Gill-T

I had the jetty to myself. Unreal. It looks like there a limited number of camping spots on site also.

Great morning today. Went to Cape May inlet early and was rewarded with a great dolphin show followed by great topwater action for stripers and bluefish. Kept a few blues to fry up.

It is one thing to have spawning fish, and it is quite another to produce viable fry. You need right temps, O2 levels, a lack of egg predators, the right timing on flushing etc etc. It really is the Salmon River and a few select rivers north.

Good call. I checked it out today. Long walk to the jetty but beautiful area. Tomorrow’s excursion will involve me fishing this time. I saw this on a t-shirt in Cape May....

Stone Harbor, about 3/4 mile from bridge over to wildwood. Got beat up again in the waves today. Is the surf ever calm around here? Friekin’ crabs were biting my feet today when I stepped on their holes at low tide. Still looking for some pelagics. Very little bait within casting range. Quick hitters, with bait moving fast down the beach, usually out of casting range. No bait = no pelagics. I have found a good challenge.

DO NOT USE that type of swivel. Stick with Coastlock or Duolock styles.

Tough day fishing. No bait came to shore so no action. Hit peak low tide and peak high tide but nota.

Thankfully no.

I have seen two shark dorsal fins come up close by and the water is murky so.....yes I am on edge lol.

No pics as I am wading out in water in swim trunks. I did have something crawl up on my leg today while wading that made me screech like a school girl getting an instagram message from her favorite boy band.

Day two was eventful again. I feel sorry for non-sportsman for things they miss. First light always brings the ocean to life. Today I had a bait pod come in and got to witness 30 dolphin get fired up and tear into them. Osprey and seabirds diving into the fray. Ended up catching a mackerel on a topwater plug but that was it. Water was too churned up from heavy surf to use jigs today. Back at it this evening if wind and waves cooperate.

Arrived yesterday to begin a week with my wife’s family vacationing on the jersey shore. First timer here. Brought my casting outfit so any tips anyone has for fishing the area, I am open to suggestions. My first attempt at fishing this morning was successful but got a little bit more than I bargained for. This morning saw me faced with big waves and outgoing tide. I had seen some YouTube vids on a double jig fluke rig so I rigged a bucktail jig on the bottom of a three way swivel and a lighter jig with a gulp curly tail on the longer lead. After a little casting I was able to catch an undersized striped bass ( my first ever). Saw a pod of dolphins come close so I figured they were herding bait. On one of my casts I hook into something SOLID and the drag starts to peel towards England. A couple times I looked at my spool of braid to see if I was getting close to seeing metal. After a while of back and forth, I was making some gains using the wave timings to reel fast during surges. I had no idea what I had on but soon the beast was near. I caught little glimpses of color...bluefish? No maybe a Cobia???, false albacore?? I had the frying pan already turned on in my mind......and then I saw it, a friekin’ stingray!! Now what? I was able to glide the ray in with in coming waves over to the side of the rock jetty nearby. Placing the butt of my rod up on the rocks above, I placed the tip of the rod onto the ray’s tail while removing the jig from its mouth. When I shook him loose, the goofy thing flipped over on its back and couldn’t right itself. By now the ruckus has attracted a small crowd that was concerned for the ray’s well being. The well intended human representatives advocated many suggestions while keeping their distance. I was able to use the butt of my rod to turn the ray over then gently push him out to deeper water. You never know what you are going to catch on the ocean.

Nocturnal soybean deer. Stud.

I have seen those nose-to-tail lines of salmon before. Usually during a roll over, almost always at 50’ of depth and almost always year 1 or 2 kings.

You can’t predict marine forecasts this far out.

Bad at the knots and for downrigger braid

I can’t buy a meat fish.

BAC - butts against cancer. Well done.

Did anyone snap a shot of the results from the pro/am?

It was a later bite on Saturday. We left the dock at around 1:00 and fished the afternoon. Fish were very aggressive wanting flasher/flies and mostly ignored spoons. People I spoke to at the launch had a slow morning. Kings especially feel those subtle changes to weather. There were some small storm cells nearby that would kick up the wind briefly. If you were over fish when those changes happened, you would get bit.