Barnegat Municipal Dock 11-17-24 With Years End Summary

[NOREAST]

24 ring traps baited with C/N's
Water temperature 48.3 - 50.1 degrees
Winds NW 10 - 15, gusting to 20 mph
Incoming tide (extremely high flood tide, full moon)
Culled at 5"
Water depth - 2' - 6'

Hit the ramp at 8:00 to a chill in the air and the flags standing straight out, also noticed the parking lot with large puddles from the high tide earlier. With the water reading 48.3 degrees along with the winds, this could be a short trip. Only deployed 12 traps  and went to throw some popper's for stripers while the traps sat. First run the crabs were chewing with crabs in almost every basket and 3 keepers. That was enough to load the rest of the baskets. Things didn't slow down the whole trip as we caught hundreds of crabs and enough keepers to put a catch together. As the morning went along the wind dropped out to make it a beautiful day to be on the water. Ended the day with a little over half a basket that we dropped off to my buddy and a fellow member. We started to feed our little friends who hung around all morning for their last supper. *Note* Found a lost trap with no identification on the float (3rd one this year), put your name and number on the float and there's a good chance that you'll get it back.

End of the year partial summary
21 crabbing trips
Biggest crab 8 1/8", Wye River Maryland
12 known fishing trips, but lost track mid summer, but many more trips
Hours put on motor this year - 165 hours
Total hours on motor, 3rd season - 668 hours, boat had 15 hours on it when we bought it.

Fish caught
Fluke - biggest over 3 lbs
Striper
Bluefish
Blowfish
Spot
Croaker
Seabass
Shark
Sea Robin (Captain caught the biggest sea bird I've every seen, sorry no photo)
Clams

Mother Nature stole 5 weekends from us this year and a-lot of that was prime time.
Another issue was the water staying so cold for the first half of the season, that really hurt flounder fishing. At my age it won't be long before we're out there again,  as the winters fly by just like the summers. Till next year, have a happy holiday, and that's a wrap.

[Wallco99]

Great summary, Ken. I think you need a hobby though. 

[crewstation]

Great pics, Ray.  And thanks to you and Joyce for the bounty.  

[Capt. Debbie]

Great summary, Ken. I think you need a hobby though. 

LOL

[shtoong]

Awesome November catch. I'll bet those boys were in super slow motion at those temperatures.

[fish machine]

Noreast that's a great catch this time of year. I was thinking it was over but catching crabs at 48-degree water temp gives me hope. Thanks for the yearly report looks like you had a good year.

[NOREAST]

Shtoong, 
Most of the crabs were semi sluggish, but some of those teenagers had a real attitude. With the amount of crabs we caught, they were on the move. The full moon tide might of helped in them moving, but even at slack tide we were catching keepers. The more I think I know about crabbing, the more questions I have. Go figure 

[crabbin paisano]

Noreast,no body does it better like the song,great pictures from the 2024 season . No one can complain about it. nice recap from hours on the water to different types of fish even the captain keeping an eye on the pot of crabs.Like that 8 + incher as well. Im thinking that after this quick chill coming in this weekend next week looks like some upper 50s the paisano may have a surprise trip to a small and narrow creek off 88 hidden behind a small hotel.i will post it if i go.GREAT YEAR AGAIN!!!

[Dale4life]

Nice job!!

[DCAP1]

Wow thats a huge crab!  Thank you for the post!

[Toneyfish]

Great overview of the year!
I enjoyed the pictures and summery you posted.
Cannot wait for the warmer weather after looking at these post.
Thanks for the post

AND

Have a Happy New Year everyone see you next year!