Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 10/28/08

Big Wind

Mostly Toggin'- Little Cbassin'

Very Different Trip Schedule Below

Hi All,

Wouldn't say the weather's been kind. That's often the case this time of year.

Managed to get a couple trips; the most enjoyable seemed to be a light rail with a mix of tog and cbass.

Used to be days in the fall when it didn't matter if you were right over structure. Bail 'em - even on hooks baited with dish-towel..

'Course they didn't have to be 12 inches, nor did we have to count how many..

Monday's forecast of west winds at 10-15 sounded like a fine day to paddle on offshore and see if we could have a bit of that old-time sea bassing.

Such a forecast.. yet our hopes of reliving cbassing past ran headlong into a wall of very large, very hungry, bluefish.

Military personnel invented a few acronyms for such events; SNAFU the least of them.

Catching some nice, whole --not beheaded-- cbass though. Couple moves. Then west at 10 - 15 came NW with gusts pushing 30.

What were those other acronyms? I think one goes: FUBAR - Fouled Up Beyond All Repair.

Capt. Rick up in Lewes calls these surprise NW winds a 'trap' - lure you offshore and spank your fanny all the way in.

Dinner, perhaps a few in the freezer; decidedly not fun coming home.

Better days lie ahead!

For the fisheries too.

Many of you have fished with me for several decades and know that I really believe we can put this ocean back on its feet: that collapsed stocks of fish can be restored.

I think a fault-percentage of our present state of affairs lies with our not heeding the lessons learned during the dust-bowl: that little action was taken to stabilize soils until -literally- a black dust cloud blew over Congress.

Lest the stench of some huge fish kill reach our capitol at a very opportune time, there will be no events within our fisheries such as Hugh Hammond's famous 1935 congressional testimony on preserving topsoil through managed farming and wind breaks.

No, our 'crop-lands' are covered by water. Some of it quite deep. We must find a way to show that care and preservation of not only our juvenile fish and spawning stocks, but specific management of our 'topsoil' --our corals and other reef growths-- must be undertaken as well.

Another fault-percentage of loss in our ocean's productivity traces further upstream. That huge body of algae-loaded water --pea green muck-- that laid off our coast most of the summer was not super-charged with nutrients by anything occurring at sea: here we inherit the problems of our bays and estuaries.

I have had many a conversation with those that fished before us - men that experienced great white marlin fishing even within sight of shore.

To a man they have decried the loss of clear waters - that the blue water that allowed Ocean City to become famous as the "White Marlin Capitol of the World" is gone forever.

That's probably what many thought of their farms in 1935.

I think artificial reef is to fisheries restoration what wind-breaks were to soil conservation: not the whole solution - part of it.

Funding any effort in these dark economic times is trying. Our daily 50/50 Reef Raffle perhaps some small sign of hope.

Even though we had great participation, its not as much money as last year; wasn't as many people to buy tickets..

2008 Reef Raffle Donations: $2,500.00 Ocean City Reef Foundation, $1,000 Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative, and $500.00 to the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation that's earmarked to look into ideas for building reef in the back-bays of Ocean City.

Would that I could match those moneys from my business. "In-Kind" matches of study, advocacy and meetings will have to do.

November Schedule below.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/

November 2008 Fishing Trips.

Tog Trips: November 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30.

Easier perhaps: Sea Bass Trips: November 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 15, 22.

I have no doubt that there will be some great days of sea bass fishing this fall. However, given the state of the fishery, I don't think the best of these will be easily replicated. Therefore, I'm turning much of the focus to tog. It's likely that at least a few cbass will be caught while toggin' unless very tight to the beach.

Morning Star tog trips sell-out at 15 people - crabs provided - $110.00 per ticket - limit goes back to 4 fish @ 14 inches on November 1st - boat heartily encourages a 16 inch minimum - culling dead fish overboard to box one larger --high-grading-- is an offense punishable by keel-hauling, walking the plank or marooning.

I often go togging with a very light rail. There is no set minimum on the number of people needed to go.

