Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
Multiple species made for excellent fishing over the holiday weekend. Striped bass, bluefish, fluke, sea bass and ling bent rods and filled coolers on the beaches and aboard boats from Raritan Bay down to Island Beach State Park.
The red-hot sea bass bite did cool a bit this past week under heavy fishing pressure but word is there are still plenty of fish around. Lots of ling, and even some whiting, filled in nicely on the fillet count.
Big stripers made a good push offshore hitting deep-diving plugs Mojos and eels while blues were in the rivers and in the surf. Keeper fluke were caught in both those places as well. There were also reports of black drum, thresher sharks and bluefin tuna. So far, summer fishing is off to a good start.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said jumbo stripers showed up in good numbers in Raritan Bay and off the beaches. Metal-lips were working in the bay while trolling eels, deep-diving plugs, Mojos and bunker spoons were the ticket in the ocean. Fluke anglers are doing fairly well, he said, especially in the surf. On the freshwater side, Hebert said largemouth can be found on the beds and there are plenty of trout around. He did say that warming waters make recovery for released trout difficult, so you’re better off keeping them for the table.
Danny Stolba at Fish Tail Bait and Tackle in Carteret said that after a couple of weeks of absolute quiet in the Arthur Kill, the bass started biting again on Wednesday on frozen bunker. Stolba also reported a couple of big fluke were hooked from the Carteret pier.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said bluefishing has been good at the Keansburg Pier and around the Bayshore. Big bass, a few in excess of 50 inches, have been caught in the ocean on eels and planer boards, he said. More bunker showed up offshore and live-lining has also produced some jumbos. Bottom fishing has been very good, Sciortino added, and said the ling bite is the best he’s seen in quite a while.
Joe Julian Jr. at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said bluefish up to 5 pounds were all over the Atlantic Highlands Harbor feeding on peanut bunker. They can also be found in the Shrewsbury River and there are stripers to be caught in there as well on plugs and plastics.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright reported that kayakers fishing metal-lip swimmers off Monmouth Beach were catching giant bass over the weekend. Live bunker were also working for the big fish. Stripers were also caught off the local beaches on clams and bunker chunks. The blues are in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers along with some stripers. The bass bite is at night and Pinto said MP Bucktails rigged with Blitz Baits have been working well.
Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch said there was a crazy topwater striper bite up in Raritan Bay earlier this week with bass between 25 and 40 pounds. Bass are also being picked in the surf on plugs early in the morning and the evening. Fluking has also been good in the surf with keepers hitting Gulp and bucktails. Gleason has had some tuna reports and he’s heard sand eels are gathering offshore. He expects to hear more about that fishery in the next couple of weeks. The shop, he said, will be holding special sales on clothing just in time for Father’s Day.
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Tommy Palmisano at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the fluking in the Shark River is a little slow right now but the rental boats have pulled some nice keepers out of the river. He also heard the sea bass fishing slowed down a bit but the boats are making up for sea bass with ling.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle has been hitting the sea bass grounds every day and reported another nice day of fishing on Wednesday with a good pick on all drops. He’s been catching ling and cod along with the sea bass. Check his Facebook page for sailing schedule.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said they continue to do well with sea bass and ling along with some whiting, but the sea bass has bite has fallen off. Whatever the reason for the slow down, he still thinks there are plenty of the biscuits around and the fishing will pick up again. Spinelli also reported the first fluke of the year aboard the Skylarker.
Matt Heagen at The Reel Seat in Brielle said bass fishing is steady in the ocean with eels on planer boards and deep-diving plugs. Thresher sharks are starting to appear in the bunker schools. He also said the surf has come alive with bluefish and the fluking has been good in the suds on Gulp and bucktails. Clams are catching stripers as well off the beach. The Manasquan River, he added, is producing some nice fluke along with blues and bass.
Kyle Tanger at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said the fluking in the Manasquan River is solid with plenty of keepers being caught. Three of his pals fished the river earlier this week and all limited out with plenty of action. Blues are still biting over by the Dog Beach and the bass bite on small plugs and plastics has been good at night. The local surf is giving up stripers on clams and some nice fluke on Gulp. He had a report of a 22 incher earlier this week. Tanger said the boats struggled this week with sea bass but he didn’t think fishing pressure was the cause. Captains were reading plenty of fish, he said, but for some reason the fish had lockjaw.
Chris Parlow from Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach reported that sea bass fishing remained good this week with a lot of fish being caught on the Shark River Reef, the Farms and the Axel Carlson Reef. The ocean striper bite was also very good with fish being caught on spoons, Mojos and metal-lip plugs. He also reported that the Manasquan River fluke bite has been good as well. Parlow added that the first thresher shark of the season was weighed in at Captain Bill’s on Wednesday, a 132-pounder caught on the My Time.
Capt. Danny Gregory of the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said the sea bass fishing is still good but there were a lot of boats out there over the weekend and limits were not as easy to come by as they were when the season opened. Thankfully, there were a lot of ling coming over the rail. He’s also seeing the occasional cod or pollock. The Norma K III will be switching to fluke on June 20 running two half-day trips. Check the website for sailing times.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters out of the Manasquan Inlet has been continuing to catch sea bass despite the heavy traffic. He said there must have been around 200 boats on the Shark River Reef over the weekend. Moving around to some smaller pieces has been getting the job done. Richardella also mentioned the tremendous ling fishing. He’ll be adding fluke, striper and eventually tuna trips to the schedule and can be contacted through his website.
Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said the fishing was good, if not great, over the weekend. Bass and blues in the surf provided most of the action with clams and mullet doing the job. Kupper did have a report of a 40-inch bass caught from the beach in Chadwick on a clam. He also reported cocktail blues in upper Barnegat Bay, short bass at night in the bay on plastics and fluke in the Manasquan River.
Bob at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said black drum bite in the surf is still going strong and surfcasters continue to pull bass, blues and fluke from the suds.
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Best Bets for the Weekend
Between bass, blues and fluke, the beaches are generating a lot of action. Clams, bunker chunks and plugs are working for the stripers, mullet and metal bring the blues and it’s Gulp on jig heads for fluke.
Bottom fishing is excellent right now with ling and whiting adding to the good sea bass catches. Sea bass fishing cooled off a bit following its torrid start to the season but there are still plenty of fish around to make the trip worthwhile.
Offshore striper fishing got a shot in the arm in the last week with big fish caught on plugs in Raritan Bay and eels, trolling plugs and live bunker producing jumbo bass in the ocean.