Posted on June 7th, 2025
It was super foggy this morning, and there was a little swell out of the south, but otherwise it was a great day to have our Fish in OC Fishing Trip and Seminar on board the Angler today. Fishing was a little slow with a lot of throwbacks, but we managed to weed through them to put a bunch of keepers in coolers. Judy and I even teamed up to put seven keeper flounder in the boat and there were some more released around the rail throughout the trip. Ben Moses caught the fish pool winner at 3.25 pounds and then tipped Steve and Jack the entire $660 record breaking pot! Pretty work Ben! Thanks to everyone that joined us today!!
Brandon Miller had a limit of flounder today that included this beauty at 25″ and 6.7 pounds.
Lamont Hilbert had 10 flounder and some bluefish in the south bay today including this nice keeper of 22″.
Captain Marc Spagnola of Dusk to Dawn Bowfisihing was all over the rays last night and today. Shooters had awesome action with cow nosed and southern rays including one behemoth of a southern.
Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star had to deal with fog and thunderstorms today, but that’s all in a day’s work.
Sea Bass Catching 6/7/25
A (wholly avoidable) Reason Not To Be Catching . .
My Dear Friend Charlie – D-Day Veteran..
Heavy haze at the marina this morning, looked like there might come a fog.
Did.
Wasn’t long coming either.
Had both mates on a fog lookout soon as we got out of Shantytown channel. Radar, foghorn, lookouts; we do it right. At the mouth of the inlet seas were a bit saucy; by the time we were a mile offshore everything had calmed down – seas were beautiful
..except you couldn’t see.
Twenty five yards visibility?
Maybe?
Don & Kevin, & here Kevin enjoying his final days of unmarried freedom; the guys dropped a 20 block unit at a new spot I’m building. The piece went down perfectly & we pressed on.
Water temperature had risen offshore a bit so I had the boys put out a couple bluefin lures for our continued run off. No luck of course, but we did try.
Fog stayed with us all the way – tight too – and for several hours into our fishing.
Sakes mercy.. I honestly didn’t know Hurricane could be so vindictive. Never suspected such in our Portly Prince of Mirthful Rotundity. Still, there can be no other possible explanation – none: he must have rubbed his skunk laden hands all over Shelly’s favorite rod; & especially her hooks after she’d cleaned his clock the other day.
While most everyone had a few keepers in the boat; my Belle had none.
Nooooo!
I sure hadn’t seen that before.
After she’d washed Murray’s bad juju off, however, the bite instantly began to turn her favor.
Beware Hurricane. Paybacks are a .. and all that.
Yesterday the weatherman had claimed ‘no precipitation’ for today. This morning?
Changed his mind. Thunderstorms and heavy rain by early afternoon.
Oyyyy…
At 11:21 I found a line of thunderstorms WNW my position at 73 miles and laid ‘variable range markers’ and ‘electronic bearing lines’ (VRM & EBL) on my radar screen so I could calculate course and speed..
RuRoh..
Yup.
I picked up just a tad early as to meet it closer to shore. Even tried to come in below it.
And, amazingly, it worked. A few drops of rain when others had miles of monsoon conditions.
Of many unpleasant tales (perhaps collected in a chapter some day) I so remember a small cell not three miles across that was more tornado than thunderstorm. It was all I could do to hold her bow into it. I suspect windspeed exceeded 100 knots for a bit – my anemometer pegged out at 60 & the water actually turned to smoke on the sea surface.
Smoke.
I’d never seen that before. Suit me just fine not to ever see it again too. You could not distinguish the surface of the ocean..
At all.
A 30ft boat was calling mayday nearby. There was nothing I could do. Radar was blanked out; to turn broadside to the wind might well have lead to catastrophe. I told the Coast Guard not to send a small boat and described conditions. Well, it was nice where they were only 4 miles away so they sent a small boat.
Man… They were lucky to get back, I think. Couldn’t find the guy on radar – couldn’t assist anyway – not until the squall had passed. By then he was no longer in trouble anyway.
So, yeah, I respect those deep red signatures on my radar, yes I do.
Had a small bachelor party aboard today. Groom to be did fine. The others, I suspect, were wishing they’d followed this advice I’ve published in every emailed Fish Report for decades…
Of course you can party hard all night and go on a moderately calm ocean..
No you can’t!
If you howl at the moon all night? Chances are good you’ll howl into a bucket all day.
Real good.
I wrote this piece in April 2019 when I’d at last had a chance to visit my dear friend Charlie’s grave in Arlington.
Today being D-Day I thought I’d repost it.. The beach landing scene in “Saving Private Ryan” about tore me up. Charlie had been there; and, as a combat engineer, among the first ashore……
April 2019
Sharpen Your Knives Charlie!
Not a lot of folks will remember me hollering to fish cleaner Charlie everyday. Used to either be that or, “put your knives away, Charlie” while making the old wooden Angler fast after a day’s fishing.
I was working deck then, would jump into the fish shack with him if he was busy. Clearing backlashed rental rods after scrubbing the boat, (or sometimes casting competitions among mates,) meant an 8 oz sinker on a rental rod cast underhand at the huge steel NO WAKE sign by the 50 drawspan. A loud BANG got you a point, (and usually yelled at by the bridgetender.) Had a Greener harpoon gun then too, just like in Jaws. More noise.. We’d occasionally practice by shooting a thick styrofoam cooler drifting downcurrent. Never did use it at sea. Still, wish I hadn’t sold it..
Boys on the Slick Chick (had the state record mako a long while,) they gave Charlie a skinned bear paw. Looked just like a human hand after Charlie flattened it some with a hammer. Wasn’t long when I’d cut the jaws from a sandtiger shark and snuck that ‘hand’ down that shark’s throat. Sure enough, some youngster asked if I would cut the belly open..
The police left when Charlie quietly convinced them to count the ‘fingers’ – six – while loudly asking what I’d done with the ring. “I know I saw a ring!”
A great friend, he came over the other side of the Rt 50 Bridge when the Nichols family hired me to run their 88 foot supercruiser, the OC Princess in 1991.
Only time Charlie ever got mad was when we set off some waterproof cherry bombs. (Probably planning to eradicate sea bass in a different fashion.)
After yelling at us to knock it off, he came aboard and told us a bit about his time in the service. He’d been a combat engineer in WWII – he’d done Africa then D-Day; built bridges into Germany….
Though a student of history, I never had much of a feel for what he’d been through until the beginning of the movie, Saving Private Ryan. That about wrecked me. Charlie’d been right there. Very few in his company survived. Never before or since has a movie left me like that.
Charlie was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1994; went on up to the VA and his surgeon nicked a bowel. Passed soon after.
Summer – I couldn’t attend his service. Not many did. Army did it right though – full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Took me 25 years to pay my respects.
Glad I did.
He was a good man.
***
A Very Somber Cheers to All
Monty
