Josh Jorgensen Fishes New Jersey

The weather windows have been tight this spring in southern New Jersey, with heavy rain, unseasonable cold, and a steady, kicking wind. But on Friday, May 13, the weather broke long enough for us to put TackleDirect Pro Staffer Josh Jorgensen on fish.

The Day:

And that, readers, is what won Dave Mullins his first Southern Open last week at Douglas Lake.

The tide is dead low when we pull out. We box our flounder rigs and tie on topwater poppers for bluefish. The blues this year have been in skinny water with reports of 15-pound bay bluefish sitting in 1- to 2-foot flats. We work a mud bank until our captain's phone rings. It's a report of biting bluefish. Even better, the calling captain is within sight. We run over, pitch our lures and within minutes, have a triple header.

By far, the most productive lure of the day was the Tactical Anglers CrossOver Stalker. TackleDirect Sales Manager John Vaughan threw it, using a "walk the dog" retrieve to create a nice topwater motion. (He credits his style to Dan Schafer of Insomniac Guide Service.) John snags five hookups in quick succession.

Within 30 minutes, the birds stop picking and the blues stop fighting. We release three and keep six on the boat. The tide is moving, so we switch to our flounder rigs and drop in deeper waters (6- to 12-feet). There are four of us all steadily flicking our wrists to bounce our rigs off the bottom.

I snag the first flounder, but it's small, probably 5- to 6-inches. Our captain, Carmen, and Josh hook up, pulling in nicer sized fish, but still short of the 18-inch minimum that determines keepers comes May 21. All in all, we catch and release four flounder.

It's nearing noon at this point, the temperature has dropped, and the rain starts to move in. We run over to a productive striper spot, cast around the banks and openings for a good 30 minutes, and then call it a day.

The boat gets washed, the rods get rinsed, and the bluefish are put on ice.

What I Learned:

Josh is the host of the world's most subscribed to, online, fishing show — BlacktipH Fishing. He is a renowned shark fisherman, but he is equally skilled when it comes to targeting other salt- and freshwater species. And after fishing with Josh, I know why.

Josh asks questions.

I've never fished with an angler so dedicated to understanding every facet of the fishery. In just five-hours of fishing, Josh dug in on bait fish types, their movement, and seasonality. He asked about light, moon phases, tides, water temperature and barometric pressure. He noted depth, bottom, and structure. He questioned lure size, action, color, and retrieval. There is a simple reason Josh catches fish — he does his homework. (It doesn't hurt that he can cast a mile.).

Take note from Josh — be knowledgeable about your environment. Making informed fishing decisions will improve your hookup ratio.

The Tackle:

The Apparel:

For more on Josh Jorgensen:

Until the next weather window,

TackleDirect