Viking Fleet Fishing Reports

It keeps getting better!! We left the dock under exceptional conditions, cool comfortable weather, little wind, and unlimited visibility.  Within 5 nautical miles we found a massive group of several hundred inshore bottlenose dolphins. We stayed with them for a while and continued on our way. It took another hour before we saw whales breaching about 4 nautical miles ahead, once we got there we found 7 humpback whales, including some from our last trip. All seven were essentially moving as one, diving together, travelling together, feeding  near the bottom and returning to the surface together.  We know that humpbacks will cooperatively feed and often see that at the surface. Could they have been cooperatively feeding at depth? We’d like to think so. 7 Humpback whales 200+ Inshore bottlenose dolphins 36 Great Shearwaters 7 Cory’s Shearwaters 20 Wilson’s Storm Petrels

Capt JR reports that we had some very windy conditions this morning on the Viking Star. Despite the difficult conditions we landed some nice Fluke, some beauty Sea Bass, and a few Scup to make the trip. The first place pool winner was Tyler Settanni from Bellmore, NY with a 5.8 lb Fluke. The edible…

Capt. JR reports that this afternoon on the Viking Star we found loads of big beautiful sea bass. Non stop action all around the boat. Everyone easily had their limit. In addition to the bountiful Sea Bass, some very nice Keeper fluke came up to sweeten the catch. First place in the pool was won…

Capt. JR reports a lot of action on this morning’s trip. Many of  the fish caught  were slightly under the legal size limit and had to go back but the action was non stop. We managed to put together a decent catch of Fluke, Sea Bass and Porgies and even a couple of Trigger fish…

Capt. Mike Ricker reports that the afternoon started of hot with a lot of big Sea Bass and Porgy then slowed a bit when the wind picked up. We also had a few keeper fluke. Kate Deutsch of Hicksville NY won todays’s pool winner with a 3.2 lb Porgy. (None of the anglers who caught fluke joined today’s pool! )

Captain Dave reports a good day of fishing today on the Viking Starship. We caught plenty of Porgies and Sea Bass but they were slightly smaller than we have been seeing lately. Today’s pool was won by John O. of Freeport NY with a 3lb Porgy. Nick White of Hempstead NY caught a nice 4Lb…

Capt JR reports a great trip with some real beautiful fish landed on the Viking Star. In addition to the nice knot head Sea Bass we captured and some trophy Fluke were scooped up in our nets. The top 3 Fluke landed tipped the scales at 7, 8, and 9 lbs!!!! There were also several…

Capt Mike reports a good trip on the Viking Star. We had steady catching the entire trip with full bucket all around the boat.  The catch was  jumbo Porgies, Sea Bass and some nice Fluke. The pool winner was Connor McGowan from East Meadow, NY with a 3.5 lb Fluke.

Capt Dave reports a good day on the Viking Starship. We had the right conditions at the lighthouse to start the day and the Porgy fishing was very good. We caught half of our fish on the first drift that was an hour long. When the full moon tide started running hard we moved down…

Captain Mike reports from the Viking Star half day trip that there was a good bite early that slowed down for a bit but picked up at the end. Jumbo Porgies, Sea Bass and a few keeper fluke were the catches of the day.  Today’s pool was won by Chris Maniatis of Brooklyn NY who…

A truly HOLY S***T DAY! 3 species of cetaceans and hundreds of pelagic birds feeding on sand eels! Breaching, open-mouth feeding, flipper slapping, mom/calf pairs, associated groups – you name the humpback behavior, we saw it.  At one point, whales, pelagic birds and large striped bass were feeding together on the abundance of prey.  It might be easier to let the photos and videos speak for themselves. Our senior scientist/naturalist/educator, Dr. Artie Kopelman, was on-board, and 2 days later is still reviewing the over 700 photos and videos. They will be posted soon along with the ID’s of the whales. 14 humpbacks 2 minke whales 180 inshore bottlenose dolphins 300 Great shearwaters 75 Cory’s shearwaters 2 Sooty shearwaters

Capt Mike reports a good afternoon on the Viking Star. It started off slow with a fast current. Conditions settled down mid trip resulting in buckets full of jumbo Porgies, SeaBass and a few keeper Fluke. It was nice day on the water! The pool winner was Kenny Owens from Brockville Center, NY with a 4 lb Fluke.