NJ Fishing Reports for the week of 10-20 to 10-26-08

[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

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/misc/progress.gif

[bunkerjoe4]

NJ WIR 10-20-08

Another great week for surfcasters folks! It's one of those weeks where some surfcasters actually did better than the boaters, as many boat fishermen had difficulty getting out to their usual spots.

Unfortunately for some, the best bass fishing is right in the midst of the intense fall weather, with the wind and waves blowing in your face. This is one of the things that separates the men from the boys, and can be pretty intense.

However, I'll let you folks in on a well-kept secret -- bass love turbulent weather, rough current, and whitewater. Some of the best catches will be reported (or nor reported) during these times.

As for the surf albacore run, it has been a bust so far. Although some are reporting large quantities of small bait in the surf, it is my opinion that this small bait, the main attractant for the albacore to come in, has not been present consistently enough. Time will tell if any sort of a real run develops here.

Some good news on the weakfish and herring fronts, folks. The weakfish are being caught with consistency in the Barnegat and Raritan bays, worms being the preferred bait, jigheads and pink fin-s plastics being the preferred artificial offering. The bigger bass are snacking on these weakfish, and some of the herring that are making an early appearance near the mouth of Raritan Bay. This is what we need to bring the big girls into the surf, folks. Keep your fingers crossed that these forage fish stay around.

NY WIR 10-20-08

Montauk surfcasters and boaters continue to enjoy a bannner season, though things are starting to slow a bit. Meanwhile, the fish that were traveling through Montauk have ended up being caught at night along some of the LI beaches. Some lucky surfcasters have had great nights plugging the beaches of the South Shore. Hopefully this continues.

Bait is still on the move in the LI Sound. You will continue to have good caches as that bait moves out, and South.

There have been some exciting false albacore catches in the surf of the North Fork, hopefully these continue in the usual spots.



Tuna fishing has still been spotty in the canyons. Some positive news of late is that a good number of albacore (True albacore, which some people have confused with longfin tuna) have recently been caught. I hope this bite continues. Many of our charter boat captains are hurting financially this year, and a fall tuna bite would help them to make money and salvage the season.

The surf is rough, the fish are out there -- put on your raingear and catch em up!

[LennyD]

This is a late report from last week.
My buddy and i went up to Montauk for the weekend, this was our first time up there. Let me tell you that, it was an adventure. First morning we went down to fish, birds were everywhere, so we started to fish on the beach, as we find out to have a better luck you have to go out and fish on the rocks, some of you who's been up there knows what im talking about. We tried to go out but we were not prepared for that, the second morning i told myself that no matter what im going out there, so i did. waves were crushing us, tried to stay on our feet. First cast, bass on --short, second cast, bass on --short, in about an hour or so i got 8 bass up to 26" lost one as well, unfortunately no keepers, but in a day and a half we learned a lot, so when next time we go we are just gonna be fine.
Great trip:plastered:

[voyager35]

Thought about fishing the ocean yesterday, but there was still a residual swell. Safer fishing in the rivers, so we fished the back side of SH for weakies. Got a few nice ones, most were barely keepers, but a few were close to 4lbs. Sandworms.

[DarkSkies]

Didn't get a chance to get out last night, but I had a few crazy friends fishin. They reported it was very tough conditions, covered most of the areas in moco, a 20 mile spread.

In addition to swells which they said were still up to 8 feet, the fish were not there at the usual places. The key spots that we know to hold bait at times were barren last night.

One encouraging sign - they reported some schools of bait. These pods were moving through, and not holding, even with the rough swell.

Usually, a night like last night would be ideal for us, bait would be holding in the pockets, and fish would be caught by the time you made stop 9 or 10.

But this was not to be. They fished hard all night, nothing. They finally managed some bass up to 30" around 7 this morning, storm shads. They had to work for those fish. Each of these guys is a great fishermen, yet they went 10-12 hours without a fish.

7am is around the time I got my fish the other morning in the rough weather.

I'm not sure if the 7am time is significant, or it's more likely that we all got fish during that time because the bait showed up. http://www.guppiesfishing.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_idea.gif

Anyway, fishin is tough. I imagine with the rain today, things will turn on. I will try to get out earlier and find them, conditions (rain and NW wind later) are setting up for a good bite.

However, the key to nailing larger fish, and numbers of fish, even these conditions, is the presence of bait.

