06/18/07 Today was the Lancaster Christian School benefit auction trip won by Scott Wigglesworth of Lancaster, PA. This trip was to begin at 9:30,  but due to traffic issues for the guys we didn't get underway until 11:15 which made for a relatively short day. When we arrived at the fishing hole the Sea Bass action was great and remained that way for about the next two hours. Made two moves which didn't amout to much before I went in search of Spadefish. With 20 minutes left to fish I finally found the school. Had time to do battle with three, two of which made it in the cooler. Back at dock around 4:30 with about 18 Sea Bass and two nice Spadefish. Man, that's some good eats!!

06/19/07 This last minute trip came together when a father called me and told me he had a group of five kids in their late teens and early twentys that he wanted to take fishing. He wanted to try some bottom fishing as well as some trolling. Started out on a little patch of natural bottom and had good numbers of Sea Bass. Headed for the trolling grounds around noon and went 2 for 4 on Bluefish during the next ninety minutes, one of which was the largest I have ever seen. Finished the day at my little Spadefish hole which was as good as I have seen it. 

06/20/07 Took a group of five guys from Lancaster County, PA out for the first inshore trolling trip of the year. I was a little reluctant because the Bluefish bite has been kinda off so far this year. Lines in the water at 8:15, first fish on at 8:22. Sometime around 8:35 something grabbed our flat line bait and screemed off 100 yards of line, this was our Bluefin Tuna I told the guys we might encounter. Twenty minutes later we had a 50 pound Bluefin in the box. The action rermained steady the rest of the day but did slack off for about 45 minutes around 12:30. Thankfully it turn on again shortly after 1:00. Great day despite all the rain.

06/21/07 Had the good folks from Lighthouse Limosine of Edgewater, MD out for a day of bottom fishing. The Sea Bass bite started out great however the fish were small, loads 1/2 inch shy of going in the cooler. The current started to run harder than I have seen it yet this year and eight ounces of lead wasn't enough to get the lines strainght down in 105 feet of water. These conditions made it difficult for the charter to feel the bites and nearly every hook that came up was bare.  Moved over to my Spadefish hole and it was better than ever! Spent several hours battling these hard pulling fish. Back in the slip with a few Sea Bass & Tog as well as 14 nice Spadefish. Had several other Spadefish in the 3 to 4 lb. range that we released.

06/23/07 Had the boys from up-state PA out for a day of Inshore Trolling. Got to the trolling grounds a little late but just in time to see a friend of mine, Capt. Jeff, catch his second tuna. Less than an hour later I see Jeff heading in, gave him a call on the radio and he informed me that everyone on his boat was sick and wanted to GO! Still no bites on my raft so I started changing around the spread until I found one that worked. Our first six bites never came tight even though the fish were pulling drag every time. Finally a 25 lb. Bluefin Tuna found the hook and was introduced to my gaff. Proceeded to release four other small Bluefin before calling it a day.

06/24/07 Headed 16 mile off to some deeper wrecks for this Father's Day Gift trip. Had good Sea Bass action all day with some surprisingly nice size fish for this time of the year, though we still had many throw backs. Finished the day off with a few Spadefish. It was only fitting that the Father of the group on board today took home the $$$ from the largest fish pool, a 22 inch monster of a Sea Bass. At the fish cleaners with around 30 nice Sea Bass and a handful of Spadefish. 

06/26/06 Kind of a uneventful Sea Bass trip for these two guys from Tamaqua, PA. Action started off good with some nice SB for this time of the year but after the first hour we hand a hard time finding any over 11.5 inches. One of the two on board had some kind of inner-ear problem, combine that and somewhat choppy conditions and it wasn't long till the dreaded eight hour illness kicked in. Back in an hour early with a dozen SB in the cooler.

