Tom and I hit the beach after dark for the increasingly later tide. Not the best tide, not the best water with a 'surprise groundswell', but it was a great time to be out under the stars with a chance to get a shark. Based on the conditions I wouldn't have fished if I was alone, but the force was there. We set out the lines and set up camp- the first thing is to get a line in the water. JM and Dave arrived and took a place in the row. The action was slow for an hour, then my rod went whack, whack, straight in the spike. Whoa. I grabbed the rod but all was lost. The mono mainline above where the rig was felt like it was rubbed with sandpaper. They're here!
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| There is nothing like using fresh bunker or other fish caught the same day. I'm not sure if the sharks care, but I care that fresh bait stays on the hook and will hold up better to a cast or a tugging fish. |
Several minutes later, another camp down the beach landed a respectable shark. That's my fish! I cast again and waited on edge, but it went back to being slow. I had Tom using a 12ft 6-12oz rod, which was the thickest rod I could find for casting. Why I bought it I'm not sure, but it looked sick in the sand spike. After forgetting about the green lights it was like whoa, yo, yo, you're on! The 12ft rod that could easily cast a pound was bent like a noodle. The green light showed the strain of a monster pulling at the hook. Tom got it out of the spike, but missed the hookset. Arrrrgghhh! Maybe there would be another, but there were no more.
We checked the ocean the next morning, and immediately went from half asleep to sprinting back to the house for rods. Schools of bunker- fresh free bait- were right in the surf! We gathered 11 bunkers in about 20 minutes, which was more than enough. It's already a good day of shark fishing to not feel indebted to a bait shop. The bunkers were kept fresh in grocery bags on top of ice in the cooler. While the bait gathering was a success, the fishing that night was not. It wasn't a disappointment, just a night without catching anything.
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| Small bluefish blitzed hard Friday and Saturday. I imagine for some of the little ones it was their first ever blitz. |
No fishing, no problem. Even better not to have a distraction from the building swell. The transition from fishing to surfing was quite nice, thanks again to Tom. Small blues were spraying bait while the swell was coming up. In between time in the water, we took advantage and threw small metals to land some small bluefish. As long as fish are crashing and spraying bait, turning the surface white, I don't care what size they are, I can't resist. Tom and I each got a little blue, but I don't think Will did. His rig was bit off clean. I suggested that maybe the little blues go for the barrel swivel and cut the braid which is why the whole rig goes missing. I can't picture a little bluefish climbing up 30 inches of leader or striking with enough force to untie a knot.
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| The long weekend finished with a really fun chunky and juicy wind swell. Perfect. One of my favorite kinds of Jersey waves. |
As the swell came up, fishing was demoted, but it's still the ocean. As far as I know, Sunday was the first time I ever surfed a wave with a shark! I was screaming across a left all the way to the shore break. When I came up, another surfer was looking at me, wide eyed. There was a shark on your wave! Shark! Being right next to the beach and hearing shark was enough for me to get out. "There was a shark on the wave you were on! You were going left and it was going right with you farther down the line!" Really? "Yeah!" We got on top of the high berm and there it was, a little 3ft shark with its fin up slowly going back and forth in the waves. A crowd gathered and we watched it loll around for about 15 minutes. What is this, Florida? 70s to 80s water since June, lots of onshore wind swell, and riding a wave with a shark in it!
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| The forecast looks great! Swell during the bad moon, and as the moon gets better the ocean will be prime for the last summer fishing event. Kind of strange to see surfing and sharking on the same calendar, but I made the line between them as thick as possible. |
After the fishing events last week, fun waves timed perfectly with Tom's vacation, and a good chance for a great sharking weekend, the vibe of what was one a stuffy summer is now running clean and clear. The weather is moderate, the temperature is comfortable, and the water is nice and smooth and warm. With a great swell and weather forecast for the upcoming holiday weekend, it's possible the summer of 2012 will go out with the grandest grand finale.