If you can't see it where you're at, you must move on until you find it, or you're wasting your time. Good luck, guys, I'll be out there, maybe run into a few of you other crazy mofos.

[DarkSkies]

Great report, Lenny, you're a Montauk goog no more. You quickly saw that you gotta climb those rocks like a billy goat, it's one of the best ways to get fish.

Nice descriptions, felt like I was there. :clapping: Made me want to go back, can't wait till next time.

[fishinmission78]

OC today, below an inlet. Got to the outer bar during low tide, was throwing a DD, and A37 with green tail. Fish were just beyond the surf line, feeding on sandeels. 5 fat bass to 27".

[clamchucker]

Very good clam bite at IBSP today, fishinmission where were you?

I must have caught and released over 20, one at 28 kept, others were 24-26". Bite was pretty steady except for an hour in the early afternoon. Good fall bite, though very windy.

[wish4fish]

yesterday, inlet area rb, before sunset. some birds and peanuts active, out far, throwing a hopkins, got 4 bass to 24". fish at end of the casts.

[DarkSkies]

Nightshift last night moco 2:30 - 5:30 am. Some bait around, but didn't look too promising, windy and cold as hell. Even the bluefish were smaller.:( 3 blues to 9lbs on floating needle, 1 small bass 26" on blurple bomber as the tide lessened.

[fishjay]

fished OC last night. 4 of us Caught 15 bass to 32" on bombers.

the OFFC must admit that a young associate gets the credit for alerting us to the area that we should be fishing and it paid off. Thanks to him.

We will try to repay the favor very soon.

[DarkSkies]

fished OC last night. 4 of us Caught 15 bass to 32" on bombers.

the OFFC must admit that a young associate gets the credit for alerting us to the area that we should be fishing and it paid off. Thanks to him.

We will try to repay the favor very soon.


I'm glad you guys got into fish,:clapping: sorry if I was a little hyper and crabby on the phone. :embarassed: Had some other friends in moco, fish were caught in 2 places, all bass, some nice sustained catching, bass on peanuts. I had to work, couldn't getn to any of those places.

So maybe I was a little impatient:rolleyes: when I suggested you guys to go north from where you started. Sucks when you can't get down to a good bite because of work, and you know people are catching.

[DarkSkies]

My report: :skunk:

Fished moco last night 7:30-10:30pm. Winds were brutal. NJSurfer website said 23mph before I came down, but while I was fishin some winds were 25-35, shifting from the NW to N. Cold as hell, but I knew they caught fish earlier, had to try.

Fished big needles, nothing. Switched to magnum bombers and teasers, got a couple bumps, very light hits, on schoolbus and blurple. Couldn't manage to stick any fish, though. Was tough to feel the plug at the end of my line, or to even see where it landed, as the wind kept shifting every few minutes. Think I'm gonna start a little earlier today, fish are around, just have to find them.

Also have some gratitude for my girlfriend. Even with hooded sweatshirts, your ears get cold. She went out and bought me these awesome earmuffs that are lightweight and just cover your ears. She also got these fingerless gloves that allow you to fish in comfort yet still feel the line. Some of us guys don't realize how good we have it or how lucky we are sometimes.

Last night, I realized it every few minutes, because I was able to fish in that insane wind. :kiss::heart: I'm a lucky guy.

[clamchucker]

OC, last 2 hours before sunset, outgoing. Found a pick of fish here and there, got them throwing the 2oz t-hex, all fish at the furthest casts or hit shortly thereafter. Surf was foamy for the first 75', no fish caught by me in the wash. 6 bass to 31".

[wish4fish]

good bass bite at the hook this morning, beginning outgoing 5-7 till sunrise. got 8 to 27 1/2, bombers and bucktails. a cool thing was I snagged some herring or shad, so maybe thats bringin the bass in. oOne of em was about 13."

[fishinmission78]

OC late afternoon, bass were there, but far out, 5 to 29" on krokodile, all fat bass.

[LennyD]

Nomoco this evening, 1 1/2 before sunset, 1 shorty on ava27, and lost an other one.

[chas527]

got to no no co about 6am .got one about 26 inches on swimmer in the dark. then 7 more from 730 to 9 on metal.

[DarkSkies]

Skunk following me around, gotta shake it.:skunk: Fished a few moco spots last night, then met up with a friend, and fished some more. Between the both of us must have hit 10 locations.

