left without a word although I know everyone knew why we left .
On the way out I ran into Andy M and talked briefly with him and told him about the incident and that I had to go before someone went swimming
It was great to see you again Andy and I am sorry I couldnt stay .. I'd had enough .
What a pita too as the sun was just starting to peak and if the night was any indication on the Flounder bite it should have been a GREAT day !
Noah was still beat and pased out in seconds after getting on the road Heck in fact that boy is still knocked out
Maybe I'll wake him and hit some FW We'll see but I think he deserves the rest .. For now anyways !
Jimmy ALWAYS a pleasure And Andy I hope we can meet up again soon !
Judah here is my number incase you forgot
302-353-4567 ! lol
BTW I said Noah just turned 11 well I found out he just turned 9 Man I got to keep up !!
CHP 8-1 / 8-2-09 I got breakfast
Got a call from Sport at 7:30 pm and met up with him at the pier at 8pm . The place was PACKED ! I rode around the parking lot 4 times and there were NO empty lots not even in the overflow .. in fact there were vehicles parked in the grass and on the hill in the back lot . I was about to leave when I saw Bobby (He runs the baitshop) and I said WTF no parking ?? Well lets just say he found me a prime spot
Sport and I fished the first light and were not about to go much farther as it was elbow to elbow and lots of 10ft plus rods out there
We were joined by Fishon78 and a friend Mike . Not much going on except for swarms of bait being nailed by Snapper Blues but we did manage some small Croakers and Sport got some Spot before I got there . People started to leave around 9pm so Sport and I headed out to see if we could squeeze in someplace . We got to the skinny part and found 2 slots on the left .. We both moved out farther and again squeezed in . The bite was slow everywhere .. Water was stained and tide had been coming in for about 3 hours by this time . Sport took the right and I went Floundering on the left close to the end . Sport was picking off Croakers but not frequently and I picked up a few small 10 to 12 inch Flounder . Awhile later the guy in the left corner moved to the right because no one was catching anything on the left . I jumped into the corner and sure enough lay siege to Croakers on just about every cast
No one else was doing much except me The guy who left the corner couldnt believe it because he fished that spot for a very long time without a bite and here I was filling his cooler Jimmy brother was there and kept smiling at me and I am sure he too just didnt know what was going on
The bite never picked up good any place but where I was . Sport did get some nice Croakers on Bloods but could not buy a bite of cut Spot .. Odd because that was the bait of choice for me as usual
At 12:45am I gave the spot back to the guy who left it and was about to go home but Sport convinced me to stay another hour so we could leave together . We fished the right corner and picked at a very few Croakers then it just stopped so I went back to Flounder and got 2 more Tb's before I pulled out at 2:10am .. Sport stayed but ended up leaving about 15 minutes after I did .
My wife and the daughter were supposed to meet up with beauty at 4:15am to go crabbing but when I walked in at 2:30am the wife said Tina couldnt go .. I was pissed as it was her idea to go . I tried to call Fran to let him know we wouldnt be there but his phone was off . I waited until 4am and was still upset and had to get out so I made coffee and headed back out . I was planning on hitting RI but thought about all the Croakers I have been reading about and decided to just hit the pier since the Flounder were biting even though they were small I had hopes that might change
when the sun came up . It was pretty foggy or misty when I arrived . I pulled in and found that the lot had emptied out some but there was still lots of people . When I parked I had someone start to walk towards me and had no clue who it was so I rolled down my window and he knew me and said how are you Tom ? I said good and had to ask who he was
He said come on I just got done picking your brain and I knew it was Tim (wingding) . We chit chatted and got geared up and headed out to find a spot . We ran into Timmie who said he was getting some small Spot and Croakers near the beginning of the pier but was about to head to IRI for Tog . He gave me some Bloods and headed out and Tim and I continued on out .Tim decided to stay at a spot near the skinny part by a light and I gave him some last minute tips then waked out a bit farther where I ran into Kwan and Jimmy
Kwan said it was slow but he was getting small Croakers and had a Flounder at 18" .. Kwans buddy was nailing some TB's near the Spot on the left that I did earlier . The guy who's cooler I had filled was still there and all smiles when he saw I was back .. he was still nailing Croakers in the spot just as I showed him how before I left .
Kwan and his Buddy left soon after that and headed to IRI as well for Tog so Jimmy and I picked at Croakers until they stopped at around 5:30am . I switched back to Flounder and got 2 more TB's and just as the sky lightened up Jimmy decided to leave and go take a look at RI before he headed home . Atleast Jimmy got to see the Pilings and asked questions on how to fish them .. I told him the "how to's" and exclaimed the big Flat ones were deep within the pilings and that it was a daylight bite .. He had wonder why they had just about quit biting during the night time and I filled him in
Soon after the sun peaked up .. well it got light but no sun , Jimmy left .. Was long after I nailed a slot Striper at 20.5" . I could have sworn it was a Weakie
It had sea lice on it :anxious:
So as I have been saying all along the sea lice is not an indication that its fresh from the ocean as I know its a resident schoolie .. Sea lice does not mean its a sea run or fresh from the sea like many claimed .
I wish I had known I would get a few nice Sooks with most being the largest I have seen at around 7 to 8 inches and heavy .. I kept tossing them back and should have kept them .. Oh well next time
The crabs slacked off and the fish began to bite .. I got a nice Flounder at 19" and moment later had another at 21.5" that got stuck on a piling but a guy with a net had showed up and scooped it off the piling for me .. It was tangled up in some heavy braid .
Picked at Flounder for the next 2 hours with 3 right at the 18.5" mark that went back and 2 more at 18" .
The sun finally broke through at about 9am and as it did I got SLAMMED ! Turned out to be a 20" Flounder and a 18.5" WEAKFISH
!! Best double I have ever had The guy with the net kept saying keep it in the water and got his net and I exclaimed do not worry about the Flounder just net the Weakie He did and lifted the net and the Flounder stayed hooked and both hit the deck .. I got swarmed after that with guys casting right on top of me . By 10am I had had enough and got my gear and headed off the pier .. I felt like a celebrity as I strolled off the pier with a beautiful stringer
Got home at 10:30am and took a few pics...
Had a nice Trout breakfast
What a sweet morning
Nice to see some friends and meet wingding .
Did I say it was a beautiful morning 
