Summer’s favorite fish is out in full force.
The ocean fluke bite turned on big time over the last week spreading joy all along the coast. Those who continued fishing Raritan Bay and the local rivers weren’t disappointed either.
The tuna guys also had a good weekend as well with bluefin and yellowfin taken about 40 miles offshore.
Add some weakfish, blowfish, kingfish and blues and the warm weather fishing is shaping up nicely.
Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet reported lots of fluke caught over the weekend with a big increase in the number of ocean fish taken. The fishing in the Ambrose Channel showed a big improvement, he said.
After a day of good fluking on the Fourth, Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands said Tuesday’s fishing got off to a slow until the tide changed.
Then the fluke got hungry and the fishing was good with a mix of shorts and keepers. When an outbound ship disrupted the bite, the Angler found some fish out of the channel.
Overall, Capt. Bachert called it a good day with at least one limit.
Most of the boats out of Atlantic Highlands reported good results for the holiday weekend with lots of action and a nice amount of fish ending up in the coolers.
Capt. Stan Zagleski on the Elaine B out of Highlands also reported a good day of fluking on Tuesday, but said Monday was even better.
While there were no limits, there were a number of big fish caught, including the 9-pound, 7-ounce fish caught by Frank Lavelle of Hoboken. It was one of four keepers he had on the day.
However, the ultimate pool winner belonged to Tom Hollywood, Jr. of Staten Island as he landed a 10½-pound doormat. It was the sixth fluke over 10 pounds caught aboard the Elaine B II so far this year.
While the striped bass action has gone quiet, Ernie Giglio at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said a few anglers are getting some fish from the Shrewsbury River bulkheads on clams.
He also reported nice-sized blowfish in the river eating clams as well and the blue claws are becoming abundant.
Rich over at the Oceanic Marina in Rumson on the Navesink said one of their customers came back with a bushel of crabs. He also reported that the keeper ratio of fluke in the river is about 10 to 1. Last year it was about 25 to 1.
Just a bit south, Dick Bohnert at Long Branch Bait and Tackle said the fluking has been good in the Shrewsbury and in the ocean off Deal. The crabs are plentiful in the river by the shop and also back by Little Silver.
Bohnert also reported some nice weakfish – up to 4 pounds – are being caught in the Shrewsbury on worms.
It was a busy weekend at Fishermen’s Den in Belmar and the action continued through Wednesday.
Late in the afternoon, Matthews reported they weighed in a 10-pound, 2-ounce fluke for 8-year-old Joseph Tevesky of Hamilton. Young Joe was fishing with his grandfather in the north channel of the Shark River where the monster fluke hit a peanut bunker.
The Ocean Explorer out of Belmar has had some fluke up to 10 pounds as well, and Parker Pete’s Sportfishing is getting in on the good fluke bite as well.
The Golden Eagle out of Belmar is sticking with the bluefish and Capt. Rich Falcone reported that they found them in good numbers almost every day for the last week. Most of the fish are in the 2-to 4-pound range and they’re hitting jigs and bait. Capt. Falcone said they are also picking up some mackerel along with the blues.
Matthews said the striper fishing has slowed way down but he did weigh in a 15½-pound bass for Bill Renner he caught on a clam, and Matthews himself recently caught three bass up to 17 pounds on live eels in the Manasquan River
The tuna fishing got hot, said Matthews, and the sharks continue to bite. The charter boat, Last One, landed a 290-pound thresher. In addition to all that, surf guys are finding some kingfish on worms.
Jeff at Harry’s Adventure Outfitters in Robbinsville reported it’s been bluefin tuna in relatively close at the Triple Wrecks. He said Japanese feathers, small spreader bars and ballyhoo are getting the attention. There were also reports of yellowfin in the vicinity.
On Monday, I was down at Hoffman’s Marina and ran into the Chuck, Pete and John Casagrande who just returned from a tuna trip aboard the Steadfast to the same area. Pete called it a great day of fishing and they had the bluefin to prove it.
They were trolling, but fish were being caught jigging and on topwater plugs by other boats in the area. There were some yellowfin caught there as well.
The fluke bit well on Sunday at the Axel Carlson Reef. I joined Tom Moore and Jim Franklin aboard Moore’s boat, the Justincase. We picked at fish all day and got about six nice keepers between us with loads of short action. Franklin took top honors with a fluke about 6 pounds. The fluke of a lifetime hit a salmon strip I had on my bucktail, but sadly it escaped before I could put it in the boat.
The fishing turned on there and at the Sea Girt Reef just a few days before the weekend. John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said “if you’re not fluking now, you’re in the wrong ball park.” Bucktails, Gulp, squid, spearing and killies are all working, he said. The Big Jamaica out of Bogan’s Basin is fishing for blues while the Jamaica II is taking advantage of the good fluking. The Paramount continues to fish for ling.
The big improvement in the ocean fluking topped the report from John over at the Reel Seat in Brielle. He had a report of a 12-pounder caught at the Axel Carlson Reef. He also said the fluking is still good in the Manasquan River with fish up to 4 pounds being taken.
He, too, had good news on the tuna bite, with customers catching bluefin on the troll, jigging and topwater lures in that 40-mile range. John added that the freshwater fishing over the Manasquan Reservoir has been good with a 7-pound largemouth winning a weekend contest.
The Gambler out of the Manasquan Inlet had good reports from the holiday weekend with fluke exceeding 7 pounds and a few sea bass up to 3 pounds. They’ve also been running night wreck trips and last Thursday’s outing saw a high hook of 20 ling.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
This week’s best bet is the same as last week’s – fluke. The ocean bite finally caught up to the inshore waters and there are nice fish to be found from Sandy Hook on south. If your fortunate enough to be able to head offshore, bluefin and yellowfin are not too far away in the vicinity of the Triple Wrecks.