I used to have a shirt that said “a bad day of fishing is better than a great day at work” I’m sure you have all heard that before. I always thought that I needed a shirt that also stated unless of course fishing is your work! Well I thought of that shirt more than just a couple times this past week.

Coast Guard inspections are always a lot of fun at this time of the year and the preparations for these inspections are even more fun if you know what I mean. I am proud to report that we are through with our first inspection of the year on one of the big boats without one single infraction. If it could just always be that way….

The first time I thought of that old t-shirt was while cleaning out the bildges I just knew that bad fishing had to be better. But then I went fishing on Saturday and boy did that bildge look good to me for a while. Saturdays Tog trip was one of the most frustrating trips that I can remember in recent time, we just didn’t get ‘em. In typical fish fashion we bounced back on Sunday in style reaffirming my belief that the fish is always in charge. We caught Tog almost all day and had fish up to 12 pounds. You just never know, one of the spots I had fished over the day before catching next to nothing was one of the best producing stops of the day.

Saturdays offshore trip made out fairly well. Despite a long day with a late arrival time Capt. H reported some excellent fishing over a couple of the wrecks that he fished. Sea Bass was the main harvest with several fish landed from the deep that weighed over 5 and 6 pounds with the biggest tipping the scales at almost seven. This trip also saw a little variety of deep water critters including Tilefish and Wreckfish that would weigh up to as much as 20 pounds they even saw a couple of Leopard Sharks landed. I wish I had been along for that trip I certainly would have had more fun. I am hoping that I could post a few pictures of these denizens of the deep, however none were available to me as of this writing. If anyone that was on the trip has some digital photos of these fish and has a chance please email them to me so I can post them. I understand these fish were quite impressive and described as a Giant Sea Bass on steroids!

We will be running at least one more of these extended special wreck trips the first Saturday in April and are taking reservations now for this 18 hr trip. Remember these trips are limited space and advance reservations are required. I will resume the daily schedule with the All-Day trips as of this Friday 3/30. I will be fishing for Tautog all weekend and looking for the Mack’s as we go. The regulations for the Tog switch April 1st and drop back from 10 fish to just 3 and they will also need to be 15 inches instead of 14. Hopefully we can get in a couple more good trips with the more liberal regulations before the change.

Water temps are creeping up. Most of the weekend I was seeing between 43 to 44 degrees of surface temperatures and there is starting to be quite a bit of sealife around the coast now. With any luck we should be able to catch Mackerel for a few weeks as the water warms. After the Mack’s we will switch back to bottom fishing. Reports are sketchy on the Mack’s right now with fish scattered along 150 miles of coastline but conditions look good to me for at least a few shots of good fishing while they pass. I will keep you up to date with what is going on as April continues. There are also reports of Stripers taking jigs in the mouth of the Bay as of now; this fishery is an excellent option for a small group or a private charter to take advantage of with nice spring weather. The Lewestown Lady is now booking trips for Stripers and Drum as well as bottom fishing for the spring run.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to make a reservation for a special trip please give us a call at (302)644-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!
Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Keen Lady IV
catchfish@verizon.net