July 11, 2011

Went out on the Miss Barnegat Light for Blue Fish
60 mile boat ride
No fish at all!!
You should have been here last week - HaHaHa

July 3, 2001

Middle Grounds
Incoming tide
1.3 knt drift
Used minnows with no luck
Also used Green and white bucktail with 3" Gulp shrimp nuclear chicken (one missed hit)
Quit after about an hour

There were some other boats there but I didn't see much action

July 13, 2001

Middle Grounds

Outgoing tide
Drift ~ 1.5 kts
Marker 9 and 10
1.5 ounce bucktail – green and white
3” Gulp shrimp – nuclear chicken

4 drifts no fish and no other boats

Moved down to ICW marker 108

About 10 other boats
Used same rig and on the last drift I used a all white bucktail with squid (the suid did get taken).
Stayed about 1.5 hours but got no bites and called it quits

June 18th

Saturday June 18th.

Went to the Middle Grounds with my Daughter and her boyfriend to try our hand at some fluke.  We got there after the tide had turned to an outgoing tide.  The wind and the tide were fighting each other so we had about a .9 knot drift.  Beth and Matt were using 1 1/2 ounce red and white buck-tails with a 3 inch root beer colored Gulp shrimp attached.  I was using a 1 1/2 ounce weight on a flounder rig with a minnow.

The Gulp produced 4 fluke three just under keeper size and one 19 1/2 inches.  My minnows produced just one good bite that got off before I could see it.

After about and hour and a half the wind and the tide combo had the drift down to nothing and we stopped getting and action.  So we went home back to Beach haven West.

Summary

Location - Middle Grounds

Tide - Outgoing

Drift speed - .9 knots

Lures - Red and white buck-tails with 3” Gulp shrimp - Root Beer color produced four flukes (one keeper).  Fluke rig with minnow no fish

First Try

First try

On June 15 my wife and I made our first attempt.  We had heard that there were some fluke to be caught at the Middle Grounds off of Beach Haven.  We headed there and started our drift between Shelter Island and Long Point Island.

Both Patti and I were using 6” bass rods with braided line and 20 lb leader, probably a little much.  I rigged Patti’s rod with a 2 oz. weight and a minnow with a yellow spinner with small silver blades on top of the hook.  I rigged a 2 oz white bucktail with white hair with a new penny Gulp shrimp.

We fished there for about 45 minutes, with no luck, before Patti decided that it was too beautiful a day to sit in a boat and she asked to go back so she could go to the beach.

I dropped her off and returned to the Middle grounds but this time I went where I could see other boats fishing.  This was closer to Beach Haven in the area of the marker buoys.  I set up around marker 9 and 10 and using the same gear from earlier in the day began my drift.

The conditions were sunny with the tide going out, water temperature around 74 degrees and a slight breeze fighting the tide.  My drift was about .5 to .9 knots.

It wasn’t too long before I had my first fish on.  Unfortunately, just before I got it to the boat it got off and I couldn’t see what it was.  This fish bit on the minnow rig.  After that drift I picked up and started again, but there wasn’t much action.  Then I hooked up with a fluke that was just shy of the 18 inch limit so it was returned to grow up some more (or get caught in a drag net off-shore).  Around this time, the reel on the rod with the minnow rig came off the rod (fixed after I got it home) and I moved the minnow rig to a much lighter Zebco closed face spinning combo with 6 lb. test.  By this time the drift had all but disappeared to zero. I put a fresh minnow in the Zebco and put it in the water.  Shortly the rod bent over almost double.  I picked it up and started to reel but the drag was too loose and I was loosing ground not gaining.  I tightened the drag and started to crank but the thing at the other end didn’t want to come in.  After a few minutes I finally got a glimpse of a skate.  I let it go and 5 minutes later I had another one. 

By this time I was down to one minnow so I put it on and fished for a while then Patti called from the beach and said she was coming back so I packed up and went home.

So I missed one, got one fluke and two skates.  Not bad for my first try.  All on minnows.

Total Rookie begins

This blog is two-firsts for me, my first blog and my first attempt at fishing the waters around LBI. My purpose of the blog is to provide others that are in the same situation as me an idea of what its like to start as a total rookie and also hope that I get some feedback from more experienced anglers on what I am doing right and wrong. I also intend to provide feedback on what I catch, where and how, rather than generalities.

I am 62 years old, I have an 18 foot center console boat, we just purchased a house in Beach Haven West (Stafford Township). I am beginning to learn the waters of the bay and at this time I have no idea where to start fishing, what species to target or when. It is now mid-June and I have asked at some bait shops and I was told to try the “mid-flats” across from Morrison's in Beach Haven, and Mid Island. I can't find Mid Island on any of the charts but I am told it is somewhere south of the island near the old fish factory (I have heard it called the stink house.

I am going try give it my first try today and report later.  Wish me luck.