NJ Fishing Reports for December 2015 - www. StripersAndAnglers.com

[DarkSkies]

NJ Fishing Reports for December 2015 - www. StripersAndAnglers.com

Short and sweet......

1. Post your fishing reports here.....
2. Be as specific as ya want....but remember the limited access....If you don't enjoy fishing next to 40 friends at night in a 400 foot section of beach, think before ya post.....:idea:

3. Location -
Out front....
out back.....
or the county...

further details on the first page of any past S&A monthly fishing reports.

4. Moderation...
I rarely have time to moderate these threads.
If something needs to be addressed,and you are a contributing member.....please PM me or send an e-mail via the report post button.

** Thanks for your cooperation and for being such a great group! :thumbsup:





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[DarkSkies]

Fall Recap
December is usually about sand eels, some herring, bunker, and water temperatures. If there are any fish left to catch.....those components could play a big role.
Some observations.....

1. Montauk Fall Run - I think by now it's fair to say there wasn't much of a Fall run in Montauk. Those who want to learn more, should ask themselves "Why?"
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8039-Why-are-there-no-fish-in-Montauk-right-now

2. There was been an overall lack of a consistent pattern this Fall.
There was a common theme in the late 70's. as the biomass shrunk. There were huge concentrations in some areas, and noticeable lack of fish in many others.
The important thing to realize is that a majority of areas that have held fish in the past, now hold very few fish, or nothing.

As many here have said...
"Ya can't catch....
What ain't there...."

3. There has been a tremendous amount of bait in the back bays and rivers..... some claiming more than they have seen in years...... I would tend to agree with that.

4. There have been some fantastic days/nights of fishing for a few....and a lot of disappointments for many others. Do the parallels here, raise enough concern to make comparisons to conditions pre-Moratorium late 70's?
You be the judge of that....

5. We have lost some good fishermen this year....
My deepest condolences to all their friends and families.....
Holidays are a trying time for those who have lost loved ones...if there is someone whose day you can brighten up by giving them a call or reaching out...it might be a good idea to do that....the rewards are immeasurable...:)





Wishing all readers and their families best of luck for the rest of the year....:fishing:
And a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season.

[SharkHart]

Late report from Friday went out on the boat from MI and ran to the hook with not a sign of life, found a bird concentration and boats off the bridge got one and lost one and boom it just shut off right way didnt see many caught hung around most of the hook another 2.5 hours all dead switched to bottom and got some sea bass off shore to save the day. apparently they came back later in the surf kinda good, 2 days ago my friend did great on boat and then all dead for us Friday kind of season it is, i was staying over manasquan ran out to my A spot at 9pm to find it empty, was going to go out again at 5 am to the hook for beach and laying in bed i said screw this it wont repeat and I left at 11 to head back to PA for trout in the morning and from what i heard Hook was dead and i hammered the trout so thats the kinda season its been.

[lostatsea]

Fished moco last night
Stopped in a few spots. Bucktail and shad. Skunk followed me home.

[lostatsea]

Fished Atlantic county to try something different and fit my schedule for tonight, looked bleak first 4 spots no fish but saw decent amount of small bait then the 5 th stop no bait but four bass to 27"

A friend did well on the boat weds, he texted me this pic, this is the season of everything changes in a day but there seems to been two bodies out there this one was in close, he said the hook was deserted and birds were dead in wash for hours 19870

lol Birds at the surfline. Even they are having trouble finding the blitzes.

[basshunter]

Thanks for the reports guys. Decided to fish OC for 4 hours this morning. Picked up three short stripers on a diamond jig a little bit after sunrise. very nice looking water too.

[finchaser]

Caught a 22" short and 31 inch 13# bass both on a jig head shad tail combination

[cowherder]

Nice going guys better than I did. no moco last night for 5 straight hours without a tap. Went to quick check got some coffee.
Went back and hit it again for 2 hours and got one short on a bucktail and pork. Awesome and epic action. Woo hoo.

[fishinmission78]

Fished 3 times over the weekend. Skunked. Last night above the park got a few bass to 24" on stubby needle. fwiw some buddies are getting some nicer stripers at night in my area on bunker heads.

[baitstealer]

North moco from 4-8a. Nada for me. Saw some birds and bait but too far out to reach.

[finchaser]

3-6 pm 2 shorts on jig head and rubber where the water goes in and out

[storminsteve]

Fished moco last night. Should say I attempted to fish. Got out there the water was dirty and wind was a problem. Gave it a few casts for about 15 mins. Then went to the back and worked a rubber shad for a while. Totally blanked.

[baitstealer]

I hope this rain and weather will bring some fish to the beach. Can't get much worse! my .02. Good luck guys will try right after the rain may be soaking some clams.

[surferman]

Late report from CM over the weekend. Out 2x, only skates and doggies. Heard of one or two nice ones, not weighed in. For the most part the stripers are not here yet. It's got to happen soon.

