Well, it is the last week of August, which signifies the end of the summer vacation season and the start of some good fishing as the baitfish and gamefish officially begin the fall migrations. Fluke will be migrating from our bays and inlets to their offshore haunts, while baitfish such as spearing, mullet, and peanut bunker will be schooling and getting ready for their southernly migration. September can be a great weakfish month with the fish on mullet and peanut bunker, but that remains to be seen with the size of the population.
With our northern central jersey report, Greg from Brielle Bait & Tackle reports solid fluking action from the Shrewsbury Rocks down through Seaside in 60 to 70 feet of water. He said the key is to finding quality structure and to short drift the areas for productive trips. Bucktails and Gulp have been the ticket to boxing keepers.
Jason from Fisherman’s Supply said to try the Bacardi for Yellowfin, Bluefin, and Mahi by jigging or using ballyhoo. Regarding inshore fluking, the Thunderbird down through the Seaside Pipe have produced fish. Most fish have been taken in 62 to 67 feet of water. The has been some fluke in the Manasquan River, but not a lot of keepers.
Capt. Ken of the MIMI VI has been targeting the offshore snags picking on winter flounder, ling, and some cod, whereas some of the closer wrecks have been giving up nice fluke. The boat has some open dates available and will be sailing this Saturday 8/29 for open-boat bottom fish 7am to 3pm.
The Gambler has been seeing some slow action as of late, with a fair amount of throwback fluke and a pic on the keeper-sized flatties. Afternoon bite has been better as of late, with better drifting conditions. The boat has been getting good ling on the night wreck trips, while the bluefish trips have been giving up 1- to 3-pound bluefish along with mackerel.
The Norma K III picked away at the keeper fluke on some of the afternoon trips with whole squid and bucktailing gulps. Gail Steinbach boxed a beauty 8lb keeper fluke to lead the boat’s monthly pool. Most keeper have been in the 4- to 5-pound range. Regarding bluefish, it has been a steady pick of 2- to 3-pounders with some bigger ones starting to show.
Jersey Hooker Outfitters reported solid fluking at reef site Axel Carlson and also at the Sea Girt Reef site. Some anglers hooked up with Brown sharks at Island Beach State Park on cut bunker and mackerel with the warmer surf temps. It seems that the best shot is toward the night high tides.
Betty and Nicks Bait & Tackle reported good fluking action for some fishing the suds, while others were cashing in on the bluefish near Barnegat Inlet. Brian mentioned if you fish the inlet for fluke, you want to have your offerings as close to the rocks as possible without getting snagged – this is where the bigger fluke will hang. The backside of IBSP has had solid crabbing, and good quantities of small blowfish in the 2- to 4-inch variety.
Dock Outfitters said anglers had fluke in the surf, but you have to put in a lot of time to find the keeper fish that meet the 16-inch (2 max) and 18-inch limits. Bucktail and Gulp have been the ticket to keeper fluke. Crabbing has slowed with an influx of females and the short to keeper ratio has increased dramatically. This could all change with the next moon phase.
Lenny from Capt. n Hippos said there have been snappers in the Toms River and also good crabbing in the same areas. Fluke are in there normal bay and inlet locations, primarily close to and at the edge of the inlet. Lenny heard of a good fluke bite at the south Point Pleasant canal with keeper to short ratios runnning 5 to 2. Kingfish, small weakfish, and some spot have been caught at Mathis Park. Blowfish are around, but very small.
Capt. Ted White of the Super Chic has been mixing it up with offshore day trolling trips for Bluefin, Yellowfin and some Skipjack Tuna. The boat has also been targeting some bottom-fishing fluke action at some of the nearby snags says the Skipper. Most keepers have been with a 10 to 1 ratio, and pool winners are in the 4- to 6-pound range.
Gina from the Carolyn Ann III mentioned the fluke bite the past week as slow, and as Gina puts it, “I don’t want to sugarcoat it, but it has been honestly a slow pick of fish.” The keepers are hot and cold form drift to drift, sometimes they bite and then the next drift we get zero. The boat will be starting their 6hr fluke trips starting this Friday, August 28th.
