Southern New Jersey Fishing Report - June 9, 2016

It’s been a great start for the month of June, and the new moon really got the fish moving and feeding.  Striped Bass fishing was pretty good in the northern parts of the region, although it was a little tough for sand-based fisherman to connect as most of the action was too far for casting.  The bay waters are starting to clean up as a majority of the slime has been flushed out and most anglers have seen a nice increase in their fluke catching rates.  It is “prime-time” for inshore/offshore sharking as a variety of shark tournaments are run over the next few weeks and I received some good reports of Mako and Thresher sharks being weighed in.  Don’t forget to bring at least one heavy setup when targeting bunker-busting bass, you never know when the “grey suits” will show up.

So here is this week’s synopsis:

The crew at Gate’s Bait & Tackle of Point Pleasant Beach reported good action off the Manasquan Inlet walls for Fluke and Sundial Flounder.  Bluefish have been spotty off the rocks, but there are still enough bites to warrant a cast.  There has been some action in the Manasquan River for Fluke on bucktails tipped with minnows and spearing.  Striped Bass have been active at night around the local bridges when targeted with soft plastics and swimming plugs.  The shop hasn’t received too many reports from anglers fishing the sand and the few that did try reported slow action.

Fisherman’s Supply of Point Pleasant mentioned that it has been a rather slow week in terms of fish being caught.  Some anglers are doing a pick in the Manasquan River on Fluke and good Striped Bass fishing on the snag-n-drop during the hours around dusk.  It has been a very limited bite, but if you hit it right it can be lights out fishing.  There has been some Fluke caught outside along the 55 to 62 foot depths along the reef sites.

Capt. Ken of the MIMI VI had a good couple of days this past week in the 60 to 80 foot stretches of rubble.  Anglers have been getting keeper Sea Bass at each drop location, and as the boat moved to deeper holes limits of Winter Flounder, Ling, and a few keeper Cod were common.

The skipper said the boat has a few open-boat trips left, and it is best to call or check the website.

The Gambler headboat out of Point Pleasant has been busy with during the day with fluke trips at the local snags.  At times the Fluke have been a little uncooperative, but the Sea Bass have been devouring the baits when drifting over the rougher bottoms.  The boat did some twilight Striped Bass trips and has reported good catches of bass up to 43 pounds.  The boat will be sailing this Friday and Saturday night for trophy-quality Striped Bass.

The crew of the Norma K III reported good fishing out of Point Pleasant for Fluke on both the morning and afternoon trips.  There was plenty of action on shorts to keep customers and mates busy, but only a pick on keepers.  Gulp-tipped bucktails and bait rigs worked with equal success.

The sands of Island Beach State Park have been very sporadic in terms of beached fish according to Betty & Nick’s Bait & Tackle.  There are some bass and bunker, but most of the time they have been out of reach for the even the longest long-distance casters.  A few of the mornings had good bluefish action near Barnegat Inlet.  One of the notable catches this week was a good sized Black Drum that took a clam bait.

Dock Outfitters of Seaside Park mentioned a lot of bait in the wash but not many gamefish on them.  Anglers are finding schools of bunker moving in and out of casting range from Seaside Park thru Island Beach State Park (IBSP) but very few fish are in pursuit. The hot spot still seems to be the very southern end of IBSP where they are picking blues and keeper bass on both lures and bait.  There hasn’t been much word on Fluke in the surf, but crabbing out back is hot right.  Most hand-lining crabbers are getting catches of 2 to 3 dozen keepers per session.

Lenny from Capt’n Hippos in Toms River reported Bluefish in the Toms River and White Perch still around in the Trilco area.  The shop hasn’t received much word on Fluke most likely from the recent slime outbreak.  There has been some Bluefish and Striped Bass out front of Island Beach State Park up through Belmar, but it has been rather sporadic.

The crew of the Carolyn Ann III of Barnegat Light reported decent fishing over the past few days.  There have been some really nice fish making it over the rail and many are in the 2-3 pound range with an occasional 4 to 5 pounder.  Most anglers have been able to bring home decent amount of fish as the bite has been pretty good at most wrecks.

