Click for a special holiday greeting from your friends at G Fish.

Each year we charter Captain Billy Burge and his Barvic for an annual garbage fishing adventure. I forgot about this footage but this year we got into them good and after 12 years of fishing the Barvic, the mates are finally learning to clean skate.

It's not a very nice week, but Monday, November 30th, tossed us a beautiful day of fishing. Broke Barnegat Inlet and headed north along Island Beach State Park, NJ - at dawn. Birds and fish everywhere - seas were flat - and the fish were cooperating as we trolled up some fun on board Captain George Elmer's, Rascal II. Always fun fishing with George, a man who knows how to eat fish. After the trip, the skipper showed us how he prepares the cleaned rack of the striped bass for smoking. (George advises 2.5 hours on a low smoke setting using cherry wood but says oak also works nicely.) What we like about this method is that a portion of the fish that is normally tossed into the garbage is utilized for consumption and not wasted. George not only suggests eating the meat off the bones, but sucking the juice out of the spine. Now that's what we're talkin' about. Bon'appetite.

To start the report off I was surprised me and my dad made it out for the last day of fishing this year. The National Weather Service said 3 to 4 foot waves, reality 4 to 6 footers. That was in the morning, after about 8 o'clock the wind changed from south east to a almost west wind. By 10 o'clock smooth sailing with 2 to 3 footers. The fishing however was alright for most anglers, but for us garbage fisherman here at garbage fish a superb day if you have a taste for Dogfish fillets. Everyone was slaughtering the Doggies, most complaining about them not knowing the Shark-like fish tastes great. My dad got about 5 of the dogs one of them foul hooked which he thought was that 50 pound cow bass he was looking for, but ended up being a 3 foot long dogfish. I had what I call a slippery hook yesterday, I hooked 4 blues and only kept one the other three got off right at the boat, when it came to the smooth dogfish, I got 6 of them. All of these fish were caught at the most a mile and a half from Seaside Piers. This trip is most likely my last for 2010 unless weather permitting Friday and if the Atlantic Mackerel come in and me and my pop will go on a party boat for them. Thank you to my Dad Jim Fanelli for taking me out and teaching me more than I thought possible about fishing, and for always showing me the rights and wrongs of fishing. Also thank you to Garbage Fish, Greg Poole and Brian Lodge for getting me this position writing for this fantastic website that I am proud to say everyday that I do, and for you the readers, the fishermen, and my Friends and family who read this, and for the art of fishing. Hope everyone had a great year and lets pray for smaller fluke regulation for summer and 60 pound bass to be swimming around in the spring time!!!-Ant

 

Great work, Ant ! We are stoked that atleast one of our fearless garbage fishermen are catching them up. For those of you just tuning in, Anthony is in Mr. Poole's middle school technology class where he is learning plug making, as well as the fine art of furniture building. Remember those napkin holders you made in 8th grade? Times have changed, atleast for Mr. Poole's students. Check out Anthony's table that he built - which he personalized by laminating a picture of himself and a hefty striper for all of posterity to enjoy.

Tenacious Togger and Garbage Fish Corporate Director of International Jetty Relations, Bob Misak, slapped on a pair of cleats and weaved through the masses to find some very respectable blackfish yesterday. The season is now up to 6 fish per man and Bob's recon to the south jetty of Barnegat Inlet in Barnegat Light, NJ - showed that so far the tog are cooperating. We were going to float the rocks on Captain Steve's twin vee but Bob advised that the inlet is still hairier than Courtney Love before a hormone treatment (see pics below.) In the last week, three 17 footers, have capsized in Ocean and Atlantic Counties of NJ thanks to some ill advised decisions to run the boats out into the turbulent Atlantic during the very hot fall run of Striped Bass. Thankfully, all were rescued and Ms. Love received a complimentary pair of garbage fish skinners which are equally good for feminine hair removal.

For those who have extolled the virtues of clean, sunscreen free hands for purposes of baiting your hook (so the oily, coconutish smell doesn't spook the fish) we've found a great product that they've proven will protect your skin and we've proven won't mess up your day of fishing. Watch the video below for our clinical study.

The frost is on the pumpkin but it didn't stop intrepid junior staffer, Anthony and crew, from getting out this past weekend to see what was swimming. It was apparently worth their trip. They scored one of the bigger bonito I've seen caught. This is one of those fish that you've just got to catch yourself because you aren't going to see it in the market. This one, in our opinion, is best served raw but cooks up nice too. A member of the tuna family, these fish are quite safe from being categorized garbage fish but don't let their good looks fool you. On light tackle, they are as fun as they come and served raw with a cilantro sauce, they are even more fun to eat. A good tip is to use a pairing knife to take out the tender cheek meat. After filleting your fish, take your pairing knife and enter the cheek beneath the skin just in front of the gill plate and take out a lemon wedge sized slice of meat. It's small but worth it as this is the fillet mignon cut of most fish. Ant and his Dad run out of the Manasquan Inlet in Point Pleasant, NJ - where they do most of their North Atlantic bound fishing.

The ocean was calm with one to three foot waves with West winds turning SW through out the day. It was Me, my Dad, and John Luchka. We ran south for some Stripers, here's the results: I got three Bluefish, and a little Snapper or a Shad in the inlet waiting at the train bridge. It got off before I saw it. My dad got three Blues as well, one nice big Bonito about eight pounds jigging with a three oz deadly dick "modified" with a different hook, and a little Shad or Snapper at the train bridge that got off before the boat on a little three quarter oz deadly dick. John got two Blues, and a little Snapper. Not much bird action with a couple flocks of them here and there but the fish were on top or at the bottom so there were endless ways to catch them. Hopefully next weekend the Bass will be out and some more nice Bonito! - Ant

Winter approaches; a time for fishermen to pull the boats, clean the gear, pack it away and get ready for a long cold season of bitching about the regulations put on their favorite target species. I talk to guys with many years on me tell me often about how much better it used to be. I don't remember where I was when Kennedy was shot, I don't pull my pants up to my nipples and I don't like butterscotch candies so I don't claim to be an expert on the good old days but below is a photo to perhaps question how much different it was as compared to now. Pictured is Garbage Fish staffers, Greg and Kevin Poole, showing off their catch in this 1980 photo taken in Harvey Cedars, NJ. Ugly, even back then, the two sharpies show off their 21 fish bag limit of fluke, aka summer flounder. For those reading that aren't familiar with the regulations that are currently in place on this particular species, fluke are managed state by state in the great nation of the USA. Based in NJ - Team Garbage Fish encounter quite a few of these delicious flat fish but the Garden State currently limits the catch to 6 fish per angler at 18 inches a piece. While targeting skate, we have to deal with these pest-like, bait stealing, line fouling fiends on a daily basis. We don't target them because we'd have a better chance of seeing Ru Paul linebacking for the Eagles (although shuhe might get a tryout this season) than catching our limit of fluke. So, in true Garbage Fish form, we go after more realistic, sustainable fisheries like skate, sea robin and dogfish.

What is most interesting about this photo is the size of the fish in question. Going back to the yarns spun by some of our older pals about how in days past they could walk across the water on the backs of keeper sized fish that filled the ocean and bays like fat cells in my liver - it's interesting to see a 30 year old photo of what would be realistically considered a typical catch when regulations were not in place on this and most other fisheries. So what's our point? Today, this fish's numbers are considered to be down from previous years, therefor supporting the need for regs. in the eyes of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

So we ask, what's out of place in this photo? Clearly, the building codes of 1980 because the 2 inch gaps between deck planking wouldn't fly in 2010. What is really out of place, however, is the 21 fish in the 8 to 15 inch range - but no 18 inchers. Hmmm. Where are the mountains of giant fluke I keep hearing about? Oh...that must have been the day before, but only if I was using the chartreuse Gulp swimming mullet on the last half of the incoming tide on a spro bucktail lightly jigged but not dragged on the bottom - because this photo clearly shows what we catch every day in 2010. Why can't I put 6 fish at 18 inches in the box for my day's worth of fishing efforts? Because 6 fish per man at 18 inches for even an epic day of fluking is as unrealistic today as it was in 1980. But, as long as the governing body of brain surgeons that make these regs. continue to function as effectively as Ryan Howard swinging at a curve ball with 3 men on in the 9th inning, we'll continue to target garbage fish and we'll continue to tell our friends and family that the sea robin we are feeding them is a highly esteemed and sought after summer flounder, and they, much like our government, will be none the wiser.

After giving Greg, Supervisor of the Garbage Fish Research and Design Team, a design for a sea robin plug - I field tested the finished product. Greg should take no responsibility for the plug's appearance but regardless of looks, this hot out of the factory lure produced major results. Watch the vid.

Garbage Fish junior staffer, Anthony, had a good fall day fishing off Seaside Heights, NJ. Looks like Ant put on a clinic for the old dudes. Check out his report below.

