It was always one of my favorite times of the year to fly fish. That would be this week each fall during the mullet run. It was when the "Phillip's Avenue Gang" was reunited after spotty fishing participation throughout the summer. Just about every morning I'd see Leif, Al, Richie, Bob. Jimmy, and Andy somewhere between Long Branch and Allenhurst. Those were the days when you didn't have to chase the fish as you could just sit back and wait for them to come to you.
Mornings like above were perfect as you sit there and enjoy the sunrise waiting for those v-wakes to start showing up along the beaches. (That's Al with his signature red cap during the mullet run.) If you were lucky there would be swirls and splashes happening behind the pod as bass looked to pick off the sick, lame, and lazy mullet. They would actually follow the contour of the beach, and that's where they would get into trouble, by getting pinned on the north sides of the groins or jetties. Those were good days.
During the summer in the back bays baits like bay anchovies, silversides, mullet, and peanut bunker grow before heading out in the fall. The small white baits have migrated out, just in time to meet the albies and small bluefish, but the mullet is the first substantial bait to leave. It's during these times when fly anglers can hook into big fluke before the season closes in later September.
One of my favorite flies to tie, and I'll admit I think I'm pretty good at them, are Lou Tabory's Snake Fly. Each fall Leif an I would scramble to make sure each of us had a variety of them with us when we fished. White, black, yellow, and chartreuse and with or without dumbbell eyes. Some would say weight isn't needed as the mullet tend to swim in the upper 1/3rd of the water column. But when the weather was sporty they came in handy easier to cast and get down into the water.
While calm and flat mornings were always favorite things always got good when there was a little attitude in the water. Playing hopscotch with the waves and timing the cast to catch the back side of the crest was always exciting. You could see that fly surfing the backside and then the eruption from a bass shooting out from below.
Then were the days when the mullet far outnumbered the bass which made hooking up difficult. As always, sometimes too much bait isn't a good thing. The large numbers of bait attract the predators but then they can be very selective. That's when we would look to fish behind the pods, where those mullet that were on their last leg were easy pickens' for foraging bass.
These days the mullet runs are a fraction of what they used to be. Yes you still get them but either due to a reduced number of early sized schoolie bass or a later migration they just aren't around to meet up with those perfect sized snacks. We all know how Jetty Country has been destroyed by beach replenishment and it affects nothing greater then the fall runs. There's no more structure. Yes the bait and the bass do pass by, very quickly, and that is why you see more and more anglers fishing from their cars and from on top of the stairs. (They're not fishing, just looking). The bait and bass now fly down the beaches, and guys are seen often literally running to catch up or get ahead of them.
Friends who fish the North Jetty in Island Beach State Park say last year they saw a solid mullet run but had few bass. There's always bass in or around that jetty it just depends where they are with the tides and time of day. Those are most likely the bass that choose to save some money and stay local and vacation in Ocean County for the summer months.
I do miss living down near the beach. I used to call Ocean Township and then Deal home so it was nothing to run down and take a look or watch a friend fish. Now living an hour a way makes those "Did you see anything" runs not worth it. If I go now, I have to fish, otherwise it's at least a three hour there and back. Writing this post makes me want to give it a go, regardless if there's anything around, just for old times sake.