NJ Fishing Reports for the week of 9-15 to 9-21-08

[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

Folks, it has been quite a week in the Jersey suds. Although fluke season is officially closed, guys are now reporting catches of keepers with more consistency. Murphy's law.:kooky:

Bluefish are back with a vengeance. Surfcasters and boaters alike are testing how tough their gear is on these toothy critters. There are some reports of bluefish in the 15 pound range being caught, I have some PMs of members getting them up to 17lbs, weighed on boga grips.

These are beyond big, folks -- they are the creatures night-mares are made of.

Although many focus on bass, monster blues will give a surfcaster an honorable battle. Just be careful with your fingers.

In many instances, these bluefish are caught blind casting from the surf or the bay, with no visible signs present.

Along with the bluefish are the ever-increasing sizes of bass up to 44" which some members have privately reported. For the most part, these bass are shadowing the blues, and picking up the pieces of dead bunker and mullet after the blues have had first pick.

Honestly, the bulk of the bass being caught are 20-28", but different nights you will run into different groups of bass.

And you won't find them here on the internet, get out there!;)

If you are targeting bass, again night is best. If you run into monster blues in the twilight, try a little to the left or right of where they seem to be concentrated, and you might score a fat bass!

Weakfish and croaker action is fast and furious in the Delaware and Barnegat bays, great targets for a day of family fishing.

The projected Raritan Bay weakfish fall run has still not developed. However, I have been getting scattered reports of selected good fishing here and there by sharpies using rubber and jigs. There have also been some big weakfish over 12lbs caught accidentally by those using bait for bluefish. Best bet for those is on the flats, but remember the huge ones are breeders, please only take what you can use.

NY WIR

LI sound and back bay areas in LI are producing good catches, from snappers, to slab porgy, to a few big bluefish, weakfish, and bass here and there.

The big news is Montauk has been on fire for a better part of the past 5 days. The thing about reporting good catches in that area is some people will grumble that too many are fishing there.

I agree, that seems to be valid -- sometimes.

How many people who complain know of the rough season some of the charter captains, head boats, guides, and others who derive some income fishing are having? http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.gif

Some of these folks are having their worst years ever. My point to all is that Montauk is a huge interrelated system of commerce, relationships, good friends, business transactions, and support of the local people, from lodgings to the restaurants and gas stations.

This all needs to be balanced with the needs of the surfcasters who arguably made Montauk what it was.

If you go there and don't like the crowds, I might suggest you fish at night, lot less crowded then. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.gif

In the meantime, you will always find crowds at the most accessible Montauk areas when the bite is on.




Offshore bite -- has slowed down somewhat, but the tuna catching can change from day to day. Hannah and Ike have not helped the conditions out there. Good electronics and sharing intel with your fellow boaters will help to put you into fish more consistently.

As of this time, the surf albacore bite has not developed at the most promising early season spots. Lots of guys are looking, but no one has claimed the first surf caught albacore of 2008 yet. Here's hoping the rough weather will shake things up a little.

Speaking of rough weather, we are experiencing some extreme high tides with the full moon this week. Those who are accustomed to wade fishing, please be careful in the back bays.

For the most part, the bays are flat, and you can tell if you are wading when you are walking into a slough. However, in the dark, people get disoriented, and a difference of 2' might mean the difference between walking home dry and swallowing mouthfuls of water, or worse.

Please be careful out there this week folks, Fish are hungry and feeding, perhaps not consistently. If you put your time in, and learn one spot at a time, you will be surprised how perceptive you will become.:thumbsup:

[fishinmission78]

Very slow at IBSP today. seems like the mullet went away to Disneyland for the weekend.:D:skunk:

[LennyD]

I fished sat. sun. MOCO & RB...slow

[voyager35]

A few nice weakfish yesterday afternoon incoming. Near a moco marina, drifted from the boat. Got them on leadheads and pink fin-s.

[DarkSkies]

Last night was tough, RB 3-6am. A friend was fishing earlier, gave me a tip that the mullet had moved out.

I checked a few spots, RB was like chocolate milk. Wind kept shifting from strong W to NE, and back. I stubbornly tried to wade out anyway for a while, had to go out far as the full moon flood tide had not started. Only hits I got was jellyfish stings on my legs, got to start wearing waders soon, saving the $$ for a good pair.

The best thing I can say about being out there at dead low full moon tide cycle was that I saw a lot of stuff didn't get to see before, made mental notes.

Didnt feel so bad about getting skunked when I ran into the Weakfish King and his friend. They were having a bad night too, nothing to report.:HappyWave:

Finally found some mullet and peanuts in a pocket, netted some, kept some mullet live in a bucket. It seemed like the kind of night when pluggin would not be so productive, figured I would fall back on the mullet.

