Northern New Jersey Fishing Report – June 20, 2019

Pictured Above: Capt. Phil Sciortino of the Tackle Box posted this photo taken by Steve Vullo of a big blue Steve caught off Keyport this week.

Northern New Jersey Fishing Report

Despite this week’s foul weather, the fishing was pretty good. Sea bass are closing out the spring season on a high note with plenty of limit catches reported, the surf fishing continues to improve, and more keeper fluke were caught. Some of those fluke made it to the sand with surf fishermen reporting an uptick in keepers taken on Gulp and bucktails. Small bass continue bite in the suds as well on worms, plugs and sand crabs. And when they can make the trip, offshore anglers are catching bluefin and yellowfin tuna along with sizable mahi-mahi.

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said stripers are being caught on the beaches and he heard of a bass blitz on peanut bunker in the Deal surf on Monday. Fluking, he added, is picking up, with the Misty Morn out of South Amboy reporting a 10.9 pounder caught on Father’s Day. Sciortino also reported bluefish between 5 and 10 pounds popping up at the point of Sandy Hook and at the Keansburg Pier.

Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said more people are finally fishing the ocean and they’re picking up small bass and blues on worms, sand crabs and bunkers chunks. There have also been some black drum in the surf. Big blues have been caught from the sand as well by anglers blind casting metal and plugs. There are still some big blues in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, he added and the fluke fishing is definitely getting better in both. Martens also said the blue claw crabs are out in the Navesink River.

Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch reported more keeper fluke are being caught in the surf there on bucktails tipped with Gulp and bucktails with Gulp teasers. SP Minnows, shads and Red Fins are hooking bass in the surf, he said, and there are some small blues in there as well. He, too, said that there are still plenty of bluefish in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the cloudy, rainy weather is getting on everyone’s nerves, but it hasn’t hurt the fishing. Anglers on the party boats continue to enjoy excellent sea bass fishing and the fluke bite in the Shark River has picked up nicely. Andrew Meli and Payton Gepp easily got their limit of fluke fishing the Shark River in a Den rental boat earlier in the week. Matthews also weighed in a 6-pounder caught in the Shark River. Fisherman’s Den served as a weigh station for the JCAA Fluke Tournament last Saturday and the heaviest fish brought to the scales there was a 5.78 pounder caught by Andrew Green.

The overall tournament winner was an 8.79-pound fluke caught by Jesse McLean of Toms River and weighed in at the Shipwreck Grill in the Manasquan region. Between the port prize money and calcuttas, the fish was worth close to $11,000.

Matthews said the surf continues to be good for small bass taken mostly on worms, clams and sand crabs. The bugs have been working well for me in the Ocean Grove surf where I’ll get a couple of fish per outing and miss a lot more. Fluke are also hitting the sand crabs. Matthews reported some kingfish in the surf along with black drum. A 50-pounder was landed from the beach in Ocean County.

Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar reported a good day on Wednesday with everyone limiting out on sea bass with some nice ling to fill out the catch.

Final reminder: Saturday is the last day of the 10-fish limit for sea bass.

Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar has been catching sea bass, ling bluefish and even a few whiting. He said the ling fishing is the best he’s seen in a quite a while.

Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle is fishing for multiple species as well including blues, sea bass and fluke. He, too, reported outstanding sea bass action.

Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar said the hard wind last weekend made for tough striper fishing but he still managed to put a couple of jumbo bass in the boat. When the bass don’t cooperate, he’s been getting into the sea bass and ling. Capt. Sykes has been getting word of a good striper bite on eels and bunker at night and will be giving that a go in the coming days. Check his website or give him a call for details. Capt. Sykes will also be fishing for fluke during the day starting next week.

Capt. Jay Richardella on Side Job Charters out of Belmar made it offshore on Wednesday and did well with bluefin and yellowfin tuna along with some big mahi-mahi. He’s got open boat spots on tuna trips for $425 per person plus tip.

Capt. Joe Karcich of Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters out of the Manasquan Inlet fished the Sea Girt Reef on Tuesday and found excellent sea bass fishing with everyone on the charter limiting out.

Vinny at the Reel Seat in Brielle said there’s been no let up in the tuna fishing. It’s been very good at the Atlantic Princess and in the southern canyons. Loads of sand eels are keeping the bite going. He’s getting nothing but good reports on the sea bass fishing along with the ling. He did say the offshore bass bite has been slow as has the ocean fluking, but there have been some keepers caught in the Manasquan River. There are small bass and blues at the Manasquan Inlet as well.

Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said there are a lot of short fluke being caught in the Manasquan River but every now and then a 20 incher or better shows up. You just have to put the time in, he said. Gulp and killies are the way to go. There are small blues in the river as well as the amount of bait there is on the rise. The bigger blues are in the Point Pleasant Canal, he said, as are some stripers. They’re being caught at night on eels.

Ron Tucci at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said their customers are anxiously waiting for the fluke fishing to take off.

In the meantime, he’s been getting the same good reports on the sea bass and tuna fishing.
On the freshwater side, the trout fishing remains fairly decent in the rivers and streams and the bass are biting in the local reservoirs. Tucci said that he fished the Pequannock River last week and caught a couple of big muskies on bait.

Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for New Jersey

Best Bets for the Weekend

It’s your last chance at the 10-fish limit on black sea bass. The season closes after Saturday and reopens on July 1 with a two-fish limit until Aug. 31.

The rivers and bays have fluke and bluefish and there are fluke, blues and bass in the surf. From the beach, fish with worms, sand crabs, bucktails and Gulp. The gray skies are supposed to give way to sunshine for the weekend so get out there.