Capt. Monty Hawkins long ago became proactive in building up ocean structure in his fishing areas off Ocean City, Maryland — and added more on his most recent trip this week as follows:”Sunrise is often found with beauty, it didn’t last. A classic winter sky of low gray cloud-cover followed and stayed all day. Winds were a light southerly at dawn; and, though increased to 16 knots by 11am, it was still plenty nice.

I hadn’t done a reef block tally since early December; looking to cross the 5K mark at Capt. Bobby’s, was surprised to discover yesterday that my old friend’s reef was at 4,998(!) & that I’d crossed the 43,000 mark too (..meaning I have deployed 43,096 reef blocks since I began the project many years ago.)

That’s a lot of truckloads.. After Spencer & Steven deployed today’s twenty block reef unit at Capt Bob Gowar’s Memorial Reef, it ran the tally up to 5,018 – my first spot with over 5,000 reef blocks deployed.

More on that in another post.

The tog bite today was much more robust than yesterday. Our first stop offered a light bite with some decent fish and lasted quite a while – if slowly.

After lines up in preparation for a move to another spot I discovered a deckhand’s nightmare: my hydraulic anchor winch had gone toes-up.

We checked everything we could – found nothing easily repaired at sea. Good thing we had a bunch of strong young men aboard today. Half a dozen of em made short work of pulling anchors by hand.

Anchors? Like two anchors? Yes, I almost always make a two anchor set while toggin. Did catch a 20lb fish on a single anchor once though..

Ah well, southerly winds, so very calm in the AM, had climbed to 15 kts by 11am–still nice, then shifted SW and came 20 kts at 2pm.

That wind shift, of course, came after I’d made my second double anchor set ..with no winch.

Thank goodness for the exuberance of youth. With Big Bill, Spencer, Steven, Gordy and Alex hauling in unison? There were no issues getting anchors up.

Pretty sure Joey is not upset we only had one guy sign up for tomorrow’s ‘calm before the storm’ tog trip. Calling for heavy snow up north where most of my tog clients come from. With no winch and only one client? I cancelled it for repairs..

Al won today’s pool with a nice male. Shelly’s (Brand New) Uncle JoJo had a dern close female contender. The big male had a ‘third fin rip’ where someone on my boat had released it previously – a year ago at least. With both fish obviously of fine genetic stock, Al & Joe released them both to take care of spawning business come spring.

I had feared it might come plenty saucy in that robust SW breeze. Instead? By 3:30 it had piped down to less than 10 knots again..

Take your luck where you find it – was a nice ride home with a stunning sunset and rainbow too!

Might do a seriously crazy trip in a coming 15 degree calm. If nothing else we’ll dern sure have to do some ice breaking later in the week to keep the cut open.

Now to tend my hydraulics..

Cheers”

A small craft advisory is posted for NY/NJ Bight from 8 p.m. to Tuesday morning. The Tuesday forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25,

Correction: The ling report from the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar in yesterday’s blog was actually from Friday.

The Ocean Explorer from Belbar reported as follows on Thursday’s bottom fishing “

“Very nice day and great people,,,Good conditions again,we didnt have the blackfish chewing good but we did catch some Stanley had 2 keepers and we had a few others,,Ling were chewing though,Jimmy had 24 ling by the end of the day,,others had some as well…So not a bad day out for a cold January.Ss miss belmar 3pm ling and whiting trip is on as well.’

Sunday’s forecast is for west winds 15-20 knots with a chance of rain and snow in the morning.

Though blackfishing remains picky, the Ocean Explorer from Belmar had a good ling bite Thursday as anglers fishing for them went home with tasty dinners.

Vinny D’Anton got into a blitz of ladyfish on MirrOlures while wading beaches near his winter home in Sarasota. Ladyfish aren’t good for eating, but are lots of fun to catch on lures. A few small spotted sea trout were mixed in.

The NY/NJ Bight forecast is for south winds at 15-20 knots before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Ralph Votta, “The Tin Man’, has passed away according to posts on Facebook, though I haven’t been able to get any other information on the subject. In the early days of surf striper fishing. tin lures were a not ticket specially on the west end of Long Island. They not only resembled many bait fish, but could also be cast a mile — even into the wind. They are expensive and have gone out of fashio,. but the last time I used tin in the N.J. surf they were still effective.

The forecast for NY/NJ Bight looks good with northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before dropping to west 5-10 in the afternoon.

Bill Boyce reports from Tropic Star Lodge in Panama as follows:

I met a truly inspirational angler at Tropic Star Lodge last week. Wade Hoag, a disabled charter captain from St. Augustine, FL showed us all that his condition wasn’t a disability after all. He hopped out of the charter flight, and into a Bertram 31 to do battle with a bevy of offshore predators. From his favorite position in the port corner, Wade tenaciously battled, and won the fights he picked with blue marlin, sailfish, dorado, and tuna.

A feat that proves a wheelchair can be a great fighing chair..!! Hats off to this young lad who has paved the way for other such disabled fisherman to come to Tropic Star and give it their best shot to catch a fish of a lifetime.

#tr

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar reported good blackfish action on Monday as the high hook caught 30 between keepers and shorts. There was also a good showing of ling with a high hook of 30. They are planning n fishing Thursday.