Found the mullet in large quantities around sunrise, they were streaming N. Hundreds at a time would go by, was very frustrating as 2 other guys and I were plugging those schools with no big fish underneath. The live mullet i threw out were attacked, but only by small bluefish or weakfish.:burn:

I have a feeling some nice fish will be caught today, while I'm working.

I was thinking of heading to Montauk last night after the shoreham meeting. What kept me from that was I didn't have all my gear, or waders, but I did have korkers. Shoulda made that trip. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.:laugh:

[fishinmission78]

Bluefish to 13 lbs at IBSP, from high tide to part of the outgoing. Metals and poppers, mullet drifting through.

[clamchucker]

Moco late afternoon, nice little blitz with some alligators and small bass. Pencils and small ava jigs, small bait in the wash.

[wish4fish]

sh today, quick early morning blitz, about 45mins. got bluefish up to 10lbs, one small bass, throwing diamond jigs. no albies visible, but the bait was everywhere. so much of it I thought there musta been a bait factory in rb just pumping it south, lol.

[wish4fish]

sh, again. mostly small blues, but the guy next to me got 2 bass 30-32" bucktails. so much bait, mullet on the move.

[DarkSkies]

Moco last night 12-3am. Way too rough when I got there. 25mph NE forecast, but some gusts were up to 40. Casted a few places, then went inside, found some bait in deep water, small fish busting on them, but couldn't get a tap. Used bucktails, shad, and mid-level swimmers, retrieve against the current, let em wobble.

Some guys were fishin bait about 200' from me, and trying to net bait.

Every time their net came up empty, I was thinking the best way to find bait is to go to a spot, close your eyes, and listen.http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.gif You will find it.

[cowherder]

RB yesterday, we had a half hour before sunset where some blues came in. Caught a half dozen on metal, biggest 7lbs.

[DarkSkies]

I fished out front usual spot yesterday, bait streaming by, no albies or bluefish till the very end. 2 bluefish caught after I left, no one got any albie action.

Meanwhile some friends were fishing the inside spot from yesterday where the guy got his 4. They fished hard. Despite all the bait, no sign of albies.

These are not easy fish to catch, that's why it doesn't pay to chase reports or locations. You would never expect them to be caught on the inside, but there were.

Tomorrow they may be outside a harbor, or somewhere else. The only ones who will know exactly are the guys catchin them.

My shoulder is sore from all the tins and presentations I threw today, fished hard for 3 hours, 3-6pm. Last night tied up a bunch of DD, crippled herring, etc, flouro rigs, no hardware.

I'm ready, but there ain't no guarantees.:D Frustrating species to fish for, payoff is worth it.:kooky:


My friend and I were talking about targeting them today, and we agreed that when you fight these fish, they give their all, and are half-dead when you bring them in. You have at most 60 seconds before they are completely dead, and a wasted fish.http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon13.gif

If yer gonna take a shot with your camera, please have the camera ready, or wait till the camera is ready when you catch the next fish. If you can, hold them by the tail and bottom as you gently put them back, until they are ready.

Doesn't take much to kill these things on the release, and it's a shame to waste such a worthy opponent. Can't eat em, not worth it. Although last year I did try to eat a fresh killed as sushi. The guys who saw me do it didn't know me, and described some crazy guy who had bloody meat sticking out of his mouth, on another website.:ROFLMAO:

Didn't say anything about it then b/c I was too embarassed, I guess, but fresh kill ain't bad. After that the quality turns into catfood. Believe me on this.:ROFLMAO:

I did meet some guys fishin in front with bait. :HappyWave:They drove all the way from Western Jersey, and were the only ones crazy enough to fish in the front that day. So I ran them around to some spots trying to put them into fish. We moved a bunch of times, but high pressure system must have turned the fish off for the day.

Hey guys, I tried. Better luck next time.

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[fishinmission78]

IBSP early am, first part of the incoming. There was some bait trapped, managed a few blues on mullet, no bass.

[wish4fish]

Rb 4-7am this morning, saw a little bait, but no big fish.:(

[wish4fish]

sh this morning, big blues again, metal, up to 12-13lbs.

[bunkerjoe4]

OK folks, the winner for the August NJ fishing reports plug giveaway is fishinmission78. :clapping:

Please e-mail me the address where you want it sent. The plug will be a Davis topwater swimmer, similar to the ones fishlipper is using. If anyone has not yet checked out the thread for Davis lures, go take a look. He's a good plug-builder, sells them at reasonable prices, and as shown, they do catch fish.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=78 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=78)


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[clamchucker]

Somoco this morning, 4 bass on swimmers and shads, biggest 29".

[LennyD]

sh this morning, big blues again, metal, up to 12-13lbs.

you got 'em!!!:)

[clamchucker]

sh this morning, big blues again, metal, up to 12-13lbs.

Showoff, let's see you catch a dozen bass in a row on that metal.:laugh: :HappyWave: