The witches and ghouls are fast approaching as we head into the Halloween weekend, but the best “treat” is the recent activity of Striped Bass in our coastal waters and the opening of Sea Bass. It seems that a huge body of fish is still in NY, but a few smaller schools of decent sized bass have made their way down. The “Hook” to Sea Isle are showing signs of bass on live-bait, trolled lures, and tossed plugs. We had the opening of our Sea Bass season last week, and it seems most of the bigger fish have settled in deeper waters from 80 to 100 feet. Offshore has still had solid tuna action on Yellowfin and Longfin tuna in the Hudson Canyon according to most bluewater hunters.
Since the weather put a slight damper on the fishing, the shops were more than willing to give some great reports of the past week. Greg from Brielle Bait & Tackle said the Sea Bassing was awesome in the 100 foot depths about 10 to 11 miles out. There were a lot of keepers caught along with some big Porgies. Along the beach, trollers have been catching Striped Bass in the 25 to 40-pound range on rubber shads, with pink being the color of choice. Brielle to Asbury Park had some nice snag-n-drop fishing on early morning Bass. The Bluefish have been pretty thick at the Mudhole and most in the 10 to 20-pound variety. The Hudson Canyon was still hot on Yellowfin and Longfin on sardines.
Jason from Fisherman’s Supply mentioned that it was pretty good before recent blow. Some bass have been taken from the beach, but it has mainly been a boat thing with anglers snagging bunker or trolling bunker spoons. There was a pretty good night bite on Striped Bass for anglers throwing needlefish from Bay Head and Mantaloking suds. The tuna bite was going strong, but started to die off with the recent Full Moon.
The Point Pleasant boats got into the recent Sea Bass and Tuna action. The MIMI VI was back on the Yellowfin this past prior to the windy weather and the fish were still biting at the canyons. The skipper had the Bob Brunish gang out on deep wrecks and landed some beautiful humpback Sea Bass, dinner plate Porgies, Cod, and Pollock.
The Gambler will be targeting Striped Bass starting November 1st for everyday action, but will be sailing for a few choice Tuna trips. The tuna bite continues to be good and should approach red hot upon the downside of the Full moon.
The Norma K III relayed a report of great Sea Bassing with lots of shorts, but plenty of keepers making it over the rail and on the dinner plate of most anglers aboard. The boat is gauging the weather over the next few days, so call ahead to see if the vessel will be sailing. Meanwhile, the Bluefish action has been hot and heavy on choppers in the 10 to 20-pound range.
Jersey Hooker Outfitters said the Togging at the Point Pleasant Canal is still going strong on “trick or treat” green crabs. There are quite a shorts to weed through, but it makes for an exciting outing. Striped Bass has been good at night for anglers drifting or tossing live-eels. The boats have been catching-them-up on bunker spoons from Sandy Hook to Deal and everything in between. Sea Bass catching seems to be best in the wreck sites in the 10 to 15 mile range, and if you go short of that, “Your covered in shorts.”
From the quaint beaches of Island Beach State Park, Betty and Nicks Bait & Tackle reported a better bite as of late off the beach for Blues, Bass, and some leftover Shad. Brian has been hearing of more Striped Bass hitting the sands at night compared to during the day shift. Most angler have been throwing plugs or needlefish and working them slow to score.
Dock Outfitters has had Bass off the beaches during the morning tides on Deadly Dick’s and AVA jigs. Crabbing still remains good with a better quantity of larger Blueclaws making it to the steamer. Remember, just add Old Bay and Beer. The boats had some smaller snag-n-drop action on bass, during the dawn and dusk hours.
Lenny from Capt. n Hippos said the Striped Bass action has been on the beach from Island Beach State Park to Seaside Park. Fresh Clam, chunk bunker, and live-eels have been the ticket. Lenny also heard of some schoolies being landed in the Toms River, but that is a little hush-hush. Crabbing has slowed down on the west side of Barnegat Bay with the lower bay temperatures. The bay had a halfway decent bite on live-eels drifted in Double Creek and Oyster Creek channels.
The Barnegat Light boats were on the fish both inshore and offshore. Capt Ted of the Super Chic had the Brandywine Concrete group hitting up the Seabass and Porgies on some inshore wrecks in the 80 foot range. After a quick turn and burn, the vessel had the Steve Mitchell charter on an offshore tuna trip. The group caught some nice Yellowfin in the 60 to 70-pound class and released a small Swordfish.
The Carolyn Ann III was busy with not only daily fares, but some extra afternoon charters with some local high school fishing clubs. The MATES, Barnegat high school, and Southern Regional high school had their students’ fishing on three separate trips. The boat had to go the distance to find some keepers for the students. As Gina said, “it’s great to see the kids out here, it is our future.”
Creekside Outfitters recommended Sea Bass on the Garden State North and South reefs for quality sized keepers. The Striped Bass bite has been pretty good inside, and rather slow outside according to most shop patrons. There have only been a few keepers weighed in the shop over the past week.
Tony’s Bait & Tackle reports a variety Striped Bass from the surf to the bay to the boat. The bay had a decent bite early in the week for anglers drifting live-eel at night in Barnegat Bay and Little Egg Harbor. Andy said there were some Bass picked on green bunker spoons from Seaside Heights to a few miles south. The reports have dwindled as the wind and weather have put a recent damper on the fishing.
Down on the shores of Brigantine, Riptide Bait & Tackle, reports a good Tog bite on the Brigantine and Atlantic City jetties with the white chins on green crabs. The beaches of Brigantine has had some Bass and there has been some keepers out front. The weather will hopefully not put a big damper on the bite.
Dave of Absecon Bay Sportsman said anglers have been getting them pretty good on the Berkley Gulp Nemesis fished on 3/4 oz jig head in the skinny waters on the flood tides. As Dave says, “Wind from the East, fish bite the Least; Wind from the West, fish bite the Best.” So hopefully this recent heavy East winds doesn’t kill it. Meanwhile, the tog bite has been outstanding off of Brigantine and Atlantic City.
Nowell of One Stop Bait & Tackle said it has been Tog, Tog, and more Tog. In fact, he keeps inviting me down there to get in on the action. The area has been real hot and heavy on Blackfish taken from the T-jetty. Some of the keepers have ranged from 4 to 8-pounds. The Striped Bass action has steadily increased, but is still not as hot as the Tog.
Capt. Mike from Stray Cat Charters said Friday and Saturday are open for Sea Bass, and the boat plans on fishing deepwater wrecks with crab and clam to bail Sea Bass and Blackfish. The boat will switch to it’s combination Blackfish and Striped Bass trips upon the opening of the Blackfish season.
The Tackle Direct team said the Striped Bass fishing has gotten steadily better around the bridges and sodbanks of Ocean City. The offshore game was pretty good as of late, especially in the Hudson canyon, on Yellowfin and Longfin. It seems most boats could capitalize with chunk baits and jigs.
As we move down the NJ Parkway to the OC area, Fin-Atics, mentioned that the fish are spread out in the back. There have been some bigger fish taken on Clam and Bunker near the deeper drops adjacent to sod banks, and smaller fish taken around the bridges. The 9th Street area of Longport has been pretty good on drifted live-eels. On an inshore note, Sea Bass have been easily boxed from wrecks in the 80 to 90-ft range. The Atlantic City reef and backside of the Great Egg reef have been better on the Sea Bass. The Corson’s Inlet has had some small weakfish in the mix of schoolie bass.
Mike from Sea Isle Bait & Tackle had some anglers getting halfway decent fish on fresh bait (clam and bunker), but it has been pic. The backbay had more to offer with guys hooking up drifting eel, working plugs, and bucktails close to the sods. The Sea Bass season opened with a bang and most anglers were able to box some keepers especially hitting the deeper wrecks.
And to round out our Halloween report from Cape May, Jim’s Bait and Tackle said that the Sea Bass season opened with a bang and anglers got the best keeper action in some of the deeper wrecks. Clam and squid dropped in the 90 to 110 ft areas had humpbacks coming over the rail. The Striped Bass have quietly been more active, especially when drifting the rips with live-bait. Offshore has most of the Tuna action in the far reaches of the Hudson Canyon on chunked bait.
Best Bet for the Weekend
This week I’ll break it down by type of fishing starting in the backbays. The back has a lot to offer in terms of Striped Bass, so work the sod banks and inlets with artificials or drift live-bait. The jetties and adjacent rockpiles will have you bailing Tog with green crabs, especially if your in the Atlantic City area. The surf has had some Striped Bass with fresh bait being the key in our southern points, while plugs and needlefish have worked better to the north. For boats not trolling bunker spoons for Striped Bass, hit those wrecks 10-15 miles out for quality Sea Bass an Porgy action. And for anglers wanting to take a longer boat ride, hit the Hudson Canyon for Tuna and Swordfish. Good luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines!
Find this very useful have fished with you in the past Brett and I now have a Defiance pilot house of my own out of Bayview Marina . Thanks