Report - Morning Star - Sunday 7/31

[catman]

Fished one of Monty's long range trips yesterday and had one of my best days ever for seabass and TOG. Left the house at 2:00 AM, stopped at the WAWA's on Rt. 50 before the BB, in Cambridge, and again in OC for coffee and in at OC WAWA for ice. Got to the Fishing Center in OC at 4:30 AM, an hour early for boarding. Don't like to be late for these things. We left the dock at 6:00 AM with a full boat and headed NNE for 2 hrs. Water was calm (2' seas) with wind out of the north at about 10. At the first stop I landed a 4 1/2 lb sea bass (my personal best) which in the end put $90.00 of the pool money in my pocket. Put a few more good size SB in the box before the bite went south. Moved to site #2 where I brought a 6 1/4 lb tog over the rail, another personal best. Man do they feel good bringing them up out of 100' of water. Put a few more nice SB in the box before the bite turned off. We hit 4 more sites before the day ended and a 2 hr run back to the the dock. In the end I kept 2 large tog and 17 big sea bass. Limits were fairly easy if you kept the 12" SB and a few did. Other fish that were caught were a 23 1/2" flounder and a few smaller ones, a couple of ling cod, some sea robins and some yellow looking eel like fish that Monty said was excellent eating. He kept that one for his box. The guy fishing next to me caught a nice 8 1/2 lb tog. All in all it was a great day. I have another trip booked for Aug 31st. Can't wait.


http://images.snapfish.com/3445%3A%3C9923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2334%3D3%3A5%3D4%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E23239%3A35%3B%3C%3A52ot1lsi
Personal Best Sea Bass & Tog


http://images.snapfish.com/3445%3A%3C9923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2334%3D3%3A5%3D4%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E23239%3A35%3B%3C%3A64ot1lsi
Anthony Cleaning My Tog

[Talapia]

Nice Report!!!

Dang, figures your trip would be off-the-hook!
Nice togs, did you catch them on clams?
I was kind of hoping that Monty would
hire a fine looking 20 something beach
girl for his new mate, but in lieu of that
I guess that Anthony will do... :D :D

Now I got to pay (tip) for all of the
free advice I used to get from him,
oh well......"mate, can you break this
5 spot?" , "Naw just give me 2 back and
the rest is yours." :eek: :D

Congrats Anthony. He couldn't have
picked a better person.

[catman]

Yea, it was a good day. Site #1 was as good as it gets. Lots of 4 lb sea bass over the rails before the bite turned off. We were using giant clams and scallops, no squid at all. Monty said we were feeding them filet mignon. today. Anthony did an excellent job and I tipped him well. He earned every penny. Here's another pic of him getting the rods ready on the way out if you didn't see it in the other post.

http://images.snapfish.com/3445%3B54%3B23232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2334%3D3%3A5%3D4%3A8%3DXROQDF%3E23239%3A3626%3A78ot1lsi

[Anthony]

Now I got to pay (tip) for all of the
free advice I used to get from him,
oh well......"mate, can you break this
5 spot?" , "Naw just give me 2 back and
the rest is yours." :eek: :D


You'd be surprised how many people do that. Anyway I'm glad you had fun on your trip and were able to catch two new PB's.

[Talapia]

That's messed up. They should tip at
least $10 for the regular all day trips,
and $15 - $20 for the long range. I am
also very generous with the pool money
(on the rare occassions when I get some
of it). I give all of it to the mates.

Anthony, do you find that the "regulars"
tip better or worst then the tourist?

What is the best part of mating for
you so far and what is the worst?

Do you think that being a mate will
make you a better fisherman?

Thanks! Take care Anthony, see
you in a little bit. Henry

[catman]

Monty told me that the reason why he raised his rate from $75.00 to $80.00 was for the mates. Seem they were always getting stiffed. There's also a sur charge for larger parties because of this. Monty said he had a party of 8 or 10 and the total tip was $15.00. That just plain sucks. I alway plan on tipping $15.00 per mate. Those guys work their a$$e$ off to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible for us. Also if you can let them clean your fish. That's money directly into their pockets. The going rate is $1.00 per fish so throw in an extra 25 cents per fish. They benefit and you take your fish home already cleaned in zip lock bags. One thing to remember is to tip whether you catch fish or not. It's not the mates fault if the bite is off. They still have to work reguardless.

[Anthony]

That's messed up. They should tip at
least $10 for the regular all day trips,
and $15 - $20 for the long range. I am
also very generous with the pool money
(on the rare occassions when I get some
of it). I give all of it to the mates.

Anthony, do you find that the "regulars"
tip better or worst then the tourist?

What is the best part of mating for
you so far and what is the worst?

Do you think that being a mate will
make you a better fisherman?

Thanks! Take care Anthony, see
you in a little bit. Henry

On the tipping, it varies. It just depends on the person. Sometimes we have great trips and the tips aren't the greatest. Sometimes the trips aren't the most productive and I see some really good tips. The best part is seeing people satisfied with their trip, the worst is the long hours. Will it make me a better fisherman? I'm not sure yet. I am a little faster with tying rigs and getting tangles out. With the full crowds, I don't get to fish much. But overall I do enjoy it, I get to see people who I enjoy talking to fairly regularly now.

[RedskinFan228]

It is a shame when these guys can afford 90.00 and up for a trip and then stiff the mates that work so hard to make their trip a success. I usually tip 10-20 on the all day trips depending on how good the mate(s) are (and 50.00 if it is a private big game charter)....and to tell the truth it is usually 20.00 only had one trip where the mate was lousey. He didnt know what he was doing....i think he was the captains son or relative. He couldnt string a rod worth a damn and was worse at getting a tangle out and when it came to cleaning fish said he didnt know how to fillit one. So he only got 10.00 and that was more for sympathy. good mates are hard to find so tip them well so they will be there the next time you take a fishing trip. Just my two cents worth.