The third week of September is shaping up to be a good fishing week and the weather has finally gotten a little of the fall-like feel in the air. The cooler nights should start to move the fish around and get the juices flowing. I’m hearing a lot of reports of varieties of species in the back, and also a better bonita, albacore, and mahi bite occurring north and extreme south. The fluke are at their usual sites, so work those deeper offshore areas. The night time striper and weakfish bite is a little hush-hush, but it is going on as the mullet are making their way. Meanwhile, it’s still a good offshore bite from just shy of the canyons to the deep blue. Hopefully the weather stays relatively calm throughout the rest of the this month.
So here are this week’s reports (north to south): Greg from Brielle Bait & Tackle said it has been a decent bite on Bonita, Albacore, and Mahi from 0 to 6 miles offshore and from Spring Lake to Point Pleasant. Most are being trolled up on small Japanese feathers and Clark spoons. There was some word of Bluefish and Albacore blitzing on baitfish off the beach the last three days. Fluke fishing has been good at the Klondike, Manasquan Ridge, and areas: 4 to 7 miles offshore. Greg said this is your best shot at keeper fluke. From the bridges, anglers are picking up a variety of species (bluefish, blowfish, spot, croaker, weakfish).
Fisherman’s Supply had good reports of Mahi and Tuna offshore from 70 to 100 miles, and most of the Canyons are alive with fish. This week had some Albies off the beach on metals worked quickly, and Striped bass are hitting up north on cut bait, whole mullet, and plugs.
The Point Pleasant boats have been working hard for Fluke with only a few weeks left in the season before the closure occurs on September 26th. The MIMI VI has been offshore targeting Bigeye and Yellowfin with the bite still going strong. The boat will be running some open-boat canyon trips this week and next week, and the boat still has open spots, so check them out.
The Gambler has been concentrating it’s fluking efforts 3 miles south and east of the Manasquan inlet. There has been plenty of action on short flounder, small bluefish, and most of the keepers have ranged from 2 to 5-pounds. The boat will be sailing for half day fluke for the remainder of the week, and will transition to canyon fishing.
The Norma K III has had decent action on fluke the past few days with some anglers able to get up to 4 keepers per trip. Anglers jigging 4 to 6-ounce bucktails tipped with Gulp have been producing the best action on keepers. On the bluefish front, the boat wasn’t able to get out to give a report. It has been a very tough season for the bluefish headboats this season, hopefully this changes for the fall.
The IBSP area has been steadily getting better on the fishing front according to Betty and Nick’s Bait & Tackle. This past week they had a major blitz off the beaches of IBSP on 3 to 5-pound Bluefish. The blues were gorging on rainfish and small weakfish right up to the suds. Brian is hopeful that the fall will really turn on as it did in years past. The backbay is still loaded with small bluefish, kingfish, puppy drum, blowfish, and small fluke.
Dock Outfitters reported that the cocktail Bluefish from Seaside Park to IBSP have been keeping most surfcasters and boat fisherman busy. Successful anglers are using either cut mullet, poppers, and small metals to tackle them. Meanwhile, small Stripers are still taking poppers and swimmers at first light around the north jetty of Barnegat Inlet. Crabbing has been hot and some nice September “jimmies” have been making their way into the bushel basket.
With our Toms River area report, Lenny from Capt. n Hippos mentioned that snappers are still in the river and are approaching about 8 inches in length. The crabbing is still good from the banks of the river and the shop got solid reports of bluefish up to 3-pounds mixing it up in the IBSP surf. It has been a little quiet on the fluke side of things. Lenny wanted me to mention that the shop has it’s new Fall hours in effect, and will be open M-F 7am to 7pm, Sat. 6am to 7pm, and Sun. 6am to 4pm.
On the oceanside of things, the Barnegat Light boats have been targeting inshore fluke and bluefish. The Super Chic has been getting keepers when the drift conditions are right among the numerous shorts. The boat has been seeing ratios around 8 shorts to 1 keeper at the area’s snags and wrecks. The skipper also had some jigging opportunities and put his fares on 2 to 4-pound Bluefish.
The Carolyn Ann III battled through some tough fishing on the days with high winds, but the boat still managed to put some meat over the rail. They have been catching lots of shorts with keepers mixed in and their ratios have been in the 8 to 1 ballpark. Some of the “pool-winning” fish have been in the 3 to 6-pound range.
Across the channels of Barnegat Bay, Creekside Outfitters advised us that there has been a solid small bass bite at the jetties on soft plastics, plugs, and S&S Rock Hoppers. Bluefish are all over the bay, and there are variety of species to target (blowfish, kingfish, etc). The offshore bite has seen 50 to 100-pound Bigeye tuna biting at the canyons. The fluke has been good out past the Tires and over near the Bathing Beach.
