Northern New Jersey Fishing Report – October 24, 2019

Pictured Above: Striper caught aboard Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters out of the Manasquan Inlet.

Bad weather interrupted the hot bass bite at the beginning of the week with big winds out of the east roiling the ocean and keeping boats at the dock and surfcasters off the beach.

But fishing was back on track by Wednesday with party and charter boats reporting good catches of monster bass. Stripers in the 30- to 50- pound range were caught on the troll, jigging and snagging bunker.

With all of the bait around, it should hold up for a while.

While the bass got the headlines, the fishing remained decent for sea bass and blackfish

The porgies, however, have become scarce, especially inshore. There are still some around, but they are far from abundant.

Speaking of inshore, the bluefin tuna that streaked into local waters last week are still around, feeding on mackerel and sand eels. While there have been plenty of sightings and lots of boats giving chase, landings have been elusive.

Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said he’s been hearing all the striper talk with lots of big bass being caught near Breezy Point before the wind picked up.

Trolling has produced most of the bass he’s heard of with bunker spoons doing a little better than Mojos.

He’d received a number of reports on the bluefin sightings but hadn’t heard of anyone landing one.

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said it’s been nothing but big stripers for the last week.

Fish to 50 pounds have been taken on the troll, jigs, live bunker and live eels. They’re scattered all over the place, Sciortino said, with some nice fish caught closer to the New York side of Raritan Bay.

There are also some keeper bass being caught at night under the Highlands Bridge on eels.

He said the porgies that were so plentiful on the bay side of Sandy Hook seem to have skedaddled, but the folks fishing for sea bass and blackfish are having success.

Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said he heard of a few bass caught on Tuesday from the beach despite the rough conditions.

He, too, had reports of bass up to 50 pounds being caught in Raritan Bay near West Bank. From what he’s hearing, most of big fish are hitting Mojos and bunker spoons.

There are bass in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers and still some blues in there as well. He hasn’t heard of anyone bagging any of the inshore tuna, but he did see one breaking just a quarter mile from the beach.

Unfortunately, theres been no word on false albacore.

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Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said the surf gave up some nice bass before the latest blow and he’s confident they will be there again now that things have calmed down.

He said there have been some nice fish in the Shrewsbury River hitting shads and metal-lipped swimmers. There were also some decent-sized bluefish in there as well, up to 10 pounds.

Gleason was hoping to get out and chase the bluefin soon as he had reports of a few anglers getting strikes on big poppers.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said everyone is chasing the big stripers and all that’s really needed is some consistent weather.

He said bunker spoons and Mojos area taking a good share of the fish but snagging and dropping is working if bass can be found feeding among all the bunker. The stripers are also chowing down on all of the sand eels around.

Matthews added that an unusual number of thresher sharks were caught this past week with largest weighed in at the shop tipping the scale at 220 pounds.

Some of these fish have been snagged in the tail with bunker spoons and managed to escape by straightening out the hook.

Surf, bay and river anglers have been catching a good number of smaller bass, Matthews said, with a few keepers mixed in. SP Minnows, Tsunami rubber eels and Mag Darters have been working in the suds while white Tsunami shads are doing the job in the rivers and bays.

Most days, Matthews said, see winter flounder caught in the Shark River from the concrete pier.

Blackfish anglers, he added, are having no trouble getting their one fish by the inlet. That limit goes to five fish on Nov. 16.

Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters has been catching jumbo bass, up to 50 pounds, on the troll, with jigs and livelining bunker. He’s been finding them in different spots and said Wednesday’s trip took a little effort, but paid off with some very big fish.

He’s been getting a few threshers as well, up to 200 pounds, and he’s had a couple of hooks straightened out in the process.

Capt. Sykes still has some open dates in November, especially during the week.

Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported jumbo bass on Tuesday and Wednesday. Not all the anglers are prepared for these fish with a lot of bass breaking off.

Amanda at the Reel Seat in Brielle said big bass fever is rampant there with jigging doing a little better than trolling. Most of the fishing is taking place north of the Manasquan Inlet.

She added that there are still smaller to keeper bass to be had in the Manasquan River on plugs and shads.

Boats sailing for sea bass and blackfish continue to do well, she reported, and there are bonito and false albacore still being caught. Bluefin tuna have also been feeding three miles out of the inlet.

John Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle reported that the sea bass fishing aboard the Jamaica II and Paramount has been pretty good when the boats were able to sail in the last week.

He, too, reported shots of false albacore and bonito along with some mackerel.

As far as the big stripers go, Bogan said the earlier bite has been better and trolling appears to be getting the better part of the action. Spoons have the edge on Mojos and the better fishing has been from Spring Lake to the north.

Blackfishing has been pretty good in the Point Pleasant Canal, Bogan added, with tog favoring green crabs one day then sandworms and clams the next.

There’s also been a good night bite for bass in the Manasquan River under the bridges with eels and shads.

Capt. Joe Karcich of Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters out of the Manasquan Inlet got his big bass on jigs and the troll north of the inlet. The fish were between 30 to 50 pounds.

He reported the bunker were thick from the Shark River Inlet all the way to Sandy Hook

He has some open dates and can be reached through his website.

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Best Bets for the Weekend

This is what you’ve been waiting for – big fall bass. While the jumbos haven’t made it to the beach yet, hop on a party or charter boat or get a friend to take you along on their trip.

Bring tackle that can stand up to the big fish and consider releasing these much-needed breeders after the photos are taken. There are also plenty of smaller bass on the beaches hitting shads and sand eel imitations.