It's dead calm on the northern beaches in New Jersey. I know the same can't be said in the marinas in and around Sandy Hook and the Raritan Bay. Let me also include the Shark River and Manasquan River marinas as well. All this week those stuck at work or at home will now get their shot at those jumbo sized bass that have made their first push south. But what can they expect?
It went from nuts to slow yesterday as the fish, well those that were still around, had lockjaw. There were albies to be had but who wants them when the bass have arrived. Right now as I write the first boats are headed out, some with radar, some not, trying to make that turn to see the birds working against that first morning light. The first guys get the shot, then the boat traffic arrives and screws things up. And there will be boat traffic trust me.
I really don't care what the boat anglers do, I'm mores interested in continuing to learn the migration times and patterns, and if and when it includes bait and bass along the beach. It would be cool to have live-action tagging done to see where those 40 and 50 inch fish, that were caught on the first push, have gone. Do they chew and screw or stick around because the bait is here? Remember, their end goal is south so it's either an inner genetic signal that tells them to go south, or their need to "fatten" up before the trip, or do they actually think about it, in regards to staying or going.
If those fish did leave already, and they can travel between 16-25 miles per day, four days could put them 70- 100 miles south of Sandy Hook. But that would have meant that IBSP, Atlantic City, and Cape May would have seen some fish by now. Yes, there's been a fish or two caught down that way, but not big pushes.
This is the season where we'll see the first law-breakers who are "fishing dirty" cross over that 3-mile line and fish in the EEZ, those federal waters that extend 3 miles off the beach to 200 miles. Three miles off the sand gives you 15,840 feet to fish, but when the birds are way off, the boats will follow. It's tempting. It's easy to forget. I've done it. I can remember looking down at my electronics, with plenty of other boats around me and saying, "Oh shit, we're four miles off". But for some it's that insatiable need, or, "It's my only day", to get on fish, and these days big fish.
I'll be spending the weekend at home, trying to get things battened down before winter comes. This week we have a big event going on. We actually purchased a new wood burning stove and professionals are coming g to install it. I had purchased one on Facebook Marketplace, we learned it was cracked, and was in the search for the vent piping to do it myself, before I woke up, with Theresa's help, and decided to have it done correctly, not half-ass like I would have done. But Monday may be the day for me. It'll be after the weekend crowds leave and another day of cooler temps which may get things going on the beaches.