Pictured above: A couple of nice tog caught on Wednesday’s trip aboard the Ocean Explorer.
The stripers are still around but how you’re going to catch them has changed a bit. The massive bunkers schools have spread out and snagging and dropping isn’t producing the same results. The most consistent bass bite is on the troll.
Northern New Jersey Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fishing is excellent – as long as you’re in a boat. He reported bass over 40 pounds were caught in the last week, but it’s been mostly on Mojos and bunkers spoons.
The stripers being taken from the sand are very small and calling them shorts is being kind. Some of the fish are 12 to 14 inches. Once you’re out in 60 feet of water, he said, they jump to keeper size.
There is still plenty of bait around, including adult and peanut bunker, herring and sand eels.
Since the majority of the bass are being taken on the troll, the party boats fishing for stripers out of Atlantic Highlands are at a disadvantage. Still, they are finding a lot of fish, but they aren’t always biting.
Capt. Rob Semkewyc on The Sea Hunter said Wednesday’s trip was a repeat of the last several days. There were bass in a lot of places but they only bit for a brief time then it was over.
The catch was a mix of keeper and short bass and some monster blues. With all of the bait around, Capt. Rob expects to be fishing for at least a couple of more weeks.
Capt. Ron Santee on The Fishermen reported he’s experiencing the same kind of fishing. Wednesday’s trip mirrored what’s been going on for the last week, with loads of bait and bird life and fish showing from top to bottom on the fish finder. It’s just hard to catch them.
He said there are thousands of gannets hitting the water and one would expect an outstanding bite. Instead, the catch was a mix of blue, bass, mackerel and herring and not enough of them. The pool winner was a 15-pound bass.
The blackfishing has been decent, but a little inconsistent as they’re biting one day and just scratching the next.
That’s been true for The Angler out of Atlantic Highlands.
Capt. George Bachert of The Voyager reported having a good gang of regulars on Wednesday’s trip. By the end of the day, he had found a lot of life, but not great fishing. The day ended with just a handful of keepers.
The fishing was fair over the weekend with Saturday being the better of the two days. Most of the tog were caught at the start of the that day’s trip. Sunday was a tougher day, but saw keepers up to 8 pounds.
Capt. Stan Zagleski on the Elaine B II out of Highlands reported similar fishing. He said the blackfish were chewing nicely on Wednesday’s trip for the first hour or so and then someone hit a switch and it was over.
Capt. Zagleski spent the rest of the day moving around, picking a few fish off each spot. When it was all over, a few of his fares had four keepers each.
Mel Martens at Giglios Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the beach is full of little stripers but the kayakers just a couple hundred yards from the beach are picking up some nice keepers on shads and jigs.
The boats trolling Mojos and bunker spoons are getting the best of the action, but he’s hoping there’s another shot of big fish and maybe this time they’ll make it to the beach.
The adult bunker are pretty spread out, he said, but there’s a lot of spearing, peanuts and sand eels around.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the big stripers reappeared in the last week giving folks trolling Mojos another chance at fish.
He did report some fish were caught snagging and dropping as well, but it’s still a boat bite.
Matthews said the best action was south of the Shark River Inlet and the biggest fish to get to the shop’s scales was a 33-pounder caught by Isaac Emberly of Ocean City.
The surf, he added, can be red hot one day but cold the next. The only consistent thing is the fish are small, some down to 15 inches. It’s still fun on light tackle and he suggests a 6-inch Tsunami rubber eel.
My efforts in the Ocean Grove surf had produced a number of these small fish. They still hit pretty hard and all are going for the sand eel teaser.
Matthews added that the blackfish boats out of the marina have been doing well with good numbers of big fish. The largest one at 14 pounds, 5 ounces was caught by Bob Vikse aboard the Ocean Explorer.
Capt. Pete Sykes aboard Parker Petes Sportfishing out of Belmar told me he’s still crushing the stripers on his charters. The bite has been on Mojos and he’s been limiting out on all his trips, sometimes coming in early.
The majority of the bass are 30 to 36 inches and there have been some bluefish in the mix. He’s still got some open dates in December and believes the jig fishing for stripers will be starting soon.
Capt. Rich Falcone on The Golden Eagle out of Belmar is experiencing the same kind of fishing his colleagues to the north are facing.
On Wednesday’s trip, he said there were bass splashing on top and plenty to be found on the fish finder, but they just weren’t biting.
His fares landed some fish but it wasn’t close to what they saw around the boat. The biggest was about 41 inches.
Bob Carracozzo at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the bass fishing is the same in his neck of the woods with Mojos accounting for a majority of the fish with snagging and dropping falling to the wayside. Bunker spoons are catching fish as well.
The blackfishing has become spotty, but the offshore sea bass and porgy fishing has been very good. He said the Voyager out of Point Pleasant Beach has been doing very well on its sea bass trips.
John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle had good reports on the sea bass and porgies and added that the farther off the better. He also said the blackfishing is holding up nicely in the Point Pleasant Canal and at the Manasquan Inlet.
The boats are jigging bass and bluefish south of Bay Head he said, but it’s just decent fishing, not what you’d expect with all of the bait around. He said the bunker seem to have gone deep.
Northern New Jersey Freshwater Fishing Report
The cooler weather is helping the freshwater action as Chris at Tackle and Field in Wanaque said the walleye bite is picking up at Greenwood Lake and Monksville Reservoir.
He said the fish are hitting nightcrawlers and jerk baits.
Trout are also biting in the Wanaque and Ramapo rivers. Anglers are getting them on spinners, Power Bait and nightcrawlers.
Jim Behre at Behre Bait and Tackle in Lebanon reported that the trout fishing at Round Valley Reservoir has improved for both the shore and boat anglers.
Shore folks are getting rainbows using nightcrawlers three feet under a bobber and shiners and Power Bait on a Carolina rig.
Boaters are also catching rainbows and lake trout fishing in 20 to 50 feet of water using shiners on a slip bobber.
Trolling spoons in 20 to 60 feet of water with lead core is also working for rainbows and lake trout and there have been a few brown trout in the mix as well.
Cheryl at Newark Sinker Company said a few of her customers are catching trout at Verona Lake, but many of them have turned their attention to the striper bite in Raritan Bay.
Northern New Jersey Fishing Forecast
Trolling Mojos and bunker spoons are the surest bet for a striped bass this weekend.
The bass can be found from Raritan Bay south along the coast to Seaside Heights. There are some fish, including monster blues, being caught on jigs and shads but the bite is much less consistent.
If you don’t have plans for taking a striper home for the table, fish the beaches on light tackle with shads, small metal and teasers. It’s still a lot of fun and the weather looks favorable for the next couple of days.