Bass Blitz Bonanza by Ed Valitutto

Posted on November 19, 2024 by VHFC

Neighbors Anthony (Rig a Tony) and Drew asked me to join them on Monday 11/18 for a Bass / Tog trip. The day prior, three of them had an epic day fishing the north jetty with Spot and crabs returning home by 11:00 AM. But 24 hours later, was a different day. Spot were untouched or worse, attacked by Dogfish! Also present were two seals – coincidence for the lack of Bass? Even the north jetty was slow, but we managed two nice Tog. We then headed north to the governor’s mansion joining a large fleet already there.

Fishing was nothing short of epic with bass busting all over the ocean, bait jumping to escape and screaming birds diving on them. Most bass were 30 – 40 lb ‘overs’ but were still fun to catch. We did manage 3 keepers plus a few more that went back and one tag fish. The action was from 2 miles out right onto the beach where the smaller fish were caught. We probably boated 30+ fish before we decided to return to the jetty for the slack tide at 11:30.

Fishing until our green crabs were done, we managed 6 more Tog. It was a fantastic day with 4 Bass and 8 Tog caught on a beautiful day!

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.