Fast Fishing Behind Holgate by Ed Valitutto

Posted on August 5, 2019 by VHFC

My grandson Nick came down for the Marine Science camp next week (his 4th year) and brought along a friend Tommy for his first time. They wanted to fish and much as I was tempted, I didn’t want to go to a reef with just the three of us. Since Tommy has never fished before, I decided to fish the ICW at the lower end of Holgate.

Within 10 minutes of our first drift, Nick had a keeper and Tommy had a nice throw back. We fished for barely an hour and a half until the green heads were unbearable and the drift & fishing went sour. But we caught 6 fluke including three keepers at 18, 19 & 20 inches. Best if all, we were back the dock by 10:15. Needless to say, Tommy now is a diehard fisherman!

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.