stick a fork in the NJ spring run?

[cowherder]

Is is over Johnny?:D So many guys seem to have given up on the big bass, do you think they are still around? Or should we just resign ourselves to catching short fluke and sea robins.

[vpass]

I think it's a night game from this point on. I haven't been able to get out lately for a night outing, but soon. For me it is usely late august before it starts getting good again. I have lots of fun with Fluke. and for 2 hours of fishing it curbs my addiction.

[DarkSkies]

I would say a lot of the easy bass have passed us by, Cowherder. That's one of the reasons I have been making road trips North lately, because I need to have places I can go to at least have a chance at catching big bass.

That being said, there are still a few NJ big bass around, here and there. Some friends got into them last night, bass in the mid 20's. They called it quits when the action died down at 8:30. I was gonna fish the night tides after they had left, but bagged it and went to bed early after a long day at work. Maybe I should have pushed it to get out there, a few decent ones were caught in the dark. :don't know why:


Here's a story about a guy I know, "R" from Mountainside, who I met many years ago. He was addicted to fishing the nomoco beaches, and nailed (and released) :clapping: a 50" bass last year at 3am one night in July, long after the large bodies of bass and bunker had left us.

So I would agree with ya, Cowherder. The major body of bass that was off our coast has moved north, that's why I'm driving more up that way. However, if you are addicted to catchin bass, and willing to put in lots of hours to find them, a few nice ones can still be had.

The night bite was dead for awhile, but as the bunker thin out, this bite will be more worthwhile, as people who were fishin last night found out. :thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Today is July 3. I remember a day like today a bunch of years ago when I knew a lot less about bass fishin. I was fishin at SH, started at 4am and nothing to show for it after plugging for 4 hours, not even any bluefish! As I was about to leave, I gave it the ol "1 more cast!" try and heaved the white pencil popper out as far as I could. Within 5 seconds on the retrieval, a huge (to me);) head came out of the water and slammed the plug. :wow:

I was so excited, this was surely a monster, one of the biggest fish I had ever hooked at that time! She made several strong runs taking drag. Each time I told myself "Please don't lose this, please don't lose this!" I hoped all the knots and ties I had made to the tackle would hold up.

As I got her into the wash, I could see she was the biggest bass I had caught to that date, and my heart was poundin! I was thinking I might lose her in the wash, but I didn't. As I got her up to the beach, I was screamin like a madman. People a few hundred feet away saw me and came to see what the commotion was about.

I was such a goog!!! (Since then I have learned a lot more about hiding it when you have a big fish on, and not calling attention to yourself) :learn:

I think she weighed a little over 20, somewhere around 39". I was so proud of that fish I caught blind casting, and amazed that I caught it at dead low slack tide, no bait or other fish around. 8am in the morning, a time when bass have long stopped feeding. Yes it was truly a "lucky fish".

I knew people fishin there that day, and no other bass were caught in that area for that day. And it was caught before I knew about when the spring blitzes started and ended, what was cool and wasn't cool in surf fishing, and I mostly went out there to learn and have a great time by myself, and one or 2 other friends.

[GeoffT]

There's no bass in the summer. :D

Having said that, I'm thrilled to say I was with a buddy when he caught a fish last night that taped out at 48" and easily bottomed out the 30# boga. It was a bigger thrill to see him catch it, not in a blitz but in the dead of night in NJ on a home-made ML swimmer, not bait, with not a living soul nearby. She was released unharmed after I took the requisite pix. All our other fish were shorts, go figure. :confused:

[DarkSkies]

Heard about that fish Geoff. Huge cow! Congrats to Eric for the catch and release :clapping::clapping: :thumbsup::thumbsup: and to you for being the cameraman and recording it for history.

I know he takes great pains in seeing every fish he catches go back safely into the water. I have witnessed him missing out on quality fishin time because he wanted to make sure that fish he just caught would definitely survive the release.

No need for the tackle shop weigh ins, a pic is enough of a memory. :thumbsup::thumbsup: We still have a few nice fish around. :D


All on a night that I decided to take a break from fishin. :embarassed:

[vpass]

GeoffT, I saw the Pic. Nice Fish. I can't imagine the thrill, On a home made Plug. :wow::wow: Congrats EricS.

I tried getting out early this morning. I figured to sleep 2 hours, it turned out to be 8 hours. I didn't get out.:beatin: Tomorrow morning I try again.

[GeoffT]

Thanks guys. The heck with fireworks, there's fish to be caught tonight. :thumbsup:

[finchaser]

Is is over Johnny?:D So many guys seem to have given up on the big bass, do you think they are still around? Or should we just resign ourselves to catching short fluke and sea robins.


Large bunker schools are now 8 miles off:clapping::clapping: and allot of the so called bass fishermen will target other easier to catch fish. Unfortunately they will return next spring with the bunker to continue destroying a great resource with there tackle store hero antics . Me I keep fishing for them,sometimes right through February

Geofft nice C&R to you and your friend

[SharkHart]

every year i catch fluke by accident around halloween but i wouldn't advise guys the fluke run is still on, If you want to stick to the original thought yeah id say 90-95%of the bass have moved through. . I dont think he was asking if bass cant be caught in summer. i can catch them all summer but 1 or 2, if i work really hard but. My high hooks for a night trip this spring sometimes were over 20 fish. So a few fish doesnt equal a run