[finchaser]

Fished 2 hours nada yesterdays bait and fish no where to be found hope this storm doesn't end 2015

This a picture in the inlet of 5 to 7 foot rollers going over inlet wall

[seamonkey]

Some big swell in that photo. Where are all the guys that say the noreaster is awesome for big stripers. You would think they would be lining the inlet walls waiting for the cows lol.

[plugcrazy]

OC in the back last nite 7-9pm incoming tide. Water was clouded up. Tossed shads and bucktail. No fish.

[VSdreams]

Fished 2 hours nada yesterdays bait and fish no where to be found hope this storm doesn't end 2015

This a picture in the inlet of 5 to 7 foot rollers going over inlet wall

Stay at home weather for sure.

[storminsteve]

Nice going guys better than I did. no moco last night for 5 straight hours without a tap. Went to quick check got some coffee.
Went back and hit it again for 2 hours and got one short on a bucktail and pork. Awesome and epic action. Woo hoo.

Hey at least you tried.I think epic is the most overused word - it's ridiculous. What's worse is the turd burglars who post a few words and say "I had epic fishing last night!" and no other details. why even bother posting if that's all you're going to say?

[buckethead]

Moco for the last two days in the rain. Skunk both days. Today is a little better conditions wise. yesterday I only made a few cast and quit because of the wind. Very foggy out. Be careful if you go out there fishing, folks

[fishinmission78]

Nice try bucket. You should maybe try a little more south. I seen all the effort you put in and you keep coming back even when its the dead sea. I finally did better today. Switched my time up and fished after work. Pretty decent pick near the park for about an hour and 1/2. Got a few short stripers, and a larger bluefish about 8 1/2 lbs. ava 37 and shads. Missed a few more. Fish were there but not visible. You had to just keep casting and moving.

[Blazin420]

Haven't been out at all on the sand...Even tho its slow up here in Moco I'm still jealous of u guys getting out...Seems the bite in OC is still giving up some fish..I may try to sneak away 1 afternoon and try down S more..Congrats to the few catching and thanks for the reports..At least I can read about some fish being caught...I did get out on a blackfish trip with JBARBOSA and few of our other fishing buds..wasn't an EPIC (Lol I hate that term also!!)trip but we put some keepers on the deck and i managed my PB tog (some how with my limited experience)of about 8lbs...It was a great mainly cause I fished with some great guys!! The banter was priceless!!! Tight lines fellas

[buckethead]

Fished this morning pre-dawn in moco again. Conditions improved greatly. The big swell is gone and it's pretty flat past the outer bars. Nice crisp morning, not too cold with a steady wind from the NW should make it even better toward the weekend. Managed 2 fat shorts. Bucktail and white grub. Nice to feel something after all poor action lately.

fishinmission thanks for the offer but I am kind of comfortable with the area I fish. For a while I moved all over as they migrated. Settled into a comfortable routine after I got tired of chasing them. I fish now for the exercise as well as the catching. The catching may be limited for me but it's close to home and I can go more often.
blazin an 8lb blackfish is a very nice fish, congratulations. Sounds like it was a great trip among friends.

[surferman]

The better it is for surfers the worse it is for surf fishermen. Checked the surfchex cams this am the swell is almost non existent. congrats on the fish guys and blazing420 conrats on your pb tog. 8 lbs is a few good meals!

[cowherder]

Thanks for the reports and surf quality gents. At least some encouraging news on fish-ability. Now whether the fish cooperate is another story lol. Will prob get out there this weekend. Good luck and hoping for some tight lines.

[cowherder]

i managed my PB tog (some how with my limited experience)of about 8lbs...It was a great mainly cause I fished with some great guys!! The banter was priceless!!! Tight lines fellas

Congrats on that one. White or green crabs?

[hookset]

Good to read something encouraging. 1 or 2 is better than none. Fished moco last nite in the rain. Skunk. Missed one hit on rubber, did not come back for a second shot.

[storminsteve]

Thanks for updates and reports at least there is some type of life. I THOUGHT about going fishing last night in the middle of the night. It was raining and sports channel and a few brewskis seemed like the better option. blazing good work on the blackfish.

[Blazin420]

Thanks fellas!! I was surprised cause I'm a newbie to the tog game...And now I'm HOOKED haha can't wait to get back out there..Fun fishing for sure..cowherder it was on a white legger..They seemed to be the way to go that day...I'll try to get a pic up if I can figure out how to do it from my phone..

[porgy75]

..Seems the bite in OC is still giving up some fish..I may try to sneak away 1 afternoon and try down S more.

I had the same idea as you and left went down early today to fish ocean county. Fished near the MI. Figured it would be perfect but you know what they say about counting chickens before they hatch. From 3-5:30 I casted metals, shads, and some rattle traps. Then when it got close to dark I casted a long range popper. Total blank. I guess you have to be right on the spot where these fish are blitzing. Guys near me didn't catch anything either. We didn't see a lot of fishermen. Maybe that was evidence we were in the wrong "spot". bucket head congrats on catching something always enjoy your persistence and surf conditions reports.

