Post Ida Shop and Fishing Report
We at Grumpys hope everyone has weathered the remnants of Ida well. The punch packed by what was left of this hurricane was surprising, and impressive.
While the storm was raging, we were busy stocking up on new stuff (there is no rest here at Grumpys). Here is what went on.
We now carry the two best bucktails you can get anywhere for fluke fishing. Not only do we have the S&S Bucktails Fluke Nukem jig, but we now stock the S&S Bucktails Raging Rattler jigs. The raging rattlers are a bean shaped head with a swing hook and a silicone skirt. They make a very good imitation of a squid, and EVERYTHING eats squid. So while they have been doing a number on the fluke, these jigs will work for striped bass, weakfish, southern flounder, grouper, and black sea bass. Probably others too. The hooks are high quality Owner hooks, so don’t be shy targeting big fish with these. Anglers who have used them report they seem to hang up less on the offshore wrecks and reefs than more traditional bucktails. With September upon us and with the fluke about to start moving offshore to those wrecks, you will want to add these to the arsenal. These are only available in the online store, but if you are local, you can choose “In-Store Pickup” at checkout to save shipping.
S&S Bucktails went out and made a new color for their Pro Rockhopper bucktails, and they named it after our very own Jenni. Introducing the Pro Rockhopper JENN-X, a sure fish killer. Jenni has been with us for a few months now and she is already influencing the fishing world.
Speaking of Jenni, she also just completed her first custom built fishing rod. It is beautiful and casts like a dream. The fish are not safe with this fishing rod in her hands.
In other shop news, we are going to temporarily close our reel repair shop. Effective immediately, we will not be taking in any reels for repair. Reels that are currently here for repair will be finished in the next couple of weeks. Frankie Z needs to have surgery on his wrist, so he will be out for a number of weeks when that occurs. Once he is done with rehab, he will be back and we will open the reel repair shop again so Frank can continue to fix reels painlessly.
As far as the fishing goes, the remnants of Ida didn’t seem to shut down our surf fluke fishing. Ray had a number of anglers message him saying they were getting tons of fluke off the beach, and a couple of those got their limit of keepers. Bucktails and Gulp!….
We have also heard reports the bluefish in the surf too, hitting small metals and epoxy jigs.
About the only detrimental effect from Ida (in regards to fishing) is that the ocean water in the surf is stained, which has pushed the false albacore and Spanish mackerel off shore to cleaner water. This won’t be permanent, and they should be back as the water settles down and cleans up in a day or two.
We have also heard reports of striped bass starting to be caught in the back bays and rivers. Fin-S fish and Super Flukes on light jigs heads have been the ticket for them.
Ray has been back for two days and he is already ready for his next vacation. Maybe it was the 3 confetti cannons he was hit with when he returned? Maybe it was the "schedule" we made for him while he was gone that had him having a lobotomy, an emergency hemorrhoidectomy, and hair transplant surgery, among other things. We may have pushed him over the edge…
