Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 11/27/08

Two Days Down - Three To Go

Awesome Day, Worthy of Thanksgiving

Hi All,

Last Sunday --final sea bass trip of the year-- as it should be. Easily one of the best since May.

Fitting send off for a poor season in that it told of days to come..

Toggin' Monday, no real bruisers but a fine day. In early with all hands satisfied. Rare.

Have openings for toggin' on Saturday and Sunday if you're so minded. Not a fishery for everyone, but if it does get your fancy..

I think there's help for most addictions..

As a young man I was often sent to "fetch a box of hooks" after a day's fishing. (secret code for a cheap bottle of vodka) Loosened lips; I'd listen to the old captains tell their tales.

Men who'd spent a life at sea didn't need to stretch the length of fish.

One particular summer evening in 1981 an old-timer that ran 1/2 day trips from West Ocean City was bemoaning the decline of sea bass.

"We had the best sea bass fishing on the coast and we let them destroy it."

Might have been the vodka, but he was crying.

True story.

The old captain was talking about the live-bottom corals around the Bass Grounds that were lost during the surf clamming boom: the places that they'd steered to for years using only a compass and watch. No GPS, not even LORAN A in the early days: they could simply run their course & time, find their depth, and fish.

And catch.

Wholly unregulated in the 50s, 60s, 70s --no one had thought of regulating any marine fishery then-- dozens of hydraulic clammers worked their way off the coast, fishing out every clam bed they could find.

If there were corals in the way, shame on 'em.

Folks at Ho-Jo's sure loved them clam strip rolls...

Wednesday, 11/26/08: took a huge step toward restoring that lost habitat as 44 NYCTA subway cars settled on the bottom.

The Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative & Ocean City Reef Foundation's efforts will succeed in ways we can't yet imagine.

Stretching nearly 3 miles, the artificial reef units went down in 5 clusters and numerous singles.

Seven miles off the coast; the Bass Grounds Reef is a newly permitted site. Plenty of room for more.

I had aboard a top-notch dive team that wanted to film the barely settled rail-cars.
Dry suits and high-definition film gear worth more than the balance on my boat, they prepared to descend the never-before-used ladder.

Divers not yet by the rail; mate Ritch had his personal-best tog flopping on deck.

Coincidence I'm sure, but the particular rail-car we'd anchored on was only about 40 feet from another unit we put down in '98.

Nice.

Returning from the first with film and pictures of shiny stainless --the beginning of a video/still timeline of reef growth succession-- we adjusted anchors just a tad for the next dive.

Ritch catches another male tog just north of 10 pounds.

Ritch catches more.

We tag 7.

Required dive interval completed --degassing-- the dive team prepared to film the 10 year old reef.

Pay no mind to the fact that I haven't mentioned my fish. It (singular) was too small to tag & the bite was over. Even for Ritch, who has lost all his fishing privileges.

Using Nitrox, the divers stayed down 51 minutes.

When they surfaced the report came in a rush.

Abundant hard corals, plentiful sea-whip, some small sea bass, a surf clam bed, nearly a hundred mermaid's purses, mussels, many tog -some huge- laid deep in the reef.. LIFE.

Bountiful Life.

This where ten years before there was none.

And fifty years past there'd been plenty.

Now, ten years to the future, more.

Much more.....

Thanksgiving's my favorite holiday. Pretty sure I've already had a good one.

Regards,

Monty

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

posted by Monty # Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Fish Report 11/22/08

Rail-Car deployment cancelled 'till Wednesday.

Rats!

Fish Report 11/22/08

Sea Bass Trip: November 23.

Tog Trips: November 24, 25, 28, 29, 30. Tog are Closed in December.

Fish Report 11/22/08

1-1/2 Days

Reef Deployment

Best Female Reporter

Hi All,

Got out Monday and enjoyed a fine day on the water. Especially enjoyable was being joined by an old-time sea bass customer who thought he'd try the tog.

Patient and still, he was high hook & swept the pool. Though always in the reef-raffle, it was the first fish-pool he'd played in probably 15 years.

