We made it to the first week of April, but the winds and weather have been uncooperative to South Jersey, especially for tautog. The sea conditions literally stunk and anglers only had the jetties at an option. The Atlantic City area produced some keeper blackfish to 4 pounds on green crabs with jetty jig fisherman doing the best. Striped bass fishing has become more consistent especially along some of the jetties and the bridges continue to rock the stripes. Soft plastics, 4- to 5-inch plugs, and even custom gliders like the “Scabelly” topped the list for hot lures. Winter flounder action has been spotty with some anglers finding a few and others striking out.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River had some nice action on striped bass at night from the Route 37 bridge. Small 4-inch Yo-Zuri plugs have been the ticket on these bass, although most have been in the 18 to 26 inch range. They have been pretty consistent and are a blast on light tackle. White perch were a little slower this past week and so was tautog due to the weather.
Lacey Marine in Forked River reported some action at the Long Beach Island bridges on bloodworms, but much better action around the Route 37 bridge in Toms River. Striped bass ranged from 20 to 26 inches, but a few keepers in the 30-in range have been landed. Tautog fishing has been very slow and the shop only heard of a few short fish landed off the Barnegat Light jetty.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown had a slower week with anglers stopping in the store to pick up bloodworms and some have been heading down to the Mullica River to wet a line. Small schoolie striped bass and some white perch have been landed. The lagoons of Beach Haven West are starting to show some white perch.
Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown was winded in for the opening weekend of tautog as both vessels were tied to the dock. The skipper was able to get into some night striper action on the fly. 8wt and hand-tied clousers were the ticket for schoolies to 26 inches.
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The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light has been busy booking some May sea bass trips along with a few striped bass charters. The boat will be on the hunt and expected to be ready towards the middle of April.
Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin had some slower reports on tog for the opening day as pretty much zero boats made it out. There were a few anglers that stopped in to grab green crabs and had some short tog on the jetties. The beaches have been rather slow with an occassional striper being caught, but overall it’s been slow, cold, and windy. Striped bass along the bridges and some of the back sedges have produced on soft plastics, with bloodworms and sandworms doing better. The shop hasn’t heard of any steady action on winter flounder, but there should be a few around in the deeper holes.
Tackle Direct in Egg Harbor City reported some quality striped bass caught on some of rivers from Mays Landing to the Mullica River. Anglers working clam baits found larger striped bass while the bloodworm anglers caught more schoolie stripers. Tog fishing was spotty along some of the rocks and bridges on green crabs and tog jigs. There hasn’t been any word on weakfish yet, but they should be around.
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Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point reported good striped bass action from most of the bridges from Brigantine to Wildwood. Schoolie bass were the main action for most of the week, although a few nicer bass to 33 inches have been caught. Anglers picking up bloodworms are scoring with better consistency than fisherman casting artificials.
Badfish Charters in Ocean City snuck out between the windy days to find some consistent striped bass action on artificials. The skipper has been working small soft plastics along with the fly depending on the conditions and there are some dates left for April.
The Cape May area had a solid week with decent striper action to 42 inches from the bay beaches west to Fortascue. Bloodworms and clam baits produced some nicer bass over the course of the week, but the wind and waves have been the issue for fisherman. Tautog anglers got the short end of the fishing stick as Mother Nature put a hurting on the conditions. The only viable option for most of the state has been to work the jetties with green crabs or cooked shrimp, but the action has been shorts. With the warmer winter temperatures, the reef sites should be prime for tautog.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for the weekend will be to continue to try for striped bass as our bays are warming, especially with the past week’s temperatures. Schoolie striped bass action continues to be the main game, but if you want to try for a trophy bass dunking jumbo bloodworms off the beaches of Fortascue would be the best ticket in our area. Although out of our area, anglers willing to make the trek to the Raritan are finding uber-loads of fish up to 50 pounds. If the winds and waves can give us a break, the reef sites should be the go-to spots for keeper tautog. White leggers, green crabs, and cooked shrimps tipped on jigs or rigs should work on putting a few in the box. The bite should only get better in the coming weeks, but we all need less winds and calmer seas. Good Luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines!