For the last 10 years or so in Alaska, we always talk about getting together in the off season for a fishing trip at someones local hotspot – it never happens, until now…
Hats off to Charlie and Jay from the New Jersey area for putting it together and an awesome trip. I flew into Newark last Sunday and 
spent the night with Jay and his nephew and former TRFA guide Billy. After a quick bite, we hit the hay as we new the alarm clock went off at 2:45 in the morning – we had a 2:45 minute drive down to Cape May and we were instructed to meet Charlie there at 6am.
Upon arriving at Charlie’s marina, we met a couple other crew members, Billy and Derrick, and boarded Charlie’s beautiful 40′ Wellcraft “All Nuts”- a pure ocean fishing machine! To my surprise, we were the only ones headed out that morning, as 15-20mph winds made things a little squirrely and not for the faint of heart on a cold November day. Being born and raised on the shores of Lake Erie, I didn’t think it was much, and the 
twin diesels of Charlie’s ride had no problem navigating the cold seas. We would have been out in our 20′ boat on Erie in that, but I guess that just how East coasters roll…
We anchored up in a hole of the Delaware bay and set up a spread of cut bunker on the bottom. We had a little trouble getting a good spread of baits as the tide and wind were fitting each other and swinging the boat all around. Not to mention the small sharks we inadvertently chummed in, they were bait stealing little suckers, which I thought were kind of fun to battle with and keep us entertained. The New Jersey crew was not as amused by them, as the sharks were just a nuisance to them. They all had their eye on the bigger prize – giant strpers that roam the Delaware Bay this time of year.
After the sharks got so bad, the skipper decided it was time for a move. We cruised up the Bay a few miles and set up on another hole in which his buddy pulled a 39lb striper the day before. Once the wind and tidal current aligned here, it was on. I did battle and boated 
a 34 incher weighing around 18lbs. Not long after Billy stuck a 29 incher and we caught a 2 more in the next hour. The fish of the day was lost as it hit a rod in the holder and almost touched the tip to the water before anyone could grab the rod. Oh well, that’s how it goes… We got back to the dock around 4:00, cleaned the fish, and Jay and Billy drove me up to Newark to catch a 8:29pm flight back to CLE (perks of working for an airline – you can take 24 hour fishing trips to the east coast at no cost!).
It was a great trip and awesome to see those guys somewhere else besides the Togiak River in Alaska. I definitely think we’ll have to make this an annual thing. Thanks Charlie and Jay for making this happen! A trip I will not soon forget.
By the way, I grilled some of that striper up in Italian dressing with some garlic, salt and pepper – HEAVENLY – is the only word I can think of to describe it.