At the moment, Northern New Jersey anglers are sandwiched between two big bodies of striped bass. One is off Southern New Jersey, where fishermen are trolling up 20- to 40-pound stripers. Another is off the South Shore of Long Island where surfcasters are catching good numbers of blitzing bass. Bait is still thick off Monmouth County, with peanuts still moving through and sand eels beginning to show.
Small stripers have been keeping fishermen busy in recent days reported the crew at Giglio’s. They’ve been hearing reports of decent action with schoolie bass in the surf before first light. Plugs are working best, but clams have been taking fish as well. Bluefish seem to have moved on, as none were reported to the crew at Giglio’s this week.
Pete at Parker Pete Sportfishing reported that with the full moon, the stripers seem to be feeding through the night. He caught the tail end of the action early on Tuesday morning, and then had a slow pick through the rest of the day. He did mention a couple bluefish were in the mix.
The Miss Belmar Pricess had great striper fishing on Monday after a slow weekend. They caught stripers to 20 pounds with a couple jumbo blues in the mix.
With sand eels moving into the surf, Jeff at Harry’s Army Navy said Super Strike Needlefish are getting bites. Boat fishermen are doing best by imitating big baits with bunker spoons and umbrella rigs. The bass in the surf are generally 24 to 34 inches, but boat fishermen are still catching 20- to 40-pounders Jeff said.
Tog fishing is going strong. Many fishermen are catching limits, with some fish weighing up to 15 pounds. Bringing along white-legger crabs will give you an edge, as keeper-sized fish seem less interested in green crabs.
In freshwater, anglers can take advantage of the winter trout stocking (which took place early this week) to catch big rainbow trout. Approximately 5,000 rainbows were distributed over 24 ponds. To catch the ‘bows, Powerbait, mealworms, and nightcrawlers will do the job for bait dunkers. Roostertails, Rapala Countdowns, and 1/8-ounce gold Kastmasters will work for lure slingers.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Head out at night or at the crack of dawn for the best striper bite. Bring along some white-legger crabs and switch to tog once the sun comes up and the bass shut down—just make sure if you are keeping any bass, you don’t bring the fish past the three mile mark. Possessing striped bass in federal waters is illegal regardless of where you caught them.
If Thanksgiving plans are keeping you from the salt, take advantage of the winter trout stocking and catch some big rainbows to add some color to your long weekend.