Slow Day at Barnegat Reef by Ed Valitutto

Posted on August 16, 2017 by VHFC

Dave Spendiff joined me for my first trip in my new boat and GPS outside the bay to the BL Reef. Dave was kind enough to upload all his waypoints and “secret spots” into my GPS – now available for $10 🙂 – and off we went. Heavy rollers in the inlet had me concerned but Dave assured me they would disappear once we got outside and he was right.

We drifted the entire length of the reef, away from the reef and at the Tires. Numerous birds, 12 shorts and two barely keepers were our catch except for the pictured Brown shark. Thinking he had a monster, Dave soon realized it was a shark and had quite a fight on his hands. There was a second shark right along side the first but fortunately did not grab the teaser. We estimated Dave’s fish went ~4 feet and maybe 30 – 40 lbs.

I don’t know if it was just an off day at the reef or temporarily fished out like Brett Taylor said at our August meeting. Both Carolyn Ann & Miss Barnegat Light along with 10 small boats were there and we didn’t see another fish or net in use. Despite some heavy rain, it was still a good day fishing!

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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.