squirrelwhisperer

Small game doesn’t open until Nov 1st in 1C

Ms. Ballbricker

Thanks pal

Hope to see you out there.

Happy Birthday

I sure do. It’s now buoy 15

Spaceballs

The highly anticipated Sea Bass opener turned out to be an exercise in frustration. We left the marina at 6am. Flat calm and beautiful. We make our way outside and the spread out 3 footers predicted turn out to be much tighter than what was foretold. I make the slow and lumpy 5+ mile run to the wreck I want to visit. I set the anchor and the SE wind turned out to be SW, this coupled with the incoming tide, caused me to be pushed off the piece. I reverse the engine to get me back on top of it and can’t stay there. Time to reset the hook. Well, when I backed up the boat, the anchor became lodged in the piece! After some maneuvering, I got it back but now the shaft (danforth anchor) is bent. OK lets drift over it. With every pass, everyone else managed to get snagged and break off and apparently, I am the only one that can tie a knot. Ok now I need a cigarette. Wouldn’t you know it, my one and only lighter, my only means of fire on the boat, breaks and doesn’t work anymore. I throw it overboard and there may have been some explicatives associated with that. Now, I know what you are thinking, and I agree. I need to quit smoking, but wasn’t planning on yesterday being the day! (I limit myself to 2-3 smokes per day during deer season and never before a hunt) So I am drifting NEAR the piece now. The bottom recorder shows much life down there, but they all have lockjaw! Finally, I see another boat with 2 guys fishing and one with a smoke. I go over and ask if he has a lighter I can use. He says he has one I can keep and throws it to me totally missing the boat and the lighter ends up in the ocean. So we head to the reef site and begin drifting. We pick the occasional fish, which is mind boggling with the amount of life showing on the screen. While re-tying a line for one of the crew, I manage to bury a hook in my finger almost to the barb. Thankfully it came out easy but now I am bleeding like crazy. As I get it under control, the fog rolls in! Now I am out 3+ miles from the inlet and 2 miles south of the beach with 20 yards visibility. Remember my radar is not working at this point. I do have redundant chartplotters, however, I am blind to any boat traffic. I set a course and make a S-L-O-W trip to just outside the outer bar outside the inlet. Thank you God, there were no breakers to contend with, my first break. We head inside and visibility is reduced to 10 yards around my vessel. Moriches bay is shallow and I don’t know anyone that has ever navigated it without a sandbar story. Add in the buoys and other boats and it was a white knuckle ride at 5 knots. I manage to make my way to the marina without incident. Get the boat to the ramp...and wouldn’t you know it, the fog lifts and its beautiful and clear again. REALLY??WTF!! Final tally for the day, fish wise, 1 keeper sea bass and 1 keeper porgy. I don’t care what the wife says, thinks or does, my radar will be working soon! I face timed her from the ocean so she could see what I was dealing with. Aside from her getting scared half to death, I think she agrees with me now.

I can’t believe it! It’s finally here!! Tomorrow is the Black Sea Bass opener!!! I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. I have waited for this day to come since the last day of deer season. Delicious, abundant, fun to catch. What's not to like?

That is just an internet pic. The real thing isn’t far off, lol.

So after posting this morning I went over to the marina to see if the bait was still active, since it is only around the corner. Saw bait jumping all over so I figured I would forgo the creek and just get my livies there. Head home, my buddy shows, almost on time lol, and we drop the boat in the water. I head to the back and load the cast net. No bait anywhere. Huh??? A couple blind casts produced nothing. Wish I woulda went to the creek. Good thing I had some frozen stuff. Ok, so off to the inlet we go. Ocean is flat and beautiful as expected. Again there were acres and acres of bunker, thankfully no whales. I heard, not sure how true, that a whale almost capsized a boat last weekend. So I do some looking and found LOTS of fish, almost all shorts tho. After 30 fluke, little squirrel had a keeper! We had fluke, blues, robins, doggies, rays, skates and a few sea bass, all but ONE returned safely. As an aside, I wore crocks today and ended up with little suntan spots where the holes were. Looks absolutely ridiculous. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Woohoo! Time to get ready. Can't wait to see what the ocean has in store for me today. There have been acres of bunker within 3 miles of the beach, hence all the whales and dolphins, but also some stripers to 50+ pounds on them. Sharks can't be far behind, if they aren't here already. Ocean surface temps right around 70deg (nearshore). Gonna walk to the creek and cast net some killies and hopefully some mullet, then drop the boat in the water and cast net some of the peanut bunker I have been watching all week at the North end of the marina. Nothing wiggles like live bait! Ocean to be relatively flat all day (2ft swells @ 20-30 sec) out to about 20 miles. Will post a report later this afternoon. Tight lines to all that are going out. Stay safe out there.

I have the 965, 975 also. They are awesome. I would love to find another 965. And, I almost totally agree. For me, I think the blackfish is neck and neck. Maybe, just maybe, they are a bit more fun to catch, too, maybe. Problem is I am usually in a tree during tog season. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I only have a limited shotgun season in January. I use a Savage 220 bolt action 20 ga slug gun. I would imagine there wouldn't be much time for follow up shot (if needed) if the deer is on the move. What really stinks is that last year we had NO snow. Hopefully this year will be different. I really wanna give this a try. I also have a Marlin lever action in .35 rem. If I ever get upstate, I can give that one a try for this.

It only counts if its a Matthews, lol

I wish I had hair to cry about not getting cut. <<sigh>>

NIce!

That’s one of the less complicated ones

Ya got me.

She finally made up her mind. Chinee Foo

I ate rattlesnake once. Tasted nothing like chicken, lol.

I read the DEC email wrong. Black Bass opens tomorrow. Black Sea Bass opens Tuesday, June 23. Dam eyes are getting old, lol.

I wish I could like this multiple times!

Today is Mrs Squirrel's b-day. I will be cooking whatever she wants.....if she can ever make up her mind, lol

Reel maintenance for Sea Bass opener. (Penn International 955) Season opens tomorrow, but I won't be able to get there until Sunday.