Great day fishing the Barnegat Inlet buoy by Ed Valitutto

Posted on July 20, 2021 by VHFC

Dave Spendiff and I went fishing on Tuesday 20 July. With the low wind forecast, we decided to go outside the bay and fish the ocean. We left my dock at 5:30 and my plan was to fish the north jetty at the tidal null (~7:00 AM), fish around the horn buoy just outside the inlet and proceed to the Tires on the BL reef.
That all changed once we got to the north jetty and saw birds working just outside. The seas were boiling with tiny bait fish being savaged by small bluefish. By small, I mean 12 inch fish that followed our lures and kept smacking at them. We hooked a few and landed a few and then decided to go fish the buoy.
We started out as the only boat there but by the time we left at 11:00 with our limit, I counted 15 boats plus the Miss Barnegat Light! Our fish went from 18 to 21 inches and we each caught three keepers and 6 to 8 shorts. Most fish were caught real close to the buoy.
Of special note, when the drift died at 10, I used my new trolling to move us along and we caught the last two keepers and a few shorts using the motor to move us.
Overall, you couldn’t ask for a nicer day.

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