Fishing Report For Northern New Jersey
Striper fishing broke wide open late last week with some big bass coming over the rails.
Party boats out of Belmar fishing to the north for tog came upon bass feeding on bunker and caught fish up to 30 pounds. Everyone was a bit surprised by the hot bite so early in the spring, but no one is complaining. The fish have been hitting jigs, shads, mojos and spoons. Folks fishing bait in Raritan Bay continue to catch stripers as well, from shorts up to trophy fish. The bite is on worms, clams and bunker chunks.
Capt. Joe Karcich of Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters out of Lawrence Harbor fished on Sunday and had about 35 bass on his first charter of the year. All were keeper sized fish except one and were caught on shads and Mann’s stretches. He’s running an open boat this Sunday with five spots available and he can be contacted through his website.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters stopped on his way to his spring berth at Lockwood Marina in South Amboy on Sunday and caught bass from 22-to-35 inches jigging shads and trolling. He had his first charters of the year scheduled for later in the week.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the bass fishing has been incredible in Raritan Bay and outside Sandy Hook. He’s also heard of stripers being caught from the beach at Sandy Hook on bait, mainly clams.
Shads, jigs and Mojos are catching most of the fish, but Capt. Sciortino said the fish are occasionally on top hitting surface plugs. The kayak guys, he said, have been doing very well.
There hasn’t been any sign of the spring blues as yet and the winter flounder fishing remains very slow.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said his customers have been getting in on the good bass bite to the north and stripers are also being caught in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.
Yozuri Mag Darters, Sebiles and SP Minnows are all doing the trick. Winter flounder continue to be a disappointment, he said.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch reported bass back in the Shrewsbury River on small plugs and shads. The beach has been quiet, he said, but there still aren’t many folks giving it a shot.
He’s expecting that to change in the coming days.
The Ocean Grove surf didn’t give up a touch when I tried it over the weekend with shads. Bait is probably the way to go and next time I’ll try clams or bunker chunks.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said called the bass fishing “off the charts” for this early in the year. He said the party boats out of the marina are limiting out on most trips with an occasional slow day.
The catch has been a mix of fish from 25 inches up to 40 pounds with Krocs, Ava 47s and Tsunami shads getting the job done.
Matthews said he hasn’t heard much from the beach but the rivers and bays are holding stripers. He fished his favorite spot during the week and had fish to 32 inches on plugs.
His friend, John Reilly of the Hooked Café in Belmar, got two 40 pounders on Magic Tail Mojos off Monmouth Beach.
Matthews said the local trout season got off to a good start with Spring Lake giving up lots of fish.
The blackfishing, he added, has been decent offshore, but slow at the Shark River Inlet and in the Point Pleasant Canal.
Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer was among the boats that got into the bass at the end of last week while he was after tog. Several of his fares went home with both that day.
He went blackfishing on Wednesday and came back with a nice catch of tog plus some ling and cod. The stripers didn’t show, but he called it a good day of fishing overall. He’ll be fishing for blackfish and bass over the weekend.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar plans to be out this weekend after the big stripers.
He believes this year’s bass fishing is off to such a good start because the bass are making a beeline to the spawning grounds inside the 3-mile limit. The fish stayed farther offshore in the last couple of years, he said.
He’s booking spring striper trips and has a few dates still open in April.
Dave Arbeitman at the Reel Seat in Brielle said most of the bass action he’s heard of aside from up north is around the Mantoloking Bridge. Shads and small plugs are catching the fish there.
He suspects there are bass around the Route 70 Bridge on the Manasquan River as well but hasn’t had any confirmation as yet.
Arbeitman said the shop will be hosting a seminar on jigging and popping for tuna in conjunction with Shimano at the Brielle Fire House on Saturday, April 27. A complete Shimano tuna popping outfit will be given out as a door prize. He said to contact the shop for complete details.
Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the blackfishing has shown improvement on the Sea Girt and Axel Carlson reefs. He’s been hearing from the private boats that the numbers have gotten better with more keepers in the mix.
Winter flounder fishing is still slow, but anglers are picking up a few fish at the bay end of the Point Pleasant Canal and around the Mantoloking Bridge. The amount of fish isn’t great, but the size, up to 19 inches, has been decent.
He said folks are trying the beaches for bass, but he hasn’t heard much in the way of results. Bogan said he expects stripers to start coming off the sand in the next week.
Mark at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said his customers have been getting into the bass in Raritan Bay, with fish up to 38 pounds on the troll and on plugs and shads.
The freshwater anglers, he said, enjoyed a terrific opening to the trout season with good action all over the place, including the Pequest, Pequannock and Ramapo rivers.
He also said the Delaware River is loaded with shad right now and that Greenwood Lake is giving up plenty of walleye.
Fishing Forecast For Northern New Jersey
Time to fish. The bass are here, especially up in Raritan Bay and in the ocean from Asbury Park to the Highlands Bridge. The stripers have been on top hitting plugs and taking jigs and shads when deeper. Boats trolling Mojos are also catching some monster fish.
The blackfishing has been fairly good and the tog boats have been getting into the bass as well. There’s only a couple of weeks left in the blackfish season.
And don’t forget freshwater. Recently stocked streams, ponds and lakes are loaded with trout. Have fun.
spring lake brook trout looks like a Brown Trout to me,?
You are correct, fixed the caption. Thanks.