Bathing Beach Beauties by Phil Simon

Posted on September 1, 2022 by kelli

Two late-August trips to the fishing grounds north of the Barnegat Inlet demonstrated to me that decent ocean fluke fishing is back. On Saturday Aug 27, I went out with club member Dan Ludwig and his son Joey on Dan’s 22′ center console to the waters off the Island Beach State Park bathing beach. In waters from 40 to 50 feet, water temp 75 degrees, we hit multiple 18″+ fish, a lot of shorts, and a few slot fish, coming back with 7 keepers. We ended up throwing back at least 3 over-18″ fish due to the NJ limit structure. Eight or nine other boats shared the nearby waters, including one charter.

On Monday Aug 29, I went back to the same grounds on my boat with new club member Jerry Nichols. Although the action was not quite as strong and the trip was relatively short, we managed two nice keepers including a respectable 22 7/8 fish plus a dozen or so shorts, assorted sea robins and skates. We used a mix of Gulp (mostly pink shine), squid, killies, and spearing on both trips. Conditions on both days were good, with the drift north to south on trip 1, and an east wind that I corrected with my trolling motor to north to south. Only two other boats were with us.

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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.