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight, but the morning forecast is for just 10-15 knot west winds.

#tro

Capt. Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star from Ocean City took another shot at the winter bluefins a couple of days ago with nothing good to report except for a more likely though out-of-season striper. The conditions were tough, but there were other tuna skippers out there as well.

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight through Tuesday afternoon. The forecast is for west winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 30.

The unprecedented run of bluefin tuna in waters along the east coast during December may have been a once in a lifetime event — or could be a sign of things to come. In any case, the reaction of party boat captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star from Ocean City. Md. sums it up in a post made just before his last trip as follows:

“Say now.. What’s the craziest fishing trip you ever went on?

Well Shoot. Might have a new one for a few locals. Several local charter boats are going. Another boat, who fished with us Friday, is coming from Avalon, NJ!

I’ll give it a go too!

Sure wouldn’t advise driving from afar. Could well be the last of our amazing tuna run though. There’s a good lull in the wind as this storm builds offshore – it’s already begun. A true “Calm before the Storm” has started.

Seas fall out to 1ft at 11seconds at midnight tonight – a seriously calm ocean.

BUT! The wind does come on in the afternoon. We’ll Have To pick up by noon or so – otherwise see a real blizzard at sea!

I have tog & cbass fished in snow many times. Mackerel too back in the day. Built reef in snow; best ever duck & goose hunting back when..

Never tuna.

Time to change that.

Shelly is consulting the American Practical Navigator’s chapters on heavy weather at sea right now, in fact (or not so much!)

Perhaps a tale for the ages..

For this report then? A tuna trip only – tomorrow! Sunday, 1/6/25! Price cut for short term notice!

Don’t Call Anna! Email Me to reserve a spot. (don’t anticipate many emails with 10 hours notice!) Am going even if it’s just crew!

mhawkins@morningstarfishing.com

Sea Bass are closed.

Tuna on the Morning Star:

After going four for four, then five for five? And six for nine? And then seven for nine on our last trip on Friday 1/3/25? I’d say my crew and I have bluefin tuna sort of dialed in – if perhaps only at Junior Varsity levels! I’m offering another bluefin trip 1/6/25 – It WILL get cut short by wind. Regs Do Have Us Cut Back To One Fish under 73 inches. We netted and released 6 our last trip – kept one. We had several trips early on with one fish that were a blast.

Trip leaves at 5:30 (or 5 if all are aboard!) and sells out at 5 for $200 (usually $375) per angler. We can catch and release plus keep one gooder. Also now have spinning rods for tight or breaking schools..

I do not sell fish. Clients split the entire catch equally (with a small share for crew if we want any at all! And, Heaven Help Me! If we catch any at all!!! ..sure have been, but this is fishing in grand scale.)

TUNA:

I’m hooked on this tuna thing. Never dreamed I’d have such fish coming aboard my boat. Have had a bunch nearing and over 150lbs! These are trolling trips – not chunking. First on the rod and following order will be pulled from our daily reef raffle tix – $20 to play because there will be no fish pool.

They fight unlike anything I’ve ever known. On my trips we’ve had full rounds of anglers fighting fish – even three rounds! An angler reels until they can’t and then switch off to the next angler who is already in a shoulder harness/belt.

This way we keep a fresh angler cranking until a tuna is harpooned or gaffed..

Just watching them bust the surface is exciting – the bite is exhilarating..

And now spinners? Fun when they’re right there – either on top busting or on the screen deep….

Leave a smallish cooler for tuna steaks in your vehicle – we’ll divvy up after we tag a fish..

The rules changed January 1st! Only one under 73 inches a day. Also allowed 1 giant a year.. Close to 100 inches? Maybe we box it.

Maybe. “

Monday’s forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before diminishing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Though climate change should be driving seals north to colder waters, that certainly hasn’t been the case at New Jersey’s Sandy Hook. Dave Lilly checked it out this week and found seals to be even more abundant than they have been the last few years. Dave couldn’t determine what they were feeding on, but the seals were diving regularly.

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight to late tonight. The forecast for the morning is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Big money for big tuna

Anglers may be interested in the following item I found in Facebook today:

A Japanese sushi company left the first auction of the New Year in Tokyo with a fish the size of a motorcycle, paying $1.3 million for the huge catch.

The buyer, Onodera Group, bought the 608-pound tuna Sunday at Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo. The company shared the news across its social media profiles and in a news release.

The buyer said online that the company has bought the first tuna at the auction for the past five years.

The buyer, Onodera Group, is part of Onodera Food Services, which runs Ginza Onodera and has 20 stores in three countries. Some of the company’s stores are located in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and even Honolulu in Hawaii and Houston, Texas.

The buyer said online that the company has bought the first tuna at the auction for the past five years.

The forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for west winds at just 5-10 knots in the morning, becoming northwest at 15-20 n the afternoon.

Another one-day blackfish tournament will be held Sunday aboard the S.S. Miss Belmar with lots of pools that should result in a big payout for a fortunate angler. Text 848 565 0519 for a reservation.

A gale warning is up in NY/NJ Bight through late tonight. The forecast is for northwest winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 30 in the morning before dropping to 10-15 and gusts 20 in the afternoon.