LBI 2

I had the pleasure of going back to LBI this weekend, and when Lib suggested that we go fishing this time, I was thrilled. On Saturday, I got up at 7:30am to make breakfast and get coffee so we could be sure to get out a couple hours before high tide. I took a walk and scouted the fishing grounds finding a couple of promising structures, including a small jetty(seen just below the lighthouse in this picture) with a deep water shelf off the end--, and it was sheltered by a submerged rock structure--perfect for sheltering fish in the fast moving water. The ninety-year-old salty dog behind the counter of the bait store gave me a few suggestions, and I purchased a frozen pack of squid strips.

One of the two fishing poles left for us was broken, so we were already a man down when we went out to the jetty, but I had a brilliant plan: the rocks would be holding fish that ate crab, so I would toss my crab pot out and catch a couple of green crabs for bait. Lib went back to get her beach chair, and I set up shop halfway down the jetty, so the waves wouldn't shower my gear.

While I was waiting to catch some crabs, I decided to toss out the fluke rig; the end of the jetty would be sure to produce. The squid was too frozen to pry from the pack so I added a little water and loaded the crab pot while the squid thawed. Then, I walked my cage to the end and tossed it in and walked back, but by the time I got my pole baited, two locals ran out onto the jetty and took my spot, which pissed me off, but I wasn't there, so...I lose. I tried to cast my pole, but it tangled, so I had to cut off about a hundred feet of line and start over. At this point, the guys who took my spot caught a black fish after about three minutes of fishing. I retied my fluke rig, and cast it out again, but as I tried to reel in the slack, the gears grinded and cruched, and the reel stopped working altogether. I pulled the line in with my hand, and about ten feet out it snagged, and I broke of my rig. They caught another black fish. Defeated and without any working equipment left, I put my tail between my legs and walked out to retrieve my crab pot submerged right next to them, and of course, they were using green crabs for bait, my plan all along. When I pulled the rope to my cage, it snagged on a rock and I had to suffer the indignity of pulling in a piece of rope with nothing attached to the end, which meant I was out one fifteen-dollar crab pot. We packed up. They caught another, rather large, black fish. In the two weekends we have spent there, these were the only fish I have seen caught (all in ten mintutes) except for later that day when a diver speared a very large fluke...in my spot.