There will be weather days though. If you make a reservation leave a good phone number - a cell number - that we can reach you with if a trip is cancelled. There is ZERO possibility that we'll call you for any other reason, or give your number away to tele-marketers.

Looking forward to fishing tog - tag a few too...

posted by Monty # Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Fish Report 10/23/08

Et Tu Fluke Counters?

Going Cbassin'

Toggin' Too

Hi All,

A joyful celebration of this year's flounder season is in order. Kind words, remembrances of a few good days; perhaps a tip of the bottle as my Irish friends would have it.

Our flounder season is dead.

The official estimate of the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey, or MRFSS --say murfs, and try not to say it with unkind inflammatory words or exclamatory interjections that you wouldn't otherwise use in gracious company-- MRFSS is the only estimate allowed to be used in management decisions in this fishery. Period. Lawsuit tempered.

MRFSS sez Maryland's caught over 66,000 summer flounder, and that's that.

Dang. 66,000 fluke. That's a fair many. I missed it. My clients missed it.

Apparently, everyone else on Maryland's coast missed it too.
Not MRFSS though. Slick rascals.

We were only allowed 60,000. Over quota by mid August it would seem. DNR was right to take action; to close the season. They had to.

Still, when in the Billy Blue Blazes did any one throw those kinds of numbers on the dock?

I've been trying to find out. Called and emailed everyone I could that's in the bottom fishing industry here. They gave me their catch numbers through the end of August - the period when MRFSS sez we killed 66,000 flounder.

All of us together, ocean and back-bay boats, professionals with thousands and thousands of clients not catching their 3 fish limit: 1,318 fluke.

Not a stellar year. Weather, water; sure didn't happen offshore.

Of course we're not the only fishers, not by a long shot. Lots of the private boat guys are as trained ninjas when it comes to their flounder fishing.

So I put together an estimate based on info from a few not-for-hire highliners. Through the end of August - 25 boats -sharpies- the gear heads; 558 fluke lay iced in the cooler.

Still a long way to 66,000 -- 64,124 to be exact.

I know there's a lot of boats. I know there's a lot of shore effort. I know the Chesapeake has a fishery too - with a 1 fish creel limit.

The for-hire landings times 50. That's what it would take to cross the threshold. Somehow, somewhere there's the equivalent of 50 more party and charter boat fleets out there - fishing everyday.

I know when a fisheries survey person comes aboard my boat that the data they gather is rock-solid. More perfect than what I gather everyday.

Converting that hard data into the far-softer whole state's catch...

Must be some of that fancy here-now physics string theory alternate universe stuff.
Ah, betcha they laid them boys off that were working up the numbers on those mortgage-backed securities.

Make 'ol Albert Einstein blush, it would.

Tell you strait-up; I think its Bad Science. The smelly barn-yard sort of Bad Science.

Its also Buck-Shot square in the north end of a south-bound captain.

Here's the good news. We're going to take the fishing pressure off flounder, a stock at populations never seen off coastal Maryland, and put it on sea bass and tautog, whose numbers aren't in such an envious position.

That's some clever management...

Its not MD DNR's bad. They are doing what they think is right to protect next year's quota. The fed writes the rules.
But DNR does have a lot of data feeds. Maybe they'd use some of that to make a case to have MRFSS reexamine their numbers.

We have a while before the weather breaks nice enough to do some serious fluking. Maybe someone back-checking the input over at MRFSS will find a misplaced comma. Like 6,600 fish instead of 66,000.

If only DNR weren't as broke as their fisherman.......

Going everyday the weather will let us. Target sea bass; catch them too. Some keepers even. And - when the weather's right and the bite is on, we're going to tag some outrageous sized flounder.

A few long trips for tog too. Creel limit opens back up to 4 come November. Hunt some jumbos. Tag some of those too I 'spect.

Special trips will be announced with my next email. Promise. Might even have a special fluke tagging trip.

Regards,

Monty

Fish Report 10/19/08

Great Fishing

Long Faces

'Nother Whale

Hi All,

Shoulda been here last week.

