Christmas is terrific, but in my humble opinion, this is the most wonderful time of the year.
As a surf guy from way back, these are days when you can prowl the beach for blues, stripers, albies and fluke. And currently, all these fish are in play.
But if it’s fluke you’re after, you better do it in a hurry. The season closes on Sunday.
They’ve been biting well in the wash, there just aren’t a lot of keepers. I’ve been catching them in the Ocean Grove surf for the past couple of days on spearing and small peanut bunker. I even got three fish on a swimming plug, a chrome jointed Red Fin. One was just about five inches bigger than the lure.
On the water, the boat guys are enjoying all September has to offer.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet says it’s a porgy party right now in Raritan Bay. Nice fish up to 16 inches are being caught pretty much everywhere from Staten Island to the area between the channels and limits have been easy to come by. Clam baits are the ticket.
Guys are also getting their one-fish tog limit without too much trouble.
He said the fluking has slowed down a bit but there are blues and false albacore off the Sandy Hook beaches.
Joe Jr. at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said his customers have been cashing in on the porgy bonanza and there are some small weakfish biting at Buoy 18 in the Navesink River.
He added there are a few stripers being taken on the Knoll but the bite has a way to go.
Capt. George Bachert of the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands said that, despite what one would expect this time of year, he’s been finding good fluking in shallow water.
On one trip earlier this week, the boat nailed nine keepers in 12 feet of water. Two of the fish were over 8 pounds.
He suspects the lack of rain has kept the salinity in the bay at a high level and the fish haven’t been moving. Whatever the reason, he hasn’t had to travel far to find fish to take home.
The big pool is $4,800 and Capt. Bachert said he expects a big fish caught this weekend will claim it.
Capt. Stan Zalglesky on the Elaine B. II out of Highlands also reported finding keeper fluke in shallower water this week.
In Sea Bright, Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait in Tackle said it’s been fluke, blues and false albacore on the beaches this week. The blues and fluke have been found most places along the coast and the albies have been mainly at Sandy Hook. He heard of one guy casting a snapper popper trying for fluke bait only to have an albie hit it.
There’s tons of bait around, said Mel, including rainfish and peanut bunker. He’s had reports of small bass in the suds in Spring Lake after dark on plugs and they’re in the Shrewsbury River as well, hitting shads and small plugs.
The Navesink River continues to produce loads of blue claw crabs. Eddie at the Oceanic Marina in Rumson said that the folks that are still going are coming back to the dock with catches of half a bushel or more.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the fishing bounced back nicely after a couple of days of lousy weather.
Ocean fluke fishing is very good, he said, with some of the best fish of the season coming to the scales. Wednesday was a particularly good day with the Ocean Explorer bringing in three fish of 9½, 9¼ and 7¼ pounds. Two other fluke, both over 8½ pounds, came in from private boats.
The best fish of the week was 10 pounder caught by Hunter Schlegel on the charter boat Fish Stix.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing ran what was probably his last fluke trip of the season on Wednesday and ended on a high note with fish up to 8 pounds and with most guys getting three or four keepers. After Sunday, he’ll be bottom fishing and getting ready for the striper bite
The charter boats are also doing well with the false albacore. Capt. Eric Kerber of On a Mission Charters got into them good earlier in the week. He also had a good day pot hopping for mahi-mahi on Wednesday.
The Golden Eagle out of Belmar started off Tuesday’s trip with a 20-pound mahi coming over the rail after hitting bait, Capt. Rich Falcone reported. The rest of the day it was a good catch of false albacore with some big blues in the mix.
Most folks had six to eight albies and the blues were between 15 to 18 pounds. Almost all of the fish were caught on bait. The Golden Eagle will be back after the blues and albies on Friday.
Matthews said more stripers are being taken in the surf with one angler reporting five taken in Deal on a popper. He also heard of the bass biting in Spring Lake on SP Minnows.
The boats out of the marina are also getting in on the porgy action. Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker called the bite red hot with some very nice fish coming over the rail. There are also some big triggerfish in the mix.
Jeff Nuel at Harry’s Adventure Outfitters in Robbinsville said it’s been blues, albies and small stripers for his customers as well. Any metal for the blues, smaller metal for the albies and metal-lipped swimmers for the bass.
His fluke reports indicate that the fish are in deep water, 100 to 115 feet, and smaller Gulp baits on the trailer hook, like jerk shads, are more productive.
Offshore tuna is kind of quiet, he said, but the mahi bite at the pots has been very good. Use live peanut bunker if you can get them.
Eric Bunz at the Reel Seat in Brielle had a similar report regarding the offshore tuna action, saying the bite was all mahi.
The beaches are loaded with small blues up to three pounds and the albies are popping up along with them. The blues, he said, are from the tip of Sandy Hook all the way down to Barnegat and the albies are thick at the Mud Hole.
There are also small bass in the Manasquan River hitting poppers in low-light conditions.
The fluking remains good on the Sea Girt and Axel Carlson Reefs and Bunz called the porgy fishing phenomenal, with the Shrewsbury Rocks holding a lot of fish.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the fluking in Manasquan River remains good with nice size fish being caught near the Route 35 Bridge from the docks and the shore. Killies and Gulp are doing the trick.
There’s small bluefish in the Point Pleasant Canal along with small blackfish. You have to be patient to get your one keeper. He also said there are some big blowfish being caught on the bay end of the canal.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
It’s the last gasp of the 2016 fluke season, so you might want to give it a final shot. You can get them by boat and on the beach with boats offering the best chance for keepers. Try the beaches for blues, false albacore and bass, with early morning or late in the evening a good time for stripers. This time of year, evenings on the beach can bring some spectacular sunsets.