July, 2009 Fishing Report -

Sunday, July 26th

The Mallon charter was aboard today for their morning of fishing with Corliss, Dennis, Denny, Greg, Rich and Tom. At 5:30 AM, we were experiencing a strong thunderstorm, with the rain completely stopping within an hour. It was a warm and humid 75° F. leaving the dock, with breaks of sun coming behind the storm. Winds were out of the South at 8-10 knots, and the ocean still had a 3'-4' swell. Winds fell out, then piped back up to 12-13 knots by the time we got back to the dock at lunch time, good for green head control. The ocean surface temp. is holding steady at 73° F.

Overall fishing effort was limited a bit by the effects of mal de mer on the group. For those that fished, the catching was good, we had a box of fish in excess of 30 (out of near 150 total fish landed), mostly sea bass, but not the quality we had yesterday. Dennis had a double header keeper catch of sea bass along with a couple of 2+ lb. fish in between emptying the contents of his stomach over the side of the boat. I give him credit for keeping at it! Thanks for coming down and enjoy your week of vacation on Long Beach Island.

As for me, I'm headed to Sesame Place for a few days of a vacation of my own with the kids. See you "next month".

Capt. Adam

Saturday, July 25th

After having some weather here resembling a summer Nor'easter on Thursday, the ocean has been pretty stirred up the past 48 hours. With a forecast for little wind today, it was back to the fishing grounds with the Shirey charter from Carlisle, PA. Aboard were Chris and Todd, Lisa and Matt, and Jaime and Scott. It was a beautiful, low humidity morning, the air temp. was 60° F. at 6 AM. We had a mix of sun, haze and fog on the day which limited the visibility and the overall sun we saw, allowing the air temp. to climb into the upper 70's on the water, I believe it hit 80° F. on land. It was much more humid on the water than on land, however, a day where the sweat drips off of you just standing there. Seas were a leftover 4'-6' swell to start the day, and winds were calm. We had 7-8 knots of wind out of the South-Southwest by 9 am and 13-15 knots after lunch, turning seas into a 3'-4' chop. The ocean surface temp. was 73° F.

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The catching was quite good today, downright fantastic for late July in my opinion. Landings on the day were approx. 300 sea bass, along with some tog and a ling. Our box of keepers for the day was over 50 fish with superb quality. Back at the dock I weighed a pair of 4 pound sea bass along with 8-10 more fish from 2.5 - 3.5 lbs. It was as good an average pound per sea bass day you can have inshore. A photo of the group with their catch appears above.

With so many good fish landed today, it was hard to determine the fisher-person of the day, I actually had to check the camera and review the pics I took to determine a winner. The only easy determination on the day was that the women easily outfished the men for numbers and quality. Matt was the first to have his photo taken with a 3 lb. class fish, but was also struck by mal de mer, limiting his fishing time and landings.

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Chris had quite a few keepers on the day, but in the end, the award went to Lisa. She and Chris tied for big fish of the day, each landing a 4 lb. sea bass. Lisa also had a double header keeper catch, landed a legal sized tog, and boxed a ling. Hard to argue with that record of success, a photo of her with one of her jumbo sea bass appears at right.

Capt. Adam

Monday, July 20th

Vacation season continues here at the Jersey Shore, another half day trip today for the Ferfort and Beasley families in from the Dallas, TX area. 61° F. to start the morning. We had some sun to start, but clouds soon ruled most of the day. Winds were light out of the East, but by mid-morning had built to around 10 knots, more after lunch. Seas were calm with a couple of foot chop when we headed for home. The air temp. was in the upper 70's, and with the winds now from a direction other than South for a couple days, ocean temps are rebounding, up to 68° F. today.

Today was as much of a sight-seeing adventure as it was a fishing trip. We tried both drifting and anchoring on the day. We caught a combination of fish that for a group that doesn't spend much time on the ocean found interesting, including black sea bass, skates and sea robins. Sue was the fisherperson of the day as she landed the most fish along with the biggest, a nice humpback sea bass that we let go as the gang wasn't looking for any fish to take home. 17 month old Kate did a great job, even doing a little fishing herself and enjoying most of the fish we caught.

Thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II, hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation and have safe travels home.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, July 19th

Another half day morning trip today for Kari Organtini and family/friends from Bernville, PA. In addition to Kari, the group included Angel, Anthony, Hector, Randy and Ron. After a good night of radiational cooling (there's one you don't hear much in July), another gorgeous 58° F. morning with continued low humidity. We had sunny skies and very little wind to speak of most of the morning, just a light and variable breeze of less than 5 knots. After lunch, a sea breeze of 10 knots out of the South did fill in, but we were back at the dock by then. The ocean was flat calm with a little remaining swell, and the surface temp. right on the beach is just in the low 60's, in the mid-60's a bit further offshore.

