Fluke, snappers and crabs ̶ we’re in the thick of summer fishing. While the bite hasn’t been as hot as the weather, it’s still pretty good.
In addition to the above, there are also sea bass, porgies, small blues, bonito and ling around. The guys who are getting offshore are also doing well with yellowfin, bluefin and bigeye tuna.
Over the weekend, there were some nice fluke caught during the annual Jersey Coast Anglers Association Annual Fluke Tournament.
A 12.4-pound doormat caught by James Gurski, Nazareth Pa., and weighed in at the Sandy Hook port was the top fish in the tournament.
Unfortunately, Gurski did not register for the $50,000 prize awarded for a fluke over 12 pounds. That would have been $25 well spent.
A threatening forecast kept participation down and this time the weatherman was right. Rough seas and torrential rains made for some tough conditions.
I fished aboard Capt. Chris Sabilia’s Christine Marie II out of Sea Bright with Nicky Newman, Billy Kelly and Ed Lenorth and we didn’t have a whole lot of company.
We spent most of the day searching for fluke, picking fish here and there, and didn’t find a consistent bite until late in the day in the Ambrose Channel. By then, conditions had improved.
Capt. Sabilia brought a 4.6 pounder aboard that missed a top ten spot by a few hundredths of a pound.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at The Tackle Box in Hazlet said the snappers are everywhere and their bigger brethren, bona fide bluefish, showed up in the Raritan Bay on Tuesday.
There’s loads of bait around, he said, and added that some nice fluke were caught on the local party boats on Monday. He also reported that a few anglers drifting worms in the bay at night are having luck with striped bass.
Capt. Ron Santee on the Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands reported bigger fluke coming aboard on Monday with the pool fish going 7.9 pounds. There were also a couple of 5 and 6 pounders along with some smaller keepers.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait & Tackle in Sea Bright reported that the fluke fishing in the surf remains good, with live snappers the hot bait.
Martens said the amount of bait in the ocean is incredible and the spearing has been washing right up on the beach. He did say the striper fishing in the suds has gone quiet compared with last week.
Martens added the porgy fishing is good on the rock piles with worms outfishing clams. The crabbing, he said, remains excellent.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said the fluke are still biting in the surf there but the striper fishing has fallen off. The surf there is loaded with snappers and bait as well.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar reported decent fishing this past week with the party boats reporting good fluke and sea bass fishing with a blackfish or two mixed in.
The Shark River, Matthews said, has been giving up nice fluke with Jerry Taylor of Belmar catching an 8½ pounder on a live snapper.
He, too, witnessed a slowdown in the striper fishing in the surf but said the fluke bite is more than making up for it.
Capt. Bobby Quinn on The Ocean Explorer out of Belmar said he’s been having a good run with fluke and Wednesday was no exception. He reported loads of action with plenty of limits and high hooks of 30 fish.
The pool winner was about 7 pounds and there were multiple fish in the 3- to 5-pound range. Bucktails were getting the job done and pink and white were the hot colors.
Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar hosted the Hansen/Brignola/Lenorth Family outing on Sunday of which I was a part and we caught a mix of keeper fluke and sea bass along with plenty of shorts of both species.
We tried the rough bottom where the big fish have been gathering, but multiple snags sent us to friendlier waters. Young Jack Hansen, 10, from California, gave everyone a lesson, outfishing the boat by a wide margin.
Capt. Sykes told me conditions changed and they crushed the fluke on the afternoon trip on the rocky stuff.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on The Skylarker out of Belmar took a long ride over the weekend out to the canyon and reported catches of tilefish, ling, pollock and white and purple hake. He’s back to fluke and sea bass fishing for the rest of the week.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported excellent fishing on Tuesday’s trip with old-fashioned whitewater bluefishing for the first few hours. The fish were in the 1-to 2-pound range and hitting jigs and teasers as soon as they reached the water.
Wednesday’s trip also produced blues and some bonito, but the fishing wasn’t as frantic as the previous day. Capt. Falcone filled out the catch with sea bass and fluke.
Alex Kondas at the Reel Seat in Belmar the Manasquan River is holding plenty of small fluke with a keeper ratio of 12-to-1. Jig heads tipped with Gulp remain the favorite bait.
Schoolie to keeper bass continue to be caught at the bridges along the river on plugs, shads and worms.
Kondas said it was a solid week of fluking on the wrecks and reefs. Anglers also caught some small blues along with a few bonito mixed in with the schools of bluefish.
Yellowfin tuna are being caught on the chunk in the Chicken Canyon, he said, along with some bluefin.
In the Hudson Canyon, the 100 Square is giving up bigeye on the troll and yellowfin tuna chunking.
Katherine at Brielle Bait and Tackle said she weighed in several nice fluke caught at the Sea Girt Reef this week with fish up to 6 pounds. The Jamaica II, she said, had a very good week with bigger fluke.
The snappers are all over the Manasquan River, she said, and the Big Jamaica has been catching bigger blues and some bonito. On Tuesday’s trip, Capt. Howard Bogan reported catching blues, bonito, sea bass, mackerel and a mahi-mahi.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park fished the JCAA tournament and weighed in a 6.7-pound fluke at the Sandy Hook port for a sixth-place finish. He said the ocean fluking has been good with some bigger fish being caught lately in deeper water on rough bottom.
He’s also had good reports on the porgy fishing near Breezy Point.
On the freshwater side, Hebert said the trout streams are running very high with all of the rain so lake fishing for bass is the better choice.
Chris at Tackle and Field in Wanaque said things were a bit slow this week with the heat. Anglers using topwater plugs did fairly well with bass at Lake Hopatcong early in the morning or late in the evening. Fishing was tougher elsewhere.
Larry at the Newark Sinker Company in Pine Brook said the Passaic River was up over its banks making for difficult fishing. He said the water was way up at Lake Hopatcong as well.
His saltwater customers reported better fluking in deeper water last week with fish up to 8 pounds.
Martin at Fins And Furs in Newfoundland reported the Pequannock River is running very high right now, so he hasn’t heard much coming out of there. The bass bite on topwater baits has been good at the Clinton Reservoir and there have been a few big catfish coming out of there at night as well.
Steve at Garden State Bow and Reel in Stockholm said the topwater anglers are doing well with bass in the reservoirs. He said folks fishing close to the feeder streams that are bringing cooler water into the lake seem to be having the better luck.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
Time to take advantage of the waning days of summer. The heat doesn’t seem to bother the fluke and bigger fish are turning up on the rocks in deeper water. Just be prepared to lose some tackle.
The beaches are loaded with bait and snappers. Birds have been diving in the surf from Sea Bright to Belmar and the small blues are easy to catch. They’re fun for the kids and make excellent live bait for fluke.
You can also grab a net or a trap and catch some tasty New Jersey blue claws.
Going to fish around never sink river will i need to go out to bay or will i do good in the bays