The bite on big fluke bounced back nicely this week with a number of fish in the 10-pound range along with countless keepers from 3 to 7 pounds. There were also plenty of sea bass and porgies.
Beach anglers found loads of small bluefish along with bonito and fluke. The false albacore are also showing off the sand and mahi-mahi are being caught in inshore waters.
The rivers, bays and ocean are thick with bait, including spearing, rainfish, mullet, peanut and adult bunker.
The only real problem was the heat.
Still, it was a good week to go fishing and the table is all set for the fall.
Fishing Report For Northern New Jersey
Capt. Phil Sciortino at The Tackle Box in Hazlet called the fishing great with lots of fluke limits reported on the party boats sailing out of Atlantic Highlands. The top fish he weighed in was 9½ pounds.
He said the porgy fishing has been very good on all the local rock piles and Raritan Bay is holding a lot of cocktail blues.
Sciortino also reported that anglers traveling to the Mud Hole and Manasquan Ridge have been picking up mahi-mahi, either trolling feathers or tossing spearing around the pots.
Capt. George Bachert on The Angler out of Atlantic Highlands has been catching some nice fluke all week. Sunday’s trip saw 25 fluke over 4 pounds and six fluke in excess of 7 pounds. On Tuesday, Terry H. from Pennsylvania landed a 9-pound, 6-ounce fish.
On Wednesday, which brought the toughest conditions of the week with high temperatures and no drift, Ray Slodowski from Toms River managed to bring an 8-pounder over the rail.
Capt. Ron Santee’s Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands also reported a good week with limits every day, fish up to 8 pounds and loads of short action.
My friend Jim Stonaker was kind enough to invite me fluking out of Atlantic Highlands last Friday along with his friend Jim Renzo and we caught fish all day long.
I wasn’t much help on the keeper front but those two filled the box with fluke up to 4 pounds and tossed back a load of keepers. We also got a few nice sea bass.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait & Tackle in Sea Bright said the surf is loaded with bluefish up to 2 pounds.
Beach anglers are still doing well with fluke, but some days are better than others and the shorts continue to outnumber keepers by a wide margin. Snappers and floating bucktails are the baits of choice.
Martens said there have been sightings of false albacore off the beach, but no reports of any landings. The crabbing in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers is still excellent.
The albies were popping out of the water off Ocean Grove on Wednesday evening but stayed just of my reach.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch told me he was diving around the jetties in Long Branch and spotted loads of striped bass.
Most of the fish were schoolies, he said, but there were a few fish up to 15 pounds in the mix. It doesn’t look like anyone is fishing for them, he added. He also saw a lot of triggerfish.
Folks are getting some keeper fluke in the surf there, but the majority are throwbacks. He’s also witnessed bonito off the beach.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said it was all about the big fluke this week. The shop weighed in several double-digit fish from the Shark River and the ocean.
The largest fluke was a 12½-pound monster caught by Tom Clayton of Wall in the Shark River Inlet.
The next big fish to come out of the river was a 10-pounder caught by Sue Mikhail of Newton. She also caught a 7-pound fluke on the same day aboard one of the Den’s rental boats.
Live snappers caught the big fish and Matthews suggests you bring a snapper popper to catch the bait.
Another doormat, a 10½ pounder caught by Raymond McCraney of Fords, was also weighed in. He got the fluke on an offshore trip.
Matthews said there is a load of activity in the rivers and ocean right now with 2-to 4-pound bluefish in the surf, plenty of fluke and loads of bait.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar said he’s been getting into some jumbo fluke all week.
The biggest fish came on Tuesday when Dave Bezick on the KTS Custom Fishing Products trip landed a 9½-pound fluke.
Capt. Sykes said he has some shared charter openings for the Labor Day Weekend and is currently booking fall striper trips.
Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar reported good fluking all week with some days a little better than others. There’s been a lot of fish in the 3- to 5-pound range and several up to 7 pounds.
Capt. Quinn said he took a scouting dive on Tuesday and saw a lot of big fluke lying inside the wrecks and rocks, which was a good sign for the rest of the season. It closes on Sept. 22.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on The Skylarker out of Belmar said he’s finding bigger fluke on a much more consistent basis. Fred Morris of Ewing had a good day on a recent trip with his limit, which included fluke of 7.8 and 6.5 pounds.
Capt. Spinelli has also been putting his fares onto some Spanish mackerel, mahi-mahi and bonito. One angler landed a nice king mackerel.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar has been finding bluefish all week, mostly in the morning. The blues are from 2 to 6 pounds and there have been bonito in the mix as well.
Later in the day and on his sunset trips, Capt. Falcone has been catching sea bass and fluke. Better hurry on the sea bass as that season closes on Friday, Aug. 31. It opens again on Oct. 8 with a 10 fish limit.
Alex Kondas at the Reel Seat in Brielle said there’s been a lot of activity in the Manasquan River this week with bigger fluke. Live snappers and peanut bunker are doing better than Gulp-tipped bucktails.
He also said there are some keeper stripers at night near the bridges on swim shads.
The Axel Carlson and Sea Girt reefs are also producing bigger fluke, Kondas said, with 6-inch Gulp grubs on bucktails doing the trick.
Kondas also reported the Mud Hole is giving up mahi-mahi to 15 pounds.
He added that the tuna bite has been pretty good at the Chicken Canyon and Triple Wrecks.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said he’s received reports of mahi-mahi at the Mud Hole and Manasquan Ridge with the fish popping up at the Axel Carlson and Sea Girt reefs as well.
He added the bonito and false albacore have been around the Manasquan Inlet.
Ron at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said he’s been getting nothing but good reports from his customers. They’re catching big fluke, plenty of porgies, bonito and Spanish mackerel.
The freshwater folks, he said, are doing well with walleye at night at Canistear Reservoir.
Steve at Garden State Bow & Reel in Stockholm also mentioned the good walleye fishing at Canistear. Slow drifting with live herring, he said, has been the most productive method.
The bass fishing on topwater baits has been very good as well, he added, with the Whopper Popper proving to be the lure of choice.
Chris at Tackle and Field in Wanaque said most of the action right now is drop shotting for smallmouth bass in the local lakes and ponds. Topwater baits are working for largemouth in the evening and early morning.
Cheryl at Newark Sinker Company in Pine Brook said the smallmouth bass are waiting for folks to come and catch them in the Passaic River, but there’s just not a lot of people fishing for them.
The largemouth bass fishing, she added, has been good at Lake Hopatcong and the private lakes in the area.
Northern New Jersey Fishing Forecast
The clock is ticking on the 2018 fluke season and with all of the big fish being caught, now is the time to go. Boat anglers are getting all the large ones, so hop on a party or charter boat or get that buddy with a boat to take you.
The rivers, bays and surf are all loaded with bait and all kinds of fish are feeding on it. The beach is a good bet with fluke and bluefish in the surf and bonito, Spanish mackerel and false albacore making random appearances.