If you like catching flounder anyway..

4 days fishing -MTWT- 4 days with a boat limit of fluke.

Double-headers of keepers even.

We're only allowed 3 per person at 17 1/2. But if the limit were 20 fish at 16 inches a couple guys would have gone there too.

Lot of good tags by the rail - 'till I ran out. Just reloaded.

An old friend asked where I'd been fishing. Unaware that he'd just asked a lady how old she was; I replied, "the Economic."

"Never heard of that spot" he said.

"No? Its a wreck.."

A restaurateur; said he'd been fishing there for some while too......

Anyway, I'm getting reports of flatties from inside the bays to 30 fathoms. Despite having not done as much with them this summer, I think they were about; that the nasty pea-green water kept them off the bite.

September's water became clearer, but the enemy of all who seek fluke is the dreaded swell. Having barely gotten 12 trips of the 30 available because of weather; swells stole September's fluke show.

Wandering around here a bit. That because the "I thought you were killing 'em." conversation is coming.

Lost Friday and Saturday; as I write Sunday at noon, waves are 13 feet in 30 knot winds. The forecast has things piping down Monday afternoon.

{What was the name of that wreck?}

We did have good fishing.

Now we're going to start a new data set.

Amidst extremely satisfied customers this week were some long faces.

They'd come for sea bass. We'd had some fair catches last weekend, but with the flounder bite on....

In a perfect ocean -with perfect weather- I could offer many different fishing trips. Sea bass, fluke, tog, ling, bluefish, scup, croaker, a mix; even giant sturgeon or -heavens- sea trout in this perfect place.

Fall of 2008? Not-so-perfect. Find something biting with the emphasis on cbass and flounder.

It's not going to be a memorable fall cbass run. In a few weeks we may find ourselves with high man in the mid-teens; higher still perhaps as more leaves fall away. I seriously doubt we'll see any boat-limits of sea bass.

It's a good year to be flexible.

Many times I've seen anglers start out targeting tog, yet be unable to resist changing baits when cbass were coming up two-at-a-time.

So too the cbass fisherman when big fluke are being netted nearby.

Fully focused effort on one type of fish reduces the likelihood of catching another.

Also true that focused management efforts to rebuild summer flounder and striped bass have reduced the likelihood that other species will flourish until they are in the spotlight.......

Another whale tale.

I have seen hundreds of whales in my years. Not many compared to those in the 'staging areas' where whales congregate, but a fair-many for these parts.

Returning home Wednesday, a mega-yacht skipper out to enjoy a day on the wrong side of the tracks spotted a humpback in full breach. I saw the splash and slowed to allow customers to watch a while.

Unfortunately, the whale had already finished its acrobatics for the day, but did -thankfully- stay in eye-shot.

Continuing to mosey on south, we got a couple more looks. After a long dive it reappeared some 200 yards away and I put the boat in neutral. It came up again 25 yards off the port bow.

And stayed there.

Time and again it would barely submerge and then blow.

The fin whale last week was slowly submerging and swimming to wherever before returning to the same spot on our port-side to blow.

This one was just chillin'.

Pretty good stuff.

So was the fishing.

So long as you fished for what was biting.

'Spect we'll see more of a mix this week.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/

posted by Monty # Thursday, October 23, 2008

Fish Report 10/19/08

Great Fishing

Long Faces

'Nother Whale

Hi All,

Shoulda been here last week.

If you like catching flounder anyway..

4 days fishing -MTWT- 4 days with a boat limit of fluke.

Double-headers of keepers even.

We're only allowed 3 per person at 17 1/2. But if the limit were 20 fish at 16 inches a couple guys would have gone there too.

Lot of good tags by the rail - 'till I ran out. Just reloaded.

An old friend asked where I'd been fishing. Unaware that he'd just asked a lady how old she was; I replied, "the Economic."

"Never heard of that spot" he said.

"No? Its a wreck.."

A restaurateur; said he'd been fishing there for some while too......