06/27/07 First offshore tuna trip of the year, but after 30 mile the charter decided to make it a 12 hour trip for Bluefin on the lumps instead of running to the canyon's for Yellowfin, wise decision. Action was GREAT! Caught 9 out of 11 Bluefin all between 42 and 46 inches(45 to 55 pounds). Unfortunately we could not find any fish over 47 inches so we were only permitted to keep 1 of the 9 we landed. Even so, what a way to start the tuna season.

06/28/07 Last minute cancellation.

06/29/07 Headed north to the Flounder grounds thinking it might be a little early but these kids really wanted to try for flounder. Found good Sea Bass action with some nice size SB. Did manage to put 4 Flounder in the box the largest measuring 18 inches.

07/01/07 Left the dock for a day of Bluefin Tuna fishing with the weather forcast telling us that the winds and seas should increase by very late morning. With-in 10 mile of the fishing grounds the winds had already gone to 15-20 knots and the seas were building with lots of white water. Stuck it out for the next five hours in extreamly rough conditions and were rewarded with four nice Bluefin all around 50 lbs and one that never came tight. When asked if anyone is catching fish by a boat 10 mile away from where we were, the captain of one of the boats fishing near me remarked " I know of five fish caught here, but four of them have been by the same boat!" Wonder who he was talking about??

07/02/07 Cancelled due to rough conditions.

07/03/07 Out for a day of tuna fishing with two guys from Ohio. Ran 40 mile out and found a slick where fish had recently fed. Put out line and trolled around for the next two hours with only two knock downs. Decided to run to a Bluefin hole that has been good in past years,,, and guess what, it still is! Line in, five minutes lated we lost the cooling pump on the port engine. Five minutes after that, fish on! Put that 48 pound Bluefin in the box. Stayed for anouther 15 minutes before pointing the boat toward OC for the 4 hour run on one engine. Since we were only making 7 knots I decided to leave the lines out, 20 minutes later, the long line takes off. Released a 42 inch (45 lb.) Bluefin. 17 mile from OC I see a orange barrel floating, steer over to it and see to small Mahi-Mahi under it. Break out a spinning rod and proceeded to hook one of the two. The guys said they had a fantastic time and can't believe we caught fish while limping home.

07/04/07 Happy 4th of July! Scheduled for a full day of wreck fishing but changed it to a half-day due to increasing wind & seas. Set up on a wreck hoping for some Sea Bass instead found a good Trigger Fish bite, Triggers are my family's favorite table fish, even like them more than Sea Bass. Mom, Dad and the kids had a ball catching Triggers & Sea Bass. Back in the slip by 11:00 with six nice Triggers and one Sea Bass in the box.

07/05/07 Cancelled due to rough conditions

07/06/07 First trip after the big blow. Try as I might I just couldn't find this half-day group any Bluefin. Finished the trip with a few small Blues and a Mackerel.

07/07/07 Out for a day of wreck fishing with a family of four, three of which were suffering the effects of summertime colds. Had great Spadefish action, some of which were over 6 lbs. Back at the dock early due to a serious coughing that just would not go away for the one boy.

07/08/07 Tuna Fishing! Ran 55 mile south to where a few Yellowfin were caught yesterday. Less than 30 minutes after line in we hooked our first fish and had one that didn't come tight. Boated that 25 lb. Yellowfin.  Lines back in and bang, two more knockdowns that didn't come tight. Then it happened, five hours and three moves and no bites. Finally after our third move we found some real nice Mahi. Boated one that went 22 lb. and had a second throw the hook right next to the boat.  After that it was time to head for the barn.

07/09/07 Last minute cancellation

08/19/07 The planer rod blues. Seven lines in at 7:15 just one more to set out, the planer rod. As the mate is setting the planer to the correct depth the line jerks and "fish on" 32 lb. Wahoo in the box. Worked the area for two hours and no marks or bait. Moved off about six mile to where the "hogs" live and still no marks or bait. One boat there informed me that of all the boats there, over 20, he only knows of two fish. Stayed there for two hours with nothing before moving back inside. No longer set out the spread and the short rigger snaps, 8 lb. Mahi in the box. The next fish hits the planer rod and we can't slow it down, finally the 150 lb. spectra line breaks, serious Bluefin. The next encounter was a Wahoo that must have thought our planer looked tasty and ate it. Back at the marina with a Wahoo & Mahi, but without two complete planer outfits, fourty bucks each, ouch!

