Columbus Day Al Gauron Mackerel

When I went to a cod trip on Labor day, I thought it would be the last party boat trip in the season. However, I found Al Gauron gave up bluefish trip and got back to the mack. You can catch mackerel from shore as well in October. Probably, fishing area would be near shore and fish are very active. Above all, mack tastes best at this time of year. I called Al Gauron Sunday morning to hear what was going on. The office lady said they would go out Monday morning and still had spots. She also said she had no idea for catch because they didn’t go out on Saturday and some information would be available after morning boat returned. I thought at least we could catch 20-30 at this time of year. After I made sure if my daughter would get up at 6 and go, I reserved two spots.

When I checked in at the office, I found 4-5 reservation on the note. We still had time so I went to Dunkin Donuts, got a cup of coffee and got into the boat. Although the number of people was actually small, StarFish was assigned to the halfday. Just before departure, a family of 4 got in. A boy was a class mate of my daughter. Quite a coincidence! I heard they had guestimated total catch of the day as family on their way. The mother’s number was 4, the father’s was 15, and the boy’s was 20. I thought we could at least catch 20 for two if we went to the Isles of Shoal and better around Hampton. Anyway, we would see.

I used Shimano Sellus and a small left handled Daiwa reel with 15 lb PowerPro. As for sabiki, I chose 2-hook mustad 34007#1 instead of Chinta#11 I usually used at that time, expecting larger fish. Sabikis were hand-tied ones using iridescent film. Below sabiki I set a 1/2 oz mackerel jig. For my daughter, I brought 6’6’’ Daiwa freshwater medium rod and a small right handled reel from a cheap combo. The line was mono around 10 lb originally spooled at the time of purchase. The rig was one-hook sabiki and a 1/2 oz mackerel jig because triple would be too heavy for her. I brought a back-up set that day so I had the boy use this set with sabiki for better catch than rental tackle. The rod was 5’6’’ a little sturdier than medium and the reel was medium size Daiwa with 20 lb PowerPro. The rig was 2-hook sabiki of Iseama#11 and 1/2 oz mackerel jig. I set a depth marker with a bobber stopper on all of the main line at 20’.

When I finished setting all tackles, the boat slowed down and was anchored. When I saw the web site, it seemed that they were fishing at Shoal but it was off Hampton this time. It was lucky because fishing time would be 3 hours instead of 2 hours for Shoal trip. In summer time, there are 25 people at one side of the boat.  It was October, so there were only 6 on port side. Super spacious! Clear sky, no wind and no wave. Fish were the only piece to make it an excellent trip.

At the beginning, I told kids how to; drop rig, stop at the marker and jig up and down. After a few minutes, a school came in and hooked as double or triple. Kids said, ‘I can’t reel in!’ Fathers helped out but they learned soon. However, they could not unhook so fathers kept doing that part. I pulled fish in the boat but some left during I took care of my daughter. Non-stop action lasted for a while.

Fishing slowed down a little around 10:00. I counted catch while I mixed cube ice in the cooler. We got 47 at that time. It was almost 3-digit pace but it didn’t last. After a break, some flurries came until 11. Meantime I got a nice one of 13’’. I decided to use this for sushi mackerel

Half an hour more. Tide got close to the low and current became weaker. Although the temperature was not so high, it got warm with sun shine. Kids got tired of fishing and started exploring the boat and eating snack. Only when flurries came, they got back to fishing. I enjoyed the slow time with her rod, which is softer than mine and double was fun. Fish faded out and fishing ended at 11:30. We got 89 fish. The boy's family got similar number. I filleted bigger ones, head and gutted middle-sized one and froze small ones as a whole. Sushi mackerel was delicious with rich oil. Baked fish was also good.

I would like to thank Al Gauron, who went out with a dozen of people on Starfish. I think it was a merginal number. It was definitely an excellent trip. As long as weather is good, this time of the year is the best season for mackerel fishing. I would not be surprised if this fishing became more popular with 20-30 people on board in October.