Northern New Jersey Fishing Report
Striper fishing is excellent—as long as you’re in a boat. Anglers afloat found plenty of bass from Raritan Bay down to Island Beach State Park this week. For surfcasters, it’s still a bit of a grind.
Folks in the boats are also getting the added thrill of watching giant bluefin blowing up in schools of bait. The tuna seem to be everywhere, and with the fishery closed, only the catch-and-release crowd are chasing them. Bait of all kinds is fueling the bite, with peanut, cupcake and adult bunker mixing in with sand eels, spearing and bay anchovies.
All this food, for the most part, has been staying just out of reach of beach anglers. Those finding success from the sand are putting in time and covering a lot of ground.
The other fall highlight has been blackfishing with loads of action on the reefs and wrecks, rockpiles, jetties and inlets. Come Sunday, the tog limit increases to five fish at 15 inches.
Gary Carr at Keyport Bait and Tackle said striped bass fishing has picked up in the bay with boaters getting them on the troll and by tossing shads. Shore anglers, he said, have been catching bass on plugs at night. Bunker chunks, worms, eels and clams have been producing for the people dunking bait. Blackfishing has been good on the sticky stuff, he added, and reminded everyone about the change to the tog limit coming Sunday.
Capt. Dan Mazza of Thin Blue Tide Charters out of Keyport said the fishing has been lights out this week. Massive amounts of bunker showed up and the stripers were feasting on them. He saw birds and fish boiling in every direction on his charters, and plenty of bass were caught. The Dave C. Charter got their limit of keepers.
Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said folks in the boats were catching bass in Raritan Bay and out front on Wednesday. He posted a video of thick clouds of birds on top of swirling stripers. Shads and diamond jigs were doing the damage.
Joe Julian at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands got a report that there are still a lot of big bass in the back of Raritan Bay. There are also plenty of fish out in the main part of the bay and over to the New York side. Julian said the togging is also very good on the rocky bottom out in the bay.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said finding stripers in the surf takes some work, but there’s been a pick with big bass on plugs, shads and diamond jigs. There’s a lot of bait off the beach, he said, and gannets were diving on what he believes were herring. Pinto said the shop just got a restocking of OG Bucktails.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said surfcasters are getting fish off the beach there on pencil poppers, diamond jigs, and livelining bunker. He said bluefin are popping up everywhere in the bait, and the boats catching and releasing are having a blast. Gleason also mentioned the solid togging, adding that a part-time employee from the shop landed a 16-pounder this week.
Bunker schools have been off the beaches in Asbury Park, Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach pretty much all week. The bass were blowing up in it on Monday, along with a tuna the size of a couch. It was the first time I’d seen a bluefin that close to the beach, and it was remarkable.
Johnny O. at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the striper boats out of the marina did very well on Monday. The Big Mohawk reported getting on stripers right out of the inlet. He also reported good blackfishing at the Shark River Inlet on green crabs and some winter flounder caught back at the L Street Pier.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle out of Belmar reported that Monday was an epic day of striper fishing, catching a load of bass on live bunker. It was non-stop action for most of the day, and Falcone said he’s starting to see more keeper fish in the mix. After taking Tuesday off due to high winds, the Golden Eagle was back on the bass on Wednesday.
Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said he found stripers up by Sandy Hook this week, with some keepers mixed in with the big bass. Jigs and shads were doing the job. He also reported catching a bunch of bluefish in the 3- to 5-pound range. Capt. Spinelli said he’ll be switching to blackfish after striper season, and there are some open dates on his calendar in December.
Stanley G. at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the striper fishing is insane from Monmouth County down to Island Beach State Park. He added that bluefin tuna are “beating the water white” all along the coast. Stanley said the Reel Seat has plenty of legal snag hooks in stock.
Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said bluefin are absolutely everywhere, from just off the beach to several miles out. He was out on Monday with a pal and caught and released a nice 50-inch tuna. Bass in the 40-inch range were mixed in with the tuna, and Tangen said he managed to catch two on his fly rod. He said beach anglers are having better luck in the afternoons as the bunker seem to move in later in the day. The pods are a mix of peanuts and cupcakes. Blackfishing is very good in the Point Pleasant Canal, he said, with lots of action and a few keepers. Offshore sea bass fishing has also been rewarding with the Voyager reporting boat limits on back-to-back trips.
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Brian Flanagan at Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach said the northeast corner of the Axel Carlson Reef was the place to be on Wednesday morning as the bass bite was going off big time. Big stripers have been around all week, he said, close to the 3-mile line, feeding on sand eels. He, too, said the togging has been very good at the canal and Manasquan Inlet. The only real problem this week was the wind, and it appears to be sticking around for a few days.
Capt. Tom Wolfe on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said there are a lot more stripers around and that means less time spent looking for them. He’s been catching them livelining and on shads, jigs and flutter spoons. Each day is a little different, he said, and there have been tons of tuna around. Once the five-fish tog season opens, he said the Norma K III will be sailing for blackfish every Tuesday and Thursday, leaving the dock at 6:30 a.m.
Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said the boats are having a field day with the stripers off the beach there. For the most part, the bait and the fish are staying just out of reach of surfcasters, but folks are getting an occasional shot at them. Several stripers over 40 inches were caught from the sand over the weekend. Kupper said registration is open for the Annual Surf Turkey Striper Tournament held over the Thanksgiving Weekend. Details are available on Charlie’s Facebook page.
Scott Thomas at Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park said he had better reports of stripers to the north than closer to home. There are more bluefin than bass off the beach there, he said. Surfcasters have been picking some nice bass off the beach on plugs and bunker chunks. Thomas said there have been a ton of big sundials caught off the sand, and togging from the inlet jetties remains excellent.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Stripers are the prime target and your chances for a successful outing improve if you’re on a boat.
More bass have moved into the area, feeding mainly on bunker and sand eels, and party, charter and private boats have been getting the best of action. The bait seems a bit reluctant to get within casting range as yet.
Surfcasters, however, who are putting the time and effort in, have been rewarded with some nice catches.
And keep blackfish in mind. The bite has been very good this fall in the usual spots and the limit goes to five fish this Sunday.