REPORTS.MUSHINSPORTFISHING.COM

5/25 - Quality Seabassing

2012-05-26T01:28:36Z

5/25 - We targeted the wrecks to the Southeast today for some quality seabass fishing. Lou set the bar high on the first drop, landing a double header along with the biggest fish of the day! We did run-and-gun to power drift seven wrecks today, and read mounds of fish on each piece we visited! The guys and gals filled the cooler with seabass to 5 pounds and added some ling for bags of fillets for the table. We did not target the bass or blues today, but there has been hot fishing for stripers and blues. Also more canyon reports coming in! Time to book for inshore and offshore!

5/19, 5/20 - Blues, COW Bass

2012-05-20T20:15:33Z

5/19, 5/20 - Ran 5/19 in morning with Pat K's group targeting bass on bunkers, but it was tough all over.Capt. Russ and Anthony tried their best and did alot of looking for bass, ended up going to Plan B on blues, which was much better than the bassing. Blues have invaded much of our waters. We turned around and did a magic hours trip with Mike T's group targeting bass on bunkers. The fish were now hungry and in the same spot we were in the morning. Capt. Jay and Rich put them in with a bunch of bites, and made some personal bests with some real COWS!

On 5/20 we had Don B's group out for bassing in the morning. Things started off right with Don's COW bass, and we had a couple other run offs before things got quiet. The fish and bait are still here, but it seems to be more of an evening bite again. Plans for several magic hours trips this week. Call Ray and get out on this prized fishing.

Monster Sea Bass Release

2012-05-14T01:44:25Z

Wouldn't you like to take this seabass home? Dave G brought up this MONSTER SEA BASS yesterday...easily over 6 pounds...but seabass are out of season still...so rest assured this fish was properly vented and released LIVE. Dave and the charter did take home a mess of ling, some nice keeper cods, big snowshoe winter flounder, and pollock on their mid-range wreck trip. Fishing is breaking wide open on many fronts!!! Bottom fishing is excellent. Stripers have bounced back with a vengeance...big fish too to 50#! Offshore canyon reports included verified tuna catches! Book now with Ray for the upcoming season!

5/12 - Bottomfishing Bonanza

2012-05-12T21:20:36Z

5/12 - The anglers wanted a break from the striper fishing, so we made a dedicated bottomfishing trip targeting cod and ling. After poking around a few spots and picking some here and there, our last drop was the mother lode with big ling, short and keeper cod, pollock, and even some huge winter flounder to 3 pounds flying over the rails. Even had blackfish and seabass (both out of season) coming over. Dave G had to release a 6 pound seabass (photo to follow). Arms grew weary from all the pulling! While we did not target stripers, some guys did well on them today and the stripers seem to be back on track after the full moon and south wind. Book now for striper fishing and bottom fishing!

5/4 - Tough Bassing Today

2012-05-04T20:47:13Z

5/4 - We had a make-up charter today targeting stripers. We made bait in close, and ran off to the North. Things started off well with Brian's 25 pounder within the first 5 minutes, but that was an omen of how the fishing was going to be. Unfortunately, the bass just did not bite today. We found them, read them, and fished them...but they just didn't bite on bunker, jigs, plugs, anything. We were in good company, as the fishing seemed slow on all the boats today. Full moon coming up, things should definitely improve after this moon.

4/28 - Solid Bassing Continues

2012-04-29T02:10:48Z

4/28 - We had Adam and Craig's families and kids out today for some bassing. Bass were found in different areas today. The kids were treated to some solid bassing both on the troll and on the jigs. We had a bunch of "firsts" for the kids who boated striped bass to 25 pounds on their own! They also fought a bunch of big bruiser bluefish! What a way to spend a beautiful Saturday, with lots of smiles and great memories! The solid bass run continues, and the evening bassing even got better according to our buddies who fished the evening round. GET IN WHILE IT'S HOT! Still one spot open for Friday 5/4, or pick another day.

Slow after the blow 4-25

2012-04-28T20:23:45Z

4/25 we had the Kochan party out for an afternoon trip following 4 straight days of being blown out. With no reports we steamed through a nasty swell to where we had them before the storm. Very solid readings on arrival but a very slow bite. More bluefish filled in over the break and we caught a bunch. Finally boxed a nice bass and pulled on a few more and some blues. As quick as it started it stopped, solid fish reading but no bite. Cant catch em everyday. Fun group as always and everyone caught something so not a complete loss. The estuaries are PACKED with bunker, they will be moving out soon and the bass bite will explode! Dates are slim, call Ray at 732-691-0949 to set up a date or jump on a make-up.
In fact we have five booked for May 4th, one opening remains $160. Email or call to reserve. rayrconj@comcast.net

4/21 - Bass Limits ++

2012-04-21T23:15:03Z

4/21 - We had Brian S's group out today for some fine striped bassing. While we hoped to be able to put the guys on somehand-to-hand combat with jigging bass, the fish were too scattered so we put out the trolling gear. Fish on in the first 3 minutes, and we continued to pick consistently. The guys rotated through the order and battled bass in the high-teens all morning. Lots of smiles and laughs all morning as they filled their limits and bonus tags and box. Bluefish joined in as we released about two dozen of them. Quality bassing NOW! Here's a shot of the day.

