New Jersey Fishing Report - December 30, 2015

 

If the fall run is supposed to be over, someone forgot to tell the stripers. The new year is upon us and the bass continue to bite.

Big bass, upwards of 30 pounds hit the beaches of the Lavallette, Ortley Beach Seaside Park and Seaside Heights on Monday of this week. Joining the stripers were big bluefish.

The fish were feeding on herring and adult bunker and John at Dock Outfitters in Seaside Heights said they hit pretty much anything that was thrown at them, including plugs, metal and shads, with the shads having a slight edge.

Tuesday’s wind and rain made things a bit more challenging and few anglers were braving the elements. Still, he said, the fish appear to be on a schedule, showing up every other day. With the wind shifting to the northwest on Wednesday, he believed the fish should still be around for those wanting to give it a try.

John Bushell at Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle was also busy at the scales on Monday with bass and bluefish coming in. The blues were up to 15 pounds while the stripers were from the mid-teens up to 30 pounds.

The schools are making their way south after hitting the beaches in Sea Bright last week. That isn’t to say they’ve vacated that area entirely.

Tom Giglio at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle said the fish were still around over the weekend, but the bite has quieted down. Most of the fish taken were in the 20-pound range with some smaller fish mixed in.

Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters out of Belmar said that he saw bass breaking on bait while tog fishing on Monday.

The blackfish bite has been outstanding, he said, with many of his anglers catching their limits. The fish, he said are still in relatively close and he’s been fishing in 30 to 60 feet of water

There have been a number of double-digit fish, but he said the main catch has been nice keepers in the 3- to 5-pound range.  The limit on blackfish drops from six fish to four on January 1, but that’s still a nice day’s catch. Capt. Sykes said that with the fishing the way it’s been, that shouldn’t be a hard number to reach.

There will also be changes to the black sea bass fishery. It closes at midnight on Dec. 31.

A sad fact not lost on Capt. Jeff Gutman on the Voyager out of Point Pleasant Beach who said the fishing has been pretty good with limit catches of sea bass up to 6 pounds. A 9 pounder caught earlier this month aboard the Voyager was just certified as the new state record.

He also said nice porgies up to 3 pounds are routinely coming over the rail.

It has not been the drop and reel fishing Gutman expects at this time of year due to the higher-than-average water temperatures but it’s still been good.

Once the sea bass season closes, the Voyager will target cod, ling and porgies.

The Big Jamaica out of Brielle has also been doing well with the sea bass and porgies. Capt. Howard Bogan said one angler on Sunday’s trip landed close to 50 fish with a mix of sea bass and porgies. He’s hoping to add some pollock to the mix in the coming weeks as the sea bass will be off limits.

Matt Mottershead at Tony’s Bait Tackle in Manahawkin said most of what he’s hearing is small bass in the surf hitting artificials. Those who still have boats in the water there are targeting tog and making some nice catches. Most of the marinas have closed for the season so there aren’t many anglers still sailing.

The tog bite is going strong in Atlantic City where Noel Feliciano at One Stop Bait and Tackle said the blackfish are all over the jetties, hitting green crab and clams. And the bass show no signs of quitting there either.  Folks are catching them on the beach and boats are picking them up on the troll and jigging.

In Ocean City, the blackfish are in the back bay hitting green and white leggers around 9^th Street under the bridge and close to the piers. Justin Schenker at Fin-atics said the tog aren’t alone as there are a ton of small bass back there with some keepers mixed in

He said there is an incredible amount of sand eels in the bay keeping the bass well fed.

The bass are out front as well. Guys fishing the beach near the center of town are snagging bunker when the get close and landing stripers up to 30 pounds. Schenker said he’s seen bass around late into December before, but not like this.

Boats trolling and jigging farther offshore are landing fish in the 20-pound class. There were good reports of fish off Sea Isle City on Monday.

There’s also lots big perch being caught up the rivers down there on grass shrimp, Schenker added.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Tog are providing the most consistent fishing. Jay at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said the boats out of the municipal harbor are all doing pretty well. The same can be said for the party boats out of Belmar, Brielle and Point Pleasant Beach, which are also getting porgies and some cod.

For stripers, it doesn’t look like they’re in any hurry to call it quits just yet. Most of the action has been in the area surrounding Island Beach State Park and further south. Bring your arsenal of artificials, especially swim shads and a snag rig.