September's water became clearer, but the enemy of all who seek fluke is the dreaded swell. Having barely gotten 12 trips of the 30 available because of weather; swells stole September's fluke show.

Wandering around here a bit. That because the "I thought you were killing 'em." conversation is coming.

Lost Friday and Saturday; as I write Sunday at noon, waves are 13 feet in 30 knot winds. The forecast has things piping down Monday afternoon.

{What was the name of that wreck?}

We did have good fishing.

Now we're going to start a new data set.

Amidst extremely satisfied customers this week were some long faces.

They'd come for sea bass. We'd had some fair catches last weekend, but with the flounder bite on....

Fall of 2008? Not-so-perfect. Find something biting with the emphasis on cbass and flounder.

It's a good year to be flexible.

Many times I've seen anglers start out targeting tog, yet be unable to resist changing baits when cbass were coming up two-at-a-time.

So too the cbass fisherman when big fluke are being netted nearby.

Fully focused effort on one type of fish reduces the likelihood of catching another.

Also true that focused management efforts to rebuild summer flounder and striped bass have reduced the likelihood that other species will flourish until they are in the spotlight.......

Another whale tale.

I have seen hundreds of whales in my years. Not many compared to those in the 'staging areas' where whales congregate, but a fair-many for these parts.

Returning home Wednesday, a mega-yacht skipper out to enjoy a day on the wrong side of the tracks spotted a humpback in full breach. I saw the splash and slowed to allow customers to watch a while.

Unfortunately, the whale had already finished its acrobatics for the day, but did -thankfully- stay in eye-shot.

Continuing to mosey on south, we got a couple more looks. After a long dive it reappeared some 200 yards away and I put the boat in neutral. It came up again 25 yards off the port bow.

And stayed there.

Time and again it would barely submerge and then blow.

The fin whale last week was slowly submerging and swimming to wherever before returning to the same spot on our port-side to blow.

This one was just chillin'.

Pretty good stuff.

So was the fishing.

So long as you fished for what was biting.

'Spect we'll see more of a mix this week.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/

posted by Monty # Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fish Report 10/12/08

Flatties

A Whale

Hi All,

Still hard to call - the fishing that is. (no political pun intended)

Not catching croakers anymore. Or didn't. Might yet. Still some squeakers; those little -ain't big enough to croak yet- croakers. Don't mess with 'em too long when I do.

Came home one day very early. Barely scratched up some dinner. Day didn't have 'it' - or I didn't. Nasty weather. Full reschedules around.

Nicked a few good tog another day, up to 14 pounds. Others weighed in against it in the pool. Nice fish.

The rest of the time it's been a mix of flounder and sea bass with the addition of bluefish.

Blues are pretty cool when they are under 3 pounds. Eat well and smoke wonderful.

Big ones do too, but right now they have me irritated.

No one on the boat got bit off 'cept me.. Every single keeper I hooked was destroyed by chopper blues. Reeling in nice fluke heads. Where's the beef.

Just me. Every fish.

My turn in the barrel.

Tail-thrashing humpback whale on the way home though. Good stuff.

The fluke/bass fishing is super-tough to predict. Safe to say that when a 5 pound sea bass doesn't even get taken out of the cooler at pool weigh-in.. And when a 9 pound fluke has several folks trying to best it...

Ah, there's been some great fishing this week.
Have no idea what the coming week will bring.

None at all.

Sure ain't counting sea bass for limits; too much fun catching flatties.

I don't know if we'd have to count 'em with full, undivided attention to cbass..

Looked like 'Ladies Day' Sunday. They certainly outnumbered the gentlemen - not that there weren't a few other men aboard too. Good to see gals on the rail catching.

All the guys were good sports. Took their drubbing.

I wouldn't say we were outfished 3 to 1 or anything..

A fin whale blows 200 yards dead astern while we're anchored. Then 75 feet to starboard. Then three times in a row -in exactly the same spot- 50 feet to port.

Its bigger than the boat. You can see it underwater -s l o w l y- diving down.

Awesome.

My kingdom to know what that beast was thinking..