With no wind for anchoring, I decided to give the flounder fishing a shot today, knowing that I could at least power drift if needed. We got off to a fair start with a couple of fish each drift, including a nice 19" keeper landed by Tony. The catching slowed to a pick after that, with a couple of decent drifts before we quit for the morning. Landings were near 20 fish, mostly flounders in the 15"-17" range with the one 19" keeper. Assorted skates and starfish kept the gang busy, as well.

Capt. Adam

Saturday, July 18th

After a couple of warmer and more "seasonably" humid days courtesy of a good South-Southwesterly flow, it was back to the grounds today for a half day trip with a "Band of Pirates", a group of Seton Hall University alum including former basketball standouts Robin Cunningham and Jerry Walker. Jodi, John, Linda and Ro rounded out their group; we missed you Woody! A warm 71° F. at 5:30 am, however, not terribly humid this morning. The air temp. didn't get above 80° F. on the water and was in the mid-80's inland, a very pleasant day. Seas were a fair sized leftover swell from the past couple of days of 3'-4'. Winds were out of the West-Northwest at around 10 knots, enough to had a small chop to the ocean's surface. The surface temp. on the grounds dropped to 66.7° F. courtesy of the wind the past couple of days, cooler right along the beach and on the bottom.

Catching today was much the same as it was earlier in the week, plenty of fish to go around, our total landings were near 100 sea bass. The keeper ratio was a bit better, we put 15 fish in the box with Jerry and John sharing big fish honors, each coming in a few ozs. shy of 3 lbs., nice sea bass. A nice morning of fishing with some fish to take home, thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II.

Capt. Adam

Tuesday, July 14th

Today I took the Bender family out for a morning of fishing while on vacation, including 7-year old Luke "The Boaterman". A gorgeous 58° F. morning with low humidity. Under sunny skies, the mercury rose to somewhere in the 70's. Winds were out of the Northeast at 12-13 knots, seas were a building 2' chop on the ocean. The ocean surface temp. was 72° F.

The fishing and the catching were good, approx. 75 sea bass for the couple hours we fished. The keeper ratio certainly was not there, we had just a handful of keepers, enough for a meal. It was a pleasure having you aboard, enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, July 12th

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The Karen Ann II has spent the past week "on the hard", getting her annual face lift (hull cleaning, waxing, gel coat repair, bottom painting, etc.). It was just a beautiful week here for it, lots of sunshine and low humidity. It did breeze up a bit the end of the week, but the breeze fell out nicely for the re-launching on Friday afternoon. This past weekend, a family wedding kept me off the water, I will be back on the grounds this week with reports to follow.

Capt. Adam

Saturday, July 4th (Independence Day)

I had Jericho Pacho aboard with his fiancé and family for a trip this morning. It was another gorgeous summer morning, low humidity and an air temp. in the mid-60's. We had the breeze again this morning, a steady 15 knots out the Northwest, building a bit more in the afternoon. We didn't venture terribly far offshore and had chops of around 2' for sea conditions. Copious amounts of sunshine today, although I'm not sure the air temp. made 80° along the water. The ocean surface temp. was 69° F.

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We had a steady morning of catching. Sea bass dominated the landings, although we did have a double digit number of tog today, including a double header of 4-6 lb. fish on the first line that hit the bottom today. Almost all the tog landed were female, and they all looked spawned out, a good reason why they bit so well. We caught more than enough keeper sea bass for a few meals for Jericho and his future family, including a real hog landed by Jericho that hung the scale at 4 lbs. 12 oz. at the dock, Jericho's photo appears above.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Capt. Adam

Friday, July 3rd

Alan Preis was aboard today for his private charter with family and friends including Jaime, Kim, Michael, Steve and Wendy. It was a pretty summer morning today, 64° F. with low humidity to start the day. The nice air arrived courtesy of a West-Northwest flow, and we had 15 knots of Westerly breeze to start the day today. The wind fell out some mid-morning, then built back to 12-13 knots after lunch. Seas were chops of 2'-3' which fell out with the wind. Skies were mostly sunny, with an air temp. of around 80° F. today, with the low humidity, it felt just fine. The ocean surface temp. on the grounds crept above 70° F.

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We managed another good day of bottom fishing today. Sea bass dominated the landings, although we did try for some flounder, as well, resulting in adding a few more nice sea bass to the box (no flounders). Overall landings were around 300 total fish on the day, with a box of keepers in the mid-40's. Quality was good, too, with Alan landing one sea bass that broke the 3 pound mark, and his son Michael getting one 3½ pounds. A photo of Michael with his fish appears at left. In the battle of the port vs. the starboard for bragging rights on the day, it was a good battle. A late run by Jaime for Team Starboard may have pushed them over the line, but I'm going with too close to call.

Thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II.

Capt. Adam