Sheesh.. Not much to offer & fishing is NOT great either - but one trip anyway...
Luvs you some misery? C'mon Then, We're Going Toggin!
See below for Reef Report 1/23/21 about my block trip, Sunday 1/24/21 (which was cut off badly by mailchimp..)
Greetings All,
I keep telling folks this is a brutal fishery—tough getting tougher. Client Skunks are going to happen on a daily basis.
But here we go.. The tug is the drug.
Released Tog Count In Our Pool. We go by LENGTH.
No Live Tog Leave The Boat.
I've always run Tog Trips light so anglers could move to the bite - or try too! Now with covid... Oyyyy! Even fewer.
For those in need of the blow-by-blow catch reports, I post after every trip to facebook.
Be a half hour early! We always leave early!
..except when someone shows up right on time.
Clients arriving late will see the west end of an east-bound boat.
With a limited number of reserved spots, I do not refund because you
overslept or had a flat..
Trips Also Announced on Facebook at Morning Star Fishing
https://www.facebook.com/ocfishing/ & my personal FB page along with after action (or lack thereof) reports..
Bait is provided on all trips: green crabs for tog. (Whites Are USUALLY available from crew for a reasonable cost...)
No Live Tog Leave The Boat - Dead & Bled - Period. (I Believe The Live Tog Black Market Has Hurt This Fishery ..But Nowhere Near As Much As Bad Sea Bass Regulation) As recently as 12/20 a fellow was busted with 40-some live tog in OC..
Agreed With Or Not, All Regulations Observed – Maryland: 4 Tog @ 16 Inches. I will likely cut that in a boat regulation soon. I have always encouraged releasing females and any keeper, really, that's in good shape. Those who respect the fishery know what they need to do.
If You Won't Measure & Count Your Fish, The State Will Provide A Man With A Gun To Do It For You. We Measure & Count — ALWAYS — No Exceptions!
It's Simple To Prevent Motion Sickness, Difficult To Cure. Bonine
seems best because it's non-drowsy. Truly cheap & effective insurance.
Honestly - If you get to go on the ocean once month, once a year, or
even less; why risk chumming all day? Similarly, if you howl at the
moon all night, chances are good you'll howl into a bucket all day.
Bring A Cooler With Ice For Your Fish – A 48 Quart Cooler Is Fine For
A Few People. Do Not Bring A Very Large Cooler. We DO have a few
loaners - you'll still need ice.
No Galley! Bring Food & Beverages To Suit. A few beers in cans is fine for the ride home.
Except in high-summer, waterproof boots are almost a necessity unless fishing the bow - sneakers will ruin your day when the water is cold! While some rarely, or never, wear gloves for fishing, you'd not likely see me fishing this time of year w/o at least the half-finger wool gloves. Tuck a "hot hands" warmer in the palm and life is good..
Layers are best because, believe it or not, sometimes it can be very
pleasant offshore--especially when the wind lays down. In winter it's
warmer offshore owing to warmer waters. In summer it's cooler..
Reservations Required at 443-235-5577
Tog (Blackfish) Trips Only - Allowed zero sea bass. They're closed now.
IF YOU BOOK LEAVE YOUR BEST POSSIBLE CONTACT NUMBER & LISTEN TO YOUR MESSAGES -
Weather Cancellations Happen - I Make Every Attempt To Let Clients Sleep In If The Weather's Not Going Our Way..
Tog (Blackfish) Trips Only - Allowed zero sea bass. They're closed now.
IF YOU BOOK LEAVE YOUR BEST POSSIBLE CONTACT NUMBER & LISTEN TO YOUR MESSAGES -
Weather Cancellations Happen - I Make Every Attempt To Let Clients Sleep In If The Weather's Not Going Our Way..
Be a half hour early! We always leave early!
..except when someone shows up right on time.
Clients arriving late will see the west end of an east-bound boat.
With a limited number of reserved spots, I do not refund because you
overslept or had a flat..
Trips Also Announced on Facebook at Morning Star Fishing
https://www.facebook.com/ocfishing/ & my personal FB page along with after action (or lack thereof) reports..
Bait is provided on all trips: green crabs for tog. (Whites Are USUALLY available from crew for a reasonable cost...)
Our Tog Pool Is By Length: A Tog That's Been Released Counts The Same As One In The Boat.
No Live Tog Leave The Boat - Dead & Bled - Period. (I Believe The Live Tog Black Market Has Hurt This Fishery ..But Nowhere Near As Much As Bad Sea Bass Regulation) As recently as 12/20 a fellow was busted with 40-some live tog in OC..
Agreed With Or Not, All Regulations Observed – Maryland: 4 Tog @ 16 Inches. I will likely cut that in a boat regulation soon. I have always encouraged releasing females and any keeper, really, that's in good shape. Those who respect the fishery know what they need to do.
If You Won't Measure & Count Your Fish, The State Will Provide A Man With A Gun To Do It For You. We Measure & Count — ALWAYS — No Exceptions!
