ARCHIVES:
July 26, 2009
September 2008 A scheduled trip with Bill Dawson, the Sage flyrod rep, his co worker Scott Doty and Robert from Ramsey Outdoors finally got me out there. After what was a tremendous Yelowfin season early on, the canyons have died out a bit, notwithstanding that, to pass up a bite like this one you'd have to be crazy. Over 12 Bluefins hooked up, 7 or 8 brought to the boat, and two hooked up on fly, one being the fish of a lifetime for Bill Dawson. He landed this Bluefin in under 45 minutes on a 16 weight Sage rod, on a tippet that would have tested out on IGFA standards as 26. Fish after fish were hooked up on jigs, and Bill refused to get away from the rod. Finally he hooks a big fish and it dumped the Pacific spool, just then a school of Rays go by and cut the backing in half. This happened to us two other times yesterday on 65 pound braid so the backing had no chance. About a half an hour later the bait rod went off and dumped half a spool of 60 pound Sufix off of the Finor Santiago reel, it was no doubt a big fish, maybe biggest of the day, but then Bill's burning drag sound grabbed my attention, and we knew that at some point we would have to cut off the fish on the 50, which we did after about a half an hour of under, over, back, go around the left, etc. Capt. Lou Grasioso who helped me out for the day, was pricelss when he said "sorry Rob" and cut the mono line. 15 minutes later Bill Dawson landed what weighed out after bleeding and a couple of hours was a 98.5 pound fish on a certified scale, truly a fish of a lifetime. If I could only do this everyday... Thanks to Capt. Lou for all his help, and an amazing crew that day. We'll try again tomorrow... Capt Frank Crescitelli June 2008
Over the weekend we had great top water fishing using our new "prototype" lures (more to come on that later) and finished 7th in the FLW tournament, and had a great time. Using Tony Maja's easy outrodders and Bunker Spoons, we never did find the "right one" but it was fun learning how to Wire Line Troll for the big ones. There are still BIG fish in the Hudson doing the love dance and they will be passing us soon, so there is a lot of great fishing to come. Call now and get your chance to battle a Hog before it is over. If you think you are tough enough to battle with an 18 pound Bluefish on light tackle, then come on down, they’re waiting. Peace, Capt. Frank
January 2008 Hello and Happy New Year! First off I wanted to thank all of you for the busiest and most successful season since we started Fin Chaser Charters way back in 1998. This year is our tenth anniversary and we have lots of great things in store for 2008.
We ended this year catching loads of Striped Bass and chased some monster Giant Bluefin Tuna that were just off the beach in 35 feet of water, what a way to end a great season! I hope this message finds you well and in good spirits. As for myself I have a very bad case of Cabin Fever, and it's only January, help please! Seriously all is well and I am just dropping you a note to say hello and let you know what's going on for the winter months with the Fin Chaser crew and myself. Usually we have a booth at the Somerset Flyfishing Show, which was this past weekend, January 25-27th but for the first time in ten years we decided not to do this show. Between scheduling and the fact that we do a much more popular show with broader appeal called the Saltwater Fishing Expo in the same location March 16-18 this show seemed redundant. The same promoter has another show in Suffern called the World Fishing & Outdoor Expedition and I will be doing a seminar there on March 1 @ 4:00 PM, so check out the website for both of these shows at http://www.sportshows.com/ for complete details. Lot's of other great things are in store for Fin Chaser in 2008, like two new boats and a full tournament schedule for both inshore and offshore. We will be available for charter in some of these tournaments as well. A complete schedule and more info will follow on those opportunities in the next email. If you think I have photos of you from this past years fishing, please email me back and I will get them to you. Thanks again for making this the greatest job in the world. July 22, 2007 A little advice; never take
any fishery for granted! Now onto the immediate future... Can anyone say Sushi? That's right it's Tuna Time! And not long after that it will be Marlin time! But before we get there, we still have some time before Mako shark bite has slowed. In fact this year has been on of the best starts for Mako fishing in a few years. We thankfully have a nice amount of bookings for the Tuna and Marlin fishing and there are a few spots open, so give a call. There is nothing like catching a Marlin off the NJ coast! When the weather is bad, or we need a day to recuperate
from all the On the Tournament Scene --
Team Fin Chaser finishes 5th in Mako Mania! We put the rod in the holder with the 500+ Thresher
on, landed the Mako and then continued for another hour or so to
try to get the Thresher next to the boat for some pics, which never
happened. After over two and one half hours later the line
must have rubbed on his tail and parted. When the Thresher was just
hooked and still very green he came right to the boat and we had
a really good look at him, over 18 feet long, but there was no way
we were trying anything that early into the fight. Don't forget Team Fin Chaser is available for Billfish and Tuna Tournaments this summer, call for our availability!
May 29, 2007 The latest fishing report...
Hall of fame baseball legend Wade Boggs and Capt. Frank claimed the Celebrity Angler award in last weeks FCA Manhattan Cup! The "Big Man" Clarence Clemens joined captain Frank for some warm up fishing before the Manhattan Cup and caught this beautiful Bass. Clarence enchanted everyone the next
day when he lent his talents to the FCA to play his horn (and one
that was auctioned off) for the sold out crowd at Manhattan Cup
awards party. Both Wade and Clarence donated the star power
to help the FCA raise money that will be Thanks Wade and Clarence!
May 3, 2007 Well finally the sun is shinning and the fish are biting and all is well again... Every winter I get this feeling like
spring is never going to come, and I will never catch another fish.
