We continue to have a great time doing our educational school trips!!! These trips have really been a blast for the kids!
From seining plankton and using microscopes to dredging all sorts of sea life from different types of bottom, to just plain fishing, it has been a pleasure to spend our days with so many great kids, teachers, and families.
Hopefully, these programs will inspire a few of the kids to become fishermen! or at least help them gain an appreciation for our amazing marine environment!
As for our regular fishing trips, the fluke bite has been on the slow side with a handful of big fluke caught and a lot of fluke released. Tons of porgies are hitting the baits in certain areas (all released). Lots of blues have been feeding on the sand eels and we have enjoyed some great diamond jigging on a few of our pm trips.
June is usually the month the fluking really gets going so hopefully any day it should pick up!
Below are a few pictures from our recent trips.
(All porgies caught were released, some were even tagged and released!)
Here is a copy of Captain Jerry McGraths report which he posted on Noreast.com:
"Holy Moley! I've been doing the FISH N KIDS program/field trip activity for more than 3 decades. Today, in the more frugal of catching times, we had our best fishing day ever. I think that's a pretty impressive statement since the total # of trips has encompassed way over 100 excursions. The fish gods certainly answered all of the prayers of the 4th graders from the Oxhead Elementary School in Centereach.
After completing 90 minutes worth of learning stations on a most gorgeous, sunny day, we headed east in search of an area to dredge for sea creatures. Thanks to Capt. Desi, we found a productive bottom full of conch, hermit crabs, calico crabs, small surf clams, spider crabs, and other critters that roam the bottoms of the L.I. Sound. This was a fill-in activity since the slack water had just arrived and we didn't feel that the porgy bite was going to be at their optimum conditions.
However, once we arrived at the Rocky Point area, the fish immediately began chewing their heads off. The smaller scup found the baited hooks initially, but as time passed, the large and super-jumbos showed up at an incredible pace and in very good #s. I was amazed at some of the sizes of these scup. It was if they had bypassed the Montauk and New Bedford areas and came searching for every one of our rigs. Every child on board had at least a few fish, most had over ten porgies, doubleheaders were aplenty, and leading the way was Sammantha who caught 33 fish single-handedly and her nearby pal, Jacklyn, who caught a fish that easily topped 3 lbs. What a day!
Desi and I guessed that over 400 fish were brought to the boat and all were released. (Keeping scup on the partyboat/charterboats is legal only on June 12 and thereafter.) The kids did not seem to mind the release efforts one bit, probably because they were having so much fun with the catching routines. I wish I had a taperecorder on board to play back the sounds of excitement, joys and thrills. OOOHS & AAAHS hit record highs. IT WAS A TRIP THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME IN THE MEMORIES OF MANY (including mine.) Many thanks go to Desi and his crew for their wonderful patience and friendly attitudes."