Cabin fever from a week of cold March temperatures and snow that just wouldnÂ’t melt gave way this past weekend to some beautiful Ocean weather and some unseasonably warm temperatures on both land and sea. Along with this weather came what IÂ’m sure will be one of the most memorable fishing trips of the winter.

We geared up Friday with a pretty good forecast and some fairly strong southerly wind hoping that the forecasterÂ’s didnÂ’t miss this call and the Ocean would indeed be kind to us on Saturday. With a nice crowd of hearty anglers and high anticipation we departed in fifty-degree temperatures and some fairly big swells from the prior daysÂ’ wind. After a relatively decent ride we arrived at the grounds shortly after sunrise and threw the anchor. From the moment the lines first hit the bottom till the whistle was blown to start on our journey for home the fishing was what I can modestly and very honestly describe as outstanding!

The bite was on and all around the boat anglers were hooking up with both Tilefish and Sea Bass as fast as you could get your lines down to the bottom. Tilefish would ultimately end up stealing the show away from the Sea Bass on this trip with most anglers landing between ten and twenty of these deep-water beauties! Not only were they abundant but also the size was very impressive as well with most fish falling in the 8 to 12 pound range and in many cases more like 12 to 15. For a while it was complete pandemonium around the boat with fish coming up everywhere you looked and everyone needing a net or some type of help landing these beautiful fish, which were often coming up as double headers. As the day progressed and everyone got into a rhythm the fish didnÂ’t stop and rarely would you look around and not see action. Conditions on this trip were nearly ideal with very little current allowing the lines to pretty much go straight down on both sides of the boat with about a pound of lead. Everything was falling into place and the coolers were rapidly filling up with fish!

Somewhere after midday the action finally slowed up a little, Spiny Dogfish Sharks started to become more of a nuisance and many worn out fisherman decided to take a break or wrap it up altogether having already landed a cooler full of fish. Capt. H made the call to pull anchor and “look around a little.” After several minutes of scouring the depths with eyes glued to the fish finding equipment we anchored again only this time we were not rewarded with too much, Sharks took over right away and we were once again on the move. With time running out and what was a now a very flat ocean we made a couple drifts and put some icing on the cake with more big Tiles and a few more Bass and we were on our way for home. In typical fashion some of the biggest Tilefish of the day including the poolfish were landed on the very last stop. Our biggest Tilefish was around 17 pounds and the biggest Sea Bass was just over 5.

This trip was certainly a memorable one and I know that they canÂ’t all be this good but with the offshore water temperatures the way they are now I see no reason other than weather that would keep us from seeing more of this type of action in the upcoming weeks with these offshore adventures. We will continue throughout March and into April running weekends on these special trips the list of dates and any new dates will be posted on our special trip link from the home page at fishlewes.com If you are interested in making one of these 18-hour journeyÂ’s remember they are limited space and you must make reservations in advance and be prepared to fish in depths of at least 300 feet.

We will try to resume our regular Full Day trips on Saturday March 28th the water inshore right now is very cold and there is not much going on. I spoke with several guys that tried for the Tautog this past weekend with virtually no success bottom temperatures are just too cold and these fish are in the doldrums. As the water begins to creep up in temperature the Tog will turn on again with an active feeding pattern and we should see some good action with these fish but it looks like it may be a few more weeks so I am in no rush. As of now there is still no good news for an inshore run of Mackerel but that could change at any time and if they are around we will certainly give them a try. If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to reserve a space for one of our special trips please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Time Happy Fishing!

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