Pictured Above: Hot Dog Tony caught and released this 14-pound tog aboard the Ocean Explorer on Wednesday.
Local waters are full of life with a wide offering of fish to catch. And with the arrival of cooler weather and the opening of sea bass season on Tuesday, the fishing should only get better.
Right now, there are stripers and blues in the surf, porgies, blackfish and false albacore for the boats fishing inshore, mahi-mahi a little farther out and a good swordfish bite in the canyons.
Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park reported porgies, porgies and more porgies. Anglers fishing rock piles around Raritan Bay and in the ocean are easily getting limits of jumbo fish.
Hebert said the striper fishing remains good in the Hudson River near the Statue of Liberty and he’s been getting good reports on black-fishing with jigs.
With temperatures expected to dip in the next few days, it’s just a matter of time before the fall run gathers steam, he added.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the bass were breaking in the Long Branch surf on Tuesday morning and they were up in the Rip at Sandy Hook as well. The bass fishing has been good in the Shrewsbury River, too.
He also mentioned the excellent porgy bite and added that kingfish and spot were being caught along with the porgies. There are also some small weakfish around.
The blackfish, on the other hand, are big. There have been lots of them around lately and some very nice fish, many in the double digits, have been coming over the rails.
Sciortino also mentioned that the sword and tilefishing offshore has been good with some other species in the mix. Frank Cannizzaro from Middletown returned from his canyon trip with a beauty of a wahoo.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the bass fishing from the beach has been improving steadily. There’s been a lot of mullet in the surf and, while there haven’t been a lot of keepers reported, there have been plenty of schoolies caught. Shads and poppers are accounting for most of the fish.
Whales and dolphins, Martens said, have been feasting on all the bunker close to shore and Spanish mackerel and false albacore are popping up along the beaches. Boats are getting the best shot at those.
Kingfish can still be caught from the sand on clams and worms and the crabs remain in the rivers. This weekend’s chillier forecast, however, might hasten an end to the crabbing.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said the striper fishing in the surf has been a lot of fun lately with bass biting early in the morning and in the evening. The fish have been between 22 and 26 inches and hitting shads, metal, metal-lipped swimmers and top water plugs.
The false albacore and Spanish mackerel have been showing up as well, but usually out of range of surfcasters.
Gleason also said there are still a lot of stripers in the Shrewsbury River along with small bluefish. The stripers have been in the Ocean Grove surf as well. They’ve been hitting shads and plugs early in the morning and in the evening. Soft plastics have been catching most of the fish, but poppers are also picking up a few. The bass were busting on mullet in the wash on Wednesday morning.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said things are shaping up nicely with bass, blues, porgies and blackfish available now and winter flounder and sea bass on the way.
Once the water cools off, he added, the fall fishing should get into full swing. That shouldn’t take long as the temperatures went from 90 degrees on Wednesday to the 60s on Thursday.
Matthews said there were kingfish, blowfish and blackfish being caught at the Shark River Inlet and there are loads of schoolie stripers in the river. False albacore have been in an out of the inlet as well.
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Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar reported excellent porgy fishing on Wednesday along with some triggerfish and big blackfish. A 14-pound tog was caught and released during the trip.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II out of Belmar has also being doing well with porgies, blackfish and triggerfish as has Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker. Thursday’s weather kept most boats at the dock and Friday looks a little dicey but they should be sailing again by the weekend.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Sportfishing has been taking a maintenance break before sea bass season starts. He’s currently booking his fall striper trips and still has some choice dates available.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters out of Belmar had a successful trip over the weekend boating 28 mahi-mahi. The catch was a mix of chicken and gaffer mahi.
Offshore trips have been a bit of a challenge lately with some windy weather but he said the swordfishing has been very good and he will be heading offshore when conditions allow. He’s also booking fall sea bass and striped bass trips and can be contacted through his website.
Dave Arbeitman, the owner of the Reel Seat in Brielle, reported folks are catching blues off the beach on mullet. He also said the false albacore and Spanish mackerel have been popping up along the beaches. He said the shop is now carrying a new RM Smith wooden pencil that’s become a favorite among albie anglers.
Folks bottom fishing are finding plenty of porgies and blackfish, he said. Tuna have been scarce at the canyons but the swordfish and mahi bite has been very good.
Arbeitman added that the tilefishing aboard the Voyager has been excellent and the boat has been getting in on the swordfish action as well.
Zach at Brielle Bait and Tackle said there are plenty of bluefish and blackfish at the Manasquan Inlet.
The Jamaica II has been catching lots of porgies and blackfish while the Big Jamaica has been concentrating on bonito, blues and false albacore. Zach also reported schoolie bass on the local beaches biting just around sunrise.
Capt. Joe Karcich of Joey Tomato’s Fishing Charters out of the Manasquan River slammed the porgies and blackfish on his last charter and will be sailing for sea bass once the season opens on Oct. 8. Charters can be booked through his website.
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Best Bets for the Weekend
It’s going to take a day or two for things to settle down after this blow. By then you can expect to find bass and bluefish on the beach and porgies and blackfish on the bottom.
Whether the albies will still be around remains to be seen, but the water should still be warm enough to keep them here a little longer.
And come Tuesday, black sea bass season reopens with a 10-fish limit at 12½ inches. Have fun.