North Jersey Striper fishing is on fire based on the reports, social media posts, and phoning the shops. The Raritan Bay has been the place to be for 10 to 40-pound striped bass as some of these fish are getting ready to breed. They are hungry and have been hitting swimming shads, trolled mojos, and swimming plugs. A couple of shops said some of their diehard anglers have been fishing the evenings from land or kayak and putting 25 to 30 fish on the hook over a couple of hours. Blackfishing surrounding wrecks. There hasn’t been a lot of fish, but fish between 8 to 10 pounds haven’t been uncommon.
Fishing Report For Northern New Jersey
I called Capt. Joe Karcich of Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters out of Lawrence Harbor and he was on one of his striped bass trips in the Raritan. They have been slamming fish on plugs and on the troll with mojos. Most of the fish have been in the 15 to 30 pound range and the skipper expects good fishing to continue the rest of the month.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters out of South Amboy has been running striped bass charters and the main focus has been in the Raritan where bass from 20 to 38 inches have been caught. Most of the catching has been on trolled plugs and mojos, but some fish have been jigged up on shads.
The Tackle Box in Hazlet reported that the striped bass fishing in the Raritan Bay has continued to be spectacular with 15 to 30 pound bass being consistently caught. Boats and kayaks continue to have the best shots at 30+ inch bass, and there was word of a solid 40 pounder landed on a kayak. Winter flounder has been very slow as of late, and the blackfish bite continues to slowly get better at the reef sites.
Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright reported most of the successful striped bass fishing coming from the Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook, especially around the Pebble Beach and Keyport areas. The evening bite has been on SP Minnows and Mag Darters, while bait anglers have been catching stripers on bloodworms and sandworms. The boats have been jigging 20-pound class fish on surface plugs and trolling of Keansburg and Port Monmouth. A kayaker landed and released a nice 40 pounder.
Tak Waterman in Long Branch had reports of schoolie sized stripers hitting soft plastics and plugs along the banks of the Raritan and around some of the areas bridges during the evening. The bite in the Raritan for the boats has been nothing short of spectacular, and the bite has been very consistent. Trolling plugs or Mojos has been the way to catch over 30 fish in a given day.
I called Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar and he should be ready any day now as the boat is ready to make the big splash for the 2019 season. They will start running striped bass trips and the skipper said he still has dates open for the month of April and May.
The Reel Seat in Brielle had good reports of 20-plus pound striped bass being caught in the Raritan as it has been a great week for catching. There are lots of schools of bunker along with striped bass and trolling shads or mojos has been the ticket. The beach fishing has been more sporadic and composed of small stripers with a few keepers. Winter flounder has been almost non-existent either do to a lack of anglers or lack of fish. Blackfish continues to get better at the Axel Carlson and Sea Girt Reef sites.
Fishing Forecast For Northern New Jersey
The best bet for the weekend would be to fish the Raritan Bay hard if you have a boat or kayak as most of the higher quality fish have been caught on topwater plugs or trolling mojos. The areas of Keansburg and Port Monmouth continue to have a large body of 15 to 30 pound stripers. Beach fisherman will have shots at smaller bass, but you should be fishing the evening tides as most of the fish have been landed during the night. Swimmers, plugs, and even some poppers have resulted in hookups on fish to 15 pounds. Blackfish continues to get better, but we should need a break in the forecast so anglers can get out and box them up before the season closes in a couple of weeks. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!
has been slowly picking up with some of the better bites being at the Axel Carlson and some of the