It's Simple To Prevent Motion Sickness, Difficult To Cure. Bonine
seems best because it's non-drowsy. Truly cheap & effective insurance.
Honestly - If you get to go on the ocean once month, once a year, or
even less; why risk chumming all day? Similarly, if you howl at the
moon all night, chances are good you'll howl into a bucket all day.
Bring A Cooler With Ice For Your Fish – A 48 Quart Cooler Is Fine For
A Few People. Do Not Bring A Very Large Cooler. We DO have a few
loaners - you'll still need ice.
No Galley! Bring Food & Beverages To Suit. A few beers in cans is fine for the ride home.
Except in high-summer, waterproof boots are almost a necessity unless fishing the bow - sneakers will ruin your day when the water is cold! While some rarely, or never, wear gloves for fishing, you'd not likely see me fishing this time of year w/o at least the half-finger wool gloves. Tuck a "hot hands" warmer in the palm and life is good..
Layers are best because, believe it or not, sometimes it can be very
pleasant offshore--especially when the wind lays down. In winter it's
warmer offshore owing to warmer waters. In summer it's cooler..
Covid is spiking like crazy. We cannot fish with perfect safety but I am cutting back to 12 anglers. Masks MUST be worn in the salon but not at the rail.
Expect Long Runs!
Tog Fishing - Calm before the storm (I hope!) Wednesday 1/27/21 - from 6am to 4pm - $175.00..
For Covid All Trips Sell Out at Twelve Anglers.
Cheers
Monty
********
Block Trip!
Greetings Reef Supporters!
We have a midday weather window for an inshore reef building block trip Sunday, 1/24/21.
All Welcome! Volunteers will meet at 10am Sunday 1/24/21 at slip B1 in the OC Fishing Center (Morning Star's slip.)
Email Capt.monty@ocreefs.org if you'd like to reach for the Advil Sunday afternoonand Please not otherwise. Volunteers should wear layers and bring good leather work gloves. Steel toed boots are great if you got em, flip-flops if you must.
We're going to load about 150 seventy pound blocks (Thanks York Building Supplies!) and roughly twenty 170lb pyramids from our own molds poured by Atlantic Concrete (Thanks especially to Jon & Frank!) - could sure use a few pickups - lunch will be catered by Ruth's Chris (NOT!) - errr.. how about Royal Farms chicken and some cold sodas.
We'll load and go to an undecided location (depends on weather) double anchor and unload. After we've unloaded we'll soak in the ship's hot tub while cocktails are served (that's not true either!)
Cold days are better than hot ones for this work.
We'd be glad to have your help! Need as many workers as possible loading - maybe 8 to go offshore. T-shirts for all and sweats discounted to $20.00 for volunteers who break a sweat.
Why bother? What in the world are a few cement blocks going to do against habitat loss dating back to 1950?
I've fished 40 years off the MD Coast. Two of my best days of flounder fishing ever, and numerous limits of sea bass, have come from block piles we've built off the back of my boat.
They're not secret. Perfect coordinates to all our reefs are published in OCRF charts available to sponsors starting at the $50 level. (See ocreefs.orgto donate. We'll print 2021 charts in mid-March. Dig a little deeper too - this will be our best year of reef building in over a decade!)
My crew loads a few blocks every fishing trip, but only rarely am I able to sneak in a dedicated trip. Any boat anywhere should be able to do this. They MUST build only on permitted reef sites and with the blessing of their state's reef coordinator.
It works!! I've used reef blocks to 'save' reef that had scoured into the bottom; reef laying just beneath the sand, or 'sanded over' as we say, can serve as a foundation. I have used blocks to tie two small reefs together such as "Two Tanks Reef" at the Queen site where an M60 tank and an APC dating from the Army's "Operation Reef Ex" in 1994 lie just 60 feet apart. I've especially used blocks to add complexity to flat areas of an existing reef—a broad expanse of bare steel where it's so hard for growth to gain a toehold—once broken by blocks, that steel explodes with life.
It's a small thing in the reef building world, this type of reef building with just six or seven ton deployments, but keep after it and habitat happens.
It really is a little bit of progress. We have, after all, a 200 foot barge in our immediate future. Nicky Ferrara of Bear Concrete is going to donate and load nearly 300 tons of precast concrete pipe on that barge. What a tog palace! I just sent McLean a check for the beast.
And yes, we have a 40 foot barge coming too (Thanks Doug Whittington!) which we'll load with as much cement as she'll hold and sink it close to an existing spot.
And yes, we've a BUNCH of other projects coming - maybe even a true game changer in the largest grant I've ever applied for. In the last 9 months we've deployed two sailboats, a small barge & an 85' tug - that's Reef Building!
Still, small steps remain steps forward. They all add up. There's an opportunity Sunday and we're going to seize it.
If we are to leave the ocean better than we found it, then rereefing the seafloor is an important aspect of the work that lies ahead. I'll use every chance given to see the job done.
Cheers,
Monty
Capt Monty Hawkins
President OC Reef Foundation
Info@ocreefs.org
Mhawkins@morningstarfishing.com
