September is here and unfortunately so is the hurricane season which always tends to make things tricky. We have Hurricane Dorian moving up and hopefully it stays well offshore only giving us a long-period swell. The fluke bite may turn off for a few days until the swell dies down and the bottom clears. We only have a little over than 2 weeks left in the season, so anglers should be trying to get their last few keepers of the season. We should start seeing more false albacore and bonita off the beaches as rainbaits begin to make their migration. One of our shops reported more Spanish mackerel and albies picking up metals off the beaches, so it shouldn’t be too long. Just a quick reminder that sea bass closed September 1, and tog remains 1 fish per person through November 15th.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Capt. Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach a tough week with the winds, but some of the headboats did make it out to box some nice fluke to 7 pounds. Most of the fluke action has been on the reef sites. The Manasquan Inlet has some 1 to 3-pound bluefish moving in and out with the tides.
Norma K III in Point Pleasant Beach reported some bigger fluke making it over the rail the past few days. Gulp and bait have been working equally well and the new leader for the boat’s monthly pool is Eric Haystack of Pa with a solid 7.2-pound fluke. The boat should resume sailing on Sunday as they wait for Dorian to exit stage “east”.
The Gambler out of Point Pleasant Beach said that the fluke fishing slowed down a tad, but there are still some keepers to 8 pounds biting. The boat has been catching a decent amount of variety with keeper fluke, sea bass, bluefish, mackerel, and some bonitas. The boat will most likely resume trips after Dorian passes and as of the latest forecast it’s looking good for Sunday.
The MIMI VI out of Point Pleasant was away when I tried contacting him this week, but I was told Capt. Kenny was in the Hudson Canyon plying for tuna and other pelagics. They did tell me that they have some open boats trips for fluke, flounder, and ling and they are also booking some of the Fall tuna trips.
Jersey Hooker Outfitter in Brick reported anglers hitting the Point Pleasant Canal and Manasquan Inlet for tog with the inclement weather this past week. There has been some fish to 19 inches caught on green crab. Crabbing has been good in the back and should hold throughout the rest of the month. Fluke were being caught from the Rattlesnake, Sea Girt, and Axel prior to the heavy winds.
Charlie’s Bait & Tackle in Normandy Beach reported good crabbing in the backwaters and the shop recommends trying along some of the sedges and sod banks. The beaches have had some 1 to 3-pound bluefish and short fluke caught on rigs and bucktails. The Route 37 bridge has some small striped bass picking up artificials at night.
Grumpy’s Bait & Tackle in Seaside Park received some positive reports of albies off the local beaches in Seaside ahead of the Hurricane. They’re not consistent as of yet but are starting to be mixed in with the Spanish mackerel, bonita, and bluefish. There have been some keepers hitting the Island Beach State Park sands this past week. The shop will run a St. Croix Rod Demo Day in another week on September 14th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There are no sign-ups for this event, just stop by and try casting a few of the St. Croix rods.
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Lacey Marine in Forked River reported fair crabbing in Barnegat Bay with better catches coming from the overnight traps. Some of the crabs have been approaching 8-inches. There are still a decent amount of blowfish, sea bass, silver perch, and bluefish being caught in the bay for anglers chumming with clam. Fluke have been boxed around the inlet and the reef sites, but the winds this past week have made it difficult. The evening sod bite on schoolie striped bass has been a blast on light-tackle and soft plastics.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported a strong Blowfish bite continuing into September with anglers additionally catching a myriad of species. The past week had some nice Fluke being weighed from 8 to 10 pounds, despite the high winds. Most anglers have been working the inlet with live Spot or Peanut Bunker. A few anglers went out for Tuna in the canyons during a couple of the narrow weather windows, but no reports yet on the action. September is generally a great month of offshore action on Tunas.
Reel Reaction Charters out of Waretown and Barnegat Light was out in some heavy sea conditions to box some nice keeper Fluke to 7 pounds for his clients on a few of their end of August trips. With September beginning, the skipper is back teaching high schoolers during the day and will run weekday afternoon trips and weekends through the end of the season in December.
Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom reported some schoolie striped bass working peanut bunker and spearing at the local bridges. These can be targeted with a variety of soft plastics from Gulp to Tsunami Swim shads and the bite has been mainly at night. The beach, when fishable, has been fairly good on the kingfish bite with rigs tipped with Fishbite Bloodworms doing the trick. Anglers targeting fluke have been working a variety of reef sites from the Axel south to the Little Egg reef. The shop recommends putting in your time on the sites to produce the best number of keepers.
The Ocean City to Cape May areas reported good fluke fishing from the Ocean City, Wildwood, and Delaware Bay reef sites. Pink Shine, Blue Fuze, and Firetiger jigging grubs have been taking most of the keeper flatties. The inshore lumps and reef sites also have some king mackerel and bonita which can be caught on trolled Clark spoons or feathers. Mahi are also around the same areas and be sure to check any of the floating debris structures, especially offshore. The inshore and bay areas are producing a good number of keeper tog and some nice sheepsheads around the bridges. Crabbing has been “off the claw” in the backbays of Ocean City and Sea Isle with good numbers of keepers.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for this weekend will be to definitely get out and fish Sunday as Saturday looks for a day off the water due to high seas. Most of the bigger sized fluke are being caught from our inshore wrecks, reef sites, and inlets. I would recommend using big baits as all of the prey they are feeding on have grown over the summer. Big baits equal big fish! The back bays are showing a good amount of weakfish, blowfish, and small bluefish. Hitting some of the deeper holes prior to the boat traffic is the best way to catch the weakies and look for small terns feeding on spearing to find both weakfish and bluefish. Anglers preferring the comforts of land have shots at triggerfish from our rocky jetties and kingfish have been very good in the surf. It blew again pretty hard this past week, so not too many boats made it offshore. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!
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Keep up the good work with the fishing reports . Very informative and gives us a heads up on what gear we should have on our boats as we venture out !!!
Good stuff, if you could include further south in Jersey such as Sea Isle, Avalon and Cap May in your reports….it would be useful and appreciated.