Fishing Virginia, DC, & New Jersey - Day 4

August 25^th – New Jersey & Neverending Traffic

After the late night, we slept in a little bit and rose at 8:00AM. Then we drove out to the coast to a spot near Tom’s River where I wanted to try dipnetting for a whole panoply of saltwater species. Unfortunately, it seemed like none of them were to be found. All I caught were some Mummichog and this Inland Silverside.

Leaving Tom’s River, we continued our route north along the coast to an inlet at Point Pleasant. The amount of people going to the beach that day was insane, we were starting to regret sleeping in. I fished from the rocks for a while but the action wasn’t very hot. I was looking for Searobin but all I caught was a Cunner in the rocks.

After a while longer of casting I felt a tap out in the middle of the inlet and reeled in my first Summer Flounder! They have such beautiful patterns.

After about 2hrs of fishing, we gave up our parking spot and continued on our way to the Shark River Inlet. The tide had slowed down by this point and it seemed like no fish were being caught during the time I was there.

Final destination on the coast was Sandy Hook. We paid the $15 fee to access the park, it’s well worth it when you don’t have to pay for parking and also helps to avoid the crazy crowds at the public beaches. Upon entering the park, I noticed some shallow tidal pools that seemed fishy so I crossed the highway to go check them out. They were full of a ridiculous amount of Mummichog, I netted one Striped Killifish but knew I would never be able to get one on H&L because of all the ‘chogs.

We drove all the way up the point and were surprised to see some abandoned building and some old missiles/cannons. Apparently Sandy Hook has been used for military reasons, wish I had taken pictures of it. We stopped at the “fishing beach” where we would be spending the day before making the long drive home. I waited for hours with my bait in the surf but didn’t catch anything. I saw one person catch a Searobin… very jealous lol.

That unsuccessful attempt at Sandy Hook was the end of a very successful trip down into the US; I caught 10 lifers on hook and line in 4 short days. Final total is: Satinfin Shiner, Pirate-Perch, White Catfish, Longear Sunfish, Blue Catfish, Mud Sunfish, Banded Sunfish, Bluespotted Sunfish, Blackbanded Sunfish, Summer Flounder. Big shoutout to everyone who helped me plan this trip, I could never have caught all of these fish without help.

The drive home was brutal, NYC traffic killed us and we only rolled in at 4AM.