Striper fever is running rampant.
Bass up to 50 pounds have been caught from Raritan Bay down along the beaches of Monmouth County to the Manasquan Inlet. Mojo rigs and bunker spoons are accounting for most of the fish, but some have been taken on jigs and snagging and dropping is working as well when pods of bunker can be found.
Not everyone is getting the cure, however.
The flotilla of boats was thick on Sunday all down the coast, but the bite didn’t match expectations and many anglers were disappointed. Still, it’s just the start of the run and the fish should be around for a while longer.
Fishing Report for Northern New Jersey
The beach bite has been limited to smaller fish and a few keepers so the surfcasters are still waiting for their shot at these bigger fish.
And if you’re after something other than stripers, the sea bass, blackfish and porgy fishing remain good. The albies, however, are gone for sure.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said a lot of the monster bass have been caught in Raritan Bay, mostly on the troll with bunker spoons and Mojos but a few are hitting jigs and live bunker. The fishing has been good at West Bank and Norton’s Point, he added. The boats bottom fishing, he said, continue to find good catches of sea bass and blackfish.
Capt. Rob Semkewyc on the Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands was one boat that had a good day on Sunday using jigs and shads. The pool winner was over 40 pounds, he reported, and there were many fish in the 20- to 30-pound range.
Capt. Ron Santee on the Fishermen, also out of Atlantic Highlands, got into the bass as well on Sunday with a bunch of fish over 30 pounds and the pool winner, caught by Rich Devito, coming in just shy of 40 pounds. A mix of jigs and live eels caught the fish.
Neither boat repeated the good fishing for the balance of the week due to the weather.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said he received good reports of bass at Norton’s Point as well and some fish caught to the south in Seaside.
The small fish remain in the surf there and Martens said there are still loads of stripers in the rivers. The Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers are loaded with bait as well.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch has been reporting bass in the surf there for weeks with only bad weather pausing the action. Shads, bucktails and swimming plugs have all been generating strikes.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said there’s been terrific bass fishing out front with fish from 35 to 50 pounds caught on the troll and snag and drop.
Matthews said the winter flounder in the Shark River and blackfish at the Shark River Inlet are the best bets for shore-bound fishermen, as are the smaller bass at the beach.
He also reported the party boats out of the marina are doing well with sea bass, blackfish and bluefish.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported phenomenal fishing for jumbo bluefish on Sunday with fish up to 18 pounds. Limit catches were common, he said, and everything was caught on jigs.
He was stuck at the dock due to the weather until Wednesday when he said the fishing was not as good, most likely due to Tuesday’s storm. They still managed a few nice stripers, bluefish and sea bass.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar said he’s been getting into the big bass, up to 40 pounds, on the troll and dropping and snagging.
The weather has been a bit of a problem and he said Sunday’s boat traffic made for some tough fishing, but there are a lot of big fish around. He’s got some open dates and shared charters available and plans on fishing through December.
Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar reported a good day of sea bass fishing on Wednesday with some jumbos coming over the rail. Anglers had to weed through the shorts but high hooks had six to eight keepers.
It was the Ocean Explorer’s first trip since Sunday due to the weather. Capt. Quinn reported good fishing then as well with keeper sea bass, along with some porgies, coming up right from the start.
Alex Kondas at the Reel Seat in Brielle reported that the good blackfishing continues at the Point Pleasant Canal and Manasquan River Inlet. The keeper ratio is a bit better at the inlet than the canal, but be prepared to go through some shorts either way. A lot of the anglers are using the lighter jigs instead of sinkers.
The small bass in the Manasquan River haven’t gone anywhere and fish up to 26 inches are hitting plugs and shads. Bigger fish are at the inlet on the Point Pleasant side, he said, with keepers mixed in with the shorts.
The bigger bass are out front and he and his buddies got a 30 pounder on Sunday on a snagged bunker. But, he added, the fishing was far from good with boats everywhere and not a lot of fish to be had.
The sea bass fishing has been good at the Shark River Reef, he said, and have a tuna rod handy as bluefin tuna in the 50- to 70-pound range are still in the area. Kondas emphasized that the farther out you travel, the better the sea bass fishing.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said boats trolling one to two miles off the local beaches with Mojos and bunker spoons are doing well with the big stripers. The fishing was good late last week, but stalled a bit over the weekend. He hasn’t heard much for the last couple of days due to the weather.
Party boats out of the Manasquan Inlet have been catching good numbers of sea bass and porgies fishing in deeper water, he said, up to 100 feet.
Mark at Tackle World in Rochelle Park got good reports of bass fishing in Raritan Bay on Monday with fish up to 45 pounds. Eels and jigs accounted for the fish.
The trout fishing took a hit this week, he said, with high water levels in the rivers and streams from all the rain. He expects that to get back on track with some clearer weather.
Steve at Garden State Bait and Tackle in Stockholm said the bass fishing is still good throughout the watershed, but the fish have gone deep so fish accordingly. He also said the walleye specialists are doing well in the reservoirs.
The Pompton River, he added, has been giving up some big pike. One angler reported fish of 36 and 42 inches.
Larry at the Newark Sinker in Pine Brook said the trout fishing in the Ramapo River was very good before the rain, and will be again once the river goes down.
He also heard of good crappie fishing on small jigs at Sterling Lake.
Northern New Jersey Fishing Forecast
It’s all about the bass. The big boys are around and since they’ve made few forays onto the beach, you’ll have to be in a boat to catch them. The fleet was thick off Asbury Park, Avon and Bradley Beach Thursday morning.
Trolling, jigging and livelining are all working. Surfcasters will have to keep their fingers crossed that the big stripers take a trip to the beach.
Bottom fishing is a solid bet as well with good sea bass, porgy and tog fishing reported by the boats targeting them.