We Limited but We Worked For It by Ed Valitutto

Posted on October 12, 2023 by VHFC

With beautiful weather forecast, I joined John Stuebing for a day of sea bass fishing. John’s plan called for hitting the Boiler, a small wreck ~ 8.5 mi east of Little Egg inlet. We caught plenty of fish but the keeper ratio was low and after many drifts, John decided to try another spot.

Spot #2 was the Marvin, an old clam dredge about 5 miles south of the Boiler. Once again, lots of fish but it was taking time to get our 20 fish limit. Still needing 8 fish, John wanted to try a debris field another 5 miles south off A/C discovered using his relief shading feature. Here, the keeper ratio was better, and we finally had our limit. No FOM worthy fish and we only caught sea bass. The great weather and calm seas made for a nice day on the water.

Posted in Member Reports

Membership Form

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.