May, 2010 Fishing Report -

Monday, May 31st (Memorial Day)

Three generations of the Leong family were aboard the Karen Ann II today with Alex, Vincent and Patrick. 64° F. to start the morning, and we had sun and haze through the day, with the air temp. climbing over 80 inland. Winds began as light, but built to 12-13 knots out of the South. Seas were calm, becoming chops of 2'. The ocean surface temp. was 63° F.

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With the exception of one stop today, the bottom fishing was a shell of what it had been the past 72 hours. The fish are defintely responding (and not in a positive manner) to dropping bottom temps. We landing 200 black sea bass today, with a box of 64 nice fish, a nice haul for a 3 person group. Always great to see families aboard, especially multiple generations, a fun time with some good fishing (and catching). Have to give a tip of the hat to Alex (pictured above left) for fisherman of the day, any grandfather that comes out and holds his own against the "young guns" for a day deserves it!

Capt. Adam

Sunday, May 30th (PM Trip)

Family fishing trip with my 2 sons this afternoon, Jacob and Owen, along with their grandpop. 86° F. at the dock with 8-10 knots of Southwest wind. Skies remained sunny and the wind about the same, yielding a 2'-3' chop on the ocean. The ocean surface temp. was 64° F.

Jacob has been sailing with me on the ocean since the day before his 2nd birthday, but today was, at age 3, Owen's first ocean fishing trip aboard the Karen Ann II. Given the conditions which were less than ideal, they both

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did great. We caught sea bass, tog and scup, bringing home enough sea bass for a couple of meals. The bottom temp. was much colder this afternoon than it had been, the first indications I believe of responding to the developing southerly flow. Everyone (except the captain) got in a nap on the way back to the dock!

Capt. Adam

Sunday, May 30th

Shared charter today with Bob (the Immediate Past Spring Tog King), Dennis, Mark (the Spring Tog King), Mike, Tom and Tom. 66° F. with some haze/fog/drizzle this morning as a front tried to move through. Those conditions held until late morning when we had some clearing. Winds were light and variable, and we spent as much time drifting today as with the anchors out. Seas were calm over a couple of foot swell, and the ocean surface temp. was 61° F.

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Memorial Day weekend is often the peak of our spring black sea bass fishery, and based on the past 36 hours of fishing, it is going to be again this year. Today's was a true slammer trip, pretty much from start to finish, the single best day of sea bass fishing (and catching) I've seen in a couple of years. Landings were near 400 fish, with the gang getting their 25-fish per person of legal sized 12.5" sea bass. We had lots of nice fish between 2 and 4 lbs., and many double header keeper catches on the day. Mike kept me busy eating fried chicken, while Bob showed Mark he was ready for a sea bass king showdown. The Tom's kept the spiny dogfish off everyone else's lines for us, but they did take time out for a nice sea bass or two, a photo of Tom Sr. with a jumbo appears above left.

Awesome day, thanks for fishing aboard the Karen Ann II.

Capt. Adam

Saturday, May 29th (PM Trip)

After a quick turnaround at the dock, it was back to the fishing grounds with John, John and Mike. Skies had turned mostly sunny and warm at the dock (80's), cooler on the fishing grounds (70's). The wind had picked up a bit to 13-15 knots out of the south, and seas had become chops of 3'. The ocean surface temp. was 60.4° F.

We hit a couple of wrecks this afternoon and had good catching, over 100 sea bass with near 30 for the box, very good fishing for 3 guys for a couple of hours. Thanks for coming down, good luck with the new boat, and have a safe holiday weekend.

Capt. Adam

Saturday, May 29th

After some crummy weather yesterday delayed the start of our Memorial Day weekend fishing, it was back to the grounds today with a nice group including Adam, Dave, Don, Laura, Rachel and Robbie, all down courtesy of former mate Bob. It was an overcast 60-something degree start to the morning after some heavy 4 am rain moved through. We had some drizzle and light Southeast breeze. The ocean had a 3'-4' leftover swell, and the surface temp. was 59° F.

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After bypassing one group of birds working on bluefish in the bay, the 2nd school down the inlet was too much to pass up, especially with some kids aboard. It was doubleheader bluefish on every pass in the 1-2 lb. range for the half hour we stayed, a great way to start the morning. When we finally got off to the sea bass grounds, we found the sea bass to be just as cooperative. With some warm up in the bottom temps, the fish bit well, over 300 sea bass coming over the side with almost 100 going in the box, with some very good quality, as well. It was some really fun fishing with a really fun group, with Queen Rachel, Prince Adam and Princess Laura (pictured above) leading the way.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, May 23rd

Back to the sea bass grounds with the Bingler party today, including Bill, Dick, Jim, Joe, Lucy and Myron. 61° F. with more clouds again today along with some drizzle and fog. Winds were between 5 and 15 knots on the day out of the East, and seas were running around 4' most of the day in a combination swell and chop. The ocean surface temp. was 57° F.

