Pictured Above: Frank Krupa caught this 10-pound, 5-ounce doormat aboard the Ocean Explorer over the weekend.
With about six weeks left in this year’s summer flounder season, the fishing has finally found some footing. There’s still plenty of shorts to weed through but anglers are finding more keepers, especially in deeper water and on hard bottom.
At the same time, the usual summer menu is keeping anglers occupied. There are also more mahi-mahi on the scene while blackfish are back on the list of available species, even though it’s only one fish.
Overall, fishing is pretty good.
Fishing Report for Northern New Jersey
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said that he’s hearing of more keeper fluke, many in the 5 to 7-pound range. They’re being landed in deeper water with good reports from the Ambrose Channel. He’s still hearing very good things about the bluefin tuna bite at the Atlantic Princess.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fluking has definitely improved with bigger fish taken on the rough bottom farther offshore. He said anglers fishing Scotland Grounds and other areas five to six miles out are pulling nice keepers over the rail. There are still plenty of shorts around but the odds of catching something for the table have definitely improved.
Sciortino also reported plenty of cocktail blues in Raritan Bay as it is loaded with bait. Bass are still being caught on worms close to the Verrazzano Bridge and the porgies are biting closer to the New York side of the bay.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said its still mostly short fluke in the surf there but there are plenty of kingfish to be had along with small blues and the occasional striper.
He also reported snappers have finally showed in the surf there which is good news for folks who want to liveline them for big fluke. Martens said the big rays are still close to shore and they’ve stripped the gears on more than a few reels so far. The Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, he said, are loaded with spearing and peanut bunker and the crabbing in both remains terrific.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said the surf there continues to give up short fluke, kingfish, small blues and a few bass. Spanish mackerel also make an appearance off the beach from time to time.
Gleason said now that the one-fish blackfish season is open, fishing the jetties with crabs is worth a shot. He said the offshore bluefin bite is still going strong and the mahi-mahi fishing is picking up as well. There have been a lot of small blues in the Ocean Grove surf, hitting poppers and metal. There are short fluke around but it’s been a few days since I’ve seen a keeper here. The snappers are still missing from the suds.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the party boats out of the marina are seeing better size fluke now, with the biggest of the week a 10-pound, 5-ounce fluke caught by Frank Krupa of Toms River aboard the Ocean Explorer.
The boat also scored a number of 7 and 8-pound fish in the last week. Fluke anglers are filling out their catches with sea bass and blackfish.
Matthews reported that the rental boats fishing the Shark River are seeing more keepers as well. The river is also loaded with spearing, peanut bunker and snappers, Matthews said, which is a good sign in advance of the fall run. Surf anglers continue to enjoy good kingfish action, along with small blues and short bass. Matthews also reported the bluefin bite is getting a lot of attention and tuna up to 100-pounds are not uncommon.
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Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing said the fluking has definitely improved with a better ratio of keepers to shorts. Some days are better than others, he said, depending on conditions, but the fishing has been very good lately.
He’s been finding them in both shallow and deep water, up to 80 feet, and the bucktailers are getting all the big fish. His charters are also easily getting their sea bass limits.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II reported a lot of nice fish over the past week with an 8-pound, 14-ounce fluke taking Tuesday’s pool. Capt. Kish said they’ve had a number of fish in the 8- to 10-pound in the last few days.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar continues to deliver a variety of fish to his customers. He’s been putting them on blues, bonito, sea bass, mackerel and ling.
Bob Carracoza at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the fluking finally got better on the Sea Girt and Axel Carlson reefs. He also said the bonito and Spanish mackerel are around the reefs as well.
Bob added there have been schools of bunker offshore that have attracted black tip and spinner sharks. Anglers have been snagging and dropping the bunker and hooking the sharks for some lively action. He also said that some young fishermen were getting the sharks on plugs, like SP Minnows, tossed into the bunker pods.
The tuna fishing has been excellent, he said, with yellowfin joining the bluefin about 50 miles out, while bigeye and yellowfin are in the Hudson Canyon. He also reported good mahi fishing on the offshore pots. Peanut bunker are proving to be the hot bait.
Lastly, Bob said the tilefishing has been very good with plenty of limits of Golden and blueline tilefish on the most recent trip aboard the Voyager out of Point Pleasant Beach.
Vinny Faiella from the Reel Seat has been getting in on the action landing a pool-winning 26-pound Golden tilefish aboard the Voyager.
John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the fluke fishing has improved everywhere, from Long Branch to the Sea Girt and Axel Carlson reefs.
There are still some keepers in the Manasquan River and he said the inlet has triggerfish, small blues and blackfish. Small bass are under the bridges on the Manasquan River at night. Blackfish are also being caught in the Point Pleasant Canal.
Bogan said ling are a no-brainer aboard the Paramount with some anglers getting between 40 to 60 fish.
The Jamaica II is seeing more keeper fluke on its trips and the Big Jamaica has been targeting small blues and bonito with good success.
Capt. Joe Karcich of Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters out of the Manasquan Inlet said his recent charters have been catching a lot of fluke, just not a lot of keepers. Sea bass and ling have been filling out the fluke catches.
He’s planning on targeting mahi-mahi over the next several weeks as they move inshore.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Bigger fluke are around so go and get them. They’re in deeper water on rough bottom and bucktails and Gulp are catching the keepers.
There’s also plenty to catch from the sand, including short and keeper fluke, kingfish, small blues and short bass.
Plus, the epic tuna bite continues. Yellowfin have joined the bluefin at the Atlantic Princess and bigeye and yellowfin are in the canyons. Have a good weekend.
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