Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/28/07

VERRAZANO BRIDGE TO HIGHLANDS BRIDGE

There are striped bass and bluefish around, but the bass in particular have been erratic. One day they're hitting OK, the next they have lockjaw. Capt. Ron Santee, Fishermen, Atlantic Highlands, had better fishing Wednesday for bass than his trips earlier in the week, but noted the bass are still tough to catch because they're so busy gorging on rainfish. Jigging has produced some nice fish, especially a bluefish that "looked like he'd lived forever," Santee said. Margaret at Julian's Bait & Tackle, Atlantic Highlands, said there are also reports of some weakfish, and noted that every day is different — be it location of the fish, temperament or what have you. The shop has live eels in stock and Margaret said live eels have been reported as doing well at night of late. Allen D. Riley, South Plainfield, said the Sandy Hook surf has been up and down with the weather. Last week the north-northeast blow chilled the water and stirred the fish, but the return of warmer days shut it down just as quickly. Chris Salus at Crabby's Bait & Tackle, Keyport, said their crabbing contest last weekend resulted in more than 100 crabs entered, with a winner of 6 7/8 inches. Bottom fishing has been good, he said, with some of the biggest porgies he's seen in a while and a lot of sea bass, though you have to sort through a lot of shorts. Jen Rice, Middletown, stopped in with an 11.5-pound bluefish she caught on 10-pound test.

Karen E. Wall


SEA BRIGHT TO SHARK RIVER INLET

Monroe Boyce at Mac's Bait & Tackle, Neptune, said there are still enough porgies in the Shark River to result in some limit catches, as attested by a customer earlier this week. He was fishing in the late afternoon, Boyce said. Sea bass and bluefish are keeping anglers busy, and there are a few bonita around, but they're hit-or-miss. "You have to be Johnny-on-the-spot," Boyce said. There are still some fluke being caught, and those hooking them are releasing them, albeit with a lot of grumbling. Tuna fishing has been productive, too, Boyce said. John Christensen at Scott's Bait & Tackle, Bradley Beach, said there are some good-sized bluefish around and they're blitzing in the surf from time to time, with some striped bass mixed in. Paul Mazorlig at The Bait Bucket, Shark River Hills Marina, said Phil Miller, Phil Moore and Art Albano had a few nice bass trips last week, landing stripers up to 28 pounds at the Shrewsbury Rocks. They were eeling at night. Nick Garbarine, Neptune, checked in with a trio of bluefish to 8 pounds that he caught trolling. Mazorlig said the bait remains thick in the river. "I can see it busting from my window at the shop," he said. Weakfish reports have been erratic. Capt. Greg Markert, Golden Eagle, Belmar, reported a bright moon and flat seas slowed the tuna bite a bit but his customers still had more than 15 yellowfins to 78 pounds and some nice tilefish.

Karen E. Wall


BELMAR TO MANASQUAN INLET

Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. on the Jamaica said despite conditions that should have been ideal, the fishing on last Thursday's canyon tuna trip was a big disappointment. But on Friday the fish decided they were hungry again and they were hitting both bait and jigs, he said. There was a big swordfish hooked and lost 30 feet from the boat, and they loaded up on mahi-mahi. Several anglers went home with more than one tuna for their efforts. The Saturday trip yielded bigger yellowfin, but quite a few were lost. The highlight were the pair of white marlin that showed up and got hooked. Frank Pogue had one hit bait and Dae Park caught one on a Yo-Zuri jig. Bogan said his tuna trips will continue daily into November. The Paramount has been bluefishing on Saturdays, but is focusing on sea bass, ling and porgies most of the week. The sea bass action has been improving daily, with a lot of good catches and double-digit numbers of fish. There are some ling and a few blackfish being caught right now, too. Capt. Steve Brooman, Kelly Anne Charters, Point Pleasant, said he, his father, Paul Farrell, Dr. Dan Berzon, Chris Long and Matt Laurino put in an overnighter at the Lindenkohl Canyon and caught several yellowfin up to 100 pounds and some of the biggest longfin he has seen on the chunk. "The weather was great and the bite was steady enough to fill our boxes and head for the barn by 7 a.m.," he said.

