It’s taken way too long but the summer flounder fishing may finally be getting on track. While recent reports haven’t been unanimous, in general, more and bigger fish are being caught. Add an exploding porgy bite, big sea bass, plus loads of blue claws and snappers and you’ve got some solid summer action!
Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands said the fishing was good on Tuesday, catching keepers and shorts all day along with some nice sea bass in the mix. The pool winner was a 7½-pound fluke caught by Dean Berardi of Hackensack. Jim Custer from Toms River caught his limit and then some and just missed taking the pool. Capt. Bachert fished in the same spot as he did on Sunday when the fishing was equally good.
Capt. Ron Santee on the Fishermen had a good day on Tuesday with a bunch of nice keepers and his biggest fluke of the season so far, a 9-pound, 9-ounce beauty.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fluking is improving, but the big change from last week was the hot porgy bite. Boats fishing Old Orchard, Romer Shoals and the Tin Can Grounds did extremely well with scup. A possible world-record porgy was caught aboard the Bingo out of Atlantic Highlands when a fish weighing over 5 pounds, 4 ounces came over the rail. The record will have to wait as the fish turned into dinner. The porgy was weighed in at Fisherman’s Den North. Scirotino also said the snappers are in all the marinas and creeks around the bay for the kids to enjoy and the crabs are plentiful. He also weighed in a 5-pound weakfish for 10-year-old Alex DeLaurier of Keansburg he caught in the Reach Channel.
Capt. Stan Zagleski on the Elaine B II out of the Highlands reported more consistent fluke fishing, stringing together a couple of good fishing days from the beginning of the week.
Ernie Giglio at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright weighed in some fluke from the beach up to 5 pounds. He, too, got excellent reports about the porgy bite and added that the crabbing is great in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers. The fluke he has been pulling out of the Ocean Grove surf are getting bigger, but he still has yet to get his first keeper. The snappers are in the ocean now, too, and several big cow nose rays were spotted patrolling the shallow water around the jetty.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar also reported better fluke fishing for the boats out of the marina. Matthews said the fluking has been good in the Shark River with the largest fish coming in at 5½ pounds. The snappers are getting bigger around the marina and will soon reach eating size, he added.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Petes Sportfishing said the fluking picked up a lot on his recent trips with fish up to 6 pounds. The water temperature is closer to where it needs to be, he said, and the fish are much more aggressive. Tuesday’s on-the-water bucktail seminar saw a number of keepers come aboard along with good short life and some nice sea bass. Capt. Sykes said there is still plenty of availability in July and August.
REMEMBER: If you happen to hook a tog, you can now keep one blackfish at 15 inches and above!
After several days of catching big blues up to 12 pounds, the Golden Eagle out of Belmar switched to fluke, sea bass and ling with good results when the blues pulled a disappearing act. Capt. Rich Falcone said he’ll continue to search for blues and switch to bottom fishing if they can’t be found.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II said his fluke and sea bass trips are providing steady action for his customers with fish up to 6 pounds.
Capt. Steve Spinnelli on The Skylarker reported catching more keeper fluke on is recent trips and the sea bass fishing has been excellent.
Dave Arbeitman at the Reel Seat in Belmar said the tuna fishing is a little inconsistent but there are some bluefin being caught. Brandon Kape of Brick fished with Bob and Dave Egger along the 30 Fathom Line aboard the Spunky II and caught a 170-pound bluefin on the troll.
Arbietman has been doing some tilefishing and caught a 30-pound golden tile aboard the Voyager on a recent trip. He’s also jigging for the fish using an Old Man Tackle Tile Bomb aboard the Voyager in 450 feet of water and catching plenty of fish in the 10-pound range.
The shark fishing has been pretty good and you don’t have to go far to catch them. Dave said Alex Kondas from the shop has caught several sand tiger sharks at night in the surf in the Seaside Park area.
The offshore ling and winter flounder fishing has also been very good, said Arbeitman.
John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said folks fishing aboard the Paramount out of Bogan’s Basin are getting 10 to 30 ling apiece along with their limit of winter flounder. Bogan said the fluking finally got good outside the Manasquan Inlet on the Axel Carlson Reef and spots further south. The fish are in 40 to 80 feet of water. The Manasquan River has been fished pretty hard, he said, and the fluke bite there has fallen off. He’s still getting good reports on the bluefin tuna bit at the Triple Wrecks.
The fishing improved for the freshwater folks as well.
Jim at Behre Bait and Tackle in Lebanon said there’s a really good bass bite at Round Valley along with rainbows on the troll and lake trout on the bottom. The rainbows are hitting all types of spoons trolled 20 to 30 feet down over 75 to 100 feet of water. The lake trout want meat, he said, and shiners fished just off the bottom have been working. The hybrid bite at Spruce Run has been hit and miss, he said, as herring, or lack thereof, has been an issue. There have been some sizable northern pike coming out of the reservoir and some crappie are being caught as well. Rainbows continue to be caught at Merrill Creek by guys using lead core in several different colors. The fish are being caught about 40 feet down over 80 feet of water. Behre also said there’s been good catfishing on the Delaware River with a buddy of his landing a 20 pounder.
Ron over at Fins and Furs in Newfoundland reported good walleye fishing at Canistear Reservoir. He added the bass fishing has been good as well in the morning and evening. The water is pretty warm, he said, so there isn’t much action during the middle of the day.
Ken at Tackle And Field in Wanaque reported better fishing in his area with a good smallmouth bite at Lake Wawayanda. He added that the landlocked salmon fishing there has slowed down. He said there is a solid walleye bite at night at Greenwood Lake and good fishing for largemouth bass at Pompton Lake. Hybrids are hitting topwater plugs at Lake Hopatcong, reported Larry from Newark Sinker Company in Pine Brook, while folks are catching pike, carp and catfish on the Passaic River. He also heard of a 48-inch muskie caught at the Monksville Reservoir.
Everybody is catching fish, said Steve from Garden State Bow And Reel in Stockholm. The bass fishing has been very good at all the watershed reservoirs, he said, with the biggest problem right now getting enough shiners. The evening bite is best for bass, he said, on topwater plugs. The Whopper Popper has been a favorite. There are also plenty of perch, pike and pickerel being caught.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
Beach, boat or lake, there’s plenty of fish around to keep you busy.
The fluke fishing is definitely better, with nice ones being caught on rough bottom with bucktails, Gulp, squid and spearing. Try off the beach, too. Not a lot of keepers but the fish are there.
The porgy bite blew wide open, so there’s an opportunity to fill the freezer with some good eating fish.
And there’s no better way to introduce kids to the fun of fishing than catching snappers from a local bulkhead. Bring along the crab net as the blue claws are out in full force.
The better weather has also brought more consistent freshwater fishing with the large and smallmouth bass bite good in local ponds and lakes.