....maybe not Santa Claus, but for sure the best (ever) fall run that has hit the Jersey Shore. It has been that good. First it was the big bass. Then it was the boat bass. And most recently this weekend, well starting Thursday it was bass, keeper to big bass, up and down the beach. And at times, they were almost on the beach.
I have just been busy with work, work around the house getting ready for Thanksgiving and the nurse educator conference this past weekend in New Orleans. I have to say the daily updates from Leif were killing me. But that's just how it goes. While I did get a taste last week out in the boat the
beach action is really what I most look for. Leif, and everyone else out there, had their best days ever. Leif had 40+ fish days to 25 pounds on peanut bunker flies. He and his son Leif teamed up on other days just fishing and crushing them.
During the sessions and while at the bar all I could do was pull up the various beach cams to see what I was missing. You could see it going off with anglers on the beach or on beaches that were
void of anglers. It looked like mayhem at times and just a dream come true for a fly rodder. Tons of bait, blitzing bass, and nice conditions, except for the honking wind and cold air temps which we even had down in The Big Easy. We made our way out of the hotel for two nights and caught
a little taste of Borboun Street and of great local cuisine. The dish below was redfish with a crawfish etouffee. The other meal I had was shrimp wrapped in bacon over grits which was out of the world.
In the pics below I pissed off the nearly 600 women by picking the winning key to win the Michael Kors pocketbook. To be honest I thought I was standing in line for the beignets, which is a New Oreans pastry similar to funnel cake or zeppole. So as the line progressed closer I hung in there and picked the winning key out of the bowl and bingo, it opened, to all of the crowds dismay. But I can say there was one woman in Jersey that was happy I won it. While peanut bunker was the main
course back in Jersey they were also on silversides and butterfish, which is what they were on for that day, Blitz-O-Ween in 2014. One thing different, it seems this year, the blitzes were up and down the shore, not just a specific beach with the fish hightailing it south. I was glad to see my bud Mike Ferraro get into the action and as I scrolled through social media I saw the below pic of one
of the bass he caught down in Ocean County. It just seemed it was going from The Hook down to say Seaside. While I am bummed that I missed it, and catching some nice fish, what really bummed me out was not being able to watch it and photograph it. One of my cameras with a zoom lens would have been great down there to document what both boat and beach guys are saying collectively is the "Best fall run ever".