Just a few miles south, Tony’s Bait & Tackle reported that fluke are still biting at the reef sites and beyond on bucktails and Gulp. This has been the best bet for keepers. The backside of LBI has lots to offer with blowfish, black drum, and weakfish. Off the LBI surf, small kings, croakers, fluke and dogfish are being caught daytime while Brown sharks have been landed at night.
Moving south towards to Brigantine, Riptide Bait & Tackle, had good fishing continuing to keep anglers busy with a mix of Brown sharks, Kings, Snapper Blues, and Pompano occupying the surf zone. There has been isolated schools of mullet seen along the beach. There has also been several Butterfly Rays landed from the suds on fresh mullet.
Down at Absecon Bay Sportsman, Dave reported lots of flounder on the reef sites and wrecks, but low on the keeper count. In the 20 to 40ft ranges, they have seen schools of croaker and some keeper fluke below the croakers. There has been Tog and Triggerfish around the bridges along with some Sheepsheads. The back has had lots of smaller fish with blues, weakfish, and kingfish, plus some throwback fluke. There is a quiet Striped Bass bite at dawn and dusk on live baits such as peanut bunker and mullet.
The Atlantic City beaches have seen plentiful amounts of small Kingfish according to One Stop Bait & Tackle. Nowell says they are slaying the kingfish off the beaches and jetties, and some bigger keeper sized ones have moved in. Bloodworm or shrimp has been the bait of choice. There are blowfish in the back, especially around the Caspian Avenue. And grab your greenies because there are loads of shorty blackfish around, it’s about a 5 shorts to 1 keeper on Tog. The store is fully stocked on bloodworms, green crabs, and a variety of fresh baits.
Stray Cat Charters has been targeting bottom structure in deeper water depths approaching 90 and 100 feet. The boat has some open-boat trips available to target fluke through the end of the season. And once it ends, will be targeting Blues, Croaker, Weakfish, and may run for Canyon Tuna if the reports are quality.
Moving south, the team at Tackle Direct said the Ocean City area has been pretty slow on flounder with keepers being very sporadic. You need to definitely start hitting the inlet and beyond by now. There has been some resident keeper Striped Bass hitting the fillet tables, but they have been mostly on soft plastic or live-bait such as peanuts or mullet. There has been some shad in Corson’s Inlet and Townsend’s Inlet. Offshore has been more consistent with Wahoo and Mahi just inshore of the Canyons – work those pots. While the Yellowfin and Bigeye have been on the jig, chunk, or night-time troll.
Fin-Atics of Ocean City has seen a recent influx of slightly bigger Kingfish caught off the surf and a halfway decent bite on flounder with anglers working the deeper wrecks and snags. It seems that the fluke are pushing a little further offshore each week. There has been a pick of weakfish and croakers from the bay and the beach. The store has new Fall hours starting Sept. 21st, and will be open: Mon-Fri 730am to 6pm, Sat. 7am to 6pm, and Sun. 7am to 4pm.
In the Sea Isle City area, the fisheries are starting to definitely get that Fall feel according to Mike from Sea Isle Bait & Tackle. There has been better Bluefish action around Townsend’s Inlet on chunk mullet. Resident Stripers have been active in the surf zone on Mullet schools and some keepers have been caught. There are tons of puppy drum which are great on light tackle. Fishbites or Bloodworms have been the bait of choice. The ocean has seen a pick of flounder at the deeper water reef sites and schools of Croakers can easily be jigged up. Mike mentioned to target those Triggerfish, look for the tall, high profile wrecks where they seem to have moved to the bases of them. So basically target them closer to the bottom on high wrecks.
And rounding out this week’s report is Cape May’s Jim’s Bait & Tackle with a solid shout out on Fluke around wrecks in 80 to 90-ft of water. The reef sites and Old Grounds have had lots of shorts, but not so many keepers. The inshore lumps have been doing well on False Albacore, Skipjack Tuna, and some Mahi on the recent change in water clarity. There has been hush-hush reports of Wahoo at the Elephant trunk, and the White Marlin bite is there from the Norfolk to the Hatteras Canyon. The surf zone has seen an influx of Mullet and small 1 to 4-pound Blues have been sporadically moving it and out. The Cape May Point jetties still have a great bite on the Kingfish, and there have been some Red Drum around when the surf is rough. Cut Mullet or chunk Bunker has been the bait of choice.
Best Bet for the Weekend
If you have access to a vessel or own your own, get out in the deepwater and hit those reef sites. Better yet, find some of those smaller, less travelled wrecks and snags and you might find yourself a pile of fish. If you are or prefer land-based angling, set yourself up with some soft plastics and target those nighttime stripers and weakfish. Here’s how you begin to find them: look for structure a.k.a bridges and lights. Be Safe, Good Luck, and Tight Lines!