It’s been an extremely tough week for South Jersey fishing as tropical storm Isiasis hit our area pretty hard. Most shore businesses, tackle shops, and residential areas lost power due to the heavy coastal winds and unfortunately these same winds have churned up the waters. It’s a shame as the fluke and tuna fishing was incredibly consistent over the past several weeks. It should be a few days before the water clarity clears up enough to get the fish back on the feed and hopefully the storm pushed in a new batch fish. A piece of good news for the month of August is the opening on the tog season. Let’s hope this storm was our first and last storm for the 2020 hurricane season, as we need to get back to the red-hot fishing.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported a good bluefin bite at the Barnegat Ridge on trolled feathers and yellowfin tuna at the canyons. There has been some decent fluke caught in the bay, but much better quantities in the ocean. The bay has been loaded with blowfish and much better quantities during the outgoing tides.
Bobbies Boats in Barnegat Light received a number of reports of lots of fluke around the inlet area, but few keepers in the mix. The shop said there has been better fishing at the reefs and wrecks prior to the storm. Currently, the shop is open and cash only until the power comes back on.
Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown / Barnegat Light reported ocean trips have been better for quantities of keepers, but the bay trips are still finding 4 to 5 keepers per 4 hours. The skipper has a busy schedule through the rest of August, and will start running his 3hr dusk trips for a variety of species in September.
The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light had good fishing offshore for yellowfin for some of the past week charters and fluke have been hitting the deck on the inshore trips. The skipper has been working on the website booking calendar and should have it running by this weekend.
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Fisherman’s Headquarters on Long Beach Island reported good pre-storm fishing from the bay, beaches, and ocean. The inlet has had a decent number of fluke and some triggerfish along the jetties. The Barnegat Ridge had a good morning bite for “under” bluefin. The shop is open, but is still waiting for power at the time of this report.
Absecon Bay Sportsman in Absecon had decent flounder action in the backbay on the afternoon high tides. The morning slack tides have been producing sheepshead along the sod banks. The effects of the storm should be flushed out by the weekend and the fishing should rebound.
Offshore Bait & Tackle in Atlantic City was busy taking orders for green crabs as the tog bite has been pretty good along the jetties. Flounder, triggerfish, kingfish have also been caught along the jetties in decent numbers. Yellowfin tuna fishing has been very consistent at the canyons during the day chunk bite. Anglers making the run to the Barnegat Ridge found bluefin tuna during the early morning troll.
Fin-Atics in Ocean City had nice reports of cobia caught around the inlets prior to the storm and good fluking from the reef sites. There have been some nice sheepsheads pulled off the bay bridges and rocks over the past week. Jigs tipped with fiddler crabs has been the best setup to use. The shop had good numbers of triggerfish coming from the jetties, bridges, and ocean wrecks. Surf fishing has been good for kingfish, flounder, and sharks during the night.
Badfish Charters in Ocean City continued to hit some of the local wrecks and structures to put keeper flounder in the boat. The skipper has also been targeting some of his bay areas for early morning schoolie bass action.
Sea Isle Bait & Tackle in Sea Isle had good news of power-restored yesterday and the shop is fully operational. The pre-storm reports were positive for tog on green crab from the jetties, bridges, and inshore wrecks. The flounder and sea bass fishing was productive from the reef and wreck sites.
Avalon Hodge Podge in Avalon suffered a power loss and some wind damage, but the store is fully operational as power was restored yesterday. The ocean wrecks have been firing on all cylinders with triggerfish, sea bass, and flounder picking up baits. The lumps and ridges had some reports of spanish mackerel and small bluefin. The shop didn’t get too many reports since the storm, but fishing should rebound quickly.
Peace Token Fishing Tackle in Cape May Court House reported good fishing from Ocean City, Wildwood, and the Cape May reef sites. The surf had a good number of kingfish, croakers, flounder, and triggerfish. Anglers looking to catch triggerfish should target areas parallel to jetties. The Delaware Bay side had some weakfish caught from the surf.
Jim’s Bait & Tackle in Cape May had a fair amount of anglers catching yellowfin and mahi at the canyons. Flounder fishing remained solid over the past week at the area’s reefs, particularly the Cape May and Delaware Bay sites. The surf has had lots of variety with different species being landed off the beaches. Weakfish, flounder, croakers, skates, and some sharks were some of the popular catches.
Greenhorn Outdoors in Bridgeton reported another good week of keeper flounder caught off Fortescue and from reef site #11. White perch are still being caught in the creeks along with small striped bass. Weakfish have been caught on small jigheads tipped with shedder crabs caught along the beaches.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for the weekend will be to hit the same pre-storm reef and wreck sites as you may find a new batch of fish have moved in. The month of August is the best time to hit most of our reef sites as jigging bucktails is a sure-fire way to box quality fish. As fluke begin to make the move out of our bays, the inlets become great areas to target as transit points. Offshore anglers should continue to have excellent opportunities at yellowfin and checking the pots or storm-created debris should provide shots at mahi. Surf fisherman working the deeper drops should be able to find fluke by slowly working bucktails tipped with Gulp or natural baits. A piece of squid or clam casted along any submerged jetties should produce kingfish, flounder, bluefish, and even triggerfish. Good Luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines!