Backwater Striped Bass and New Stuff
First, shop news.
We have a lot of new items to let you know about. We received a shipment from Daiwa USA. In it was Daiwa BG spinning reels, Daiwa BG MQ Spinning Reels, and Daiwa Saltist MQ spinning reels, which have been restocked. We also added two new reels to the website. First is the Daiwa Ballistic MQ LT spinning reel. These are very light but very strong reels perfect for inshore fishing. The other is the Daiwa Legalis LT spinning reels. Another light tackle inshore reel, this one comes in at a more budget minded price point.
We have a new size Madd Mantis Duck added to the site, plus a few new colors. By the way, if you were ever curious about how these swim, we added a video to the page.
It feels like this year is the year of the spook. We added a new one from Rapala, called the Skitter V. These spooks have a V bottom (similar to a boat) that allows a sharp direction change while walking the dog with longer glides on the pause. They also come in some very fishy colors.
Did you know No Live Bait Needed makes their jig heads in tin? We now have the ½ oz tin jig heads for the 5 inch NLBN shads and the 8 inch NLBN shads. The tin heads allow you present a lighter presentation without losing the look of the lure with a small jig head. Perfect for fishing shallow flats or over snaggy boulder fields.
We received some new rigs from MaiTai Tackle, designed specifically for the fishing going on now. The Striped Bass Bay & River Hi/Lo Rig is meant for fishing worms or other small pieces of bait in Barnegat Bay and our local rivers.
We are getting to the time of year where anglers are putting on their waders for the first time in a while and wondering “why is my foot wet?” Why is it that waders seem to gain new leaks over the winter season? We have Frogg Toggs Hellbender Pro Bootfoot waders if you want to replace them, but if you do not, we have two products that you can use to repair them. The first are Tear-Aid Repair Patch kits. There are two types of kit. Type B is meant to be used on vinyl products, while Type A is meant to be used on basically everything else. We also have Caddis Systems Neoprene Repair Adhesive. Perfect for neoprene wader repairs, or for the neoprene where a breathable wader meets the boot.
We have a lot of fishing reels in our repair pipeline right now. It’s the season for it. If you have been called letting you know your reel is done, please come get it so we can make room for more finished reels. If you cannot come get it and would like to have it shipped, please reach out to us on the Contact Us page and we will work out how to get your reel back to you.
Ok, now that all of that is out of the way, you want to know how the fishing is. It’s OK. There are striped bass in the bay and they are being caught. Right now, blood worms are working better than artificials. Remember if you are fishing worms for striped bass, you need to use an inline circle hook. The Maitai Striped Bass Bay & River Hi/Lo Rig and the MaiTai Striped Bass Worm Rig are both made with inline circles. The artificials that have produced have been the small Rapala X-Raps, Kettle Creek Shads, 3 inch NLBN Shads, small Tsunami shads, and small Storm shads. There are no hotspots. Everyone who has reported finding fish have said they are spread out. You are going to have to work to find your fish. The fish size has ranged from tiny to 30 inches.
For the winter flounder anglers, we have heard of one winter flounder caught so far. If you want to try, we have the rigs and the bloodworms for it.
@captbill80 is reporting great action soaking some bloodworms. He had 6 fish in an hour up to 30”, all released. Stop in to stock up on worms, and we now carry bloodworm bags to prolong the life of the worms.
For those who have not heard, the Seaside Heights St Patrick’s Day Parade has been postponed from Saturday, March 11th to Saturday April 1st. This is not an April Fools joke. Sean and, especially Ray, did not take the news all that well.