08/20/07 & 08/21/07 Three half-day trips. Good numbers of small Sea Bass with only a few Flounder. Extreamly fast drift and very dirty water, bad combo for Flounder fishing.

08/24/07 One strange day! Started off normal enough catching a few turkeys (False Albacore) then things went weird. While cranking in one of the bridge rods a Wahoo grabs the back of the bait and skies out of the water ten feet, then drops the bait. Ten seconds later he grabs one of the long riggers skies out again and drops that bait as well.  Our next bite grabs the wwwb (way way way back) and splashes around like crazy, not sure what it is. Turns out to be a 20 lb. Baracuda. A few hours and a couple of turkey bites later we put the days first Wahoo, 40 lb. in the box. We are not more than 300 yards from the first Wahoo encounter although this was a larger fish than the jump happy one. Twenty minutes later we are surrounded by a huge pod of Porpoise and suddenly our planer rad take off. This no longer happens and a Porpoise comes skying out of the water right behind the boat with our planer and bait hanging off of it. Fortunately the line broke and he was on his merry way. Our last bite was with five minutes left to fish. One of our wwwb's get hit, 15 minutes later a 55 lb. Wahoo goes in the box. 

08/25/07 Out with two couples from NJ for a day of tuna fishing. As soon as the lines were set out we were cut off by a Wahoo. About one hour later we put a Yellowfin in the box. The next several hours gave us only a few Turkeys ( False Albacore). Moved back toward where we had our Yellowfin and one of the flat lines takes off but doesn't come tight. Five seconds later the other flat line gets hit and our second Yellowfin comes in the boat. Back in the slip at 3:00 since this was only a ten hour trip.

08/27/07 Fishing with five guys (three adults and two younger) from NJ who drove down overnight. Our first fish in the box is a Mahi (around six lb.). The next three bites are turkeys. Unfortunately that was our final bite. Due to the long night, long drive ahead of them and slow bite we decided to wrap-up fishing early and are back in the slip at 3:00 pm.

08/29/07 Out for a day of Wahoo, Mahi and I guess Tuna fishing, even though the tuna have been as rare as snow in August this week. I think the full moon, lunar eclipse and what ever is going on with Mars has these fish real messed-up. Our first encounter with Mr. Teeth has two short bites followed immediately by a fish hanging himself on our long rigger, one 35 lb. Wahoo in the box. This may have been the same fish going bait-to-bait or more than one fish. Our second bite takes the short rigger but doesn't come tight. Worked hard for the next few hours but no other encounters. Back in at 3:00 since this too was a 10 hour trip.

08/30/07 This trip started the evening before with a phone call to the charter telling them Tuna fishing is terrible and offered them the opportunity to re-book to a later date when fishing improves. They appreciated the call but chose to keep the trip as planned. We put out our Tuna, Wahoo & Mahi spread and found a hungry Mahi sometime around 9:00. Worked that area hard with no other bites and decided to troll south. Just shy of the area I was heading for I spotted a pallet floating and pointed the boat at it for a  past. Snap! fish on, second Mahi in the box. Pulled in the lines and broke out the spinners. We spent the next two hours casting to Mahi & Trigger fish. With the outrigger baits hanging in the rigger clips I happened to look to the side and there is a small (20 lb.) Wahoo staring at the one hanging bait. I twitched the bridge rod line and he started to come at it, then he stops turns and swims away never to be seen again. Back in West OC with seven Mahi and four Triggers in the box.

