Bluefish and a Seaplane by Dave Spendiff

Posted on May 19, 2019 by kelli

I left the dock this morning looking for bluefish. I headed in the same direction that produced a couple of days ago, north, under the RT 72 Bridge and into Manahawkin Bay. Started trolling a Tony Aceta #17 spoon and a yellow swimming plug and headed in the direction of Surf City. After crossing the ICW channel, I veered northeast and started picking up fish – first on the spoon and then on the plug, followed by a double with both rods going down.

The Chinese fire drill ensued as I tried to land both fish and luckily was successful. I cast poppers in the same area and had explosive hits, catching some and losing some – WHAT FUN! And so it went for three + hours. The fish were 8 -10+ lbs. Around 12:00 while trolling, I turned around to check my rods and saw a single engine plane just feet above the water and as it got closer, I realized it was a floatplane and it was landing! After it settled on the water, it turned east and headed for the shore, where it pulled up alongside a dock and was tied off. Now that is a first for me on the bay. You just don’t know what’s going to happen when you go fishing around here.

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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.

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