Happy Spring!
But first, shop news you are going to want to read…
We are having our annual Spring Has Sprung sale this Saturday, March 25th. You are not going to want to miss this. This will be a one-day-only sale, with everything in the store (some exclusions may apply) at 10% off. The online store will also have 10% off everything, also with some exceptions. The online sale runs from 12:00 am Saturday to 11:59 pm Saturday, i.e. a full 24 hours. You need to use the code SPRING2023 when you checkout.
We will have entertainment planned throughout the day.
First, at 7:00 am until approximately 8:00 am (if we are lucky), we will have Scabelly and Big Rock lures in the shop. They will be there until they sell out. If you want one, you will need to be there early. Last time they were here, people started lining up around midnight. There will be a limit of two plugs from each builder per person, and this will be an in-store sale only. No, we will not put any aside for you, no matter how much you beg, no matter how far away you live. Stop asking. If you want one, be here when the doors open at 7:00 am.
At 10:30 to 11:30 am, we will have local surf guide Shel E Caris giving a seminar on Advanced Surf and Jetty Tactics. This is one you do not want to miss.
From 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm we will have Bob McMaster giving an Into To Fly Fishing talk. Bob has been using a fly rod to ply the local waters for years, so if you have an interest in learning how, this is the time to be here.
Finally, from 1:30 to 2:30 pm our very own Jenni “Herself” will be talking tools and tactics for catching big fluke. Do not sit this one out.
We have added some new stuff to the online shop. First is a lure you may have seen used on YouTube. The Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow is a slender, walk-the-dog-style surface plug that has been fooling fish for years. Snook, redfish, bluefish and stripers have all fell to this plug.
We have also added another spook plug. To go along with the Heddon Super Spook, we added the slightly smaller, original Heddon Zara Spook. The original walk-the-dog plug deserves a place in your bag, especially the G-Finish colors.
While spring has sprung, the nights are still cold. We have Fish Monkey wool gloves. We have full finger and half finger fishing gloves. Wool is a natural insulator that continues to keep you warm even when it gets wet. Extend your night fishing trips with a good pair of gloves.
We have also restocked Boga Grip fish grippers. We have both the 30# and 60# models available.
The fishing has shown signs of improvement. There are still fish being taken on the west side of Barnegat Bay (and the rivers that feed it), we are also hearing about fish being caught on the east side of the bay now. There is no topwater bite that we have heard of, but subsurface presentations like soft plastics (Kettle Creek shads, NLBN Shads, Z-Man DieZel Minnows, Storm Shads, and Tsunami Shads) and hard plastic swimmers (Rapala X-Raps and small Mag Darters) are working. Of course, worms are working everywhere, and are not only taking striped bass but also white perch. We will have worms available for the upcoming weekend.
For those who keep track of such things, our Online Sales Manager, John, has seen his first osprey of the year.
Here are a few notable catchers:
Our “cover photo” is @mannyd123 again. He got into another good night bite.
@areyouthomas sent us a collage of pics. Seems he got into them pretty good in the daylight.
Here is the catch of the week. Our very own Frankie Z broke out the fly rod at the Saltwater Fishing Expo on Saturday and hooked a very rare Luminous Ceiling Fish. It was a good sized one too, so much so that he needed to hand off the rod to someone else to finish the fight.
Ray seems stressed about this weekend. The following graphic just about sums it up…