4/18 - Bass Limits by 730am

2012-04-18T22:21:04Z

4/18 - We had Hank K's group on board with us today for a bassing trip to remember. After passing by some fair bass readings, we kept going and found the main body of fish under the birds. The anglers went to town jigging on them...5 lines in, 5 fish hooked up. Went like that and after a couple of drifts the boat limit was filled with fish to 25# and we went into catch and release mode. Jinx showed that guys that the gals can do it just as well, as she boated a bunch of nice bass. As the fish scattered by mid-morning, we trolled and picked some more to release. Hot bassing is here. Call Ray to schedule for the next few weeks while it's HOT.

Light bite and short crew

2012-04-16T00:40:49Z

Unfortunately for the Mersmans, Chris' alarm didnt go off so we were short Jeff and Chris, stuff happens so off we went with Pat, Dave and Glenn. The bite has been great all week with a burst of feeding fish either in the morning OR the afternoon and either north OR south of the inlet. As luck would have it the bite was north on Friday so off we went. The fleet wasnt too bad for a Saturday but the fish were not feeding in the morning. We worked and hunted for loose feed readings and some bait. Patience paid off as we worked to put together a decent catch of nice 20 pound plus fish, more than enough for our three participants!
Pat and Dave with four of our fish:

There are a ton of fish around north, south, and inside the inlet and it is VERY early. We have a few dates and plans for some make up trips for short groups. Give Ray a cal at 732-691-0949 if you are interested in jumping on!!

4/6 - Toggin n Bassin

2012-04-07T13:19:09Z

4/6 - Headed off to some local rockpiles and wrecks looking for tog. Picked at tog all morning but they bit very lightly and had to work at it. Moved around several times and found the same thing on each piece. Put together some keepers with more shorts. Ran to another area for tog, found the same general action. By late morning, we decided to look for the hot bassing that has been happening most afternoons this week, but it was not to be found. In our travels, we stopped on a small wreck we had not hit in a while. That was the ticket! Had a nice flurry of tog to 8 pounds, and boxed up some more for the guys. The weather got real nice in the afternoon so we stayed out later and trolled up some stripers, but the hot bass jigging action took a break today.

4/1 - Tog Opener

2012-04-02T02:08:44Z

4/1 - We kicked off the fishing season with a local trip for tog on opening day. We were met with some tough conditions with a big easterly ground swell. Started off with Jay's 4 pounder almost immediately, and we picked through the morning with fish up to Rich's 7 pounder. Lots more throwbacks with the new NJ size limit of 15 inches. Good signs of life and activity. Other guys caught striped bass later in the day. Getting ready for a great season!

3/22 - Here We Go!

2012-03-23T02:03:25Z

The Mushin is back from our short haulout. The bottom is cleaned and painted with our "school" of squids. The newly-serviced 5-blade wheels from Atlantis Propeller are on (someone asked if this was a nuclear sub!). Motors have been professionally tuned by Russ Eia's top-notch mechanics. Our sea trial today had us a 22 knots at a light cruise, so the preliminary impressions of the tune-up and new wheels are a big thumbs up! BTW, saw lots of diving gannet gulls on herring not far from our inlet, marked schools of bass! A few more light projects in the next week, and we will be fishing! Cod, ling, tog, stripers first! Book now for 2012.

