Northern New Jersey Fishing Report - November 9, 2017

Better late than never.

The striper bite is on and they can be found in good numbers from Sandy Hook on south. The greatest concentration of fish has been in Raritan Bay but the colder weather at the beginning of the week now has the fish on the move.

Boat anglers are the lucky recipients of most of the action with surf fishermen getting mostly shorts along with a few keepers.

The only blemish on the picture has been windy weather that kept most boats at the dock on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Through Monday, though, the fishing was good

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box said the bay was loaded with bass in a wide variety of sizes. Keepers range from 28 inches up to 45 pounds and there are plenty of shorts around as well.

The stripers are being caught on jigs, rubber shads, eels, live bunker, bunker spoons and Mojo rigs.

As of Monday, Sciortino said the fish were moving around the tip of Sandy Hook and he got reports of a few keepers caught from the beach at the Rip on bucktails. The bait is moving out of the bay, he said, and the bass will no doubt be in pursuit.

Capt. Ron Santee on the Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands had a good weekend with stripers starting out on Sunday. The day began with a pick of small fish but, once the tide changed, the bite turned on.

He reported the fish were stacked up with jigs and eels doing most of the damage. Santee said there were way more keepers than shorts and everyone got their limit, with the pool fish hitting 16 pounds.

The action was even better on Monday with Capt. Santee’s fares catching the boat limit in just two drifts.  Everyone played catch-and-release for the rest of the day.

All the stripers were caught on jigs or shads and the pool winner went 17 pounds.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc on the Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands reported three straight days of excellent striper fishing starting on Monday.

The Sea Hunter was one of the few boats that sailed on Wednesday and the trip saw fish up to 20 pounds and nearly all of the fish caught were keepers.  After the boat limited out, Capt. Rob said it was catch-and-release with a lot of big fish heading back over the rail.

Jigs and rubber shads accounted for the catch. Capt. Rob said the forecast for high winds on Friday will keep him at the dock, but he’s hoping to sail on the weekend.

Capt. Hal Hagaman on the Sea Tiger II, also out of Atlantic Highlands, said he’s switched from bottom fishing to bass to get in on the good bite.

The bottom fishing, by the way, is still holding up.

Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands hasn’t sailed since Saturday due to the wind but he said that trip was a one-drop day with good fishing throughout.

Anglers enjoyed porgies and sea bass, although the sea bass were on the small side. The tog were there for those fishing with crabs. Rich Campanelle took the pool with a nice blackfish.

Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright reported that the beach fishing has been a little tough for the last couple of days with wind and rain but there have been reports of keeper bass caught on Sandy Hook.

He mentioned seeing a lot of gannets diving off the beach, but wasn’t sure if they were after herring or bunker. Either way it’s a good sign.

They have been diving in big numbers off Asbury Park, Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach as well. Whatever baitfish is attracting the birds, hopefully they’ll move closer to the beach and bring some bass with them.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar reported good fishing all around.

The boats out of the marina have been jigging bass and coming back to the dock with fish over 40 pounds.

Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar was among the boats getting the big fish.

The fish are all up and down the coast, he said, ranging in size from the high teens to more than 40 pounds. Capt. Sykes said he’s got dates available in December and now that the fish are here, they should hang around for a while.

Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported finding the bass breaking all over the top on Tuesday. While they proved a little hard to catch, Capt. Falcone said they got some, with one going 39 pounds.

All of the fish were keepers and all were caught on jigs.

The bass were absent on Monday but the Golden Eagle found plenty of monster blues up to 23 pounds.  Capt. Falcone said everyone caught their fill and there were plenty of tired arms around the boat.

Friday’s forecast will keep him at the dock, but he plans on sailing the weekend.

Matthews has been getting some good reports from anglers fishing the sand.

Keeper bass are being caught on rubber eels, shads and SP Minnows. James Weir of Belmar landed four bass up to 12 pounds fishing Tsunami shads in the Belmar surf.

Live eels are also doing the job at night.

It isn’t all bass, Matthews added, as the Shark River has been providing good winter flounder fishing. Most of the action is by the concrete pier

Marty Westerfield of Wall has limited out every day he fishes with flatties up to 18 inches.

John Vafinidas at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the striper fishing is getting better down his way with the boats getting most of the fish, but there have been some keepers caught at the Manasquan Inlet and on the local beaches.

He suspects the tuna are still offshore, but no one has been able to sail with all of the wind around.

John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the Point Pleasant Canal is on fire with blackfish. Everybody seems to be getting their one keeper and when next Thursday rolls around, the limit goes to six fish.

The sea bass fishing has been good a little farther offshore. He fished about 10 miles out with a couple of buddies and everyone got around eight keepers.

The Jamaica II out of Brielle is finding big porgies and keeper sea bass on its wreck trips. Capt. Ryan Bogan reported it seemed like everyone limited out with sea bass on Monday’s trip.

The Manasquan River is still giving up a lot of stripers, mostly on clams or bunker and mackerel chunks. They may not be big, but there’s a lot of them.

While the saltwater fishing is heating up, it’s been slow for the freshwater guys.

Jim Behre at Behre Bait and Tackle in Lebanon said the best thing going on right now is the shore fishing for rainbow trout at Round Valley Reservoir. Shiners, Power Bait and marshmallows and meal worms are catching fish.

The water has been going from hot to cold then back again, he said, and the inconsistent temperatures have made the fishing tough. He expects it will remain so until the weather settles into a normal pattern.

Steve at Garden State Bow and Reel said most of his customers are concentrating on the bow hunting and he’s not hearing much on the fishing front. Guys are fishing for bass and pickerel in the local ponds but that’s been about it.

Ken at Tackle and Field in Wanaque also said that most of his customers are in hunting mode now and he’s heard very little on the fishing front.

Larry at the Newark Sinker Company in Pine Brook said that the rivers and streams, which were too low just over a week ago, are now too high and muddy. All his customers are talking about now is the excellent striper bite in Raritan Bay.

Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey

It’s all about the bass. Windy, cold weather will probably put the kibosh on Friday’s fishing, but the rest of the weekend looks fairly good. The boats are getting the best of the fishing, especially up in Raritan Bay, but the cooler weather has the fish spread out along the coast.

Rubber shads, live bunker, eels, bunker spoons and Mojo rigs are all catching fish. The beaches are also giving up bass on SP Minnows, shads and live eels at night. The water is a little roughed up these days, so clams or bunker chunks are also worth a try.