08/31/07 This trip started the same as the one before with a phone call to the charter explaining the tuna fishing, or should I say lack of. Just like the previous day this father and daughter charter decided to give it a go for a ten hour trip. Worked one of my favorite Wahoo, Mahi and Tuna locations hard but couldn't get a solid bite, only a few knockdowns by what I saw were Mahi, only slightly larger than our baits. I would have loved to found a tuna for this young lady, she was an absolute delight to have on board. 

09/06/07 Ran 60 mile south to the Washington Canyon where a pair of Yellowfin's had been caught the day before. That's right, a hot bite these days are two fish, better than none! Upon arriving we found countless Pilot Wales acting stranger than I have ever seen. I also found more long-line floats that I have ever seen in one area, not good news. About two hours into the day we spotted a small school of Bottlenose Dolphin pulled through them and snap, the spreaded bar gets bit. Twenty minutes later a 78 lb. Yellowfin goes in the box, super nice fish. We had another boil on the other bar at that same time but the fish didn't eat it. That was our day, no other bites.

09/08/07 Decided to run up north to midway between the Baltimore & Wilmington Canyon's since there have been a small handful of tuna's caught over the last couple days. Found water that looked fantastic, rips, weedlines, temp break and a debris line. Worked that area for two hours when one of our spreaded bars gets crashed, ten minutes later a 40 lb. yellowfin goes in the box. About two hours later while clearing lines a White Marlin comes right up to the back of the boat and eats our one flat line that one of the charter is reeling in, we got the release. With thirty minutes left to fish a small Blue Marlin comes flying out of the water and crashes down on our short rigger but gets the bait behind the hook and we never see him again.  Of the five boats that fished out of our marina two never had any pulls, one went bottom fishing and caught a mixed bag about a dozen fish, one boat caught four very small Mahi (two to three lb.), and then there was our catch, a 40 lb. Yellowfin, released a White and missed a Blue.

09/12/07 Took three guys out in what was to be OK conditions only to find out that the weatherman lied again, it was rough! Was very suprised to have the kind of Flounder action we did. The guys limited out in less than perfect conditions. Average size, around 17.5" with three over 20" one of which was over 23".  The guys were very happy since they had spent the previous  two days Flounder fishing in their own boat without ever hooking a keeper size flattie.

09/13/07 Today was to be a offshore Tuna trip for Jay Reed of J&J Offshore Tackle and his bunch but due to the horrible Tuna fishing they decided to go bottom fishing instead, smart move! Found nice calm seas and a steady Flounder bite with a few Sea Bass mixed in just to add some color to the cooler. Pulled in lines with 13 Flatties and five SB's in the box. I believe we must have released another 6 or 8 undersize Flatties and lots of small SB. After running toward home for a few minutes I spotted something large floating on the surface with a couple of Seagulls standing on it. Headed that way to check it out and found it was a HUGE, dead , Leatherback Turtle  with a small Cobia hanging directly under it. As I was pointing out the Cobia to the group something caught my eye off to the side, two Mahi. I grabbed a spinner from the cabin threw on some bait and gave it a toss. The fish immediately ate it, ten minutes later we had a 8 lb. Mahi in the box. Pulled back to the Turtle and threw out another hooked bait to try for the second Mahi. Suddenly the Cobia streaks out grabs the bait and Fish On! Two minutes later we released the Cobia. Great day considering that of all the boats fishing offshore I did not hear of any Tuna fish caught, only a few Wahoo  and Mahi.

09/14/07 Left the dock with all intentions of going back to the same area that was so productive the last two days. However, the wind & waves forced a different plan. I headed north to some open bottom that is usually very productive. Found great numbers of Sea Bass but most were just under the twelve inch minimum. Good Flounder action but unlike the previous two days many were throwbacks. Back in the slip with 9 Flounder and a handful of SB in the box.

09/21/07 Ran to the deep with a ton of live bait looking for some Mahi action for this group of guys. Worked lobster balls in the Baltimore Canyon with great success.  Went from ball to ball landing some dandy Mahi to 12 lb. on light spinning gear, can you say FUN!! Back in OC with 27 Mahi, the average weight  being somewhere around 8 lb.

