You can almost envision hard core outdoorsman/fisherman at this time of the year; eyes glued to the weather channel with one ear on the NOAA weather box just waiting to see or hear no major storm fronts, few isobars, or that very uncommon “light and variable.” This was the case early last week when that window appeared.

Mushroom entrepreneurs Capt. Herb Guest from the vessel Portabella, and Jimmy Davidson were just the guys looking for this window and when that “light and variable” was in the forecast, Capt. H.D. made the call that set the wheels in motion for one of those memorable 18 hr. Jumbo Bass trips. Local Captains, Mates and friends along with coworkers from these Kennett Square mushroom empires mustered together late Tuesday night to head offshore to the winter Bass Grounds. The Weather was going to be in our favor!

As the sun came up Wednesday morning the sinkers headed for the bottom to the depths of 220 to 230 feet. The bite was fairly steady but not without pain. Strong currents made it tough once again to hold bottom without using a pound or more of weight. Sea Bass up to nearly six pounds were coming over the rail in a steady fashion. Those that stuck with it all day would land a limit or near limit with Sea Bass that would average over two pounds with many fish in that three to five pound category! I personally fished for a great deal of the trip from the pulpit and managed to land a nice tote full of Bass that I needed help to carry off the boat, you know they must have been thick!

I spoke with one fellow angler who described the action as “like pulling a car up off the bottom with a rod and reel.” With a strong running current, a pound or better of lead, and one or two big Sea Bass or the dreaded Spiny Dog Shark on the end of your line, this description was not far off track! Even though you had to really work for these fish it was a lot of fun! One of the worst things was winding in all that line after you knew the fish had stolen your bait. That’s when you really felt the strain.

We did manage to get this past weekends offshore trip in as well and results were similar to that of the middle of the week’s trip. Again conditions were tough, this time not from the current so much as from a heavy ground swell left over from Friday’s frontal passing that had generated 40+ knot southerly winds. Even though the wind abated for the weekend trips the residual swells made anchoring and staying in touch with the bottom a challenge with the boat rising and falling in the swells. Many Jumbo Sea Bass were landed and again top hooks would end up with limit or near limit catches however there were several folks that struggled just to reach double digits of fish.

One thing you need to remember on these trips gang, this is deep water and you really need the right equipment. Jessie James never showed up for a gunfight with a peashooter! I strongly suggest braided line 40 lb. class or more with a rod capable of using a pound of weight. Fairly long rods with soft tips and lots of backbone for the strong pull seem to work the best. Spinning reels, although it seems someone always has good luck with, are best left at the dock while fishing these depths in my opinion.

We also managed to get out Tog fishing on Saturday but it pains me to report that this trip was less than spectacular! Water temps have taken a major dive over the past few weeks and I think a lot of these fish, especially in some of the shallower spots have just gone into a state of hibernation. We ended up having to fish better than 100 feet of water just to get the bites. A couple of the spots we tried that were a little shallower, produced narely a scale to show for our effort. Even though we did end up catching a few Tog late in the day with fish up to nine pounds most anglers had to stop for dinner on their way home, they weren’t having fish!

The Tog fishery will turn around at the blink of an eye on any given day, water temperature no doubt played a roll in our lack of success Saturday and the heavy ground swells didn’t do us any favors either. Tog fishing in general has been quite good this winter; it is just recently that the bite slowed up inshore. Water temperature I suspect is the main cause.

We have two more Jumbo Bass trips scheduled in the next few weeks the next one is the 17th of March. We are taking reservations for these trips now and the outlook for these trips is good. We will also continue to fish for Tog every weekend until the end of this month at which time I will resume with the daily schedule sailing at 7:00 a.m. With any luck we should see a couple of good weeks on the Mackerel in April. Time will tell and I will keep you posted here with any changes or updates with the scheduling and what we have our best chance of fishing for or catching.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to reserve a spot on one of the upcoming long range trips please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Time Happy Fishing!
Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Thelma Dale V
catchfish@verizon.net