On Tuesday morning Tom brought out his sons, and friends, aboard the Benchmark for some clam fishing. We got out and set up in hopes of a good bite until slack tide. We were faced with very subtle bites and fish hard to catch. We landed 3 fish, and missed some other “trout style” nibbles. With the kids catching a couple for dinner, Tom understood that’s why it’s called “fishing” and not “catching”. After giving trolling an effort, we decided to hit dockside early and give the boys a shot another day! Great time to see the young ones come out and play, awesome job guys!
Today the fish showed us good action during the outgoing water. We counted over 50 bites during the first few hours of the trip, landing over our limit, and taking eleven home. The bites again were like our last trip. Very subtle pecks at the bait, dropping to smaller hooks and smaller baits still didn’t make it easier. We enjoyed the action, and frustration with everyone catching a couple in the fast currents. Most of the fish we are seeing are keeper class, healthy Striped Bass in the 28″-36″ range. We did land a some smaller bass during slack tide and the beginning of incoming. New Jersey bass fishing is going to be peaking in the coming weeks now, as we begin to see larger numbers of fish moving in our waters!
