I have been coming down to the same 2 spots on the NJ coast for the last 4 years, as many times as I can make it there every spring and fall. This year I wasn't able to get down much at all, we were very busy with wedding planning but after it passed I knew I had to get down there. I looked at tides, wind, weather, etc and picked the day. On top of that, I ended up covering a 7-3 shift so I was able to get down there earlier than i would've been able to doing my usual 9-5.
3pm hit and I hopped in the truck. Got to the water by 5:20, I live pretty far so all things considered this was pretty good time. Started fishing and immediately whacked a Shad.
A few minutes later, Thmyorke1 showed up for his first ever foray into the surf. After only being there for a few minutes, I hooked in to something big. At first i thought I had snagged something, but then the drag started ripping. My heart was pounding, was this a ray? was this a striper? As the line filled up my spool again and we caught a sight of the beast, I knew we had to land it. I was able to reach down and grab it, with my lure just barely hooked into the corner of its mouth. There was much rejoicing
Luke was also able to get his first ever fish from the surf! An extremely successful day
