What's up fellow FNNer's! I hope everyone had a happy and safe Christmas. Before I go on with my report I want to apologize because I've been doing more lurking than contributing on the board lately. And although I've been on several outings this year this will be my first report of 2017. I saw a thread recently about the lack of reports on the board and began thinking about the reports I could have shared but didn't. I wondered if members weren't posting due to terrible fishing conditions or just don't have the time to fish anymore. I'm embarassed to say it, but the main reason why I haven't posted anything is just due to just plain laziness. It saddens me a little to see the lack of fish reports but I realized I was only contributing to the problem. So from here on out I plan to break out of lurker status! On to the fish report!

Most of my outings this year have been on the tube. Mainly because its closer to home and due to time constraints it's easier to do a quick session in the harbor. I hadn't fished in some time and was feeling the itch just before Christmas. I knew the water was going to be cold and the tide low, so I didn't have any big expectations on my outing. I just wanted to get out and feel a nibble!

Arrived at about 7am. Water and air was cold. Low tide, clear water and ZERO baitfish! I wanted to fish light, so I broke out my low budget Caddis Tube!



I also broke out my made in China Sougayilang telescopic travel rod that I got off Amazon for $29. I bought it for travel use and wanted to test it out against some hard fighting spotties. I usually bring a couple of rods but this was the only one I was bringing so I kept my fingers crossed that it would not fail on me.





I would also be fishing the Neko Rig for the first time. Really cool action underwater! I figured it would be the perfect presentation with the cold water other than my go to dropshot. Just wanted to try something new.



I started off working the docks and found my first fish of the morning just at the end of my retrieve. The Neko works!



Next up was this flounder!



Must have been hungry. Look at the size of that mouth! LOL



Dropped it straight back down for this guy. A larger flattie that put up a good fight on the travel rod.



Continued to fish the docks and went bite-less for the next 45min or so. Where the heck were the spotties!? With the clear water and the sun coming up, I wasn't feelin the docks anymore. So I decided to head out to deeper water and fish alongside the parked boats and moorings. As I was pulling up to my first mooring this guy flew in and landed. Scared the crap out of me! First time seeing an Osprey in NPH. Cool!



Finally I get a good THUMP! Thought this might have been the Spottie I was looking for. Even gave me a nice spin in the tube. My biggest fish of the trip. 17" Flattie. Travel rod still holding up!



Looking like an all flat fish day. This guy was pretty persistent. Nibbled at my bait for a good 3min before he hooked himself LOL. Don't know what he's been eating but this fish was thick!



On one of my last moorings I finally get what I came for....kinda. A Spottie! (a dink Spottie) Took my bait on the drop.



That would wrap up my session. Ended the day with 7 fish total. Not bad I guess considering conditions weren't ideal for me. It was nice to just get out and have the harbor all to myself. Quiet, calm and relaxing Glad to see that the Sougayilang Rod held up! lol Didn't think to much of the reel though. Not as smooth as it looks. And the Neko Rig did great! Really cool alternative to a dropshot if you wanna fish closer to the bottom. Well I hope you've enjoyed! Til next time! Or next year I should say!

Tight Lines
Jason

BTW what the hell happened to photobucket!? No more linking your pics on other sites!? WTF!? That just screwed up all my past reports! Sorry I've been gone awhile