Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
It was another week of excellent fishing.
There are stripers in the surf hitting clams, sand bugs and poppers, schools of blues popping up off the beaches, sea bass, ling and cod biting on the bottom and trout and largemouth are active in streams, lakes and ponds.
The big bass continue to eat eels, bunker and metal lip swimmers offshore and fluke are in the rivers, bays, and the surf. The sand bug bite really caught fire this past week as the shoreline is thick with the little crustaceans. Stripers are cruising the troughs getting fat on them. There are a lot of small calico crabs in the wash as well.
Mark Fuduli at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said the striper bite on live bunker and eels has been really good while sea bass fishing is holding up. Jigs are outfishing clam baits. Boats are reporting good ling catches along with the sea bass. Fluking is decent but, as always, it’s a numbers game with folks weeding through shorts to get to the keepers. There’s loads of trout in the streams, he said, and hardly anyone is fishing them. Largemouth bass fishing has been very good, he added, with senko or keitech worms fished on the beds.
Danny Stolba at Fish Tail Bait and Tackle in Carteret said the bass are biting in the Arthur Kill and they’ve been joined by bluefish. The stripers are up to 35 inches and hitting frozen and fresh bunker.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said giant bass in the 50-inch range continue to hit eels on planer boards and metal-lip plugs. Bluefish are all over the place, he said, and the fluke bite is picking up in Raritan Bay and the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.
Joe Julian Jr. at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said there are loads of bluefish in Raritan Bay up to 5 pounds. He also reported some nice fish coming out of the surf with John Murphy getting a 50-pound striper on a plug. Murphy landed a big drum as well. Julian also reported hub-cap size porgies being caught on the local rock piles.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said stripers are hitting pencil poppers in the surf. The blues are also going for topwater lures off the beach as well. He caught three blues on an Outcast pencil popper on Thursday morning. He also reported that sand bugs are accounting for more bass in the wash. The fluking slowed down a little off the beach, he said, but there are fish being caught. Pinto said the shop is now fully loaded with Super Strike lures.
Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch said everybody is catching bass on bugs in the Long Branch surf. He’s been diving close to the jetties and said there are loads of stripers around, from schoolies up to 20 pounds. The really big bass, up to 50 pounds, are biting offshore on metal-lips. Fluke are also biting in the surf on Gulp and bucktails with 4-inch grubs and 5- and 6-inch jerk shads popular choices. For Father’s Day, Gleason said the shop is selling special gift bundles all wrapped up and ready to go for tuna and striped bass anglers.
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The sand crab bite picked up in the Ocean Grove surf in the last week with bass cruising in crystal clear water along the drop off. My biggest of the week was a 35-incher landed last Friday. Schools of blues made occasional appearances just off the beach as well this week.
Tim Rizzuto at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the fluke fishing in the Shark River has been very good with a 9-pounder reaching the scale this week along with a bunch of 4-, 5- and 6-pounders. Gulp and killies have been doing the trick. There are small bass in the river as well along with bluefish of mixed sizes. He also said the party boats out of the marina, including the Big Mohawk and Capt. Cal II, continue to do well with sea bass, ling and a few whiting.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker said the sea bass fishing was great last Friday and Saturday with limits around the boat but it cooled off on Sunday and at the start of the week. He thinks it will improve as the first big wave of sand eels has arrived. There are also lots of ling, some whiting and a few cod being caught.
Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle out of Belmar has been targeting sea bass and bluefish on his daily trips, usually getting a good catch of both. Wednesday’s trip saw a steady pick of sea bass most of the day until the afternoon when they were able to track down the blues. Diamond jigs did the job on blues up to 5 pounds.
Matt Heagen at The Reel Seat in Brielle said the sea bass fishing is still pretty good, you just have to get through all the shorts. Jigs are working best. He said the fluke fishing in the Manasquan River has been good and there have been blues in there up to 15 pounds. He said there have been reports of a few tuna caught out in the canyons, but not much closer to home.
Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said fluking in the Manasquan River lit up this past week with multiple fish in the mid-20-inch range reported. The largest he heard of was 26 inches. Gulp and bucktails are doing the job with Gulp jerk shads gaining in popularity. He also said the Z-Man Trout Trick is finding favor among fluke anglers. Striper fishing on the beach has been good with sand crabs and 5-inch poppers. Blues are also hitting the poppers. The big bass are up to the north, he said, hitting eels and metal-lips.
Chris Parlow from Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach reported that he fished on the Mimi VI this past weekend and caught some nice size sea bass, a number of beautiful winter flounder and ling. They fished multiple spots, including the Shark River Reef. He also reported that the ocean fluke bite was much better this week with a number of keeper-size fish caught on the Axel Carlson and Sea Girt reefs. The area off the Red Church was also a good spot. The fluke fishing in the Manasquan River has also been solid this last week with Gulp tipped with spearing being an effective combination. There was also a good blitz of blues this week at the Dog Beach while stripers were caught under schools of bunker right outside the Manasquan Inlet.
Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach is telling his anglers to bring the jigs as they are catching the bigger sea bass. He’s also getting into loads of ling with Sunday’s trip recording up to 50 per angler for those that wanted them.
Capt. Jay Richardella of Side Job Charters out of Manasquan got into the jumbo bass trolling offshore last Friday with stripers up to 40 pounds. He’s got a few openings and can be reached through his website. Side Job Charters is also booking tuna trips.
Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick said that livelining eels in the Point Pleasant Canal at night or early morning have been producing plenty of stripers along with some blues. The local beaches are giving up stripers on clams and sand bugs and blues on mullet and cut bunker.
Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said it’s been bass, blues and black drum on the local beaches. Anglers have been sight casting for stripers gorging on all the sand bugs in the troughs along the shore. Kupper said you can see the bass with their noses in the sand rooting around for the crabs. Fluking has been good in the Manasquan River and Barnegat Bay with the bay side entrance to the Point Pleasant Canal a good spot. Blues are running around the bay as well, he added.
Connor Thompson at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said anglers are catching bass in the surf on clams and bunker. Bunker and mullet are also catching blues from the beach. Thompson said folks continue to catch the occasional black drum on clams as well. Fluking is heating up off the beach, he said, with killies catching some nice fish. There are also a few big ones being caught back in the bay with a 10-pounder reported in the last week.
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Best Bets for the Weekend
Lots of choices for the weekend and it looks like the weather will be cooperating. Whatever you choose to call them, sand bugs, mole crabs, sand fleas or sand crabs, the abundant crustaceans are candy for striped bass and fluke. Just put several on an inline circle hook with a split shot about two feet above the hook and toss it into the wash. The bass hit hard; the fluke will nibble.
Gulp and bucktails are working for fluke in the surf as are killies. Blues and bass are also hitting topwater baits in the surf. Bottom fishing has also been very good for sea bass and ling.