An epic nor’easter walloped the Jersey Shore over the weekend and put all fishing on hold. In fact, the bite was dismal most of last week as fluke season went out with a whimper.
Fortunately, the ocean laid down pretty quickly, and the party boats were able to sail for sea bass on Tuesday. The exception was the Belmar fleet. The storm damaged the Route 71 drawbridge over the Shark River, and the boats are stuck at the marina until it can be opened. No timeline for reopening the bridge has been set, which is a real shame, because the sea bass are biting.
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There were also good early reports on striped bass, blues, bonito, and false albacore, but it’ll probably be another day or so before we know where things stand after the blow.
Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Paramus said the sea bass fishing was on fire 5 miles out of the Manasquan Inlet. He also had good reports of blues and false albacore at the Windmills.
Hebert said the storm left plenty of water in local streams and rivers. That will be a big help when fall trout stocking gets underway in about two weeks.
Gary Carr at Keyport Bait and Tackle said the storm kept a lot of anglers home, but sea bass fishing was good on Tuesday, and stripers are hitting eels in the ocean and in the rivers. He also heard about a striper bite in the back of Raritan Bay. Carr said the shop is open seven days a week and stocking live eels and green crabs.
Joe Julian Jr. at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands said the storm shut everything down, but he did hear of a quick bass blitz on Sandy Hook as the bad weather moved out. Julian’s has green crabs in stock.
Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the weather has kept things quiet there since the middle of last week. He heard of a few blues caught, but that’s been it. Pinto said the shop carries a full line of ODM surf rods and is now stocking Bill Hurley sand eels.
Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said a new body of stripers moved into Raritan Bay and offshore after the storm. He also went looking for tuna on Tuesday but found bonito, albies, and sea bass instead.
There were birds working off the beach in Ocean Grove on Wednesday, and I managed to pick a few tog off a local jetty. The blow seems to have scattered the rainfish (bay anchovies) that were around.
Sean T. at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said that, despite the rough conditions, striped bass were breaking in the Shark River late Sunday night and early Monday morning. It wasn’t clear what they were feeding on, but there’s been a lot of spearing and peanut bunker around.
As for when the Route 71 bridge will be repaired and opened so the party boats can sail, that’s anybody’s guess, he said. The Golden Eagle, Big Mohawk, and Capt. Cal II are just a few of the boats pinned inside the marina.
Capt. Steve Spinnelli of the Skylarker out of Belmar has no idea when he’ll be able to sail again because of the bridge, but he fished out of Barnegat on another boat Tuesday and found plenty of sea bass.
Sarah Cloos at The Reel Seat in Brielle said there wasn’t much to report besides sea bass on the reefs and a few stripers at the Manasquan Inlet.
Daniel Kacmarsky at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said the boats that ran offshore on Tuesday found mahi-mahi. He added that sea bass fishing was good on the local wrecks and reefs after the storm, and tog are biting green crabs in the Point Pleasant Canal and at the Manasquan Inlet.
Brian Flanagan at Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach said the storm made for a very quiet end to fluke season. He did say sea bass fishing has been good for the boats that got out Tuesday and Wednesday, and live spot and eels are catching stripers in the Point Pleasant Canal.
Capt. Tom Wolfe on the Norma-K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said Tuesday’s trip was drop-and-reel sea bass fishing. Wednesday wasn’t quite as good, but there were still plenty of limits and lots of sea bass caught.
Bait outfished jigs, and Wolfe said he was a bit surprised the nor’easter hadn’t chased the inshore fish. He found sea bass from close to the beach out to the Klondike and the Mud Hole, with the bigger fish, up to 17 inches, holding farther offshore. The Norma-K III sails every day at 7:30 a.m. for sea bass and Friday and Saturday nights for blues.
Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick said anglers who headed out Tuesday had a decent day on the local wrecks and reefs for sea bass. The Point Pleasant Canal is producing blackfish, bluefish, and stripers, he said, and live eels are the bait of choice for the bass.
Scott Thomas at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said it was pretty rough there during the storm, but the ocean bounced back quickly. He said a few blues were caught at the Barnegat Inlet.
Best Bets for the Weekend
It may take a few days for the fishing to sort itself out after the storm, but black sea bass look like the best bet this weekend. Boats that sailed Tuesday and Wednesday all reported good fishing on the wrecks and reefs.
Stripers are hitting live eels in the ocean and in the Point Pleasant Canal, and blackfish are in the canal and at the inlets, too.
It’s also time to check the beaches for stripers in the surf. Fall can be the most wonderful time of the year.