09/22/07 Same group as yesterday but today we were looking for some Flounder. Ran to the secret spot but the drift was WAY too slow, less than .25 knot. Ideal drift is anywhere from .6 to 1.0 knots. The drift did pick-up late in the day and we managed a nice mixed catch even with the less than perfect drift. Many undersized Flounder & Sea Bass, lots of Skates too. Back in the slip with 10 Flatties, 3 small Bluefish and six or eight Sea Bass.

09/24/07 Ran 58 mile for a day of Mahi & Marlin trolling. About one hour into the day the long rigger takes off with one serious fish. After dumping 3/4 of a spool of line the fish finally slowed down. Ninety minutes later Ryan grabbed the leader on our 350 to 400 lb. Blue Marlin. A few pictures later the fish was revived & released to fight again. A little later in the day a White Marlin takes our long rigger but throws the hook after about a minute. Missed another White shortly after our first encounter. Ended the day with Five Mahi all around 6 lb.

09/25/07 Out for some Mahi fishing with the guys from Pastel Painters. Found some huge grass mats on our way to the deep and they were loaded with Mahi. Spent the entire day on these grass mats having a ball catching Mahi of all sized. Back in the slip with 68 Mahi in the box, one tipped the scale at 19 lb. I am sure these guys must have released another 75 undersize Mahi.

10/01/07 Headed out for some Mahi to where a big boat, sixty footer, found them under big grass mats on Sunday. Extreamly rough heading out but the forcast was for it to lay-down during the day. Arrived only to find the huge grass mats had blown apart and the small mats that were left only held extreamly small Mahi's and Bar Jacks. Tried trolling for Wahoo with no success in building winds & seas.

10/02/07 Warned this group of three that the conditions were going to be brutal and I would gladly refund their deposit but they wanted to give it a go despite the sea's. Anchored over a wreck in 5 to 7 ft. seas and found great Sea Bass action. Most were 1/2 inch under the minimum but seemed to very hard fighting today for their size. Did have two very large Triggerfish take our bait as well. Pulled anchor after three hours and decided to drift the inlet for last two hours to try for some Flounder. Back in the slip with around a dozen Sea Bass to 14" and two very large Triggers.

10/05/07 Ran to a location where the previous day found huge weed mats and a few Mahi's only to find the mats had blown apart and scattered the weed throughout a 8 mile area so thick you couldn't troll without having them hanging off every line with-in a minute. Did find one small mat that managed to hang together, trolled by it and bang! three nice Mahi on. Don't know if I have ever had this happen before but somehow all three fish managed to throw the hook only a few feet from the gaff. Spent the remainder of the day catching Turkey's (False Albacore).

10/06/27 Took a group out for a bachelor party fishing trip. These guys wanted to catch a lot of fish and didn't care that they wouldn't be fifty pounders just as long as they had steady action and we didn't need to leave dock real early since one in the group drove down from Connecticut the night before. The guys had a great time catching what they estimated to be well over 100 Sea Bass in four hours. They kept about a dozen and a half for dinner that night.

10/07/07 Out for a day of Flounder/ Sea Bass fishing. Arrived to find a drift of over 1.6 knots, way too fast to hold bottom even with twelve ounces of lead so we decided to anchor and try for some Sea Bass. Had steady action for several hours catching SB's. Finally the wind slacked off enough to allow us to drift for some Flounder. The Bite was fair and we managed to put five flatties in the box during the last hour or so of fishing. Back in the slip with five Flounder, one huge Triggerfish and about a dozen Sea Bass.

This will be the end of the daily reports until the 2008 wreck fishing starts in late April, remember book early for the best dates!

BOOK NOW FOR FALL TOG & ROCKFISH ACTION ON BOARD THE "LITTLE FIN CHASER"