Category Archives: fishing-report

Happy New Year! Getting Ready for 2015!

1/1/15 – After a busy and exciting 2014 Season, we have decided to get started on some boat maintenance and updates a little earlier than usual, so the Mushin is resting and getting her makeover.  We had another great 2014 season with great early season bottom fishing on COD, TOG, and LING, and had some COD trips that rivaled what is found off New England! As April and May rolled in, we started chasing the STRIPERS on bunker pods, and had some great days on BIG STRIPERS! SEA BASS joined the fun as the NJ State season opened, and as usual many of our secret wrecks held lots of these fun and tasty creatures. June meant MAKO season – and it was a great MAKO season. Most of these trips produced multiple MAKOs brought boatside per trip, with one tournament weekend having 8 MAKOs wired. June through September gave us some great weather for offshore CANYON runs, and found YELLOWFIN, LONGFIN, AND BIGEYE to be plentiful on the troll. WHITE MARLIN were added on many trips too! September to October weather and winds shut us out of the canyons – it was one of the windiest Falls we can remember – many of you guys know as you were cancelled repeatedly on the Fall canyon trips. Fortunately we had some more great SEA BASS and STRIPER fishing closer to shore. Unfortunately, the GIANT BLUEFIN fishing never developed on the fishable days here this year. So now is the time to get things ready for another exciting 2015 Season! Please consider booking early to get some of the choice dates.

11/30 – Short Striper Bonanza

11/30 – We had the Cullen charter out today in search of striped bass. We ran the distance all the way to the North and were treated to clouds of diving birds, bait, and tons of short stripers all caught on jigs and light spinning gear. The 10 year olds Mitchell and Brett caught their share of bass on their own – in fact Mitchell kept up with the grown ups by catch and releasing at least 20+ stripers by himself. We often had 3, 4, 5 on (for 5 person group), and lots of bass that followed right to the boat. It just doesn’t get much better fun than this – other than having to release every one.

11/29 – Mid-range Wreck Bonanza

11/29 – We had the Cantwell group out for the mid-range wrecks today in search of cod and big seabass – Over the first 5 wrecks we had a showing of big seabass and cod, but the trick was to keep the ever-abundant dogfish off the baits. Yes, the doggies were a huge problem. We ran inshore a little and hit some mud bottomed wreck to put some ling in the boat – we were treated to ling flying over the rails, but pleasantly surprised by a mother lode of 2 to 5 pound sea bass as well, and added cod to 12 pounds. Needless to say, the guys left with bags of delicious bottom fish fillets.

11/16 – Tog Opener

11/16 – We had the privilege of having Howie, Leif, Billy, Matt, David, and Brian on board for the tog openers – the experience alone of this group of tog sharpies put the pressure on Capt Jay and mate Darryl to find some whitechins (Thanks Capt Jay, who was pinch hitting for Capt Alan for the day). So fishing was really not so great for the fleet early on, and Capt Jay moved around to some different areas before landing on some tog later in the day. These guys definitely made the best of the day – putting some quality keeper tog and a big sea bass in the boat – and laughed their asses off. From what I heard, Capt Jay and mate Darryl had just as much fun spending time with this great group of guys! We will see many of you guys for Winter and Spring CAWD trips!

11/15 – Stripers on Bunker

11/15 – We had the pleasure of the Fette’s and their guest on board today to chase stripers on bunker. Their guest Bob wasted no time and put a nice 25# bass on board within minutes of us clearing the Inlet. We then got into the blues chopping our baits, so we made some moves to find some more bass. Some more missed hits before John put another nice bass. Hart added some gator sized blues in the boat. Boat traffic made it a tougher day today – but plenty of bait and fish to be caught.

11/8 – Bass Bit Today

11/8 – Capt. Alan had the O’Donnell’s and their guest out today in search of stripers – finding them was no problem – just like yesterday – fish were found South and North. We ran North and looked around until we found the bird life we were looking for. A couple of early hookups under the birds casting jigs and plastics for bass and blues. Then the fish went down (we could read monster sized schools of bass under us) but would not bite for a while on the slack tide. Since they weren’t coming after us, we went after them – put the trolling gear out with small tubes and picked away. First hook up was three bass on one umbrella rig. It was a steady pick for the next couple of hours – with many “double hook ups” – but today’s bass were the 25-27 inch model – and added some blues. Talking to other reputable charter guys, there is no doubt there are bass spread from Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet and beyond – we just need this full moon to give up so bass start biting harder again.

10/30 – More Stripers!

10/30 – The weather was too nice to pass up so we put together some guys for a quick half-day striped bass “snag n drop” trip. Pushing off at 6:30 am, we were back at the dock by noon with a box full of stripers from 25 to 28 pounds – all on live bunker! There was solid action in at least two distinct areas several miles apart – this is promising for the Fall run that has started!

10/27 – MORE HOT STRIPER FISHING

10/27 – Capt. Chad Bennett asked a few of us to jump on his vessel Sea Soda for a quick trip to grab dinner – that is, striped bass. A quick ride put us on bunker schools and we made bait instantly, followed by striped bass hook ups doing the “snag n drop” with bunker baits. Stripers ran up to 25#, and we followed the fish til dark. We are in the striped bass run NOW, and booking charters for stripers!

10/26 – Stripers Are Here!

10/26 – We had our regulars Joe, Nigel, Cousin Vinny, and their family/friends on board for our first Striper charter for Fall 2014. A nice trip with flat seas nearshore – we found the bait in pods that you could walk on. The first couple of pods had few bass – but we then got to the hot spot and the guys did “snag n drop” with bunkers on quality stripers to 25#. There was tremendous amounts of bait pouring down the coast – this NW wind has likely initiate the push of stripers down the coast – now is the time to go bassing! We still have a number of November dates available to target stripers! Call Capt Ray at 732-691-0949 or Capt Alan at 609-731-3742 to book.