Usually when I write about the two Joe's it's usually the Trenton Boys Armenti and Chiavarone. But today it was the two Joe's from New England, Cordiero and Calcevechia. You know these two from Flatwings and Saltwater Custom Flies Fame.
Last night after talking to Leif we came up with a plan for my today's fishing. In the end we decided my best bet would be to go as north as I could. It just felt like a solid plan. I had entertained heading south but Ocean County always seems like a drag to go to even though it's actually closer from home then The Hook. After I was all planned up I reached out to Brad Buzzi to catch up and he told me the two Joe's were in town. So much for my original plans.
So I hit Ocean County after all and started just south of the inlet casting a two fly setup with a baitfish pattern with a sand eel dropper. It was two hours into the flood tide and I had water in front of me but I got bored with just more blind casting. If there was a day for popping this was it as there as zero wind and the water was like glass. So I switched up and then popped up and then back down the beach in the dark. There was nobody there which can either be could, or bad.
I fished until the light arrived and there was sunrise, no more pictures of that, and the light came from behind me and lit up the area. Soon the boats came out of the inlet and just about all of them made a hard left and headed south. Funny, but the birds did as well.
After a solid effort I decided to head in and before I met up with the boys I stopped at Beach Bagel in Point as to not show up empty handed. In the shop, and all throughout town, was the buzz that Jersey Mike's, a sub shop which started in Point Pleasant decades ago, had been sold yesterday.....for 8 BILLION dollars. Wow.
I made a quick stop on the way down off of Route 35 to check and see if anything was going on but it was quiet there as well. A few guys out but no signs of life, so I moved on.
I pulled into Casa de Buzzi and the boys were already on the beach. The tide was on its way in and we had about three hours before high. There wasn't any signs of bait or bass, but the boat traffic was
starting to build. Over the next hours anglers came and went but to our north the crowds and boat traffic seemed to be the highest. We fished and eventually the birds started to show. We took a break from the non-action and took the few hundred foot walk to where Brad was busy making us breakfast. Brad is always a super host whenever he has friends in town.
We came back out and things were starting to look better. More participation, more birds, and more water. The only problem was for the five hours we were out there the bait, which we think was all sand eels, never came inside the bar. There were a few blips here and there and some birds picking at times but that was it.
We were set up like a viewing stand at a parade and maintained ownership of that bench all day. We'd take turns going down to the waters edge and each of us came back without a fish story to tell.
When it was my turn to fish I threw a Buzzi sand eel fly that I bummed on the way out of his house. That seems to be what they were eating as we didn't see any bunker of any size around.
The above picture it was pretty much what we saw in between the few times the birds were bunched up and picking. Most of the day was spent catching up while we watched and waited.
By mid-afternoon the water had receded before the bar and it wasn't looking like we were going to get a shot at any fish. For the entire time we were out there we saw two boat fish caught and none from the beach. While the fishing was slow you couldn't ask for a better or more beautiful day to soak in the weather and catch up with friends.
We talked a lot about Martha's Vineyard, a place both Joe's have fished way before I ever stepped on the island, and how we all love sight fishing for striped bass, of course when the conditions are right. We even talked about hitting it together next year, which would only be seven months away, and you know how quick times flies especially as you get older.
After we called it a day we dropped our gear at our respective cars and went in Brad's house for something to drink and say our good byes. Today was a perfect example of how you can have a great days fishing, even if you don't fish or catch much, if the company and conversations are good.