Karen E. Wall


POINT PLEASANT TO SEASIDE HEIGHTS

Capt. Ken Keller of the Norma K in Point Pleasant Beach said he has been bottom fishing since Sept. 11 and it has continued to improve each day, with more and more keepers popping up. Anglers are still primarily finding sea bass with a few blackfish on each trip. "Blues are still very strong, though we have now moved to the Mud Dump, where there are plenty for each evening trip," Keller said. Steve Leone from Reef Life Bait & Tackle, Point Pleasant, said it was a good week for offshore fishing, especially canyon fishing. Mahi in the 10- to 15-pound range are being picked frequently due to the recent calm water conditions. According to Leone, anglers are catching around 10-20 per trip. Inshore fishing along the beach has been steady as bait; mullet and spearing are still very prevalent. Few are having success landing bluefish right now, but many anglers are catching 3- to 5-pound bonita mainly on light spinning tackle. In the bay people are still catching small weakfish and in the Point Pleasant Canal anglers are picking blackfish, porgies and triggerfish on sandworms and clams. Chris Clancy, Point Pleasant, reeled in an 83-pound yellowfin tuna on sardine chunks while fishing on the Hudson Canyon's East Wall, while Danny Burns, Point Pleasant, picked a 3.5-pound bonita on an Ava 007 while fishing off the beach in Bay Head. Capt. Willie Egerter of the Dauntless, Point Pleasant Beach, said sea bass and porgy fishing has been fairly decent recently with anglers catching around 10-30 fish per trip. "Sometimes we have a little bit of ling mixed in with some triggerfish as well," Egerter said. "In fact on some days the 4- to 5-pound triggerfish are winning the pool." The bait of choice has been mostly clams during the day and cut bait and bunker during the evening. The Dauntless will continue sailing seven days a week during the day and during the evening on Friday and Saturday night.

Justin Sauer


SEASIDE PARK TO ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK

John Pizzuto from the Dock Outfitters in Seaside Heights said that the surf fishing from the sand and jetties has really improved with the start of the mullet run. According to Pizzuto, bluefish are being caught consistently and a few keeper bass have also made its way to the scales. Ray Linn caught a 12-pound bass on clams while fishing in Ortley Beach and a few other anglers reported some old slot-sized bass on plugs just before daybreak. One of the regulars reported catching a good amount of bluefish including one 9.5-pounder, and Bill McKnown landed three 10- to 12-pound blues. "With the unfortunate early closure of fluke season boat fisherman have started to turn their attention to the inshore wrecks," Pizzuto said. "Sea bass, porgies, triggerfish and a few blackfish can be expected each time you set up on these local rough spots and wrecks." The bay is still alive with bait and peanut bunker are everywhere. Before heading off to school in the early morning, Pizzuto's two sons, Joe and Johnny, had success with weakfish up to 3 pounds while live lining peanuts. Large snappers and tailor blues are also abundant at this time, and bait, metal and trolled plugs are all producing fish. "We still have some rental boats in the water and folks are still getting a few late-season crabs for the table," Pizzuto said. John Bushell Jr. at Betty and Nick's Bait & Tackle, Seaside Park, said the blues returned later Tuesday afternoon with some really good action in Seaside Park. Peanut bunker showed up with bigger bluefish ripping through them according to a couple of locals. Grumpy from Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park said they had scattered reports of bluefish action on and off all day on Saturday. The middle of Island Beach State Park had some good morning action on Saturday but there didn't seem to be any area that was hot all day. "The wind and weather were just delightful over the weekend," Grumpy said. "On Sunday we didn't get as many blues swimming around as Saturday, but they were bigger." The bass seem to be getting interested in poppers and swimmers, while anglers fishing in the early morning have had success picking mostly shorts. Rich Bayna landed a 30-inch, 8-pound bluefish on a plug and Erich Brunner reeled in a 32-inch, 9.3-pound bluefish on mullet.

