Striped Bass Fleet

[Billfish715]

My goodness! Doesn't anyone stay home and watch Sunday football these days? Wow! What a fleet was out yesterday from MI and Barnegat. It stretched from Sea Girt to Seaside. Boats were trolling everywhere until some guys were able to make bait and liveline. The bait was deep and at times very difficult to snag. A few guys were able to come across some schools that had bass and if they could snag and drop some bunkers, they were rewarded with some big fish.

We were happy to troll a few after many miles and hours of effort. There were flurries among the liveliners and then it would quit. The Big Mohawk was in on the action and had a flurry going with a few fish on at a time. I give the captain and mates a lot of credit for keeping things under control. The fishermen get some kudos too because snagging bunkers in those conditions was not easy. Letting a hooked live bait swim away from or under the boat with so many other lines in the way is a challenge. I'd love to hear how it's done especially if you are on the lee side of the boat.

Lastly, there was a whale in among all of the boat traffic off Normandy Beach. It must have been very hungry to be in among all of those propellers. I guess it was eating bunkers but there were some interesting brown patches that we thought might be plankton or krill. Has anyone else noticed the brown patches to which I am referring? I saw them off Belmar and Spring Lake the other day too. Any ideas about what it is?