Unfortunately I could only make it down on Saturday. I arrived at the first beach around 6:00 having been stuck on the old Tappan Zee for an hour
It was just getting light but there were lines of rods in sand spikes as far as the eye could see. I read this as good news / bad news:
Good News - lots of anglers = fish
Bad News - they looked like they'd been on an all-nighter - hello sunrise bye-bye fish - well almost ...
The sunrise was glorious and I did spot a couple of sizeable shoals busting bait just out of casting range. Doc arrived and we talked tactics since it looked like just the two of us. We headed up to North Beach which looked very fishy but only spotted one fish working bait. We also checked out the inside but no activity so headed back to the starting point to fish the outgoing. This beach has a really nice configuration - steep enough for good surf and scalloped - great setup for drifting flies just outside the beach break. This is a very relaxing way to fish - especially when the wind is honking off your right shoulder- I was averaging one cast every five minutes - mending line - keeping in touch and just letting the flies swim in the current then allowing the rip to drag the flies back out into the zone. Occaisionally retrieving all the way to check for fouling, weed etc.
I got bitten off by a blue in short order. Loaded up with wire and managed to get the next one onto the sand for a long release. No great size but that is 1 for 4 to blues taking my favorite flies in recent outings.
Even though there are only a few weeks left, I would seriously consider paying for a night fishing permit for Sandy Hook. Most of the bait I saw was peanut bunker but there is larger stuff around.
It seems like the migration hasn't even started down there yet. One of Docs pals who we met later took his last striper of the '01 season on December 29th. Bait guys get 'em all through winter - if you can stand the cold.
Sorry I couldn't make Sunday - it would have been great to apply lessons learned from the previous day!
Thanks Doc for pulling this together. Actually I owe you a Meister Fly - next time we meet!:smokin:
It was just getting light but there were lines of rods in sand spikes as far as the eye could see. I read this as good news / bad news:
Good News - lots of anglers = fish
Bad News - they looked like they'd been on an all-nighter - hello sunrise bye-bye fish - well almost ...
The sunrise was glorious and I did spot a couple of sizeable shoals busting bait just out of casting range. Doc arrived and we talked tactics since it looked like just the two of us. We headed up to North Beach which looked very fishy but only spotted one fish working bait. We also checked out the inside but no activity so headed back to the starting point to fish the outgoing. This beach has a really nice configuration - steep enough for good surf and scalloped - great setup for drifting flies just outside the beach break. This is a very relaxing way to fish - especially when the wind is honking off your right shoulder- I was averaging one cast every five minutes - mending line - keeping in touch and just letting the flies swim in the current then allowing the rip to drag the flies back out into the zone. Occaisionally retrieving all the way to check for fouling, weed etc.
I got bitten off by a blue in short order. Loaded up with wire and managed to get the next one onto the sand for a long release. No great size but that is 1 for 4 to blues taking my favorite flies in recent outings.
Even though there are only a few weeks left, I would seriously consider paying for a night fishing permit for Sandy Hook. Most of the bait I saw was peanut bunker but there is larger stuff around.
It seems like the migration hasn't even started down there yet. One of Docs pals who we met later took his last striper of the '01 season on December 29th. Bait guys get 'em all through winter - if you can stand the cold.
Sorry I couldn't make Sunday - it would have been great to apply lessons learned from the previous day!
Thanks Doc for pulling this together. Actually I owe you a Meister Fly - next time we meet!:smokin: