Pictured Above: John Fulhaber, Brick, caught this 6-pound Spanish mackerel aboard the Skylarker out of Belmar.
The fishing is good but the forecast is bad.
Hurricane Dorian will make for some rough weather around here starting on Friday but it will be nothing compared to the devastation the people in the Bahamas are facing. For them, it will be a long and difficult recovery.
Hopefully, we’ll receive nothing more than a glancing blow and the fishing, which has been improving steadily, will only experience a brief interruption.
This past week saw the arrival of false albacore off the beaches, an increase of bass in the surf, better bluefishing, lots of big fluke on the boats and yellowfin in the canyons. And with the bays and rivers full of bait, the stage is set for a solid fall run. Let’s just hope the weather doesn’t get in the way.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said the bluefishing has become a lot more consistent with plenty of fish in the 4- to 6-pound range. From what he’s heard, the fluking has been very good, but said he found a lot of Jersey shorts on his outing over the weekend. The porgy fishing, he said, has been excellent on the New Jersey and New York sides of Raritan Bay.
He also reported that the bluefin, which had taken up residence around the Atlantic Princess for over a month, have disappeared.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet reported that the fluke fishing has been terrific for the last two weeks with lots of keepers coming over the rail and limit catches. He weighed in a 10½-pound doormat for James Spitzner of Jamesburg last Saturday.
Spitzner caught the fluke in the Ambrose Channel on killies and Fisherman’s Choice squid strips. Sciortino said bait seems to be working a little bit better than bucktails lately.
Cocktail blues are still all over Raritan Bay and the porgy fishing has been very good on the rockpiles.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the false albacore finally showed up on the beaches on Tuesday. Epoxy lures and small metals tied directly to the line with a fast retrieve is the best way to catch these speedsters.
Short and keeper fluke continue to bite in the surf as do striped bass. Martens said there have even been a few keeper bass among the schoolies lately. Small bluefish are in the mix there, too.
There are also small bass, blowfish and tons of crabs in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers. Both are also loaded with bait poised to make a move out into the ocean.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said stripers are hitting shads and plugs in the local surf. Fluke anglers on the beach are getting a mix of keepers and shorts with the shorts in the majority.
Spanish mackerel continue to tease the surfcasters while the small bluefish are more readily caught. Gleason said he’s been seeing peanut bunker and rainfish in the ocean while surfing so the bait is there.
There are a load of short bass in the Ocean Grove surf. They were hitting my popper on nearly every cast Tuesday morning. No keepers as yet, but the fish are getting longer and fatter. Metal was working as well.
The Spanish mackerel continue to thumb their noses at me as they stay just out of reach from the beach.
Like everyone else, Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar hopes the hurricane season doesn’t make a mess of the fall fishing.
He’s been getting a lot of good reports about school-size striped bass on the beaches and in the rivers and bays. Poppers and soft plastics are accounting for most of the fish.
Matthews said fluke fishing has been very good on the offshore grounds with party and charter boats catching fish in the 5-to 10-pound range.
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Fast Eddie from Brick took the lead in the monthly pool aboard the Ocean Explorer with an 11-pound, 6-ounce doormat he caught last Saturday.
Matthews added that there are some false albacore at the Shark River Inlet and the snapper fishing remains excellent in the river.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II has also been reporting lots of big fish and plenty of limit catches.
Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar reported a good week on the fluke grounds with a 9½-pounder caught by Darren Jacobs on his family’s charter last Thursday.
On Friday, the group from Forest Electric got their boat limit with fish up to 8 pounds.
Capt. Sykes said there are a lot of big fish around now. He’s been sticking to the rough bottom and fishing with bucktails. He expects to be stuck at the dock on Friday due to the storm but still has some open dates in September.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar has been finding bluefish, Spanish mackerel, porgies and triggerfish. A 6-pound Spanish mack came aboard on Wednesday.
Capt. Jay Richardella on Side Job Charters out of Belmar continued his long run of good fishing over the weekend.
He had the John Kozak charter out to the canyon and scored five yellowfin tuna to 110 pounds, a white marlin and several gaffer mahi-mahi.
He’s running open boat offshore trips through September and can be reached through his website or by phone at 561-578-2710.
Dave Arbeitman at the Reel Seat in Brielle said he’s been getting good reports of striped bass on the beach in Spring Lake. The fluking has also been very good on the Sea Girt and Axel Carlson reefs.
And while the bluefin tuna have departed, Arbeitman said there are still plenty of pelagic species around, including yellowfin tuna in the canyons and mahi-mahi, bonito, false albacore and Spanish mackerel inshore.
There’s also plenty of bait around. Returning from a tilefish trip over the weekend, Arbeitman said he saw huge schools of bunker from Seaside to Point Pleasant Beach.
John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the bottom fishing for ling on the Paramount is a no-brainer with loads of fish being caught. The Big Jamaica is doing well with blues, bonito and false albacore, mostly to the southeast, and the Jamaica II is getting plenty of keeper fluke.
There are still keepers in the Manasquan River as well as a 6½ pounder was caught earlier this week.
Capt. Joe Karcich of Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters found plenty of keepers this week when he took a pleasure cruise with several buddies and caught fluke up to 10 pounds. He’ll be sailing again once the seas calm down.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Much depends on what Hurricane Dorian decides to do. If the ocean calms down and the fluke boats sail, it might be advisable to fish for them as there are big ones around and time is running out on the season.
You can also try the surf for stripers. There seem to plenty around and they like the rough water. The bass have been hitting poppers, shads and metal. And keep your epoxy and small metal lures handy as false albacore have arrived at the beaches.
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keep me up to date when the Porgy come in this area