Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/5/07
BY JOHN GEISER
CORRESPONDENT
(PHOTO COURTESY JAY WHITE)
Matt White, 9, Nutley, caught this 32-inch striped bass on the beach in Spring Lake in June. He was using 12-pound test and the fish hit clams.
(PHOTO COURTESY DAVID MAHAJAN)
David Mahajan, Ocean Township, caught this 40-inch striped bass on Sept. 12 on the beach in Deal while fishing with Eric Heiss of Jackson. The bass hit fresh clams fished on a 7/0 circle hook.
Most fishermen — surf anglers and boaters — are looking for a drop in water temperature to really turn the fishery around.
The water temperature at Ambrose Tower was bouncing between 68 and 69 degrees Wednesday with the wind puffing out of the east. What is needed is a blast of cold air, a northwest shiftoff and a drop in water temperature of four or five degrees.
Capt. Sal Cursi, skipper of the charter boat Cathy Sea out of Sewaren, has been fishing Raritan Bay for more than 40 years, and he anticipates the change will occur in the next week to 10 days.
"We're already seeing more striped bass every day," he said. "But if we get that northwest shift, they should really move."
Cursi said his contacts on Long Island tell him the first wave of stripers has already left Montauk, and the second wave is moving in.
"I was out Monday, and there were bass on Romer Shoal, Flynn's Knoll, The Rip and around the point of the Hook," he said. "This is transition time."
Cursi said sandworms, live eels and clams are all accounting for stripers, and weakfish are hitting the worms as well.
The weakfish run is not over in Raritan and Sandy Hook bays, and fish can be caught anywhere from the back of the big bay to the mouth of the Shrewsbury River.
"One day we do really well with the weaks, and the next day we have to chase them," he said. "Everybody's going to Raritan Reach for the weaks, but the fish are following the bunker schools, and you may have to go all the way to the Bug Light to find them."
Cursi said his tactics include looking for the schools of bait first. Typically the weaks are under the baby bunkers, and, as luck would have it, there are a lot of fluke there as well.
"It's sickening how many fluke there are," he said. "They're nice fish, too. It's a shame the season is closed."
One of the surprising things about the weakfish now is their focus on sandworms. Cursi said the fish may be under shoals of bunkers, but they will take the worms first when they are dropped down to them.
"If you're fishing the back of the bay, you want a running tide to catch the weaks," he said. "You often read them on the machine, but they won't turn on until the tide starts to run."
Cursi said he has been leaning toward the slider rig for the bass this week, using a 36-inch leader or employing a three-way swivel with a dropper. He likes a 24-inch dropper and a 42-inch leader.
"With the live eels, you want the biggest black three-way swivel you can find," he said. "You won't get as much twist with the eels with the big three-way."
He reminds that diversification is the key in the fall. Anglers have to be ready with anything from clams and sandworms to bunkers and live-line rigs. Artificials also figure in the mix.
"You've got to be prepared when those fish move into Sandy Hook and Ambrose channels in a big way," he said. "With that mullet run under way and all of the bunkers, the Storm Shads are good.
"They're catching some on the Storm Shads under birds before dark this week," he said. "The ticket is to get the Storm right to the bottom, and reel slowly. You want to bounce it slowly off the bottom."
Sandy Hook surf anglers have been wondering about the lack of albacore this year, but Cursi said there has been a showing of bonito and some albacore from just off Sandy Hook out to the Mud Buoy.
"Albacore and bonito fishing is good off Breezy Point on the New York side," he said. "It's not consistent, though. One day it's good and the next day it's not. It's spooky."
Capt. Ron Santee Jr., Fishermen, Atlantic Highlands, has been fishing for the stripers for several weeks, and catches have been up and down.
"Saturday it was good along the beach on jigs," he said. "We had blues and a couple of bass. That's the way it's been, good days and bad days."
Monday he anchored on the clam beds, and fished clams with good results. Everyone on board had the limit by 11 a.m., and the top fish was an 18-pounder.
Alan Sica of T & A Tackle & Huntin', Middletown, reported that bluefish still dominate the fishery around Sandy Hook and in Raritan Bay.
"Among all of the bluefish being caught this week, stripers are starting to make their presence known," he said. "A 20-pounder was caught at Port Monmouth."
Sica said trollers might consider tangling with the school tuna in the upper end of the Mud Hole.
"We are getting reports of bluefins in the 70- to 80-pound range hitting on feathers just south of the B.A. Buoy," he said.
Phil Sciortino of the Tackle Box, Hazlet, said two of his customers — Dave and Jeremy Lilly of Hazlet — fished the canyon with Mike Saverese Sr. and Jr. on the Reel Smooth out of Sea Bright, and they had 12 yellowfin and longfin tuna up to 100 pounds.
Bob Matthews of the Fisherman's Den, Belmar, said the bottom boats out of Belmar Marine Basin are returning with mixed catches of fish.
"The Ocean Explorer had good sea bass fishing, and the average catch was 12 to 14 fish," he said. "Some good blackfish are being caught."
Capt. Chris Hueth, skipper of the Big Mohawk, Belmar, has been concentrating his efforts on the wrecks and rough bottom north of Shark River Inlet.
Catches have been dominated by sea bass and porgies, but there have been some trigger-
fish and blackfish mixed in.
Capt. Willie Egerter III, skipper of the Dauntless out of Broadway Basin, Point Pleasant Beach, has been concentrating on the sea bass and porgies along with some ling and blackfish.
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