Liza of Creekside Outfitters said fishing has been good and sometimes slow depending on the day, tide, and who you talk too. Most successful trips have been concentrated at the inlet. There are bluefish all around, so throw those metals. Crabbing remains solid, and blowfishing is picking up unfortunately with very small puffers only 1 to 4 inches.
Andy from Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin, reported slow fluking outside with the recent swell which most likely stirred up the bottom. Over the weekend, most boats stayed inside to pick at the keepers with high short ratios. There are small weakfish and croakers in the ocean tight to the beach out 3 miles from Beach Haven to Atlantic City.
Riptide Bait & Tackle mentioned kingfish being around, but lately it has been smaller than normal sized kings. The fishing has been slow as of late with the recent swell, and some boats made it out to the local reef sites (AC reef, Great Egg, and Little Egg reef sites) to box keeper fluke mixed with shorts and throwback seabass.
Dave from Absecon Bay Sportsman has had anglers concentrating on the reef sites and also the inlet areas for keeper fluke. If you fish the bayside, you should be fishing deeper water with bigger baits aka snapper bluefish, mullet, and peanut bunker. There has been some striped bass caught along the deeper sedges at night with the incoming. Topwater baits have been the key. Regarding baitfish, there are alot of different species which should keep some bigger fish around.
Nowell from One Stop Bait & Tackle of Atlantic City has had some decent fluking off the surf and jetties as of late. Although the keeper fluke has slowed down, there has been a few doormats caught including a 12- and 11.8-pound fluke caught off the Caspian and Melrose jetties on the shop’s fluke candy rig. Kingfish have been frequenting the beach areas, unfortunately they are small. The croakers have also showed up in force with some nice sized ones for the table.
Fin-Atics of Ocean City gave a solid report of smaller flounder, sea bass, and bluefish in the backwaters with a pick of keepers in 30-foot depths. The Great Egg holes and Corson’s Inlet deeper edges have been giving up some of the keeper flounder. The surf has had another influx of Brown sharks due to the warmer water temperatures. The reef sites have been hot and cold, which is typically for this time of year. The Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Great Egg reef sites have been consistent on keepers. Big bucktails and strip baits have been the key in the 60-85 foot depths. Water temps are still in the upper 70’s which makes for a slower than usual bite with the keeper flounder.
Sea Isle Bait & Tackle reported a lot of life in the surf with croakers, spot, kingfish, and small pompano on Sabiki rigs tipped with Fishbites or bloodworms. Mike said there are plenty of fish around to keep the young ones amused on the beach. The Brown shark bite has picked up again with the warmer surf temperatures, but it has primarily been a night bite. Crabbing is still off the charts in the southern locales, but try targeting areas adjacent to marshes. The night striped bass bite was good at the local sod banks on topwater Rapala Skitterpops or Mir-O-Lure Popadogs. These are good lures that mimic seasonal mullet that swim generally in the upper third of the water column.
Jim’s Bait & Tackle reported lots of short fluke at the Wildwood reef site with a small pick of keepers. There were a lot of recreational boats fishing the Cold Spring Inlet for Fluke, and most were rewarded with shorts and some nice sized flatties to 5.5lbs. The Delaware Reef Site #11 has been pretty good, and there hasn’t been many reports from the Old Grounds. Unfortunately, the inshore trolling bite died this past week with a ton of green water around the Lumps. Offshore action had the same problem in the Wilmington, but the Bigeye tuna are still there. The shop weighed in multiple catches in the 230- to 260-pound class. The billfish have been active in the Poorman’s and Washington canyons with White and Blue Marlin. The Lindenkohl and Carteret canyons were the only reports of Yellowfin. Back to the suds had fluke, but most were in the “unkeepable” range. The Delaware Bay have some quality catches of croakers and kingfish from the Cape May Point to the jetties around the Ferry terminal and they are still picking at sharks during the night.
Best Bet for the Weekend
If you are planning on targeting fluke for the weekend, cast net some of the bigger baits that are present. This means you have to be out there before the sun comes up to get quality baits and the extra time will pay off tremendous dividends. Since school is almost ready to start, take the kids on the surf and target those kingfish, croakers, and even fluke – before we know it the striped bassin” will be in full swing. Good Luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines!