North Jersey Fishing Report
We can’t seem to catch a break this spring.
If your fishing is confined to the weekends, it’s been a tough year. Last weekend’s inaccurate forecasts and punishing winds kept most anglers from their favorite pursuit.
Saturday wasn’t actually too bad, but forecasters calling for a miserable day scared everyone off. But they were right about Sunday with easterly winds in excess of 35 miles an hour.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at The Tackle Box in Hazlet said very few anglers showed up over the weekend.
It’s a shame too, as he said there are some nice fluke being caught in Raritan Bay and the stripers are still around, although that fishery is a bit up and down now.
Capt. George Bachert on The Angler out of Atlantic Highlands sailed on Saturday and started the day with some big fluke with plenty of short action to keep everyone busy.
With a week’s worth of fluking under his belt, Capt. Bachert said bait seems to be working best up to this point.
Capt. Rob Semkewyc on the Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands switched from stripers to fluke at the beginning of the month and has found some nice fish in the last several days.
Capt. Ron Santee on The Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands made the change as well with good success. Fishermen regular, Scott Ure from North Arlington was aboard on Saturday and landed a 9.4-pound beauty.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright lamented what the lousy weekend weather is doing to participation but said those who go are catching fish. The blues are still in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers and the fluke fishing is good in both rivers as well.
He also said the surf fishing for stripers has been picking up. Brian Beitinger landed a 15 pounder in the Sea Bright surf on a bunker chunk and he’s heard of a good clam bite on bass as well.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman, a new tackle and surf shop on Brighton Avenue in Long Branch, also reported decent surf fishing for bass on clams and sandworms. He said there have been a few bluefish blitzes in the surf, but they’ve been sporadic.
He did add some fluke have been caught in the surf but they’ve been mostly shorts.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar also bemoaned the fact that the weather is stuck on nasty, especially with all the fish around.
Fluke fishing in the Shark River got red hot over the past few days. There were a number of limits taken on the rental boats with fish up 7½ pounds.
John Hunter from Pennsylvania, along with a pal, had two limits on consecutive days with fluke to 5 pounds. Jesse Thomas from Wall got his limit to 4 pounds.
Matthews also reported that Justin David of Morristown, brought a 10½-pound doormat into Fisherman’s Den North. The fish was caught near the Navy Pier in Raritan Bay.
He’s also getting more reports of bass in the local surf on clams.
The sea bass fishing remains excellent as well, he said. The party boats out of Belmar have all been keeping their customers happy with limit catches the norm.
Capt. Bobby Quinn on The Ocean Explorer out of Belmar said Wednesday’s trip was no different than all of his other recent outings with fish coming over the rail right from the start. The folks working jigs did the best, especially with the bigger fish. Anything that looks like a sand eel is deadly.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on The Skylarker out of Belmar has been sea bassing as well with limits for his fares on most days. The sea bass have been up to 4 pounds and he’s been catching some ling and winter flounder along with the sea bass.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing took a break from striper fishing on Tuesday for some drop-and-reel sea bass fishing.
He was back on the stripers on Wednesday and brought some big ones aboard up to 40 pounds during the afternoon trip. He’s still got open dates and expects the stripers to be around for a while longer.
Capt. Rich Falcone on The Golden Eagle out of Belmar has been splitting his trips between blues and sea bass. He’s usually finding the bluefish, which have been in the 2-to4-pound range, in the morning then switching to sea bass to fill out the day’s catch.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the Big Jamaica out of Bogan’s Basin is targeting the blues and finding fish from 2 to 10 pounds.
The Jamaica II is running half-day trips for sea bass and fluke and currently finding way more sea bass.
The fluke bite has been good in the Manasquan River, especially for the kayakers using jig heads and Gulp or killies. There are small blues in the river as well.
Alex Kondas at The Reel Seat in Brielle reported that the sea bass fishing has been really good at almost all the reefs and wrecks. Jigs are outfishing bait and catching the bigger specimens.
He, too, said the fluking has been good in Manasquan River from the inlet to Treasure Island and blues have been in and out, mostly early in the morning or late afternoon.
He’s also heard of a number of thresher sharks ending up on bunker spoons. Evidently, he said, they’re taking a swipe at the spoons and end up getting hooked in the tail. A lot of wire has been lost in the process.
Rick at Jigging World in Rochelle Park said his customers are still trolling big bass in Raritan Bay and off Sandy Hook with most of the action in the afternoon.
The trout fishing, he said, remains excellent, and he thinks it will stay that way through the summer. There’s plenty of water in the streams and rivers and the trout haven’t been under a lot of pressure.
Steve at Garden State Bow & Reel in Stockholm said the fishing is coming along nicely there.
Landlocked salmon are being caught a Lake Aeroflex and Lake Wawayanda, there’s plenty of bass being caught in the reservoirs and the musky and walleye bite has been good at Greenwood Lake. The walleye bite has also been good at Canistear Reservoir, he said.
Ron at Fins & Furs in Newfoundland said all of the reservoirs in the area are exploding with bass, mostly smallmouth. The fishing has been excellent with shiners and herring.
He, too, mentioned that good walleye bite at Canistear Reservoir and there’s plenty of trout around, mostly on bait.
Joe at Newark Sinker Company in Pine Brook reported bass and pike are being caught in the Passaic River. The river continues to run high and the fish are congregating in the pools and back areas.
The bass bite is good at Greenwood Lake and fishermen are catching them from the shore at Round Valley Reservoir.
Northern New Jersey Fishing Forecast
The closest you’ll come to a sure thing this weekend is black sea bass. All the wrecks and reefs are giving up nice fish and limit catches are the rule rather than the exception. Metal jigs are the way to go. You might want to hurry to get in on the bite as this portion of the sea bass season closes June 22.
There are more keeper bass in the surf from Sandy Hook down to Manasquan with clams and bunker chunks catching fish. Even I got a keeper on clams in Ocean Grove last weekend.
Freshwater bass fishing has come alive in most lakes and ponds as the fish are coming off their beds and there are still plenty of rainbow trout to be caught in stocked waters.