Back out on the tog grounds today with a good crowd. Initially the conditions were perfect, light south west breeze with no current. First drop started hot and heavy with keepers flying and shorts in the mix. Unfortunately the south wind began to crank and that was the end of the life. Just like someone hitting a light switch. Made a handful more drops looking for the life again and never really found it. Picked a few keepers and shorts everywhere then it would fizzle to nothing. Was hoping for a much better bite before this storm, but that south wind said noooo way. Taking a pass on tomorrow and most likely Monday as well. Tuesday is looking like the next fishable day, but will keep everyone posted. Sailing daily 7:30AM-2:30PM for Blackfish (weather permitting) 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Green crabs provided, whites available on board. Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Well today was one of those days as a captain that makes you just want to bang your head on the wall over and over again🙃 First drop of the day was OK, not much short life but boxed a quick 10 keepers. Seemed like the bites you got were all keepers. Bite slowed so picked up and tried another drop about a quarter mile away. That's when mother nature wanted to start playing games😒 Every time we'd set the anchors the breeze would change or pick up and our heading would change by 40-60°. Caught some keepers and shorts but couldn't sit correctly on the drop. So picked up and tried one inshore, which was even worse conditions wise. Screaming north tide against a wind that couldn't make up it's mind, making it absolutely impossible to lay correctly. Was able to hold the boat over the drop for a bit and saw a couple more keepers and some shorts. After getting beyond frustrated, picked up and made a late move offshore to get out of the tide. Got set and finally sat right on the anchor, just to find an extreme lack of life. Only scraped a couple more keepers and a handful of shorts before it was time to put our tail between our legs and head home. If we were able to sit right on our 2nd or 3rd drop I think it would've been a completely different story by the end of the day. Terry was the hot hand today with 4k. I appreciate everyone fishing hard today and not giving up. I know it's frustrating that we kept having to re- adjust the anchors, but unfortunately mother nature just wasn't on our side today. Can only play the cards that are dealt to us. Wednesday winds and seas do not look nice, definitely canceled. Thursday is IFFY at best. Looking like Friday will be our next day out blackfishing. Friday and Saturday look nice with a westerly breeze to keep us tight on anchors. Hopefully giving us a bunch of different options to explore. See everyone Friday AM. Sailing 7:30AM-2:30/3PM for Blackfish 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335. Walk ons welcome, provided we have room.

Drop dead gorgeous day on the blackfish grounds today with a sold out crowd. Actually too nice, with not much to keep us tight on the anchors. First drop had some short life and some keepers but not enough to make us stay. Headed deeper and found some bites, mostly keepers. Not too much short life, most the bites you got were nice 3-5lb fish. They were scattered around the boat, one here one there. Sat with it for a while but decided to pick up and look for better. Checked 3 other drops in a similar depth range only seeing a few more keepers and some shorts. Very dull life for the most part. Lost all anchoring conditions so finished the day inshore, which had a screaming tide and not much life at all. Appreciate everyone staying at the rail and fishing hard. Here's a couple pictures from today. The winds do not look favorable for tomorrows trip, so we are cancelling Monday. Tuesday looks very nice right now, and we have a light crowd scheduled. Might be the only nice weather day we get until the weekend. Keeping and eye on it. Sailing everyday (weather permitting) 7:30AM-2:30PM for Blackfish Green crabs provided, whites available on board for purchase. Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Had the Raritan Bay Anglers Club out this morning for a day of blackfishing. Steamed to the area we had the best life yesterday to find pretty much a desert. Screaming north tide made it tough to jig, and it seemed like the jigs were the only baits getting bites. Tried 8 or 9 different drops in all different depths today seeing pretty much the same life everywhere. Would pick a couple keepers, a couple shorts then lose all our life. The current definitely had these fish acting weird today. Thanks for fishing hard today guys, it wasn't for a lack of effort that's for sure! Whites definitely out fished the greens once again today. If you haven't already booked online, or reached out to me for spots tomorrow morning, we are now SOLD OUT for Sunday. Sorry to those that missed out, as always we limit the capacity of all of our trips to ensure everyone has plenty of room. We have room all week after tomorrow, pick a nice day and come on down! Blackfishing Everyday 7:30AM-2:30PM 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Blackfish Limit to 11lb+!!! Steamed out to the blackfish grounds with a light crowd this morning. Had some wind and leftover chop on the ride out but by the time we anchored it was gorgeous. As soon as I blew the horn to drop the lines we had keepers flying up. Decent short life, but the keepers definitely out numbered the shorts. Fished a few different pieces today seeing the same good life on all of them. Pulled a handful of roasters off each one then kept it moving. The vast majority of our fish were 3-6lb, very few of the keepers had to be measured. By the end of the day it added up and we boxed our crews limit up to 8.5lbs, with the highlight of the day being Ethan's 11lb 13oz beauty that he released to make more jumbos! Congratulations on your PB brother, and thank you for letting her swim free! Most the fish came up on jigs today, with white crabs out fishing greens 10/1. Even I was able to come downstairs and box a limit today🤓 they must've been thick!! Thanks for fishing hard today guys, it was a fun day on the water. WE ARE SOLD OUT TOMORROW MORNING, SATURDAY 12/6!! Sunday through next week all have plenty of room! Pick a nice day and come on down to crush some crabs. Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. 7:30AM-2:30PM Daily for Blackfish 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Made our way out this morning to the blackfish grounds with a light crowd. Didn't seem to matter where we looked, the current was vicious. Made a couple different drops, all of which has decent short action with a couple of keepers. Made a move late in the day and found a drop out of the tide and was finally able to fish less than 10oz😅. Life was good, with plenty of 14.5" fish, with a little flurry of keepers. Definitely would've liked to see more keepers, but the life is always welcome. Keeping an eye on tomorrow, looks like a little wind in the forecast and with the moon tide it may make for tough conditions. If you plan on coming down, give us a call or text 973-440-0335 We'll make a post later tonight whether or not we are going to sail. Friday's forecast looks PERFECT, with light winds all day. If you're able to make it down Friday instead, I definitely suggest to do so! Plan for Friday is to look in some deeper water and make some drops on some smaller pieces. Saturday is SOLD OUT, Sunday has plenty of room. Sailing 7:30AM-2:30PM Daily for Blackfish Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot now at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Steamed out this morning with a stiff NW wind headed for the Blackfish grounds. Looked over an inshore drop on our way out but the tide was just too strong. First drop of the day had nice conditions with not too much current. Loads of bites all around the boat, every hook coming up empty on every drop. Managed to pick a few keepers out of the bunch of shorts. Pushed off a little further once the strong current found us. Second drop saw good life right away with keepers coming up. Unfortunately the south tide kicked in and seemed the chase the keepers away. Loads of 14 1/2" fish going back, but never really got the keepers going the way we'd like. Managed to pick a handful more before heading to the barn. Non stop life all day, just would've liked more keepers. Thanks for fishing hard guys! We are cancelled tomorrow with the SE winds and storm coming through. Wednesday looks much nicer with more NW winds. Come on down, sailing 7:30AM-2:30PM everyday for Blackfish (weather permitting) 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Had the Blackfish Challenge hosted by Keyport Bait & Tackle today. Very tough and grindy bite all day long. Fished everywhere from 25-100' of water today trying to find better life but never found anything good enough to sit on for a while. Would pick a couple keepers and shorts right away then lose all life. Very scratchy bite. Had a screaming south tide no matter where we went, right into the NW wind, making conditions very tough for everyone. The fish were there, just didn't want to eat right with the screaming south tide. Appreciate everyone fishing hard all day in the cold wind. Look forward to doing it again in January. Hopefully we'll have better conditions! Unfortunately tomorrow's forecast has continued to get worse as the day went on. Hard SSE winds coming on very early in the morning. We are going to take a pass and wait until Monday. Monday looks good, before more wind comes Tuesday and Wednesday. See everyone Monday for Blackfish! Green crabs provided, whites available on board. 7:30AM-2:30PM 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there! Headed out this morning with a good group of guys looking to add Striper to their Thanksgiving menu tonight... Let's just say I hope they have enough Turkey to go around😂😭 All the areas that were full of life and fish yesterday were near lifeless today. The 1 area of life we found was fast moving and the couple of fish that were with it did not want to bite. Pulled 1 keeper and 1 over out of it then never got another bite. Looked all over the place but nothing came together. Frustrating after seeing the amount of fish we did yesterday. But, it's that time of year unfortunately. 1 day they're here, the next they're 30 miles south. I don't mind braving the wind and cold when the fish are biting but it's brutal when they're not! With that being said, we are officially done Striper fishing for the season. Thank you too everyone that fished with us this fall, hope to see you all for Blackfish or in the spring for Stripers again! We are now fishing for Blackfish EVERYDAY 7:30AM-2:30PM 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ WE ARE ❌CANCELLED TOMORROW❌, BLACK FRIDAY 11/28! GALE WARNING IS 👎👎👎No sense in being limited where we can fish on our first tog trip of the year. We are SOLD OUT Saturday 11/29, but have plenty of room Sunday and next week! Book your spots now at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Woahh what a day!!🔥🔥🔥 Fantastic Striper fishing all day today! Made our way out and found the life and fish right away. For a change, the fish splashing around the boat actually bit today! Had most the boat hooked up for the majority of the day today with a very easy limit of bonus fish and keepers. Bunch of overs today too up to 37". Some incredible feeds for miles today, blowing both adult and peanut bunkers out of the water. Non stop action with shads, spoons and topwaters today. Oh and BTW, it didn't rain at all today. Nor did the wind blow. Don't listen to the weather men, or you'll miss the bite!!! WE ARE SAILING TOMORROW, THANKSGIVING FOR STRIPERS!!! LAST STRIPER TRIP OF THE SEASON! 6:30AM-12PM EARLY LEAVE, DON'T MISS IT! 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/ text 973-440-0335