Southern New Jersey Fishing Report- June 20, 2019

Southern New Jersey Fishing Report

This week was a tough go with gale winds on Saturday and Sunday which churned up the bays quite a bite. Anglers working bucktails and rigs complained of lots of “cabbage” fouling lures. The 8 to 10-foot depths seem to be holding a majority of the keepers which don’t seem to be as “plentiful or active” as last year. Shark fishing has been the hot bite of the past week with lots of ports reporting excellent action on makos, but the issue has been finding keepers with the new regulations. Sea bass continues to be the most consistent fishery of 2019 with head boats, charters, and recreational anglers boxing limits of these tasty fish. I just hope we don’t go over our quota as we would pay the piper the following year.

Capt. Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach had reports of bluefish and striped bass caught along the beaches close to the Manasquan Inlet. The shop received word of very good fluke bites occurring in the Navesink River with anglers gearing up and trailering their vessels up there. Most of the action has been on 1/2oz to 1oz bucktails fished along the 10 to 12-foot depths tipped with Gulp.

Norma K III in Point Pleasant Beach had some keeper fluke being netted when the conditions were right. The water is still cold, but days when it’s blowing out of the Northeast or East have helped to get them bite. Quality sea bass and ling have been in the mix at most of the stops. Bluefishing has been tough during the night trips, but luckily the ling have been biting and anglers have been going home with plenty of meat.

The Gambler out of Point Pleasant Beach was working hard at some good night wreck fishing trips with plenty of ling being caught and quickly iced in the coolers. The boat did report a few big bluefish circling the boat’s lights. The half day fluke trips have been rather slow with some short fluke and few keepers making it over the rail. sea bass and ling are also being picked up during the fluke drifts. The water is still pretty cold as the boat has been pulling up Whiting at several of the stops.

The MIMI VI out of Point Pleasant had a nice cooler full of mixed species with fluke, winter flounder, sea bass, ling, mackerel, and bluefish being iced from a few of their charters. Capt. Ken pulled out of the stops with picking up a multiple “Jersey wreck slams” (ling, sea bass, fluke/flounder). It continues to be very good fishing along some of the crew’s favorite snags, but they only have a limited number of open dates, so be sure to call them.

Jersey Hooker Outfitter in Brick reported sea bass and ling in the 4 to 6-mile range out of Manasquan and Shark River inlets. Fluke fishing is a little slow out front, but much better in the inlets and further back, especially the Navesink, Shrewsbury, and Manasquan Rivers. 3/4oz to 1oz bucktails tipped with Gulp have been the hot choices for anglers. Shark season is upon us and boats are reported great action on makos and blue sharks. A few white sharks have been reported over the last week.

Charlie’s Bait & Tackle in Normandy Beach reported striped bass to 30 inches and bluefish ranging 2 to 6 pounds being caught along the beaches. Anglers working bucktails tipped with white or yellow grub tails and metals have been catching. Fluke fishing remains strong in the Manasquan River and Barnegat Bay.

Grumpy’s Bait & Tackle in Seaside Park reported slow fishing off Island Beach State Park with the rough surf. There has been some nice drum caught on clams up to 25 pounds from the beach along with small bluefish and striped bass, but the “Drum Bonanza” which occurred earlier in the week had slowed down a tad. Surf anglers working dark colored plugs in the evening have been landing striped bass to 24 inches.

Jersey Buoyz out of Forked River had cancellations for their fluke trips due to the winds, but they did make it out later in the week for shark. The crew had some action on a variety of shark species (hammerhead, dusky, blue sharks, and mako) and they even saw a large white shark in their slick.

Lacey Marine in Forked River reported tough back bay fishing this past week due to the heavy winds and unsettled weather. The bay has been pretty churned up as anglers have been complaining of fouled hooked due to seaweed, snot grass, and eel grass. The inlet has bluefish and schoolie striped bass on the tide switches which have been hitting bucktails, metals, soft plastics, and plugs. Crabbers have been doing very well on jumbo sized blue crabs and some commercial crabbers have been reporting blowfish in their traps.

Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported great crabbing right now in the Barnegat Bay with 5 to 6-inch jimmies being hand-lined and trapped. Fishing has been a little slow for fluke in the bay as the usual spots are just lacking 18-plus inch fish. There are a decent amount of 17 and 17.5’s being caught, so they should be there by the end of the summer in terms of length. Sharking is the hottest game in town right now with lots of makos, blues, and even some hammers being caught. Anglers have been running 15 to 40 miles out of Barnegat Light in order to find the toothed ones.

Reel Reaction Charters out of Waretown and Barnegat Light only had trips on Sunday with the 25 knot winds as the skipper fished the JCAA on Saturday on the Team S&S Bucktail boat. The team won the Long Beach Island port with a 5.83-pound fluke and had a full 3-man limit. Sunday’s trip had anglers fighting gale winds which made for tough fluking, but they switched to working the inlet and had lots of schoolie striped bass and bluefish to 8-pounds on bucktails.

Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom reported schoolie striped bass and bluefish being caught from the Barnegat Inlet on soft plastics and Diawa SP Minnows worked along the rocks. Some quality fluke were speared along the South Jetty during the slack tides with spear-fisherman weighing in fish to 8 pounds. Shark chum and rigs have been flying out the door as the bite has been pretty hot 20 miles from both the Barnegat and Little Egg inlets. The bay shark bite has started with some sand tigers beginning to be caught at night.

The Ocean City to Cape May area has been experiencing steady summer flounder fishing from the 8 to 12 foot depths as the water temperature has increased. The fluke are starting to move to deeper channels and have been hitting on the outgoing tide. Bluefish strips, mackerel, and Gulp baits have been the ticket for keepers. Bluefish have been scattered, but anglers at the inlets have been picking up more consistent fish and the ranges have been between 2 and 15 pounds. Offshore fishing has been very good for bluefin tuna and sharks at the canyons and sea bass have been very good at the wrecks from 20 to 35 miles out. The south jersey bridges are starting to hold sheepshead which can be targeted on shrimp or crabs, and weakfish are hitting soft plastics.

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Southern New Jersey Fishing Forecast

It looks like we are getting some nicer weather as this past week was pretty unsettled. If you’re an offshore angler, then fishing for shark would be your best bet for almost guaranteed hookups as the bite has been very hot as of late. The Monster Ledge, Manasquan Ridge, Barnegat Ridge, Fingers, and areas 20 to 40 miles out have been the hot spots. Fluke fishing is much better inside than outside, so work those 5 to 10-foot drops with light tackle jigs to box keeper flatties. I’m not going to lie, it has been a rather tough go for most to find keeper fluke, but you just have to keep working as the big ones will eventually turn on. Sea bass are “sure bet” as anglers will only have to Saturday to bag limits as the season will be closed on Sunday. The key is to finding wrecks that have not been over-harvested, so leave early and get on the hook.
Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!!