Stripers cooperate
31.12.69
It wasn't easy for most today, but striped bass did bite in some areas despite the southwest wind. I joined Bob Correll of Bay Head for a ride from Point Pleasant to Shrewsbury Rocks on his 20-foot Boston Whaler that has no electronics. There had been a hot jigging bite Friday at the Rocks, and we were hoping for a repeat with surface action we could zero in on without a fishfinder. Unfortunately, there weren't even birds at the Rocks, and we never saw a troller stop. Working back to the south, we saw a few birds heading offshore as a fleet developed off Spring Lake. There wasn't any concentrated bird action to focus on as they were spread over a wide area -- and a few bass were chasing baits to the surface. That provided enough of a clue to get us on the fish. I used a Tsunami Deep Shad to catch four bass, while Correll caught one on a diamond jig with a green tail and another on a popper. They were all keepers, though only one 33 1/2-incher was retained. I also hooked a spiny dogfish on the shad, and had a tail bitten off -- though I suspect that was done by another dogfish rather than a bluefish. The whole fleet was in that area, including Miss Belmar Princess and the Golden Eagle from Belmar, the Queen Mary, Cock Robin and Gambler from Point Pleasant, and the Jamaica from Brielle. All were jigging bass, and the Golden Eagle reported over 60 that hit Ava-47s and Krocodiles. The action seemed to slow as the southwest wind increased, and we headed in early with the small boat. We apparently were jigging in 55 feet, and I only know that because we heard a boater talking on Correll's portable VHF about the fleet being in that depth. Of course, every day is a new day out there when it comes to that fishing -- so be prepared to look anywhere along the coast on Sunday.
Source: NJ.com (blog)