The ocean was a little choppy the further out you go due to west winds on Saturday. The fishing on the other hand was good. The people who went were Me, my pop, and our friend Junior. The fish I caught were 3 or 4 Sea Robins (Garbage Fish!), one nice sized fluke about 5 pounds jigging for blues on a Ava 47 with a green tail and the fluke actually bit the jig and was hooked in the mouth, and I got one blue - the biggest one of the trip. My dad got 2 or 3 Sea Robins, and 3 blues. One snapped the line right at the boat, one got off in the water, and one in the boat. Junior got 2 Sea Robins, and 1 Blue. The whole trip we were on the look out for Striped Bass and no luck. We caught most of our fish 2 miles out from the Sea Side Pier in about 70 to 60 feat of water. Also we heard talk on the radio about Bonito being caught at Sea Girt reef while trolling for Bluefin Tuna at the reef! There were 60 to 80 pound Bluefin at the Sea Girt reef! Over all a good trip and I hope there will be Stripers next week. Everybody get out there while the fishing's still good! - Anthony

Ladies dressed up for Halloween? Nope. I was cleaning out some file cabinets in the garbagefish.com corporate offices and stumbled upon this photo of the lunch ladies at Antheil Middle School in Ewing Township, NJ - circa early 1980's. I sometimes have an irrepresible memory for the strange and disturbing because I'm wondering what happened to the lunch lady at that school who wore disco pants but really shouldn't have. You can thank me for not taking her picture, but the ladies below represent an honest to goodness garbage fish spirit. On fried chicken day, the lunch room attendant pictured in the middle, Mrs. Clark, would walk with an empty coffee can and go from table to table in the cafeteria, asking children for their uneaten chicken skin - which she would fill her can with and then slurp down while attending to her duties. On paper, not the healthiest of diets, but clearly Mrs. Clark is suffering no ill effects as a result - she is truly a vision. Back then, people clearly took better care of themselves and more of a personal interest in their appearance. Thanks Mrs. Clark.

Joe, the sea robin whisperer, sent in some very cool pics of a few delicious birds that he encountered on his kayak in an excursion off Lavalette, NJ. Captain Alex Majewski told me that he once witnessed a sea robin blitz on the Barnegat Bay. That information along with these photos, I think, confirms that these fish do exhibit major schooling behavior. Whether that be during spawning, pre spawn, post spawn, feeding, Dead show, or migration, if you catch a sea robin there's a good chance there's more where that one came from. Look at Joe's double header below and look close at the second picture to see 4 birds following each other up to the kayak. In the third image, Joe gets a great shot of this bird following a rubber shad up to his 'yak. As a kayak fisherman, I can appreciate the challenge of just getting through the breakers in a 12 foot boat - no engine - loaded with gear. (I got pulled off my boat this year by a bluefish and that was in the back bay.) In these great shots, Joe manages to not only catch some big birds but get a few really cool pics of them while handling his kayak out in the ocean.

Our friend Anthony, a middle school aged fishing and surf plug making phenom, has been out catching it up lately and sending me his reports. Anthony lives and breathes fishing and is a future garbage fish factory team member. It's that time of year that most venture out with striped bass on the brain but are also aware that there's still a bounty of species hanging out and willing to take offerings ear-marked for line-siders. Here's Anthony's report and photos:

The Atlantic Ocean was calm, 1 to 2 footers and a west wind. It was me, my dad, and John Luchka. We all decided to head north since we heard good reports from some of Johns friends. We started looking for some good bird action worth stopping for. When we did I had my heavy spinning rod set up with my metal lipped diver and I was working it as both a diver and a popper, I got nothing on it the whole day. Also I had a light tackle spinning rod set up with a smaller deadly dick for Albie's, but saw blues jumping so i put on a A-27 plain diamond jig. The fish I caught were some little snappers, a sea robin but it got off at the boat, and 1 or 2 little weakfish. John got a Striper, 3 blues, a sundial, 2 or 3 little weakfish, and 4 Albie's. My dad got 4 Stripers all keepers but one was just about a keeper by an inch so we let him go to grow up, he got his first blue of the year, 1 Albie, and a Sea Robin.

 

Spoils Of The Offshore Fisherman

Last week we diatribed about fishing forrays a bit different than what the lowly garbage fisherman encounters. For every trip that gets cancelled due to weather or poor fishing reports, there are offshore pursuits that do produce. I couldn't help but see my neighbor Rusty come in from a rainy night out at the canyons off New Jersey aboard the Tight Linez and cruise over to see how they did. A 240 pound big eye and some nice swordfish sat at the dock as testament to a trip worth taking. The crew was cleaning up and weighing in the fish and the looks on all their faces told a good story of their trip. The pictures below tell an even better story. This very nice sized big eye went for a whole squid as the men were on the chunk, and it quickly boogered the reel into a birds nest. While one of them hand lined the fish to keep it from breaking off, the others worked hard to clear the mess on the reel. In less than 15 minutes total, this fish was on the boat. Good story and good fish for the crew of the Tight Linez. Now I just hope the weather cooperates so they can crush some fat steaks on the grill.

Plight Of The Offshore Fisherman

To expand on last weekend's near forray into offshore adventures and all the ups and downs that come with it, most specifically the 30 hours of 8-10 foot up and downs, let's take a look at the plight of the offshore fisherman.

In addition to countless inshore and backbay trips inside and off the Barnegat inlet, each year garbagefish.com staff sharpie, Greg Poole, braves an intrepid journey on the Doris Mae out to the fertile tuna grounds of the offshore canyons. Aboard the Doris Mae, a large, well equipped head boat, Greg has tackled the long offshore trip for 10 years running - in search of something large, pelagic and delicious. So, when our trip was cancelled last weekend because the captain made the prudent call to bag it, as the weather and fish were not cooperating, we didn't expect that the tuna we'd catch that day would not only be right off the beach, but inedible. (More on the inedible tuna in a second.)

A canyon run is something that can pulse through an individual's blood like an std. A calling, if you will, that lures men on a 4-6 hour trek offshore to where the sea floor drops off deeper than the grand canyon and the warm gulf stream converges with chilly north atlantic waters. This is where a fishermen can find the prized pelagics and happen upon huge species such as yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin, longfin, swordfish, mako and other beasts roaming the warm waters in search of squid and other tasty treats. The reward of bringing home a huge cooler full of incredibly pricey sushi and being out in the blue water, however, carries with it a price. $300-$500 per fisherman, in fact, depending on who's or what vessel your are fishing. Plus, there's the simple logistics of getting off work, missing out on peewee soccer games, getting to the coast, packing and being prepared for what you need. To give an example, I restocked on huge metal jigs, fit only for something you'd find in the deep blue, respooled a big Penn Senator, and refilled my scopalamine prescription. The trip was subsequently cancelled, the jigs will just look nice hanging in my garage, the Penn will look equally nice and useless, and the scopalamine patches will sit in the medicine cabinet unused and ready to expire just before the next tuna trip gets cancelled 30 minutes prior to departing. Save, of course, the one $20.00 patch I already applied that made me a complete jellyfish for 12 hours.

The trip itself is usually a 4 hour roller coaster ride until, that is, you get there and sit on a hard wooden bench bobbing 5-10 feet up and down, next to some dude you don't know while staring at a million dollars worth of boat and tackle as you wait for the hopeful bite. Bottom line, it's a lot of effort for a questionable amount of reward. For some, it's probably like marriage.

With all that said, let's take a look at my favorite offshore tuna trip. I wake up, get out of a warm, soft bed and venture to my personal tuna boat docked on my desk in my office. I named her, the SS I'm Not Going To Throw Up Today. I'm talking a computer, peeps. On this bad boy, I set sail to http://www.catalinaop.com where for a mere fraction of an offshore tuna run, I can order an overnight shipment of the finest wild or farm raised sushi grade bluefin, yellowtail, or salmon. There's a certain amount of comfort in knowing that by doing this, I'm not going to die, spend hundreds of dollars to vommit for 30 hours and not catch squat as most often happens with me, reschedule and plan around the fact that basically - when on a tuna trip - I might as well not be on planet Earth because I can't be reached by cell phone, vhf, smoke signal or telepathy. (not even psychics can reach you offshore)

You want to talk to Brian in internet sales at Catalina Offshore Products. He'll tell you what's the best deal and make sure you get your order the next day, packed in ice, ready to throw down with some soy and wasabi. We've spoke about Catalina before but it's my most recent brush with the insanity of going over 100 miles in 10 foot seas with a captain I've never met, aboard a boat I've never seen, with people I don't know, that's got me reinvesting some of my offshore tuna money in a nice tasty order from the good people at Catalina Offshore Products.

Anywho, we did get to go fishing that day, except we opted to fish with Captain Steve on an inshore striper trolling trip. The seas inshore were beautiful and even better, only 5 miles from my kitchen where I prepared the false albacore that we bagged on a deep running stretch 30 plug. The false albacore is in the wonderfully tasty tuna family, but holds the incredible distinction of tasting like a spoiled fish anus. I've caught many a fat albert before, but have released all to fight another day. Being that we are garbage fish, I had to finally try to cook this fish which is widely reported to be the worst tasting thing in the sea. I gave it my A effort but no matter what I did to the meat, it tasted like a shot of blood that had been sitting out in the sun for 3 days. Mmmm. Moral of the story, let this beautiful fish go and check out Catalina Offshore if you want a 100% chance of eating some delicious fresh sushi at home. Tell them garbagefish.com sent ya.

