CBBT Red Hot--Great C & R

[Wild Bill]

Terry and I arrived at the CBBT Thurs evening to very cold temps. Giant Tuna planned to fish with Big Fish Bob but BFB had funeral Friday. I called Simon and he got to fish in Chuck's 23 SE with the green house and Bessemer converter furnace.

As we got to Kipto ramp Friday morning, the air temp was 25 degrees and the water a chilly 38. Wind was cranking SW 15. Bundled in everything we brought, we ran our open boat to the shoal. CBBT water temp was 42 degrees. It was every cast with cookie cutter fish of 20" to 22”. After an hour of this, we decided to run the coast. Found some 44 degree water, gannets and a better grade of fish. Did not catch any monsters but over 100 in the 30" to 40" range. Used jigs and flies with good success. Chuck, BFB and Simon had similar action.

Saturday Simon joined us and it was even faster action than Friday. We had 12 triples and too many doubles to count--estimate 150 fish.

Sunday was it was just Terry and me. Again we landed over 100 fish on jigs and flies. Terry caught some on top with a big RDCF.

Monday it was super action again. The air temp reached 70 degrees. Terry and I had too many to count without a clicker. We kept in touch with Hank, Jamie and Pasquale. They had the same success that we experienced.

Tues we planned to quit early. The wind along the coast was to pick up at 1 pm. We decided to fish a half day and clean up the boat and head home. The wind did start cranking at precisely 1 PM and we called it a day. We caught fish but did not find the mother load like the other days.

Monday as we ran to a bunch of gannets several miles away, the Coast Guard flew up behind us and sounded a siren as loud as the ones on a fire station. They asked when we last had a CG inspection and I said it had been a while. The officers were great guys but they left no stone unturned. They asked one time if we had fish on board and I told them that I do not take a fish cooler and release all fish. They proceeded to check everything in great detail. They even asked me to remove my life ring so they could see the back and whether it was CG approved. Do they make them that are not CG approved? They also call in somewhere and check you out.

The officers were very professional and recorded everything on a PDA which they had me sign. All my equipment was found to be in good order. The process took over 30 minutes. They gave me a printed out copy of the safety check and said to show it if I get stopped again. It is good to see them out there. I wish there were more of them. I would not fish down there without everything in top shape. Even though cordial, I have not doubt it would have cost us if we had any safety violation.

Because of super weather and fishing this trip has to rank up there with the best. Hope to do it again soon if conditions permit.

When we left the Kipto Inn yesterday Walleye Pete was the only fishermen left. If you can get a trip with WP, now is the time to go. The motel was empty.

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Sunrise at the Bridge

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Another Shot of the Dawn

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We Waited as the CG Officers Did Their Paperwork

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CG Officers Seemed to Like the Picture Taking

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Recording Everything in Their PDA

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Signing the Safety Report

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Ask the Officer if He Would Put the Cuffs on Terry and Let Me Take a Pic

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Gannets Were Our Friends

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Terry with a Typical Fish

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Loads and Loads of Fish this Size

[mike cozzens]

GREAT REPORT!!!!! Wow, what else can be said. Sounds like a perfect few days. Congratulations to you and crew.

Mike

[Tissy Furnes]

Congrats on a successful trip WB and a positive encounter with the CG. How far offshore/along the coast where you when you found those big fish? Other reports have echoed yours regarding fair #s of schoolies along the bridge and many have speculated that the fish are in the ocean but few have either found or pursued them. I'm hoping to go down next week with a bud so any suggestions are welcome.

[Wild Bill]

TF-

They were two miles off in 35' of water. Water temp was 45 degrees. As long as the temps are mild and the water temp stays above about 41 degrees, you may be able to find bass within three miles. When temps drop the fish go deeper or farther south or both. The three mile runs roughly 50' deep most of the way south. If the fish go deeper than that to get warmer temps, they will be out of range unless you go well into NC. At least that is what I have observed.

To roam the ocean this time of year in search of stripers, you either need very good contacts to point to the fish, lots of fuel or lots of luck. All three would be nice. We burned $400 worth of boat fuel in four and a half days of fishing and another $180 getting the boat down and back. If you can only fish one day or even two, it may pay to charter a light tackle/fly guide and let him find the fish.

[Chris Newsome]

Pretty work Bill!

My last trip was a good one. We landed 12 fish over 36" and half of those were over 40" including two 44" fish that were as round as a barrel. We also had two tippet breakoffs and 5 hook pulls.

The cows have finally come home!!! :clapping2:

Chris

[dpost2]

Glad you got 'em, Bill. All I found over the weekend were schoolies at the bridge. But then again, I didn't give the ocean a real search. On Sunday morning I saw 500 gannets trying to get organized in a relatively small area about 2-3 miles off the 1st and 2nd but nothing came of it. I waited in the area 15-20 minutes but saw no marks and the birds eventually dispersed.

[Wild Bill]

Chris-

That is some good fishing. It sounds like a nightmare at the ramp at Rudee on weekends. I will try to avoid that.

Dave-

I was in touch with Walleye Pete each day and he was catching mostly schoolies at the bridge too with a few bigger fish 38 to 40 inches. The ocean is a crap shoot but when you find them it can be sweet with bigger fish. Actually this trip we did not have any fish over 40" but we are happy catching 30" to 40" fish all day long.

I have some stuff I have to do next week and then I am going to look for another weather window the last two weeks in Jan.

[Tissy Furnes]

Thanks for the input, WB. I'm going to try to patch together a suicide run if the weather provides an opening and I can slip past the Boss Man at work.

[capt.jc]

:rockon:Bill I'm glad to see you write that you put your fish back. It's helping and encouraging others to conserve the striper. Great report as usual.

[nicksflyshop]

Bill,
Jeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzz...your making me ill just seeing all those nice fish!
Glad to see someone is fishing!
I guess my little whaler won't stand a chance! :)

Nick
The Evening Rise Fly Fishing Outfitters
Lancaster, PA

[Wild Bill]

Hey Nick-

There are many days you could fish the CBBT in your Whaler.

The long runs in the ocean that we did would make me nervous though in anything less than what I am running. Some days when far down the coast and when the wind picks up, my 23 seems mighty small. I watch the forecast carefully and check it on the VHF through out the day. If things start to turn, I work my way back as quickly as possible.

[stripstrike]

Bill,

Nice trip! I'm curious, do you not have a green courtesy inspection sticker from the Coast Guard Auxillary? Usually when coasties or Marine police see it, they just say have a nice day and let you continue fishing. Kinda nice not to lose 30 minutes on the water...

[Wild Bill]

SS-

No, I used to get the CG Auxiliary inspection in the spring but the MD NRP did not seem to honor it and checked equipment anyway. With the ocean fishing I now do in other states, it may be worth doing again.