Fished all our usual spots and some new ones, very little bait seen. Conditions were perfect, not that cold, wind E at first, then shifting to SW and W. Surf was big, but fishable. Fish just weren't where we looked, we kept moving around, covered front and back, not even a small tap. Fished everything in the bag, from needles to bombers to deep swimmers to rubber shads to bucktails.

I did learn some new and interesting things, met some cool people, it's amazing how friendly people are when they aren't catchin.:D

Looking back, 2 mistakes I made:

1. Should have made a better effort to get down to Occo in the daytime, but work got in the way again. Friends were into fish there in the daylight hours, may be shifting to an afternoon bite soon.

2. Should have taken the long walk. Another friend was there before dark, was into small fish, and he left when it slowed down at sunset. I wanted to hit the sunrise bite there at the first of the outgoing this morning, but fell asleep in my car and missed it.

Today's another day, should be a good bite right before the rough weather begins.:thumbsup:

[voyager35]

Trolled some areas in western RB yesterday, deeper water, we got a couple of nice sized bass to 35" on an umbrella rig with white and chartreuse shad. Also got some meaty blues with a Mann's stretch 25, no bass on that plug.

All in all it was a good day, with about 17 bass caught, kept 2.

[cowherder]

DS don't feel bad, went to the hook today and couldn't buy a hit. Saw one guy catch a short striper on clans, that was it. Nothing for me.

[fishinmission78]

Tough afternoon at IBSP, just got home. 3 small bass for 4 hours of searching, clams.

[wish4fish]

some small bass 4-6 today in oc on metals. very small, but they were around, 7 bass, biggest 25". 2 hit my white teaser. clamchucker thanks for the advice.

[SharkHart]

i had 5 today in OC, couldnt present that way I wanted to with all the rollers and breakers, and the fish just arent in close. i think the fish were around good, better conditions might have been a real slammer. Mine mostly hit the shad. I did get a double i really thought was a good fish but maybe was more fun afterall.

Im saying prays for some more peanuts to get out there.

[captnemo]

Ran the rips at Sandy Hook on the boat last night. Fish were just off the beach in 30' of water. Eeling. Between 3 guys we had about 27 bass, 5 keepers up to 39", kept 2. They had sandeels in their stomachs. Hope you guys on the beach got some.

[yardvillejimmy]

Fished OC last evening with three friends. They caught a few shorts on artificials. Not even a bump for me. Crashing wave made it diificult to hang in there.

[wish4fish]

the hook 4-6am, 4 bass on black bomber white teaser. all bass were like 26" or 27".

[DarkSkies]

Didn't get out till late today, fished 10a-3pm. Almost felt like a vampire, not used to fishin in the daylight.:laugh: Before I got out there, ran into different fishermen who have a lot of years of experience, so I spent some time BSing.

Man, it was amazing to talk about some of the things they remembered, frost fish, LB fishing pier, Seabright jetties, herring fishing at the flume for big bass, and the changes at Sandy Hook. I could listen to stories like that for hours. Was cool meeting you guys, thanks for describing those memories for me.:thumbsup:

Fished a bunch of moco areas, coud not come up with anything. Bite was mostly over about 2 hours after sunrise, though some decent fish up to 3' were caught, and fly guys caught some.

Did some scouting at a few places, surf was big, and winds never let up. But there is one popular place that may set up tomorrow to b productive, saw some birds and bait, but not enough to spark a feeding frenzy. Tomorrow will be different (I hope);)

[LennyD]

Sat. morning IBSP between the two of us 20 shorts up to 27" and about the same lost in battle.

[DarkSkies]

Nice goin Lenny, you're rackin up those fish!:clapping: sounds like great action.

I checked out a few moco arreas this morning for later on, one area witha lot of roclks was rough, but the W winds should cut that down for the outgoing later.


A friend was fishing moce, went out to meet him, but had to get back early. Nice W wind, clear skies, and bait on the move.

The table is set, let's get some bigger ones in the dark.:thumbsup:

[clamchucker]

Had some nice action with clams in OC today. Needed 10 oz pyramid to hold steady ground, only moved a little. Bass were there, but very small, got 10, 22-24".

