609-494-5739 Anyone that has seen me present / teach either at a seminar or during my Fishing Barnegat Bay classes have heard me talk about the 3 Ts to successful saltwater fishing. The 3 Ts are temperature; tide; and technique. Although you only truly have control of the last T it is with knowledge and experience that you work the other two to your advantage. After a truly epic July bluefish fishery around Barnegat Inlet seemed to come to an end it took a major rebound Saturday morning. The last two weeks my client or I have had to work hard to land a few blues. Even while seeing them surfing waves, swimming around or following lures they just were not in the mood to feed. Some thought it might be due to them spawning, however, any of the fish kept did not the signs of a fish ready to spawn. I thought it was the water was too warm as some studies show adult bluefish do not feed as actively when the temperature approaches 74. Well, Friday’s strong southerlies were the spark to start the flame. It caused an upwelling dropping the inshore water temperature by 6-7 deg F to around 69. Around sun up Saturday morning the bluefish bite returned with a vengeance. Baits spraying, birds diving and some swirls and breaks made it obvious the feed bags were on. My first cast of a Savage Gear Panic Popper was rewarded with a tail slap and an explosion of a 6-pound blue. I landed around 10 before calling it a session. I do not think I have ever seen so many blues jump as frequently as of late. My suspension is they are well fed and the temperature is in their preferred range.
After hopping off the Debbie M I hoped on board a 33’ Stamas with twin 250’s to guide the owner and some kids to the waters of Barnegat Bay and Inlet and do a little fishing. Although we did not have the best tide we had some good action with short fluke. Switching gears we searched for some weakies and found some spikes to keep the kids smiling. Zack managed a Barnegat Bay slam of fluke, weakfish, and bluefish. This is about the 10th Slam I have put a client on this year. Still have a few slots open for this week whether it is fluke, blues, weaks, sharks and maybe a bass give me a call.
Screaming drags, Capt. Alex 609-548-2511
