Northern New Jersey Fishing Report - July 9, 2015

The striper run isn’t done yet. There were several big bass taken by boat fishermen off Monmouth County this week. Brayden from Efinger’s Sporting Goods reported one boat was out targeting fluke when a school of bunker nearby came under assault by 35- to 40-pound stripers. Tom at Giglio’s reported good striper fishing for the boats, but said no fish have been reported in the surf just yet.

Chunking has been one of the best bass tactics in Raritan Bay. Fishermen are setting up over hard bottom and chunking bunker to bring in the stripers. Some very large stripers were taken out of Ambrose Channel over the weekend, including a 64-pound behemoth.

The surf has been slow for stripers, but fishermen are catching schoolies by walking the beach with small plugs at first light.

Fluke fishing really improved in the ocean from Sandy Hook to Shrewsbury Rocks over the weekend. Boats like the Skylarker are finally targeting fish. While there has been plenty of action, reported Steve of the Skylarker, keepers are still a little tough to come by. On one of his trips this week, about of nearly 400 fish landed, only 17 exceeded the 18-inch minimum size. Pool fish have been in the 6-pound range.

The Bait Shop in Bradley Beach weighed in a 7- and a 4.8-pound fluke this weekend, both taken on boats.

Fishermen aboard Parker Pete’s Sportfishing have been picking away at the fluke lately. The bite hasn’t been lights out, but Pete is finding a enough keepers to send his clients home with some great fillets.

The back bay fluke fishing was very good, reported Brayden, who said boats found good numbers of keepers plying the backwaters.

In the surf, fishermen are catching plenty of fluke, reported Tom at Giglio’s, but the shorts are outnumbering the keepers about 10 to 1.

Black sea bass fishing is good, but the two-fish bag limit is limiting angler interest. Most fishermen are stopping on a wreck or reef to catch a quick limit of sea bass before moving onto fluke, ling or cod.

The inshore cod fishing has slowed reported Steve at Skylarker, but offshore cod fishing is still great. Brayden at Efinger’s reported that boats hitting the 30- to 40-mile wrecks are catching good numbers of big cod, some larger than 30 pounds. In closer, ling fishing has been good.

Some of the warm-water visitors are starting to hit the reefs. One boat found a few triggerfish mixed in with the sea bass this week reported Tom at Giglio’s.

Bluefishing is picking back up with 1- to 2-pounders hitting the bay and inshore waters this week. Offshore, the Miss Belmar Princess found some good bluefishing this week, along with a few bonus cod and pollock. The bigger blues may be on their spawn right now, but once that ends, the fishing will pick right up.

Freshwater fishing is pretty good as well. The crew from Efinger’s had some trout in Ken Lockwood Gorge this week. The water temperature was still 64 degrees, which is great for trout and hatches. Bass fishing is very good as well. Fishermen are having good success working around lily pads with weedless frog lures.

Best Bets for the Weekend

This could be the last call for good striper fishing. Get on the water early and look for schools of bunker, or stay out late and chunk. There are still some very big stripers around, but as the water temperature warms, these fish will make tracks for New England.

Fluke fishing is picking up in the ocean, and that trend should continue with more and bigger doormats showing up on the reefs and inshore structures. Be sure to bring a mix of bait and jigs. This week, it sounded like bait was out-producing jigs, but as the waters warm and more fluke arrive, jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp will take over as the top producer.