Great Weekend Of Fishing
First, shop news.
We are excited about some new stickers we got into the shop. Stickers? Really? Yeah, we know what you are thinking, but the Black Hole Holographic Stickers are some of the nicest stickers we have ever seen. The detail of the art on the fish is awesome, and they are printed on a holographic foil, so they are eye catching. They are a quality, heavy vinyl sticker that is waterproof. While a little more expensive than most stickers, the quality of these stickers make them worth it. Check them out, and if you are within driving distance of the shop, come see them in person. Pictures do not do them justice.
Fishing this past weekend was very good. We had striped bass being caught on both sides of the island, though your best bet for one was to be in the surf fishing a fresh clam. Most of the fish came around the high tides, but we heard about fish being caught throughout the day. There were a few that fell for lures, so it seems the artificial bite is starting up.
Bluefish have shown up too. They were hitting most lures thrown to them in Barnegat Bay and a nearby river. (And before you start whining about spot burning, there are at least 4 nearby rivers, so you will have some searching to do).
The spring blackfish season is about over, which is a shame because there were some nice fish caught recently. But fluke season is fast approaching, and there was at least one caught as bycatch this past weekend (see below), so that is a good sign.
Some recent catches:
While there may be a chill in the air Friday morning, it did not seem to affect the fishing. Here’s @bstoune with a nice bass caught on clam.
Mark with a nice slot fish. He reported releasing 4 other bass. All on clams Friday morning from the Seaside Park Surf.
@willlazdins had an amazing morning. They caught a bunch of bass, with the largest one measuring up to 38 inches, all using Fresh Grumpy Clams. All the bass were released to fight another day.
@jayboots93_ and @gmiller10000 got into them Saturday using clams.
Shannon with a nice slot bass for dinner.
Pat V found some tog and a bonus blowfish.
Mason got a nice one.
Walter Begg with a nice slot. 29 inches and 8.5 pounds. Fell for a fresh clam.
Sabrina K with a nice clean surf caught bass that fell for a fresh Grumpy clam. 29.5 inches and 10 pounds even.
Just a bit too early. Steve K with a nice bycatch on clam.
Thom Hangey found this slot in Island Beach State Park this morning with fresh clams.
@dan_rescigno caught this bass on clams and his new rod he bought last week.
While clams are still king, artificial lures are starting to take fish. Here’s @dan_rescigno with a bass caught using an SP minnow.
Kevin Wistuba found this nice over on the beach!
Robert Salvo found this 30 3/4” bass SOUTH of the shop. Way south. A little OPF here…
Here’s Mickey Smith with fish on both sides. Our cover shot from the bay, and the one above from the ocean.
More reports coming in from the surf on Monday afternoon.
Johnny B Goode with a nice over that was released (much to the disappointment of the dog).
@_earthtoclooser found the bass today.
@chris_amato_hookthisnj got his girlfriend on the bass with fresh clam
We almost experienced a tragedy here at Gumpys on Monday. Many of you don’t know, but mop buckets are very dangerous. Very, very dangerous. They kill around 25 people per year in the United States. On Monday, we almost lost Raymond to one. Thankfully, Frank was there. Mid morning Frank heard the blood curdling scream of someone in dire trouble and turned around to see Ray had taken a spill and landed in the mop bucket. All he saw was Ray’s legs sticking up in the air. Thinking quickly, and moving as fast as possible, he reached Ray in time to extract him from his Fabuloso and clam juice scented tomb. Tragedy happily averted.
(The above was a true story, but there may have been some liberties taken in the story for narrative flow and to fill in the gaps by those who were not there to witness the event…)