Heat WaveThe past 10 days were hot and flat with very little wind. Despite the quiet conditions we had some decent action on seas that were as flat as they get. On 7.17I took out Jeff and his crew from the Albany NY area. We were able weed through the pollock and stock the live wells with an acceptable amount of mackerel. They scored first over at Richmond Island with 2 nice slot fish,(slot fish are stripers between 20-26"), that went in the cooler for a family cook out. We did have a bluefish take a bait and run right past the boat and was close enough for us to see puke up a bunch of fish before biting us off.Things got quiet so we ran over to a beach location and started getting action. Missed quite a few but did stick and land a couple nice fish of 31 + 34". This was one of the rarer trips that we were able to get a couple of slot fish for the table along with larger fish to test the angler's skills.Friday 7.20 I took out Dave, Lorry, and Jerry on another spectacular morning. Catching our mackerel was the perfect way for the guys to clear out the cob webs from the night before and were ready for some stripers when we were done. Well, it didn't take long as a striper smashed the first mackerel within 10 seconds of hitting the water and Jerry brings in a nice one. The action continues at a steady pace with the guys doing a good job hooking up at a rate of 50%, which is par. We ended the day with about 7 stripers landed, 1 slot fish plus 3 lobsters kept for lunch for the family.

On Sunday 7.22 Matt and his family got onboard at the ambitious time of 6am. We had no trouble getting our mackerel and weren't bothered too much with pollock. The first 2 spots were dead as we only got one half hearted take. This is when I get a little nervous as it is a bit of a run to my next spot and the seas were beginning to pick up. Matt lives locally now and I really wanted him to get into them. We finally get to the next spot after a bumpy ride but thankfully we are protected from the wind and the seas are calm. It takes a couple of minutes but we get a hit and Matt's Father reels in a good striper with the calmest technique I have ever seen. After a couple of stripers, Matt hooks a bluefish that gave us a good show and I really think we are finally going to land one. As Matt gets it to the boat he pulls the hook, nothing he did wrong just happens. Everyone lands at least one and we miss plenty of others. As we were in over time and preparing the boat to head in, matt's mackerel comes to the surface in a panic and we see a 35" striper hammer it several times on the surface. Matt sets the hook and brings her boatside with solid technique. Fantastic way to end a god day.

July 23, 2012