Our tournament pro staff was all set to run out to the canyon in search of some non-garbage fish but apparently the reports were bleak enough to cancel the trip. Instead, we went out with factory staff member, Steve H., aboard the Purr-fect Daze - looking to troll for some inshore stripers. Couldn't locate any but the albies were busting so we had fun with them. (click below to watch video)

If there's one thing we've learned through our work at garbagefish.com - it's that looks can certainly be deceiving; take the oyster toadfish for example. It really is a butt ugly fish, however it's meat is arguably as delicious as any other inshore species. Now, let's take the false albacore or little tunny. For my money, it's got to be one of the coolest looking fish out there but it's meat tastes like cat food, and some would say that's an insult to cat food. Regardless, they are fun to catch.

Staffer, Bob Misak, was on a tog hunt yesterday but had to deal with this pesky 22 pound striper on light tackle. The rock fish blasted his crab, and Bob had fun coaxing it out of the water on light tackle. Looks like a nice weather window for a while - with that mini nor'easter behind us. Enjoy the nice fall weather.

Pictured above is garbage fishermen, Steve Streletz, sporting a tasty skate caught on board his Grandpop Zeno's boat, the Lucky Lois. Lucky Lois was lucky indeed as this is a decent size fish that's got me thinking...skate cakes. (Thanks for sharing the pic, guys.)

Speaking of skate cakes, flick on the show - Lobster Men - if you get the chance. Watch close and check out what the lobster pots are often baited with. You guessed it, whole skate. I'm not saying skate are all lobster eat, but I'd bet any lobster fed a strict diet of skate meat would taste even better than your average sea bug. Why? Simple: You are what you eat. Test this theory on some 2-3 pound bluefish next spring when they invade the back bays, feasting mainly on grass shrimp. Grass shrimp are small shrimp, or big krill, depending on how you look at it...or them. Either way, they taste like shrimp and when the little blues fatten up on these critters, their meat takes on a very pleasant flavor. So if you still don't think garbage fish are good to eat, just ask a lobster.

A large thanks to Justina and crew for sending in these pics of their quarry. Why they didn't fish this years tournament, I don't know, but look out in 2011 for this intrepid team of garbage fish sharpies. Pictured are Justina, Brian and Zachary (the angler who scored the nice american eel.) Talk with some of my paisano relatives and they'll slap you for calling eel a garbage fish but in many a fisherman's eye, this delicious and truly remarkable animal is considered a nuisance. (Not to us !) All they needed was a skate to get the garbage fish grand slam.

Just got off the phone with garbage fish factory pro staff tournament sharpie, Bob Misak, who was set to guide some friends of garbagefish.com out on the wild and wooly rocks for black fish, but the full harvest moon we had this weekend kept the tide up and the ocean ripping through the unruly Barnegat Inlet - not ideal for togging - so the boys bagged the trip. Fishing wasn't ideal, but when the weather won't cooperate, the kitchen will. I thawed out some beautiful dogfish yesterday and cooked up a couple dogfish tarts. When you think tart, you probably tend to think more about a desert or Katy Perry, or if you're fortunate enough, Katy Perry for desert. This is more of a savory breakfast or dinner tart, however. It's more akin to a quiche. I think it's a great leftover dish, using a frozen pie crust and of course fresh garlic, onion, potatos and cheese, but then taking advantage of any overlooked ingredients around the crib. Pop in some tomatoes, ham chunks, of course chopped dogfish, (ham and fish together? Why not? - although...I would have blown off the ham idea if I didn't have a bunch of it I wanted to get rid of,) fresh thyme, egg, salt and pepper and you are cooking with gas, as they say. I once heard a notable tv cooking personality say that fish and cheese together is a no no. We won't mention her name, but what the hell does Rachel Raye know? Cooking and rules go together like Rosie O'Donnell and Victoria's Secret.

 

Once again, you'll find that the bastard fish of the sea, such as skate, dogfish and sea robin, freeze incredibly well. Put a foodsaver on your x-mas list this year and you'll be happy you did as you too can be eating garbage fish tarts while at the same time for most, seafood is all but an after-thought.

There's a nice magazine that you can pick up at most bait shops in NJ called Jersey Shore Fishing Magazine. As far as I know, it's the only free regularly printed publication of its kind in NJ. Always another reason to visit your shop and say hello. This month, they did a nice piece on garbagefish.com. Click the images above to read what they have to say about us.

Tournament pro staffer, Steve Hardeski - and I, went out last night in search of blowfish. The delicious little beach balls were all over the place - with over 50 fish coming over the rails in short order, along with sea bass, porgie, kingfish, spot and a starfish. It's blowfish cocktails being served up at garbage fish headquarters, but I wished we could have run into a dogfish or two, as can sometimes happen in the back bays when chumming up the inflatable chicken of sea (aka - northern pufferfish.) Here's Michael Tillberg showing how he did just that - displaying a nice smooth dog caught off Lanoka Harbor, in the Barnegat Bay, last weekend.

After today, fluke season is closed and the picture becomes somewhat confused out there. So much emphasis is placed on this fishery that it clearly effects the coastal tourism flow. The closing of fluke/summer flounder season will effect everyone, in a way. Bait shops will be effected since there will be far less people visiting them to gear up for the newly closed season. Charter captains and head boats will switch full time to wreck fish and the fall migratory species. Marinas will sell less gas and less bait. All local businesses that benefit from the folks coming down to fluke - such as supermarkets - motels - weekend rentals - gas stations - adult bookstores - you name it, everyone is effected. The closing of fluke season, in a way, ushers out the summer and puts its own stamp of finality on the summer gone by. Not for us.

Last we checked, there are still no regs. on our beloved garbage fish. Got out with tournament pro staffer, Steve Hardesky yesterday, and he and his son delivered a garbage fish trifecta. Dogfish, sea robin and skate were brought over board - along with a keeper fluke (probably the last of the season) and even some small weakfish that were thrown back to go get killed as by-catch by shrimp netters down south. So, while the summer shuts down and fresh seafood becomes a memory, check out what's hitting the table at garbage fish headquarters.

Sea Robin Nest

Think eggs benedict. This one is lights out. In short, chunk up sea robin meat, make fish cakes with your favorite crab cake recipe (substituting sea robin meat for crab) cook 'er up - and top an english muffin with the sea robin cake, poached egg, hollandaise sauce and surround it with some hash browns. If everyone doesn't love this, you messed it up.

Garbagefish.com tournament pro staff angler, Bob Misak, shows us his method for cleaning and serving blowfish.

Just got out before this big blow, aka: Hurricane Earl, to get some blowfish before they get all freaked out when the bay turns into a washing machine. Since the sea robin seem to be really small right now, and we've covered skate and dogs all summer, here's some pics and video on how to clean your blowfish quick and easy. We have a ton of these grippers we use that we are blowing out. You can get them from us here and they ship out the same day. You can't find these toothed grippers in the stores anymore but we have a bunch that we are clearing out of inventory. They can be used to skin blowfish, skate, dogfish, rattle snake, etc.

Click Below to See Vid.

Last day of August, hurricanes looming, fluke season dwindling...a great time to have over tournament pro staffer, Bob Misak, for some end-of-the-season fluke po-boys. Fluke a garbage fish? Not by most people's estimations. Fluke or summer flounder are actually the main benificiary target game species that the garbage fish concept tries to protect. By putting that skate on ice instead of tossing it back, you just responsibly and legally kept a delicious fish for the table that you would have otherwise tossed back to return to the depths and suck up juvenile fluke, who are trying desperately to run the gauntlet of the ocean's bottom predators. Take a look at this po-boy sandwich and take pride in what you are trying to sustain by loving your garbage.

Fusciella's dill pickles and some fresh Jersey tomatoes make this summer dish a no brainer but here's how to really rock this one out. 1/2 cup of low fat mayo mixed with 1 tablespoon of Knorr's creamy pesto sauce mix (available in any self respecting super market). Coat fillets in tempura batter - be it store bought mix or home made - deep fry until golden brown and serve on a fresh kaiser roll, spread with pesto mayo, tell people that you made the mayo from scratch and that the recipe is a family secret, and bam up the plate with some colorful produce. I had cooked the last of the Jersey corn for this dish but forgot to put it on the plate because Bob wouldn't stop talking and I got distracted. A fat po boy is a great, easy way to serve and enjoy any fresh, flakey fish - but fluke really hits the spot.

