The captain's (b)log » Uncategorized

Big Blues

Captain Paul — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:58:46 +0000

You know its fall because the Gorilla Blues are attacking! Our last few outings found blues 15 lbs plus in Quicks Hole and many more out in Vineyard Sound. Several of my clients are experts at smoking bluefish and this as we all know is a real delicacy. Stripers are still around but you must battle through the bluefish.

This time of year can provide some beautiful weather and lots of action. If you want to get out before the cold weather arrives, give me a shout.

New weekday specials make it easier to bring home that tasty fish dinner…

Captain Paul — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:52:01 +0000

Last Minute Louies: Catching a last-minute fishing urge? Well Louie, here’s a second chance…call the Captain within 3 days of your desired date, and if the boat isn’t booked, get your gear ready. Save $100 on last-minute weekday trips.

Trial Trawls: Feeling adventurous? Explore new fishing spots and experiment with new techniques. Join the Captain and explore the latest dock-rumors: from new fishing spots, to the craziest of techniques. We’re even taking the risk out of experimenting by taking $100 off exploratory weekday trips.

Half Day is Better than No Day! Get out into Buzzaqrd’s Bay and get that pole in the water. Depending on the tides, these 4 – 4.5 hour, half-day weekday trips run in the morning or afternoon, and still you time to plan other maninland adventures. A four person tip is $395.00. Call the Captain to talk tides.

Call Captain Paul Osmon (508-951-5522) to reel in these great August/September savings! (email: cposmon@a0l.com)

Fluke Season is Open

Captain Paul — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:41:41 +0000

The fluke season is open and the fluke are in! We fished yesterday throughout Vineyard Sound and found some really nice fluke in the 5 lb + range. However, as expected, with the increase in the size limit this year to 18.5″ there are many throw backs. Those who have fished for stripers with me this spring know of the battles we’ve had with all the sand sharkes; well, on the fluke grounds are some really huge skates! Although not the problem the sharks created the skates are a nusance.

We will be fishing the east running tide all week for the flatties – stay tuned.

Enjoying the Florida Sunshine

Captain Paul — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:25:26 +0000

OK, OK so I’m retired and haven’t written in a long time.
But, you know it is winter and cold and who is thinking about fishing anyway. Well, I guess you are so I have responded with an early email to my regulars for booking those prime dates.

For those who have written about the article in “On The Water”, yes that is Pro-Fishin-Sea on page 22. I guess you just never know who is watching. We were catching stripers on a beautiful late July day with a crew from New Jersey.

I have been fishing here for Sea Trout, Snook, and whatever bites the hook. One thing about Florida fishing is you just never know what you will catch – the variety is something else. On Sunday, I volunteer at Biscayne National Park. My job is to open the lighthouse on Boca Chita Key for visitors. The Lighthouse and grounds were developed as a playground by Honeywell in the mid-40′s. He hosted many black tie parties then. Last week when up in the 85 ft. lighthouse we saw a dolphin swimming around and around. Alll of a sudden, it went after its dinner, chasing a small foot long fish. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It took the dolphin about 3 minutes to catch the fish, all the time making hair pin turns and doing loops under water. What a show. After it caught the fish, the dolphin made what looked like victory laps around the light house showing all the visitors his catch. You just never know what you will see out here.
Take care, keep in touch
Capt. Paul

Fall’s Finish

Captain Paul — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:35:24 +0000

Well for all you die-hards, the season is over for Pro-Fishin’-Sea. We hauled the boat out on Friday and she will be all winterized, wrapped and readied for winter. After checking the final records 2008 goes in the books as a good season. The best fishing again proved to be the end of June into mid-July. Several fish tipped the scales in the low 40′s and high 30′s during this time. Given the high fuel costs and the resulting lower number of boats fishing there were probably lots of fish that survived the season. Who thought that fuel costs would be boon to species conservation.

So, thanks to all my crew who fished with me this summer. We had many exciting times and hopefully we can all “hook-up” again next year. Shortly, I will be heading to Florida to explore and fish the “skinny” waters of Biscayne Bay, the keys and the Everglades. I’ll try to put a couple of posts on the site so you can get a bit of a feel for my Florida waters and the fishing we have down there.

Again, thanks to all and have a great winter.

Paul

September Starts

Captain Paul — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:46:46 +0000

Well, its still all about the Bluefish! For those who enjoy fighting this ocean warrior, this is your time. The smaller 5-8 pound fish continue to hit small trolled or casted lures. Birds have been marking the schools where the fish are hitting small baitfish. Much bigger fish are caught deeper in the water column with pogies. Richard D. and his group had some real gorillas yesterday. The surprising catch was a nice batch of good sized sea bass. They don’t give the fight of the bluefish but are a fun to catch bottom fish and just wonderful cooked in butter in the fry pan!

The commercial striper season is finally ending. This is the latest closing in years and many say it points to a decline in the larger striper population. I’ve been told that most of the fish closing the MA market came from the Glouster area.

September 3 , 2008
MarineFisheries Advisory

COMMERCIAL STRIPED BASS FISHERY TO CLOSE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Landings permitted until midnight on Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Current landing and dealer reporting information indicates that the Commonwealth’s annual striped bass commercial quota (1,107,828 lbs) for 2008 will be reached by Tuesday, September 9. Therefore, effective Wednesday, September 10, at 12:01AM, fishermen are prohibited from landing or possessing striped bass for commercial purposes, for the remainder of this year.

