LBI Circumnavigation by Dave Spendiff

Posted on December 19, 2017 by VHFC

I fished solo and cleared BI at 7:15 and went straight out and slightly south. Picked up my first trolling fish of the year, I REALLY SUCK AT TROLLING, a 27 1/2″ bonus fish on white mojo’s. Had a hit on a Stretch 25, but lost it, SO WHAT IS NEW! The bite and marks seemed to stop around 9 so I ran, then trolled, then ran and then trolled south and finally found birds working off of the red tower off of Holgate and picked up a 31″ on the white mojo’s and 3 more casting shads. During the day marked lots of fish, but they just were not in the eating mood, but managed to boat 5 and kept 2 for my last trip of the year. Had to circumnavigate LBI to do it, but still great fun! There is a monster dredging platform blocking the north entrance of LE inlet that has to be navigated around. If anyone still has their boat in the water, the ocean off of Holgate seems to be the best area for stripers at this time.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

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.