With the Thanksgiving holiday right around the corner and the 2011 fishing season finally starting to wind down the fishing here at the Wharf has been pretty decent with the Stripers, Sea Bass and the Tautog. We have continued to have some great success with all three fisheries on just about every trip we have made.

Last week I actually spent nearly as much time hunting as I did fishing which was really fine by me other than the fact that it seemed to rain just about every day. Neither the fish or the deer really seemed to mind the weather and having been able to spend some quality time in the woods for a change, I have to admit neither did I!

The first trip we got out was on Wednesday with Capt. H.D. at the helm for the Sea Bass trip. With a very light rail and a decent Ocean Capt. H ventured off to wrecks in the 15 to 20 fathom range and was rewarded with limit catches of the tasty Bass for everyone on board including the crew. Meanwhile both the Tog and the Stripers were biting rather well real close to home for the private charter boats chasing them around in the rain while I was chasing after the deer. I ended my quest for a nice buck with one clean shot Thursday afternoon once again hunting in the rain and by Friday I was all rested and refreshed with a few days of relaxation and ready to get back to the fish!

The Tog started to bite for us right out of the gate Friday morning, not fast and furious but they were nice fish and they were starting to add up despite some very less than favorable conditions to fish for them. The wind directly against the tide for a few hours certainly kept everyone busy with the boat swinging over the structure and the tackle loss as a result. As the flood tide slowed down and I was able to anchor with just the wind, the fish just seemed to shut down for a while but as soon as the ebb tide started to run they bit as good as they have for us all season and for a while we had two and three nets going around the rail and fish being swung in without a net as well. We got to the dock a little late but we had a nice catch with Tog up to about 8 or 9 pounds.

On Saturday I actually got to venture out of the muddy water and fish for the Sea Bass While Capt. H.D. had an offshore Bird Watching trip. This was certainly a nice change of pace for me, I hadn't fished for the Bass since the October closing and with the good fishing that has been enjoyed recently and the decent weather in the forecast, I was anticipating a nice trip. Neither myself or my 26 passengers onboard were disappointed! We pretty much had lock and load Sea Bass fishing from the moment we started fishing until the moment we pulled the anchor for home! I actually only fished two different wrecks on Saturday each producing a good number of fish. The first stop was just a strong pick with lots of short Bass along with a good number keepers and a bunch of nice Codfish keeping everyone's attention. After almost two hours on hotspot number one I made a move to a wreck that stood up a little higher and the action was fast and furious pretty much until we left for home with a nice run of keeper sized Bass, more Codfish, and a bunch of Red Hake. Limits were common around the rail and those that didn't land a limit had either wore out and quit or were throwing keepers back because they already had more than they wanted. It was a super day in my book.

While I was offshore catching Bass Capt. Mike and Capt. George respectively were fishing for the Tog and the Stripers. There seems to be something about weekends that has a tendency to shut off a fishery and with the Stripers more so than anything. Boat traffic and pressure has a lot to do with it but even though the fishing wasn't quite as good as it had been a few days earlier in the week the Striper boat met with some pretty good results once again landing some true trophy Rockfish. Togging wasn't nearly as good as it was the prior day but there were still a few real nice fish landed and with a high hook landing eight nice Tog you certainly can't call it a bum day. If you were one of the lucky ones that caught their limit of Stripers or landed your personal best or if you had a few nice Tog in your box you would call it a good day. If you were one of those that weren't quite so lucky of course you may have had a different opinion of how the trip went.

Sunday was another busy day at the Wharf we had boats out fishing again for all three target species and we had some mixed results. Capt. H told me he had a tough day trying to get the keeper Sea Bass to add up for him in all the wind and the rough seas. He said most guys were well into the high teens or more with legitimate keepers of Bass and he also had another good smattering of Codfish around the rail but that conditions made it tough to fish and to look around for the best action. Striper fishing was hit and miss, some boats did very well on the Linesiders and some boats found out the hard way that this is not a spectator sport watching those around them catching. Tog fishing was better than it was on Saturday but not quite as good as it was on Friday. They bit fair but never really turned on strong for us. We did have several nice fish though including a poolfish over ten pounds and just about everyone on board finally by the end of the day did get supper.

Our 2011 season is most certainly winding down now with the holidays upon us. This is our last week of trying to run seven days a week. After Thanksgiving we will only be sailing on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Mondays with the Tog and the Striper trips. We will continue with the Sea Bass schedule the way it is until the fish push further offshore forcing a longer trip. Sea Bass Trips will be running on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Reservations are not required but are advised.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to book a private charter please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Thelma Dale IV
catchfish@verizon.net