[finchaser]

Lots of peanuts and sea herring in the surf no signs of bass:skunk:

[cowherder]

Same for me. Fished 8-10 last night in moco. Saw some fish jumping and breaking water. Turned out they were hickory shad. Got a few on the teasers. No bass.

[plugcrazy]

I remember late season when the herring were around there was usually a chance at some bigger stripers. Guess that's ancient history as well. Still some good weather out there, gents. At least we can try. Worked an inlet in atlantic county this morning. Didn't see a lot of bait in close. Skunk as well. Ocean was very flat. Will try again this weekend. Some stripers and blues came in to the beach in the last 2 days so it keeps hope alive.

[buckethead]

Got up late this am and to the beach close to low tide around sunrise. Probably a little too late because I could not buy a bite. As mentioned flat seas and not much in terms of life.

[SharkHart]

Are those long island fish finally here? Watch tomorrow be dead. Ha. Ill be in ortley to park tomorrow. If anyone else around there lemme know. Say hey

[storminsteve]

Don't know. I do know murphys law says by the time I get there they will be saying "you should have been here yesterday we crushed em!" Good luck I might try further south too I'm sick of that skunky smell in moco.

[bababooey]

A lot of times the stripers seem to be 1-3 miles off the beach fellas. Calm seas today. A boat or kayak would get you to them. Just saying.:wheeeee:

[SharkHart]

I would. Facebook is blowing up with photos its where the fish are.

[fishinmission78]

I missed it today. Zigged where I should have zagged. Got an hour in at the beach before work and only one short on a popper. Then during the day they are all hitting it. Tons of fish caught. Today was THE day to take off work. Oh well you can't win them all.

[jsarosi]

Took a boat trip today and got into stripers and blues down in oco lost of bird life on them. Hooked up with 5 stripers, mainly schoolies 24" to 30"and 3 big blues in the teens. Most action on white 7" shads, silver and gold Krocs. Some of the largest fish on the boat was 24lb to 28lb.

[cowherder]

Took a boat trip today and got into stripers and blues down in oco lost of bird life on them. Hooked up with 5 stripers, mainly schoolies 24" to 30"and 3 big blues in the teens. Most action on white 7" shads, silver and gold Krocs. Some of the largest fish on the boat was 24lb to 28lb.

Nice going! Stripers and big blues. I so wish there were some of them left up in nomoco but they must be in oco because there's more bait in that area. Congrats.

[cowherder]

jsarosi, How far off the beach were you guys?

[jsarosi]

jsarosi, How far off the beach were you guys?

A couple of drifts were maybe about a few hundred yards of the beach. Then later in the morning to the afternoon drifting .5 mile to 1.5 miles off.
It was a good day.

[cowherder]

Thanks for the info. Was talking to one of my fishing buddies that was on a boat down that way and he said he did about as good as you did. He also said that some of the blues were spitting up tinker mackerel? Did you see that too?

[fishrich]

The OFFC managed to get to OC around noon and get on the peanut bunker train and get rid of the three peat skunk. All fish, except a couple blues, were bass 24" to 30". Followed the birds and fish thru a few towns. Sometimes the fish were close, sometimes the fish were only caught on a long cast. The action slowed down around 4 pm, so we picked a spot to plug before it got dark. We saw a few birds but could not walk fast enough to catch up to them, so we just stopped in a cut and plugged and started hooking up. We had good action till about 5:30 pm.

[fishinmission78]

Nice going gents. Heard of a lot of action today that I missed out on while at work. Have followed your reports over the years and have been reading of some strike outs lately. Good news that you found em congrats.

[clamchucker]

Haven't been able to go fishing in a while. Fished island beach this morning. Had to move around a bit but managed an even dozen stripers and a few nice big blues. Bucktails at first then poppers around sunrise. The dropping tide seems to be better from the incoming from what I am hearing from my friends. Very crowded today, be safe folks.
OFFC congratulations on the catches.

[lostatsea]

Great going looks like some of you guys really got into em! I missed it at every place I stopped at today. Either they told me it was great yesterday or great this morning. I must of made 10 stops just to cast and try. Some where other guys were casting other places where the water looked fishy. Nothing for me. I kept hearing about sandeels from guys but did not see any. Seems to be a lot of peanut bunker blitzes. I missed every single one of them. May try tomorrow. It was a beautiful day to fish today.

[finchaser]

Did the boat thing released 26 cookie cutter bass to 29" all on pencil poppers also released 6 huge bluefish. No signs of any type of life until Lavallette going down and coming back life ended in Lavallette.

