Tips for the "Tip" (Sandy Hook, NJ) Some consider the "Tip" to be the best fishing at Sandy Hook. It is also known to be quite a difficult journey to get to - about a mile walk through hot sand while carrying a cooler, rods, and tackle. Here are some helpful way to prepare yourself for the "Tip".

KNOW THE BASICS *Always fish beginning Hightide through Hightide* 1.) Go to Sandy Hook or Atlantic Highlands. 2.) Buy beer and ice before you get there. 3.) Bring largest, toughest surf poles. (you will have a "monster" fight on a light rod if you hook a small striper or blue) 4.) Tighten drag before casting(50-100ft), loosen as follows after cast: Regardless of pole/reel size, set drag very low. Low enough so waves/tides/currents don't take out line, but just low enough so if a "fish" swims by and eats the bait and continues swimming it will pull the drag/line effortlessly off your reel with the bait in its mouth. If your drag is zooming off line - prepare yourself, get ready to set drag to somewhere tight enough so the fish has to muscle to pull drag or less if you want a longer fight. Just be careful to not set it so tight the fish breaks line. • Resistance of any type on your line will cause stripers suspicion. • lights of any kind: silvers spoons, glo-lights, etc. spook stripers. • Blues bite anything shiny - a cut up, inside out beer can with hook will work. • Blues almost always school, look for blood, top water activity, and birds. • Stripers ONLY school when migrating - check the internet for dates, times, patterns, etc. Otherwise they are loners.

WHERE IS THE "TIP"? • Entrance to Sandy Hook - 1st Guard Shack : Ask where the nudy beach is? • To buy sticker - 2nd Guard Shack :1/2 Mile to 1 Mile before nudy beach • Left at cannon - fork • 1st or 2nd left - make right - make left - into parking lot • Fish right side of jettie - Atlantic Highlands • Try fishing "Five Presidents Beach"

EQUIPMENT (Always fish High Tide)

NIGHT FISHING High Tide Only Day-Glo Lights (or whatever they're called) - Break & shake to light. Supposed to be used near bait underwater to attract fish but doesn't work. < Best use: Put glo-light in top guide while night fishing. Rod tip will be extremely visible and strikes can be detected much easier. Pyramid Weights: Rough water conditions will require a heavier weight. 3oz. - Not Rough 4oz. - Kinda / little rough 5oz. - Real rough / or just go home WHY FISH THE "TIP"? If you got the gonads, legs, & stamina - GO TO "THE TIP". Here's why: #1.) Best Fishing in ALL the hook #2.) No swimmers, sitegoers, etc. #3.) Deep water even in Low Tide

2003 Pictures

Nice June Fluke On another rainy Saturday, Jamie fished the hook and tested a new salt water flyrod. A successful outing : the trip produced some decent sea robins and fluke, plus the new rod and reel worked great. Here's a shot of a good size fluke, around 14 inches, and the new salt fly combo.

Another Nice June Fluke Two weeks later, Kregler and Tom returned to "The Tip" and landed "The Tip's Trifecta: sea robins, fluke, and a bluefish. Here is Mike with the first catch of the afternoon - It's another Nice June Fluke! Points Awarded: 1,500

The next three fish Mike and Tom hooked were sea robins (2 of 3 are shown). Although grouped with suckers as a trash fish, sea robins can still put up a decent fight, as did the one below.

Completing the trifecta is a classic shot a bluefish falling for the ol' diving plug.

Note - In the late afternoon, an eastern wind developed which killed the fishing by blowing baitfish further out from the shoreline.

2002 Pictures

June 11th, 2002 This was such a memoriable trip to Sandy Hook for me(Tom) and Mike. We fished for about 6 hours trying out different beaches on the hook, and having absolutely no luck at all. Making our way back towards mainland, we stopped off at one of the first beaches on the ocean side. After Mike and I were there for about a half hour, we both noticed it almost simutaneously - a Bluefish Blitz! This is when a school of bluefish are feeding quite violently, and can be seen along the water's surface. We both ran towards the blitz to get into casting distance, and followed it along the shoreline. Kregler fowl hooked about 5 or 6 cocktail blues, which was very unusual. somewhere in the mix was a big bluefish that Tom hooked into, and landed after 15 minutes.