If you're a striped bass angler then you know you should be fishing this week. It's fall. The mullet run may be just around the corner. We have a Hurricane, Lee, building and about to run the coast. It's go time. It might not be Bill Wetzel snotty Montauk weather big fish fishing, but for us in New Jersey it could be a good start. Today is the professor's day off so when I rolled over at 315 am I knew it was time to go. It was 30 minutes before I had my alarm set for but I never sleep well the night before a fishing trip.
By 445 am I was walking away from the Jeep after deciding which set up I was going to try. I had the long rod with me if the waves were huge and breaking at the beach. I had a 10 wt with a 300 gr line if it wasn't too bad.
But the set up I went with was the 11wt with the Bank Shot line. That's a sink tip with a floater behind it. I have used it well in the Delaware, even when using a popper. Through the darkness I could make out the outline of the groin so I knew, at least for a bit, I could perch myself on the rocks and fish down into the water. That's how a popper works with a sinking line. To increase my odds I tied in a Black
Deceiver-ish fly and went to work. I was there a few hours into the incoming and was surprised to find the water on the low side and not as big as I thought it would be. I hit the rocks and then moved to the beach. For about an hour I tossed the two-fly set up without a touch. It wasn't easy keeping up with the
incoming tide and a few times I caught it just wrong and the flies would wind up behind me. What was great was the beat I was on had a bar out front, so the waves would break out, and then roll in, but not like cut you down in, just a nice rolling surf. I looked up and down the beach and it wasn't the same in
other stretches as the waves rolled in and collapsed with a bit of a thunderous roar. So I stayed put.
I made my way onto the rocks and went as east as I safely could. Most times the waves would break and then water would just find it's way between the rocks. Other times it would cover completely. There was a swell, but it wasn't bad. But you know it's a swell when after the waves roll in and then the water just empties out like someone pulled a drain on a bathtub.
I had one fish jump the popper and then swipe on the trailer as light arrived. A bit later it was the same action just this time with out a follow up swipe. I stayed on it, for like another hour, really, like really, wanting to catch a fish today.
It just felt like it was dying a bit as the top of the tide approached so I went underneath. Again a two fly set-up this time with a pair of Squimpish Deceivers, one in chartreuse and white and the other school
bus yellow. It didn't take long to get some attention and I hooked a bass that I saw, maybe 24 inches, that came unbuttoned as it was a rock climber and I didn't have my fingers on the trigger. Towards the
top of the tide the water did push in a bit and since it was a while since I had any love I backed out and went to walk the beach. That lasted about 200 feet before I called this stretch a morning and headed out.
It's funny when you get a new or new-to-you car, no evertyhing bagels inside, no McDonalds or those french fries that always find a way in between the seats, and then, of course no waders. I also kept my waders on when I made the jump between beaches, but so far I haven't. I headed south to larger groin and watched as a few guys spin fished, without much for technique or effort.
It's going to get sporty out front over the next few days into the weekend so if you're going tomorrow might be your day. Be careful as the water and waves can spin you around or cut your feet out from under you. I didn't see any fish leave the water and the only bait I saw was a few mullet swimming into the pocket without any fish on them.
While a fall blow can shut down a run temporarily, maybe this timing is good and we'll see more bait and fish next week. Get out there and make some reports.