Surface poppers are for those warm afternoons in June along the beaches of the Jersey coast where Bunker pods instinctively capture a fisherman's attention.
Sunset along the bubbling backwash of a sandy beach scarp I frequent.
A cool hat I found washed-up along the banks of the Navesink late one night. The Stripers bit, and that was my quick fix. Prior to this find, I didn't know that there was such a charter operated by a Capt. Kevin Halek out of Atlantic Highlands. (Kevin, if this happens to be your own hat, I'll gladly return it to you. I hope the fishing has been treating you well.)
Anglers burning the midnight oil watch from above for any signs of Stripers rising from the bridge's shadow lines under the pods of Bunker that were plentiful for weeks in the river system.
On one late night this month while working the ebbing tide, heat lightning was flashing over the horizon at a rate over 100 strikes per minute. A subtle sign that summer was here, and bass would soon be further north.
Roadway light reflections captured on the ebbing and circulating tide of the Shrewsbury River.
.... and thankfully, there were bass
I dedicate the lyrics of Chuck Berry's song "You Can't Catch Me" to the Jersey surf-caught, Bunker pod blitzing June Striper. I sure didn't catch them this year. Beach access & parking restrictions, appropriate timing, habitat & structure loss, wind & weather, work, impulse, you name it.. doesn't matter I suppose if the fish never move within casting range to begin with.
Chasing after 35 lb.+ blitzing Stripers from the sand is as exciting as it gets for the surfcaster. I shot this photo in haste, and is deceiving in that the surf was actually about 2+ft. in height that afternoon (for scale). The dark band is a quickly-fleeing pod of adult-sized Bunker. As I expressed in a prior post (http://amofins.blogspot.com/2017/10/exposures-october-2017.html), at the more rare times such as these, it's especially difficult to suddenly make shooting photos a priority over casting to giant, fast-moving fish.
Some nights, it is not always a fish that finds the retrieve of my lure, but rather the infamous Rubbery Bryozoan (Alcyonidium species).
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