December 21, 2019 – Now That’s What I Call Surf Fishing! Volume 4 – Ocean County, NJ

Yeah, that reads 18 F.  The boys look much warmer on the beach at 9 AM though, right?

It was bound to happen.  It always does at some point each December.  I certainly had a nice run of three consistently good trips, but my luck in the surf ran out today. It is not all that surprising that Pete, Jeff, and I had a tough bite on the morning before the winter solstice.  With a steady, NNW wind and low air temps, it is amazing that we did find a couple little fish to help us avoid a total skunk today.  The small fish are still around, I believe.  Water temperatures are okay, and loons and other diving birds are still bringing up sand eels just out of reach of our most heroic casts.  Blame it on a less than favorable tide at sunrise, no surf to speak of, and sunny conditions, maybe.  Pete and I even left the plug bags on the sand and tried to forge the distance of the slough to get to the bar, but it was just a tad too deep in this particular spot, even with low tide quickly approaching.  Jeff, in hippers, wisely watched from the strand.  It’s a long ride for a couple 18 inch fish, but I still have a tolerance for a good solid skunk in me before I give up for the season, and the other guys feel the same way, so we may get out again before it is all over. 

Muted sunrise but flat calm on the quickly falling tide.

Fishing the surf this time of year is not without its inconveniences.  Besides the cold and the long rides that are just part of the experience for a registered shoobie, it becomes a real pain to rinse off the salt water from ones gear when the outdoor hose is iced up solid.  Perhaps you are familiar with rinsing waders in the shower?  Plugs in the sink?  Bring a bucket from the inside to the outdoors to pour over all your stuff?  Well, young Kenny is still working on my master bathroom, so the shower trick was out today, but maybe the others took that option.  I chose the bucket of warm water trick.  None of us had many plugs to rinse.  Pete’s fish took an SP minnow in the 11^th hour (8:45 AM), and mine took a soft plastic sand eel delivered with a 1 ounce T-Hex well after closing time.  Jeff was just good company today, but it could have been any one of us.

The hail marys to avoid the skunk.

The parking lots for shoppers were far busier than the beach today, but the warm up around Christmas may change that.  I think the cold kept most fishermen off the beach this morning.  Jeff kicked around driving another Ocean County beach tomorrow, but I think we will likely wait until December 24 or after the holiday—at least I will!  We want to get my buddy Dolf out one last time for the year, even if we only catch a mess of rats.  I am still confident it can happen, but today was a reminder that someone is warming up her pipes.  At least someone was warm today.