Depending on who you talked to and what you were targeting the fishing in Northern New Jersey ranged from ice cold to red hot this week.
Striped Bass
The Sandy Hook Bay area is still producing big stripers to 40 pounds reported Joe at Joey’s Bait Shack in Keyport.
Keeper-sized stripers are still feeding in the Navesink River as well according to a report from Giglios in Sea Bright.
The beach anglers got a small taste of the big bass action the boaters have been experiencing this week, with a short window of bass and bunker action that produced bass up to 42 pounds on pencil poppers Wednesday. The bunker have been appearing in the surf with more frequency this week, but the bass have not been with them most of the time.
At the Bait Shop in Bradley Beach, the surf fishing is slow, but the boats are doing okay. They weighed in a 34-pound bass this week taken from the boat.
The Shrewbury Rocks are still holding monster stripers, according to Phil at the Tackle Box in Hazlet. Live bunker fished around the structure are the name of the game for bass to 40-plus-pounds.
The word from the Reel Seat in Brielle is that the bass action in the surf is spotty, and the boat fishing changes daily, being red hot one day and dead the next. Some encouraging reports from down south suggest that more stripers will be moving through the area soon.
Fishing for schoolies is very good in the backwaters, and anglers casting small jigs are catching good numbers of the small bass. Small stripers have also been grabbing rigs intended for fluke in the rivers.
Fluke
The fluke fishing is improving with each degree the water temperature rises.
Word from the Reel Seat is that keepers are being caught from the beach on bucktail and gulp combos. The Manasquan River is still producing keepers as well, and the ocean is picking up.
The Bait Shop weighed in an 8.2-pound doormat from the Shrewsbury Rocks this week.
Fluke are plentiful in Raritan Bay, even being caught from the Keansburg Pier according to Joe at Joey’s Bait Shack. Gulp, squid and spearing are getting bites, and the hot colors for Gulp and rigs have been chartreuse and pink.
Other good spots for fluke have been the Ammo Pier, the TC Buoy and Sandy Hook Bay according to Phil at the Tackle Box.
Sea Bass and Ling
Sea bass and ling fishing has been good. Sea bass to 4 pounds were weighed in at The Bait Shop this week.
Bluefish
The big run of big bluefish along the beaches seems to have ended, although the party boats are finding slammer blues around the bunker schools and farther offshore over structure.
Spot and Croakers
Some spot were reported in South Amboy this week according to Joey’s Bait Shack. Croackers have also been showing up.
Sharks and Cobia
Fishermen chunking bunker for stripers had a few surprises this week. A few cobia and brown sharks took bunker chunks in the North Jersey surf this week. One cobia, weighed in at Castaways Bait and Tackle, checked in at 43 pounds.
The brown sharks, though not as desirable as stripers, are incredible fighters and a worthy target in the surf. They must be released, as do the sand tiger sharks, which were also caught in the surf this week.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Don’t give up on the bass bite yet. Some boaters reported all out blitz action this week, and there have been good reports farther south.
Fluke fishing is good and getting better. Hit a headboat or even try it in the surf if you don’t have your own boat.
Also, the Grand Reopening of Gates at 5 Ocean Avenue in Point Pleasant is worth swinging by the weekend.