Column by Nick Honachefsky
We\’ve waited long enough to have some insane action from the suds, and it\’s here for the taking. Big, voracious packs of bluefish absolutely stormed the beachfronts of South Jersey and hammered anything and everything thrown in their way.
Personally, I had a sick outing Friday for some firsthand proof. I hit the low tide at 4 p.m. wading out on a sandbar and proceeded to fish for an 1:15 to tally up a total of 43 bluefish all ranging from 5 to 13 pounds, and they hit everything — plugs, poppers, metals and when I ran out of everything else, even bucktails on the bottom. They cleaned me out! The only reason I left the beach was because I had no tackle left to throw at them.
The one big blue I kept had an adult bunker and half a weakfish inside it, and reports have herring bunker and rainfish all over the surfwaters, providing plenty of forage for the fish to keep them around all month long.
\”Blues were crushing everybody all weekend and early all week long,\” said Andy Grossman of Riptide Bait and Tackle, Brigantine. \”Birds were working, big 8- to 12-pound blues were blitzing the surface and were spitting up bay anchovies and even butterfish. Some guys even reported seeing weakfish carcasses washing up on the beach in half. It\’s nuts right now.\”
Those opting to fish the beachfront now would be best suited to fixing on a steel leader when throwing out artificials, as the big toothy mouths will clean you out of tackle quickly.
PHOTO Bob (left) and Mike Babcock of Clinton caught one of many stripers in the Delaware Bay using fresh clams.
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