Justin Sauer


BARNEGAT INLET TO BRIGANTINE

While little in the way of area fishing can be termed "hot," there is a smattering of action on all fronts to make fishing trips worthwhile. First, the weakfish in the bay waters continue to make a strong showing. The same weakfish remain in the waters forming a triangle of Barnegat and Waretown on the mainland and Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island. In addition, there seems to be a stronger showing of weakies in the Great Bay area than there was at any time this summer. Capt. Kevin Delanoy of the Miss Margie took a break from his parties and fished solo in the bay for a half-day of weakfishing. He fished between the BB and BI buoys off Waretown and had plenty of action with both weakfish and blues. His prize catch of the day was an 8-pound fluke that inhaled his Fin-S jig. Capt. Jack Shea of Barnegat Bay Charters is fishing parties in the same areas and terms the weakfishing "good to excellent with fish in the 18- to 24-inch range being pretty common." He says he is catching fish with grass shrimp but that the weaks are feeding on peanut bunker and will be soon leaving the bay. Andy Tonnesen from Tony's Bait and Tackle in Manahawkin reports his customers are finding better luck on weakfish, especially the bigger fish, with either shedder crab or sandworms. Eleven-year-old Luke Lucas of Mallard Island in Manahawkin has been getting his shedders from Tonnesen and says he is doing very well around the bridge of the LBI Causeway both in the day and at night. Debbie from Captain Mike's Marina in Tuckerton reports a nice influx of weaks in Great Bay with most anglers catching their fill of keepers. One group of anglers fished from the sod banks over the weekend for 21 keepers weakfish and released all except two fish measuring 22 inches. There are still good numbers of bluefish in and out of the inlets at all times of the day. A few striped bass are also starting to show up. Ken Austin from Fisherman's Headquarters reports that Alex Field fished the Barnegat Light jetty all night. For two hours he worked a jointed black bomber for 12 bass, eight of which were keepers to 43 inches. He switched to live eels on the surface and picked up another 8 fish up to 48 inches. Otherwise on the beach, the bluefish of all sizes have been around with occasional blitzes as the fish chase bait right up on the beach. A few croakers have been caught as well as some pockets of kingfish more toward the south end of LBI. Boats fishing the ocean since the end of the fluke season have been finding decent action around the reefs on short sea bass and some nice blackfish. Delanoy had a party on the Garden State North Reef and they caught plenty of sea bass and some real nice porgies. Most of the sea bass were throwbacks, but he did manage a decent number of keepers by the end of the day. Andy Tonnesen reports some good catches of croakers around Wreck Inlet off Brigantine.

Jim Hutchinson Sr.


ATLANTIC CITY TO WILDWOOD

There are plenty of fish around the back bays and inlets thanks to the overabundance of mullet. The huge schools of bait are keeping the bluefish happy in the surf and a few nice stripers interested around the sod banks and inlet rock piles. A nice mixed bag of the usual fall species is available and providing constant action. The best methods of attack have been casting Gulps around the mullet and peanut bunker schools or chumming with grass shrimp. Anglers using live mullet are scoring with the bigger bass and trout along with all the 2- to 4-pound blues they want. Kingfish are around the beaches in good numbers but you may have to pick through the sand sharks. The best areas this week were around Sea Isle City, Brigantine and Atlantic City. Blues are chasing mullet all over the beaches and providing fast action if you happen to be in the area of attack. Boats that are out chunking in the canyons are finding plenty of yellowfin tuna, dolphin and a few swordfish. Anglers using fresh or live squid are reporting instant strikes. A few longfin are biting spreader bars being trolled at first light. There are plenty of fish around according to Ray over at Absecon Bay Sportsman. Capt. Dave Showell had the Dave Morris group out on Monday and they had a ball catching stripers, weakfish and blues. The anglers used live mullet to catch four throwback stripers and one 31-inch keeper. Casting Gulp baits around resulted in a nice catch of weakfish to 4 pounds. The crew also enjoyed catching all the bluefish they wanted. Kingfish were biting well along Brigantine Beach and out front of Atlantic City. The bigger bass are coming in from the Atlantic City Inlet during the evening hours. Anglers throwing Bombers are catching bass in the 34-inch class. A customer came in and bought a second bag of the Berkley Gulp eels and said he was catching bass up to 28 inches with them. Croakers are schooled up in 40 to 50 feet of water and taking anything you drop down. The hard part is keeping up with the schools. There are some keeper weakfish and blues mixed in with the croakers. There are big croakers and bass in the 26-inch class along the beaches at night. The surf anglers are catching mostly blues and kings during the day. The kingfish are biting well around the Sea Isle City beaches. Don Lee from Cherry Hill Department of Public Works had a ball over the weekend catching 17 kingfish and a bunch of sand sharks. The kings were taking bloods and clam. A few stripers are hanging around the sod banks around Ludlam Bay and the channels. High tides are seeing blues, bass and some weakfish chasing mullet up against the banks. Anglers are casting Gulps and bombers to the feeding fish. The beaches are holding blues and kings but the bigger bass have yet to show. Expect the bass to start moving in regularly in the coming weeks. The fall fishing smorgasbord is under way according to Cathy from Sterling Harbor Bait and Tackle in Wildwood. Croakers are taking squid and clam out front of the Ferris wheel in Wildwood. There are some keeper weakfish and small blues mixed in with them as well. The blues were thick off the beach at Hereford Inlet as they chased the schools of mullet around. A few small bass are being caught from around the sod banks in the back bays. Anglers are reporting good catches of yellowfin tuna while chunking in the canyons. Dolphin are plentiful in the chunk slicks and around the weedlines. Swordfish catches are common with a few nice fish in the 200-pound class reported. Shimano Butterfly jigs and fresh or live squid are accounting for a lot of the bigger tuna. Yellowfin in the 100-pound class were a common catch this week.

