Southern New Jersey Fishing Report - July 16, 2015

Well, we are halfway through July and the fishing has been pretty consistent for fluke depending on your location, and for sharks location doesn’t matter – “They’re everywhere!” Sorry Discovery Channel, but the Jersey Surf Sharknado continues to occur off our area’s beaches up to a few miles off with Brown sharks, Sand Tigers, and an occasional Blacktip leading the way. For anglers seeking less in the way of teeth, fluke in the back should be making their way to our area’s inlets but it seems to be running about a week or two behind as we are still getting some beauties in the backwaters. Recently on one of my charters, we pulled a nice 8lb and 9lb fluke on back to back drifts. It is a good sign that most of the headboats are starting to pick up some nice ones inshore; A.K.A it might be time to start fishing the inshore reef sites. I haven’t heard a lot on the inshore bluefin bite as it seems most are catching 60 plus miles from shore, they should be making their way closer this time of year.

And to start off this week’s reports, Greg from Brielle Bait & Tackle reports that the fluke have been biting at some of the reef sites such as the Axel Carlson and Sea Girt Reef. Some of the wrecks further offshore are still producing good quantities of Ling.

Jason from Fisherman’s Supply reported good fishing on the Voyager on cod and an-glers are still getting fluke in the Manasquan River but you need to pick through the shorts. The brown shark fishery off the surf has been absolutely on fire with most being caught early day-light hours or during the night.

The Point Pleasant boats have been doing a variety of fishing starting with Capt. Ken of the MIMI VI, who has been targeting the inshore lumps and wrecks for sea bass and fluke with some nice catches. The boat is currently booking open boat trips for a tuna, swordfish, mahi, and tilefish. There are still some spots available for open-boat tilefish July 19-July 20 and also open-boat canyon July 21-July 22.

Meanwhile, The Gambler has been pulling up some nice fluke, but you have to get through the shorts. There are still some nice sea bass being pulled on the fluke drifts. Most pool-winning fluke have been 5-6lbs caught on Spro bucktail or the traditional fluke rigs. The night wreckin’ trips have been a little slow, but are still catching bigger ling and some keeper cod in the mix. The boat is sailing for offshore bluefish on Saturday nights.

The Norma K III has seen some bigger fluke moving in and they are starting to see more fish in the 6 to 8lb class. It all depends on the drifting conditions, when they are right, the fluke chew. Lately, the morning trips have been faring a little better than the afternoons and there are still sea bass in the mix. Most of the fish have been caught on the squid and spearing combos. The night bluefishing has been up and down, and they are still seeing ones in the 2lb range. The bigger ones should not be far behind says the skipper.

Ray from Jersey Hooker Outfitters reported decent fluke action from the areas wrecks and reef sites such as the Sea Girt reef. The shop weighed in a nice 4.4lb fluke caught by Bill from Brick. There are still a lot of sharks around from the surf to offshore, and the shop is load-ed with a variety of shark rigging tackle and call ahead if you need shark bait.

Brian from Betty and Nicks Bait & Tackle reported some snapper bluefish being caught in Barnegat Bay with most being spread out. The north jetty of Barnegat Inlet has seen an influx of bluefish in the 2-5lb range with anglers throwing metal jigs are scoring. The fluking off the beach has been average with anglers having to cover a lot of sand to catch a couple of keepers. Crabbing is still very good in the bay and bunker is definitely the way to go for crab bait.

Phil from Dock Outfitters said that the summer fishing mode has definitely set in where fluking and crabbing become the mainstay. In the surf, small bluefish and blowfish are being caught on clam, squid, and bloodworm. The night surf sharking game is still picking at brown sharks and sand tigers, which have to been released. The crabbing from the piers and docks remain steady.

Lenny from Capt. n Hippos reports good crabbing at Good Luck Point with some of the blueclaws being in the 6inch variety. The snapper blues have been showing up in the Toms River and at Mathis Park and anglers are targeting them with snapper rigs tipped with spearing or small metals. Interestingly, a lot of baby black drum have been showing up in his recent castnetting expeditions, all of which are immediately released.

The Barnegat Light boats have also reported some decent fishing lately. Capt. Ted of the Super Chic is starting to see better fluking inshore with some decent sized keepers and nice sea bass in the mix. The boats most recent offshore trip provided yellowfin tuna and they had a white marlin on the line for awhile. The boat will be hunting for inshore bluefin this up-coming week.

Gina from the Carolyn Ann III reported the flatties have officially turned on beginning the end of last week. Most of the pool winning fluke have been 4 to 5lbs which have been going for Pink Shine Gulp baits. Gina recommends bringing a bag of White or Pink Shine Gulp baits on the trips. Cheryl Dugan caught a beautiful 6.98lb fluke who is now the boat’s new tournament winner. The boat is also picking up keeper sea bass in the mix.

