July 27, 2016 – Fluke, Where is Your Father (or Mother)? - Nothing but Shorts from the Ocean County Sods

A nice way to start the morning.

The boy and I took a mini-vacation to visit my parents at the beach on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It was supposed to be a swim, ice cream, arcade, ride or two type of trip, and it was, but you know I had to toss a couple rods in the back, along with some bucktails and Gulp.  We spent Tuesday playing at the beach with Gram and Pop, but after a fun night in town, I got up before sunrise on Wednesday morning and drove to some sod banks on Barnegat Bay.  I wasn’t expecting much, as the reports have been bad from my dad and others, but I had to wet a line for a few stolen hours.

Fluke, where is your father?

As a surf fisherman, I have (perhaps selfishly?) been disappointed with all the dredging and sand pumping that has been happening.  All the striper-holding groins and jetties in Monmouth County are gone, Ocean County had been doing the work even before Sandy, and maybe it’s necessary from an economic standpoint, but I wonder if those multimillion dollar houses need to be there to begin with, and, if so, should public dollars be spent insuring their future when a lot of rich folks fancy those beaches their private playgrounds.  I have seen numerous illegal “No Trespassing” postings in places like Deal, for example, and access and parking on the north end of LBI is just as bad (Yeah, I'm talking about you Loveladies....).  

Homeowners weren’t granting easements to the Army Corp of Engineers because they refused to grant public access in return for “improving” their beachfronts.  To add insult to injury, now all the equipment being used, from dredges, to 5 foot diameter piping that is 50 feet long, to old rusted mooring buoys, all that stuff is parked right off the sods in one of the few convenient public access points, one I have fished quite a bit with a lot of success, from bass to fluke to weakies to chopper blues depending on the season.  With all that ugly nonsense in the water right in front of some prime public access, it took a lot more walking and bushwhacking to get to open beach and sod.  I started the morning walking the dog over some rough bottom, hoping that some small bass or at least cocktail blues had noticed all the bait in the water.  I saw snapper blues, herring, minnows, and rainfish with nothing on them but a very persistent sea turtle. 

One of half a dozen shorties on bucktail and Gulp.

When I switched to a bucktail and Gulp, I did pick up about 6 very short fluke, the largest being just about 16 inches.  Still, I was happy to hook a few fish as the boy slept back at the house (or was making Gram learn all the details of Pokemon or something).  I broke a rod setting the hook on a 12 inch fluke, so I was glad I tossed a second set up in the car.  I was not really upset, as it was an old Penn that had served me well for 15 years or more, and was probably under 75 bucks new.  Plus, it gives me an excuse to find another 7’6” cork-wrapped stick to toss off the sods next summer without violating my self-imposed moratorium on unnecessary fishing purchases….  Witnessing a nice sunrise, family time, father-son time, catching a few shorts, and taking a good walk on a deserted sodbank, just me and the flies and ticks, things could have been worse.  I am hoping the spike weakfish give me a little action in between these dog days and waiting for the bass to return.  Perhaps if they stop dredging and pumping sand for a bit, those bass will come close enough to shore this fall for me to reach a few!

A very sleepy bay in late July.