With two days before the full moon the bait and fish have been active. Yesterday Leif scored a summer grand slam with the below trio of a fluke, a bass and a bluefish. This morning it was all about the fluke as they were in thick chasing tiny white bait along with some bluefish and some what appeared to be Spanich mackerel. We both saw something bigger out there on the chase and it could have been a shark, or which wouldn't be a total surprise a tuna or a marlin, as was seen down in Ocean County the last few days patrolling the trough in Mantoloking.
Leif Petterson photo
I started way too early getting to the oceans edge by 4 AM. Threw a popper/dropper combo up and down the beach and rocks with only one fish that grabbed the trailing fly, felt like a Spanich, could have been a bluefish, definitely had the pelagic-type-tail kick to it. Just before light I switched to a 300 gr sinking line and a crab and epoxy fly setup and stayed with that before changing out the trailer to a small tan SF Blend Flatwing which the fluke fell for. Before the fluke-a-rama started I had one small bluefish grab it in the trough.
Leif Petterson photo
It was good to see some life out there as the tiny bait will definitely keep the predator fish around. Ospreys were overhead looking for fluke in the skinnier water. Tiny baits skittered across the surface as they were being harassed. The beaches have been cut up pretty nicely from all the weather we have had this summer. Most of the south sides of the groins have shoaled in a bit, but the north sides have been hollowed out. I found that out in the dark when I took a near header stepping off the beach scarp. Luckily I caught myself before I ended up face planting in the trough.
Most of the morning was spent doing the below. Landing the fluke, measuring the ones I thought were close, and then trying to release them in the least traumatic way possible. By quitting time I landed 11 fluke and one bluefish and had a bunch of swings and misses. Leif had a shot at some Spanish mackerel when they came in close to the beach. Its summer, but today was nice with an easy NW wind that kept things cooled off a bit. Its time to switch up the wording a bite and saying "I'm going fluke fishing", and then being surprised if you catch anything else, like a striped bass or one of those pelagics.
Leif Petterson photo