Garbagefish.com tournament pro staffer, Bob Misak, was working the inlet and doing his thing recently, scoring this monster sheepshead. These fish are off-the-charts eating, but not an oft-targeted species in NJ - and most people will tell you because they aren't worth targetting. Bob will tell you differently. The former unofficial state record holder of this species, and sheepshead sharpie, regularly lands these bad boys. This fish went over 10 pounds and if you've ever targeted them down south where they are more prevalent, you will very, very rarely catch one this large. For some reason, despite us not having the shear concentration of them up here, the ones that Bob sees are much larger than the usual suspects down south. Of course, they could just be adapting to being in Jersey where size matters. This is, after all, the state where the weak are killed and eaten. We suggest a nice ponzu sauce over a bed of field greens.

Good stuff cooking at garbagefish.com. Picked up a mixed bag this week. With the late summer warm waters, the bay is producing its usual grab bag of tasty morsels. We targeted blowfish, aka northern puffers, and after working the bay for them for two straight days, we were able to put one on the table. That's right, one. Ever see a blowfish? Not big. So, it required some creative work to make a dish out of it but with the fresh summer produce including delicious Jersey tomatoes, tomatillos, hot peppers and the like from my Dad's garden, an honest meal was made. Go ahead and laugh that we cooked one blowfish - but you wouldn't have been laughing if you tried it. Also picked up a kingfish which make it in force some years and in others, not so much. Nevertheless, after putting the cleaned meat in the deep freeze for 48 hours to kill any bacteria, it was kingfish sashimi as pictured below to the right.

Caught a number of sea robin this week but mostly little guys, which seemed to be the status quo from what we heard. With fluke season dwindling down, it's going to be garbage fish galore because it will be about the only game in town.

Spoke with an editor, Lawrence Downes, from the NY Times yesterday. Mr. Downes, a resident and fisherman of the north shore of Long Island, contacted me with an interest to write about garbagefish.com. I didn't get to speak to him until after the article was submitted and therefor was unable to extoll and elaborate the virtues of our plight. Mr. Downes labled us "rude and witty NJ fishermen" ...guilty. He forgot lazy, hairy, and ugly but perhaps a follow up story is in order. Still, always nice to see a small town publication like the NY Times give us a little press. You can pick up this Sunday's paper for a meager $5.00, or read it online for free by clicking here: Ugliest Catch

We are definately going to have to get Mr. Downes to slum it down here in Jersey and serve him some grilled dogfish steaks. I think he'd agree: Looks like crap, tastes like chicken.

Our second annual garbage fish tournament is over and we were really excited about this year's results. With help and support from generous weigh stations/bait shops/vendors, people like Tom Pagliaroli of the Rack and Fin radio show on 97.3 ESPN radio who had us on the show several times, and the cutting edge fishermen and women who can see the forest for the trees, this year's event nearly doubled in participation from 2009. If you fished this 2nd annual garbage fish tournament, you not only had fun, possibly won some amazing prizes, but you raised money to place invaluable seed clams in the very water that you rely on to provide you fun, entertainment and fresh fish. Without clams, we are screwed.

Last year we had 9 winners - with 3 prizes in each category. This year, we had 21 winners thanks to amazing prize donations by all these great shops. Not only that but the winning fish this year smoked last year's big garbage. A massive 16 pound, 7 ounce dogfish was weighed in at Grumpy's Bait and Tackle by winning angler, Joe Ochanas, eclipsing last year's winning dog by over 7 pounds. We had larger skate and birds as well showing you that while regs. get tighter on weaks, fluke, and most other fish, you can still responsibly enjoy fishing for and keeping all species of crap, unmolested by the man's regulations. And, while you do - you can not only put great fish on the table, but help our waters by creating a healthier balance of species. So to all those who got it - thanks, you did good. To all those who didn't, have fun standing on the beach for 12 hours to possibly catch that one striper you'll no doubt have to throw back.

The big smooth doggy pictured below in the July 28th entry found its way into two awesome dishes. As many know, dogfish is the staple fish used in fish and chips in Europe. Not ever having been to Europe, I've never tried their fish and chips but I can tell you this - dogfish grill as well as they fry. It's an incredibly versatile fish which does well baked, sauteed, fried or grilled. Try and slap a slab of flounder on an open grill and good luck with that. Dogfish grill up just like swordfish or mako shark - with a similar consistency and flavor. I highly recommend steaking a large dogfish, and then putting it on the grill as pictured below, wrapped in bacon and drizzled with a soy/brown sugar reduction sauce. Pictured are the before and after shots of the raw steaks and the finished product.

For those of you that missed out on the fish fry - below is a shot of what we served up. Jersey fresh tomato salsa filled fish tacos, also using dogfish which was perfect for this healthy and tasty dish. Along with dogs, we cooked up sea robin and skate and rocked people's socks with fish they've never tried.

Tournament is winding down, and wrapping up this Saturday. At that point, we'll collect all forms and the leader board will be completed. If you don't see your fish on the leader board yet, don't fret. Final tallies will not be complete until next week. At that point, we'll announce winners and prizes will be doled out.

Look out for garbage fish assassin, Marty Sedlacko. Marty has been hitting it hard trying to defend his winning Sea Robin last year. Yesterday he caught, weighed and delivered this slammer of a dogfish to garbage fish headquarters. This 12 pound, 4 ounce fatty ended up in sushi rolls last night - and tonight it will find it's way into fish tacos and wrapped in bacon and grilled. A fish this size is ideal for steaking, which is just what we did. Pictures of the finished produce, forthcoming.

Pulled off the garbage fish fry this past saturday. Thanks to those of you who joined us and braved some fish you've never had before. Because of the heat, we didn't get a huge crowd but the tournament pro staff was on hand to talk garbage fish, do a skate cleaning demonstration and fry up sea robin, skate and dogfish tacos. Coupled with some great fresh Jersey produce, you couldn't ask for a better tasting and healthier dish on a hot summer day. Captain Pud, fishing author Bob Misak and pro staffer Greg Poole are pictured below relaxing after cooking in near 100 degree temps and battling ankle biting black flies that seem to come out in that type of heat. Also thanks to Jersey Joe for bringing a couple skate, and Marty for doing for doing the demo.

 

12 days left to win some great prizes in the garbage fish tourny. Speaking of - while harvesting the over abundant skate population for the fish fry - I got hungry while cleaning them and decided to make some skate sushi up. Had some neighbors drop off some home grown jurassic cucumbers so I made some sushi rice, coated some skate meat in a flour mixture and flash fried it. I layed the fried skate, cucumber, and avocado on a nori sheet with sushi rice and rolled up some delicious skate maki. It cracks me up that people throw these back, but then, more for me. These were outstanding.

Weigh ins are still coming and diehard garbage fishermen are braving the hot weather to bring their garbage fish to the scales. There are still two weeks left in the tournament so keep fishing. Thanks go out to Tom Pagliaroli of the Rack and Fin radio show on ESPN radio for doing a second segment last Saturday on garbagefish.com and the tournament. Also thanks go out to Tom Mongelli of WOBM radio for doing an interview with us last week. Word it out - garbagefish.com is not just a website, it's a movement.

Also - thanks go out to Martin Sedlacko Jr. for cast netting an Atlantic Lookdown fish up in Pt. Pleasant and bringing it down to Forked River to take up residency in the garbage fish tank. This is a rare fish to be found up these parts - and usually resides in tropical waters but occasionally strays up this way in the gulf stream and can be encountered in the summer months. This juvenile lookdown most likely would have not found his way out of the bay and would have died as the water cooled during fall and winter. We had to discard some green crabs and some fat killies to make room for him, but those are only bait. The Lookdown is a high end aquarium fish.

Above is garbage fish angler and tournament fishermen, Rocco, with his 1 pound 7 ounce sea robin that currently sits at first runner up courtesy of Lacey Marine in Forked River. Runner up prizes are sweet with awards like rod and reel combos, gift certificates, free boat rentals, weekend stay at River's Edge Bed and Breakfast and more.

A quiet weekend as for weigh ins for the tournament this past weekend. I think the weather report for Saturday scared some people off but it turned out to be a very fishable weekend. The East wind brought in warmer and clear waters so that can have a positive effect on some fisheries and negative on others. Did get another huge smooth dogfish weighed in from Fisherman's Headquarters at 12 pounds even. Greg from Fishermans will tell you - you can catch them during the day if you knock one in the head with a fluke rig but for the most part, they feed at night. Try evening, bayside, moving tide, near inlets. Below is a huge doggy that was caught but not entered in the tournament. Chris grabbed this smooth hound from the Ventnor pier. Don't forget - it's only the 12th so you can register to fish the tournament all the way to the end. 18 more days to get out there and place.

Skates are still the easiest target with it being virtually impossible to not catch them at this point, but the warmer water will push sea robin in and we'll see a lot more action on them in upcoming days.

Finished up the first week of this years month long garbage fish tournament and saw a lot of garbage fish come to the scales. Thanks to all the shops for their participation with weigh ins. Just got off the phone with Captain Andy Grossman of Rip Tide Bait and Tackle. They are our only shop in Atlantic County so if you are fishing south of Long Beach Island, stop by Andy's shop in Brigantine to weigh in your catch and rebait.

