On the final day of the April tautog season at the Jersey Shore, I had an invite from Matt “Swagmatic” Sorrentino to join members of his NJFishingClub.com for a trip aboard Capt. Sam Rescigno’s Mary MIV out of Barnegat Light. As I pulled up to Lighthouse Marina at the north end of LBI around 5:30 a.m. that morning, about 25 miles due north of me my buddy and coworker, John DeBona was just stepping aboard Capt. Ralph Leyrer’s Last Lady in Neptune.
DeBona and I get to fish together a bunch, but we also do our own thing for the most part, away from work. Still, we continued texting back and forth that day, sharing info from boat-to-boat, checking on the bite and comparing notes. “How is the morning action,” DeBona texted me a little after 8 a.m. “Slow pick,” I responded.
“Massive porgy, short cod, tautog and keeper-sized sea bass,” came the reply, to which DeBona added “it was nice to see three or four women fishing Saturday, and all subscribers!”
True that. I’ve met countless lady anglers in recent years, on boats, beaches and at the “booth” for the winter shows. And based on the number of photos we’ve received to start the 2022 season, I know we’re going to see more of these hard-fishing ladies.
Opening day near the “stakes” by the Fish Factory in Great Bay proved effective for Rebecca McFerren Shaffer with this 20-inch fluke. “Minnows seemed to do the trick,” Rebecca reported, adding “Her husband used the floaters, I like to touch the bottom!”The Fisherman subscriber Erin Smith from Bayville managed a couple of keepers aboard the Last Lady on the last day of the 2022 spring tautog season. As a reminder, NJ tautog reopens on August 1 (one fish at 15 inches).Young gun in the making Emma Goble got herself a nice stringer of trout on the opening day of the New Jersey season while fishing the Shark River Surf Anglers annual contest at Spring Lake.Mary Regetz joined her sister aboard the Mary MIV on the final day of New Jersey’s April tautog season, picking away for this keeper blackfish while on a NJFishingclub.com charter.Samantha Dupe’e caught this 16-inch trout on the D&R Canal during the first week of trout season in New Jersey, while enjoying a beautiful day with her dad. “Fellow fishermen (old timers) could not believe how big it was,” dad said proudly.“I receive my monthly subscription and religiously read it front to back,” said subscriber Kelly A Langion-Milano who caught this 18-pound tautog aboard Chasin Tides in Maryland. “I plan on trying for your Dream Boat Challenge this year,” she added as heads up to other subscribers.
