It looked like the evacuation of Dunkirk.
Countless boats of all shapes and sizes hugged the coast off Monmouth County over the weekend, all after big bass.
And they were finding them.
The long-awaited fall striper run began last Friday as massive schools of bunker appeared, drawing hungry striped bass of all sizes. The action was red hot over the weekend and the fish were still biting on Thursday morning.
Plenty of bass in the 40-pound range were caught from Sandy Hook on south with loads of smaller fish in the mix.
In a word, the striper fishing has been epic
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the bass were biting from the park entrance on Sandy Hook down to Monmouth Beach all weekend. Everybody was catching fish, with the boats getting most of the action.
Snagging and dropping bunker accounted for the majority of the fish but they were also caught on Mojos, bunker spoon, shads and jigs. Sciortino said a couple of stripers were caught from the beach on plugs up to 15 pounds.
The stripers bite grabbed all of the headlines this week, but Sciortino said some folks are getting ready for the opening of the six-fish tog season on Thursday.
Capt. Ron Santee on the Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands reported Wednesday’s fishing was as good as it gets and that is after several days of outstanding action. The bass don’t seem to be in any hurry to move.
The pool fish has been averaging about 30 pounds and shads and jigs have been catching most of the fish on his last few trips.
Capt. Hal Hagaman on the Sea Tiger II, also out of Atlantic Highlands reported the boat was limited out by 10 a.m. on Wednesday with the pool fish going 28 pounds. Capt. Hagaman said he’ll be sticking with the excellent bass fishing even though blackfish is opening.
Capt. Rob Semkewyc on the Sea Hunter has been putting his fares into the big bass as well.
After Tuesday’s trip, he was calling this one of the best fall runs he could remember. He then followed it up with another great day of fishing on Wednesday. The pool fish have been in the 30-pound range.
Not everyone is targeting bass. Capt. George Bachert made a bottom trip on Sunday.
Capt. Bachert reported porgies, sea bass and blackfish on all drops. He wanted to check out a few different areas ahead of Thursday’s tog opener and said they ended the day with a good blackfish bite.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the boats were thick there and down to Long Branch all weekend catching bass on live bunker.
He did say that the fish did made it to the beach on Monday morning in the Sea Bright/Monmouth Beach area and were hitting poppers. Bill Bertsch, Red Bank landed a 33-pounder and Dominick DiGirolomo from Long Branch got a 35 pounder. Martens said he got a few himself up to 34 inches.
The fish were also on the sand at Sandy Hook as Rich Swisstack and Greg Hueth caught bass over 30 pounds on Tuesday morning.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said nearly all of the charter and party boats out of the marina got their limit of stripers, some in excess of 40 pounds.
The boats were in control over the weekend, he said, with the stripers staying out of casting range. Snag and drop was catching most of the fish as trolling was out of the questions given the boat congestion.
The fleet of boats I witnessed off Asbury Park, Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach on Saturday and Sunday was the most I’ve ever seen.
The crowd had thinned on Monday morning, but the fish were still there as Matthews reported 8-year-old Jack Gregory of Linwood weighed in a 28 pounder he caught trolling Mojos on his father’s boat five minutes out of the Shark River Inlet. It was one of five they caught that morning.
The stripers started biting for Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar last Friday and he was still catching big ones on Wednesday. He’s calling it striper mania. He’s found fish up to 45 pounds north and south of the Shark River Inlet.
There are lot of fish moving into the area, he said, and he expects the good fishing to continue for a while. Capt. Sykes still has some open dates for bass trips in December.
It’s been the same story for Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle. After several consecutive days of good fishing, Capt. Falcone said Wednesday’s trip was a little slower, but he still caught plenty of keepers up to 25 pounds.
He’s been catching them on bait and lures.
Dave Arbeitman at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the bass bite was on in his neck of the woods as big fish were caught off Mantoloking, Spring Lake and Sea Girt.
Arbeitman also mentioned that there are still yellowfin tuna around. On a tilefish trip aboard the Voyager out of Point Pleasant, several tuna hit tilefish baits.
John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the bass are getting all the attention at his shop. They have had weigh-ins of up to 35 pounds.
For those that are interested, he said there are still lots of smaller stripers in the Manasquan River and plenty of blackfish at the inlet and in the Point Pleasant Canal.
It’s been mostly bass for customers of Tackle and Field in Wanaque, but the freshwater variety. Chris at the shop said anglers are getting largemouth at Harriman State Park and Greenwood Lake on crank baits.
He also said the walleye are starting to bite as well, with blade baits getting the fish biting.
Steve at Garden State Bait and Tackle in Stockholm said the hunting season is taking attention away from fishing but those that are going are catching bass, pickerel, perch and crappie, mostly in the private lakes.
Jim Behre at Behre Bait and Tackle reported that nothing thing much has changed since last week with most of the action confined to rainbow trout from the shore of Round Valley Reservoir.
Shiners, Power Bait and marshmallows and meal worms are still catching fish.
Larry at Newark Sinker Company in Pine Brook said he hasn’t had any freshwater reports this week. His customers are snapping up all his Mojo rigs, bunker spoons and shads and heading to the shore for stripers.
Laurie Murphy at Dow’s Boat Rental at Lake Hopatcong said there are still a few guys fishing the lake and they’ve been catching hybrids, walleye, pickerel and crappie.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
The bass bite is off the charts. This kind of striper fishing is what anglers wait for all year. The boats are getting the lion’s share of the action, livelining bunker and fishing shads and jigs.
Most of the party and charter boats are targeting the bass now, so find yourself a spot. Big poppers are getting the fish from the beach when they can be reached.
Plus, the six-fish tog season is now open and the blackfish bite has been good for weeks. Boats not chasing the bass, will more than likely be after blackfish.