Northern New Jersey Fishing Report – July 8, 2021

Things are picking up as we move into the heart of summer fishing season.

While the fluke bite has been a bit inconsistent due to the weather, it’s definitely on the upswing. Offshore fluking has improved while more fish are showing up in the surf.
 
Tuna have returned in a big way with yellowfin joining the bluefin on the inshore spots. Canyon fishing has also been good, especially to the south.

Plus, those summer favorites, bluefish, are showing up for the party boats and beach anglers.

Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said he’s been getting decent reports on the fluke fishing. There are still way too many shorts but there’s plenty of action.

The tuna bite has been good in the southern canyons, he said, with yellowfin and bluefin.

Fishing for blues has become more consistent, Hebert added, with the party boats returning to the docks with limit catches.

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fluking has been pretty good from the Rattlesnake to the Shrewsbury Rocks and between the channels.

No giant fish, he said, but a decent amount of 5 and 6 pounders.

He also reported small blues are showing up at the tip of Sandy Hook with both the boats and shore anglers getting in on the action. There are still some big bass being caught, he added, mainly on the chunk.

Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright also reported bluefish in the 2- to 5-pound range in and out of the surf there.

There are fluke in the wash as well, but it’s mostly shorts. Gulp and bucktails and sand bugs are catching the fluke.

There are some keeper fluke in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, Pinto said, and the crabbing is getting better with each passing day.

Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said the tuna fishing turned back on over the holiday weekend. He reported good catches of bluefin and yellowfin tuna on Madd Mantis poppers and Nomad Streaker jigs.

Fluking in the surf, he said, has gotten better with one customer catching a 24 incher in the suds. He’s also had reports of several limit catches.

There are northern kingfish biting off the beach as well and he’s been getting good reports on crabbing in the rivers.

The bass bite on sand crabs slowed a bit over the weekend in Ocean Grove. The strong south wind probably had something to do with it and hopefully a change will get them feeding again.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said it was a good Fourth for fishing. A couple of party boats out of the marina had a great day with bluefish with everyone limiting out two times over. After boxing some good-sized eating fish, anglers played catch and release.

Matthews said the fluking has been a little slow for keepers but there is plenty of action to be had. Sea bass and ling are helping to fill the coolers.

The offshore fleet out of the marina, Matthews said, has seen some good tuna fishing and shark fishing.  On the beach, it’s fluke, small bass and kingfish.

Capt. Pete Sykes on Parker Pete’s Fishing Charters out of Belmar said the fluke fishing has been up and down right along with the water temperatures. The south wind chills the water and gives the fish lockjaw.

He’s been running the Parker Pete bucktail extravaganzas on hard bottom and catching some nice fish, but no monsters yet.

Capt. Sykes said it will be open boat extravaganzas every day there isn’t a charter on the Parker Pete Express. The weather doesn’t look promising for Friday, but they will be sailing Saturday and Sunday.

Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said he’s been doing well with fluke and sea bass every day. The pool fish averages about 5 pounds with a few limits on most trips.

Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Sportfishing out of Belmar said Tuesday’s trip was an inshore success with five keeper fluke, a dozen keeper sea bass and a bunch of bluefish.

Capt. Jay has open dates for inshore and offshore charters. He can be contacted though his website.

Max Kristiansen at the Reel Seat in Brielle reported an outstanding day of tuna fishing on Monday going 12-for-15 on bluefin along with an 81-pound yellowfin. Nomad 120g Streaker Jigs were the ticket.

Kristiansen said the tuna have been reported as close as 15 miles offshore.

The fluke bite is getting better on the local reefs and wrecks, he said, and the Manasquan River has been giving up some nice fluke as well.

Kyle at Fisherman’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said all kinds of tuna are being caught inshore and offshore with jigs, poppers and on the troll. Side trackers in green and yellow or Nomad and OTI jigs have all been catching fish.

The south wind has been making for some rough trips but the bluefin and yellowfin are biting along with some bigeye.

He also reported that 6-inch Gulp grubs have been catching nice fluke at the Axel Carlson and Sea Girt reefs. Pink Shine and Nuclear Chicken are doing the job.

There are small bass in the surf along with keeper and short fluke and the blues are around as well off the beach. There’s plenty of stuff to catch, Kyle said in closing, it’s fishing season.

Tom Murphy at Capt. Bills Landing in Point Pleasant Beach said the weather was a little crazy last week but the tuna anglers that got out did well with bluefin between Little Italy and the Rezor Wreck.

Capt. Kenny Namowitz on the Mimi VI out of Point Pleasant Beach said they’ve been taking advantage of the good bluefish bite from Sea Bright to Sandy Hook.

He added that the ling fishing is still very good and there are plenty of sea bass around while the fluke bite is a bit up and down. Capt. Ken is hoping the porgies show up soon.

Capt. Matt Sosnowski of the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant said it was a decent pick of fluke on Sunday and Monday with anglers putting in the most effort getting better results.

By Tuesday, the fish didn’t want to cooperate and it was a struggle. Capt. Matt figures it was just the day and the fluking will only improve.

Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick said the offshore bite really picked up with plenty of bluefin and yellowfin caught on the troll.

He’s still getting reports of stripers at the local beaches on plastics and small plugs while the fluking is picking up on the wrecks and reefs.

He added that the Mantoloking Bridge has been producing some keeper fluke from the pier during the day. Crabbing, he said, is very good in the bay.

Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said it was a busy weekend with lots of anglers fishing the beach. The blues have been in and out of the surf and folks picking up fluke in the suds as well.

He said there are still a lot of fluke in Barnegat Bay along with plenty of crabs.

Frankie Z at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said there’s been a little bit of a lot of things this past week.

The fluking out front for the boats was a little off, most likely due to the south wind.

He said it was better in the bay than in the ocean with fish up to 6¼ pounds reported. There are blowfish biting in there as well and the crabbing is pretty good.

There are pockets of fluke in the surf, he added, with Gulp and bucktails getting their attention. He also said the kingfish have showed up in the surf.

Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey

Once the remnants of Elsa move on, the weekend weather looks decent. For those who have the opportunity, inshore and canyon tuna look like a good bet with bluefin and yellowfin biting on jigs, poppers and the troll.

Closer to home, fluking has improved on the offshore wrecks and reefs as long as the weather cooperates.

And the surf offers fluke, short bass, blues and kingfish.