November 28, 2025 – Still No Bass but Over a Dozen “Jersey Tarpon” Away from the Crowds – Monmouth and Ocean County, NJ

Fly fishing if I crop out the SP minnow.

I packed up the car on Wednesday evening just in case I felt like getting up on Thanksgiving morning and trying to catch a bass.  I did not get up, but I left the ‘Ru packed for Black Friday, and I actually rolled out of bed for a dawn attempt today.  The boy had plans with friends that were going to go late, so he was out for this one.  I actually texted a bit with Sandy Dunkin, but we did not confirm anything up, so I was solo for this trip.  I drove to MoCo because it is the most direct and fastest route to get my eyes on some Atlantic Ocean.  I dressed just before sunrise, and it was already cold and blowing pretty well out of the W/NW.  It felt fishy as hell despite seeing zero boats or birds in southern MoCo.  I wanted a different experience today, so I took advantage of low tide to find some soft structure.  I wanted to manufacture my own mini-blitz on sandeels, the no show blitz where you only get mugged if you make too much of a fuss landing bass after bass.  Wishful thinking, or more likely nostalgia.  I do miss walking LBI and fishing every jetty, cut, and bar—but that was back before “The Troubles,” I mean “The Replenishments.”  There are places in northern Ocean County where that type of fishing is still possible, including the Park (on a weekday).  This was Friday, but it is typically a day off for many.  There have been some Thanksgiving and Black Friday blitzes over the years when participation was as high as a weekend.  Not today, or at least not in the several mile stretch of beach towns in two counties that I covered this morning.

Gusts over 30 MPH from the W/NW will definitely knock down a swell.

I resisted the urge to go look for a crowd further south.  This is the weekend that boats that are not paying for December get pulled, and hunters have other quarries on their minds, so fewer people is no sure sign that bass are not around.  Plus, as I said, I wanted a different experience today.  I have been fishing the last few years with the Boy, or Jeff, or Dolf, and doing whatever it takes to find a blitz most of the time.  Jeff and I have had a few mellower days hunting the Park and having a steady pick (or not) but mostly I have been chasing blitzes.  This is sometimes necessary adaptation too—don’t get me wrong.  Peanuts and adult bunker have replaced sandeels most of the time, and those are blitz bites during the day.  I will do what I have to do.  But I am more wired for the walking and throwing or driving and prospecting every bar.  That’s what I did today.  And, you know, the dudes I saw fishing today were doing that, too.  I wish it were bass that I found not hickory shad, but I did find fish the old way.  I found a couple waterfowl diving on sandeels in a pocket down current of a great bar, and I just camped out.  I ended up catching over a dozen Jersey tarpon on my deceiver teaser before I got bored of the action.  The hit is still fun, and a couple of times I wondered for a second or two whether I had a small bass on the line before the shad took its first leap in the air or gave a frantic head shake that was decidedly unbasslike.  The biggest were 15 inches, but they would have been fun for my son, who likes action.  I will save my treatise on what I think is wrong with this fall run for when I am sure it is over.  I am confident that the end will be sooner than later this year with another cold snap on the way after an already colder than normal fall.  I saw 46 F at the AC buoy today?  That said, I am not done yet, especially if I get some social fishing motivation from Pete or Dolf or Sandy Dunkin.  I might be chasing stocked trouts if I have to motivate myself for another solo shot.

Oh, there's the SP Minnow.  Wrong species, right style of fishing (for me) today.