Southern New Jersey Fishing Report
The good, the bad, and the ugly pretty much sums up the weather pattern over the last few weeks as Mother Nature has different plans for our weekend fishing dates. It seems almost every weekend it’s cooler temperatures, strong winds, and some type of rainy precipitation. Drum fishing continues to remain at a good pace for Delaware Bay and Cape May anglers looking to soak a few clams. The hot news of the week was the good surf fishing bite occurring from Atlantic City north through parts of Island Beach State Park. Gator bluefish up to 30 inches and some nice striped bass to 30 pounds were being caught and released on soaked baits, casted metals and worked plugs. Anglers smoked several nice striped bass on the Daiwa SP minnow with bone white and school bus yellow being the hot choices. Fluking seems to be tough most places with short to keeper ratios running 13 to 1, and shops are reporting some better scores with live minnows as compared to Gulp. The exciting news of the week will be the opening of the sea bass season and it should be fairly easy to box a limit as most wrecks are teeming with those tasty biscuits.
Here is this week’s rundown:
Hook House Bait & Tackle in Toms River reported striped bass on the troll from the “BB” to the “BI” buoy and also around the Route 37 bridges. The IBSP and Seaside beaches were the spots to be at this past with decent numbers of bluefish to 28 inches and striped bass from 26 to 38 inches. Plugs, poppers, metals, and fresh bait were all working for both species. Anglers working the backside of IBSP have been finding a few fluke around, though the action has been slower.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown had much slower reports of fluke in the Barnegat bay as water temperatures have been cooler than last year. The main channels have some fish, but anglers are having to put in some major time to box a keeper or two. Striped bass and bluefish have been off the charts along both sides of Barnegat Inlet and the bridges are showing a few small schoolies and the occasional weakfish. Recently, striped bass, blues, and a large drum have been caught off of Island Beach State Park and Long Beach Island.
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Reel Reaction Sportfishing out of Waretown was out in 20 knot winds to work clients through 27 short fluke and 8 keepers up to 22 inches during 4-hr charters. The skipper said the bite was much better as compared to last week’s outing. Most of keepers were biting on live bait in deeper water. The crew will be plying the flats over the next month to look for some larger fluke. The crew will be running 6 days a week once school lets out towards the middle of June.
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The Super Chic out of Barnegat Light is pumped to begin their charter season with the kickoff of sea bass. will start their charter fishing season on May 17th as I received official word from the captain. Capt. Ted will target sea bass followed by fluke and tuna, so give them a ring to get on the schedule.
Tony’s Bait & Tackle in Manahawkin said anglers have been doing better for flounder from Tuckerton south to Great Bay. The clam sticks and areas around the old fish factory seemed to be producing some better numbers of keepers on floated minnows. Long Beach Island has been excellent for striped bass and bluefish over the past week with the beaches of Barnegat Light, Cedars, and Ship bottom producing with regularity. The shop is fully stocked with all of your sea bass needs for the season opener this week.
Tackle Direct in Egg Harbor City reported the Atlantic City and Brigantine area went from a slow burning ember to “En Fuego” this past week. Striped bass and bluefish were being bailed from the T-jetty and beaches of Brigantine. Daiwa SP minnows, surf clams, and bunker chunks all worked with similar results. Summer flounder action has been excellent from Ocean City south to Wildwood with most channels and side channels having good numbers of fish. Anglers working 5 to 8 foot sections have to work through some shorts to find keepers. White, glow, and chartreuse colors of Gulp are the ticket along with live minnows.
Tight Lines Bait & Tackle in Somers Point had reports of some weakfish to 5 pounds being landed from bridges and jetties between Ocean City and Avalon. Boaters working drifts in the 5 to 10 foot depths are finding some keeper fluke to 6 pounds. Live spot, minnow, and Gulp seem to be producing a fair number of keepers. The bays have lots of schoolie striped along the sod banks, marshes, and tidal creeks. Anglers casting soft plastics and small plugs during the hours of morning and dinner have been finding some fish. The shop received a full shipment of surf clams as the beaches produced striped bass to 32 inches and some bluefish to 26 in. The owner said they have loads of sand fleas both live and brined and hopefully should be seeing the first sheepshead in a few weeks as the water begins to warm.
Badfish Charters in Ocean City was busy this past week dodging boat traffic over the weekend and weather throughout the week. The skipper was putting satisfied clients on good numbers of backbay striped bass and a few jumbo bluefish. The skipper said the blues were tailing in super skinny water and that he has dates this upcoming week, so give them a ring.
Cape May and Fortescue anglers continue to be excited as more big striped bass are moving along the beaches along the Delaware bay. The best tide continues to be the last 2 hours of the ebb and first 2 of the flood. Bloodworms, clams, and chunks of cut bunker continue to work on these transiting stripers. The back creeks are producing plenty of white perch and the bite has been red hot on bloodworms. Fluke fishing along the Fortescue area and ocean side has been very slow, but the backbays behind Cape May and Wildwood are producing much better numbers. Anglers pitching small bucktails or jigs tipped with Gulp from the local bridges are catching a few flounder. Drum fishing remains the most consistent and best shot at bending rods on large fish, fresh surf clams and a decent stick is all you need.
South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for this upcoming weekend will be to make the attempt to jump on a recreational or charter vessel for the sea bass opener. Most, if not all, fishing structure from 45 to 90 feet are “loaded” with sea bass, so it should be drop, reel, and rebait for the time your out there. Headboats will have the upper hand with the ocean dealing us a larger heave this weekend, but going into next week we may actually have a “fluff” free week in terms of crappy weather. Anglers looking to stay in contact with land, should grab the korkers and rock hop the jetties in search of early morning striped bass, followed by blitzing gators. There were several inlets over the last week which reported bluefish and small terns gorging on pieces of chomped baitfish. With lots of bird action and anglers casting metals into blitzing fish, if you should happen to hook one of our feathered friends, quickly reel it in and dawn a towel or rag over it’s head to calm it down – this will calm it down enough to unhook and release! Good Luck, Be Safe, and Tight Lines!