Pictured above: Mate Craig Kutiak holds a 44 inch bass caught aboard Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar.
It looks like big bass bite well in balmy weather.
Fishing in temperatures more suitable for summer than fall, anglers are hooking sizable stripers on eels, on the troll and from the beach.
Some of the fish have been in excess of 50 pounds and there are plenty of 20 and 30 pounders showing up as well.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the bass are in Raritan Bay, at the tip of Sandy Hook in the Rip and in the ocean by the Shrewsbury Rocks.
Boats trolling bunker spoons and Mojo rigs are picking up fish while eels fished on the outgoing tide between the channels are catching fish.
Raritan Bay, he said, is loaded with bass as well, but they are mostly small fish, with a keeper ratio of about five shorts to one legal fish. The Old Orchard flats is a good spot, he added.
From the beach, folks fishing shads, bucktails and poppers are picking up bass in the 30- to 32-inch range.
For those bottom fishing, the porgies continue to bite, but the action seems to have fallen off a bit. The blackfish bite, on the other hand, has been terrific, with the only drawback being the one-fish limit.
Capt. Mike Russo on The Sea Hawk out of Perth Amboy said he’s still catching a load of porgies along with triggerfish, blowfish and blackfish.
His fares have also been pulling in some nice sea bass, which have all had to go back. That changes Saturday when the season reopens with a 15-fish limit at 13 inches.
Capt. George Bachert reported that the weather was perfect on Wednesday’s trip and the sea bass fishing was great, just premature. He also had porgies and winter flounder. He’ll be sailing for sea bass on opening day, but the weather is looking a little iffy at this point.
Joe Julian at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said the stripers are going crazy for guys fishing eels and trolling spoons. His pal, Don Zayboyan from Perth Amboy, landed a bass of 51 pounds. The Shrewsbury Rocks is holding some nice fish, he said.
The blackfising is also very good, he added, a bit east of the Sandy Hook Reef.
Capt. Ron Santee on The Fishermen has delayed his switch to stripers to stick with the good bottom fishing. His anglers have been catching plenty of porgies, blackfish and blowfish
He’ll be fishing for sea bass on Saturday as long as the weather cooperates.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright reported a good bass bite from Sandy Hook on south. He’s heard of fish up to 30 pounds taken.
Eels at night are taking fish off Sandy Hook while boats trolling bunker spoons and Mojo rigs are also having good success.
One angler, fishing the beach behind the shop, landed over a dozen bass using shads. All of them, however, were short.
Martens said the tog fishing has been excellent with lots of nice fish being taken, both to the north and at the Manasquan Inlet.
And the warm water has kept the blue claws around so the crabbing is holding up in the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers. There are also bass in those rivers as well biting on shads and small plugs.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the big bass have definitely arrived and in good numbers. He’s weighed in bass up 35 pounds over the last couple of days.
The bulk of the fish were taken trolling bunker spoons, Mojo rigs and deep diving Stretches and Bomber plugs.
Mathews said most of the charter boats out of the marina have been getting their limits.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing was among them. He said the fishing was a little tough on Wednesday, but terrific the day before.
Everybody on Tuesday’s trip limited out with fish up to 44 inches. Capt. Sykes said the fish were caught trolling and snagging bunker.
Matthews also said the winter flounder fishing has been good in the Shark River with most anglers limiting out in an hour or two. Granted, the limit is only two fish. He said that fishing will only get better as the water cools.
Capt. Rich Falcone on The Golden Eagle out of Belmar continues to target the big blues and he keeps finding them. He said the fishing started out slow for the last couple of days but ended with plenty of monster blues being caught up to 19 pounds with some false albacore in the mix.
The majority of the fish were caught on bait, but a few went for the jigs.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on The Skylarker has also been doing well with the big blues. He also said that he did a wreck trip looking for ling and, while he found some along with winter flounder, the majority of the fish were sea bass. He said they were covered by them. Spinelli believes the sea bass are spread out all over the place.
Jeff Nuel at Harry’s Outdoor Adventures in Robbinsville has been getting good reports on the bass bite as well with boats trolling Tony Maja spoons catching fish in the 35-to 40-pound range. Mojos are working nicely as well.
He’s also had reports of bunker chunks catching bass from the beach.
The blackfish bite for the boats guys has also been very good and he’s had reports of fish between 10 to 15 pounds.
Dave Arbeitman at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the tuna bite in the canyons is improving with anglers catching yellowfin on both the troll and chunking. There have also been some longfin caught on the troll along with swordfish at night.
He, too, has been hearing good things on the bass fishing, not only from Sandy Hook, but from Lavallette down to Seaside Heights. There are a lot of bass in the Manasquan River, too, with Alex from the shop catching keepers on shads and bucktails.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the Manasquan River bass are also hitting clams, sandworms and Fin-S baits. The blackfishing at the Manasquan Inlet and in the Point Pleasant Canal is very good. Some tog have been caught on clams, but green crabs are the way to go.
The ling fishing for the boats out of Bogan’s Basin has been a little slow, he said, but expects that to improve once things cool down a bit.
The Big Jamaica out of the basin had a good tuna trip earlier in the week with yellowfin up to 75 pounds. Capt. Howard Bogan said the fish hit on both bait and jigs with bait having the edge.
Northern New Jersey Fishing Forecast
It’s fall and the bass are running so need I say more. Boat guys can troll spoons and Mojos while the beach guys can toss plugs, bucktails and shads. The ocean will probably be a bit roiled, so clams and bunker chunks are also a good choice.
It’s also the opening of black sea bass season on Saturday, so if the weather cooperates, they’re a good target as bottom fishing boats report they’ve been biting like crazy.