Across the Barnegat Bay to the town of Waretown, where Liza from Creekside Outfitters reports good crabbing for the west side of the bay with a lot of crabbers using handlines and cages. The fluking is still producing fish from the BB to the BI buoys, and also near the Barnegat Inlet. Most anglers are catching on minnows and Gulp combinations. The blowfishing has slowed up quite a bit, but they are still there and you need to put in a boatload of time to put together a catch.

With our Long Beach Island report, Andy from Tony’s Bait & Tackle said fluking at the inshore reef sites (Barnegat Light Reef, Garden State North, and Garden State South) is very consistent with a good amount of short fluke, but very few keepers. He reports the bay fluking right now is better with keeper fluke from the 110 to 113 channel markers producing. In the ocean off of Holgate to the “LE” buoy has seen good-sized sand tiger sharks harassing bunker schools and some of these sharks are over 300lbs. Crabbing is still slow out in the bay, but very good in the lagoons and creeks on the west side of the bay.

Moving southward across Little Egg inlet to Brigantine, where Andy from Riptide Bait & Tackle reports brown and sand tigers are still being caught off the surf by night. There are still being a few kingfish and fluke caught during the day and he suggests working those bucktails tipped with Gulp in the surf for the flatties. The shop is stacked with surf shark gear and bait, so stop by if plan on trying the surf sharking game.

Jay from Absecon Bay Sportsman reported flounder still in the back, but lately it has been hit or miss. Anglers need to put in their time to get a catch of keepers. The reef sties have been slowly picking up on fluke and most notable are the Ocean City, Atlantic City, and Great Egg reef sites. The sharks can be easily caught from the surf, a few miles off the beach, or even in the bay. On the ever quiet weakfish, anglers are picking at them during the late night hours on soft plastics and there are some croakers that have been recently showing up. The shop is working very hard to secure live spot, so call ahead to see if they are in.

Nowell from One Stop Bait & Tackle can’t say it enough, the AC area has been on-fire this season and especially for big fluke off the seawall and T Jetty. The shop recently weighed in a beauty 6.7lb 27 inch fluke on live minnow. His fluke candy with the floating jig head and combination of live minnows is still producing DOAC doormats. Anglers are still getting kingfish and croakers on bloodworms or Fishbites from the surf.

Some team members from TackleDirect have recently attended the 2015 ICAST tackle show to bring back the latest gear and information on upcoming tackle. As far as fishing, there has been a good number of Yellowfin at the Wilmington and Spencer canyons and some white marlin have showed up on the troll. The sharking is still on-fire from the surf lines to inshore with most catching and releasing Brownies and Sand Tigers. The fluking has remained good in the back, but the shop recommends concentrating efforts closer to the inlets. Bucktails tipped with Gulp or live minnow have had the best success on keeper fluke.

With the Ocean City area report, Fin-Atics said the water temperatures have warmed and they are starting to see better action at the inshore reef sites. In the bay, 1-2lb bluefish are in the shallower areas chasing spearing and silversides, while the fluking has been really good in terms of quantity of fish under 18 inches. They have seen some fish in the 5lb to 10lb range caught which are coming from the deeper holes in the 25ft range. Bigger baits is the key to catching those doormats, a big bucktail tipped with 5 inch Gulp mullet will add to the bait profile increasing an anglers chances. The surf has seen mostly brown sharks by night, and a few kingfish by day but you have to work for the kings. The schoolie stripers are all over the sod banks at night and can be caught with a variety of artificials.

Mike from Sea Isle Bait & Tackle reports good flounder fishing with most of the good keeper bites coming from the Townsends Inlet reef site and they are having alot of triggerfish showing up at the area’s wrecks and jetties. Most keeper fluke are being caught on a high-low rig with jig on the bottom and live-bait on top. The area’s party boats have been picking at the fluke and sea bass. Regarding the surf, there are still a lot of Brown sharks in the area. The shop has good surf sharkin’ setups if you want to give it a try.

The Wildwood and Cape May area has had some good fishing also with anglers picking at keeper fluke. The Wildwood reef site and Cape May reef site have been giving up better quantities of keepers according to Jim’s Bait & Tackle. Reef site #11 had some fish as did the Old Grounds, but better sea bass are coming from these spots. The inshore tuna bite has been on-fire this past week with double digit catchs of Bluefin on the troll around the 19 fathom lump, Lemke’s Canyon, the Lobster Claw, and 40 fathom fingers. The Northeast Lump gave up Mahi-Mahi, but no tuna reports from this area. The offshore action has been good with the morning and evening being the best times to try, with Bigeye’s and Yellowfin being caught. The surf ac-tion has been slow for fluke and croakers, but the shark fishing has been real good from the Point, Poverty, and Cape May beaches.

Best Bet for this weekend

With this weekend’s weather forecast, you might have a window to get out and fish some of the inshore reef sites for bigger fluke. Remember, big baits = big fish. It seems the best guarantee for this weekend would be the surf sharkin’ scene as it has been on absolute fire over the past couple of weeks from Brielle to Cape May and everything in between. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines.