September, 2009 Fishing Report -

Wednesday, September 30th

NOAA Fisheries announced a closure of the black sea bass fishery in federal waters effective Monday, 10/5. More info will follow, but here is a link to the NOAA Fisheries release. I have written an article about the issue, read it by clicking here.

As a result, we will be targeting a mix of croakers, scup and tog until the tog season goes up to 6 per person on the 16th of November. As always, thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, September 20th

The Bingler family and friends from Doylestown, PA were aboard the Karen Ann II for their charter today. An early taste of fall this morning (before the calendar has even given up on Summer) with an air temp. of 45° F.; the gang said they had 34° F. coming through the Pine Barrens. A bright, sunny sky with light winds allowed the air to warm into the 70's, a gorgeous day. Winds remained light, starting out of the Northwest and veering to the Northeast on the ocean, then back out of the West in the bay. There was a leftover 2' swell on the ocean's surface in the morning, and we carried glassy smooth conditions home. The ocean surface temp. was 68° F.

It was another good day of catching, total landings were well in excess of 400 fish on the day. The percentage of keepers on the sea bass varied from location to location, we finished with a box of 70 fish, mostly sea bass to 3.75 lbs. along with some triggerfish and small blues. Everyone had a very good day of catching, but I have to give kudos to Joe for catching as many keepers as anyone with his technique, he earned them. Great day with a great group, thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II.

Capt. Adam

Saturday, September 19th

I had Bob Eck aboard with Bill today for their charter. 55° F. to start the morning with a mix of sun and clouds. Winds were out of the North at around 10 knots in the bay, but by the time we got to the grounds they were more like Northeast in the 20 knot range. Seas were chops of about 3', indicating the wind had started recently, but built through the morning. By late morning, just as it was nearing uncomfortable, the wind dropped and seas fell out, we carried about 10 knots of Easterly breeze back to the dock. The ocean surface temp. was 69° F.

Given the conditions, I had to stay fairly close to the beach to start the day. We picked away at sub-legal weakfish, some croakers, bluefish and some sea bass. None of the catching was great, but it was steady without getting beat up. When the wind dropped out, I was finally able to make our way offshore a bit further where we found a steady bite of sea bass with a fair number of legal sized fish. By noon time, the guys said they'd had enough, and we steamed home with a nice box of 30 fish for the 2 guys.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, September 13th

After another rainy lay day yesterday to let the ocean calm down, I headed back offshore this morning with the shared charter of Frank, Fred, Joe, Lou, Mike and Nick. 64° F. to start the morning under a cloudy sky with a light breeze out of the Northwest. The wind picked up as skies began to clear through the morning, and it maxed out near 15 knots. Seas began as a few foot left over swell, then became a 3' chop with the wind, then fell down as the wind dropped by late morning. Skies cleared by lunch time, and the air temp. made it to near 80° F. on the water, a bit warmer inland. The ocean surface temp. has taken a significant drop, and is now in the upper 60's.

I started the morning looking for the croakers like we had them last week. We found some fish, but they were much smaller (we released more than we kept) and were not as aggressive as last week's fish. After moving around a few times, I headed to the sea bass grounds and found a steady bite there. No real big sea bass, but around a dozen were 2+ lbs., very nice sea bass. In addition to the steady sea bass catching, we also landed over a dozen triggerfish, catching a few at every stop, it seems the blow this week brought them up the coast. A smattering of 1-2 lb. blues and some out-of-season fluke rounded out the day's catch. Our total box of fish was in the mid-80's, plenty of fish for everyone.

Got to give kudos to the entire group, as all had a good day of catching. Frank and Fred probably had the best day in terms of combined numbers of keepers plus quality, while I believe Joe had the biggest number of keepers on the day. Lou caught some nice fish, while Mike and Nick had a great day for their first ocean fishing trip. Thanks to everyone for choosing to fish aboard the Karen Ann II.

Capt. Adam

Friday, September 11th

Another week of steady Nor'east here at the shore, with only an hour or two of sunshine early yesterday morning. Courtesy of a meteorogical phenomenon known as a "retrograding low", we experienced tremendous rainfall in the pre-dawn hours today along with 30-40 knot winds. Winds are slowly subsiding from South to North, and the heaviest precipitation has moved inland. Seas built on the ocean to 18'-20', but should come down significantly in fairly short order as this system is moving inland as opposed to continuing to churn seas offshore.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, September 6th

With the fishing we had yesterday, I was really stoked to get back at it again today. At 6 am, it was near wind-less, and I was kicking myself for not going. By 9 am, I was glad I hadn't sailed, as it was blowing 20+ knots out of the Northeast, and the wind stayed that way all day, finally backing off a bit towards dark. I took the kids to try flying kites for a bit, and it was darn near too windy for that! Seas built to over 6' on the ocean, and the ocean won't be any more boater/angler friendly tomorrow (or anytime before the end of the week, it would now appear). Happy Labor Day, have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

Capt. Adam

Saturday, September 5th

I had John Skarbek scheduled today for his trip aboard the Karen Ann II. John called late last nite saying it was down to just him, but with a seeming one day weather window, I wasn't about to let that keep us at the dock, so off he and I went. It was a gorgeous 63° F. morning, with a light breeze out of the West under a mostly sunny sky. The air warmed quickly, making it around 80° F. on and along the water, upper 80's inland. The wind fell out completely for a bit, then hauled around to the North-Northeast, the East, and finally settling out of the Southeast by the time we headed for the dock, never getting above 6-7 knots. Sea conditions were a 3'-4' ground swell from the week's wind, which died out through the day. The ocean surface temp. was 74.8° F.

Headed offshore this morning, I ran over good marks on the machine, and expecting them to be croakers, dropped down a couple of baits. They were croakers. 2 drops and we had caught a half dozen. So knowing we had that fishing, I prospected for some sea bass, and found a pick on a couple of stops, the ones we kept were good fish in the 2+ lb. range. We doubled back inshore, and upon finding the marks right were I left them in the morning, John and I proceeded to have the finest 45 minutes of fishing imaginable. It was non-stop catching with croakers to over 18", bluefish in the 1-3 lb. range, and about a 40 lb. brown shark harassing our catch (which we did hook up until it bit through the line). It was just plain awesome, glad we got to enjoy it.

Capt. Adam

Tuesday, September 1st

While the remnants of Tropical Storm Danny did not significantly impact our coastal waters this weekend, the weather this week is making it difficult for anglers to get in the last few days of legal fluke harvest here in New Jersey. A persistent Northeast flow courtesy of a ridge of high pressure that has brought us some welcome drops in humidity and air temps. will keep the ocean fairly uncomfortable for smaller boaters most of the week. Get in what catching you can before time runs out on Friday.

Moving into the first few weeks of September, we will be targeting sea bass and croakers. The drop in air temps. should soon correspond to lower water temps., which will let the sea bass know it's time to start switching into fall high gear. I'm also getting some reports of croakers to the South and expect to see them on local lumps and sloughs shortly.

Capt. Adam