Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
After a bit of a false start last week, the fall run is on. The stripers arrived in force on Tuesday feeding on acres of sand eels.
The ocean off Long Branch and around the Shrewsbury Rocks teemed with life as Avas, shads and flutter spoons proved irresistible to monster bass. Epic was the word most used to describe the bite.
Few fish met the narrow slot requirement and all of the action was out of reach of surfcasters. But the boats had a blast. Party and private boats all reported plenty of fish caught and released. This body of fish arrived just in time for the annual Hi-Mar Striper Tournament taking place this weekend.
Bluefin fishing also picked up with the arrival of the sand eels. Tuna were mixed in with the bait and stripers and number of tuna were reported caught. A few were giants. The yellowfin bite is also hot in the Hudson Canyon.
Blackfishing continued strong this past week, while sea bass fishing remained decent, if not spectacular. But all anyone was really talking about was the stripers.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said word spread quickly that the stripers were at the Rocks on sand eels and people started coming in to load up on diamond jigs. Hebert said that he didn’t hear of any keeper fish as they were all too big. He didn’t have any reports of bass in Raritan Bay either. The fall trout stocking is taking place as scheduled, he said, despite very low water in the streams and rivers. The hatchery is getting crowded and has to move the fish to make room for future classes of trout.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the striper fishing was very good even before Tuesday’s eruption. Boaters were catching monster bass on shads, metal lips and jigs and trolling them on eels and Mojos. He also said there was a striper bite on peanut bunker in the back of Raritan Bay. Sciortino added that the bluefin bite is on and posted a photo of Capt. Danny Shields with the 115-inch giant he and his crew of the My Boy weighed in a few days ago in Highlands.
Joe Julian at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said he had a lot of reports of bass on sand eels out by the three-mile line. Julian said he also heard of bluefin right off Long Branch. Blackfishing, he added, has been very good around the Highlands Bridge and marina bulkheads.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the beach bite has been slow with just a few bass picked in the morning and at night. But he did say the stripers were just about 100 yards off the beach in Long Branch on Tuesday so he’s just hoping, like every other surfcaster, that they move in close. Pinto said they have some new Alan’s Plugs and ODM EVO rods in stock for when they do.
Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch was out chasing bluefin on Tuesday and said what he saw made him very happy. It was a classic fall scene with clouds of birds, stripers rolling on top and bluefin tuna blowing up on mix of sand eels and adult bunker. Some of the tuna he spotted were absolute giants, he said. Gleason said he had excellent reports on the yellowfin bite out in the Hudson Canyon. The shop, he said, still has a good selection of Back Bay Plugs available.
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Tim Rizzuto at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the party boats targeting bass out of the marina all did very well with stripers. The Big Mohawk got into them Tuesday and Wednesday and landed one of the few keepers reported.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar found epic striper fishing both Tuesday and Wednesday. He reported that all of the bass were beasts with everyone on board catching fish. Four-ounce Run Off jigs with either red or green tails did an excellent job of hooking the bass. Capt. Falcone will be sailing again on Friday for stripers.
Capt. Steven Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said they had a near boat limit of sea bass along with jumbo porgies on Tuesday’s charter. His customers have also been catching keeper blackfish. Over the weekend, he connected with stripers and blues feeding on sand eels. Now that they’re here, he plans on doing more striper fishing. There are some open dates on Capt. Spinelli’s calendar and he can be contacted through his website.
Dean Visone at The Reel Seat in Brielle said he’s been getting good reports on yellowfin at the Hudson Canyon and bluefin at the Atlantic Princess and Triple Wrecks. Chunking and jigs are doing the trick for the yellowfin and trolling ballyhoo and popping plugs are catching bluefin. He, too, had good reports on stripers on sand eels Monday and Tuesday off Monmouth County.
Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach reported that Tuesday’s fishing was very good with stripers up to 50 pounds. He said shads, jigs and flutter spoons were all working but shads seemed to have the edge. Wednesday was a steady pick of bass all day. Again, it was all big fish. He’ll be sailing for stripers at 7:30 a.m. every day.
Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said there’s a lot going on and it’s all good. An enormous number of sand eels schooled up on the Shrewsbury Rocks attracting big striped bass and loads of anglers. Whatever you choose to fish with, he said, it has to look like a sand eel. The bait has also brought big bluefin around that are popping up for random feeds from the Manasquan Ridge to Barnegat Ridge west of the shipping lanes. Tangen and his friends were out chasing bluefin on Monday and, while they spotted fish all day, it wasn’t until late in the afternoon they came tight on a fish. After a long battle, the crew landed an 86-incher. Yellowfin are biting in the Hudson, he added, on jigs and the chunk. Blackfishing is also very good, he said, at the Manasquan and Shark River inlets and in the Point Pleasant Canal.
Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Point Pleasant Beach said he’ll soon be starting his fall stripers season. He’s got a few open dates remaining and will be running open boat trips as well. Check his Facebook page for details.
Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle in Brick said the striper bite is on. Boaters heading north out of the Manasquan Inlet catching and releasing big bass. He also had good reports on the tuna bite with bluefin as close as two miles out the inlet.
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Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said there haven’t been any blitzes as yet, but surfcasters are getting a steady pick of bass on Avas, Deadly Dicks and other sand eel imitations. Most of the action is at dawn, he said. He also reported good blackfishing in the Point Pleasant Canal. Kupper said the sign-up list is growing his annual catch-and-release Surf Turkey Striped Bass Tournament taking place over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, Nov. 28 to Dec. 1.
Ray Kerico at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said folks are getting bass in the dark on SP Minnow, Hydro Minnows and needlefish. Whatever you choose, he stressed, teasers are a must. Bunker chunks have also accounted for some bass and there are still bluefish around taking bait and metal. Kerico said keeper tog are being caught from the inlet jetties and in the Point Pleasant Canal. It’s still a one-fish limit but they are a lot of fun to catch. Green crabs and sand bugs will do the job.
Best Bets for the Weekend
It’s striper time with monster bass feeding on sand eels and adult bunker off Monmouth County. At the moment, boats are getting all the action but you never know when the bass will head to the beach. Avas, shads, and flutter spoons are all working. Surfcasters are also picking fish on sand eel imitations at night and early in the morning. Remember to add a teaser.
Bluefin tuna are close and mixed in with all the bait and bass. Anglers are getting them on jigs, poppers, chunking and on the troll.
And blackfishing has been very good at the inlets and ocean jetties, under river bridges and in the Point Pleasant Canal.