Well, that was an intense weekend.
First shop news…
The biggest shop news is we are announcing our Black Friday To Cyber Monday Sale for this year. See the flyer above for details. We are also going to have some in-store, unadvertised specials, including some rods and reels.
We restocked on Bob the Garbageman Stickers. They make a great stocking stuffer.
Another great stocking Stuff is the “Quit Breathing My Air” Grumpy sticker.
We have Gift Baskets for those who are unsure what to get for their favorite angler. There are two varieties, one targeting fluke and blackfish and one targeting Striped Bass and Bluefish. Check the links for details. They are available both online and in the shop.
We have added a few new items from Jigging World, specifically, 5 new rods. The first is the Onyx Surf Spinning Rod. It’s amazing a rod this nice sells for such a low price. There are currently two models, and 8 footer and a 9 footer. They are going to make great rods for the New Jersey Beaches in the fall, but will also make a great summer time rod for fluke, false albacore, Spanish mackerel, and those smaller bluefish that were covering most of the beaches in the late summer this past year.
There are also two other rod models in the Onyx line, the Inshore Spin and Inshore Cast. They are going to be great all around rods for fishing from a boat for striped bass, bluefish, fluke, sea bass and blackfish. And as with the surf rods, they won’t put much of a dent in your wallet. You need to see them to believe it.
Another line we brought in is the Jigging World Night Ranger Spin and Night Ranger Cast. They will fit a similar niche to the Onyx inshore rods, but the Night Ranger Rods come with nice cork handles and upgraded titanium guides. The heaviest Night Ranger Cast model has an impressive lure rating of 6 to 12 oz, in a rod that only weighs 6.9 oz. (For reference, my cell phone weighs 8.4 oz).
Our hours for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday are going to be 3:30 AM to 11:00 AM. We are opening early, and closing early.
As far as the fishing goes, since the last report the fishing was, pardon the pun, off the hook!. The striped bass were in the surf chasing peanut bunker, and in some places, butterfish. The surf anglers had a day to remember Saturday afternoon. Lures were the way to go, with metal lip swimmers, gliders, Yo-Zuri Mag Daters, SP Minnows, and swim shads all taking their share of fish. Poppers were a fun way to target them when they were actively feeding on baitfish. Bunker (fresh or vac-packed frozen) was working too.
The boat anglers were not left out either, as the boats found the fish feeding from outside the surf line out to about 50 feet of water. These fish were chasing peanut bunker and adult bunker. On the boats, pretty much the same set of lures were working. Boats tolling either mojos or bunker spoons were picking up fish too.
We had a drop off in the number of fish caught Sunday and Monday, but reports from Tuesday showed another mass of striped bass well north of the shop, moving south chasing peanut bunker. We also heard of at least one school outside a northern inlet eating a much smaller bait.
Here are some notable catches:
@guru_fishing with an absolute beauty 41 inch Bass that took a Storm Shad.
@amztellight reported “nonstop action all night”
@rick_got_tha_clout_ said fish were honed in on the mag darter Thursday night.
@escuetotherescue also reported nonstop action Thursday night.
Lou Giordano turned 73 on November 18th, so he caught himself a pre-birthday bass on the 17th. He wasn’t out for very long, and he had one fish in addition to this one. Happy birthday Lou!
Brian McKinney with a 10LB Bass that took a Bunker Chunk in the surf.
Here’s Frank Huvscher with a 34” 15.60LB Bass that took a Bunker Head in the surf.
Steve Regan with a 30” 9.7 lb bass caught on bunker.
Rich Gilman with a 32” 12.7 lb bass caught on bunker.
Mother and daughter team Katie and Kelly Bailey with a pair of Bass to 9lbs caught on Fresh Bunker.
Brian Lathrop with a 11.90 lb Bass on a Superstrike Popper from surf.
“Resident Homeless Man” Jarret Dial on them in the dark.
Here’s Keith Bolen with a beaut.
Erik with a 32 incher caught off the surf on a popper.
Eddie Higgins with a 11.7 lb bass on an SP minnow.
Charlie and Nick with bass up to 14.75 lbs on Poppers.
Pat Klevinski with a 12.25lb Bass on a Popper
With the holidays coming, Connor, our rod building apprentice, is really getting into the spirit. Here he is doing his best version of Cindy Lou Who (from “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”). Well, we helped with the “clothing”, but he did do the hair. We suspect he thinks if he gets into the holiday spirit this early, Santa Claus may overlook all of his transgressions throughout this year.
