New Jersey Fishing Report for 3-5-2015

The first striper of the year was weighed in at Absecon Bay Sportsman last week, an impressive 29-pounder. Several other fish were also weighed in. Does this mean the striper bite is on in New Jersey? Not quite.

While most of the backwaters are still too cold (or too frozen) to produce any reliable striped bass action, the successful anglers keyed in on the warmest water they could find to catch the bass. Beyond the power plant warm-water discharges at Oyster Creek and Beesley’s Point, we still need a warm up to get the bass fishing really under way. A few other fish were caught at the warm-water discharges, but most anglers fishing these waters have reported slow fishing.

As of Sunday, anglers were still ice fishing on Lake Hopatcong. Laurie at Dow’s Boat Rental reported that  Knee Deep Club held their final ice fishing contest with 79 entrants on Sunday.  The top three pickerel weighed between 4 pounds, 5 ounces and 4 pounds 12 ounces. The largemouth bass weighed between 2 pounds 6 ounces and 3 pounds 15 ounces. The perch and crappie category had fish weighing between 1 pound 15 ounces and 1 pound 5 ounces. Rich Maly, fishing with shiners on a tip up had a 46-inch muskie, released alive, and Anthony Accetta, while fishing in the contest and winning two prizes, also had several other pickerel weighing over 3 pounds.  Hopatcong had about 24 inches of ice as of Monday, according to Laurie, who said not to expect it to be gone anytime soon.

Blackfish season is closed for the month, but will reopen in April before closing again in May. Of the party boats, many are holding out for some better conditions, but the Dauntless out of Point Pleasant is sailing through the ocean slush ice when conditions allow, targeting ling and cod.  The fishing has been okay, with the boat catching ling and throwback cod, with a handful of keeper cod in the mix.

Best Bets for the Weekend

With temperatures steadily climbing through the weekend and into next week, with a high of 51 degrees reported for Thursday, the striper fishing is bound to pick up in the backwaters. With temperatures currently hovering around 35 degrees in many backwaters, these warm days could get the water past that 42-degree point that most anglers look forward to for early season striper fishing.

Bait is going to be king for these early bass, either clams or bloodworms. If fishing clams, remember to keep the bait small and hold onto the rod to detect the bites from the lethargic stripers.

Ice fishing is still on the table for fishermen looking for their last hardwater fix until next winter. Hopatcong ice is holding strong, as are many of the other waters in the Northern half of the state. Warming temperatures could ice out some southern New Jersey waters, making for some excellent pickerel and bass action by next weekend.