Hi Folks,No, the new boat doesn't have air conditioning ! But is is about 20 degrees cooler once you get one mile off the shoreline into the ocean. The water temperatures are warming though. I hear lots of crying on the radio these days. Bluefish and dogfish are the main complaints. We are still doing fine on the bass but we have to work at it. It seems the Bearse's rips have been quite dead for the last couple of days, with only a few fish coming to the sand eels we drift there. Up north a few miles there are small pockets of bass on the bottom that can be fished effectively if you have good electronics and pay attention to the drift.
But lately as of the last 2 days the water temperatures have warmed considerably to the 63 to 66 degree range, bringing in the bluefish. The only way to get through them is to use the bait and fish in the rips on the bottom. Trolling umbrella rigs will just result in blue after tackle busting blue. As these warmer water move into the inshore areas, the bass seek a more comfortable climate of 56-60 degree water and that means on the bottom or in a different area. These cooler areas are located further away than can be effectively fished with a 5 hour charter. The better fishing trips in the latter weeks of the summer and into September is had by booking a 7 hour trip. Todays charter resulted in 14 or so nice stripers in the 36 to 42 inch size range without one bluefish or dogfish. If you wish to charter me for one of these trips, please send me an email to ask about the open dates I have available.
There are no dates open until the 21 st of August. After that I have some of the days open for one of the two trips scheduled daily. September is still reasonably open and great fishing can be had after the youngsters are back in school. Call or email me to see if we can find a fishing date for you too.
Thanks very much,
Capt. Bruce and the "Marilyn S"