Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
Fishing opportunities abound as we head into Memorial Day Weekend.
Sea bass season is off to an excellent start with loads of limit catches reported since last Saturday’s opener. Jigs and teasers are accounting for most of the fish but clams are getting a fair share.
Stripers are in the bays, rivers and surf hitting artificials and bait as jumbo and cocktails blues have joined the party
Fluke fishing has also been outstanding in the rivers and the surf is already yielding keepers on Gulp and bucktails. Add ling to the sea bass catches and plenty of freshwater action and anglers have plenty to look forward to as the unofficial start of summer arrives.
Rick Hebert of Tackle World in Rochelle Park said there are lots of options this weekend. Sea bass season is off to a hot start. He went out on Sunday and there were limits all around the boat on jigs, teasers and clams. Striped bass fishing is holding up well with some huge bass entering the mix with fish in the 40-pound range out front. They’re still biting in Raritan Bay along with bluefish. Trout fishing has been very good, Hebert said, and largemouth bass are getting more aggressive on their beds.
Capt. Joe Greco of Chasing Tails Charters out of Sayreville and Highlands said big stripers are now off Sandy Hook. Greco, who runs small party inshore trips, got into the big girls Tuesday afternoon trolling metal-lips. The biggest fish was 47½ inches and all were over 40 pounds. They also ran into some big blues that hit topwater plugs. Greco can be contacted through the Chasing Tails Facebook page.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the striper fishing is great with big fish hitting live bunker, flutter spoons, metal-lips and eels on planer boards. Sciortino and his son, Paddy, went Golden Hour fishing on Tuesday with eels on planer boards and caught several huge stripers. Sciortino also reported good fluking in Raritan Bay.
Steve at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said there have been good reports on fluke in Raritan Bay on the early-season spots and on Sandy Hook. He’s also had excellent reports on sea bass fishing. He said a lot of people have turned from striper to bottom fishing to put some meat on the table. Steve added that the beach bite for stripers in picking up.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said folks are catching a lot of bluefish off the Sandy Hook beaches, some reaching gator size. The blues are also in the local rivers and the stripers continue to bite in them as well. Pinto got a nice bass on an SP Minnow earlier this week. The shop, he said, has a full line of Happy Bait shad and paddletails and just received Quantum Strive and Benchmark spinning reels, the best bang for the buck, according to Pinto.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said the fluking is really picking up in the surf. One customer came into the shop after catching two 20-inchers in the suds. Big bass are being caught in Raritan Bay and out front trolling metal lips and live-lining bunker. Gleason said there are bluefin in the 65- to 72-inch range around and a few have been caught on NLBNs and other soft plastics.
Bluefish were crashing bunker pods off the Ocean Grove beach on Monday. I was there soaking clams for stripers but there weren’t any takers. A whale did go cruising by and that is always a great thing to see.
Johnny O. at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the fluke fishing in the Shark River is excellent right now with most rental boats getting their limits. Anglers using ¾- to 1-ounce jig heads and 4-inch Gulp swimming mullets are doing very well. There are bass being caught in the river, he said, at daylight and dusk. He said he party boats out of the marina, including the Big Mohawk, Capt. Cal II and Ocean Explorer, are all catching loads of sea bass with plenty of ling in the mix as well.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported very good sea bass fishing lately with Tuesday’s trip no exception. Jigs and teasers carried the day with limit catches and some anglers adding five to eight ling to their sea bass. Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar also reported very good sea bass fishing with ling in the mix.
Stanley S. at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the Manasquan and Shark rivers are loaded with fluke. The Manasquan River is also holding bluefish and some stripers. All reports on offshore sea bass fishing have been excellent, he said.
Capt. Tom Wolfe on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said it’s been a real good start to the sea bass season with loads of limits every trip. It’s been so good, Capt. Wolfe has added another sea bass trip from 4 to 8:30 p.m. every day.
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Brian at Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach said fluke fishing in the Manasquan River is really good. Blues are in the river as well with the Dog Beach a popular spot in the morning. He’s also had nothing but good reports on the sea bass fishing. While the action is just getting started, Brian said a few bluefin have been caught on ballyhoo and NLBNs.
Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said the fluke fishing in the Manasquan River has become a little hit or miss. There were loads of fish when the season opened but there’s been a lot of pressure, especially from party boats, and it’s taken its toll. Bluefish are in the river, he said, with the bigger ones farther in the back hitting topwater plugs. There are loads of cocktail blues by the Dog Beach that are fun on light tackle. He, too, reported excellent, sea bass fishing with jigs doing the job. Tangen said small jigs with a Z-Man Trout Trick as a teaser works very well. Tuna fishing is still slow, he said, but folks are out chasing them. He doesn’t believe there’s enough bait around as yet to get the bite going. He heard of the big stripers to the north and added that some jumbo stripers have also been caught down south off the beaches with fish up to 50 inches.
Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle in Brick said the surf fishing is good with anglers reporting stripers on clams. He added that bass fishing in Barnegat Bay remains good on soft plastics and top water plugs.
Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach reported good fishing there with bass, blues and fluke in the surf. Plugs and clams are working for the stripers and metal and mullet for the blues. The sea bass reports he’s been getting all indicate the sea bass fishing is phenomenal.
Scott Thomas at Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park said the fluking on the beach has been really good with Gulp and bucktails. A 4-pound fluke was weighed in at the shop earlier this week. Stripers are in the surf as well, hitting mostly clams, but a few have been taken on artificials. A 44-inch jumbo hit a metal lip swimmer earlier this week. Thomas also reported an unusual catch this week with a sheepshead hitting a bit of clam in the suds.
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Best Bets for the Weekend
There are lots of options for the Memorial Day Weekend with black sea bass at the top of the list. The action has been hot since opening day and the weather looks like it will cooperate at least for Saturday and Sunday. Jigs and teasers are outperforming bait at the moment.
Fluke fishing is also very good in the rivers and bays and it’s picking up in the surf. Gulp and bucktails are doing the trick.
Bass and blues are pretty much all over the place, in the rivers, bays and at the beach.