With heavy winds and rains continuing through the weekend (not to mention a possible hurricane landfall), this is looking more like a “batten down the hatches” kind of weekend. Surf fishing and boat fishing will be out of the question for a few days, but anglers dead set on wetting a line, safely, will have to shift their focus to the back bays and to freshwater.
Fall run fishing was shaping up before the weather turned wet and windy, and the reports from before the storm will give us a good idea what to expect when the winds abate and the seas calm.
Larger stripers are returning to New York Harbor reported Akira at True World Tackle in Bayonne. Akira caught a 38-inch, 21-pound striper there last weekend, and had lots of action from short fish and blues. Live eels were the bait of choice. His friend returned the following day and caught several keeper stripers, also on eels. Closer to Bayonne, snapper blues and small stripers are being caught off the piers. Live peanut bunker are getting the bites.
The surf action was heating up in Sea Girt and in the pocket at Manasquan as resident stripers were beginning to feed on mullet reported Rob at Harry’s Army Navy. Last week, Rob got out in the boat to look for one last doormat for the season, but instead found big schools of small weakfish off Asbury Park. The weakfish hit the jigs meant for fluke, but none were “tiderunner” size according to Rob. Weakfish and croakers occasionally school together off the ocean beaches this time of year, but this particular school was only weakfish Rob reported. Rob’s hopeful that the small weakfish will draw some large stripers into the beaches after this weekend.
Surf fishing is picking up in Sea Bright. The Giglio’s boys hung a few fish from the scale this week including 21-, 15- and 10-pound stripers, and a 5.8-pound bluefish. All of those fish were caught on lures, with the Tsunami Swim Shad being one of the hot baits this week. It’s no wonder with peanut bunker moving through the surf zone. Albies have also been reported ripping through the surf as they feed on silversides and peanuts.
With the inclement weather, most boats have been docked this week, but are looking forward to fishing for sea bass, tog and stripers in the coming weeks. Black sea bass season will be reopening on October 22, so it’s not too soon to book a trip for these scrappy, delicious bottom fish. Parker Pete is waiting out the weather, but is getting ready for the excellent fall fishing that will be following this storm.
The Miss Belmar’s last trip was on Tuesday, and it was a good one. The fares caught bluefish to 20 pounds on diamond jigs and Krocodile spoons.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Stay safe this weekend, and keep your fingers crossed that Joaquin passes out to sea, like they were projecting as of Thursday afternoon. Even if the storm doesn’t hit, persistence Northeast winds and rain will make it a good weekend to stay inside and prep the gear for the coming fall run.
When the storm passes and the seas calm, check out the surf. Fall storms like these have a tendency to move fish down from the North, so by the time things clear, there might just be a big school of migratory stripers right in the Monmouth County surf.
That time of the year you are likely going to be lokniog at striped bass and blue fish. You could also be lokniog at some fluke, kingfish, dogfish, sea robins and a few others. Stripers and blues are what you would probably want to target.References :