Saw another whale on the way in. Having been so close, no need to stop. Did for the bottlenose though.

South. All manner of migration in evidence; from the small song-birds blown offshore and forever lost, to the great whales - going south.

Fishing everyday the weather will let me - often with a very light rail.

Opening up November's book; does not look to me as though it will be a 'normal' November.

Normal would be sit on a spot or two until everyone bagged out on cbass and then maybe stop on something like blues or trout on the way in.

Doubt that. Not this year.

Tog seemed willing... Maybe a few long trips. I'll call it in the next week or so - soon'z I get new batteries for the crystal ball.

I have never had to question it before...

Management needs an overhaul.

For now: Support/Join/Donate to the Ocean City Reef Foundation & the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative.

http://www.ocreeffoundation.com/about.php

http://www.ccamd.org/MARI/MARI_home.htm

Rock solid, concrete, steel barge stable progress in fisheries restoration.

Centuries from now they'll still be fishing on what we build.

Believe it.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/

posted by Monty # Sunday, October 12, 2008

Fish Report 10/7/08

Fishing For What Bites

Ruts

Hi All,

Just had 5 very nice days of fishing, though neither one resembled another.

Right behind that big NE wind in the last of September there was one OK day and one brutal.

Last Thursday's forecast of west at 10 - 15 looked to be a nice day. Till they changed it that morning to 20 - 25 NW. I know some gusts went 30. Surely just a coincidence that Hurricane Murray was on the roster.. I forewarned customers that it wouldn't be a sea bass trip; had a good time with some decent toggin' and croakers.

Friday we had an OK catch of large bass and a powerful many throwbacks, some small & medium blues, plus a few of those flat fish that I hadn't seen since tropical storm Hanna back in early September.

Thought Saturday was an excellent trip. Good sized bass, lots of throwbacks, some flounder, and a few tog - one of which was easily in the 12-13 pound range. Odd really, not everyone caught. 2 guys in the stern just didn't have 'it' that day. I'm sure one of these fellows has won more fish-pools on my boat than anyone else. When its not your turn...

Sunday we had one of the best shots of medium croaker I've ever seen. Stayed on 'em before heading off to... a LOT of throwback bass, some small & medium blues and a few good fluke.

Monday we picked a few croaks before moving to a slow but steady fluke/sea bass bite. Had flatties up to 7 1/2 pounds or so. Nice day.

Don't usually try to give a blow-by-blow account, my point is that this is fishing for what bites. It's not what we want, whether sea bass, fluke, tog or croaker, its what we find willing.

This year that will have to do!

Fall of 2010 we'll be limiting out on sea bass - provided we get lucky with their survival. We aren't getting anywhere near limits of bass now.

Booking-up occasionally, often light crowds, so light we don't even sell out the stern some days.

Going though!

Be OK soon as I figure out where to apply for my bail-out check........

Epiphany: 1) A sudden intuitive leap of understanding.

Now I know what one feels like.

That seafloor habitat is vital to the fisheries is without question.

However, I now think that there is a greater problem.

It'll be a while before I can make my case. Lot of data to sift through. Some of it I can't access. Yet.....

Caught some keeper sea-trout (weakies) this week. Used to be you'd have had a riot if you wanted to target sea bass this time of year. Folks wanted trout in the fall.

Also caught some scup. Back before my time they were THE spring fishery; probably made up more than half of the bottom-fishing catch in Ocean City through the late 60's. Though mostly tiny right now, we did tag 3 over 9 inches.

Back in August I had a fellow catch a double header of ling. A double.. Last time I regularly saw doubles of ling was in the late 80's.

Most every fish is under management. Doesn't seem like a lot of success except where there is 100% focus. I think there's an 800 pound gorilla right here somewhere, probably a couple of 'em.

To me its as if we were standing in the deep, muddy ruts of logging trucks pondering where the squirrels had gone.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/

posted by Monty # Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 10/28/08

Fish Report 10/23/08

Fish Report 10/19/08

Fish Report 10/12/08

Fish Report 10/7/08

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