The warm weather will keep us waiting.
Everyone’s anxious for the fall run to start but the summer-like temperatures are keeping the water warm and fish movements on hold. The cool evenings haven’t been enough to get things going.
Still, there are plenty of fish to be caught. You just might not be able to keep what you catch.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the northeast blow over the weekend kept the number of anglers down, but the guys that went still caught plenty of porgies, tog and other species.
Cocktail blues are all over Raritan Bay and every once in a while, some of their bigger cousins will join the party. Sciortino said the weakfish are still around, too, but they’re mostly spikes with the big weakfish of a week ago pulling a disappearing act.
Bass are being caught in the bay as well, mostly on eels and worms at night. They’re hitting those same baits in the rivers, too, along with shads and small plugs.
Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands sailed on Sunday and it was all the porgies you wanted right from the start. He also said the blackfish bite was good for those wanting to go togging.
The surprise of the day was false albacore that hit a porgy rig. Capt. Bachert also reported a 25-pound black drum was landed and released.
The porgy bite was excellent again on Wednesday’s trip.
Capt. Stan Zagleski of the Elaine B. II out of Highlands said the togging has been very good for the past couple of weeks.
He had a group of regulars out on Wednesday for a good day of blackfishing along with action on lots of other species.
The fish chewed until the tide slacked then started biting again when the current got moving. Triggerfish, blowfish and porgies were caught along with the tog, plus, sea bass and fluke that went right back over the side.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the striper fishing in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers is good and getting better. Small plugs, bucktails and shads are catching loads of small bass with a few keepers mixed in. The bite is mostly at night.
More blues and stripers are being caught from the beach as the surf finally calmed down. I fished from the Ocean Grove beach on Monday night and there were clouds of birds working, but unfortunately, well out of my casting range.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the porgies have made their way into the Shark River along with big blues and smaller stripers.
Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing told me he and his crew were catching blues up to 12 pounds along with a few stripers on peanut bunker livelined from his dock in the marina.
He’s been doing some blackfishing but, like everyone else, is waiting for the stripers. He thinks things will get moving within the next week after this full moon.
Matthews added that the party boats out of the marina continue to do well with porgies and blackfish. The Ocean Explorer, Skylarker and Capt. Cal II are all returning to the dock with coolers full of porgies.
Capt. Rich Falcone has been concentrating on the blues, bonito and albacore and found the big blues on Wednesday. The fish were up to 20 pounds, but, unfortunately, he said, there weren’t enough of them.
They were all around the boat, Capt. Falcone reported, but kept their mouths shut. There were a handful of albies caught as well.
On Tuesday’s trip, he said the fishing was excellent for the first hour with jumbo blues up to 22 pounds. The majority of the fish were in the 15- to 20-pound range.
Then the bite just ended. Things were quiet for the rest of day until some false albacore showed.
Eric Bunz at the Reel Seat in Brielle said he’s been getting reports on all kinds of action.
Guys pot hopping in the Mud Hole are picking up loads of mahi-mahi, he said, on plugs and shads.
He also said that good numbers of false albacore are being caught inshore at Little Italy, Monster’s Ledge, the Klondike and the Farms. They’re being caught on bait and jigs.
And while the tuna bite has been a little slow at the canyons, yellowfin tuna have popped up in some of those inshore spots as well.
Anglers fishing at the Manasquan Inlet also got several shots at false albacore earlier this week. They came in a couple of days in a row, but didn’t stay long.
The big blues also appeared, up to 14 pounds, both at the inlet and farther up the Manasquan River and into the Point Pleasant Canal. The stripers are there as well, hitting bait, small plugs and shads.
Catherine at Brielle said the Jamaica II out of Bogan’s Basin has been doing well with jumbo porgies, ling and winter flounder.
On Sunday’s Mudhole Marathon, it was ling and flounder with a bluefin hitting one angler’s bait. The tuna got away.
Wednesday’s trip saw a lot of jumbo porgies with guys averaging 25 to 35 fish.
The Big Jamaica had a good canyon trip Tuesday to Wednesday with loads of mahi before sunset and then yellowfin tuna the following morning starting around 4 a.m. The fish were between 60 and 80 pounds and there some longfin in the mix.
Angler John Kizmann hooked a white marlin about 10 feet from the boat as he retrieved his squid bait but the fish took off and that was as close as he got to bringing it aboard.
The freshwater anglers are looking for a change in the weather as well.
While the water is still pretty warm, Jim Behre at Behre Bait and Tackle in Lebanon said the shore fishermen are catching rainbow trout on Carolina Rigs using shiners and Power Bait.
Slip bobbers in 8 to 10 feet of water with the same baits are also catching rainbows.
At Spruce Run, it’s a mixed bag of fish with hybrid stripers, northern pike, crappie and catfish.
Steve at Garden State Bait and Tackle in Stockholm said a lot of folks were fishing over the weekend at the reservoirs for pickerel, bass, perch and walleye. He didn’t get many reports on the results but there was plenty of activity.
Chris at Tackle and Field in Wanaque heard the pickerel bite at Lake Hopatcong has been good. Everybody there, he said, is waiting for the water temperature to drop to get the fall bite started.
Larry at the Newark Sinker Company said the good bass bite has slowed down and he’s mostly hearing about pickerel and carp being caught in the Passaic River.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
Once again, porgies are the surest thing going. Blackfish are close behind with most folks having no trouble getting their one keeper then catching and releasing tog until they’ve had all the fun they want.
The rivers and bays are still loaded with bait and bass and bluefish are in there feeding on it. There are small bass in the surf hitting small plugs and shads, mostly in low light. The warm water should keep the albies around the beach for a while longer. Be prepared with small metal tied directly to your line.