Summer Round up and Janes Island

 Summer Round up:

Well, so much is happening in the world right now, so much of our lives are different, changed, altered, limited, it is nice to still be able to go fishing.

I have made several trips to South Jersey targeting fluke and sheepshead and stripers and weakfish and bluefish, sometimes catching as many as four different species in a day if sharks count, and sometimes getting skunked. 

 I never got my sheepshead, but did manage to catch a tog, and as I still don't dedicate too much of my day to sitting at the bridge, that's not so bad.  I focused on minimal tactics for fluke; no live bait, no gulp, just a lightweight buck-tail and any soft plastic with a paddle tail.  Always with a little pro-cure.  In fact, Steve says to just put pro-cure on everything now.  Why not.

Janes Island:

This trip.  Just Steve Nick and I.  Three days.  Two of them were very windy.  Dinner was caught each day despite the weather. 

 The third day was banner, in terms of weather and fish. 

 The bait was under the birds, and the bass were under the bait.  Both Steve and Nick caught a redfish. The topwater bite was super slow, but the bass assassin bite was hot.

When the guy at the ramp brags that they caught 50 fish today, just say that you caught 51.

Bluefish, Striped Bass and Fluke, early June, South Jersey back bays

This was an early morning into all day trip to the Jenkins Sound area.  That's as back bay as it gets.  Launching at high tide at sunrise onto a flat, casting a topwater lure at the banks and having it SLAMMED by feeding stripers just waiting for its next meal.  It really doesn't get any better than that.  throw some one pound bluefish in the mix as well.

I fished light tackle only, and was trying something relatively new and different for  fluke.  Just one buck-tail and a curly-tail soft plastic with some pro-cure bouncing on the bottom.  Usually I would be fishing a heavier buck-tail, with a slightly heavier rod, and have a "HI-LOW" rig with a teaser a-la "Skinner."  

  We each had two keeper Fluke, and two bluefish to take home.

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The drift was well planned and the wind direction had us back at the launch in perfect timing.

South Jersey, Late May report 2020

The birds are in full nesting mode.

short Fluke

On the water, the fog can roll in fast.

Fog Bank Rolling in

The sun sets and it's a new moon, or just a sliver.

Bridges disappear, and re-appear.

KGB: fog bank upon us

Sod-banks take on new significance.  

Before they fade away completely they act as a guide.

Except that it's high tide in the dark of the moonless night and the fog, when land and water interconnect is deceptive ways.

The plan is adapted.  Amended.  Abridged.

South Jersey Weakfish Effort, May 2020

In fishing, choices have to be made. The biggest and first choice is often what species to target.  This spring I will give at least a handful of trips over to targeting Weakfish in South Jersey.  Most likely what you will see here will be the by-catch. 

short striper

Steve and I have logged in a few trips in the back bays and have managed several stripers between us, but no weakfish to date.  This spring has been exceptionally cold, so, we have a sufficient and likely excuse for our failure.  

Late April 2020 (Raritan), hello 2020!

First Striper of 2020 (25")

I was going to say "First trip of 2020", but that would be a lie.  Mike and I went to Georgia for a couple of cold and rainy days in March and aborted a soggy miserable trip at Fort McAllister State Park.  I had one hook up there from the dock, fishing from the kayaks was impossible.

Raritan, however, at the end of April, was one of the nicest weather moments.  Almost flat.