Nice Day at Barnegat Light Reef by Ed Valitutto

With sunny skies, light winds and 2 foot or less seas, Alan Goracy joined me for a trip outside the inlet. For once, all predictions were accurate. We made the quick trip east of the inlet and joined about 150 other boats including the Miss BL and the CAIII at the BL reef.

In less than an hour, I had two shorts and Alan had one fluke at 18 and one at 22+. But then it really slowed up. For the next three hours we only caught a few shorts despite a reasonable ~.75 kt drift. After stripping out a few sea robins, Alan managed another keeper at 21. Final count: Alan limited out with 6 shorts and several birds; I caught two shorts. You know I got some ribbing on the return trip!

Back at my dock, Alan’s three fish weighed 2, 3 and 4 lbs on my Boga grip. Overall, still a nice day fishing.

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