Sightfishing Tailing Stripers

Fished with Joe C and Greg last evening. We had a fantastic
evening. We ended up catching and releasing around a dozen bass and
about a dozen blues...most on the fly. The highlight of the evening
was the happy tailing stripers we had the pleasure of casting to while
they rolled in the grass. We witnessed tailing stripers in inches of
water gorging themselves on the abundant spearing. We were positioned
so we had repeated casts to these tailing fish. This was true
sightfishing for stripers on the flats. A good cast produced a strike.
These conditions lasted almost two straight hours. We had fish on
both clousers and on poppers. What a blast!

Busman's Bonanza

Had the far too rare oppurtunity to fish with my very good friend and
fellow guide, Captain Chris Goldmark. I had told him about the good
fishing I was having and he came up to share in the fun with me. We
strictly flyfished and we had a blast. Our first stop netted us more
than a half dozen blues on clouser minnows. The blues were busting on
the abundant spearing as they have been. When that petered out we made
a move and quickly found more fish. This time the stripers were
busting on the bait. We ended up with seven or eight bass that we
caught and released on clouser minnows plus a few more blues. It was
relaxed fishing with a great friend and busting fish. Plus, I
actually got a chance to stand on the pointy end and be in a picture or
two! When Captain Chris is not catching fish here in south jersey
during the summer he's guiding for bonefish and tarpon on the
beautiful island of Culebra, Puerto Rico in the winter. Check out his
website http://www.culebraflyfishing.com/ .

Stripers and Blues

Fished yesterday with Brandon L and Dennis. Great guys. We found the
fish feasting on spearing as they have been over the last several
days. We started out throwing poppers and caught a few fish. However,
they were so keyed in on the spearing we needed to switch gears and
match the hatch to produce. Started throwing soft plastics and that
was the ticket. We ended up the evening with around 8 stripers that
we released and around a dozen blues to four pounds.

Mini Blitz

Fished with Jay and Luc today. We snuck out on the top of the tide. We
found another mini blitz as the bluefish and bass were busting on
spearing. We caught some blues on poppers amidst the melée. In my hand
is one of the dozens of spearing the blues were puking up. In the top picture you can see a bunch of spearing laying on the deck from the bluefish in the picture.

Spearing Hatch

Fished today with Rick H. We started off our day catching fluke while
we waited for the tide. On the top of the tide I found what I was
looking for. Spearing. The spearing spawn continues in the back. We
had bluefish and stripers crashing spearing along the sod banks. Blues
and bass occasionally would accidentally flip themselves on the grass
and then back into the water. We first caught bluefish on poppers.
The wind made casting difficult so we got out of the boat and made our
casts from shore. I switched to soft plastics when the surface bite
quit. The bite then continued as the plastics matched the hatch
perfectly. We were spin fishing but the conditions were a flyrodder's
dream. We had boiling fish right at our feet. We ended up with several
blues and we missed three bass. The blues were just more aggressive.
I wished I had my video camera!

Tough Tide

Fished yesterday with Tim A and Tiffany T. They wanted to get out one
last time before they returned home. We could not get out for the
prime tide but decided to give it a shot anyway. We wanted to popper
fish so that's what we committed to do. The water was hot (over 80)
and we got blanked. Went out into the ocean to check out some spots
and Tim caught a dogshark on a jig. The incoming tide should be better
today as the inlet was 62 degrees so that water should cool things off.

Captain Joe Hughes
IGFA Certified
Jersey Cape Guide Service
www.gibsonstackle.com
609-827-3442

One and Done

Went out to catch dinner with Marie. Caught two shorts and then a nice
20 inch fluke. Reeled em in and went home to enjoy.