Five days! That’s it folks, just five more days until sea bass opens for the season and the limit jumps to 10-fish at 12.5-inches. I have been tying rigs for the last couple weeks and have even brought the materials to my teaching job where I tie them during my lunch. I did explore a few wrecks, and they seem to be loaded with keeper biscuits. Striped bass have definitely started to get more active and anglers are connecting with short fish to 26-inches on poppers and swimming plugs around the inlets. The night time tides have offered some bigger sized fish up to 30-inches on live eels, but it is a pick and should only improve with the coming weeks. Offshore action this past week was solid with swordfish, mahi, and some nice yellowfin tuna making it to the dock weigh stations. October is a great time of year as we get our black sea bass back in season and the local stripers awake from the summer doldrums.
This Week’s Rundown
Capt. Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach reported a good bite on porgies and keeper blackfish for a lot of the headboats in the area. The bridges around Point Pleasant, Manasquan and Shark River Inlets have seen an uptick on striped bass action during the night shifts. Soft plastics and live eels have been the ticket. The bluewater battlewagons reported a decent bite on tuna, mahi, and some nice swordfish approaching 200 pounds.
Norma K III in Point Pleasant Beach reported a nice weekend with plenty of porgies coming over the rail. The mates were busy between the keeper porgies and blackfish. The winds did affect the bite as some of the windy days were much slower, and the boat fished some different areas to box keeper winter flounder and ling. The boat will be targeting porgies, but they also have plenty of green crabs onboard for keeper blackfish. The boat is sailing every day, and the crew will have the boat opened by 6:00am, so join them.
The Gambler out of Point Pleasant Beach reported a decent bite on swordfish on their recent 24hr canyon trip to the Hudson. The skipper reported it was beautiful water with swordfish to 175 pounds, yellowfin tuna, and numerous mahi. The nearshore exotic trips have been producing great action on false albacore, bonita, king mackerel, and Spanish mackerel.
The MIMI VI out of Point Pleasant reported a great bite on quality swordfish and mahi on one of their recent offshore trips. The skipper said the anglers brought home plenty of tasty steaks and fillets. The bottom fishing has been pretty good with beautiful porgies making it into the coolers along with some ling and a few blackfish. The crew has some open dates, and they are also booking fall striped bass trips.
Jersey Hooker Outfitter in Brick reported some keeper sized striped bass being caught on live eels from the Point Pleasant Canal and Shark River inlets. One of the shop regulars caught a nice 29-inch keeper this past week. There have been lots of tautog caught off the Point Pleasant Canal and Manasquan Inlet rocks, but you have to work through the short fish. Boats are doing better on snags and rockpiles in the 25 to 35-foot range with fish up to 10-pounds. Offshore has been very good for mahi, swordfish, and a few yellowfin.
Charlie’s Bait & Tackle in Normandy Beach reported another big sponsor, “Cools Light,” has jumped on for their 8th Annual Surf Turkey Tournament. The shop has been busy signing anglers up and there has been a better bite on schoolie striped bass during the evening and early morning hours along the beaches. The backwaters of Barnegat Bay are still loaded with good numbers of quality blowfish. There has been some blitzes of bluefish and Spanish mackerel over this past week, in addition to lots of surface bird action.
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Grumpy’s Bait & Tackle in Seaside Park had good reports when the wind blew east with good bluefish action, mullet movement, and some stripers on plugs. The beaches have started to see more action on the striped bass with the most numbers occurring at night. The South winds have dampened the bite the past few days, but cooler weather and strong ENE winds should put them back on the feed.
Lacey Marine in Forked River reported blowfish, bluefish, and bass in the Barnegat Bay. Some of the lagoon entrances of Barnegat and Forked River are producing consistent action on schoolie bass. Blowfish has been good on clam and bluefish seem to be all over the bay and ocean front. Tog fishing has been good when the swell has been small and water clean, but it looks like a little blow over the weekend.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported a solid bite on blowfish in Barnegat Bay with anglers able to box puffers to 10-inches. The backwaters are teeming with small stripers and bluefish which can be easily caught on plugs, poppers, and soft plastics. The bite outside has been pretty good on inshore pelagics and local Andrew Warner reported a mixed bag trolling along bathing beach over the weekend. His crew boated some Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and false albacore.
Reel Reaction Charters out of Waretown and Barnegat Light took a week off to perform some routine maintenance and do some family fishing. The skipper took his 11yr old son to a few snags and they boated a bunch of triggers and blackfish, keeping their limit of tog and a few triggers for the dinner table. They had some fun with small striped bass in the backwaters around dusk on Yo-Zori poppers and Hogy soft plastics. Most of November is booked for striped bass, tog, or a combination of both, but there are a few remaining weekend dates for sea bass or albies in October.
Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom reported good striped bass action during the night shifts from the mid-Long Beach Island bridges and areas near the tip of the South Jetty. Live eels, plugs, and soft plastics such as the Ron-Z pink or green 6-inch “Original”. The shop said there was some weakfish around the inlet and Myers Hole area on soft plastics. The offshore bite has been about the same with the Hudson and Toms canyons showing some nice swordfish and tuna. Most of the offshore pots have a lot of mahi swimming around them, so bring the peanut bunker, minnows, and soft plastics.
The Brigantine to Cape May areas reported a strong mullet run and there are a lot of feeding bluefish, striped bass, and even some sea bass feeding on them in the backsides of the coastal barrier islands. Anglers are reporting good numbers of mullet along the beaches with blues and some nice mandatory-release fluke. Tog have been taking crab baits from the jetties especially near Atlantic City and around the bridges from Long Port to Sea Isle. Offshore fisherman have been finding mahi around some of the mid-shore lumps and there has even been a few cobia, Spanish mackerel, and king mackerel. The canyons continue to provide good action on yellowfin and 150 to 200-pound swordfish over the past week.
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South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for this weekend seems to be more of a jetty or surf fishing theme as the winds and weather do not look too good for the boats. Jetties are boasting a variety of fish species with tog biting during the day on fiddlers, green, or Asian shore crabs. I would recommend bringing a fair number of sinkers and tackle as hang-ups are commonplace when fishing these locations. Another mandatory piece of equipment is a set of metal spikes or Korkers as the rocks are treacherous, and I have seen anglers fall in between them. Just this past summer off Barnegat Light a non-Korker angler broke his wrist when falling between the slick rocks near the tip on the inlet. The nighttime bite from the jetties continues to be good for striped bass and some bluefish near areas that have light. Surf fishing from the beaches of Seaside to Cape May is a surefire way to catch some nice bluefish and the quantities of them have been exceptional with the population of mullet. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!