Depending on who you ask, the fluke fishing is getting better.
Boat anglers, as expected, are getting the best of it with more keepers coming over the rail. The folks on the sand, however are struggling with a lack of fish in general and few legal fluke to take home.
Everything else remains pretty much the same as last week with sea bass, ling kingfish, Spanish mackerel, bonito and small blues and bass keeping anglers happy and occupied.
Plus, the crazy bluefin bite continues.
Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park reported he’s hearing of more keeper fluke being landed with good action at the Sea Girt Reef. He said there have been a number of limit catches, and while there haven’t been any giants reported, there’s plenty of legal fish. The hot bluefin bite, which has been going on for weeks now, shows no signs of slowing down. Hebert said they have been selling a whole lot of tuna jigs lately.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fluke are getting bigger for boat anglers, with a number of fish up to 7 pounds or better.
The biggest of the week was a 15-pound, 6-ounce monster caught aboard Capt. Vinnie Vetere’s Katfish out of Great Kills. Sciortino said the giant fluke ate a live adult bunker while the crew was livelining for stripers. The exact location of the catch, as can be expected, remains a mystery. Sciortino said big stripers are still being caught in Raritan Bay by anglers drifting sandworms.
Raritan Bay is also loaded with bunker, he added, along with small blues. The weakfish are still biting in the Reach Channel near Old Orchard hitting pink Zoom and Fin-S baits.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said it’s been slow for fluke off the sand. There haven’t even been a lot of small fish, he said, and he’s been catching a lot of stargazers.
The local surf is still giving up kingfish, triggerfish, small blues and bass with Spanish mackerel popping up now and then. The Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers both have loads of snappers and Martens said the crabbing is excellent.
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Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said things have stayed pretty much the same since last week with kingfish, small bass and blues in the surf and the occasional keeper fluke to go along with the shorts.
The Spanish mackerel, he said, are hit or miss, but they have been frequent visitors along the beaches.
The fluking has been a little slow for me in the Ocean Grove surf, but I did see a couple of keepers landed over the weekend. One went to a young lady fishing with red salmon Gulp close to the rocks. The small bass and blues are in the surf here as well. The stripers continue to hit sand crabs and small plugs. Snappers have yet to show in the surf. Schools of Spanish mackerel pass by the beach almost every day but keep just out of reach.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the shop has been hopping with all the nice weather and folks are keeping busy with kingfish, small blues, triggers, and short and keeper fluke.
Matthews said small stripers are showing at low light times in the mornings and evenings with a small popper the go-to lure. The party boats targeting fluke out of the Shark River Inlet are putting more keepers in the box and sea bass limits are not a problem.
Matthews added that the Miss Belmar and Golden Eagle catching plenty of bonito, mackerel and small blues. The Golden Eagle also ran an offshore tuna trip earlier in the week and landed three bluefin and along with some big blues. The biggest fluke of the week weighed in the shop was a 9½-pounder caught by John Bovie of Neptune.
Finally, Matthews reported shark anglers were having a good summer in the local surf, bluefin tuna fishermen are having an outstanding summer and the snappers are waiting for the kids in the Shark River.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar said his charters enjoyed plenty of action and lots of keeper fluke over the past week with a number of fish in the 7- to 8-pound range.
Most of the keepers are being caught with bucktails on rough bottom and Capt. Sykes said he’ll be starting his on-board bucktailing seminars in the next week or so now that the bigger fish are around.
Parker Pete’s had a good showing in this year’s Point Pleasant Elks Club Annual Fluke Tournament, placing sixth. The tournament’s winning fish was 8.6 pounds.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar also reported on the improved fluking this week. Sea bass and ling have been filling out the catches. He also reported seeing a lot of black tip sharks around and there was a whale feeding alongside his boat off Long Branch on Wednesday.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II out of Belmar said he’s been rock hopping every day, moving from one piece of structure to the next. By the end of the day, he said, they’ve put together a good catch of fluke. Anglers working hard with bucktails are having the most success and the last several days have seen pool winners of 9-pounds, 15-ounces; 9-pounds, 4-ounces; and 7-pounds, 2-ounces.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters said he had an excellent offshore trip earlier this week catching and releasing seven white marlin and a blue marlin estimated at about 400 pounds. He also landed a 67-pound wahoo. The trip was a good tune up for the White Marlin Open which he’ll be fishing next week in Ocean City, Maryland.
Capt. Richardella said the white marlin bite has been terrific and he’ll be running open boat trips for them through September.
John Vafiadis at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the short fluke still greatly outnumber the keepers but more quality fish are being caught lately. He’s expecting August to be a good month. He said guys on the beach are still getting kingfish and picking a few keeper fluke. The Reel Seat’s customers are also having a great time with the bluefin tuna.
John Bogan Jr. at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the Big Jamaica has been doing well with bonito, false albacore and Spanish mackerel on its daily trips while the Jamaica II has been finding keeper fluke among the shorts.
The Paramount continues to put plenty of ling in the buckets, along with sea bass and winter flounder.
Best Bets for the Weekend
It appears bigger fluke have moved into the area but still expect to catch more shorts than keepers. You’re going to have to work for your dinner.
The bottom fishing remains good for ling and sea bass and small blues, bass and kingfish can be found in the surf. It’s metal and plugs for the blues and bass and bait for the kingfish. Keep small metals and epoxy lures handy if the Spanish mackerel show.
And it’s August, so the snappers and crabs are thick in the rivers and bays. Have fun.
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