Largest concentration of fish was Seaside to bathing beach Island beach lots of herring, tons of peanuts and some butterfish. Fish were chasing peanuts at a fast pace south.

Hopefully this coming weeks Northeaster will make the fat lady sing.

[fishinmission78]

Fished yesterday got a few on shads right at sunset. Spent a lot of time chasing. Miles and miles of guys out there. Good for the seaside economy.

[basshunter]

Finally broke the skunk! Was out for the last few days and no catches not much to report. Got to oc yesterday afternoon looked for where the most cars and trucks were parked. Got to the beach and there were so many standing there I had to walk half a mile before I could find a spot. Picked up 4 short striped ones on white Storm Shad. Thank you fish Gods!

[basshunter]

Hopefully this coming weeks Northeaster will make the fat lady sing.

Not meaning any disrespect but why would that be on your wish list?

[jigfreak]

Dude have you been living in a glass bubble? This is probably the last hurrah for the season. There are no more fish "coming down from Montauk". There are no more stripers left up in the Raritan Bay. All those guys are fishing for blackfish. There are hardly any stripers left in moco. All the action for the last week has been LBI to Squan. When you can see the Belmar boats off the beach in Seaside, you know it is a huge dead ocean out there. There's hardly any fish left to catch. Last week they boats were nailing 30lbers and bragging of full boat limits. Now the reports talk of fish in inches not pounds.
Sorry to be so blunt but only someone living in an isolated box would not know this. Maybe you don't fish a lot so maybe you just don't know. This is it, dude. The whole shebang. The whole shooting match. The only thing behind this will probably be the tiny runts 12-16". The death rats at the end of the season.

[jigfreak]

Time for a fishing report. Fished a popular county, the only one with decent fish in it, last night in the dark. Dropping tide, 6 hours, into part of the incoming. Tossed mag darters and m/l swimmers. Managed 5 bass, only one was a keeper, about 15#. Released. Worked for every one of em.

[baitstealer]

Fished ocean county in the AM. Sunrise got a blue and short striper about 24". Fun bend in the rod. Didn't see anyone catch mega numbers of stripers. I must have picked the wrong spot. Still it looked promising with the peanut bunker in the water. May try later on hoping it will be better.

[surferman]

Sorry to be so blunt but only someone living in an isolated box would not know this. Maybe you don't fish a lot so maybe you just don't know. This is it, dude. The whole shebang. The whole shooting match. The only thing behind this will probably be the tiny runts 12-16". The death rats at the end of the season.

I have to agree with you on this point. I have been fishing cape may for the last 4 weeks, trying different tides. They are definitely not here yet. We did have some resident fish in the back and have been having a little luck with them in the meantime. So if you are saying there are no fish further up north, and that is what you guys are seeing I hope there are some left for us. From what I am reading everything is in ocean county.

Also boat reports say the boat guys are crushing them. There must be a lot of fish being taken out of the gene pool with this high localized concentration of bass.
I fished this morning CM and got the skunk. I am now thinking I should have made the drive up but its a 75 mile trek for me further north.

[clamchucker]

All the action for the last week has been LBI to Squan. When you can see the Belmar boats off the beach in Seaside, you know it is a huge dead ocean out there. There's hardly any fish left to catch. Last week they boats were nailing 30lbers and bragging of full boat limits. Now the reports talk of fish in inches not pounds.



This is true I can confirm this. And before thankgiving Island Beach was very slow. My friends who are retired and my age fish every day. The bite at Island beach state park has been terrible for most of November. Not worth coming down. Now there are a lot of bass and blues because of the different varieties of bait. The sizes have decreased noticably in the last 10 days. As was said if you want to catch you really should not make any excuses and make time to fish now. There is no telling how long this will last. It reminds me so much of conditions before in the late 1970's with all the hype and many dead areas. Don't want to bore you with an old man reminiscing so that's all I will say this time.

[clamchucker]

Also wanted to say that I got up early today and got a few bass this morning at first light on a SS bottle plug. They are still catching sporadically and it may get better this afternoon. I don't like that crowded type of fishing and from what I saw the park will be a madhouse today. This is the time when mistakes are made like people hooking each other because they are too close. Crossed lines also. Be careful folks.

Finchaser congratulations on your catching it seems like the fish may be here for a spell until the bait moves. A boat, or weekday fishing might be the best way to catch now to avoid the crowds.

[SharkHart]

I got 3 yesterday, wished i left after the first shot, only seen them come in briefly 2 more times into spot i was boxed out, few spots did slightly better. Then looked all over and they never came in all day with birds in distance many times. at least 2 fish were the better sized ones 28-29" last min decision but WAS gonna start where i found these, heard a few guys that knew what they are doing had closer to 10 to 12 fish 19892

[finchaser]

Originally Posted by finchaser http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?p=90147#post90147) Hopefully this coming weeks Northeaster will make the fat lady sing.

