NJ fishing reports for the week of 8-18 to 8-24-08

[bunkerjoe4]

Please post fishing reports here.......as little or as much detail as you want to give.

Please note: NO SPOT BURNING! Posts burning spots will be Edited or DELETED!
Some veteran fishermen have put in years developing and learning about certain spots.Some of these spots can only handle a few guys at a time. We are losing enough access as it is, due to the unfortunate behavior of a few selfish people. No sense in making it worse.

For some areas, it would be wiser to say:
OutFront (Ocean) OR -- OutBack (Bay) -- if you feel too many people will figure out what you are talking about. "Spot burning" also could involve mentioning something specific only to that area. If you do this, your post may be edited, or deleted. Remember that thousands of people could potentially read these posts. You don't want to be fishing next to ALL of them at the same time!

IF you are fishing an area that is NOT residential, being vague is less critical. For example, it's acceptable to say (Any)Park, or (Any)Bay, or mention a specific state park that has loads of parking and can handle the crowds.


If you are unclear on this concept, ask yourself:


If I name this place on the internet, will it be too crowded for me to enjoy tomorrow when people hear I got 30 fish here today?


If the answer is "Yes", then you should probably not be so specific.


We post these reports so our community will have a sense of what is working, what is not. We want to show people how to catch fish, rather than where.Even if you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well.

If you have any additional details you would like to share - weather conditions, tide (incoming, outgoing, ebb, flood) water temps, bait present, or other mention of techniques or plugs used - feel free, as long as you are not overly specific about location.

Some acronyms -

SH - Sandy Hook
NoMoCo - Northern Monmouth County (below the hook to Shark River Inlet SRI)
SoMoCo - Southern Monmouth County (below SRI to Manasquan Inlet)

OC - Ocean County
IBSP - Island Beach State Park
LBI - Long Beach Island

AC - Atlantic County
AI - Absecon Inlet
CISP - Corson's Inlet State Park
CMC - Cape May County
CMR - Cape May Rips
GEI - Great Egg Inlet
TI - Townsend's Inlet

RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
CBBT - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
DB - Delaware Bay

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[bunkerjoe4]

NJ Wir 8-18-08

Well, we are still into the hot and sweaty summer fishing pattern, folks. The fluke are definitely getting bigger, especially as they now are continuing to move out of the bays and can be found in the deeper shipping channels and nearshore lumps. Only 2 weeks left in the season, so get 'em while you can.

Remember when the next hearings come up what your "catch to keepers" fluke ratio was this year. Also remember that the bigger fluke are most likely to be female, so the size limit of 18" may not be as effective as they wanted it to be in restoring the biomass.

Please voice your opinion on this every time it is warranted. The regulatory commissions have tremendous power, but will continue this charade based on our complacency. Strong and well-worded protest letters, written effectively but aggressively, will allow them to see we are mad as hell and won't take it anymore.

Weakfish have been caught in greater numbers in the back bays, though more so in the Barnegat and southern bays than the Raritan. Look for this fishery to improve in the coming weeks as bigger ones will set up in the channels.

Bluefish are turning on in the surf when there is bait around. Small bait seems to be found pretty consistently along the whole coast now. Bunker and shad are still swimming around in many areas out front, and provide for exciting action as large predators continue to attack these easy meals intermittently in low light periods.

Small resident bass are still being caught, but the good news is that some larger bass are now sporadically mixed in, though this is not consistent.


NY WIR 8-18-08

Back bays are teeming with bait, small groundfish, fluke, and the occasional keeper. Fluke are getting bigger and fattening up on all the spearing and smaller bait available, as another season will shortly be over.

Bluefish in the back bays are mostly of the cocktail variety, though where there are adult bunker in some of the harbors some gorillas have been coming in after those bunker. I would hate to be an adult bunker right now.

There are still some very nice bass around in the back bays, particularly the Long Island sound. These fish are mostly available to boaters who can get out and cover some distance looking for them, but they have been caught consistently in the last week.

Porgies are also providing some excellent light tackle action from shore if anyone is fishing where there are channels or rocky areas close to shore. The key to catching these great family fishing time fish is small hooks, light sinkers, and double rigs with small pieces of clam or worm.





Overall, the bait is what drives it all, and bait is almost everywhere you look for it now. A smart fisherman will look for the highest concentrations of bait and fish in those locations, the old 90/10 rule still being in effect. You also have to give the fish what they are feeding on or a believable alternative. That's why so many bigger bass are still being taken on adult bunker, or eels.

