Well since we never did a true "end of season" post I figured I'd hop on and do a quick recap of our first season with the headboat! The transition from the 6 pack boats to the headboat was certainly a big jump, but as soon as we started fishing I immediately knew it was the right choice. We were blessed by the overwhelming support of our customers, both new and returning. Mother nature was not on anyone's side this season, making it one of the toughest years weather wise we've seen in a long time. Every time we'd have a good bite, or a pattern developing, there was a blow or storm that came through that seemed to reset everything. Even with that being said, we were lucky enough to sail well over 200+ trips this season between both day and night trips. The return of night trips to Atlantic Highlands was a huge hit, with both the Stripers and Blues. This summer was one of the best showings of night blues that we've seen in years, with some of the most consistent fishing you can ask for with fish up to 16lbs. Our night Striper trips produced countless personal bests, with many fish in the 50" range. The day time bass fishing was also very good with many days of 100+ fish being landed around the boat. Many miles were traveled to find the fish day to day, but when we got on them it was well worth it! Both spring and fall Seabass seasons were very good, with many boat limits being caught. Which is a great sign as we're getting an increase in our quota next year! Our Fluke season was up and down all year with some very good trips with full boat limits, and some trips that we had to work as hard as we could to scrape up a handful of keepers. The weather was not in our favor with the never ending wind. Regardless, everyone still fished hard and many were rewarded with the biggest fish of the season going around 11lbs. We finished up our season with Blackfish, which was also very up and down. We saw days of good fishing with boat limits and some days of horrible fishing with only a couple of bites all day. We did have some very nice quality fish, with multiple DD size fish up to 12lbs. Check out our Facebook for the rest of the write up🤙

Out yesterday morning on the blackfish grounds with a light crowd. Pretty nice day which was a nice change of pace. Fishing once again was very slow. Most drops were pretty lifeless, best life was on the first piece of the day. One lone keeper with a handful of shorts. With the fishing as slow as it is, and the long range forecast not looking good, we are most likely done for the season. Going to keep an eye on this weekend, there's a chance we can squeeze one more trip in. If we do try, I will post it on here. Otherwise, thank you to all of our customers for an amazing first year with the new boat. You guys are the best, and I cannot wait to see what next year has to bring. Fishdarkhorse.com /// 973-440-0335

Took a pass on yesterday with the hard westerly breeze. Back out this morning with a good crowd on a drop dead gorgeous day. Just enough breeze to keep us tight on the anchors, mid 50s and sunny. Can't beat it for this time of year. Water temp warmed up 3-4 degrees as well which is a good sign. Unfortunately the fish didn't really respond much to it. First drop was in the deep 160', and life was dismal. Decided to push a little further and found some life around 110'. Problem was, the fish would bite for 15-20 minutes on each drop then all life would scatter. Made a ton of drops, all of them being the same for the most part. Some short life with a sprinkle of keepers. Last drop of the day had the best life for sure but again, it didn't last. Ended the day with a handful of keepers, some ling, and a couple big bergals. Pool went just over 6lb today. Warmer water definitely pushed inshore so we'll see what happens in the coming days. Here's some pictures from today. Friday looks no good with a lot of south wind in the forecast. Keeping an eye on Saturday and Sunday. Cherry picking days for the rest of the season... Sailing 7:30AM for Blackfish 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ For more information please call/text 973-440-0335 or visit us at fishdarkhorse.com

Back out on the tog grounds this morning. Drop dead gorgeous day on the water, except for a random S swell that showed up outta nowhere overnight. Had enough current to hold us tight on the anchor thankfully, as there wasn't a breath of wind most the day. Life was dismal again, with only parts of the boat getting bites on each drop. Kept moving trying find a more spread out bite but it seemed the same everywhere. A 10' portion of the boat would have bites on each drop. OK short life at times, with a sprinkle of keepers. More keepers than we've been seeing, which is a plus, but still not enough to go around. The roll definitely didn't help the already struggling bite as the water temp dropped 2°. Heres a couple of pictures from todays trip.... Michael had a hard time keeping track of the keepers today apparently as some keepers made it to the cutting board before getting a chance for a photo op🤦 Wednesdays weather looks no good, stiff breeze from the West. Going to wait until Thursday, which looks gorgeous. The west should lay this roll down and Thursday looks like one of the nicest days of the winter. Warm, sunny and light winds. Have plenty of room as of right now for Thursday. Come on down and let's drown some crabs. Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. 7:30AM Leave 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ For more information please call/text 973-440-0335 or visit fishdarkhorse.com

Better life on the tog grounds today! Headed out this am with a light crowd after yesterdays dud. First drop was no good but thankfully the wind backed off a bit and we were able to head offshore. Found an area of life and bounced around a few different snags until we found some of the right sized ones. Lots of bites, kept you at the rail and swinging. Keepers were still far and few between, but much better life than yesterday. Jigs out fished rigs today, with only a few bites coming on rigs. Key is to keep moving around the boat until you find some bottom with life. This time of year, there's not always bites all the way around the boat. Don't stay married to a spot, keep moving around until you find some life. The next 2 days look gorgeous, and we are fishing! Boat is wide open both days, come on down and get in on some togging before it's over. We are loaded up with both green and white crabs. We caught fish on both today, with greens seeing a few more bites than whites at times. Sailing at 7:30AM for Blackfish 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335 No reservations needed, just come on down!