Posted by Basshunter Not meaning any disrespect but why would that be on your wish list?

Was suppose to read not make that's what lack of sleep does thanks for catching that:HappyWave:

[fishrich]

Three of us fished OC early afternoon till dark. Still a lot of of peanuts around, but not all the pods had fish in them. Some of the pods that had fish also had a lot of people fishing them. Stayed away from the mobs and each of us caught some fish. All fish were shorts. All action seemed to die a half hour before it got dark.

[J Barbosa]

Got the yak out on Saturday and finished with 17 December Death Rat bass and 2 good sized bluefish. Would have had much more if I wasn't surrounded by boaters who ran over the schools of fish so often.

Got out for some blackfish yesterday. Ended up with 3 keepers to finish off a slow day. Did read large schools of Mackerel on the fish finder.


I like the interesting bait mix we have this fall.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/763/23290826890_5a2967955e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Bu8zoS)

[VSdreams]

Joined the madness at island beach yesterday. For 7 hours it seemed like I spend more chasing than fishing. As was said fish would pop up, one or two caught. Then move out. Boat and kayaks seemed to be catching here and there. At the end of the day I went to the spot that was most crowded. Caught 2 stripers on popper before sunset. It was a giant group lines up and down the surf. At that time some were catching but the guys I talked to said friday was better. Tight lines guys and hope these fish stick around.

[VSdreams]

Got the yak out on Saturday and finished with 17 December Death Rat bass and 2 good sized bluefish. Would have had much more if I wasn't surrounded by boaters who ran over the schools of fish so often.

Got out for some blackfish yesterday. Ended up with 3 keepers to finish off a slow day. Did read large schools of Mackerel on the fish finder.


I like the interesting bait mix we have this fall.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/763/23290826890_5a2967955e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Bu8zoS)

Nice. How big were the bluefish? I didn't see any caught where I ended up at the end of the day. All bass. but all mostly 24" or smaller as well.

[fishinmission78]

Fished the park this morning before work. Only had a limited time to fish. Nothing for me. Might try again this afternoon. It may be going back to the run and gun thing.

[DarkSkies]

Glad to see some of you out there working hard and finding some fish. It's not easy to drop everything and chase fish. It's a lot more sane to target them for a nite bite that includes looking at past logs, and making adjustments when needed. Unfortunately, the peanut bunker and herring gathering up does not always translate to a night bite. As some here have said.......the beginning and end of day bites are your best bet if your time is limited. That tends to concentrate the anglers, and key locations have been getting very crowded.

I have no patience for that type of fishing.......
I abandoned it long ago for the night bite.

What do you do when there is no substantial night bite? :huh:
You adapt, improvise, suck it up, and try to put up with crowds or the rudeness. As has been said more than once, it would be nice if these fish were to stay......... but with water temps dropping and many of the bigger bass already further South of us, there's no telling how long we have left.

Blink and you might miss it. :learn:
congrats to those getting out and putting in their time.
Good luck everyone. :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

Did the boat thing 2 of us had 30 bass to 31" all on pencils and shad had to go almost to Barnegat inlet to get them today was dead from Manasquan inlet to the piers and absolutely no life from Barnegat inlet back to Manasquan inlet

Got a text from a friend got home swapped out boat stuff for surf stuff went to Southern Monmouth county for tail end of a few hugh blues passing also on poppers

[cowherder]

Thanks for the reports guys. We must bar the door on the fat lady and make it so small that she can't get her fat A S S through there!

[hookedonbass]

It may be going back to the run and gun thing.

Still Getting Fish!
Tuesday, December, 8, 2015 at 3:28AM The action has slowed somewhat but there seems to plenty of Bass and Blues cruising the beaches and I suspect there are still more heading this way. We had multiple reports from most of the local beaches at various times of the day yesterday, all with the common theme of small fast moving schools, some heading north, others heading south? To do well, you did have to be in the right place at the right time and ready to chase the schools.


Have to hand it to you for always being ahead of the curve on the advice you give here man. You said this yesterday and grumpys said the same thing this morning. Fished oc last night and got the skunk. It's tough for me to get out there in the day time other than the weekends. Will try to get out earlier today if I can. Thanks again.

[plugcrazy]

I blanked out terribly yesterday. Got to OC early afternoon. Fished 4 spots that looked promising. Nothing for me or the other guys I ran into. Lots of you should have been here yesterdays, you should have been here friday. Well I was there yesterday which is now today. And yesterday I didn't catch. Tight lines guys. Hope there are some more out there.

[surferman]

Some stripers are starting to show up in atlantic and cape may county. Will try to get some fishing time in this week.

[buckethead]

Waited till the afternoon to fish monday. Moco. Finally some worthwhile action. Picked up a short bass and 3 nice blues. This morning another 5 short bass in the dark. All on bucktail and pork.

[porgy75]

Blues are back in the surf, kewl!

