It was a crazy week in a crazy year.
Fishing was good when Isaias blew into town and stirred things up for a couple of days.
Thankfully, the storm got out of here in a hurry and, hopefully, there won’t be a lasting impact on the fishing.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said the fluking was holding up nicely before the blow and now we just have to wait and see. He fished the Axel Carlson Reef last weekend and got his limit up to 6 pounds.
He’s also received reports of schoolie stripers along the beaches hitting shads and small plugs.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet reported the fluke fishing had been very good in Raritan Bay and out front prior to the blow. The shop weighed in a 10-pounder last Thursday from a kayak.
Sciortino said the crabbing is excellent at all the usual spots around the bay. Snappers are all over the place as well. He also reported good porgy fishing on the local rockpiles.
Joe Julian Jr. at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands reported losing a lot of killies due to the power outage caused by Tuesday’s storm but that was the extent of the damage.
He said big fluke have been caught in the Shrewsbury River close to the ferry dock and the porgy fishing has been good in the bay.
He’s had reports of cobia in the bay as well. And the crabbing, he added, has been awesome, especially in the Navesink River.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the best thing going on locally is the crabbing in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.
The fluking in the surf is okay, he added, but it’s still mostly shorts.
There were small blues and bass in the surf before the storm, he said, and we will just have to wait and see if they’re still around once the water clears.
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Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch reported a lot of schoolie bass in the surf on shads and small plugs prior to the blow. It was a dawn and dusk bite.
The Spanish mackerel were off the beach, he said, and there were tons of adult bunker in the area as well. Peanut bunker are back in the rivers along with snapper blues.
Last weekend saw a lot of yellowfin caught on jigs, Gleason said, but there haven’t been any reports since the storm.
The Ocean Grove surf has plenty of short fluke but I’ve yet to get a keeper. Short bass are hitting shads and small plugs and one took my Gulp at the beginning of the week. Sand bugs will probably still work for them.
Watch out for the big rays. One spooled me over the weekend and I was lucky to get most of the line back.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the Shark River continues to give up some nice fluke with Steve Adamo weighing in a 4.5 pounder and A.J. Earley with a 5.5-pound fluke.
Matthews said there are loads of snappers in the river right now along with peanut bunker. Folks are picking up some stripers in there as well on shads.
None of the party boats out of the marina sailed Tuesday and Wednesday but were going to head out again on Thursday.
Kingfish were in the surf before the storm, he said, and heard of a husband-wife team that got dozens of them on worms off the beach in Belmar.
The shop is carrying green crabs for those after their one blackfish.
Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar had to cancel this week’s bucktail extravaganzas due to the weather. Before the storm arrived, both boats in the fleet were finding plenty of keeper fluke.
His next trips are scheduled for Friday.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters out of Belmar also remained dock-bound but did well trolling for bonito and Spanish mackerel last Friday.
Eric Bunz at the Reel Seat in Brielle said that “the deck has been shuffled,” due to Isaias. He hopes the storm didn’t put the kibosh on the excellent fluke fishing as he said it’s the best he’s seen in years.
Before Tuesday, the bite was good at the Axel Carlson and Sea Girt reefs, at the Klondike and Rattlesnake and was starting to turn on at the Farms.
He also reported loads of sea bass on the hard bottom along with the fluke. He recommended jigs as the best way to catch the bigger fish.
Spanish mackerel and small blues are at the Manasquan Inlet, along the beaches and off the tips of jetties. Boaters are also trolling for them along with bonito on the inshore lumps with Clark spoons.
Offshore, he reported tuna and king mackerel were caught at Barnegat Ridge.
Dylan at Fisherman’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach reported excellent tuna fishing at the Triple Wrecks and Little Italy prior to the storm but had no reports since then.
The kayakers were doing well on fluke in the Manasquan River, he said, and there there is a tremendous amount of spearing in there now.
Capt. Matt Sosnowski of the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said when the conditions have been decent, so is the fishing. There were some windy afternoons over the weekend that made for a tough drift.
Gulp and bucktails on rough bottom have been catching most of the keepers on recent trips.
The weekend bluefishing was pretty good with most folks getting their limit of fish in the 2- to 4-pound range. There were lots of mackerel in the mix as well.
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Gary at Capt. Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach said the water was already starting to clear up on Wednesday and the fluking was bouncing back in the Manasquan River.
Before the weather went south, he said, fluking on the local reefs was good, especially at the southeast end of the Sea Girt Reef. Anglers targeting blackfish had no trouble getting their one-fish limit.
Frank at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick is curious to see how the fishing shapes up following the blow. Since it was a fast-moving storm, he believes all of the bait should still be around.
Before the wind and rain, fluke and sea bass fishing were very good at the Sea Girt and Axel Carlson reefs.
Crabbing has been extremely good at the Mantoloking Bridge, he added. and hopefully will continue. Blowfish have been reported at the south end of the bay.
Pete at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach reported plenty of small blues in the surf there along with short and keeper fluke. It’s Gulp and bucktails for the fluke and small metals for the blues.
Short stripers are also in the wash on shads and plugs.
He had good reports of stripers in the Manasquan River at night on shads. Finally, he said, the crabbing is off the charts in Barnegat Bay.
Frankie Z at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said the beach fluking was very good before the storm. Now it’s anybody’s guess.
Shell E. Caris had fish up to 4 pounds, Frankie said, on Gulp and bucktails.
There are small blues in the surf and crabbing in Barnegat Bay has been excellent, he said.
John Bushell at Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park also reported lots of small blues in the surf along with small to keeper fluke. There have been Spanish mackerel around and even the occasional houndfish.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
Since the storm’s visit was brief, my guess is the fishing should pick up where it left off. Fluking ought to get back on track quickly on the reefs and wrecks.
The ocean calmed down quickly and hopefully the plentiful bait that was in the surf will return and the fluke, bluefish, bass and Spanish mackerel along with it.
As for the tuna bite, we’ll just have to wait until someone gets out there.