Back out this morning after what felt like forever. Weather was gorgeous, light wind and calm seas. Started in the deep this morning and it was pretty lifeless. Tried a few in the 70s that were also pretty lifeless. Had a strong north current come up, so headed inshore and found our best life of the day. Shorts around the boat with a handful of keepers. Was nice to see the bites after a lifeless morning. Will take what you can get this time of year, especially with how the fishing has been. Was a good sign to still see the life inshore. Here's a couple of pics from today. BTW... if you're going to mark our spots on navionics while you're on board, you might not want to mark them publicly for everyone to see😅🤦 (and no, there's no buoy there🤣) Thanks for deleting at least one of the marks. Weather does not look good for the next few days... We'll be laying low until the next nice day. Not going to push any forecasts with the slower fishing. Going to be cherry picking days from now on. Looking at Thursday or Friday to be our next day, but will keep everyone posted as we get closer. Sailing 7:30AM-2:30PM for Blackfish 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. For more information please visit fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335

Another brutally slow day of blackfishing today. Fished from 65-105' today with the same dismal life everywhere. Picked a few off our first could drops. Had some bites on our deepest drop but the current was absolutely screaming. Made it very difficult to anchor, and when we landed on it you could barely hold with 12oz. Finished the day inshore with a lot of "life" but it was all very scratchy and the fish were impossible to hook. Frustrating, but par for the course. Been a pretty long stretch of this lifeless trend. Hoping things take a turn for the better soon. It's still early, have plenty of season left. Water temps seem to be hovering in the low to mid 40s. Appreciate everyone coming out and fishing hard, we'll continue to search new areas daily and giving it 100%. We are taking a pass on tomorrow with the hard South wind forecast. Keeping an eye on Christmas Eve right now, but it doesn't look great. Christmas Day we are not fishing, taking the day to spend with the family. Friday through the weekend we'll be fishing daily. Sailing 7:30AM-2:30PM Daily for Blackfish (weather permitting) Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335 for more information. 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ

Mannn.... Today was some special fishing😅 Beautiful day on the water, wind enough to hold us tight but it was very calm. Little current but nothing crazy. The fishing? Couldn't have been worse. Made 5 drops, all of them being practically lifeless. Couple shorts here and there, with some keepers sprinkled in. At the last drop we had the best life of the day, actually had some scratches and some bites to swing at. Pretty pathetic fishing to be honest. Appreciate everyone fishing hard today, just seemed like the fish didn't want to cooperate. With that being said, we have some more hard south wind coming tonight switching to hard west tomorrow. Going to take a pass on Sundays trip, going to be a big swell and we'll be forced to fish the beach. With the bite the way it was today, I can't imagine it being any better tomorrow. Monday looks nicer, we'll be back at it then. Sailing daily 7:30AM-2:30PM for Blackfish (weather permitting) 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

Beautiful day on the tog grounds today with a sold out crowd. Unfortunately the fishing was not good. No need to fluff the report trying to pass it off as okay since we caught some big ones. Picked at some quality keepers but most drops were pretty lifeless. The fish that came up today were ice cold, the bottom had to be pretty stirred up. Could've been the current, the swell, the east wind🤷 whatever you want to blame it on. Ended the day inshore and saw okay short life, but even that was off with very scratchy and picky bites. Fishing very light jigs with light line was the easiest way to feel the bites today. Big fish today tipped the scale at 8lb 11oz with a close runner up at 8lb 6oz. Here's a couple of pictures of some keepers from today. Taking a pass on tomorrow with the gale force winds. Saturday looks good. New day with some west wind, let's go see what we can find. Plenty of room on the boat both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335 Walk ons welcome, provided we have room. Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. Sailing daily 7:30AM-2:30/3PM (weather permitting) for Blackfish 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ

Drop dead gorgeous day on the tog grounds today. First drop of the day was the best, with fish FLYING as soon as we stopped. Quality couldn't have been any better with the vast majority of the fish being over 5lb. Had 3 fish in a row over 7lbs, followed by the big fish of the day at 10lb 15oz. Tried to release her but unfortunately couldn't get her revived after a long fight from the deep. Had some true heart breakers today too, even I snapped one off that's going to haunt me for a while🙃 Keepers were spread out all around the boat, which was nice to see. After the first drop dried up we bounced around similar pieces in the same area. Constantly changing wind direction kept us moving, but we picked away at the keepers on each piece afterward, catching some off all of them. Had some good short life at times as well. Here's a couple of the pictures from today, some of the guys didn't want to pose🤷 We are going to take a pass on tomorrow, Wednesday, with the hard SW winds forecasted. As much as we want to get back out there after today's fishing, we will not be able to make it to where we fished today with that wind. Gusts 30+ are no fun unless you're right in on the beach. Had a good crowd planning to come down tomorrow too, hopefully some of you can make it Thursday instead.... With that being said, Thursday looks PERFECT. Light winds all day, sunny and WARM! Definitely the nicest forecast we've seen in weeks. Come on down before the wind machine turns back on Friday😒 Plan is to head back to the deep, looking for bigger fish! Seasonal pool is growing every day!! Sailing 7:30AM for Blackfish DEFINITELY SAILING THURSDAY 12/18 Green crabs provided, white crabs available on board. 2 Simon Lake Dr Atlantic Highlands NJ Secure your spot at fishdarkhorse.com or call/text 973-440-0335