Dealers are reminded that it is unlawful to purchase striped bass from Massachusetts commercial fishermen when the fishery is closed. Regulations can be viewed at the MarineFisheries web site: www.mass.gov/marinefisheries.

Singing the Blues!

Captain Paul — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:28:02 +0000

The later part of August has produced numbers of hungry bluefish all around the islands. Mid-sized fish (6-8 lbs) are thick in Quick’s Hole and are feeding on small baitfish. Trolling or casting bucktails will put all the fish you want in the boat. Al C. was out with his daughter and grandchildren and took blues trolling and bait fishing. The next day, fishing with Frank S. we caught well over 50 fish on a completely catch and release trip. Much larger, gorilla blues were caught using bait rather than jigs. If you enjoy bluefishing, now is the time!

The other side of the coin is that striper fishing has slowed down. Partly because the blues beat the bass to the bait but more so that there are just fewer stripers around. The best part of the tide for stripers is the fist 2 to 3 hours of the incoming tide. Some are saying already that this will not go down as a good year for stripers. One indication is that as of this writing, the MA commercial quota is only 47% filled. Typically, the season has reached its quota and is closed by mid-August. It’s possible that this year will not even fill the quota! It’s hard to tell if the fish are starting a decline or if there are just not as many people commercially fishing for them given the price of fuel. One guy told me that even with a price of $4.00 a pound, its not worth going out to Nomans for the fish. Who ever thought that the high price of fuel would contribute to the conservation of the fish. Given these reports, we should feel really great that our striper fishing has been so good.

So, the weather will soon turn cooler and we share see what September brings. Hope you can make it out this season.

August Slow Down

Captain Paul — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:51:04 +0000

It’s that time of year when the water warms and the fish bite slows down; unless of course if your a bluefish. Blues in the 5 – 8 pound category have been feeding on the surface early in the morning in Quick’s Hole just about every day. They have also been beating the stripers to the bait when we anchor up. I’m still waiting for the bass to come alive on the slow water at the second half of the tide but, until then we will continue to take our fish early.

Fluke fishing ends August 15th and the bite has gotten tired. Last attempt at the flatties found only a few keepers and lots of under sized fish. There is talk of increasing the quota or lowering the size limit for next year – stay tuned.

For those who like to take a few scup on the slack tide please note season closure below.

August 7, 2008

MarineFisheries Advisory

COMMERCIAL SCUP FISHERY TO CLOSE

AFTER THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008

The Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) has projected that 100% of the Commonwealth’s scup quota for the summer/fall fishery will be taken by Thursday, August 14, 2008. Consequently, fishermen are prohibited from landing or possessing scup for commercial purposes effective 0001 hours on Friday, August 15. Note, federally permitted commercial fishermen have been prohibited from landing or possessing scup since NOAA Fisheries closed the summer period federal fishery on June 16, 2008.

The federally-managed Winter II period opens on November 1^st with a possession limit of 2,000-lbs. per trip as approved by NOAA Fisheries and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. By November, the fishery is predominately in offshore (federal) waters when scup migrate to deeper waters in response to dropping temperatures inshore.

Recreational fishermen are reminded that the scup recreational fishery will be closed beginning September 18 for anglers aboard for-hire vessels and beginning September 27 for anglers aboard private vessels or fishing from shore. Dealers are reminded that it is unlawful to purchase scup from Massachusetts commercial fishermen when the fishery is closed.

Funforflukin’

Captain Paul — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:11:06 +0000

July is now in the record books and it was a good month. July 18 & 19 Jerry N and Paul G booked trips targeting fluke. These were our first attempts for the big flatties this year. Jerry’s group had a good catch with a monster doormat of 10 pounds. When Paul G’s group showed up the next morning and I told him of the 10 pounder, his eyed widened because he was entered in his fishing club’s fluke contest. Well, they had a good catch but the best news is that their 7 pound and 5 pound fluke won them 1st and 2nd prize. Congrats to Paul.

Our other trips finishing up July were back after stripers. A good showing of big fish made everyone happy. Check out the photo board for Jeff and Cheryl’s trip. Their son Jay took a really nice fish on their trip that had fish from 35″ to 39″. John K’s group rounded out the month with another nice catch.

For those interested in catching Fluke, heads up the recreational season closes August 15th and I just received the notice below from Marine Fisheries.

July 31, 2008

MarineFisheries Advisory

COMMERCIAL FLUKE FISHERY TO CLOSE TUESDAY, AUGUST 5^TH -

Landings permitted until 8 PM on Tuesday, August 5^th

Current dealer reporting information indicates that the Commonwealth’s 2008 summer flounder (fluke) fishery quota (615,218-lbs.) will be reached on Tuesday, August 5^th. Therefore, after 8PM on Tuesday, August 5^th commercial fishermen are prohibited from landing or possessing fluke through December 31, 2008.

Hello July

Captain Paul — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:53:17 +0000

June is in the books and compares favorably to past seasons. The Big fish showed up just a few days behind schedule. July has started off well. Fished July 3rd and took 7 nice keepers; nothing really big, the fish ranged from 30″ to 33″. Tony and Mike showed off their experience on the boat taking several keepers (see photo) and a bunch of throw backs.

Word is that the fluke are starting to show in pretty good numbers in the usual spots. If we can get a calm day, I’ll be giving the big flaties a try. Stay tuned, I’ll give you a report. Give a call if you want to get some
Fluke fishing in this summer.