Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
Tuna fishing remains at the top of the charts this week with inshore bluefin and offshore yellowfin and bigeye grabbing the headlines. And while shorts dominate the picture, reports indicate better fluking for both surfcasters and boaters.
Bluefishing is picking up for boat and beach anglers as well, and mahi-mahi and bonito are starting to make a better showing. And while there haven’t been any reports yet, Spanish mackerel and false albacore can’t be far behind.
Sea bass fishing has been good with lots of jumbos caught and the one-fish tog season is now open. Plus, as summer heads into the home stretch, crabbing is sensational.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said he received good offshore reports from the canyons while the inshore bluefin bite has been hit or miss. He did hear of tuna off the Rockaways and there are cobia being caught there as well. It’s been mostly short fluke in the surf, he said, with more keepers being caught the farther north you go. He advised being patient as there are fish to take home among the many small ones.
Patrick Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fluke fishing in the Sandy Hook surf offers plenty of action if not a lot of keepers. Beware, he said, of cownose rays as they are breaking rods and spooling reels. There is a lot more bunker showing up offshore and he said big bluefin were blowing up in them close to the Atlantic Beach Reef just a few days ago. There were also cobia in the area along with loads of sharks. Anglers pitching live eels into the bunker were hooking cobia, he said. He’s also getting his first reports of mahi-mahi on the pots. Crabbing, he added, is off the charts.
Joe Julian Jr. at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands agreed about the crabbing, calling it phenomenal. Fluke caught in the Navesink River are barfing up baby blue claws and, he said bluefish up to 7 pounds are feeding on the massive amounts of peanut bunker in the Atlantic Highlands Harbor and there are loads of spot all around the bay.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said it’s still a lot of short fluke in the surf but they have been joined by all sorts of bait. There are peanuts, spearing, snappers and sand eels so Pinto expects the fishing will improve shortly. All we need, he said, is a break from the south wind which returned at the beginning of the week. Bluefish, up to 4 pounds, are in the Sandy Hook surf, Pinto said, and the rivers are full of crabs. Customers are telling him it’s the best they’ve ever seen.
Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch said the inshore bluefin bite is going strong. RonZ plastics and NLBN straight tails are the hot baits right now. Gleason reported tuna caught were caught over the weekend and again on Monday and he and his friends landed a nice bluefin last week. Short fluke are all over the beach and he reported peanuts in the wash as well. Small blues showed up in the Bradley Beach surf over the weekend as the amount of bait along the beach increased dramatically over the past week. There’s plenty of short fluke in the wash as well.
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Bill at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the number of keeper fluke coming out of the Shark River has been on the upswing over the past week. Rental boats are coming back to the dock with limit catches. Surf anglers are also doing better with keepers, he said. He suggested keeping on the move and when you locate a pocket of fish, be patient and work the area. Try varying the retrieve, use different jig weights or type and color of Gulp.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said the ocean fluking is definitely improving with more limits around the boat. He’s also catching cocktail blues, mackerel, sea bass, ling and the occasional whiting.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported good consistent bluefishing on Wednesday. The blues were 1- to 3-pounds and hitting jigs. Capt. Falcone has been putting the boat on the blues for the last several days with fish up to 5 pounds. There are also plenty of bonito mixed in with the blues. The Golden Eagle also reported a successful trip for pelagics this week with yellowfin tuna, bonito, and skipjacks caught.
Christiano Rizzo at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the bite for big bluefin has been really good inshore for anglers trolling ballyhoo or fishing RonZ soft baits. He also had good reports on yellowfin being caught in the Toms and Hudson canyons. Bluefishing is picking up offshore and bonito are mixed in with the schools of blues. Fluking is also getting better, he said, in terms of keepers but it’s still mostly shorts, both in the Manasquan River and on the beach.
Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach is also seeing better fluking offshore with more keepers getting into coolers. He’s also catching small blues, some ling and sea bass. Capt. Gregory has scheduled tuna trips for the end of the month and early September with a few spots still available on the Sept. 4 trip. Check the website for details.
Kyle Tanger at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said the Point Pleasant Canal is full of spot and mullet and bluefish between 2- and 15-pounds are eating well. There are also schoolie stripers in the canal hitting live spot and topwater plugs close to the walls pretty consistently. He also reported blackfish have been caught in the canal ahead of the opener by anglers using clams to catch spot. Fluking is so-so in the Mansaquan River with small fish making up the bulk of the action. He said fishing is better up north in the Navesink River. Inshore tuna fishing, he said, is on fire with RonZ plastics and trolled ballyhoo catching fish. Tanger said anglers better know the rules when it comes to bluefin as enforcement officers are on the water and at the marinas checking the catches. Inshore waters, he added, are giving up cobia, mahi-mahi and king mackerel as well.
Chris Parlow from Captain Bill’s Landing reported that tuna fishing continued to be good over the weekend. Bluefin have been coming in on a regular bases with Little Italy and inside the shipping lanes being popular spots. Tuna were also spotted busting the surface on the Axel Carlson Reef. Toms Canyon has also been producing good catches of yellowfin, bigeye and marlin. Good-size mahi-mahi have also shown up in the Mud Hole and there have been a few cobia caught as well. The inshore reef fluke fishing got better over the weekend with more and more limits being reported. The One Mile marker outside the inlet has been a very popular spot. And many fluke are still being caught along the Manasquan Inlet wall.
Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick reported that the Point Pleasant Canal is still producing plenty of stripers and blues. The bridges in the Manasquan River are also producing bass but it’s a late night or early morning bite.
Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said there are a lot of small blues popping up in the surf. He also said the wash there is loaded with spot and folks are using Sabiki rigs and catching four or five at a time. There were also kingfish reported in the surf a little farther to the north. The stripers are biting at night in Barnegat Bay near the bridges and under the lights while daylight brings snappers into the lagoons and at the docks.
Ray Kerico at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said he hated to see the south wind return just as the fishing was getting good. Folks are still getting keeper fluke in the wash, but, again, it’s a matter of getting through the shorts. There are blues biting off the beach as well. On a high note, he said the crabbing in the bay is just phenomenal and the blowfish are biting around the BI and BB buoys. Chumming is the way to go for those tasty fish.
Best Bets for the Weekend
There’s plenty to target this weekend — as long as the weather cooperates. The dreaded south wind is back in the forecast and there will be thunderstorms around. But the fish are here. There’s plenty of fluke action offshore, in the surf and in the rivers and bays. Just be patient, put the time in and there will keepers to take home.
Bluefish are biting for boaters and beach anglers with a mix of sizes hitting metal and mullet. Bonito are in the offshore mix as well. Bluefin tuna are in close being caught on soft plastics, jigs and on the troll. Anglers will be hoping for a shot at them.
And the crabbing is spectacular.