2025 was a fun year on the water, least amount of fish caught in a long time and skunked more than half the time. I think I took less than 20 casts in day light and fished Jersey more. Only two Weakfish… not a lot of fish caught, did loose a lot of fish early in the season. The fun… Darters fished a lot and I really enjoyed that. Black Sluggo was my most productive artificial followed by Graves 1 oz darters. Fished 46 times this year, trips were shorter in time on the water, 4-5 hours per trip. May have learned more this year than any, already can’t wait to fish 2026, target date March 28th 2026.
November 29th fished from ~10:30 PM to 3:30 AM, back out west, ocean side mostly. Last trip of the year. Had a bass on for a bit and dropped it…fitting end. Chilly and calm, nice night, enjoyed the trip.
November 22nd fished from ~10:30 PM to 3:30 AM, back out west, ocean side mostly. Weird trip, missed a dozen hits easy. On needles and Sluggo that don’t have tail hooks. Could feel the fish grabbing the plug or sluggo and missing the hook. Likely small fish. Sand eels were around. Dropped one bass on a darter that felt OK. Otherwise one short bass on a Choopy needle. First time this year had the Outback on the sand.
November 15th fished from ~10:30 PM to 3:30 AM, Jersey ocean side, two locations for he first time in years. Nothing, OK water, jut could not find a fish. Wind was basically at my back, should have went with first choice and faced it. Took the easy trip….not a wise choice…Was a nice night though.
November 8th fished from ~10:30 PM to 3:30 AM, Jersey ocean side, fished with my friend Blair again and had a great time fishing and talking fishing. Picked up 2 bass on the 1 oz Groves yellow/white darter and one on an old SS Darter. The 3 were ~30 inch. Any action we had was in a concentrated area, we covered a lot of water. I’m not used to a lot of long casts, and was really feeling it at the end of the trip. Real fun trip, most of it we had the beach to ourselves. Could have used some wind to kick up the surf, was an incredible “great weather” night…. to nice.
November 1st fished from ~11:00 PM to 4:30 AM, West, out front, about 8 miles east of last trip. Started around low tide, water filled in….wind knocked down surf, it was to nice. Enjoyed the time out there, good walk. Dropped a bass on a Choopy needle and had a couple other bumps. Nothing in by the rocks. Picked up the two bass, and saw one sand eel.
October 23rd fished from ~10:30 PM to 3:30 AM, West, out front , What looked like good water, had small bunker in a few spots, just no real action. A couple small fluke and two short bass, Nice trip, covered a lot of area, haven’t fished the location as often as I used too.
October 21st and 22nd, fished from ~10:30 PM to 1:30 AM, back side a bit, but long walk to front. Nothing on these two trips. Cross wind was there, the second night was bonkers, variable and strong. Tried fishing into it, beautiful water, nothing doing. First day I hooked into a really good bass, on the inside, made a strong run with current to go around the jetty. I really tightened the drag, slowed her and had her within 50-60 feet and she just popped off. Was on a weighted owners swim hook 9″ sluggo. Line was frayed a bit, thinking mouth area. That was exciting, a case of the big fish shakes. Slightly disappointed, but the adrenaline rush when that fish hit was awesome. So close…….
October 20th, fished from 10:30 PM to 1:15 AM, back side a bit, but long walk to front. Strong cross wind out of west. Managed two 30 inch bass. Challenging fun conditions. Just the two hits. Liked it out there. That is a long walk….. .
October 19th, fished from 10:45 PM to 2:45 AM, back out west. Fished out back. Mothing doing, could not find anything. Nice night, strong south wind.
October 18th, fished from 10:30 PM to 2:30 AM, back out west. Fished back to front. One blow up on SS darter missed in back, Then the one short bass out front. A better plane would have been to hustle to the front this trip for 3 hours instead of about 30 minutes. .
October 11th, fished from 11:00 PM to 3:30 AM, Jersey, back side. Windy, nice tide, current…more people fishing than I have seen in a long time. Nothing. No bait. Didn’t see anything caught. Weird trip…shoulda looked fishy, just didn’t get the fishy feeling. Will see what next trip brings after this northeaster.
October 4th, fished from 10:45 PM to 3:30 AM, Jersey Ocean side for an hour then between back an front. Could not get to where I wanted as roads were closed. Almost no action, bright moon, beautiful night. Lot of walking. One short bass on the Groves 1 oz darter. I am in a serious One Bass Mode…….