[finchaser]

Fished the boat Manasquan to Harvey cedars and back absolutely no birds ,fish or bait the Manasquan and Belmar head boats stopped at Barnegat inlet. Heard of really small school off sea bright

GAMBLER Striper Report Tues The action has been off for the last couple days. Took the long ride down the beach and saw bait readings but not much in it. Rode back North later in the day and we saw some striper readings and caught a couple but they didn't bite right.

Heard a few reports of birds working a different area not too far from home, so we'll try that tomorrow.

Weather looks great
__________________
Captain Bob Bogan
Brand New 90 Foot Party Boat Gambler
Sailing Daily From Point Pleasant Beach, NJ
http://www.gamblerfishing.net (http://www.gamblerfishing.net/)
captbogan@aol.com (captbogan@aol.com)

[basshunter]

They reached atlantic county. Had to work today and my friends uncle got some on the beach there. Pencil poppers. Bass and blues.

[cowherder]

Moco from 4-6 last night, managed one short on bucktail and white grub. Let's all do our best to keep the fat lady away from the door. It's December and we still have 50 degree days hoo rah!

[plugcrazy]

They reached atlantic county. Had to work today and my friends uncle got some on the beach there. Pencil poppers. Bass and blues.

YES! Sucked wind when I went to ibsp. Had such positive hopes but I missed them everywhere I went. Picked a few yesterday in at co. Tossed poppers and it was game on. Massive schools of peanuts. All shorts but it was fun. Top of the incoming.

[VSdreams]

Took a ride to moco, fished 4-5pm. Not much signs of life in close. Could see some birds way out but too far to cast. Picked up 2 fat shorts on storm shad right at the end before it got fully dark.

[VSdreams]

Let's all do our best to keep the fat lady away from the door. It's December and we still have 50 degree days hoo rah!

Yeah man the higher temps are a plus! I can't remember the last time it was this warm in dec. fish on brothers!

[storminsteve]

Fished before dawn today. One sub legal bass in the dark, one nice blue about 9lbs at first light. Poppers. Mo Co.

[porgy75]

Good to see you guys narrowly avoiding the skunk. At least it is a few fish. It isn't over yet! I was in somoco today looking for stripes or blues. Anything like that would make me happy. I avoided the skunk too but it was only one hickory shad. I was casting a sp with a teaser. Shad hit the teaser. Right at sunup there was a little bit of activity with bait and some action on the surface. The baitfish seemed small and swirls seemed larger. I really thought it might be stripers. When the shad hit the teaser I knew it was pure shad. At least it was something, and the water looked nice. Good luck gents and thanks for the reports. Was going to try near island beach but with some of you guys finding fish in moco and catching decided to try there.

[plugcrazy]

OC from 5-7:30 today. Right around high tide. A few birds working waaaaaaaay off. Nothing for me.

[lostatsea]

Fished the sunrise. It was spectacular. Catching, not so much. Got the skunk. mocco

[fishrich]

Three of us plugged most of the incoming tide in OC. Only got two shorts between us right before dark to avoid the skunk. Very large swell rolling in with the tide today, but water stayed pretty clean.

[fishinmission78]

IBSP on the incoming tide, first light. One dink bass on a ava. Didn't see much other caught but could only fish a short while. I would say that the main body of fish that was here has moved way south. Have to run and gun to find whats left. Maybe one or two bigger ones if you fish bunker heads at night. Just my .02

[cowherder]

Thanks for the heads up about island beach. If I'm going to get skunked I might as well fish in moco for the same lack of fish lol. Fished moco this morning. As someone else mentioned great to be on the beach out there, but no fish. Lots of fog on the beach in the am. It is a good feeling to be fishing in December in 55 degree weather so I'll take it and hope for some late season stragglers.

[finchaser]

Friday did the boat thing Long Branch to the highlands bridge about a mile off a bass here and there almost non existent lots of blues all 12 to 18 pounds non stop for hours on shads and metal they were spitting up sea herring and an occasional Boston mackerel water was 52 degrees

Trying south today to get away from blues most likely what the remaining bass did report back later

[storminsteve]

Fished nomoco and moco this morning. Went to 4 different spots didn't see or hear of any fish caught.

[finchaser]

Fished Manasquan inlet to Barnegat inlet didn't see a bird or any fish ran into a school of bunker 2 miles long swimming along unmolested off sea side park

Will head back north tomorrow for our last trip as they got bass and blues 1 to 2 miles off sea bright, blues were Hugh bass were all bonus fish

[fishinmission78]

Fished the park this morning incoming tide 5-7. Skunkville for me. One bump on a shad.

[jigfreak]

Moco last night one fat short on SP. Slim pickings. Fat lady warming up.

[hookedonbass]

Fished nomoco this morning. Very very slow. Nothing for me or the other guys where I fished. Some small bait and what might have been a few hickory shad on the surface, picking sporadically. No stripers or blues or any action. Guys who I talked to who fish that spot regularly said it has not been that great lately.