Fishing Season is Around the Corner

2012-02-23T14:58:05Z

We have certainly had a pleasantly comfortable winter, and the Mushin crew has been busy getting thing ready for the upcoming 2012 Season! The boat is being prepped for its annual short haulout for cleaning things under the waterline. Everything above the waterline is prepped, checked, and double-checked for the upcoming season. Rods and reels cleaned and lubed, fresh line, rigs being tied, and even another set of Kevin Bogan Fish Poison rods being made as we speak for bunker-dunkin' striper fishing. We plan on fishing by the last week of March targeting ling and cod. Guys might remember the great cod fishing we had last two seasons, often with 12-15 keeper cod per guy. By May, we will be into some great striper fishing under the bustin bunker, that should last into June. This is some of the best bass fishing we have seen in our lives! Limiting out and releasing 35-40 pounders by mid-morning! Bluefish come on the scene by June, and provide solid fishing and fighting through the summer. June is also when our schedule branches out to include mako sharks, seabass, and fluke. Fluke and seabass regulations are still being decided now, but all of the options on the table look as good as (if not better than) last years. Also in mid-June is when we start running day troll trips to the Canyons. If this year is anything like the last few, expect solid trolling catches for Yellowfin and Marlin by the second or third week of June. These were not "rat" yellowfin either, in fact, some true "triple-digit" weight yellowfin were boated in our June trips! Bluefin tunas also show by mid-June, so we sometimes combine our mako trips with bluefin trolling. These combination trips for mako-bluefin capitalize on high-flying jumps of Mr. Mako with the craziness of multiple bluefin on! We will continue to target the tunas, sharks, and marlin offshore, as well as bass, blues, fluke, and seabass through the summer. Catch the excitement of a half-dozen tunas blasting lures on the troll at once, or relax on a family or corporate trip for fluke and seabass...catch some fish and get some sun, or stay cool in the A/C in the salon!

2011 Season Wrap-Up

2011-12-08T21:33:42Z

It's always with mixed feelings that we do our season wrap-up. On the one hand, we get to reflect on so many great and fun memories with our clients, and on the other hand it means a few more months before we start fishing again. So many memorable catches come to mind that we can only scratch the surface! Either way, the Mushin is winterized and we have already started plans for winter-time upgrades.

The season started for us by May with the EXCELLENT STRIPED BASS and COD fishing. We had another GREAT Spring livelining bunker to hungry cow-sized STRIPED BASS to 30+ pounds. Even first time anglers often had no problem filling their limit of STRIPERS! Anglers who prefer artificial baits cashed in on the STRIPED BASS bonanza casting a variety of soft-baits and jigs. Bottom fishermen sailed with us to some of the 20-30 mile wrecks and caught tasty COD - oftentimes by the dozens - as this old favorite has really made a great comeback along our coast. While it's nothing glorious, we had lots of "codfathers" on board who bent rods all day pulling 8 to 20 pound cod and filling coolers.

In June, we continued with the great STRIPER fishing with routine limit catches, and started catching BLUEFISH. However, our attention was divided with the start of MAKO SHARK season and OFFSHORE/CANYON TUNA. By the second week of June, there was warm waters in the canyons and we had banner TUNA/MARLIN trolling, including a very memorable "3-bagger" that included two white marlin (a first for each of the two guys) and a 105-pound YELLOWFIN at the same time. Again, we found alot of quality bruiser YELLOWFIN TUNA and WHITE MARLIN in the canyons during June. We also started targeting MAKO's in June, and had 3 MAKO's during our trip for the Mako Mania 2011 tournament, and took 3rd PLACE with a 219# MAKO.

June also gave us opportunities for BLUEFIN TUNA/MAKO combination trips when anglers trolled or baited BLUEFINS in the chicken canyons. This included trips when we driften "scallop guts" under scallop boats - this is incredible fishing with crazed BLUEFINS - we edge up close to the drifting scallop boat, bait up with scallop guts, strip out 50 feet of line and toss in - and HOLD ON! Often within seconds we had 100 pound BLUEFIN crashing on the bait. Other times gave us "good old fashioned" BLUEFIN trolling with lots of bent rods. After catching their limit and being fulfilled with the BLUEFIN, we would set up on drift in the same area for MAKO! These successful anglers had a dilemma when they got home...MAKO or BLUEFIN for dinner?

July through August kept us busy with more STRIPERS, CANYON TUNA/WHITE MARLIN, and MAKO fishing. How about some big BULL DOLPHIN? We boated over a half-dozen BULL MAHI over 30 pounds this season, including one that pushed 50 pounds featured in The Fisherman magazine. We had Joe Rossi out with his friends and film crew in early-August, and filmed an upcoming show for Joe's Wildside Adventure (FSN/Root Sports Network) where the guys landed BLUEFISH, YELLOWFIN, WHITE MARLIN, MAHI, SWORDFISH, and TILEFISH in one trip - how's that for a CANYON SAFARI?! Other trips that were closer to home put the more casual angler into FLUKE, SEABASS, AND BLUES for our clients and guests, many who were down at the Jersey Shore for vacation, including a family who was vacationing from Brazil who had non-stop FLUKE action!