Robert Lee


CAPE MAY TO DELAWARE MEMORIAL BRIDGE

While we're still hearing of some croaker action in the mid- and upper portions of the bay, it is obvious from the reports that the action is a lot less predictable and the size of the fish is a fair bit smaller than what we were enjoying earlier in the season. With the bigger fish heading down the bay toward the ocean, fishermen looking for big hardheads in decent numbers have shifted their focus to the deeper water and heavy structure located around the mouth of the bay. The 60- to 95-foot water in the triangle between Five Buoy, 8B and the lighthouse on the southern end of the Outer Wall continues to be the best place in the bay to find jumbo croaker. There also have been reports of success on decent fish being caught at the Haystacks, the hole on the south end of the Inner Wall and up in the southeast corner of the Anchorage. Chunks of fresh-shucked chowder clams are far and away the most productive bait for big croaker, but they also will hit on bloodworms, frozen shedder crab and chicken that has been soaked in shedder oil. Weakfish action seems to be holding up in the mid- and lower bay, with many reports of trout in the 14- to 18-inch slot being caught by boaters fishing the waters around 14-Foot Lighthouse, the Maurice River's One, Two and Three buoys, Cross Ledge, in 10 to 15 feet of water off Thompson's Beach, the top of Broadkill Slough, Old Bare Shoal and the west side of the Hawknest. Live shedder crab is definitely the top choice for keeper trout. But, with fresh crab in increasingly short supply, the next best choice is frozen shedders, followed by live spot, bloodworms and shedder oil-marinated chicken strips. Fishermen trying to get an early start on the striped bass season are finding fair numbers of throwback linesiders around the lighthouses and in the bay's tributary rivers and creeks. Water temperatures are still a bit too warm for the bigger fish to show up in the bay, but we should start to see a lot more keepers by the middle of October. The top tactic right now for striper is live lining with spot or live finger mullet. Fishermen working the heavy structure of the lower bay's wrecks, reefs and rock piles are still reporting a mix of blackfish, blues, trout, sheepsheads, triggerfish, porgies, sharks and catch-and-release fluke. Anglers who fish the Delaware side of the bay will be able to keep their single-fish tog limit again when their blackfish season reopens Saturday. While bluefish are being caught up and down the bay, the action has been especially hot for anglers fishing the rips just off of Cape May with jigs tipped with plastic trailers. If you're fishing from shore, the beaches between Cape May Point and Villas are providing a mix of bluefish, trout, sharks, skates, croaker, kingfish and a few short stripers. Most of the action reported by Delaware River fishermen indicated good catches of channel catfish and white perch, with a few snapper blues still being caught between the Augustine Jetty and Reedy Point Jetty. The catfish are hitting cut bait, chicken liver and night crawlers, while most of the white perch are being caught on grass shrimp or bloodworms. Most of the blues are being caught by catfish anglers baiting with bunker, herring or mackerel.

Capt. Bob Jones