With conditions not as palatable for moving around today, catching was down a bit from yesterday. Approx. 200 fish came over the rail with 44 black sea bass going in the box. Jim had as good a day as anyone for catching and keeping.

Capt. Adam

Saturday, May 22nd

219 days since I've been able to write this, off to the SEA BASS grounds today with the Sutphen party, including Bill, Buck, Jim, Sam, Samuel and Tom. 57° F. to start the morning with more clouds than sun. With just a light breeze from the East, the air temp. didn't change much on the day. Seas were slight, less than 2', and the ocean surface temp. was 58° F.

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For the first day back, I wasn't sure what to expect. Overall, today exceeded expectations for catching. It was a 400+ fish day, pretty much drop and reel from start to finish. Throwbacks were numerous, far more than we typically see first thing in the spring when we are looking for the knot heads. We wound up with 92 keeper sea bass on the day along with a few cod. Nothing over 2½ pounds on the day, but a very nice box of fish. Tom gets the nod for fisherman of the day catching not only our first keeper of the day (his photo appears above), but landing many more nice fish on the day.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, May 16th (PM Trip)

I hosted Christine and her fiancee Aaron for an afternoon trip today. 66° F. and sunny leaving the dock with a 6-8 knot breeze out of the Southeast (good for gnat control). Skies and winds remained that way through the trip.

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After a morning of sky-diving, Aaron was looking for more thrills this afternoon, and I think he got it. After bypassing acres of birds outside the inlet this morning, we weren't going to pass up the bluefish this afternoon. It wasn't long after getting a second line out that the first fish was on, and it was non-stop bluefish right up until we pulled the lines out of the water. It was as good of bluefishing as any I've ever seen in Little Egg Inlet, 4-8 lb. bluefish on as many lines as you could get in the water at a time. Christine and Aaron were magnificent, going toe-to-toe with the "yellow-eyed marlin" for over 3½ hours straight, I got tired just watching them.

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They landed over 50 fish between them, keeping less than a dozen and releasing the rest for others to enjoy. Christine's photo while fighting a fish appears above (there was no time for refreshments between fish, you had to drink while catching) while a smiling Aaron appears at right. I also got video of Aaron with one of the bigger fish of the day, you can watch the video here.

Capt. Adam

Sunday, May 16th

After being weathered out the past couple of weeks, I finally got in the Spring Tog King trip today, a special catch-and-release only togging trip. Competing for the crown were Bob C. (the reigning spring king defending his title), Bob K., Keith and his son Kyle, and Mark. Dave could not make the trip, although it felt like he was there since we talked about him enough, congrats to him on his daughter's graduation. 55° F. under cloudy skies this morning. Winds were light out of the North. The wind piped up to over 10 knots for a bit before skies cleared and the wind fell back out to just a couple of knots. By 11 am, skies were sunny and the wind began veering to the Southeast, were it remained at around 5 knots. Seas were chops of less than 1', and the ocean surface temp. was 53.5° F.

It was a good day for togging for numbers, we landing nearly 100 tog on the day. Size, on the other hand, wasn't anything to write home about. We did see about 40 fish that cleared the 14" mark, but only a few of those were over 17". Bob K. set the pace early and kept on it through the day, practically lapping the field by landing 15 fish over 14" himself, a total that easily earned him fisherman of the day honors. However, as Mark unltimately showed us, it takes more than landing a slew of 14"-16" fish to earn Spring Tog King honors aboard the Karen Ann II. Fishing from behind most of the day, he kept himself in the game and came up with the day's best 22" tog on the last stop. He and Bob then went fish-for-fish during the remaining fishing time, with Bob thinking he would be able to land one more fish to put him over the top. Alas, he hooked up one last time, but the fish made a desperate dive for the structure, and the fish won.

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The result was a victory for Mark as the Spring Tog King, congratulations. A photo of Mark accepting his prize for the day from now immediate past-King Bob C. (who came in a respectable 3rd) appears at right. Young Kyle may not have had a big day on the scoreboard, but he garnered more points than Dave did on the day which was enough to send him home with a big smile.

Thanks for a really fun day of fishing guys, looking forward to the fall!

Capt. Adam

Thursday, May 6th

I had the pleasure of hosting Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, and Fox 29's Kerry Barrett (and film crew) for an afternoon trip down to the inlet for a story on local fishing. With sunny skies and an air temperature near 80° F. courtesy of 10-12 knots of a warm Southwest wind, we headed down to the inlet to shoot some video of boats fishing. When we got there, the presence of working birds made the opportunity too good to pass up, and Ms. Barrett got to do some fishing (and catching) herself. You can watch the video here.

Capt. Adam

Wednesday, May 5th

More fishing meetings this week in Alexandria, VA and finally got some good news from one. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) ruled that states may implement a black sea bass season of for 2010 of May 22 - Oct. 11, and then Nov. 1 - Dec. 31. The size and bag will remain the same as 2009, 25 fish at 12.5". This still represents a significant loss in fishing days from last year, but given the prospects of just a 60 day season back in December, having nearly 200 fishing days is quite a relief.

Capt. Adam