We had undoubtedly the BEST FALL TUNA CHUNKING in several years! Consistent and solid catches of YELLOWFIN came in the different canyons at night, and we added tasty and colorful TILEFISH on these trips. The TILEFISHING was so consistent that guys requested dedicated trips targeting these deep-dwellers! SWORDFISH up to 150# were added consistently during the night bite. Many of these canyon trips were spiced up with MAKO shark and acrobating WHITE MARLIN and MAHI MAHI. We had back-to-back trips with BIGEYE TUNA, including the season best at 225# (which took 6 guys nearly 2 hours to land!). If the YELLOWFIN bite wasn't enough, we had a PHENOMENAL LONGFIN (ALBACORE) TUNA bite of fat fish up to 70#. How about one day troll trip when we went through 5 dozen ballyhoo along with getting our artificials bit? The guys boxed almost 30 longfin, and lost/released probably 45 more, and spent over an hour battling a 250+ pound BIGEYE, in barely 6 hours of fishing time.

We continued the Fall fishing with some GREAT COD trips to the 20-30 mile range, often averaging almost a dozen keepers (and probably releasing 3 times as many) per guy! We mixed in a couple killer SEA BASS trips and BLACKFISH limits trips, and had STRIPER BEATDOWNS with fast and furious STRIPER jigging off IBSP for 3+ straight weeks.

What a 2011 season! We owe some much to our many clients and friends who have fished with us, whether it was for the first time or the 50th time. We get to meet so many new clients every year, and cherish the relationships we build. As we do our season wrap-up, we look forward to a joyous Holiday Season and a very exciting 2012 season! For those looking for a holiday or other gift idea, consider a GIFT CERTIFICATE for an upcoming trip. Booking for 2012 has started, and we look foward to seeing you soon!

11/26 - Striper Beatdown - Limits ++

2011-11-26T23:09:42Z

11/26 - We made the run south towards the next inlet to cash in on the bassing bonanza. Getting there early definitely made a difference, with rods bent almost as soon as we got there and about 7 fish hooked in the first 5-10 minutes. The anglers continued to have a steady pick through the morning with fish hooked every few minutes on jigs and softbaits. By 9 am, we were in release mode as we had our 9-angler limit plus the only two bonus tags on board filled. Some of the fish we released were big fish pushing 38-40 inches! A beautiful day on the water with a super bunch!

11-19 Offshore Bottomfishing

2011-11-20T16:42:18Z

11-19 we had Dennis P's gang on board with a real cool request to run offshore after bottomfish. We ran past what has been a good striper bite which took a lot of guts by all to stick with a plan. Well you could have easily thought we were in the true north Atlantic! The forecast called for 10-15 kts increasing to 20-25 in the afternoon. Well that wasnt the case as the fan was turned on to high when we were 3/4 off. The guys hung tough through nasty conditions (to say the least) to put together a "fair" catch of seabass, ling, jumbo porgies, and a single cod (though it pushed 15 pounds). Setting up with anchor on our structure was tough and the guys to stay in constant touch with their baits was just as hard. We stuck it out longer than normal putting in an extra hour plus in effort to fill the box and endured a tough ride home. Nice to have a big, tough, heavy boat under you!!! Fun guys with all kinds of chops getting busted all day, great time despite the conditions, THANKS!

11/18 - Bass Jigging

2011-11-19T00:02:07Z

11/18 - We had Greg T's striper jigging trip. With high hopes, we set out to the South and stopped acres of sand eels. We picked a couple of stripers early, but had to work hard to add more. There was a good sized fleet of boats with some that did very well, some that did okay, and some that did little. However, the bass migration is going on, and it's time to jig bass!

11/17 - Tog Limits ++

2011-11-19T00:00:02Z

11/17 - Taking advantage of the "liberal" blackfish season opener, we ran to one of our favorite tog spots. We were rewarded with a good pick of tog for the five anglers. They picked and plucked on tog until lunchtime, but it was hard to put the rod down and miss out on the action. The guys kept their limit up to Lou D's 8 pounder, and released upwards to 70+ tog. Several 4 to 6 pounders mixed in too. Lou D added a striper that grabbed his crab bait on the way up! Time to catch tog!

11/7 - Bottomfishing Bonanza

2011-11-08T01:09:06Z

11/7 - With the nice forecast we were supposed to have, we shot back out to the cod wrecks to the East today. The time change didn't fool the fish, as they were there snapping shortly after we dropped on them. We had cod flying over the rails up to 15 pounds as we power drifted our pieces. Multiple hook ups around the boat! By 9 am, the seas just got too sloppy, so we dropped the anchor and picked at cod to 16 pounds, seabass to 4 pounds, porgies to 4 pounds, and ling to 5 pounds. By lunchtime the big cooler was filled, and we called it a day. We heard more good reports of striper fishing on jigs and trolling yesterday and today, but we opted to pass on it to cut lots of fish back at the dock. Some select November days still open for bass/blues or cod/bottomfish.