1st Black Sea Bass Trip by Dave Spendiff

Posted on May 29, 2017 by VHFC

Bill Figley, Nathan Figley, Bill Dabney and I left Figley’s dock at 5:30 am on Saturday aboard the RED HERRING and headed for the ocean out of Little Egg Inlet. Dabney and I were forced to wear blinders and buckets on our heads until we were so far offshore that nothing but the horizon was visible for all 360 degrees – now this is taking secrecy to the extreme! The positioning procedure over the wrecks that father and son Figley used was a marvel to see. From the first drop to our last we were into fish. I have never cranked a reel so much in a day of fishing as I did this day. Fishing in water 60′ to 85′ deep, you really get a workout. I can’t say with certainty exactly how many bass were boated but there had to be 300+ with 22 keepers and the biggest of the day caught by Capt. B. Figley. What a fantastic experience with a great bunch of guys!

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Fishing Facts

Of the fifty United States, thirty-eight have a striped-bass record. New Jersey has the largest striped-bass record—a 78-pound 8·ounce whopper that was caught in 1982. The state with the smallest striped-bass record is Iowa. That landlocked striper weighed only 9 pounds 4 ounces and was caught in 1983.

There’s something fishy about beer these days. Fish Tail Ale is popular as ever, and New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery is one of the state’s largest specialty breweries. There’s also Washington’s Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, Florida’s Land Shark beer, Delaware’s Dogfish Head beer, and two versions of Stingray beer—a lighter version from the Cayman Islands and a dark beer from Canada.

The triangle fly is probably the most unusual of saltwater flies. It’s one of the few, if not only, flies tied to a treble hook. It’s also barely a fly at all, because hardly any material is used. It is complete after tying the two straw pearl twinkle flashes and the tiny tuft of natural squirrel, leaving an entire hook fully exposed. Incredibly this barebacked treble fly is a knockout when it comes to sea trout.