Late April - Two Trips - South Jersey

I figured if I put some time in on some South Jersey waters with a pink fin-esse and a jig head I'm bound to get a weakfish, however small.  I'm sure my odds would be greater if I fished the super early hours of the morning, but that hasn't been an option for me yet.  Also, I've been hitting spots that I haven't been to much; going on exploratory missions. 

Unfortunately I haven't yet hit my target species, however I did have some action with schoolie striped bass.

The report:

The first of the two trip was to Skunk Ditch, in Cape May, where Steve and I had fished only once before.  I wasn't getting any action in the creeks, and the tide was low, so I ventured into Cape May Harbor to try and find some deeper holes. 

Cape May Fish Plant

It was in uncharted territory for me with no fish finder, just using common  sense to find the fish, and I did get some hits and a fish at some points and along some walls.

Cape May Schoolie

Otherwise, this was an all-around slow fishing trip.  I wasn't really feeling like I was going to have any more success and I didn't get any fish after that, even though the conditions felt really good as I was casting along the sod banks at high tide and sunset.  

My next trip planned was to Launch at Great Bay Blvd and fish into Newmans Thoroughfare.   The weather forecast that day had changed for the better, from chance of thunderstorms to overcast, and so I had a chance to stay a little longer than planned.

Abandoned Fish Factory, Great Bay

Again, I didn't have any hits in the creeks, but when I  got into the main channel and fished really tight to the banks I found more small bass.

One of at least ten

I found a couple of random fish along the banks, but really found a nice school of feeding bass as I was heading back, super tight along a bank, and they weren't giving up.  Usually they will be spooked after two or three fish get pulled from the same area, but these fish were staying there.  After a bit of fun catching fish after fish, I headed back, again, with no weakfish.  

Again, I know that if I were truly serious about my weakfish hunting I would have to go out and hit some holes, and current, in the middle of the night, and I may still have a chance yet in the first half of May.

The end