Sweet.

"What's so hard about this fishin'??"

Ah well..

Fished Thursday too. Sorta.

Fussy bite mastered by some; getting ready to set anchors on the third spot..

Noticed a change in the water.

Pow! 30 knots of W wind.

Ran inshore to hide behind the condos. Flat calm there. Good structure - no bites.

Raised the white flag, went in early. Sent some home with a good dinner, all with a 1/2 off coupon for another day.

Just a few days left to fish. I moved Saturday's (22cnd) long sea bass trip to Sunday. Calling for NW 30+ today -- W @ 10 - 15 Sunday. Hope they're right as we still had sea bass inshore Thursday. Ought to be able to get a bit further off and hold our own.

Also a possibility that --weather permitting-- the next batch of NYCTA rail-cars will go down Tuesday on either the Bass Grounds or Russell's Reef. I'll mix it up: Fishing & Reef Watching. Have to be right there. This because the Reef Foundation's president is recuperating from surgery. It's my job to log locations and ensure units are within the permitted site.

My job too: put a few more tog in the freezer !

Picked up a charter for Wednesday......

Katie Couric, Robin Meade & Campbell Brown had better watch their back. Not that I'm given to bias, partiality or narrow-mindedness; this gal Jenna Wolfe would have given Cronkite a run for his money. Just cut & paste this link from the Today Show into your browser and watch this piece on the NYCTA's subway car reef program, you'll see what I mean.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/18424824#27839771

To have artificial reef portrayed in such light...

Reefing isn't THE solution to our water's and fisheries' woes. Dern sure PART of the solution though.

Looking for a couple more good days on the rip.

If you do book one of these super-light rail days, leave a good phone number --a cell number-- in case of more weather.

Regards,

Monty

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

posted by Monty # Saturday, November 22, 2008

Fish Report 11/22/08

Sea Bass Trip: November 23.

Tog Trips: November 24, 25, 28, 29, 30. Tog are Closed in December.

Fish Report 11/22/08

1-1/2 Days

Reef Deployment

Best Female Reporter

Hi All,

Got out Monday and enjoyed a fine day on the water. Especially enjoyable was being joined by an old-time sea bass customer who thought he'd try the tog.

Patient and still, he was high hook & swept the pool. Though always in the reef-raffle, it was the first fish-pool he'd played in probably 15 years.

Sweet.

"What's so hard about this fishin'??"

Ah well..

Fished Thursday too. Sorta.

Fussy bite mastered by some; getting ready to set anchors on the third spot..

Noticed a change in the water.

Pow! 30 knots of W wind.

Ran inshore to hide behind the condos. Flat calm there. Good structure - no bites.

Raised the white flag, went in early. Sent some home with a good dinner, all with a 1/2 off coupon for another day.

My job too: put a few more tog in the freezer !

Picked up a charter for Wednesday......

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/18424824#27839771

To have artificial reef portrayed in such light...

Reefing isn't THE solution to our water's and fisheries' woes. Dern sure PART of the solution though.

Looking for a couple more good days on the rip.

If you do book one of these super-light rail days, leave a good phone number --a cell number-- in case of more weather.

Regards,

Monty

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

posted by Monty # Saturday, November 22, 2008

Fish Report 11/22/08

Sea Bass Trip: November 23.

Tog Trips: November 24, 25, 28, 29, 30. Tog are Closed in December.

Fish Report 11/22/08

1-1/2 Days

Reef Deployment

Best Female Reporter

Hi All,

Got out Monday and enjoyed a fine day on the water. Especially enjoyable was being joined by an old-time sea bass customer who thought he'd try the tog.

Patient and still, he was high hook & swept the pool. Though always in the reef-raffle, it was the first fish-pool he'd played in probably 15 years.

Sweet.

"What's so hard about this fishin'??"

Ah well..

Fished Thursday too. Sorta.

Fussy bite mastered by some; getting ready to set anchors on the third spot..