[finchaser]

Fished the boat Manasquan to sea bright all big blues up north nothing south of Monmouth beach

They also found the bunker off Lavallette and are killing those pesky things.

We're pulling the boat tomorrow :(

IMO she is about to sing

[cowherder]

Wow lots of miles you are putting in on the water lately. Fished moco last night incoming tide. Very fishy looking water but didn't seem like many fish were interested. Got one small pajama fish right before dark tossing bucktail and rubber.

[buckethead]

Have not been that successful my last 3 trips out there. Managed one bass last night before dark, buck and grub. Back to the skunk this morning.

[finchaser]

Had numerous blues today 9 to 14# on poppers from beach 1 to 3 Pm

[jigfreak]

We're pulling the boat tomorrow :(

IMO she is about to sing


Had numerous blues today 9 to 14# on poppers from beach 1 to 3 Pm

Well she's not singing yet! Nicely done thanks for the report. Will try to get out this afternoon.

[VSdreams]

Awesome big blues in december hope they stick around till the weekend.

[cowherder]

Nice job on the bluefish fc. Long casts or were they in close?

[fishinmission78]

Fished oc in the am. One short striper on polaris popper. I later on found out I left too early. Fish came in for a half sec.

[fishrich]

Three of us plugged OC noon till dark. Avoided the skunk with a few shorts and a bluefish. Was able to get out on the sandbars late in the day but did not even get a hit. Water was stained from the hard west wind.

[lostatsea]

Nice going gents keep up the good work.
fished Mocco this morning and skunked out. did see a lot of birds way far out though.

[jigfreak]

Had a half day of work today so decided to move in and out of some beach territory in search of fish. Not that successful with the stripes only managed 2. Did pick up a mess of angry blues chasing after herring. Fun afternoon. Blues to 15lbs. Polaris poppers got most of em.

[cowherder]

Awesome news thanks for the report.

[buckethead]

Fished my usual area this morning at first light. Water wasn't that bad,still clean and the wind pretty mild SE. Handful of short bass on bucktail and pork. fish hit aggressively.

[hookedonbass]

Good job you know even tho most of these stripers arent keepers and its good one day bad the next we should be grateful to have a chance at stripering in december one week away from christmas!

[hookset]

^^^^ I agree. Picked a few on buck and white grub. They were in close. Few hours into the dark yesterday. Nice to be out in Dec, great conditions.

[porgy75]

Great to see the stripers still around. Will be out this weekend and will post a report, thanks.

[buckethead]

Same area again this morning. Only one short. It was pretty fat, rounded football size. Aggressive hit was fun on the bucktail and pork. That was it no other hits.

[lostatsea]

Catching stripes and blue demons in december whats not to like? Thanks, planning on fishing this afternoon hope to get something.

[fishinmission78]

Fished the park for an hour before work this am. One shorty on ava with green tail. The real good day was allegedly yesterday. Sucks to not be retired or permanently unemployed.

[finchaser]

Yep A23

[fishrich]

Plugged OC from noon till dark with the OFFC. Today was a slow pick of short bass. Had to keep moving around. Fished at least a dozen different cuts. Some cuts produced only one fish or none. The most we got out of one cut was three fish. There was a good sized wave breaking a couple casts out most of the day which caused a sweep in a lot of the cuts we fished.

[seamonkey]

Fished last night near an inlet in CM area. Outgoing tide, tossed avas, plugs, shads, poppers, and bucktails. Got one shorty on shad around dusk.

[seamonkey]

Fished again last night and decided to add some bunker to the mix because a lot of them were around. Nothing on the bunker head. The bunker chunks were popular, dogfish and skates popular lol.

[fishrich]

Three of us fished OC 11:30am till 5pm. All we got was fresh air and exercise. Plugged a lot of beach and did not even get a hit or see anyone else catch a fish. Ocean was calm and clean.

[hookset]

Fished moco last night last half of incoming. One short on rubber shad. Saw some bait, should have been more fish. Oh well.:don't know why:

[jigfreak]

Moco last nite. great weather for Dec, nada for me.

[buckethead]

Pre sunrise this morning from the top of the outgoing for an hour. No luck. Then went back at the end of the day and got two shorts on bucktail and pork.

[porgy75]

Fished tonight in moco. I think the tide was coming in the water was real low. Got the skunk. Nice going guys who are catching. It was good motivation for me to try tonight. Even though I didn't catch it was a great night out there.

[hookedonbass]

Nice tries gents. Today is the first day of Winter, hard to believe with all the warm weather.

[fishinmission78]

Yeah amen to that. First day of winter and fishing in shirt sleeves. Fished OC for a bit before work today, outgoing, decent water, no fish for me. Good luck to all who have off this week. Still a few fish around.

