Gulls, terns, and gannets sit around, waiting. A stiff east wind is blowing in my face, kicking up white water and severely restricting my casting distance. Past the outer bar, bait breaks the surface. Or is it just the wind? I make a cast with an epoxy, let it sink, and burn it in. Nothing.
Jersey exotics are a weird deal. Typically, they show up around late summer/early fall, when the Gulf Stream starts doing some janky shit. Then, we get shots at Bonito and Spanish Mackerel, False Albacore, Mahi-Mahi, needlefish and houndfish, juvenile jack crevalle, tarpon that get instantly shot once they hit Barnegat Inlet. Jersey used to be a redfish state before the eelgrass went away, but sometimes, they still haunt the backwaters along with speckled trout.
Earlier that day, I had paid a visit to my favorite saltwater tackle shop, Grumpy's in Seaside. Picking a few S&S bucktails off the rack, I stopped at a part of the shop I rarely visit, grabbing a few epoxies, thin metals, and resin jigs.
"Any hardtails around?" I ask the shop worker, as I slide my items across the counter.
"Albies will be showing up any day now. There's Bonito and Spanish in the surf."
"Thanks."
"Good luck," he responds, as I pay and leave. I'll need that. Reports are a fickle thing when it comes to pelagics. Hardtails are constantly on the move.
So far, nothing is showing. The wind keeps blowing out of the east, creating massive wind knots in my spool. Epoxy comes off, on goes a bucktail with a bait-strip, hoping for a bass or blue. Nil. I switch to meat-fishing, putting on a fluke rig. I get slammed, landing an 18 inch keeper fluke.