Noticed a change in the water.

Pow! 30 knots of W wind.

Ran inshore to hide behind the condos. Flat calm there. Good structure - no bites.

Raised the white flag, went in early. Sent some home with a good dinner, all with a 1/2 off coupon for another day.

Also a possibility that --weather permitting-- the next batch of NYCTA rail-cars will go down on Tuesday on either the Bass Grounds or Russell's Reef. I'll mix it up: Fishing & Reef Watching. Will be right there. Have to: this because the Reef Foundation's president is recuperating from surgery. It's my job to log locations and ensure units are within the permitted site.

My job too; put a few more tog in the freezer !

Picked up a charter for Wednesday......

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/18424824#27839771

To have artificial reef portrayed in such light...

Reefing isn't THE solution to our water's and fisheries' woes. Dern sure PART of the solution though.

Looking for a couple more good days on the rip.

If you do book one of these super-light rail days, leave a good phone number --a cell number-- in case of more weather.

Regards,

Monty

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

posted by Monty # Saturday, November 22, 2008

Fish Report 11/15/08

Sea Bass Trip: November 22.

Tog Trips: November 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30.

Fish Report 11/15/08

Sea Bass, Tog & Blues

Upcoming Management

Hi All,

Two trips -one cbass, one tog- both of which were at least OK.

Monday we stuttered offshore in stop-and-go fashion, scooting further out as the winds died down. Everyone ended up OK. High-hook 22.

Tuesday was a grey, calm day -light rail- perfect for toggin'.

'Cept the tog didn't think eatin' was such a good idea. Slow fussy bite. Enjoyable in a challenging way. Really was.

Could have limited the rail; not what this fishery is about. Deeply bowed rod - fun. Released females up to 26 3/4 inches, some good males too. Tags.

Later in the day there appeared to be rain on the radar nearby; a splotchy wavering return on the screen that wasn't unlike a tight summer thunderstorm. No rain.

Birds.
Fair-many. What a sight.

Sure glad bluefish aren't protected outside of three miles.

Took a few for the smoker, put some back too.

Finished the day on another tog wreck.

The wind's blown ever since. Monday sure looks good..

It may be that we develop a weather pattern --the westerlies-- that draw stripers inside the 3 mile line. That takes a while. Happens though.

Be nice to get a few.

Maybe one day there will be "Freedom to Fish" and we -not just the pirates- can take a few from the Marine Protected Area 3 miles from our coast........

Couple kids digging in a sandbox. East a bit is a company's worth of heavy yellow-iron hydraulic excavators.

Federal regulators come take the kid's shovels: give the machinery operators a tax credit.

Thought about that at a fisheries meeting the other evening where it was announced that management is considering a 1 fish recreational limit on sand sharks (smooth dogfish). And, I swear, this same document proposes to lift --remove-- the 1,000 pound commercial trip limit on smooth dogs.

I don't have a whole lot of customers that take the smoothies - some. Usually it's youngsters that want to show their friends. Mom then has to figure out how to cook 'em.

We'll be limited to one sand shark.

They'll be limited by righting forces - the boat's stability; don't want the weight of the catch to overturn the boat.

Perhaps overstated: maybe their problem will be how many tractor trailers are available to take the sharks to auction.

My client could be written for a $100.00 fine with 2 in the cooler.

If a guy with a permit can legally sink his boat with 'em; dern well better be enough for the owners of the water -the public- to take a couple should they choose.

I honestly do not have issue with commercial fishing in a sustainable way. We have to have bait, we enjoy all manner of seafood dinners..

This isn't a commercial/recreational conflict. It's a federal regulation goof. Or could be. It's not regulation. Yet. It's in a scoping document. They'll be looking for comment...

Managers have a 'rope' in way of recreational size and creel limits - great for pulling, not worth a dern for pushing. Recreational catch controls will only do so much.

Mark my words: soon the klaxons will sound; sirens calling recreational fishing advocates to the trenches for the annual quota battle over flounder and other species: an epic conflict this year.