[wish4fish]

you guys did a lot better than me today, cus i got blanked fishin the washing machine in nomoco. metals and shads, nada.:skunk:

[LennyD]

Nice goin Lenny, you're rackin up those fish!:clapping: sounds like great action.
.:thumbsup:

Thanx DarkSkies!!!
It was awesome, so we went back this morning but unfortunately after the big storm the water got so dirty that was not good for plugging, got only 1 short (25"). As soon as the sun was coming up we know its gonna be a clam day, it was just so dirty. I'd rather plug than bait fish!!!
I'll get 'em this week!:)

[fishinmission78]

As soon as the sun was coming up we know its gonna be a clam day, it was just so dirty. I'd rather plug than bait fish!!!
I'll get 'em this week!:)

I was at IBSP today, we killed them on clams, but no keepers, though some close. Must have had 32 fish between the 2 of us for a few hours. But it gets old after awhile. We saw other guys getting fish there today, but not one keeper in the whole area we fished. Most fish between 22-27"

If you want small throwback schoolie bass, and lots of them, IBSP is the place to go.

[Monty]

Fished SH bay side 5;30-10:30 this morning. Landed 1 ~24 inch striper on a teaser at sun-up, lost a decent fish in the dark.
Had lots of action, just could not hook up. Had at least five hits/swipes at a pencil and at least another five hits/bumps on metal lip swimmers. Even felt the weight of a fish a couple times, but could not hook up:don't know why:.

[bunkerjoe4]

Monty sometimes you have a situation where the fish are not in a frenzied mood, and are not as eager to bang a plug as they are in the summer. Additionally, the bay temps are now dropping, and are in the high 50's, which sometimes makes fish a tad more sluggish.

I wondered if you are aware of the fact that sometimes when you feel you are getting light bumps, you might not be able to see the bass swatting the plug with their tail to stun it before they eat it.http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.gif

In a case like this, I would recommend setting the hook hard enough to cross their eyes, but try to have your rod angled toward the ground as you do so. This way, you will be setting the hook INTO the water, instead of pulling it out.

If you try this and it works, you may notice you are bringing in fish hooked in the eyes, head, or anyplace other than the mouth.

If you try this and it doesn't work, you might want to try slowing your retrieve down at the moment of the tap, even stopping it completely in the water, then start your retrieve again. Some of the most explosive strikes come at these moments.

Many people try to turn striped bass fishing into a science - to categorize, analyze, and predict how to catch more fish.

That's fine, but sometimes the difference between 2 guys standing next to each other, one catching and the other guy getting small bumps, is that the guy catching has figured out how to stick those fish and bring them in, for that particular moment.

In any event, Monty, you did good, at least you didn't get skunked, you deserve some praise for that.:clapping:

And for all our other readers out there, you should always have a teaser rigged in front of your plug this time of year because of the small bait around. There are times when they will hit nothing else but the teaser, and your plug, metal, or bucktail becomes the delivery method for presenting that teaser.http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.gif

Next time, try something different, either what I suggested above, or a slight variation of the retrieve. When you figure out what works for that night, you will hook up, and bring in more fish.

The only issue many fishermen have problems with is that it may be a completely different scenario tomorrow, and you will have to figure out the "magic retrieve" all over again.

Think of freshwater bass fishermen when they enter a tournament. They go to a strange lake, diverse conditions, and have to compete against others to put fish in that boat if they want to win any fame.

In a similar manner, I hope your striped bass fishing will continue to challenge you, otherwise you would get bored with pulling 30 fish on the beach every night, and losing none. How challenging would that be, Monty? :)

Good luck, thanks for posting the report, and let us know how you do.:thumbsup: - bunkerjoe

[Monty]

Thanks BunkerJoe. I never have missed so may hits in my life. Next time something like that starts to happen i will try what you suggested.
It felt great finding the fish, but I just started to laugh after all the misses.
And I almost always fish a teaser, they make a big difference.
As to the challange, I get as big a charge out of finding 3 or 4 fish when the fishing is difficult as I do when hitting a blitz. Its fishing, not catching and its skill and knowledge that is used to hook=up when the fishing is tough.






And for all our other readers out there, you should always have a teaser

Next time, try something different, either what I suggested above, or a slight variation of the retrieve. When you figure out what works for that night, you will hook up, and bring in more fish.




In a similar manner, I hope your striped bass fishing will continue to challenge you, otherwise you would get bored with pulling 30 fish on the beach every night, and losing none. How challenging would that be, Monty? :)

Good luck, thanks for posting the report, and let us know how you do.:thumbsup: - bunkerjoe

[chas527]

fished nomoco this morning got two shorts on metal. then went sandy hook with clams nothing but skats.