Tournament is on like Donkey Kong and the fish are piled up out there. Remember, you can sign up throughout the month and there are going to be 3 to 4 runner up prizes in each category, in addition to the 3 cash prizes in each category. Caught this nice looking sea robin out of Manasquan Inlet and it produced some delicious filets. Click below for larger images and get out there and get fishing.

Have to thank the press, especially noted fishing author, Bob Misak, for taking the time to cover what we are doing here and why. It helps to spread the word. Currently, you could go out fishing with a gummy bear on a rusty hook and pull up as many skate as you want. They are blanketing the bottom and doing a number on juvenile marine fish and shell fish. In fact, there are a lot of confused skate out there wondering why their buddies are not returning to the bottom after getting reeled in. I Cleaned one this week that I did calimary style and the autopsy revealed 15 baby blue crabs in its belly along with two baby winter flounder.The media has been very supportive of helping us spread the world on the difference you can make and the tasty dish you are tossing back. Click here to see some of the recent press on garbagefish.com

We've got to check in with the shops this week to see how they ended up with weigh-ins for the weekend. So far, I've checked with a couple weigh stations and the board is starting to fill up. Already have last year's first place dogfish blown away and last year's first place skate is tied up. Below, Steve H. weighs in his 2.6 pound skate at Fish Bonz Bait and Tackle in Forked River, which currently stands at 3rd place.

Tourny is in its first weekend and I'm starting to hear reports. Keep an eye on the leader board to see where you stand as I get the first week's weigh-ins sometime later this week. If you see that your fish won't compete - and you don't plan to eat it - let'r go to get bigger for next year's outing.

Garbage Fish tournament pro staff took the junior staffers out yesterday to scout some trash locations and young Davey caught his first bird at just over 1 pound. Plus, future tournament pro staffer, my son Jables, caught his first keeper fluke at 18.5 inches. And, Ryan Dellane of Manahawkin weighs in his Sea Robin at Fisherman's Headquarters in Ship Bottom - and currently sits in first place. Ryan displays the correct way to hold a Sea Robin.

Remember, you can sign up all month for the tournament so get on it !!

Did the annual Bordentown boys garbage tournament and we crushed it. I think there were over 100 skate caught but only a couple doggies and sea robin out there for our efforts. Fluke ratio was 20 - 1 throwback - keeper. Here's what I did with the skate and the dogs. I vacuum packed and froze the big dog for the fish fry but made bites out of the little ones. The grippers we sell are a must and make cleaning this fish, simple. The skate, grippers too but with the skate wing I kept it basic and healthy. Just did it in 1 tbl. spoon of olive oil saute'ed in the pan for just 3 minutes a side, little salt and freshly ground pepper and fresh lemon juice on top. Amazing.

Smooth Dogfish Bites	Saute'ed Skate Wing

6.21.10

Got a chance to talk with Tom Pagliaroli, host of the Rack and Fin radio program, and the interview aired on 97.3 ESPN radio. Click below for the interview. I somehow lost about 10 seconds of it, but I added some filler to patch it up. CLICK ABOVE TO HEAR THE ESPN INTERVIEW - Give it a chance to laod it's 35 megabytes and youtube doesn't seem to let you embed anymore. It's getting close folks so sign up now. The more of you in, the more prizes the shops are willing to donate. Spent the day out yesterday on the ocean and caught 50 skate - but only a couple birds, and a couple dogs - but it's going to be a good season. Will have some new video and pics of it up soon. Again, if you don't want to sign up online you can do it at one of your shops listed here.

6.10.10

Hats off to Dan and the gang at the N-Street Fishing Club in Seaside, NJ who not only cleaned up last year but got back in the fun for this years tournament. Here's a great email from Dan - who gets it - it's a fun tourny - with a great chance to win prizes and enjoy our free fish fry on July 24th. Hi Brian, Dan here.... Just signed up for the tourny; we had a blast last year. Also purchased a bunch of stuff. Question, can I sign up two more fishermen via my paypal and then send you an email with their names? Let me know, Dan.

Dan picked up those fast moving fish skin grippers, a trucker hat, a t-shirt and registered a few guys for the trip. At long last, the locals are catching up with our boys up north. But don't be surprised if you see the boys from the N-Street Club in their garbage fish gear pulling up trophy crap for the weigh ins. Now if I can just get some more of my Forked River brethren to step up to the plate. C'mon Ocean County, let's kick some arse.

So, I'm trolling my 16 foot kayak about 1.5 miles east of the mainland off Forked River when one of the rods goes off. I reach behind and pull in a foul hooked little blue when I notice the port rod bends in half. I quickly unhook the little guy and let him go and in my haste to try to get the rod back in the rod holder quickly - while some very large fish is pulling me all over the place, a 23 foot center console blows by me at full throttle - 20 feet away from me. Mind you, it's Tuesday night and if there were 10 boats that I could see in 10 miles it was a lot. 3 mile wide bay and cool guy wanted to see how much he could f with the kayak dude. The big fish had me turned around so I'm taking j-holes wakes broadside and between the fish and the wakes, I went over. Now I'm in the drink with 20 pound braid rapped around my legs and toe and feet with a giant blue practically ripping my toe off. The only thing that kept my beloved Penn combo from going to the bottom was the fact that the line was rapped around me but I couldn't move my legs that well cause I was wrapped up. Everything is floating. My pack, my plug box which was open cause I was switching up a lot, 4 granola bars, a rice crispie treat, a gatorade and my $100.00 carlisle paddle which was floating further and further away. I had my jacket on so I was fine and the water felt like 80 degrees so I was good. I right the boat which has now filled half way with water cause the rear hatch blew open when I flipped - fortunately exposing my extra paddle which i got and put on the boat. I climb onto the kayak and the fish is still on, rapped around my toe.

The mofo pulls me off the boat again, boat flipping and all. I tried to unwrap myself and got a little lee way enough to right the boat which now has what felt like hundreds of gallons of water in it and I'm losing strength. I manage to get back on the boat, thanks by the way to the recreational clammer 100 yards away from me for all the help. (sarcastic). Now the boat is completely unstable, my carlisle is out of sight, my Penn combo is gone, my plug box is floating but basically empty, my backpack which was sitting in front of me and open is all but empty and I have a 1.5 mile paddle back to shore in head winds with braid wrapped around my toe, legs, etc. Luckily I had my knife and plyers still sealed in my life vest and I was able to clear myself a bit but couldn't get it all. My rudder pedal broke off, and I had to use my legs as outgriggers just to keep the boat stable enough in the 1 foot chop to get back. Long paddle but I made it. Get back to my lagoon and feel my toe about to chop off. I grab the braid attached to my toe, still trailing the kayak and start pulling. After hand lining it in for 5 minutes, my beloved Penn light action combo is still there with a 10 pound blue fish still attached to it which I had just unwittingling dragged 1. 5 miles by my toe. Moral to the story, sign up for the garbage fish tournament because there's one less competitor fishing it from his kayak this year. I thought I was safe fishing 8pm on a Tuesday but the d-bags out there never cease to amaze me. All apologies to 90% of the anglers especially on this board who are respectful and good fishermen.

If you got a chance to watch our friend John clean a skate in our cleaning section, you see hin ues a pair of fish skinners which are the ideal device for deskinning a skate. Steve picked me up a pair because I've been using plyers, which work, but these things work great. They are distributed right in beautiful Patterson, NJ - but don't worry, you can pick them up at some local fish shops which is much safer than going into Patterson. Here's a pic of mine. You can now order your own pair from us as we picked up their remaining supply, which makes cleaning dogfish and skate much easier.

Click Here to Order

With the impending tournament, there's been a lot of talk about shark regulations. With regards to the tournament, in particular, it's dogfish. Can ya catch 'em, how many, how big, etc? So, I went to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council who put me in touch with the head biologist for the NJ DEP division of fish and game, Russ Papp. Russ was awesome. He actually picked up his phone - his cell no less - which surprisingly they gave me. Attempt that when you are trying to get a CAFRA permit through the DEP and it will take you 3 months to talk to a human. Anyway, I asked Russ what the deal was with the management of dogs and he said, coincidentally, they were meeting and voting all day on the subject of the new regs on all of our shark species, including dogs. Spinies where apparently not on the docket, but smooths were. Spinies are NOT managed recreationally My concern was smooth, cause it's hard to have a smooth dogfish tournament if you aren't allowed to catch them. Long story short, read his email to me this morning on the results of the meeting and the good news is, smooths are in no way, shape or form managed - atleast this year - for a while anyway. But, it's a very informative email and if you are a shark fishermen, you'll find it interesting. SHARKREGULATIONS2010 If you read the email carefully, however, there are future plans to assess the dogfish populations and possibly impose management, but for the moment, catch'em up.

Pictured above is Captain Pud's brother, Kevin, carefullly holding a spiney dogfish while managing a Marlboro at the same time. A true garbage fishermen.

