Al Waranis celebrated his 93rd birthday by catching these two keepers aboard the Elaine B II.
Fluke remain everyone’s favorite target but as the summer wears on, other species move up the wanted list. Porgies and kingfish are drawing more interest and the crabbing is in full swing.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at The Tackle Box in Hazlet said Raritan Bay fluke still garner the most attention up his way and he continues to weigh in some big ones. Tony Tiniakos caught a 10½ pounder in the Reach Channel on a bucktail tipped with Gulp. Sciortino said it was a good sign in that a lot of guys had been catching mostly shorts and he was afraid the bigger fish had moved on.
Another good sign is that the porgy fishing has gathered strength in the bay and is very good on the local rock piles.
Katy Johnson at the Keansburg Pier said the porgy fishing has been excellent there, too. She also said there have been keeper fluke and the snappers and crabs are all over the place.
Joe Julian at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said there are lots of porgies in the Shrewsbury River as it wends its way into Raritan Bay. He, too, heard of good porgy catches at the Keansburg Pier and the Earle Navy Pier.
He reported that the fluking is still good but from what he’s hearing, the keeper ratio is heading in the wrong direction. There are still big fish to be had, but he said they’ve moved into deeper water of 50 feet or more.
For the party boats out of Atlantic Highlands, the fluke fishing has been a challenge in the last couple of days. The persistent northeast wind made it tough for the captains to fish where they wanted and wind against the tide conditions posed even more problems.
Still, Capt. Ron Santee on the Fishermen reported a banner day on Monday with the pool winner coming in at 6.7 pounds and a number of limits aboard the boat. One angler even managed to catch a 29-inch striped bass. Tuesday saw another good day of fluking with a number of fish in the 18-to 21-inch range and several limits.
Capt. George Bachert on The Angler also reported good fishing from the weekend through Tuesday with that being the best day of the week so far. There was a good mix of keepers and shorts with bucktails and Gulp doing better than bait, but that was catching fish as well.
The breeze didn’t bother Capt. Stan Zagleski aboard the Elaine B II out of Highlands too much either. The fishing has been steady with the boat moving around to accommodate the weather. His fares continue to find keepers among the plentiful fluke they’ve been catching.
Pete Pawlikowski at the Oceanic Marina in Rumson said the fluke fishing has pretty much disappeared in the Navesink River with the blue claws in control of the area. The crabs are “ferocious,” he said, and are being caught with nets, traps and drop lines.
His customers are coming back to the dock with bushel catches. All that’s missing, he said, are the snappers, but they should be in the river soon as they have showed up pretty much everywhere else.
Rich down at Long Branch Bait and Tackle said the snappers are back by Branchport Avenue and by the shop on Atlantic Avenue. Big crabs are swarming all over the area as well.
The report from Giglios’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright was that it was a quiet weekend on the beach with the constant wind keeping anglers away. Mel Martens said bass in the surf from Sea Bright to Sandy Hook are being taken in the dark on plugs and the crabbing in the Shrewsbury is terrific. The stripers, he said, are small.
There’s been no letup in the fluke fishing out of Shark River reported Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar. It’s been good both in the river and offshore, with a good keeper ratio.
The wind was a problem on Tuesday, but the boats out of Belmar did well the rest of the time.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing was doing pretty well before the breeze picked up with some nice keeper fluke and sea bass and he expects the good fishing to return when the wind settles down.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said the fishing has been good with some keeper fluke and nice sea bass. On the fluke front, he said they’ve been catching a lot, but not keeping a lot.
The porgy fishing, however, has been very good, he said, and he’s doing that every other day. Mixed in with the porgies have been loads of triggerfish so there has been plenty of action.
The porgies are pretty thick in the Shark River, Matthews said, along with snappers and some kingfish. The kingfish are in the surf as well feeding on worms and clams.
The one element that is missing from the picture, said Matthews, are the big bluefish. Right now, the blues are in the 2-pound range and they’ve been joined by plenty of mackerel.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar is finding plenty of both on his daily trips and Wednesday’s outing also saw a number of pollock – up to 20 pounds – join the party. The Golden Eagle has also brought some mahi-mahi over the rail and it can’t be long before the albies start to show.
On the tuna front, Eric Bunz at the Reel Seat in Brielle, said the best reports he’s received of are bluefin at the Bacardi. The fish have been caught mostly on the troll, but he said some 70-inch fish hit poppers on top.
There’s been some white and blue marlin caught at the Toms Canyon, he said, but not much in the way of tuna.
At the inaugural Hoffman’s Marina Offshore Invitational that concluded on Sunday, the 219.2-pound bigeye caught by Placid C’s took top honors. Milling Around won for the heaviest mahi-mahi with a 20.9- pound fish and the heaviest swordfish at 90.8 pounds.
The Miss Mikayla Ann took the yellowfin category with a tuna of 59.7 pounds.
As for fluke, Bunz said the Axel Carlson Reef continues to produce keeper fish.
According to Jeff at Harry’s Adventure Outfitters in Robbinsville, the Manasquan River is giving up small stripers at the bridges and along the bulkheads on rubber shads.
Jeff also said there are more and bigger fluke in the suds. Brown sharks are also crowding the surf down at Island Beach State Park.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait Tackle said the fluke fishing in the Manasquan River improved over the last couple of days with more keepers being caught closer to the inlet. The ocean fishing took a hit with the high winds.
He, too, reported bass in the Manasquan hitting shads and sandworms, mostly at night. The boats out of the inlet are also getting into the porgies by heading north and the snappers and crabs are all over the river as well.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
There are still plenty of fluke to be caught, but you can widen your horizons and get in on some of the porgy, kingfish and crabbing action. Pretty much anywhere along the coast from Raritan Bay to the Manasquan River offers a variety of fish this time of year.