May 19, 2023 – Sandy Dunkin Puts Me to Shame (Again) – Ocean County

Happy googan, lovely night!

Jeff and I met up on Friday night to fish for whatever was biting in Ocean County.  I got down there about 5:15 PM after hitting a bit of traffic, and we fished the inlet like a couple of googans until sunset before poking around the beach looking for a bass or two.  I took a skunk again in the salt, so I should be careful with the term googan!  Jeff landed a couple shorts and one beauty fluke that measured 24 inches and was probably over 5 pounds, especially if you count the shells it ate as, true to form, he dropped it in the sand.  Better the fish than his gear or himself, which is what he tends to do most times.  The fish went back healthy.  The water was dirty and weedy, so a chore with a bucktail, and I was too stupid or lazy to rig up the way Jeff was with a 3 oz weight and a long leader keeping the hook above the mess most of the time.  We were hoping that some blues might cruise through the inlet with the high tide and sunset on the way, but we had nary a blow up on top.  Some snappers hit the point for a while, but we decided to poke around a couple beaches, just so we had more stuff to hose off at 11 PM when we got home, I guess.  The grass in the inlet should have been a sign.  The surf had plenty of whitewater and very fishable current and swell.  The grass in the surf is what convinced us to call it after less than an hour of picking weeds in the dark.  As always, it was good to get out with a mitch, even if he brings a chair to the bulkhead like he’s 80 years old.  Granted, it’s in our shared future if we are lucky enough to be around that long!  As the T-shirt from Ward pictured below that he sent for my birthday without telling me says (and then forgot he sent it, I think, which only thickened the plot), I wouldn't make this ride on a Friday night for just anyone (maybe Ward himself, maybe Dolf, maybe, but don't tell them).

Showed up in the mail with no note, like Amazon was stalking me or something!