Will this northeast wind ever quit?
It’s the same scenario as last year. Just as the fluke season closed, the weather went south. It’s a shame because there are fish to catch.
When the boats can get out, they’re finding plenty of porgies, blackfish, bluefish and blowfish.
Even the rough surf is yielding fish with bass being caught on plugs and clams. There’s just not a whole lot of participation as the tough conditions are keeping folks off the beach.
Phil Sciortiono Sr. at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fishing hasn’t been too good with the wind, but when conditions permit, guys are still getting bluefish and some false albacore off the beaches. The water is still very warm so they should hang around until that changes.
And there are still plenty of porgies around. Sciortino said they can be found on the Sandy Hook Reef, between the channels and most rock piles. Guys fishing for porgies are also getting their one-fish limit of tog.
Joe Julian at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands got a good bass report yesterday when one angler reported catching five bass, with four being keepers in the Sandy Hook surf on a rubber shad. There’s still kingfish in the surf as well, hitting worms.
The porgies have also invaded the Shrewsbury River with loads right by the Highlands Bridge, he said.
Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands found the porgies waiting on Sunday with the fish biting as soon as they dropped their lines. There were plenty of double-headers on nice size porgies. He also reported more blowfish than he’s seen in years, which are always a favorite table fish.
With the forecast calling for more east wind, Capt. Bachert said he may be heading to the shipyard for some quick maintenance.
Capt. Ron Santee on The Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands reported very good porgy fishing on Wednesday. He said there was a bit of roll, but as the porgies were biting right from the start, no one seemed to mind.
Capt. Santee said one drop had all big fish from 2 to 2½ pounds and everyone went home with a bucketful or more by the end of the day.
Capt. Hal Hagaman on the Sea Tiger II had two good days with the porgies on Sunday and Monday with things slowing down on Tuesday. Monday’s fishing saw plenty of porgies with double and triple headers. Capt. Hagaman said the morning fishing was as good as it gets.
One group of three anglers filled two 5-gallon buckets. He sails twice daily and will be making both trips, wind permitting.
Capt. Stan Zagleski on the Elaine B II out of Highlands had a small group out on Wednesday and didn’t have to travel too far for everyone to get their limit of porgies.
Anglers using green crabs also got their blackfish with a few up to 5 pounds. There were also some nice blowfish in the mix.
Despite the rough surf, Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said guys are finding bass in the suds. There’s a lot of small bait there and the bass, he said, are hitting small poppers, bucktails and shads. There are keepers among the shorts
There are bass and blues in the Shrewsbury River, too, and Martens said guys have been getting stripers drifting worms by the Sea Bright Bridge.
Boat rentals at the Oceanic Marina in Rumson have been hampered by the weather and Mike there said two finally got out on Thursday. The water is still pretty warm so the crabs should be around. He did say bass were biting by the Highlands Bridge.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the wind has played havoc with the sailing schedule of the boats out of the marina.
One boat that did get out was the Capt. Steve Spinelli’s Skylarker which found some monster blues up to 18 pounds on Tuesday on the offshore reefs. Capt. Spinelli said they were chumming and the fish were hitting both bait and jigs.
The Skylarker sailed again on Wednesday and it was a repeat performance with blues up to 20 pounds on bait and jigs. He’s going to be sailing whenever the weather allows.
Another boat that got out was Capt. Rich Falcone’s Golden Eagle. His fares got all the big blues they wanted on Wednesday with fish up to 18 pounds. Capt. Falcone said the choppers were caught on hammer jigs and bait.
He got into the big blues as well last Sunday and right now he plans on sailing through this weekend. The Golden Eagle’s tuna trip earlier this week saw an improvement in the fishing, with a few yellowfin and a swordfish taken.
Matthews said the bass fishermen have been responsible for most of the action with shorts and a few keepers at the Shark River Inlet. One angler got two on Sunday at the inlet on an SP Minnow.
Matthews himself got a 24 pounder fishing in the Manasquan River.
The rough surf has some guys trying clams and one angler came into the shop after catching a 32-inch striper.
The fluke guys, said Matthews, are now pursuing blackfish at the Shark and Manasquan inlets and in the Point Pleasant Canal. The majority of the fish are short, but there are keepers to be had. There was a 6 pounder caught at the Shark River Inlet earlier this week.
The winter flounder have yet to show in the Shark River, but Matthews expects to see some caught any day.
He also expects the striper bite come on after the wind weakens as the fish were hitting plugs in the surf before the weather turned lousy.
Jeff Nuel at Harry’s Outdoor Adventures in Robbinsville said he’s still hearing about false albacore in the surf from Sandy Hook to the Shark River Inlet. There are stripers there as well. Crippled Herring are hooking the albies while the bass prefer poppers. He hasn’t heard much on the tuna bite, but said some nice threshers are being caught in the 10- to 15-mile range.
John at the Reel Seat in Brielle said he hasn’t heard much good news on tuna fishing lately either, but the fishing in the Pt. Pleasant Canal and Manasquan River has been pretty good. He said there’s been hickory shad in the river as well as stripers and blues along with bass in the canal.
Catherine at Brielle Bait and Tackle said there are plenty of blackfish in the Pt. Pleasant Canal. It just may take some time, she added, to catch your one keeper. Green crabs are the bait for those.
There are also some big bluefish in the canal at night. Blowfish are in there, too, and at either end in the Manasquan River or Barnegat Bay.
The only boat that’s been sailing of late out of Bogan’s Basin has been the Big Jamaica. Capt. Howard Bogan sailed for tuna on Monday. While he marked fish under the boat during the night, the bite never happened.
When the sun came up, he started mahi fishing and put over 100 in the boat.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
I’m no better at predicting the weather than those who get paid to do it, but it looks like there will be some good days ahead to go fishing. The porgies look to be the surest thing with the party boats catching all they want. The big blues are biting as well on the offshore reefs. Plus, it’s time to try the surf with clams and plugs for striped bass.