The spring striper season got off to a solid start and it keeps getting better.
Good reports came in from the back of Raritan Bay down to the rivers and bays in the southern part of the state.
At the same time, white perch are being caught in the tidal rivers and freshwater anglers are enjoying excellent fishing for crappie, bass and panfish.
Fishing Report For Northern New Jersey
Mark Fuduli at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said the Hackensack River is loaded with stripers and they’re being caught on swimbaits and small plugs. The largest have been up to 34 inches. He also got reports of bass in the back of Raritan Bay.
The freshwater fishing has been very good, he said, especially at Round Valley Reservoir. Anglers are picking up lake trout trolling Rapalas and fishing ned rigs and drop shots.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the striper fishing has been good since the season opened in the back of Raritan Bay. Shads and bloodworms are catching a mix of keepers and shorts, with smaller fish in the majority.
Sciortino said NLBN shads and jig heads have been a popular choice.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said he has yet to hear of any bass caught in the Shrewsbury or Navesink rivers but he’s getting good reports from Raritan Bay and Toms River.
Some better weather should get the bite going in the local rivers and Pinto said the shop is fully stocked. A new shipment of RWA poppers just arrived this week.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said all of the bass action he’s heard of has been to the north and down south. It should pick up closer to home in the next couple of weeks as the water warms. He, too, is fully stocked and just received a big order of Back Bay metal-lipped swimmers.
The freshwater action remains good in local ponds and lakes for crappie, panfish and largemouth.
Tak Waterman will be at the Saltwater Expo in Edison, March 18-20 and the Asbury Park Fishing Show on March 20 at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in Asbury Park.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said more consistent weather would help improve the fishing. Fluctuations between winter and spring conditions in the space of a few days have both anglers and fish confused.
Matthews said winter flounder are being caught in the Shark River mostly on sunny days with the outgoing tide. One of the Den’s rental boats recently got six, a mix of shorts and keepers.
They have also been caught at the L Street Pier and the floating dock.
He hasn’t had any reports of stripers in the river but the reports have been good from Raritan and Barnegat bays.
Matthews said the good freshwater fishing got even better this past week with white and yellow perch and channel cats biting on worms and small jig heads with twister tails.
Eric Bunz at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the striper fishing has been pretty good in Barnegat Bay, especially around the Mantoloking Bridge. Yo-Zuri twitch baits and small swim shads are doing the trick.
He also reported a few bass caught back by the Route 70 Bridge in the Manasquan River. Bunz said there have been a few keepers among the many shorts with fish up to 32 inches.
Kyle Tanger at Fishermens Supply Co in Point Pleasant Beach said the good start to this year’s bass season has just kept going. Barnegat Bay and the Toms River are holding a lot of fish, he said.
Most of the action is in deeper water with those in boats and kayaks having the best of it. Shore anglers are picking some fish as long as they can reach the drop off. Small X-Raps, Yo-Zuri twitch baits and soft plastics are all working.
Tanger said the winter flounder fishing picked up in the last week around the Mantoloking Bridge and the back of Barnegat Bay with worms and chum logs.
Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick said the folks fishing the backwaters of Barnegat Bay are doing well for perch and striped bass. Most the action he heard of was on bloodworms but reported small gliders, SP Minnows and Yo-Zuri Mag Darters were catching fish.
Jenni Ackerman at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said the bass fishing is really good in the back of Barnegat Bay. She was fishing over the weekend in her kayak and caught plenty of schoolies on X-Raps. The bass are feeding on peanut bunker and spearing. She also reported an improving winter flounder bite in the bay.
Tom P. at Creekside Outfitters in Waretown in Waretown said the bass are biting well at the Route 72 Bridge in Barnegat Bay. Most of the fish are in the 18- to 24-inch range and they’re being caught on paddle tails and small plugs. He said fly rodders are getting in on the action as well. He said that the Toms River is loaded with stripers.
The white perch bite in Tuckerton, Mullica and Egg Harbor rivers has been excellent, he added. Worms are doing the trick, but if you can get grass shrimp, even better.
Brian at Badfish Fishing Charters in Ocean City says fish are holed up in deeper pockets but they’re active. Water temperatures have been in the high-40’s, with some backwater creeks even warmer during sunny days. He says most of the bait around is adult bunker and peanut bunker. So far, the fish he’s been catching have been mostly resident and winter holdover bass. The biggest they’ve seen thus far has been in the low 30-inch range. For these backwater resident fish, it’s good to practice catch and release until we see more movement of migratory fish in April.
Bill at Absecon Bay Sportsman in Absecon said the bass fishing is pretty good. It’s mostly shorts but there’s a lot of them, hitting mainly on blood worms. He, too, reported a solid white perch bite in the tidal rivers.
Chris Baliban at Tight Lines Bait and Tackle in Somers Point said blood worms are catching stripers along the sod banks in his neck of the woods. Again, most of the fish are shorts but there have been a few up to 32 inches.
Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey
Striped bass and freshwater species are currently the best bets for the weekend. Blood worms, small X-Raps, Yo-Zuri twitch baits and soft plastics are catching bass in the back of Raritan and Barnegat bays and in most of the tidal rivers down south.
Local ponds and lakes have been giving up largemouth bass, crappie, perch and catfish.
If the questionable weather will keep you indoors, you can attend the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Annual Trout Meeting virtually on Saturday, March 12 at 10 a.m. Get the latest stocking information and freshwater fisheries updates by logging into https://meet.goto.com/FishWildlife/annual-trout-meeting.
thanx for a good report