Congrats to Matt Rooney, a Jersey guy who's a great tyer, fly fishermen, and all around nice guy. I don't say that just because he caught a tank of striped bass from the beach the other day, I say it because it was caught on October 18th. Yep, October 18th. So what's the big deal about that date? Because October 18th means everything. What it means is that Matt probably wanted to fish, and did. It's early in the fall run and most of the huge bass, because that's really all they are left, are being caught on the boats, mostly with baits like bunker or eels.
Yes, there are oil slicks of bunker, mostly adult, running parallel to the Jersey Shore from Sandy Hook to Island Beach State Park but they, and their smaller cousins, and the bass haven't met up in the shallow waters yet. So the fact that Matt just wanted to fish, and did, without any reports or social media videos says a lot, at least to me. He fished for the reasons most of us fish, and landing fish isn't always the most important reason.
And of course Matt caught it on a fly, which is always better yet. That's a good sized bass to attempt to land on the beach, especially with the wave action, which can push a large bass up onto the beach, and then pull it into the trough, where it can easily get unbuttoned.
Rooney has made a nice name for himself with his fly tying and has done especially well with Bob Popovic's patterns like the Beast and Hollow Fleyes. If you live in or near New Jersey you can catch Matt at Tight Lines Fly Fishing in Parsippany where he gives fly tying demos or a presentation on fly fishing for striped bass in New Jersey. Nicely done Matt!