Here is my fishing report for March 17th:
--- March 17th, 2015 ---
Location: Oyster Creek/Vincetown Millpond
Time: 10:00-11:30 a.m./1:30-2:30 p.m.
Fishes caught:
-- None
After hearing all the exciting things about Oyster Creek in Barnegat Bay, my brother-in-law and I decided to go down there to check things out for ourselves! According to some online fishing reports, local folks were catching some nice Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) around the power plant facility down there. Instead of going directly to the power plant, we decided to check out Oyster Creek Park first, which was located right around the corner -- on Dock Ave.
A nice view of the Oyster Creek Park by Dock Avenue. The level of comfort there is super high: park the car, setup the rods, and wait in it! Can fishing really get any better than that? For boat and kayak owners: there's also a ramp for you fellas to put your stuff in.
Before setting any rods, I used a 2oz. weight to scope out the area. It turned out to be very smooth -- very few snags and a constant ~5 feet depth! Taking that in consideration, we setup 4 rods with a standard high-low rig: 2 oz. river sinkers, size 4 hooks, and shrimp. Of course shrimp wasn't our bait of preference; however, for our disappointment, no local tackle shops were opened on that day! We ended up getting our bait together with our breakfast, all at ShopRite. Heh.
That's correct, readers. Besides all that was mentioned above, that little neat park also had pre-made rod holders! Isn't that amazing? Beautiful!
We fished the Park for about 30 minutes, which was about the time that took us to gulp down our breakfast. Not even a nibble. As expected, the water temperature was too low (~38F) and there were absolutely no fish swimming around that portion of Oyster Creek. We packed our stuff and headed up straight for the power plant. For our surprise, this is what we found out once we arrived there:
It turns out that the only public accessible spot at Oyster Creek by the Power Plant Facility is a bridge. The left and right sides of the bridge are private property; thus, fishing over there could result in trespassing charges.
Once we arrived at the bridge, three anglers were fishing there. After taking a good look around, I found out that they were soaking blood worms without any success. Different than the "park side" of Oyster Creek, there was quite a current coming from the direction of the power plant. I didn't really measure the water temperature at that exact spot; however, I bet that the water there would be warmer by at least 5F. No wonder the fish like to stay around there...! :)
In the end, we decided to not even try. I mean...if those folks weren't catching anything on blood worms, chances are that ShopRite shrimp wouldn't work! We hopped back into the car and decided to explore another spot on our way back home. After studying the GPS for a couple minutes, I decided to pick Vincetown Millpond in the Southampton Township.
Here's a nice scenery shot of the Vincetown Millpond. Very beautiful watershed with a very promising spillway and plenty of slow pools!
My brother-in-law and I tried some Thomas S.P. nickel-gold in-line spinners and also some Gulp! Alive Minnows under a float; however, after one hour, we ended up without a single bite! Very tough fishing with the water temperature staying below the 40's. Regardless, I can definitely "picture" how productive that place will be during the Summer time!
A perfect spot for an in-line spinner or a Gulp! Alive Minnow. Note the island in the middle: it creates a perfect current break for fishes to hang around, specially after seasons of heavy rain!
Can't wait to go back there! As a reminder, fellas: part of fishing relies heavily on field work, meaning that the person with the passion for the sport should look for new spots to explore. Imagination is an important key in fishing. Thus, even when we get skunked, it never hurts to be a "modern Linnaeus." Hah.
Best of luck for all of us,
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.
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