September 28th, fished from 11:45 PM to 3:15 AM, Jersey backside. Had a nicer fish on Groves Darter, it hit in close and freight trained me and the hook pulled out, was early in the trip. Had a few other hits, did land one ~ 2:30 AM. While not catching a lot, the hits and fish all have been in close these trips. Back in waders for the for first time in awhile. Nice night, light rain. Didn’t cover a lot of water like the recent trips.
September 20th, fished from 11:30 PM to 3:30 AM, Jersey back side. Not a lot of action this trip, a couple hours at the end of the tide, and then nothing at all. Another beautiful night to be out on the water. Picked up one bass on the Super Strike Darter and a couple Fluke on the Groves one ounce darter. Few more bumps. Fun night out there.
September 13th, fished from 11:00 PM to 3:30 AM, Jersey back side. First cast 9″ pink sluggo a hit and miss. Little later dropped a fish on a Olive 1 oz Groves darter, was close to landing it. Getting closer to landing a fish for the first time since….way to long. Moved around a bit, missed a couple hits in one spot and finally landed a small 20″ bass on a pink Snax. it was a large miracle….. Then hit another schoolie on a yellow 1 oz Groves darter. May have been the heaviest schoolie I have caught, was pretty full. Great weather, not one other car in the lot, fun trip. And I actually caught a fish…..whacky year!!!
September 6th, weather just not cutting it. Lot of rain dumped just before trip and sketchy forecast, decided to sleep, or at least try to.
August 31st, fished Jersey, 11:00 PM to 3:30 AM, covered a lot of shore for not a bump. Was great getting out, good to shake off a little rust. At some point I will need to catch a fish…
August 17th and 24th took off. Adopted 4 Kittens Saturday the 16th. Lots of fun crazy energy and entertaining. Great personalities. Very happy.
August 3rd and 10th, out west, rocks and open beach and a walk to the back. Just a couple light bumps. While mobility this year is incredibly better, I can’t find fish in areas that they used to be. Last year as far as catching in areas I used to was bad, this year worse. Great walks though….. No fishing the weekend of August 16th, if things go as planned, will adopt 4 kittens, siblings. These could be super exciting times.
July 26, 10:30 PM – 4:00 AM, West, ocean side rock piles. No weeds basically, ice water, few rock pies had snappers out the wazoo. Dropped and missed a few fish, didn’t see anything on the snappers, used to be snappers = bass in certain spots….one of my favorite fishing conditions in this area. Picked up a 20″ Weakfish on a Choopy needle, dropped what felt like a bass on it also. Love this plug. Fun night. May areas roped off for plovers…..lot of rope climbing….
July 19, 10:30 PM-4:30 PM, West, ocean side rock piles. Weeds after the flip to incoming. Nice water, didn’t see any bait. Couple light bumps, just a nice night on the water.
July 12, 10:30 PM-3:30 AM, This is the ridiculous trip of the year. Ocean side, open beach. Get to the water and a raccoon basically chases me into the water, it has two feet in the water and a large wave crashes the beach and the raccoon retreats. I tried scaring it, yelling, going at it…just kept coming at me until I got into the ocean. Then…. 20 feet out from the shore, 3 feet off the water birds flying along the beach for a mile, 4 birds hit my line during the night. Could not fish there, it was crazy. Walked over a mile to back side, a dogfish on a darter and crab on a sluggo. Back out to front, birds bad in some areas, weeds in the others now as tide flipped. Just a wacky ridiculous trip. Nice weather.
July 5th, 10:30 AM – 5:30 AM, out front by rocks 10:30-2:00, nothing. Moved out front open beach 2:30-5:30, some hits and picked up one Blue on a Sluggo around 3:00AM. Very nice night and water. Had fun. Shoulder getting better. These are good fishing nights.
June 28th, 11:00 PM – 4:30- AM, West in the back from 11:00 -2:00, same area as Thursday, not a touch. Moved out front from 2:30- 4:30, gnarly water and weeds bad in some spots, hit 3 rock piles, 2 which were not bad with weeds picked up one 28″ Bass and one really nice 23: Fluke. Was a fun night. Water was beautiful ocean side.
June 22, 23, 25 and 26. Out west 3 trips, ocean side 1, bay 2 and a NJ ocean trip. Zero fish landed. Dropped about 1/2 dozen, missed many hits/bumps. Likely small fish. Weather was great most of the time, all trips on the water by 11:00 PM and off by 4:00 AM. Lots of weed in some areas, some not. Catching was atrocious, I would say the fishing was awesome, really enjoyed the time on the water, no waders, water was a nice comfortable temperature, weather was weird at times, no one else out there, fished a few spots I don’t go often, some new plugs….it was fun.
