OK, Enough… Let’s GO!
It all starts when I take out my Patagonia fleece vest. All that running down to the beach after work in my shorts to wet wade, or bouncing up in the pre-dawn and jumping into my flip-flops is totally a blast, but when I have to put on the vest, that is the beginning.
It’s like when you are watching Daytona and you hear the “Gentlemen start your engines,” or the bugler lets loose at the racetrack. That feeling that makes you scoot forward in your seat to get a little closer to the action. Well, I’m a scootin’!
Even though there was a pretty steady flow of bait coming out of the back, the sub-50 degree nights and the blistering winds with an “N” somewhere in it have truly spiked the bait run. In freshwater the temps are starting to swing things too. Laurie at Dow’s Boat Rental in Lake Hoptacong is starting to send guys to deeper water to try jigging.
With mullet and peanuts bubbling up everywhere, sometimes it still pays to switch up a little bit. Around North Beach at Sandy Hook the striper fishing has really made a move up a couple notches in the last couple days for anglers that started throwing eels at the big girls. Kevin at Bait Your Hook in Atlantic Highlands has fish both in numbers and size coming in off the Hook. Don’t forget about the sea bass on just about any pile of rocks and the porgy fishing between the markers of the channel.
There are a couple other areas in Ocean and Monmouth counties that historically light up with a couple big fish early, and this year is no exception. Several boat anglers have trolled up some bigguns in the last week off the Shrewsbury Rocks. This is bunker spoon country fellas. Long rods, wire line, and that classic “whomp,whomp whomp” that is only interrupted by screaming drags. Chris from the fishing dept. at Harrys Army Navy in Robbinsville tells me that one of the local 16-year-old fishing prodigies, a guy they call Jimmy Rippinlipz, had a beast of a bass up there early in the morning a couple days ago.
There is a really good reason to keep a large Deadly Dick in your pocket when you are on a beach. Any typo in that statement could get me in a lot of trouble. The reason why is spelled A-L-B-I E! Both Sea Bright and Monmouth Beaches saw blazing fast schools of albies blow through the surf according to Magic Max at Pride Bait and Tackle in Red Bank. Pluggers in the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers have been eeling themselves up stripers, but the bluefish are beating them up. Be sure to bring a few extras.
Here is the secret tip you have been sifting through all of these paragraphs about fishing for. Either scrunch up closer to your desktop monitor or hide your smartphone under your hoodie so nobody else can see. You should be throwing smaller plugs that look like mullet in the surf. Keep it to yourself. A run of 10- to 12-pound bass hit Monmouth Beach yesterday (Wednesday) morning and were just hammering small swimmers. Dominick from The Bait Shop in Bradley Beach had a little parade of guys weighing in their first Fall bass off this charge to the suds.
Running down the coast on the beach, the thick bait in the wash is giving anglers plenty of action, but in most cases sand fleas are still dealing with smaller bluefish and schoolie sized stripers. Island Beach State Park is one of my favorite central zones to run my truck on the beach when the bite is on. A couple of the fly guys out of Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook hit it there this week. No trophies, but lots of fun.
The cocktail blues that have pretty much taken over everywhere are actually turning into a tackle shop owner’s best friend these days, between cutting off pricy plugs and chomping eels into little pieces. It still pays to endure, however as some bass are getting big enough to get to the scales. Ernie at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Brielle had a half a dozen striper weigh ins from 10 to 16 pounds. No sign of the big schools of big bluefish blitzing the suds yet. The little ones are doing plenty of damage.
The mosquito fleet has been kept off the high seas by the wind for the last few days, but a couple of the bigger boys have taken a shot outside. There are still Albies and Bonito out at the Ridge according to Capt. Ken on the Big Kid out of Brielle. Everyone is sitting with stacks of flats in the freezer waiting for a big enough window to open up to take an overnight shot. Could be a Saturday opportunity, but it is a very small break as of Thursday morning.
Sometimes it pays to pay, instead of driving on your own. Particularly when running your own boat has just as good a chance of sending you to the chiropractor as the filleting table. With the sea conditions rocking like they are a spot on the rail of Capt. Chris Hueth’s 65-foot Big Mohawk out of Belmar can have you warm on the way out and hauling nice sea bass once you get to the rocks. There were lots of porgies in the cooler too when I spoke to Chris in between 20-knot wind gusts this morning.
A quick shout-out to the rest of the boys in our Belmar Charter network this week. Capt. Mike on the Katie H, Capt. Rob on the Last One, Capt. Nick on the Ol’ Salty, Capt. Steve on the Skylarker, Capt. George on the Teri Jean II, and Capts. Jody and Scott from XTC Sport fishing. Tuna, Stripers, Wreckin’ & Reefin’, Overnighters; if you need a ride to the action, this is the list you want to keep by the phone. Next rainy day when you are sitting in the office daydreaming, take a few minutes and cruise their websites. Lots of great photos of great days on the water to get you all revved up.
Since the weather this week has really made our focus on the surf, here is another little news flash for you guys. We know that Dave over at The Reel Seat in Brielle is a solid offshore resource, but when I spoke with him this morning he was buried in boxes of surf gear that just came in. Very interesting.
Keep your eye on the wind for your best bet for the weekend. If condition allow you to jump on a boat, I’d head to nearshore waters and start looking for that first real, mid-October striper explosion of the season. All of the stars are aligned for it with tons of bait flushed from the back, big schools reported off of Long Island, and the beginning of surf action near the Hook. If it is truly blowing and it is at your back, hit the beach, bring small swimming plugs, and keep moving around until you dial in the bait.
Stay Tuna-ed!