Some days first light and the subsequent sunrise are spectacular......some days no so much. Some anglers, like my fellow members of the Asbury Park Fishing Club, call the 8th Ave "jetty" home. Today I walked past the contractors machines to see how beach nourishment affected the groin. 8th Ave in Asbury Park is the northernmost section of the current contract being completed with this round of beach replenishment. In the above pic, the Loch Arbor beach is to the north, or left, that run, from Loch Arbor to Lake Takanasee will be completed at a later time. In the above picture you can see how the beach was elevated and extended up and over and down the groin.
I then drove down to Bradley Beach and found that work there is just approaching 3rd Avenue. Just a few hundred feet past that is the Avon line, and a little south is the Shark River Inlet. From what I can see, on this beach with a mix of full and notched groins, the sand is being distributed past the notch and to the "floating" rocks, which will alleviate, for a while, current and water passing through the beach end. Years ago groins were notched to allow a more natural flow of water and sound from the south to the north along the shore, that move, has mixed reviews depending on who you talk to.
In Ocean Grove the old Ocean Grove Fishing Clubhouse and Pier, which was destroyed during Sandy, now sits far back on the new beach. You can now walk in front of the pier. Already signs of Mother Nature taking back the sand are obvious, with several foot dropoffs evident as you walk down to the water.
In the end, as the sign below states, "Down the Shore Everything's Alright". Spring will come, hopefully, the waklers, bikers and runners will return to the boards and beach, and the fish, big and small will return to these waters, and anglers will use the "new look" beaches and groins as a place to wave their rods in the wind casting their flies, and whatever else, to hungry fish.