June 21, out west, after the 10 day rest. Fished 11:00 PM to 3:30 AM. Shoulder….Amazingly first real trip ocean side this year, fished rock piles, longest cast about 60 feet. Was low tide, some weeds, not atrocious, nice water. Beautiful night, no one else out there. Had action, tiny weakfish, dropped two more, two 18″ Fluke, one Bluefish and two bass on 9″ Sluggo, and an assortment of missed hits. Was a real fun night.
June 9th, out west, 10:30 PM- 3:30 AM. Out back, more weeds than last trip. But gave it a go. Had a couple hits on Sluggo and Gravity eel in one spot, threw the PM Darter there and fish was on. Lost it, not a large fish, but was cool getting it to hit that darter and sticking it. Couple bumps and one bass. Left shoulder in a lot of pain, shutting it down for 10 days as another vacation starting a week from Saturday. Casting distance at accuracy taking a big hit, as well as the expletives I was yelling into the night. Still nice being out there, lake like conditions at times….could have used some wind.
June 8th, headed out to NY West, 11:00 PM – 3:30 AM. Hit the ocean for two casts and weeds, headed to the back side, weeds, but manageable. Missed a blow up on a Sluggo, and managed a pair of 28″ fish, Blue on PM Darter and Bass on the Groves Darter. Nice night, fun out there.
June 7th, Fished Sandy Hook from 11:00PM to 3:30AM, didn’t see or hear any of the bait like the night before and ended up with a skunk, first run in of the year with a Racoon. I was on land changing a leader and the racoon walked by me less than 10 feet away, I yelled at it stopped and stared me down.
June 6th, Fished Sandy Hook from 10:30PM to 3:45 AM. Fished with a friend for the first time in a looooong time, Blair. I love fishing alone, but fishing with someone who has the same passion about surf fishing is a blast. I ended up with one Bass, couple sluggos bit in half and a bass swiping at sluggo as I lifted it out the water startling me. Blair had a couple hits and dropped two Bass, one was really nice. He hooked up on Mikes Beast Darter. Great fun trip,
May 31, Out west, blew up left shoulder earlier in the week, casting was not well. Fished from 10:45-4:30, out back and out front in the weeds. Not a good effort an it showed with El-skunkaroo.
May 24th, Sandy Hook, fished 11:00 PM- 4:30 AM. Had some action throughout the trip, there were 3-5 pound blues around, landed 7, most on the PM darter. I tried Sluggos in a few places and they got chopped. First blues of the year, nice night and trip.
May 17, out West, 11:00 PM to 4:30 AM. Out back until 3:00, out front for a half hour. Picked up one bass in the back. Not sure where I would be without that 9″ Sluggo with the weighted Beast hook this year.
May 1, out West, 10:30 PM to 2:00 AM. A couple bass, One on the PM Darter. Followed this trip up with two skunks on 5/3 and 5/10. Have missed a few hits and dropped fish. Even lost a PM Darter to a fish when leader broke….whacky.
April 29th, out West, 10:30 PM to 2:00 AM. Made a few adjustments…… I have sucked since I got Covid back in October……. Picked up 2 Bass an a Swarter and 4 more on 9″ Sluggos, weighted Beast. Dropped only one fish and missed a few hits. Real fun with spotty action throughout the trip.
April 28th, out West, 10:30 PM to 2:15 AM. Lost a nice Bass on Blurple Red Fin. This put the season start in the ridiculous state.
April 27th, out West, 10:30 PM to 2:15 AM. Windy, not as windy as last night….Lost 4 bass , 3 on a PM Darter and 1 on Sluggo, Did land two just short bass on black 9″ sluggos. Pretty much confirming I am in mid-season form with that dropped bass….
April 26th, out West, 10:30 PM to 2:15 AM. Windy….Lost a very nice bass on a SS Bottle after about 30 seconds, a few thumping runs. Then missed a hit on a PM darter and picked up a short on a PM Darter. Looks like I am in mid-season form with that dropped bass….
April 19th, Out West, fished from 10:30 PM to 4:30 AM, had two bumps. Finally had a full trip. May not catch a fish in 2025, but at least enjoying the time on the water.
April 5, Jersey, an hour after a long walk, lightening rolling in, I called it and spent a couple hours in another spot. Had a swirl on a Red Fin first spot, that was it. April 12 could not fish, sick all week. Can’t wait for the next trip…..need to get a real trip in….ASAP
March 29, Took a trip out west, covered a mile of water in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Windy, cold, was 80 degrees during the day, was 43 when I hit the water. Great to just get out for a while. Really looking forward to this year on the water.