Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
A bomb cyclone brought immense, thundering waves to New Jersey last Monday with many longtime shore residents saying they were the biggest they’ve ever seen. The surfers loved it, the anglers not so much. It was Wednesday before any boat got back out.
Prior to the storm, stripers were still being picked from the surf, the boats were finding bass offshore, the tog bite was getting better and there were bluefin to be caught on the troll. Now everyone’s waiting to see what happens next.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park hasn’t heard of anything caught since the weekend with the exception of rainbow trout hooked from the shore at Round Valley Reservoir. Hebert said the store has great holiday discounts available in-store and online for gift cards. Check the Tackle World website for details.
Danny Stolba at Fish Tail Bait and Tackle in Carteret said the storm had little effect on the striper bite in the Arthur Kill. Locals continued to catch keepers on frozen bunker through the weekend and at the start of the week.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said bass fishing in Raritan Bay is over. He believes the bass bite will pick back up in the ocean when the seas calm down. A few boats out of Atlantic Highlands were going to sail for them on Thursday. He said the shop has loads of gift buckets and baskets for the holiday.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said it’s been quiet there except for the pounding of the surf. He’s got plenty of S&S Bucktails and Blitz Baits in the store for stocking stuffers.
Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch welcomed the giant swells. Not only is he an expert angler, he’s a world-class surfer. Gleason has surfed around the globe and said the size of the waves was rare for New Jersey. As for the fishing, he said the day before the storm folks were picking bass off the beach on sand eel imitations, Avas and shads and he expects the fish will be back in the surf. Boats were also catching bluefin on the troll right up until the storm hit. The tuna bite had slowed down for the folks chasing and casting. Gleason said the shop is having special sales every day on their clothing lines.
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The boats out of the Belmar Marina, including the Capt. Cal II and Ocean Explorer resumed blackfishing on Wednesday. The Big Mohawk is back fishing as well and has a special Christmas Eve tog trip leaving at 6 a.m.
Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar was catching plenty of stripers last Saturday and he expects to get into them again this Friday and Saturday. He’s running open boat bass trips both days leaving the dock at 6:30 a.m. Details are on the website.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar was pulling some nice blackfish over the rail in the days before the blow with a number of double-digit fish. First-time togger, Joe Valucci, caught a 12.4-pound blackfish on last Saturday’s trip. It was actually his first time on a boat. Capt. Spinelli said he’ll be heading back to the blackfish grounds this weekend.
Ted Imfeld at The Reel Seat in Brielle said the last report he had before the blow was stripers in the surf farther south. He said a lot of people pulled their boats before the storm so participation is on the way down.
Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Belmar said the blackfishing was good before we got pummeled with quality surpassing quantity. He had been getting reports on double-digit fish and said we’ll just have to see how it rebounds when things settle. He said there were stripers in the Manasquan River but it’s going to take a few days for the water to clear up. The water is beyond brown, he added.
Chris Parlow from Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach reported that before Monday’s blow there was still plenty of stripers, bluefin and tog being caught but with most of the boats out of the water, there has been very limited participation. Once the ocean calms down, he said, good fishing should continue into January.
Capt. Kenny Namowitz on the Mimi VI out of Point Pleasant Beach sailed for blackfish on Wednesday and found a picky bite with mix of shorts and keepers. He said they were catching some hogs before the storm and he plans on sailing for blackfish through mid-February. Reservations are strongly suggested as spots are limited and the trips have been selling out.
Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach will resume blackfishing on Thursday and will stick with them through January. He’s also got an offshore sea bass trip scheduled for Dec. 28. It’s the last one of the season. The prior trip produced a full boat limit of sea bass.
Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick said they are still getting reports of stripers off our local beaches. Ava jigs, needlefish and other slim-bodied lures with a teaser are working.
Steve Thomas at Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park said the waves were just remarkable last Monday and it will probably be Thursday before the beach is fishable. Thomas said the shop is loaded with any last-minute gifts you might need for your favorite angler.
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Best Bets for the Weekend
If you can sneak away from your holiday chores, there should be some schoolie stripers back in the surf. Avas, sand eel imitations, needlefish and other slim-profile winter baits will work.
The tog boats will be back out as well with several running special Christmas Eve trips. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.