Bayonets fixed; whistles blow...

Unfortunately; more a bullfight. We're not the team with cape and sword.

The black sea bass advisory panel's pre-meeting report states: 'Many large male sea bass are key to good reproduction.'

I disagree. Numerous large, knotheaded male sea bass show fishing effort has been low in a given area for a few years. Period. The size of spawning males has no bearing on the reproductive success of the stock.

In fact, I think a mature stock will slow down reproduction. That a severely over-crowded reef is not at all in a species best interest.

If we go out next Saturday and find an unknown/uncharted wreck it will make for a fantastic trip - jumbo knotheads around the rail. Unlikely we'd find such a spot, but true. At this spot --this one particular spot-- there will be very few sub-legal male fish.

At nearby wrecks/reefs the actuality that this region's stock is heavily fished will be evidenced by a great many sub-legal males.

Fish have varying spawning ages depending on population. Sea trout (aka weakfish) for instance, were found to spawn at age 4 in the 1970's. Now diminished, they frequently spawn at age one.

When the sea bass stock was at peak, about 2003, there were precious few sub-legal males. Now there are a great many.

Yet reproductive success, as evidenced by small sea bass, has been increasingly better over the last several years.

Less jumbo males, yet more fertilized eggs.

Energetic little guys.

Or is it that as the males mature younger, so to do the undersized females..

Lot more eggs.

Boethius had wet leather straps wrapped about his head. We have fisheries management that knows but one tool - restrict catch.

The result will be the same.

..."conserve, enhance and protect Essential Fish Habitat" has been in Magnusson since inception - no eggs getting cracked there: regulatory discard (fish that die but can't be brought in) and unintended bycatch are unquantified & overlooked: unproven biological assumptions are used to guide managers....

Unwilling to look for ways to maximize a fishery's production and best utilize it's yield; it's far easier to regulate catch.

It will get simpler still as fewer participants remain.

Recently I was privileged to see an as-yet unpublished paper concerning the results of the federal black sea bass tagging study. Grander scale, but similar results to my local tagging efforts: sea bass have summer spawning-site habitat fidelity. They leave in winter, return in spring. My results showed they often return to the exact same reef. Their results showed this 'stay together' behavior doesn't alter too much in winter.

Regional, regional, regional...

Whether it's flounder, sea trout, sea bass or other fish, a stock remains together. Fishing effort controls lose their effectiveness without regional stock consideration.

For instance, if fuel and running time were of no import, perhaps partyboats from VA, MD, DE, & NJ could converge on a hotspot, say the Great Eastern Artificial Reef in May. Were this unlikely event to occur there would be a severely shortened 'run' that season - the total number of fish on that reef would diminish very rapidly.

In the winter trawl fishery it's possible for one boat to catch in a day what a bass trap fisher catches in a year. It's possible that this boat is targeting fluke and shoveling back the cbass - dead: no sea bass permit. It's possible that fishing is so good on an over-wintering ground that boats from NC, VA, MD & NJ converge and apply incredible pressure on a regional stock.

Pretty sure it's not only possible; it happened.

We're going to see tightening recreational regulations. In 2009 more fluke will die as recreational discard than in a cooler: not possibly - will. Conservation is supposed to be wise use..

Our size and creel limits very effective to a point; now is the time to put sensible regional recreational regulations in effect and turn to other problems in rebuilding success.

Regards,

Monty

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

posted by Monty # Saturday, November 15, 2008

Fish Report 11/8/08

Sea Bass Trips: November 10, 11, 15, 22.

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

Fish Report 11/9/08

Cbass & Tog

Dogfish Gone Wild

Hi All,

Gusts to fifty in a NE wind. Lost most of the week.

Got out on Friday's tog trip though. Met with leftover swell: didn't know as we'd make a day of it. Came pretty by trip's end.

Not big fish save a couple good females that were tagged. Decent bite; lot of mediums. Highly skilled toggers did much better than those unfamiliar with the fishery.

