Surf | Hunter {Striped Bass}

TIDE | New Jersey : :  -0.3 low at 10:32pm and 5.2 high @ 4:03am | Sea Temperature 56°
Moon Phase : :  Last Quarter on the Wane |  Surf Fishing : : Drove/Walked the Beach
Retrieval Speed : :  crawl     |     slow    |     medium     |    fast    

Fall Striped Bass Fishing : : All the lights in town may blink yellow but the fishing is a go

I arrive on the East Coast amidst the onslaught of a Nor'easter storm. I checked in with my friend Kristian to see how the fishing has been. He texts me back, "Best Bass fishing in the last 4 years from the surf, there will be bass and beer".  Every where I go all I see is trucks with big Surf Poles and fisherman in Waders walking around. You can feel the energy in town and in the tackle shops.

There is a heavy buzz slowly surrounding me now with anticipation of catching a Striped Bass. Like an addict that just scored you can't wait to feel that first hit from the surf.

The sand eels are in heavy in the surf and the Striped bass are gorging themselves with them as they migrate down the coast. We pick up a few Ava 17 lures, put on our waders and load up Kristian truck. With all the tourist gone and half the town up North the fishermen take over the beaches. You can drive your truck onto the beach in search of fish. We put the truck in 4 wheel drive and see some birds working and head over to a nice cut in the sand bar.

Kristian lights a cigarette and casts out into the rough surf.  As soon as he puts the reel in gear he is on. First cast he gets a double header. One on the teaser and the other on a AVA 17. I look right and my dad's 10 foot pole is bent in half, he is on also. Next thing you know 6 guys infiltrate our fishing hole and we are elbow to elbow. The fish are feeding recklessly for about a half hour and we pick up a bunch of fish. The weather turns worse and gets real "snotty". Heavy surf, winds and sideways rain in your face make it tough to cast. I'm cold, my waders have a hole in them and have been leaking 56° water for the last 3 hours but I don't care, we all got fish. I'm definitely not in California anymore, but loving it.
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Striped Bass: Kristian: 3 |  Bob 2 | Scott 1 (all catch photo and release)
Foraging ON : : Sand Eels in the surf, using AVA 17 and 27 lures
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During the Thanksgiving weekend Striped Bass Tournament Colin Dempsey's winning fish had a stomach full of sand eels. You can see from his photo on the left how the bass have been just gorging themselves with these eels as they migrate south for the winter.

Sand Eels are a schooling fish, small, slender and are typically found shoaling over the seabed or buried in the sand below the surf. The species range from about 4–12in.  

The Ava 17 with Green/Chartreuse tube with a Epoxy Sand Eel Teaser fly were deadly all week.