This week’s fishing report is much like last week’s – only better
The fluke bite remains solid from Raritan Bay south to the Manasquan Inlet and now porgies and snapper blues have joined the party. There are some small bass showing up in the suds early in the morning on soft plastics and the blue claw crabs just keep getting bigger and bigger.
It’s still a fluke show, however, with some big fish being caught in the rivers and the ocean.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at The Tackle Box in Hazlet reported a couple of doormats were pulled out of Raritan Bay this week with Dawn Johannsmeyer of Oakridge landing the biggest fish – a 13½ pounder in the Sandy Hook Channel. Sciortino also had an 11¾ pounder at the scales.
The heavy fishing pressure in the Raritan Reach of late, said Sciortino, has seen a drop off in the catches there, but other areas are more than picking up the slack. He said the Ambrose Channel and the Sandy Hook Channel are giving up lots of keepers with plenty of fish in the 4- to 6-pound range.
The porgies also came into the area with fish up to 3½ pounds being caught and a lot of boats are supplementing their fluke catches with sea bass. Finally, snapper blues, that favorite summer fish for kids of any age, are showing up around the marinas.
Joe Jr. at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands also reported fluke fishing that’s keeping everybody happy, plus a surge in porgy catches. It wasn’t all fluke, however, as Don Decarro from Rosewood came in with a smooth puffer fish that weighed close to 6 pounds.
He also reported bass in the early hours at Sandy Hook on clams and worms.
The Angler out of Atlantic Highlands continues to have great success with the flatties. Last Friday was the best day of the year, said Capt. George Bachert, with a number of limits around the boat and some big fish.
Conditions deteriorated over the weekend but the fishing was still pretty good. Then things bounced back nicely at the beginning of the week with two fish over 10 pounds caught on Tuesday, along with an 8½ pounder.
The Angler is still catching fish in the Reach but finding them elsewhere when the ship traffic gets to be a problem. Right now, he said, there’s a ton of bait in the water and natural offerings seem to be doing better than Gulp and bucktails.
All the boats out of the Atlantic Highlands Marina are enjoying the good fluking. The Sea Hunter, Sea Tiger II, Atlantic Star and the Fishermen have reported steady action on keepers and shorts with some fat fish in the mix and most anglers going home with dinner.
The Elaine B. II out of Highlands kept its streak of doormats going with another fish in excess of 10 pounds coming over the rail on Sunday. That’s the seventh of the year. Danielle O’Brien of South Bound Brook was the skillful angler and it was her second doormat of the season, nailing a 13-pound fish just a couple of weeks ago.
Bob Oakley from Schupp’s Landing, also in Highlands, said the average catch for their rental boats is about 4 to 6 keepers per boat. The fishing, he said, has been excellent and he just hopes it continues.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait And Tackle in Sea Bright got off the fluke train for a bit when he reported small bass being caught in the Sandy Hook and Sea Bright surf early in the morning. He suspects they’re feeding on sand bugs, or sand crabs if you prefer, and they’re hitting small shads and soft baits.
The Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers are loaded with peanut bunker, he said, and the bluefish are feeding on them. The fluke fishing is getting better in the surf as long as the south wind stays away. Once that starts, he said, the water temperature drops and fishing shuts down. The crabbing in both rivers is getting better every day.
Rich at Long Branch Bait and Tackle said there are loads of big crabs right behind the shop on Atlantic Avenue.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar reported good fluke fishing this week in both the river and the ocean.
Ryan DeGraw of Wall got a Shark River fluke that weighed 6½ pounds while Vince Russo of Ewing came in with an ocean fish of 9 pounds, 11 ounces.
The Big Mohawk reported the weather didn’t really cooperate over the weekend but things were much improved by Monday. Capt. Chris Hueth said there were several anglers with limits and the pool fish was 8 pounds and a number of fish in the 4- to 5-pound range.
Dominick DiGirolomo fished on the Mohawk on Tuesday and said the action was a repeat with several limits and lots of keeper fish around the boat.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing, Belmar, has been banging away at nice fluke as well while putting limits of sea bass in the boat for his anglers along the way. He’s been getting lots of fish in the 5- to 6-pound range but has yet to put a doormat in the box. It’s just a matter of time, he said.
The sea bass have been keeping Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker busy along with the fluke. The bluefishing went quiet for him, so he’s been concentrating on those species with very good fishing.
Capt. Rich Falcone reported a mad mackerel bite on Tuesday’s bluefish trip with anglers getting 60 to 70 fish per person. The mackerel have been filling the gap when the blues don’t show, but Capt. Falcone said they’ve been finding them most days on jigs. They’re also seeing a few pollack.
The bluefin bite slowed down a bit, reported Jeff at Harry’s Adventure Outfitters in Robbinsville, as the fish appeared to move farther east in the vicinity of the Bacardi Wreck. They’re still being caught, he said, but the numbers weren’t as good as last week.
The fluking, he said, is really good at the Axel Carlson Reef with the Manasquan River yielding some nice fish as well. Little snappers are also in the river.
Catherine at Brielle Bait and Tackle said that the fluking right now is the best it’s been in a couple of years. In addition to the Axel Carlson Reef, the Sea Girt Reef is holding a lot of fluke and she, too, had word of 6-to 7-pound fish coming out of the Manasquan River back by the Route 70 Bridge.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
Hate to sound like a broken record, but fluke fishing remains at the top of the chart. There is plenty of action on shorts and way more than a good chance you’ll be taking something home for dinner. Bucktails with Gulp and standard baits like killies, spearing and squid are all working. You just got to go.
That 8 pound puffer fish should have been let go.