I dragged myself out of bed at about 0415. The birds began singing this morning outside my window at 0433, much earlier than the ones I heard yesterday. They sang as I got ready to go fishing, grabbing my gear out of the shed by flashlight. I left my house at just before 0600, got to the dock by 0630, and was on the very crowded boat in no time. The boat was the Captain Al out of Point Lookout, NY, an open party boat (as in open for anyone - not a charter). They were going out for Blackfish. Mmm, good I thought. If you have ever fished on the Captain Al then you know it has one speed on the water - slow. It's an old fishing boat, slower than just about any other in the area, but the crew always does their best to find fish, so I never mind the ride. Scheduled departure from the dock was 7 and we left promptly at right around then if not exactly then
My guess is that 1/2 hour to 45 minutes later we were fishing over a wreck a few miles offshore. I hooked one at the first spot, my guess is a 3 pounder. I was a happy fisherman. Got another at the 2nd or 3rd spot, but it was a short and back in the water it went. After that it was pretty much downhill for me for the next several hours. I caught about 4 Skates (small ray like fish, sort of looked like the first stage of the lifeform in the movie Alien), a Dogfish (kind of a shark), and a small Seabass (no size limit as far as I am aware, but I threw it back, too small at about 12 inches as far as i was concerned). No one was doing all that great, the fishing is not what it was when I was a kid, not by a long shot. It was a nice day though, really mild (in the high 60s ashore, probably in the high 50s to low 60s on the water), sunny clear skies, and virtually no wind - so the water was very calm. My only regret besides not catching more fish was that Brendan could not make the trip. Maybe that was good because there were so few fish;but then again I think he would have enjoyed it anyhow, and I missed him too. Oh well, next time - I hope; and maybe the fishing will be better. Still though, as we say: a bad day fishing beats a good day at work (unless I guess if you are a fisherman for a living).I kept the Dogfish (if prepared right it tastes pretty good), and have two decent fillets from the Balckfish - so I guess there will be a fish fry on Sunday. Of course the fish will have to be just an appetizer since there is so little of it, but I imagine it will be scrumptious.
All the best,
Glenn B