Even high-hook has to be willing to learn, unlearn and relearn when it comes to toggin'.

S wind at 10-15, summer forecast if ever there was. Was looking forward to Saturday because of it. Gave a weather warning instead. Just didn't feel right. Wasn't.

Caught some sea bass though - couple guys close to a limit; one across the finish line. Lot of weeding to get there. Throw back 4 - 6 - 8 fish to get a keeper.

Came in early because of weather.

That passengers on my boat will obey regulations was a shock to one group. Obviously skilled partyboat fishers; I went in their box to pitch back shorts 3 times. Why, oh why............

Practical jokes and ribbing are often part of a day. In my first month working the rail a fellow hooked a fried-chicken bucket to his gal's line while she was in the head. I didn't know what was up. She hollered for help - I had a net and gaff ready.

When the bucket broke surface she spun 'round a slapped him in the face. Hard.

His buddies already snickering: they creased-up in uncontrollable laughter at the crack of her palm.

We all enjoy some raillery. One of my mates is very often in the thick of such antics: a bumper sticker that may not reflect the true inclinations of a friend's private life; a text message sent from an unknowingly borrowed phone to the phone owner's ex-girl friend; several fish heads tied to a bumper as newlyweds drag cans; another mate is no longer with the boat after he was caught running the boardwalk naked; still another's dancing clubs at night, teaching pole during the day; "That's my captain's house!" while pointing to a multi-million dollar waterfront mansion; endless ribbing from 4,000 miles away when the dogfish bite is on..

Whereas a woman's slap brought that joke to an end, these just escalate in grander fashion.

All in fun. Its quieter now. 'Spect we'll hear more of it next spring.. Maybe sooner though.

My Favorite mate discovered a spiny dogfish head as he unpacked his luggage in Costa Rica.

Whoever put it in there forgot the ice...
Oh boy!

Looking forward to putting up some sea bass and tog for winter!

Regards,

Monty

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

posted by Monty # Saturday, November 08, 2008

Fish Report 11/2/08

Cbass Oblige, Tog Too

Flounder Closure & Saw-Dust

November Schedule Waaaay Below

Hi All,

Calling for NW 20 to 30 midweek. A doable wind for tog if hidden in the lee of shore. Called the trip off though; gut feeling. Gusts to 60..

Next day took a handful of vacationing folks in a more honest W 25-30. Biting. Bagged out in fairly short order. Not too difficult with a two fish limit and keeping just legal.

The goal this day accomplished --go fishing, period-- we arrived dockside very early and simply prorated the day.

Celebrated the last of October with a shot of croaker and a few keeper trout before slipping off a bit further for some sea bass. Nickin and pickin: then, as if in crescendo, an old-time bite for an hour or so. Enjoyable.

First day of the new month.. Fished to exhaustion. Not the young-bucks, majority were ready to go though after a sustained pull of sea bass and blues. Fortunately, just a few of the blues were real bruisers; most were custom made for the smoker..

Nice day.

Tagged a few flounder lately too. Just a few. One about 4 1/2 - 5 pounds.

Tagging big fish is a good thing.

Usually.

Watching all-weather, out-of-state trawlers working off the coast of Maryland. More big boats than I've seen since the 80's I think. Don't even know what they're targeting. Wholly unregulated croaker mixed with highly regulated sea trout? Fluke?

Tried to fish a natural reef Friday that has seems to have flat disappeared.

Discouraging.

Have to insist passengers throw back flounder. This while what are the nuclear super-powers of our fisheries --the trawl, the dredge-- aren't held accountable for extensive ongoing and historical habitat damage.

"Gotta throw that one back, Ike. Flounder's closed."

A fish goes back. Tagged it though.

A reef disappears. Lost before it was discovered.

Going to keep nosing around. I think there might be some disparity here.

Ignorant of the consequence of loss; there is a measurable value to each reef community: a measure of its contribution to future fishing success while it thrives; a detraction in its absence.

