Northern New Jersey Fishing Report - July 13, 2017

The fluke season is having a little trouble moving into a higher gear.

For whatever reason – cold water or lack of fish – the good catches just aren’t happening.

Better fluking was reported this past week, but the consensus is that we’re not where we should be for this time of year. People are putting catches together with some limits, but the doormats are missing and the bite is far from frantic.

Other species are taking up some of the slack, but folks are hankering for their summer flounder. This week’s warm weather should definitely help.

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet some he’s getting reports of more fish at a decent size biting on rough bottom at the Shrewsbury Rocks and the Rattlesnake.

He added the porgy fishing has been good at the Tin Can grounds and there are cocktail blues in the bay along with loads of snappers.

Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands said the first fish caught on Monday’s trip was a small thresher shark so he knew he was in the right spot as they love to dine on fluke.

He reported a couple of hours of good fishing with plenty of shorts along with a number of keepers. Bachert said there were also sea bass, porgies and blowfish in the mix.

Mike at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said things have been a little quiet there but they have weighed in fluke from the beach up to 6 pounds.

I’ve been fishing the Ocean Grove surf and caught some fluke on Gulp! and spearing, but nothing in that range.

Mike has also had reports of small bass in the surf hitting bucktails.

Small bluefish have been popping up now and then along the beach. Mike added that the crabbing is pretty good in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers and improving almost daily.

Jessica over at the Oceanic Marina in Rumson agreed. There are big crabs in the Navesink, she said, and plenty of them. Folks are getting them in traps and on droplines. She also said there are fluke in the river, but there are more shorts than keepers.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the fluking in the Shark River turned on over the past few days with limit catches common for those who know what they’re doing.

Live snappers and fresh peanut bunker look to be the preferred bait.

Matthews said the party boats out of the marina are having a tougher time with the fluke with southeast winds making the water a bit chilly.

Luckily, the sea bass are biting well, maybe even a little too well. Matthews said fluke anglers are complaining that the sea bass are chewing up the Gulp! before it gets to the fluke.

The largest fluke of the last couple of days, said Matthews, belonged to Mike Salko and weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces. There are still some bass being taken in the surf, he said, mostly on sand bugs.

Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Petes Sportfishing said the fluking isn’t what he was hoping for at this point in the season, but they’ve been catching keepers.

The cold water hasn’t helped, he said, and the fish are not very aggressive. The fluke are biting short, he added.

Capt. Sykes held one of his on the water bucktail seminars earlier in the week and the shorts dominated the action. The number of keepers was way up the following day. There are still a few spots open for the next bucktail seminar next Tuesday, the 17th.

Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II out of Belmar has been catching keepers along with the short fluke. Some days are just better than others. Along with the fluke, there have been plenty of nice sea bass.

Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar has been dividing his time between bluefish, fluke and sea bass. He did make a long trip on Monday to the east about 28 miles for bluefish, but found only mackerel.

Eric Bunz at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the tuna fishing offshore is holding up nicely.

Guys have been getting bluefin up to 200 pounds in the area of the Texas Tower and the Bacardi Wreck. They’ve been catching them on the troll, with poppers and the jig bite is getting better as well.

Bunz said the bigger the popper the better while the smaller jigs, between 60 and 100 grams, are doing the trick. Those trolling are having luck with ballyhoo daisy chains or straight ballyhoo.

Bunz said the fluking has picked up, maybe half a tick, on rough bottom in 60 to 80 feet of water. There are loads of sand eels around, and he suggested humps around the Manasquan Ridge might be worth a try right now.

The Manasquan River has some fluke as well, with 4-inch chartreuse Gulp! the favorite bait. Finally, there are plenty of small stripers at night near the Route 35 and Railroad bridges hitting small plugs.

Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said he’s getting reports of bigger fluke at the Klondike and Manasquan Ridge. The local reefs, he said, have been a little tougher.

The best fishing right now, he said, is at the Mud Hole for ling and winter flounder. He said the Paramount out of Bogan’s Basin has been fishing in deep water, around 200 feet, with winter flounder up to 24 inches and loads of ling along with a few sea bass.

The Manasquan River is loading up with small snappers, Bogan said, and the kayakers are doing well with fluke and small stripers.

The freshwater bite has become a lot more consistent with shops to the north reporting good fishing for large and smallmouth bass, walleye, hybrids and muskies.

Jim at Behre Bait and Tackle in Lebanon said the large and smallmouth bass fishing at Round Valley Reservoir has been very good.

The water got very warm, he said, but there are still rainbows and lake trout being caught there as well, you just have to go deeper to get them. Rainbows are being caught on the troll using Warrior spoons in 30 to 45 feet of water.

The lake trout are at 80 to 100 feet, hitting meat heads, Warrior and Challenger spoons.

Livelining shiners and herring is producing hybrids at Spruce Run. Zara Spooks, and other topwater and subsurface plugs are also catching fish there at night.

Ron Tucci at Fins and Furs in Newfoundland said the bass fishing has been very good in his area. He’s landed largemouth bass up to 6 pounds at Skyline Lake using plastic worms rigged in the middle.

He also said anglers are doing really well with walleye at Canistear Lake and the fishing for panfish and catfish has been good throughout the area.

Ken at Tackle and Field in Wanaque said the bass fishing has been good at the local reservoirs, but he hasn’t seen any real big fish as yet. The walleye bite is holding up at Greenwood Lake.

One bright spot has been the muskie fishing at Greenwood Lake, where there have been a number of fish in the 30- to 40-inch range reported.

Dino Kiritsis at Garden State Bow and Reel in Stockholm reported solid bass fishing at the local reservoirs with Clinton and Oak Ridge producing some nice fish. Buzz baits and topwater lures have been doing the trick.

Dino landed a 5-pounder this week to take first place in a local tournament.

He also reported good walleye fishing at Greenwood Lake at night using stick baits like Rapalas and Bombers.

Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey

I’ve got to believe this warm weather will get the summer flounder fishing on track. The water temperature continues to climb and the fishing is definitely showing signs of improvement.

All reports indicate that the guys jigging bucktails are doing better than the bait folks. However, now that the snappers are here, they’re always a good bet for a big fluke. And there are still loads of sea bass around to help fill the coolers.

The fishing for large and smallmouth bass appears to have come nicely in the last couple of weeks, so now may the time to head for your local freshwater pond or lake for some of that action.