NJ Fishing Reports for the week of 12-8 to 12-14-08

[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

[bunkerjoe4]

NJ/NY WIR 12-8-08

Folks, it's cold outside. Many have given up on the small bass and are in the process of doing their end of year maintenance and repair before stowing things away for the cold winter. Many people have asked if fishing is over, or if it is worthwhile to make the trip. As I said last week, right now you might have more productive things to do besides fishing for small bass. The last days have been cold. Fishing out there may cause you to question your sanity, particularly if it seems there are only a few bass around.

And there are, only a few.

The action is nothing to write home about. Sometimes it can be downright depressing. I feel it is more depressing to sit in a chair and think about the fish you might catch in March.http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.gif That chair can be mighty comfortable when the wind is howling outside.

There are good amounts of sub-legal bass, and a prodigious amount of sandeels and rainfish, parked just offshore of NY and NJ. Sadly, these locations are out of the reach of many surfcasters, but not always -- hence the discouragement when you see birds and feel if you could only cast 500 feet, you would be into fish.

Realistically, this last of the run is passing us by, and many of the bigger bass are South, from the Cape May Rips to the CBBT. Anyone who is considering a road trip down there, now would be a good time.

For the rest of the folks who only have a few hours at a time to visit the surf and are trying to relax and catch a few fish, there are a finite number of good days left. The winter sun is an inspiring thing at times. The sunrise this morning was incredible, and the kind of thing that makes you feel good to be on this earth, no matter what activity you are doing.

The best bets for getting some of these small bass are the metal and teaser rigs, smaller plastic or wood presentations, and the ubiquitous bucktail, a stalwart in the ever changing world of fishing tackle. As always, clams will bring in fish when nothing else will.

We are in for a few warmer days. There are some bigger bass in the inshore waters following and eating the now abundant herring. The bass, and some bluefish, will be here as long as they can find the abundance of food that still remains off our shores.

There have still been some limited opportunities for surfcasters in the last week who have been around when the fish and baitfish push into the surf zone. At some point, things will shut down as the water temperature drops into the lower 40's. You can still catch fish out there, if you are willing to work hard for them and move around frequently.

For those who have given up on surf fishing and are looking for other fishing related activities, the winter fishing exhibitions and shows will soon be in your area. I will post a schedule as soon as I get a chance, or if someone beats me to it and posts one, I thank you ahead of time. - bunkerjoe

[wish4fish]

nomoco yesterday 9-1pm. 4 bass on a hopkins shorty with redgill teaser. 3 bass hit the teaser. birds were working on and off. today 3-5pm, 1 bass on my lucky lime bomber. no keepers, but bass were phat. :lookhappy:

[basshunter]

Got fish for an hour yesterday in moco. They were feeding on sandeels and came in to the surf. Got 5 on a yellow mambo, biggest 27". The action stopped at dark.

[cowherder]

I fished NomoCo today 3-4:30 with an orange mackerel pattern bomber. It was raining, but there was a break for awhile. Had one tap. I'm not sure if it was a bass or shad or herring, but it was a very light hit, far out at the end of the cast. Otherwise, nothing.

[clamchucker]

Spent yesterday fishing during periods of lighter rain in Ocean county, above the park. There were some fish around, it was tough fishing. They were right over the bar, and hit a deadly **** and black teaser combo. I moved several times, and ended up with 3 fish under 26".Today the water was dirtier and conditions were worse with the winds. I started around sunup near an inlet, and ended the day at noon with one 22" bass, caught on a bucktail. The fish are hitting very lightly.

[fishinmission78]

Island beach dawn patrol. It was a little windy, wind from the south, but the surf is cleaning up a bit. 3 fat bass to 24", ava and teaser.