There's been some questions as to what the deal is with the regulations on shark since most shark if not all are highly regulated. If you ask a conversation officer who boards your boat, I guarantee he'll have no clue, but scroll down in this article and it spells it out. Well, actually - because it does say pending, but I challenge anyone to show me a definitive, black and white, this is what you can do, this is what you can't do, kind of thing - with regards to dogfish. For instance, on the following link right after it says "pending" it says, check this page for updates. Go to that page and try your dambdest to find anything about dogfish regs. Then, it goes on to say for further information call 609-292-2083 where an automated message tells you to go to your local bait shop and ask them. Now, I have friends who own several shops and they have no clue what the limits are...reason being? Because nobody does. The automated message goes on to list what we all know anyway - the limits on the fish that we typically target. The state's head is so far up their ass that it's no surprise they are broke. I had a friend who worked for the state until he retired at half pay. He literally went in to work, sat at his desk and sold used harley parts on ebay from 8:30 until 4:30. He got paid 80 grand a year of your tax dollars. Brutal. Moral of the story, Catch away, folks cause the day a c.o. tells you you are in violation of exceeding the dogfish limit or your fish is undersized ask him to show you where it says that and he'll look at you Dan Quayle at a spelling bee. http://www.scottsbt.com/fishids/regsrecs/regsNJ2.htm

Gonna try for skate Thursday. The Sea Robin don't seem to be in in force yet, but they are catching big dogs off the surf and out at the Barnegat Ridge they are getting big spiny dogs. I heard a 14 pound dog was taken a couple nights ago, spitting up whole bunker.

Got out with my boy and my buddy Bob today to get in on the great action going on in the bay on blues. The fish are here and green pony tails were the ticket. Here's my son's first Barnegat Bay bluefish. Should be a great summer. Thanks for a fun trip Bob.

The bluefishing has slowed a bit in the bay but big 8-10 pounders are all over the surf and Barnegat Inlet. The back bays are transitioning to big tide runner weakfish as they move in to spawn - so if you can - let them go. They taste like absolute crap at the big breeding stage and as Bob Misak wrote in his report at Barnegat Light Bait and Tackle, they can carry upwards of 250,000 eggs at this point. Get a picture, handle them carefully and let them go and they'll still be here for your kids and grandkids. I get tired of hearing old timers wax poetic about how great the fishing used to be in the bay and meanwhile, people back then were keeping every living thing that came over the gunnel - except for garbage fish of course. Just look at old black and white pictures from fish camps and those types of shots. No limits. Now what do we have? Tons of garbage fish and last year the weak fishing was terrible. Yes - the water quality has an extreme effect, but so do the fishermen. So, it bums me out because the stories of the great fishing of the past always are delivered with that "when I was a boy, everything was better and now you live in a pile of steaming #@$&." Guess what? I didn't do it.

Speaking of doing it - as we've mentioned - garbage fish species are very popular at fish markets in Europe. They've been forced to look to other species for food supplements because they've obliterated the stocks of Pollack, Cod, Haddock, Sole, etc. from their waters. Here's a picture sent in by Hans Kool of the Netherlands who is an avid fishermen, photographer and fan of garbagefish.com. It looks like a big pile of Pollack remains which by no means is considered a trash species but in this picture it sure looks like a load of garbage. Thanks Hans. Make sure to slap the sticker on your vehicle because I don't know how well we are represented in Amsterdam.

If you frequent the Jersey Shore than you'd be doing yourself good to check out a great little town called Barnegat Light. Sure, you've seen the lighthouse - but the whole area is a must see along a great stretch of Jersey Shore towns. Our good friends, Basil and Rick of Barnegat Light Bait and Tackle are right in the heart of it - along with one of my favorite places - Viking Village. Viking Village is a major Atlantic commercial fishing port and worth the visit. Not only can you see the fleet coming and going, unloading their amazing catches of delicious, fresh fish from our clean, fertile waters, but you can check out the gift shops of this historic fishing village - and hit up Cassidy's Fish Market. Cassidy's is a few and far between fish market. Their coolers are stocked with quality, fresh fish that you will not see at your local super market because they come off the boats - and are hauled literally 50 feet to the coolers of the market. Wahoo, tile fish, monk fish, along with the freshest tuna, sword fish, mako, etc. etc. Take it from garbagefish.com, this place is a must visit. The beaches, friendly people, beautiful vistas, fishing opportunities along the surf and jetties, not to mention the great restaurants in town are reason enough to hit it up. Give Barnegat Light Township your vote as it's up for one of America's coolest small towns. Click here to vote.

Don't forget now - the second annual garbage fish trash tournament is in speed up gear - and we are priming for what looks to be a break out event. Last year was great but a lot of people who didn't get it - looked at us a little funny. This year - they realize what's the what and what we are trying to do - and by that we mean - "do for you." If the video on CNN below doesn't convince you - then jump on board and sign up for the tourny - catch some garbage and help our waters. Hopefully, one of your favorite shops will be signed up to be a weigh station. Just look for butt ugly barn yard orange/red sea robins and you'll know you can sign up there and also weigh your crap for the tournament. One of our local shops, Grizz's Bait and Tackle of Forked River - is proudly flying the garbage fish tournament sea robin signs - as you see below - but remember, you can weigh from Pt. Pleasant all the way down to Beach Haven so sign up and get in the game. And, you can also register online by clicking here. Even better - tune into ESPN Radio - 97.3 FM - on June 19th, between 9am and 10am. Garbage Fish tournament pro staff will be the featured interview with Tom Pagliaroli's Rack and Fin radio program. Tom is an avid garbage fisherman and has graciously agreed to chat on air with us and talk about catching garbage fish - and helping our waters. If you don't get 97.3 FM - then pull up www.973espn.com and listen to it there.

Since 2008 we've been telling people to eat garbage fish - fly garbage fish flags - wear garbage fish hats - etc. Our simple message is, why not? It's easy, tasty (well, not the hats), and different. Our bigger and more important message is that by catching and eating these fish you help to manage our waters by helping to control populations of fish that decimate nearly every living thing on the bottom of our ocean and bays. I often tell the story of a skate I caught 5 miles off shore - whose belly was filled with 113 pinky nail sized blue crabs. Those crabs had to have been eaten in the bay - 5 miles or more away - and in no time - that skate made its way that far off shore. In short, they are vacuum cleaners. One skate - 113 dead blue crabs.

Many people have looked at us like we are one lever short of a lever drag, but I was happy to see this story on CNN about our mission being echoed in the waters of Virginia. The cownose ray - a larger and perhaps more damaging version of our skate - has been wreaking havoc on the oyster beds of the Chesapeake Bay. What are they doing about it? Eating them. It's a proactive, sensible and legal way of the fishermen managing the fisheries. Check out the cnn video here.

Notice how they call it the "Chesapeake Ray?" That is exactly what happened with the goosefish or head fish - which eventually became "monkfish" when they realized you can eat them and market them - but let's give it a more marketable name. Same with Chilean Sea Bass - aka - Patagonian Toothfish. The guy who came up with "head cheese" ought to take a lesson from these folk's hand books. So they give the cownose ray a more fashionable name and BAM - it's on the menu. Now we just need to come up with better names for skate, searobin and dogfish. No what I call skate? "skate wings sauteed with a lemon, white wine butter sauce." mmmmm. What...too long?

Coach of the United States Ski Jumping Team, Chris Gilbertson and family, came in this weekend for a visit to Garbagefish.com headquarters. Chris is an old friend of mine from my days in Colorado where he and I attended Colorado Mountain College together. This year, he coached the team to their first ever medal in the nordic combined event, where they racked up two silvers and a gold medal. It's poetic justice seeing this amercian born scandanavian spank his ancestral adversaries in an event that never before has been won or even placed by an American. He and his family flew in from Colorado as Chris and the team have been invited to meet the president this week in D.C. - and of course no trip to the East Coast is complete without a visit to Garbage Fish not to mention feeding these poor people some decent pizza. After spending nearly 6 years in Colorado I can tell you this - the people are as nice as they come anywhere, the skiing is outstanding, the air is clean, but they couldn't make a decent pizza or cheese steak if someone held a bazooka to their privates. (Although in fareness, I think it would be tough to do either in that situation.)

After grabbing a cup of Joe at the Forked River, Double D - he posed for a historic photo. Chris, being the hard core, devoted angler that he is, will be coming back in July to fish the 2nd annual garbage fish tournament.

You've been to fish fries before but have you ever been to a garbage fish fry? On Saturday, July 24th, you'll have your chance. We will be putting on our first annual garbage fish fry at Fish Bonz, Bait and Tackle in Forked River - NJ - from 1pm to 5pm in the picnic area attached to the store. Roger was kind enough to allow us to use the picnic area at his shop - which as many of you know - used to be a restaurant. Garbagefish.com tournament pro staffers, Greg Poole, Captain Pud and myself will be breaking out the jumbo fryers and frying up garbage fish as only we can. Better yet, we aren't charging a dime for this thang. Just stop on by and try a dogfish taco, sea robin bites and fried skate wings - and see what you have been missing out on. Plus, we'll be doing some free giveaways, garbage fish cleaning demonstrations, and serving up some ice cold beverages.

