By all rights, none of us should be sitting around looking at the computer screen right now. There is no excuse for all of us not kissing our families goodbye, tell our bosses that we have something much more important to do, and get on with the top priority in all of our lives…Fishing. Fresh or salt, inshore or offshore… it is ON!
Laurie up at Lake Hopatcong is reporting a mixed bag of good action on bass and pickerel during the day on both bait and artificial. Lowlight fisherman like Kris Kupiac are still doing well with top waters for walleye and stripers. He popped a nice 7-pound walleye on a bomber this week.
The striper action from the beach this week is still yielding some monster fish, some by the same anglers. Giglio’s in Sea Bright had Frank Petillo Jr. from Middletown weigh in a 45- and a 39-pound at the same time. It was a wild pencil popping battle with both of them. 12 year old Isaiah Echevaria also made it to the shop with a bass this week that was just over 30 inches… a first for him. A couple of nice fluke hit the deck as well and Greg Bradford had 6- and a 3.8-pound flattie.
Dave at The Reel Seat in Brielle could hardly stay in his real seat when he was filling me in on the bluefin bite that is going on at the Chicken Canyon and in the area around the Atlantic Princess. One of Reel Seat’s regulars had 31 bluefin on Saturday and frankly everything that was in the water was getting bitten. Spreaders, Zukers, Ballys, you name it. Local charter the Jenny Lee pulled an overnight shift from Sunday into Monday and had 30 yellow fin and released a Blue Marlin in the neighborhood of 400 pounds that was fought on one of the new Shimano Terez rods. That must have been a blast.
Chris at Harry’s Army Navy in jumped in with news of a 40- and 50-pound bass from the same boat. Rather than snag and drag the ticket has been to snag the bait and drop it down to the bottom on a fishfinder and hold on. His partner in the fishing department, Eric, was limited out on stripers by sunrise this morning. The fluke bite has picked up in quality of fish being taken but from deeper waters, and a 530-pound thresher hit the scales after a 2 hour battle from one of the near to the beach bunker schools.
Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom has their crew in on the bite as well as the fishing starts to shift into summer mode. The fluke bite in deeper water structure is has picked up but the striper bite on the schools has not dropped off yet. Although it is historically minnow season for fluke, the scientists seem to be winning with GULP taking most of the keepers. The bunker schools are still in the neighborhood with the smaller tighter school holding the fish. Offshore anglers that use Fisherman’s Headquarters as headquarters, are all loading up on what has to be one of the best bluefin bites in years. There is no secret spot…. The fish are where they are supposed to be but there are lots more of them.
Fin-atics in Ocean City is reporting that the kingies are still on the beach to make your fish fry and bikini watching a top-notch multi-tasking experience. There are still some bass being taken on clam and bunker from the beach, but most of the hot chatter is about the local reefs heating up for summer flounder. Although the Sea Bass fishing is spotty, even on some of the deeper structure, getting deep into the wrecks and not the surrounding “safe” zone seems to be the most productive strategy. It’s time to donate a little extra tackle to the reef monster, but the rewards are there. Offshore reports had the Spencer as a hotspot for yellowfin, but the temperature there dropped this week ( I was there on Tuesday) and many boats including my ride went further south to find some of the best looking water I have seen in June in a very long time.
Tackle Direct in Somers Point has had a number of their guys offshore this week and almost all of them came back from the southern canyons with full boxes and great stories. Spreader bars as a central feature with skirted ballyhoo around them has been the real combination for raising the yellow fin. They are mostly coming up and attacking in wolf packs, so if you get that first hook up the last thing you want to do is throttle back. Keep moving and there is a good chance of you getting covered up for a good old fashioned Chinese fire drill in the cockpit. Tackle Direct just got in a new selection of spreaders and the Offshore Wall is fully stocked.
Capt Andy’s in Margate has a great Father’s Day weekend with plenty of fish to report. The local reefs; AC, OC, the Mud wreck, and the GE have started giving up nice fluke if you are willing to dive into the rubble. The back bay fluke bite has seemed to step up as well with more keepers, but you still have to cull through lots of throwbacks… still lots of fun if you are out with the kids. Local pontoon boats The Keeper and the Fish n Fun have had pretty full rails and smiling anglers as they work some of the traditional areas. Although Gulp is still a pretty safe bet, guys using mackerel cut in pendent strips are doing very well. Stripers on poppers in the back early in the morning and after dark are still keeping the bay rats busy.
There are also good reports of white marlin and a few big blue marlin from the unusually warm canyon waters. The Old Grounds have started to give up their bounty as well for those serious fluke guys that make the commute to what is historically the best fluke area in their region.
Best Fishing Bets for the Weekend
All things considered, I’d say it is time to fish. Just think of those cold winter months sitting in your garage with the space heater on blowing on your hands while you are tying rigs…. Trust me, it is time to get out there and lose a few of them!
Try the reefs for flounder, the nearshore waters from LBI North for big stripers and the southern canyons for yellowfin and a shot at billfish.