The departure of last week’s nasty nor’easter threw the switch on the fall run and lit up the Jersey coast with massive amounts of bunker and giant stripers.
Monster bass are being caught from beaches and boats with live bunker generating most of the action. Big metal-lipped swimmers, poppers and Nichols spoons are also working.
Bunker spoons and Mojos are taking fish on the troll. In a word, the bass bite has been epic. Tuna fishing turned on as well with good reports of yellowfin offshore. Bluefin have also been crashing into the bunker pods in close. Reports of anyone connecting with them have yet to surface. On top of that, false albacore are still around, blackfishing has been excellent at the inlets and in the Point Pleasant Canal and sea bass fishing is off to a decent start.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said he’s heard of little else except the hot bass bite since last weekend. The stripers are feasting on all the bunker in the bay and off the beaches from Raritan Bay down to Island Beach State Park. Just a reminder, snag-and-drop fishing is no longer an option as any live bait has to be fished on an inline circle hook. Hebert said fall trout stocking is underway. Fortunately, recent rains added more water to rivers and streams.
Phil Sciortino Jr. at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said bass up to 50 pounds have been caught from beaches, boats and kayaks in Raritan Bay and along Sandy Hook. Live bunker, poppers, metal-lipped swimmers, shads and spoons have all accounted for big bass. Those anglers who haven’t been chasing stripers, and there aren’t a lot of them, have been doing well with blues and sea bass, Sciortino said.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said it’s been crazy along the beaches there with all the bass and bunker around. The boats have been getting the better part of the action as the bunker aren’t always tight to the beaches and often get picky when they come close. Live bait is outfishing other methods but poppers have been getting some attention. Bill Bertsch got a jumbo bass from the sand on an OutCast popper.
Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch predicted the fishing was going to bust loose after the storm. Gleason said fish from 30- to 50-pounds were caught from Raritan Bay and down along the beaches. He was fishing in the bay on Tuesday catching big fish on Ben Parker spoons, live bunker and metal-lipped swimmers. While many of these bass are too big to keep, Raritan Bay, he said, was holding stripers in a variety of sizes. He said giant bluefin moved in with the striped bass and he’s had reports of them blowing up schools of bunker in 15 feet of water. For yellowfin, offshore is the place to go as that bite bounced right back. The bunker have been thick from Asbury Park to Belmar with bass, whales, threshers and dolphins feeding furiously. They finally came close enough on Wednesday morning so that I could get on the board with a 40-plus-pound striper. The fish swam away in good shape.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said it’s been a big bass bonanza off Monmouth and Ocean counties. Boaters have the advantage over surfcasters but the fish did come into the beach in Belmar, Spring Lake, Sea Girt and a couple of other spots. The bass were up to 50 pounds. In addition to live bait, chartreuse flutter spoons were a popular choice for boat anglers. Matthews said sea bass fishing has been decent with plenty of limits reported. Porgies are also coming over the rails in good numbers.
Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar will be sailing open boat for stripers this Sunday. Check the website for details.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar has stuck with bottom fishing during this bass mania, catching sea bass, porgies and winter flounder. Sea bassing has been decent, he said, but the porgy fishing has been very good.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters headed out to the canyon on Tuesday in search of yellowfin but will targeting these big bass on his return. He also has openings for tuna trips and can be contacted through his website.
Matt Heager at The Reel Seat in Brielle said the bass action on live bunker from Sandy Hook to Long Beach Island is commanding everyone’s attention. He, too, had reports of bluefin charging through the bunker schools. He said the jig bite for sea bass is improving and anglers are getting their limits after weeding through plenty of shorts.
Kyle Tanger at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant said the bass fishing is as good as it gets. His advice on getting in on the action is to pick a favorite beach and sit tight instead of chasing them all over the map. He also suggested rolling a bucktail through the bunker as he’s found that to be an effective method for stripers when they’re feeding in thick schools. Raritan Bay has been on fire, he added, with acres of bait and kayakers having a blast livelining and tossing metal-lipped swimmers. Yellowfin tuna fishing is red hot as well. He said the Voyager limited out in just a few hours on its most recent trip with most of the fish caught on bait.
Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach reported good catches of sea bass, porgies and winter flounder on his recent trips. He’s also added afternoon striper trips from 3:30 to 7:30 every day. Check the website for details.
Chris Parlow at Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach said there are just three words to describe this week’s fishing: wow, wow and wow. The bass have been driving schools of bunker up and down the beach for the last week. Livelining has been the preferred method, but the bass have also been hitting spoons and Mojos. He also reported false albacore cruising up and down the beaches, hitting metal and epoxy lures. The Hudson Canyon also exploded with large numbers of yellowfin tuna, he added, biting night and day, mostly on bait. Sea bass fishing also remained good during the week, especially at the Shark River Reef. There are porgies and triggerfish there as well.
Capt. Kenny Namowitz on the Mimi VI out of Point Pleasant Beach reported good action at the Hudson Canyon with Monday’s trip returning to the dock with a boat limit of yellowfin tuna.
Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said it’s been a savage bass bite there. All of the stripers are big, up to 50 inches, and 90 percent of them have been caught livelining. Big metal-lipped swimmers and Tsunami shads are catching some fish as well. He’s hoping the bass stick around until Thanksgiving for his annual Surf Turkey Tournament that takes place over the holiday weekend. Registration is now open. If you’re not interested in stripers, the Point Pleasant Canal has plenty of blackfish, he said.
Frankie Z at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said the bass bite is going off big time down there with fish from 30 to 50 pounds being caught off the beach. Livelining is taking most of the big fish but some are being caught on poppers and swimmers. Surfcasters are also finding bass at night hitting plugs. Frankie said giant bluefin have been crashing the bunker pods with fish estimated at 400 pounds. The sea bass fishing has been good, he added, getting his limit on a trip earlier this week. It did take a while to wade through all the shorts. On his return trip, he also managed to catch some false albacore.
Finally, congratulations to Nick Honachefsky for another successful Barrier Island Beach Brawl last weekend. The tournament saw 51 stripers caught and released, $25,000 worth of prizes awarded and loads of fillets donated to charity.
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Best Bets for the Weekend
Get on a boat or to the beach and get in on this wild striper fishing. It’s unlikely Thursday’s bad weather will dislodge all the bait and bass along the coast.
Raritan Bay has been a hot spot. Remember, the old snag-and-drop method is no longer legal as live bait has to be fished with an inline circle hook. Big metal-lipped swimmers, shads and flutter spoons have been catching fish as well.