The song remains the same. While good reports of kingfish, porgy and sea bass catches are coming in, the first words out of everybody’s mouth continue to be about the excellent fluking.
Based on some first-hand experience, I can assure you it’s good. Together with friends Tom Moore and Jim Franklin, we fished the annual Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament last Saturday and caught fish all day long.
The fact that none of our keepers exceeded 3½ pounds and kept us well off the leaderboard did nothing to diminish the fun of a good day of fishing. But more on the tournament later
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said he continues to weigh in some nice fluke with Cisco Fernandez bringing in a 9½ pounder he caught on Gulp nuclear chicken and a bucktail near the Naval Pier. He also weighed in a 7 pounder for Joe Balska of Sayreville taken on a white bucktail tipped with Gulp.
Porgies are being caught on the rock piles, at Buoy 20 and Old Orchard but the bigger ones, Sciortino said, can be found on the Rockaway Reef. He hasn’t heard much on the bluefish lately, he said, but the snappers are in the local marinas and the crabbing in Keyport is terrific.
Joe Julian and Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said pretty much the same thing on the fluke fishing, with the area off Sandy Hook’s nude beach a good spot – for fishing, not sightseeing. He added that the porgy fishing is coming along nicely on the Sandy Hook Reef.
Anglers fishing the bulkheads in Atlantic Highlands and Highlands are picking up some porgies as well, Joe said.
The party boats out of Atlantic Highlands all report good fluking with daily conditions dictating the quality of the fishing. There’s plenty of action on shorts with most anglers getting a couple of keepers to take home.
Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands said he’s finding some good fishing in the ocean of late, especially in the offshore channels. He’s advising his fares to have some heavier tackle on hand if the boat fishes the ocean. Capt. Bachert said there are more fish moving in every day and the bay is still holding a good amount of big fish.
Bob Oakley at Schupp’s Landing in Highlands said folks on the rental boats out of there are having a blast. Both the Shrewsbury River and the bay are giving up an average of four to five keepers a boat. The area near the Sea Streak pier is holding a lot of fish, he said.
The big fish of the week was a 32-inch fluke caught by the Naval Pier on Sunday. Oakley said the river and bay are loaded with bait – peanut and adult bunker, spearing and killies. The crabbing around the landing is pretty good, too, he added.
The heat kept things quiet in Sea Bright as Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle reported not a lot of people were out fishing. There are kingfish in the surf hitting clams and worms and small blues are in the surf and Shrewsbury River.
While down at Gates Bait and Tackle in Point Pleasant, Martens said he got a report from divers of bass in the Manasquan River and guys fishing with eels have been picking some up. There’s loads of mullet in the river down there as well.
The heat hurt participation for blue claws at Long Branch Bait and Tackle but it didn’t seem to bother the crabs themselves. Rich at the shop said they are big and plentiful and the snappers have invaded as well.
Jeff at Harry’s Adventure Outfitters in Robbinsville said the main topic of conservation with his customers is the fluking.
He, too, fished the Elks tourney with three friends and caught over a hundred fish with a bunch of keepers at the Axel Carlson Reef, although none of the fish put the boat in the money. Gulp nuclear chicken 6-inch swimming mullets were the hot bait.
In addition to the fluke, he said the Sea Girt Reef is holding a lot of nice sea bass and mahi-mahi can be found at the Mud Hole pots. Some spike weakfish are being taken in Barnegat Bay as well and the tuna bite seems to have moved south. Jeff said there have been reports of good yellowfin action at the Massey Canyon.
Some bigeye have been caught as well over the last week, but the anglers have been coy about the exact location as the fish are entered in the inaugural Hoffman’s Marina Offshore Invitational. Bluefin and yellowfin have also reached the scales. Placid C’s sits atop the leaderboard with a bigeye of 219.2 pounds. The tournament ends this Sunday.
One boat that did make it to the leaderboard at the Elks tourney was Capt. Pete Sykes Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar. Angler Ed McCormick took second place with a 9.4-pounder he caught on Saturday. The tournament winner was Neil Pisane who brought a 10.6-pound doormat to the scales.
Tournament director John Veprek said there were 191 boats entered in this year’s event with total prize money of approximately $30,000.
Capt. Sykes said he’s been picking away at the fluke every day in 30 to 60 feet of water and finding plenty of nice sea bass as well.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker, also out of Belmar, is doing the same thing, catching a lot of fluke. He’d be happier with some more keepers but the action is keeping everybody happy.
He’s also getting sea bass up to 4 pounds, plus ling and winter flounder on some trips.
There’s plenty of activity at the scales at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar. Bob Matthews at the Den said the fluking is the best it’s been in the last couple of years.
He weighed in two fluke of 9½ and 5 pounds for Mark Christensen of the Bradley Beach Surfcasters caught off of Long Branch and a 7 pounder for Charlie Dana of Freehold he caught in the Shark River from one of the Den’s rental boats. The Big Mohawk out of Belmar brought a 10 pounder aboard on Saturday.
Matthews also reported that the kingfish are spread along the surf from Spring Lake to Asbury Park and some are finding their way into the rivers. Snappers are in and bass and blues are waiting in the surf for those willing to give up some sleep. Matthews added that more fluke are being taken by surf anglers of late as well.
The Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported the bluefish and mackerel bite fell off a bit in the last few days, but the fish are still around. Capt. Rich Falcone reported the afternoon family cruises are finding a plenty of fluke and sea bass.
John at the Reel Seat in Brielle also fished the Elks event and his crew of five came up with 30 keepers up to 6 pounds. They fished all over the place, ending their day at the Sea Girt Reef. Gulp pink shine and nuclear chicken 6-inch grubs did the trick for them.
From what John has heard, the yellowfin tuna bite picked up in the Toms and Wilmington canyons.
Reel Seat owner Dave Arbeitman was out tilefishing earlier in the week aboard the Voyager out of Point Pleasant and reported good catches of blueline and golden tilefish along with rosefish and hake. There were also several sightings of blue marlin clearing the water during the trip.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the good fluking became excellent over the last week. Big fish and loads of them were being caught off Long Branch and Deal on Gulp-tipped Spros. There were numerous weigh-ins of fish from 7 to 9 pounds in the last several days.
There are nice fluke are in the Manasquan River as well, he said, and the snappers have showed up around the docks. Good fun for the kids and great bait for big fluke.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – go fluking. The good fishing has only gotten better. Bucktails tipped with Gulp pink shine and nuclear chicken are the current favorites, but natural baits of spearing, killies and squid are catching fish as well. Head south if you’re after tuna and try the surf for kingfish on worms and clams.
Is this the John Oswald of Villanova fame?