We were just talking the other day about, well, how things suck from the surf. Sandy? Beach replenishment? Destruction of an inshore ecosystem? It just hasn't been looking like there's a lot of life down there. No birds, no bait, really not much for fish.
The fish Gods must have heard our conversation.....
With the S wind swung around to the W and an incoming tide life was brought back to the beach. I got there before 6pm and had ospreys searching from the sky for fluke or sand dials swimming on the bottom. A whale was out a bit I assume on bunker. Some splashes out of casting range looked like bass rather than blues. Of course the sub surface offerings were there, sand crabs, but, and you cant tell it from the above picture, the quick set of swells and water running up the scarp made it hard to work a crab fly.
I had a hard time finding a parking spot and had to walk aways to get away from the surfers and beachgoers. Once in, I found a little honey hole that gave up three, one around 27 inches. They all had sea lice on them, so they have traveled, or are mid trip, on the way north for the summer. Most were covered with sea lice. It would be nice is they decided to stay on the beaches in Jersey. If the water stays tolerable and there's things to eat they just might stay. I tried the popper without a touch then went to a two fly set up that produced. Just before dark I made the move and was confident I would catch another nice fish. A long stretch and two groins didn't give up anything, but I did hook, and almost had my hand on, a keeper fluke 20 or so inches, that popped off while fishing off the rocks.
I saw this "memory" on my Facebook page this morning. Good times with Andrew and Joe out tossing big flies to big bass on bunker. This was from six years ago. I miss my boat.