The annual battles and skirmishes of fishery management, such as our ongoing flounder struggle, are too tightly focused on quota. Our concept of management --how many can we kill-- ignores water quality and habitat management/restoration work needed to revitalize our marine resources.

My livelihood dependant on succesful fisheries science: the following is as dry as a saw-dust sandwich - hold the butter... (maybe that disclaimer should have been higher up the page!)

If you'll recall, Maryland's recreational flounder fishing was closed recently after it was found that we'd caught 66,632 fluke by August's end.

Maryland DNR must -by law- use the figures generated by MRFSS.

Flounder will remain closed.

With half the boats reporting I had estimated the party & charter skippers in OC put 1318 flounder on the dock. I now have everyone's numbers and assert we actually put 1018 flounder on the dock through the end of August.

Been researching the numbers published by the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS, say murfs) that were used to close the fishery. Some of these figures look remarkably accurate.

The total Maryland charter/partyboat MRFSS estimate is for 1,786 fluke. Deduct 30% for Chesapeake Bay catch as is done by management and Ocean City's professional catch is 1250 flounder.

Since there's also an assigned 10% release mortality rate; the estimate of 1250 is in no way out of bounds from the 1018 that we actually did put in a cooler.

Except officially only 11 of those fish were caught in the EEZ --outside of 3 miles. That number --11 fish-- is very wrong, but it doesn't affect the accuracy of the whole.

Still, 66,632 is a long way from 1,250. Deducting the Chesapeake's assigned catch value leaves 46,643. Minus coastal professional effort leaves us with 45,393 fluke unaccounted for this year.

Now, last year's shore-based catch (think piers, bridges, surf) in Ocean City is officially counted at 39,859 summer flounder. This year, officially, none--zero--were caught from shore. (Both numbers would be funny if they weren't so sad.)

MRFSS asserts those 45,393 fish were caught by private and rental boats in the back bays. (And somehow did it without the charter/partyboat skippers getting in on the action!)
Using a realistic Catch Per Unit of Effort, or CPUE as they might say in the trade: based on charter/party catches there were 907,860 people fishing from these boats to get to that number.

If they caught 3 times better than charter boat clients there were 302,620 people in these small boats.

That would be 934 boats fishing every fishable day or 672 boats fishing every single day no matter the weather.

There'd be four times that many boats --3,736-- if these anglers, in fact, didn't catch as well as professionally guided anglers.

It's not a big body of water to begin with. Gets a lot smaller when only places where fluke can be caught are used.

Given the fluctuations of weekend boat traffic, they must have figured out a way to fender and stack small boats atop one another so they could all fish the hot-spots..

The truth might be found in fly-over boat count data from a study by UMES a few years back. There are other sources of aerial photos too.

Anecdotally, a captain that navigates the channel from Bahia Marina to the inlet and back several times a day thinks 130 boats would be an incredibly high number.

The whole thing is bogus - fraudulent.

"Gotta put that one back Ike. Flounder's closed."

Like a veterinarian with a syringe full of Phenobarbital, the management community needs to put this Bad Science to sleep.

Its time to adopt sensible --common sense!-- coast-wide management measures. A size limit and number of fish allowed in each of several management zones, perhaps likely a smaller size limit in the estuaries than at sea.

Freeing up all the time spent in meetings discussing options, fighting the regulations forced by bad data, even litigation, would allow managers to look more closely at greater issues..

Lot of heavy steel off there. Is bycatch an issue in any of our region's fisheries? We won't find out while focused on flounder numbers drawn from thin air.

Can we minimize fishing's impacts to production so as to maximize future landings?

Or actually look for a path to bio-economic stability in the commercial and recreational trade?

Never know, might even find some coral - and the fish and lobsters that live there.

Probably shouldn't put what's left of the natural reefs at risk.

Lot of work to do.

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 # Sunday, November 02, 2008

Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 11/27/08

Fish Report 11/22/08

Fish Report 11/22/08

Fish Report 11/22/08

Fish Report 11/15/08

Fish Report 11/8/08

Fish Report 11/2/08

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