Unusual Catch for Me by Pat Presutto

Posted on April 13, 2022 by kelli

A beautiful day was called for so I rode the ocean front beaches scouting for new holes and cuts. Then I went to Graveling Point to meet some fishing comrades after getting some bloodworms from Ron at West Creek. Walking down to the point, I ran into another friend who was walking off with a 33” striper, later weighed in at 16#. I got excited.

Anyway, the next few hours were dead. I caught an 18” striper and didn’t see anyone else hooking up. I decided to leave at 5 and had one pole packed and went to bring in the other one. The tip was moving a little bit and I set the hook. Thought I was snagged on the bottom but then it started moving. Took me a while to bring in as I was using my pole with 15 # test braid. A crowd gathered as I landed the beast – a beautiful black drum. Fish was safely released after popping the hook. What a thrill. I estimate the fish weighed close to 40 lbs!

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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.