December 5, 2022 – A Least Until Sunset, There Was a Lot of Standing Around Watching Birds in the Distance – Ocean County Beaches

Tony's slot, bait and birds, no surf blitz.

Thank goodness Tony was there for some content tonight!  I met Jeff after 12 PM today, and we did a lot of sitting around and chatting with strangers while we waited for a bite that never did develop to develop.  We had a nice big and undisturbed bait ball just over the bar in front of us for a while, then we took a ride towards some life to the south, only to arrive to 50 dudes on the beach and several boats just watching birds hover over undisturbed bait schools.  There looked to be blitzes, possibly with fish under them, offshore quite a distance—the wind was blowing mostly South, so that may be why the bass stayed offshore.   We let the young bulls toss pencils over the bar while we spectated and shot the breeze, but nothing happened and the crowds dispersed, including Jeff eventually.  Tony was on his way down, as well, and when Jeff left, he was kind enough to send Tony a pin so he could find me.  Parking was not easy, so Tony was a couple blocks down from my “hotspot.”  As I was starting the ‘Ru to take one last ride before sunset, we found each other, so we took a ride together—first south for a bit before realizing we were both going to have to go north to head home.  We eventually landed at the spot where Jeff and I encountered the bait ball earlier in the afternoon, and we got some fish to cooperate.  Some more for Tony, technically, as he had a couple fat shorts before he found me.  He definitely had a slot keeper as our final fish of the night.  Some blog content!  I dropped my first fish, and did not photograph my second, which was likely 26 inches, maybe a couple inches bigger than the first one I lost.  At the time, I thought even shorter, but it was dark.  Seeing my pic of Tony’s fish, which I thought was 26 at the time of release and was much closer to 29, my fish just grew, I guess.  That was it, and maybe until Friday or the weekend.  I still want to get my son on a bass this exceptional fall.  I am nearly done with crowds, and miss the trouts, but I would brave the blitz-chasers one more time for him to land a couple, I think??