Creekside Outfitters of Waretown has been busy with anglers picking up clam logs for a good bite on Blowfish near the 42 marker to the Barnegat docks.  The crabbing in the bay is excellent in and around Oyster Creek outflow.  Bluefish continue to be had at the mouth of Barnegat Inlet and fluking is good in Double Creek and Oyster Creek channels.  There has been good Striped Bass action on the troll bite from Island Beach State Park to Ortley in 60 to 70 foot of water.  Offshore had a decent week of Bluefin and Yellowfin on chunked baits.

Andy from Tony’s Bait & Tackle reported some snag-n-drop action from Seaside to Ortley Beach with Stripers feeding actively on small bunker schools.  Barnegat Inlet still has good numbers of 6 to 10 pound Bluefish feeding in Barnegat Inlet on the outgoing tides.  The brown slime has been slowly alleviating and with that the Fluke fishing is improving.  Crabbing in the back has also improved over the last week.

RipTide Bait & Tackle of Brigantine had a decent week of reports from anglers fishing the north end of the island.  Steve Federici had a 16 pound drum and a 3 pound weakfish caught on clam.  Ernie Storino caught a nice Flounder weighing in at 6 pounds and taping out to 24 inches. The fishing continues to be good and there are more Weakfish frequenting the Brigantine surf zone.  The jetties continue to provide good Bluefish action with choppers up to 12 pounds.

Absecon Bay Sportsman said the Striped Bass fishing has been sporadic out front from Sea Isle to Atlantic City with occasional bunker school busting action.  The majority of fish out front have been caught on trolled MOJO’s.  There is still keeper Striped Bass action in the river with fish taken on both live and chunk baits.  The Flounder scene is steadily improving with some fish close to 8 pounds boxed in some of the back channels in Absecon Bay.

One Stop Bait & Tackle of Atlantic City reported excellent fishing this past week from a majority of the jetties in AC.  The big news of the week was the monster Flounder that was landed from the Madison Avenue jetty.  The fish hit a bucktail tipped with minnow.  The Striped Bass bite is still going with most fish in the 40 to 45 inch range.  There has been some Weakfish taken from the jetties on both soft plastics and bloodworms.  Anglers using bloodworms have also caught a mix of Croakers and Kingfish.

The Ocean City area has been good on both Striped Bass and Flounder action according to Fin-Atics.  Flounder have been hitting Bucktails tipped with minnows and Gulp around Kennedy Park, Rainbow Channel, 9th Street Bridge, and the Somers Point area.  Vic Early nailed a beautiful 25 inch 6.17 pound Fluke caught using squid and mackerel in the back.  Striped Bass have been cooperative at night close to the inlets and bridges.  The surf in Ocean City and Margate had some action on chunked bunker for Striped Bass up to 22 pounds.

And finishing up our South Jersey reports is Jim’s Bait & Tackle of Cape May who said it was a decent week for Mako shark.  The shop held is annual shark tourney and there were a lot of fish caught and released.  The 1st place fish was caught by the crew of the”Fully Loaded” a 194 Mako and the 2nd place went to the crew of the “Lets Go” a 178 pound Mako.  The Drumfish bite seemed to move out into the middle of the Bay with some reports coming from the Pintop, and the outside edges of Tussy’s Slough.  There are still some Stripers being caught in the shallows along the Delaware Bay beaches for the boat fisherman but its slowing down with the water temperature rising.  There have been a number of Weakfish caught this week off the rock wall along Hereford Inlet in North Wildwood.  Some of these fish were in the 6 to 8 pound range  There is also some Weakie action at Higbee’s Beach and The Point with the best tactic being floated Bloodworms fished next to the rocks.  A few Fluke have been caught in the ocean just out front of Cape May, but the best action is still in the backwaters of Wildwood.

Best Bet for the Weekend

If fishing from land, then the inlets still offer the best shot at Bluefish and Striped Bass .  Boat fisherman will have several more options depending on the sea conditions with Striped Bass and Sea Bass easily targeted inshore, while offshore provides shots at Mako and Thresher sharks.  Some of the back areas that were affected by the snot grass have cleaned up enough to provide decent opportunities for Summer Flounder.  Bucktails tipped with minnows or Gulp still are providing the best bait.  Good Luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines.