Some of the best and most rewarding fishing can be done on your own.
You don’t always need a charter captain to lead you to a secret fishing hole or uncharted structure to find prey species.
Sometimes this fishing doesn’t even require a boat. Patience, persistence, a bit of luck, and a Ghost is all you need.
Crisp fall days spent fishing for striped bass in and around the barrier islands of the New Jersey coast are some of my fondest memories.
Driving from Philadelphia to the Jersey Shore meant a 2 hour drive with stops at local farm stands for fresh fruit & vegetables.
The milk, eggs and bacon all came from different stands while the wine was from a liquor store just off the Black Horse Pike. Eventually we would arrive there, station wagon packed to the top. My dad would always roll down the windows of the car as we began our approach onto the numerous causeway bridges. The bridges spanned the bay channels and you could fee the change and smell salt marshes in the air. Dad would take a big deep breath and exhale a huge sigh of appreciation and say “Aaaaahhhhh, fresh air, smell the sea. Can you smell it?” I could.
Almost 40 years later I find myself doing the same thing every time we make the trip.
Our lodging was rustic at best. There was no cable or Internet, there was no microwave or dishwasher. There was no central heat or air, not even heat or enough hot water.
The heat was provided by space heaters; we had to turn the water on and off at the main otherwise the pipes would freeze during the winter months.
It took hours for the water heater to get going and sometimes the self stick floor tiles would pop up from the fluctuations in temperature. Regardless of its flaws, it was a welcoming home base. There was a local guy who would seemingly appear at various places right next to where we were fishing. He was grizzled and definitely a fishy guy. He reminded us of Quint except he was fair haired and a bit overweight. Later we discovered his name was Donald but we still called him “Ghost” because it didn’t matter what time of day or day of the week, he was always there. Ghost was ubiquitous & would hover and mill around. He would smoke a few cigarettes and assess the group before initiating conversation. Ghost was always polite and cordial, just strange in a fishy kind of way. He would observe the water, observe the anglers, then disappear. We assumed he lived nearby or went back to his truck because his next appearance was with tackle box & gear.
Most times I would fish with my dad, Mr. Christopher and his two sons Anthony & Leonard who were our neighbors and quite fishy themselves. Many times my cousin John would be there also throwing a fly rod.
He was the first person to put a fly rod in my hand when I was about 9.
I caught many things on the fly back then; the trucks on the beach, any nearby angler, and most of the dorsal surfaces of my own body.
Casting proficiently in the surf always was, and probably still is, an ongoing project.
Ghost would inch his way toward us after tying up a few rigs or call over to me.
He would quietly hand me a rod and say tell your dad to cast this out about 20 feet past the break and let it sink. So I did. Within 15 minutes dad hooked up on a fish. It was a 13 pound striped bass and judging by the look on dad’s face, he was very content. It was his first striper from the beach and the Ghost made it happen for him. Next was my turn. Ghost handed me a 12 foot surf rod rigged with a live eel and said “do what your dad just did, don’t let him show you up.” So I chucked this baby eel into the surf and waited. My cousin was using a fly rod about 50 feet to my left, casting with determination & purpose. He never said much, actually the only time he spoke even when fish were busting everywhere was to yell “I’m on, get the net.” I netted a lot of fish for him. Within an half hour John was yelling for the net as he had a fish on the line despite all the live bait in the water. I was so impressed at that moment and I wanted so badly to catch one that way. It was my casting that prevented this of course. My casting just…well it was just terrible for lack of more polite terminology. I really wanted to catch one on the fly but lacked the skill to do it.
Nonetheless, I resumed my role as the net boy for cousin John. I ventured out into the shallow breakers to net his fish, a nice 11 pound striped bass, and as I was doing so Ghost appeared. Ghost was holding the rod he’d just cast and he was handing it to me with a slight smirk and a glimmer in his eye. There was a fish on, there was a fish on. Nice! I bagged the fish for my cousin and splashed my way over to the Ghost almost snatching the rod from him. The water was freezing and I was soaked but it didn’t matter at all. There was a sea monster on the end, or so I believed. It was far from a sea monster but everything is bigger when you’re a ten year old. The long surf rod bent from the brawn and fight of this fish, he took line and yielded only minimally. In the end, my cousin was in the surf finally netting a fish for me. It was my first striped bass of the beach and it was glorious. Over the years that fish got bigger & bigger but it was barley 10 pounds and without a doubt the smallest fish of the outing. It didn’t matter though, it was a striped bass, the coveted fish of the trip, and I caught it. There’s still no heat in the fishing shack in New Jersey. It was nearly destroyed by the super storm of 2012 which devastated the Mid-Atlantic region. This season will be the first time in almost 10 years that we won’t have our autumn striper-fest. Ghost taught us a lot about fishing over the 20+ years that we fished the New Jersey coast. He eventually started running charters and retired just a few years ago. He’s still helping people surf fish though, so if you’re fishing the barrier islands near Atlantic city and a polite but strange guy hands you a rod, just do what he says and pretend you don’t know who he is.
Striped Bass migrate from the lower Mid-Atlantic states & Chesapeake Bay to New England every spring as they are heat intolerant & prefer cooler water. This occurs in April most years but is highly weather dependent. The migration back down from New England usually occurs in September through November, and the best fishing in New Jersey’s barrier islands, near Atlantic City, is probably early to mid October. Surf fishing usually requires being able to cast past the break, at least 60-100 feet, so using a spey rod and sea spey cast is most efficient. Flies that work are miscellaneous bait fish flies, sea serpents, and heavy epoxy head flies that resemble jig heads.
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