Luckily every spring I am proved wrong. Even though old man winter
hung in there this year a bit longer than usual, the fish seem to
be just about on target with their arrival. We are not fishing a
full-blown migration yet, but that will come within a couple of
weeks. Manhattan Cup is May 18th Wade Boggs and Clarence Clemens (see picture of a nice Striper Clarence caught during last years tournament) will be competing on Team Fin Chaser, so come participate or just come to party. Contact Capt. Frank for more details @ finfly@aol.com. Until next time, make a cast and hang on!
October 30, 2006 Well, it’s fall and the fish gods have blessed us... Well, it’s fall and finally the
fish gods have blessed us, I mean truly It has been challenging getting the good weather to
go overnight in the Inshore the mighty Striped Bass, gamefish of the northeast,
is on it’s If you are a new client and have
never fished with us before, reserve
August 5, 2006 Fin Chaser Joins Saltwater Sportsman Editor, Dave DiBenedetto, for Blue Marlin Tournament Win at White Marlin Invitational Check out a video clip from Fin Chaser's
blue marlin tournament win with Saltwater
Sportsman Editor, Dave DiBenedetto! June 2, 2006 Small bait and big fog! Finally the small bait has arrived and the Bass are eating the flies good! Tough to fool them when they are eating 2 pound Bunker, but thank the fish Gods for Anchovies and Sand Eels! This past week brought in the small bait and the big fog! The combination of the two made for great fishing. The Bass were sipping the small baits right ion the surface and the were eating crease fly's very well. Doug Bird landed some strong and acrobatic Bass at the end of last week, and the bait and switch worked earlier during the week for the larger fish. The hot weather has put things off a bit as soon as it heats up and the sun is high, but still the fishing is great. Until next week, no sleep! - Capt Frank Crescitelli May 26, 2006 FCA Manhattan Cup Recap It was a little crazy before this year's FCA Manhattan Cup. It's amazing to see how this event has grown from an idea that Dave Fallon had, which he presented to you and I over a few beers 8 years ago! When you turned to me and said, do you think guys will do it? I never thought it would be as big as it is! I'm proud and exhausted, but it was a wild success, and all the money will be used to protect the resource. We started off with a BBQ lunch sponsored by Urban Angler in NYC and then fished the rest of the day in crazy weather. Not even hailstorms could hold these guys back, and most teams experienced some great fishing. Fireworks sponsored by Mako Vodka and the "Big Man" Clarence Clemens blowing his sax were two unbelievable additions this year. Having Clarence fish on one of my boats was a great honor. Capt. Tony Gangone guided Clarence to the biggest Striped Bass he has ever seen! Fin Chaser captain Fletcher Chayes guided Keith Overlander to the winning Bass on the fly and even I managed to win Largest Bass on bait (I know) caught by Geoffrey Jones, Largest Bluefish on Fly caught by Bob (Bubba) Rich and largest Bluefish on artificial, caught on a Barefoot "Getz Em" jig by Michael Donovan. Capt. Gene Quigley guided my new friend, former Yankee catcher Mike Stanley to win the Manhattan Cup, congrats to Gene! My sincerest thanks to all the captains that donated their time, expertise and boats to support the new Fishermen's Conservation Association. There were too many to list, but please log on to www.manhattancup.com in the next few days's to see all the captains listed. A special thank you to my Co-chair David Fallon for all his hard work, and to all the volunteers that helped make this tournament a wild success. This year we also added a Striper Tube category and we weighed in and released, alive, over 25 Stripers. Capt. Rich Tenrerio of Northeast Angling won that division and took home the 2500.00 prize money as well. This years "man of the year" Capt. Gary Ellis, had his first Striper ever as well with me that day, so all in all it was great! As for the fishing, it has been insane! Gator Bluefish and Hog Stripers are here and don't seem like they are going anywhere for a while. I have said this for the last four years and I'll say it again -- "this is the best spring fishing in my life" I'll end on that note. - Capt Frank Crescitelli May 12, 2006 Welcome back everyone! We're fishing again and all is right with the world once again! Very large Menhaden have moved into Raritan Bay and the Big Bas and Bluefish are feeding heavy on them. When the fish are feeding on these large baits make it is very hard to fool them with a fly, even a big one, but the reward is worth the risk! This past week we had some good day's with the fly with Bass up to 14 pounds, and Blues up to 11 pounds. When we have clients that liveline, well, let's just say... ther've been bigger. With fish up to 42 pounds in the bay eating the live baits, anything can happen on the fly and if this year is anything like last, we broke the 20 pound mark many many times. It's all a matter of being in the right place at the right time, because we know something like 26 million fish will pass through our area this spring, so get your big bunker flies, your full sinking lines and go get em! By the way, nothing sinks like Rio T-14 Tungsten heads, they will get you down in 25 feet of water! The fishing in Raritan Bay and lower NY Harbor has been off the hook, but challenging at times with the fly, still. This week we had a 21 pounder on the fly and some very nice teen size fish as well. The movement of the Bunker is dictating where we are fishing and changes from day to day, which is keeping it interesting! Very large fish are moving in everyday, so stay tuned. - Capt Frank Crescitelli
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On a serious note, the Striped Bass migration is in full swing, and the fishing has been good overall. Although some day's the fishing has been challenging, we are doing better than I have ever done when I have chartered anywhere else in the country so things must be good. I have to put in perspective the fact that over the last few years we have had stellar fishing and that when it is “only” good, that is still GREAT by many people’s standards. When you can catch double digit Bluefish every day and have shots at Bass up to 40 pounds that is pretty good! 
The
big Bass are in! Although the fishing is a bit up and down
this past week, the fish that have been caught are big! 
used to protect and enhance our amazing marine resources. It's
one thing when a celebrity lends his/her talent to a cause, but
it takes on tremendous meaning when these people really care about
the resource, and in this case are true fishermen. 
Don't
forget to check out the 
©2006 Fin Chaser Charters. All rights reserved. Phone: 718-317-1481