The fish fry runs in conjunction with the 2nd annual garbage fish tournament - which runs the entire month of July. Stop by and see us on July 24th at Fish Bonz on Lacey Rd. in Forked River. Just look for the giant searobin plastered on the front of the shop.

Garbagefish.com tournament pro staff took their kids to the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township, NJ - this past Friday. What does that have to do with Garbage Fish? Nothing. But, if you haven't been to this place, it's worth the trip. I think it cost $7.00 a person and 1 year old junior tournament angler, Zachary, got in free. They have a cool layout - with monkeys, lions, tigers and bears...oh my. (couldn't resist). What's cooler is that the kids get to feed the animals with popcorn that you can purchase at the front gate. The really significant part about this zoo is that it's run by the Humane Society and the animals on exhibit have all been rescued from idiotic private owners who didn't realize cute little lions will grow up to be not so cute little lions and bite your head off. These castoff pets are great to see and it's a fun day for the family, proceeds benefit the Humane Society and it's not such a stretch to say that the Popcorn Park Zoo is the garbage fish of zoos. Check it out.

While there, don't forget to visit Princess the sports prognosticating camel who's been featured on ESPN and many other sites, publications and programs for her uncanny ability to pick the winners of football games. No shat.

Lots of stuff going on as we start our big push for this year's garbage fish trash tournament. We're starting to compile the prize lists for the tournament. Many thanks to the generous donors and weigh stations for their support. Cash prizes will be awarded to the three heaviest fish in each category, totalling 9 cash prizes. The merchandise prizes will go to honorable mention catches, ie. fourth place, fifth place, etc., giving you an even greater chance of telling people you are a winner of a fishing tournament. You don't have to tell them the rest. Anyway, go here to see the constantly updated list of prizes, like this sweet Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6500 TC reel compliments of our friends at Fisherman's Headquarters in Ship Bottom, NJ, and check out the donors websites. You know if they participate in this tournament and donate prizes for it, they are an open minded shop - on board with the garbage fish concept and not only have a sense of humor but are down with helping our waters. Keep an eye on this page as more prizes are added regularly.

Not to be outdone by the awards page - March came in like a lion and went out like a Lamb and brought us the lovely Ms. April. Check her out in the garbage fish babe 'o the month page.

They are starting to jump in on the 2nd annual 2010 Garbage Fish Tournament, with anglers signing up early to secure their free t-shirts and get in on this year's fun. In addition to $2,500.00 in cash prizes awarded - we will have merchandise awarded as well. Thanks to the generosity of local businesses and our weigh stations, we'll be sweetening the pot for top garbage fish contestants. Most recently, the good folks at the Inn at River's Edge Marina in Forked River, NJ - have generously donated a nights stay at their beautiful Bed & Breakfast and Marina, located right on the Forked River.

For those of you not familiar with the area - this charming victorian inn sits on the main branch of the Forked River - with quick access to the Barnegat Bay and the Barnegat Inlet. This would be an ideal stay for a boater, as the B&B also has its own deep water marina, serves breakfast, and is within walking distance to two great waterfront restaurants and bars. Proprietors, Bob and Patty, have done an amazing job with the Inn and whether you come by boat or car, you'll have a great time at this waterfront getaway. Click here to visit their website.

With ridiculously bad weather, sideways rain, and the main road/bridge to the Lacey Elks shut down, I thought that the annual Fish Hawk's flea market would be a bust but it turned out to be a good one. Garbagefish.com #1 salesman, Greg Poole, worked it hard and thanks to his, Sea Robin assassin Steve H.'s, and Captain Pud's efforts, many more of you have been shamed into purchasing garbagefish.com merchandise. Thanks for your support. Even garbagefish junior team tournament pro staff showed up to help. If you feel sad that you missed out on an opportunity to get a signed 8X10 glossy of Captain Pud for your mantle, feel free to contact us and we'll hook you up.

 

We now have some cool lids for you to sport in our merchandise section. Trucker hats and visors are now available for just 10 bucks a piece.

It's snowing....again. Not much to do outside so here's some good winter reading for you. This is an article in this week's Fisherman Magazine by our friend and fishing author, Bob Misak. Bob does and awesome job with this story about Garbage Fish Tournament Pro Staff Angler, Greg Poole, and his students at Bordentown Regional Middle School who are turning out some amazing surf plugs as their shop projects. Click on the panels for the full size pages and thanks to Bob for the nice plug for garbagefish.

It isn't too early to start thinking about the 2010 Garbagefish.com Trash Tournament. This will be our second event and although last year's tournament was a blast and perhaps the first of its kind, this year will be bigger and better. Thanks to the help of some major media outlets, an early jump and better recognition of what the hell we are doing with all this, we are shooting for huge participation. Cash prizes of $2,500.00 will be awarded for the three heaviest fish in each category - and thanks to the pledged generosity of Ocean County Tackle Shops, merchandise will also be awarded this year.

But, what's even better - this year the tournament will run from July 1st - July 31st. That gives you 31 prime garbage fishing days to land the biggest Skate, Searobin, Dogfish, or all three. Last year we saw some nasty weather in the 10 days of the tournament so we are giving you an extra 21 days to hit it hard and come out on top. Details and registration information can be found here. Plus - first 10 registered anglers will receive a free garbagefish t-shirt.

Check here for details and registration info.

Speaking of crabs, walking the undeveloped banks of any salty body of water, be it river or bay, you will see the sight of so many lost crab pots such as this one. Be them commercial or belonging to recreational crabbers, traps get their lines cut by props or are thrown from their original position by heavy storms. The owners of the pots give up on them and lots of them eventually end up on the banks. Throughout the winter, black fish, winter flounder, perch and more species will find their way into these traps and if you see these washed up on a bank you can often find skeletal remains of the fish that trapped themselves into the derelict pots. Mind your pots or they are likely to end up as the final resting place of very important marine animals.

Still winter out there but for those holed up in their man caves - watching Spanish Fly, drinking cheap beer and day dreaming of warmer months and days on the water, thought I'd show you what the truly hard core are doing. This shot is a bit fuzzy, shot from about a mile and a half away on the cheapest telephoto lense money can buy. While skim ice or often thicker covers the lagoons and bays of the Northeast, weekend warriors are all but a memory and the only activity in the marinas is the ice eaters churning away at the empty slips, there are still those that are out there fishing. As we speak, winter flounder are carpeting the bays but it's the commercial fishermen who are the only ones out there as the season is still closed to recreational guys. Certainly, nobody is thinking of crabbing or clamming either. It's too cold to clam for most folks and the crabs are all dormant, burried under the mud. So, it's funny to think that there might be activity out there but these guys are hitting it 6 days a week, using giant rakes that they pull behind their lobster boats, pulling sleeping crabs out from the mud. Watermen are also out there raking up clams in the frigid weather from dawn to dusk.

This isn't breaking news but just thought a winter perspective of the bay might catch your interest - just knowing that while most wouldn't conceive of being out on the water in 20 degree wind chills, the baymen continue to make their living and ignore the elements. Even more on point, the crabs they harvest are literally pulled from underneath the mud which makes them somehow qualify as a less desired seafood treat. Blue claw crabs are a high end delicacy no matter where you go - regardless of how they are served. But, the winter mud crabs are skinny and many say taste of what they've been buried in for the past four months. Garbage fish ? Perhaps.

Just a heads up: Garbagefish will be at the Lacey Elks on March 13th for the Fishhawks annual fishing flea market. I believe it runs from 9am til 2pm. I like this one because there's a definate buzz in the air that the winter is waning and the talk is less about increasingly stringent regulations on fisheries, how cold it is outside and how much you don't like your wife and more about when the boats are splashing and what's going to be your first trip. Striped Bass season is open at this point and Winter Flounder is only two days away and while it might still be pretty chilly, the end is in sight. Nevertheless, stop by our booth, say hello and check out the 2010 merch.

We saw this site about a year ago and I've checked back because at the time it was only in its infancy and yet one year later it looks as though it was made by an infant. The site is called junkfishanglers.com and if blatant imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, consider us flattered. I got a strange email last year from a woman asking if I knew of this site and stating that if I live in Florida, this is the garbage fish tournament to get into. She claimed to not know the owners of the site but thought she'd take the time to promote it. ?? Her email address included her last name and when I did a little research to see who registered the domain, low and behold, a man with the same last name. Then I start seeing posts promoting the site in forums that we pay to sponsor, plus fishing message board threads referencing garbagefish.com - only to see somebody post "and you should check out this site too." Now, I'm all for competition but since garbagefish.com might as well be a nonprofit group, I couldn't care less. In fact, this is a message we are trying to get out so the more the merrier - but someone needs to explain this site to me.

