Tilefish Trip - December 14, 2012

Temperatures were a bit on the chilly side, but sunlight was plentiful all day. The water current was suitable for good Tilefishing. Although the overall sizes of the fish were smaller, the Tilefish bite was steady throughout the entirety of the trip, and it kept anglers busy all day. Mike Jung put on a great performance with 25 fish, weighing a total of approx. 150 lbs. Other anglers had an average of a little over 20 fish.

Tilefish Trip - December 4, 2012

During the morning hours, we went to deeper fishing grounds in search of big Tilefish. The weather was OK, and it made for good Tilefishing conditions. During the AM portion of the trip, Robin was able to hook and land a nice 40 lb-er and Brad was also able to catch a nice 25 lb Tilefish. Robin later explained that it was his first giant Tilefish and that it was an experience of a lifetime. He explained the fight to be nothing but dead weight for the first 5 mins. The fish followed up with a reluctant and slow way up to the surface, with the occassional jerking motion. He stated that it was like trying to drag a rebellious kid out of a candy store!! He was full of smiles for the remainder of the trip.

After about an hour, the winds significantly picked up and fishing became very difficult. Anglers had to increase their sinker weight to 3 lbs. Some anglers even taped up multiple sinkers to make improvised 5 and 6 lb-ers. Holding bottom was still a challenging task with the winds as strong as it was. In light of these windy conditions, the captain decided to move to shallower waters. The rest of the trip gave a steady Tilefish bite with overall smaller sizes of Golden and Blueline Tiles. Anglers caught an average of 12 fish.

Robin's huge 40 lb-er

Brad's nice 25 lb-er

Tilefish Trip - November 26, 2012

The weather was a little chilly but it was sunny all day. It was beautiful weather for fishing. On the contrary, the Tilefish were slow to bite, and fishing action was moderate at most. It seems that the after effects of Hurricane Sandy still have a significant and adverse presence among the Tilefish population and other species of fish. Anglers caught an average of 10-15 fish. Jin Kim from Edison, NJ landed an impressive 25 fish, taking home the high hook title. Most of the anglers were using my new Tilefish jigs, including high hook Jin Kim.

High Hook Jin Kim's cooler full of Tilefish!

Nice double header

Golden Tilefish Trip - October 23, 2012

On October 23, 2012, I was aboard the Atlantic Star (Cape May, NJ) on a Tilefish trip. The fishing was spectacular, with 37 Golden Tilefish caught by myself. Also, I had at least 6 double headers during this trip. By now, you're probably wondering what kind of tackle I used. A new Tilefish jigging system (see photos below) did all the damage. Many bait fishermen had untouched rigs when I was able to constantly land fish. Not one second was I waiting for fish. They were attacking the jigs all day, and I was easily hooking up.

The torpedo shaped jig head coupled with a glow skirt is the perfect treat for tilefish.

Nice Golden Tilefish

One of the many happy fishermen with double header Golden Tiles