Ocean surf fishing has its exciting moments with the cownose rays and sharks around. I am again reminding people who have never caught a ray to be careful of the stinger on the tail. Also, it is not a good idea to fish many poles when rays are around, unless you really don't care if that pole gets yanked out of the spike and dragged to England. ;)

Offshore, the tuna fishing has been terrible for some, and spectacular for others. Hudson canyon and the area has not been very productive lately. The hot action has been in the southern canyons, Lobster claw area among others. This fishing is a daytime early morning bite for the most part.

Nighttime chunking still has not turned on to the extent that it can be counted on to save the trip. When the bite is hot, boxes are filled with tuna up to the 250lb class. Many guys will get beat up by a tuna this big. The intensity of a fight with a larger class tuna is an amazing thing, and fewer of the bigger ones are consequently brought in for the gaff shot.

However, many tuna in the 50 to 100 lb class are being caught, along with some other billfish, and the always present mahi hanging near the pots and the offshore floating structure. A good tip is to bring an inflatable raft on canyon trips and throw it out there for the mahi. This has saved many a canyon trip from failure.

Tuna fishing will only get better as we near September and a good chunk bite develops. The bait is definitely there, along with some amazing sea creatures -- white sharks, whales, sea turtles, and porpoises.

Wow - I almost talked myself into a tuna trip!:)

It's a shame I have been so busy, would really like to get in on one before the year is over, but I am swamped with work lately.

Good luck out there, folks, and be safe!

[LennyD]

Monday afternoon went to MOCO for fluke, in the first 30min. had some action, all short, then as soon as the tide started to come up the bites has died.
Strong wind from E SE.
:rolleyes:

[fishinmission78]

IBSP yesterday before dark, front of the jetty. Birds working, bluefish 2-4 lbs on metals, there were lots of 'em. Not much tog action, an older guy I see there a lot got one, he said it was slow.

[clamchucker]

LBI first light today, incoming. Plenty of hickory shad in the wash on the teaser. Once the sun came up, spot were all over. A kid brought a net and bucket and filled a 5 gallon pail in a few throws of the net. Come and get em, this is the best I've seen in years.

[fishinmission78]

Slow bite at IBSP today, lots o short fluke, there was a bunch of action in the pocket on the smallest bait and snappers I've seen this year, otherwise very slow.

[katiefishes]

Monday morning went to SH. Two short fluke.

[wish4fish]

rb near some rocks tonight, many fat bluefish to 10lbs on peanuts, incoming. hey katie, i might be able to show ya some spots where the fishin is good, got any pics?:D

[clamchucker]

occo around sunrise, quick bluefish blitz, blink and you missed it. Several short fluke after that, gulp new penny.

[fishinmission78]

Another slow day at IBSP, short fluke, weather ok, but almost not worth it.

[voyager35]

RB today, afternoon drift for fluke. Hit the SH channel, picked up a few, then over to Ambrose for some more. Strong drift, 10-12 oz to touch bottom. Ended up with 3 keepers to 4 lbs, spearing and sea robin belly.

[wish4fish]

woo hoo, bluefish back at SH! got into em early this morning, rainfish all over the place. very small only 4lbs tops, but the surf was boilin dudes!! in and out for over an hour, than back again. small a007 diamond with teaser. got a lot on the teaser, after gettin bit off 3 times I gave it up and just ran the 007 with steel leader, lost count after 30.

[fishinmission78]

2 small bass this morning on white shad, north jetty IBSP

[wish4fish]

another blitz at sh this morning, fish up to 6#, i got smart after yesterday, was set up with 100 lb mono shock leader and wire leader. 27 blues no bite offs.:wheeeee:

[LennyD]

MOCO last night, used bunker,clam= skate+searobin,
killies=short fluke (bunch)
:don't know why:

[captnemo]

Beautiful afternoon on the boat, not much to show for it. Started off near the NY side and Breezy, lots of small fluke, no keepers. Made our way back drifting the channels, and Ambrose, plus our last drift near the Ammo pier. Total for the day 41 fluke, 2 in the box up to 5lbs, live and dead peanuts.

[clamchucker]

Nice day, poor fishing. Fluking in moco, 15 fluke nothing close to keeper in the suds. Gulp penny shrimp and squid strips.