[finchaser]

Tried the river just before dark for farts and giggles since ocean was dead this morning had a 17" bass and a hand full of shad. Tons of Hugh winter spearing which haven't been here since Sandy

[lostatsea]

One is better than none I always say. Fished no moco for part of the outgoing tide. Picked up 2 shorts on stubby needle fish.

[lostatsea]

Tons of Hugh winter spearing which haven't been here since Sandy

Do you think if they stick around there might be some bass on em if the water stays like this for the next few weeks? thanks

[jigfreak]

All over moco and occo last nite. Lots of work for one dink, on buck and grub.

[hookset]

Skunk for me, Mo co. Beautiful looking water.

[finchaser]

if they go out front the little guys will be on them till the water is 45 degrees when they usually move on, water is 49 to 50 now

[buckethead]

What we have left is the dribs and drabs. As was said the surf should be alive with small stripers. I'm just not finding them consistently. Even during the crab sheds it's still hit and miss. Fished this morning, the conditions were exceptional, and nothing.

[plugcrazy]

Fished Tue night in moco there were a few fish around. Got 3 short stripes on a black loaded bomber, safely released. Also saw a guy poaching short fish and called the COs on him. Posted in the poaching thread.

[fishinmission78]

Made a few casts this morning in SSP. Decent water, big surf but very foggy, not a touch for me.

[basshunter]

Had to give it the ol try for Christmas morning in moco. Awesome out there, felt like it was a morning in may. Skunked. Merry christmas to everyone.

[basshunter]

Also saw a guy poaching short fish and called the COs on him. Posted in the poaching thread.
:clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping:

[cowherder]

Pretty good conditions this morning in Mo Co for Dec 26. Tossed a bucktail with white grub, one 22 incher near sunrise. Lots of white water. Nothing else. Still a great morning out there for so late in the year.

[cowherder]

Awesome out there, felt like it was a morning in may. Skunked. Merry christmas to everyone.


I had the same thoughts too. Whether we find those cows or not it's a great opportunity to be out there fishing with weather like this. Tight lines to all you guys out there casting and enjoying the scenery.

[baitstealer]

X2 on that. Fished nomoco this morning from 5-9 right around the high tide. Not much activity at all but the water definitely looked fishy. Got a short on storm shad around sunup. Nothing else other than the peaceful walk. Foggy and some drizzle but it was 55 degrees out with hardly anyone else fishing. I'll take it!

[surferman]

Even if you aren't catching stripers there are some pretty good swells right now. Surf's up.:cool:

[buckethead]

The wind is shifting to the N for todays fishing. Fished early before sunrise on the incoming tide. Buck and pork got me one short bass. It's going to get more northeast and building before the end of the day. If any of you guys are out there tonight be careful. There is some heavy rain in the forecast.

[fishinmission78]

Fished my usual area this morning. One runt on an ava, only had an hour. Got some texts they are doing pretty well today. Hate to have to work, jealous of all you guys who are off this week. Catch em up.

[seamonkey]

I read a report they got monster blues as well. Damn! You guys dont know how lucky you are. Blues and stripers and its almost january. Jealous.

[finchaser]

Had 4 today to 35" on white shads

[plugcrazy]

Nice going gents. Did anyone see the Grumpys weigh ins from yesterday. Some really nice fish brought up on the beach. congrats to all who were able to get out.

[hookedonbass]

Wow bass before new years awesome job.

[jigfreak]

Good going fellas. Have been working a lot lately and missed out on a few great bites. Oh well it's tough to chase when you have to make a living. Will try to get out this week. With the different bait around there should be a few. Good luck out there.

[buckethead]

Fished moco this morning. Swell has diminished a bit but water a little dirty. Not a touch. Nice fish finchaser. Happy new years to all the stripersandanglers people and their families.

[seamonkey]

Looks like its over for those northern beach blitzes? ibsp too? happy New Years to all you guys as well.

[fishinmission78]

Gave it a try in OC for new years stripering. Before sunrise I got a shad on a loaded redfin. Then around sunrise got a short on rubber shad. Still come small fish around, catch em up. Happy new years and best wishes gents.

[baitstealer]

Hey guys happy new year! Haven't been out fishing much but just had to go this afternoon. Fished moco from 4-6 it was pretty nice out there as I tossed a big shad and played around with a bucktail as well. No hits runs or errors. Didn't see anyone on the beach where I was get a striper either. Good job fishing mission you got a January double play! Water was beautiful for Jan 1.

[surferman]

Nice. I read that some big blues were also caught a few days ago on the northern beaches. Outstanding!

[finchaser]

Released 2 bass to 37" both on loaded c-10 redfin from 2 to 4 pm

[VSdreams]

Cool looks like a fattie. Could I ask if they hit far out or in close? Thanks

[finchaser]

Pretty close was not out on a bar

Large schools of peanuts ruined this mornings fishing BUNKER SU_K