HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE

E’RE IN A LABYRINTH of sod banks. The water has a purple sheen in the dawn light and it’s mirror-flat. In every direction, another creek arm snakes away into the vast expanse of green marsh grass. As my friend Capt. Eric Kerber nudges us forward with the trolling motor toward a point with mullet flipping off the end, we spook a few fish. Three mud plumes erupt on the shallow bottom in front of us. Along the bank, a bulging push of water zooms away. If you didn’t know this was New Jersey, you’d