Katie H Sportfishing
Capt. Mike Schneider, left,
and Capt. John Decker.
Capt. Mike Schneider and partner Capt. John Decker run Katie H Sportfishing. Mike’s been fishing more than 25 years, and he first became interested when he began surf fishing as a teenager along the jetties at Deal, where he grew up. He started meeting good anglers while surf fishing, and he also began joining them on boats to fish the ocean. After meeting a lot of boaters, he gained more and more experience fishing the ocean from vessels. He started seriously fishing offshore in his late 20s or early 30s, and that’s when he got hooked.
Ten years ago Mike earned his captain’s license, and he eventually started running the Katie H, a 46-foot Hatteras, along with John. At first they ran private trips for the boat’s owner on “corporate charters,” trips with the owner’s business associates, a means for the colleagues to network while being entertained. Four years ago Mike and John started offering charters to the public on the vessel. Offshore charters are a specialty, and Mike and John especially love tuna fishing, but charters on the Katie H are by no means limited to offshore.
Offshore charters for tuna and big game are the focus on the Katie H from summer through fall, but much of the fishing season is also dedicated to inshore charters for striped bass, bluefish, fluke and wreck fish. Mike, who manages a specialty tape business that provides high-end tape to organizations such as NASA, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and John, a self-employed contractor and well-known veteran of the local charter and party boats, are well-networked with other captains, an important factor, especially on the offshore grounds, and bring much experience on charters.
Capt. Mike: 908-600-6413
Capt. John: 732-814-3958
Visit Katie H
Sportfishing's
web site. |
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I can remember my first canyon trip.
I was around 20 years old and working at a Robalo dealer, and my boss asked me to fish in a tuna tournament called the High Rollers.
We set out on a 26-foot Robalo with twin 200-horsepower Mercs. At first light we arrived at the canyon and trolled an hour with no bites.
Then four out of six rods went screaming!
A wolf pack! Bigeye tuna!
Three out of four of the bigeyes, 180- to 200-pounders, were boated, and they barely fit in the fish boxes.
Man was I hooked!
A couple of yellowfin tuna were then boated, and then actually no more room was left to store more fish on the small boat, so we headed home.
If you haven’t been to the canyons, it’s like a whole different world. You can see whales, porpoises, sharks, all kinds of God’s creations! You can catch tuna, mahi mahi, wahoo, white and blue marlin, swordfish, sharks, tilefish and more.
Two different types of trips are usually offered for canyon fishing.
A “day-trolling trip” typically leaves around midnight to be on the grounds at first light. Sometimes the early morning produces the only tuna bite all day. But there’s always mahi mahi that can be caught around lobster-pot buoys, and there’s always tilefish that can be hooked along the bottom. If conditions are right, anglers can also go for the mighty blue marlin.
If you’re having a slow day, and you’re open for other fish, talk to the captain and let him know. You can always troll for tuna again later in the day if the fishing picks up.
Day-trolling trips usually return by 5 p.m.
The overnight canyon trip is a real experience! It typically leaves around
10 in the morning or 12 noon, arrives on the grounds in the afternoon and trolls for 4 hours during the remaining daylight.
Then the trip sets up on anchor for the night to chunk for tuna, or fish for them with dead or live bait while chunks of baitfish are tossed in the water for chum. At night the halogen lights are blaring, and schools of squid, mackerel, |
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Yellowfin tuna bagged on the Katie H. |
mahi mahi and more can come up around the boat, and it can be an incredible sight! Huge sharks and other creatures sometimes show up to check out what’s going on around the boat.
The squid are often caught on jigs or can be scooped up with a net and used for bait, because they’re like candy for tuna or swordfish. The crew also usually brings sardines or butterfish for bait on the trip.
Overnighters can return to port any time from 10 a.m. to about 4 p.m., depending on how the fishing was going.
These fish can be picky at times, and they can suddenly disappear from the place where they bit before, and the boat might catch a limit on a trip the day before, but not on this trip. So don’t blame the boat if you have a slow trip! The charter fleet works together and shares the most updated reports with each other, and we want to catch fish more than you do!
Here are some basic rules, not in any order:
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Rule #3: Get some rest. I’ve seen mad dog bites at 4 a.m. when the customers were sleeping or were too tired to reel in fish.
Rule #4: Listen to the mate and captain when they guide you through the process of hooking and catching a fish.
Rule # 5: Bring some extra clothes in case it gets cold or you get fish blood all over you.
Rule # 6: Remember that most boats have refrigerators, freezers and other storage for your food and drinks. Check with the captain. Don’t expect to load three or four big coolers on the vessel. By all means keep coolers in your vehicle, so that if you do well, you can keep the delicious fish cold for your ride home.
If you have interest in canyon fishing or want to know more, feel free to contact me.
Sailing offshore and battling these big, aggressive fish is usually a matter of chartering a boat, except for the most experienced saltwater anglers.
We offer charters, but if you can’t get together six people, we offer “make-up trips” that allow you to book an individual spot.
It’s a great opportunity to experience this amazing fishing.
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