Take a look at the "testimonials and photos" page. No testimonials - and the photos are all ripped from other people's websites. Then there's the "junkfish gear" page. Somebody had some fun in photo shop and cut and pasted the logo (which looks like my 5 year old drew it) onto a digital image of a t-shirt and hat. Scroll further down to see store bought rigs rebadged with more photoshop fun. I'm sure the original makers of those rigs would not be pleased, but don't worry - despite their claim to "look for these in a tackle shop near you," the only place you'll find them is in our friend's garage so you'll have no problem "accepting no imitations." By the way, they bring a whole new meaning to "coming soon" as the message - "coming soon, keep an eye out for new arrivals of junkfish gear" has been up there for a year now.

Then there's their tournament and a well run tourny it seems to be. I don't even know where to get started on this but you need to take a look. My only guess is that a well intentioned first grader did this site as a school project and had their mommy email us to show us how proud she was of their child.

In fareness, their domain was actually registered prior to garbagefish.com so I don't think it's a complete shameless johnny come lately ripoff. However, our site launched first and I think this individual found out and got bummed because he had the same idea. He then most likely slapped up a website by himself. Dude - email me. The images you glommed off the internet that you didn't shoot, need to be stored in seperate folders in cascading style sheet format or they look all stretched out and distorted. Shoot me an e. and I'll help where I can. PEACE !

I don't know why I was thinking winter was almost over. Punxatauney Phil set me straight on that the other day. And, the next nor'easter - scheduled to mess up my weekend - will hit tomorrow - another reminder that the forecast for the forseeable future is sucky with a chance of crappy and a likelyhood of shitty. I'll post some images of how we made out after this weekend. The last one that hit came out of the southeast and tore the cover off the hot tub at garbagefish.com headquarters. I managed to batten it down in 40 mph winds just before it escaped.

On another note - whoever stopped by headquarters this week and purchased a bunch of crap, thanks ! Didn't get a chance to meet you and have no clue who you are or how you found mission control, but thanks for the support and wear our junk with pride.

On even another note, got an email recently from a gentleman named Craig that went out wreck fishing from Belmar, NJ. They were targeting the very delicious black fish, aka Tautog but he - and I assume others - were catching what the mates said were conger eels. The mates - he said - were throwing them back but he kept one or two and asked us what to do with them. I've never eaten conger eel but I gave him my favorite american eel method - however he mentioned that when he googled his mysterious fish it didn't look like a conger at all. Conger eel is a vernacular referring to many species of eel from the family "congridae." (I googled that too. I'm not that smart.) That basically means many different species are conger eels and many look quite different. In a recipe search, however, you'll find quite a few methods and techniques - mostly coming from European sources.

Based on my years living out west, I always found trends, be them sports, fads, fashion, etc. - move eastward. Take roller blading. Every body was roller blading out west but nobody was doing it on the east coast for like a couple years after. Same thing with Teva sandles - then next thing you know everybody was wearing them here. Want more? Sushi, hula hoop, spandex, vegetarians, smoke free restuarants, skate boarding, dressing like michael jackson, not dressing like michael jackson, tanning, not tanning, fake tanning, etc. 60 years ago, hawaiian shirts were the shizzledizzle (no longer a cool snoop dog term in California but I'm in NJ so we are behind...read on.) in Hawaii, then california. Just 15 years ago, you started seeing people wearing them on the right side of the US - now - the fad is over and has been for a long time on the left. (Anybody need some free shirts with flowers all over them?) So, do the math and figure out how long it takes the euros to pick up on what's cool in Cali. Head over to Germany and they are all dressed like kids that ride the short bus - but I imagine that was cool out west at one time. What's my point? Maybe it doesn't start in California. Maybe it starts in Europe and continues heading east, crosses the pacific and then continues. Maybe we here on the East Coast are the Johnny come Dorklies. Why you ask? Maybe the German and Czech geeks aren't dressed like geeks at all. Maybe it's gone full circle. Proof? Who was wearing sandles first? The Germans, dude ! O.K., in truth...the Romans, but lets keep it historically manageable. Then it became beach cool, then hippies, then they popped up in the mountains and finally back East. Who was wearing those ridiculous chunky heel shoes? You guessed it, Dieder, Klaus and Gertrude. C'mon man - birkenstocks? Europe my friend. I'm not cool anymore, and myabe never was, but I bet there are still some freaks dressed like frankenstein somewhere in this country and I'm sorry if it's your kids, I really am. Now we call them "goth." In Europe they called them, "hey Fritzy, nice shoes - how's the new biomolecular conversion chamber you are designing for the government with the other normal German people dressed in shoes with 5 inch platform heels coming along." Then the euros start wearing those sneakers that look like ballet slippers. Who's sporting them now? You guessed it - every metro sexual in the country. So, my point is - if you go to Europe, check out a fish market. It's skate, gurnard (aka searobin), dogfish, and yes...Conger Eel. Those bastards will eat anything - but the sad part is it's because they've practically wiped out everything else. We need to look across the pond for answers. Let's get with it, eat some garbage and save our mainstay game fish. But please, stop dressing like them. You have no idea how fucking stupid you look.

Let's talk about freezing your garbage. I used to look down at freezing fish because I am very into the fresh thing. I don't even like to leave it in the fridge for more than 2 days. I think it stems from some shitty fish sticks my mom used to make me eat every friggin' Friday, which I think held some religious significance which I couldn't begin to explain.. I had nightmares about them. But, lately - more of our fish are finding their ways into the freezer. I'm still not going to freeze bluefish, although I know people who do, but if you care for your meat properly and get it into the freezer quickly - and even better, vacuum pack it, you will be hard pressed to tell the difference. Let's take these delicious little buggers that I served up yesterday. This is a frozen, vacuum packed bag of Northern Puffer Fish, aka, blowfish - courtesy of Bob Misak. (scroll down to September 9th's entry to see a picture of Bob with a bucket of these tasty snacks.) Now, it's currently January 25th and Bob caught these way back in September and they've been frozen ever since. Considered by many a borderline garbage fish, I can't explain how good these bad boys are to eat. I and my guests can personally attest that this species of fish freezes very well. Here's what we did with them:

I like to make my own sushi. It's easy and fun and you can do about anything. So here's how to make blowfish maki rolls. I have a sushi kit which basically consists of one of these bambo mats to roll out your...rolls. You can get the mats for a couple bucks at any asian market. Cook up some short grain rice, season it with rice vinegar, spread it out on a nori (seaweed) sheet and place some fried blowfish down the center. (I did the blowfish tempura style as you can see in the pictures. I ate some just like that and can tell you they were the single best fish and chips I've ever had.) Next to the fish, layer sliced cucumber, avocado, and anything else you want, and roll it up. Slice it into individual maki rolls and you have some slammin' sushi. I made up a spicy japanese mayo and did a few of the rolls spicy style which also came out tasty.

Fishing author and friend of garbagefish.com, Bob Misak, recently spent some time with 7th grade industrial technology teacher, Greg Poole, and his students. Greg and the kids are the subject of a future article in Fisherman Magazine, outlining the kids work with cedar surf plugs. The plugs the students are making are top shelf stuff with quality not seen in many cedar plugs found in tackle shops today. It's a good story and as always, we're sure Bob did it justice, so watch for his article sometime in February. Pictured are some of the plugs they turned out, proudly resting on a garbage fish flag.

It's been a cold winter so far here at garbagefish.com headquarters. This time of year is pretty much guys bitching about the inevitable stricter regulations levied upon their favorite fisheries (but not the garbage fisheries, mind you.) In addition, there's the fishing fleamarkets, seminars and important organizing and reorganizing and rereorganizing of gear and tackle, maintenance and lots of sitting around to do. Speaking of, as the recent heat wave melted some ice off the bay, it all ended up at our place thanks to a stiff Northeast yesterday. While doing lots of sitting around we noticed the channel markers, that the township no longer takes out at the end of the season, seemingly come to life. It was a little eerie and a little funny but this video makes them look possessed. So, when you are flying across the bay this year and you hear the unpleasant sound of your lower unit ripping off, you'll have a pretty good idea of what it is. These things get knocked down by the ice and then sit just below the water's surface.

 

A big thanks to Fisherman Magazine writer, Bob Misak, for dropping off some delicious blowfish and striper filets which he expertly vacuum packs and freezes perfectly.

Happy New Year, garbagefishermen. 2009 saw the first full year of the garbagefish.com revolution, a truly shitty economy, and tighter regulations placed on our local fisheries...that is - except for garbage fish. With sea bass shut down in federal waters, weakfish bag limit dropped to 1 fish, and fluke regs likely to increase to 200 inch minimum size, you don't have to despair because there's delicious fish out there that they have (yet) to keep you from enjoying. In fact, as we speak the surf is blanketed with dogfish as shown in this sonar screen cap from our charter friends at shorecatch.com. While out looking to see if there were still any striped bass around, Captain Jim Freda marked tons of dogs which if you look close are actually identifiable in this screen image. (click on image)

Anyway, hope everyon enjoys a happy 2010 and thanks for your support.