Striped bass and blackfish are on the menu this Thanksgiving Holiday.
Both have been biting well over the last week and, as long as the weather cooperates, the good fishing should continue.
The boats and the beach anglers have both been getting into the stripers.
The overwhelming majority of beach fish are shorts but there are plenty of them. Anglers have reported catching 20 to 30 at a time.
Sandy Hook, Sea Bright and Long Branch saw most of the action last weekend but reports indicate the fish are moving south. There was a good bite in Belmar on Wednesday and reports of fish at Island Beach State Park.
Bigger fish, up to 25 pounds, have been caught offshore livelining and on the troll. There have also been loads of shorts, slot fish and keepers caught by boaters jigging shads and Avas.
Tog fishermen are also finding plenty of keepers on the wrecks and rocks using jigs and blackfish rigs with white leggers and green crabs.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said surfcasters at Sandy Hook and Long Branch are getting all the schoolie bass they want. Avas and sand eel imitations are doing the trick.
Hebert said he’s been getting good reports on blackfishing and was out for them himself last week on the Fish Monger. After a brief stop at the Axel Carlson Reef where they had a pick of fish, the boat headed down to Barnegat where it was lights out fishing.
Hebert said the bite was on double-hooked, white-legger crabs and the boat limited out with fish up to 9 pounds.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the beach anglers have been crushing the stripers in Monmouth Beach, Sea Bright and Sandy Hook. He said diamond jigs with teasers have been working well.
The boats out of Atlantic Highlands, such as the Sea Hunter, the Fishermen and Dorothy B are also doing well jigging bass.
He also reported good blackfishing at the Sandy Hook Reef and Shrewsbury Rocks.
Mel Martens at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said bass and blackfish is all that’s going on right now but it’s been good. Sandy Hook has had the most consistent bass bite, he added.
Avas, shads and Mag Darters have all been working and he said one day it will be all Avas and the next they won’t touch anything but white shads. Have a selection handy.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said there are still loads of small fish in the surf there. There have been fewer keepers this week but still plenty of action.
He said the 6- and 7-inch Tsunami sand eels along with a teaser have been a bass favorite. The bite has been best early in the morning and at sunset when there is enough water over the sand bar.
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There are also plenty of hickory shad in the wash there as well. They favor the teasers.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar reported that you could pretty much pick a beach anywhere in Monmouth County and find schoolie stripers. They weren’t everywhere, every day, but there were plenty around.
The bass were from 20- to 30-inches and feeding on sand eels. He said Ava 17s with black or green tails worked as did Tsunami and Storm sand eels. Matthews said he fished local beaches last Saturday and had over 25 bass with three doubleheaders among them.
Hickory shad were in with the stripers as well.
Matthews believes it’s going to be one of those years when the bass hang around through December. He said the party boats targeting stripers are getting the bigger fish up to 35 inches.
Finally, Matthews said the winter flounder folks fishing in the Shark River are easily catching their limits on worms and clams.
The blackfish boats out of the marina have been doing well with tog lately as well.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II said the blackfishing has been very good lately with the pool fish averaging about 7 or 8 pounds and plenty of limits. White leggers seem to have the advantage recently but green crabs are catching their share of fish as well.
Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer sailed on Wednesday and reported that the tog were chewing as soon as they got the baits down and they kept at it all day.
High hooks limited easily, he said, and those fishing jigs had the edge.
Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters said the striper fishing has been excellent every day. The size of the fish, he said, depends on what they’re feeding on that day.
If it’s adult bunker, the bass can be up to 25 pounds. He’s catching the bigger ones snagging and dropping or on the troll.
The shorts, slots and smaller keepers up to 35 inches have been feeding on sand eels and they’ve been hitting shads and Ava 27s or 47s.
He’s got some open dates in December and has every reason to believe the bass will be around late into the month.
Capt. J. Richardella of Side Job Charters out of Belmar called the bass fishing off the charts lately catching dozens of stripers on every trip with keepers up to 37 inches. He’s been getting most of his fish jigging.
He, too, thinks the fish will be around through next month and he’s got some open dates. He can be contacted through his website or at 561-578-2710.
Amanda at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the schoolie bass are just outside the Manasquan Inlet and the boats are finding plenty of action. Anglers are also picking the small bass along the beaches in Manasquan and Sea Girt.
The offshore sea bass fishing has been very good, she said, you just have to travel a bit, about 20 miles or more, to get to them.
Zach at Brielle Bait and Tackle said bass are being caught on the beaches from the Manasquan Inlet up to Belmar. The fish are mostly shorts but the boat guys trolling are having more luck catching keepers.
The blackfishing has been pretty good, he said, for the party boats out of the Manasquan Inlet. There are still some tog being caught at the inlet and in the Point Pleasant Canal.
He said the Big Jamaica has been making the long trip for offshore sea bass and coming back with some nice catches. There have been ling, jumbo porgies and some cod in the mix as well.
The Jamaica II, he added, isnt’ traveling as far but still finding sea bass, ling and cod.
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Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
Unless you’re willing to travel a bit for sea bass, it’s either striped bass or blackfish. The schoolies have been in the Monmouth County surf for the last couple of weeks, mainly from Sandy Hook down to Asbury Park.
The fish are on sand eels so small Avas with tails, shads and Tsunami sand eels have all been working.
There have been lots of nice tog caught lately as well. The Sandy Hook Reef and the Shrewsbury Rocks have given up some good fish in the last week or so with white-leggers and jigs doing the job. Have a good Thanksgiving and go fishing.