NJ fishing reports for May 16-31, 2009

[DarkSkies]

Important when registering on our site -- use an active email address so you can activate your account to be able to post.

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.
More discussion on this:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ead.php?t=3763 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=3763)

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.






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

[DarkSkies]

Fished a bunch of places yesterday. Some of the regular ones were a slow pick, mostly bluefish, only a bass or 2 to be had. Bunker that came by were not concentrated, it was a waiting game for bait fishin, and nothing to be had plugging.

Around 4am I decided to change the plans. Hit all the rb places I know to produce, and some places out front.

Scrambling around to find a bite before sunrise, I was like a one legged man trying to get laid at the local dive bar the last 1/2 hour before closing time . :D :naughty:

I saw some fish caught and being put away, mental note to go back to that area. I ended up fishing in the front, a little rough, but the water was crystal clear. I saw tiny particles flowing by with the tide, at first I thought they were just hatched fish, the best I could describe it was "fish jizz". :laugh:

There were also a decent amount of bay anchovies in the water, although they were scattered. Birds were picking at them now and then.

One decent hit on the rubber I was throwing, otherwise :skunk: couldn't even find a bluefish to play with. The water was a little colder out front. Guys fishing during the night would be well advised to work the bottom of the water column with artificials unless you find a place where fish are feeding on rainfish or spearing. Fish are there if you work for them.

I was a little bored, so when some boats came by, I got entertained by watching a group of guys on a boat with 2 nets. They were catching sea robins, and every time they got a sea robin hit, they grabbed the huge net and netted the tiny sea robin. I would rather watch that than anything on the Comedy channel. ;) Reminded me why I am rarely out in the daytime anymore.

I stayed longer than I should have, no action other than that 1 hit, but it was an incredible morning. The fog lifted, and it was a great time to be on the water fishin. :fishing:

[finchaser]

Last 2 hours of incoming 3 bass last night to 32" on jig and rubber all still swimming.

[plugcrazy]

I fished the back side of LBI last night, whole outgoing and some of the incoming. 3 bass on clams, one was 29" and two were exactly 24" each! Also a few bluefish. Maybe my next bass will be 48"?:D Nice reports amboy sounds like you are killing them. I was out for 6 times in a row before I got these fish. And c4c, welcome to the site.:HappyWave:

[vpass]

Fished the Backside of SH From 10pm to 4:30am. I Caught a few Blues dropped afew also.The Blues were most 4 pounds. I lost a nice size Fish, maybe a bass. I was using a X-rap came back with a nice size scale on the Hook.:don't know why: Most of the fish were caught on Blurple Bomber. Horseshoe crabs were haveing an orgie with my boots.

[DarkSkies]

Horseshoe crabs were haveing an orgie with my boots.

Maybe they were just glad to see ya? :laugh: Had the same thing happen to me last week in Jamaica Bay. :don't know why:

Not much time this morning, I was trying to fish just the beginning of the flood in a RB area. Beautiful conditions as I was driving down, misty, foggy, and overcast. Later on it started raining. :heart:

Hit the sand, and waded out, covered all levels of the water column, nothing from 6:30-8am. :skunk:

[cowherder]

I fished SH last night, had some action with short bass, no keepers. I used clams, and caught some skates and sea robins also.

[clamchucker]

Island Beach until 9 today. Only one small bass on clams, it seemed a little slow. I saw 2 other shorts caught where I was, and that was it.

[amboyangler]

Just letting you guys know that the big concentration of bunker that I had caught in one spot have seemed to move deeper into the bay and into the ocean soon so get out there and catch me a 50 Pounder you out front guys

[stripermania]

I started to go out to SH but then the storm came. I decided it's better to be save then dead from lightening so I never made it out.

[LennyD]

Yesterday evening MOCO, tried bunker and clams, 1 short and skates.
Weather was crazy down there, high wind from S SE, and fog, visibility almost zero. Felt like 50F.

[finchaser]

Last night OC 4 bass to 24 to 28" on lead head and rubber tail all released

Fished with Killie who also caught fish.:clapping:

[killie]

^^^ he's the man. :)

[DarkSkies]

:clapping: I can't believe you guys got fish. Well, I believe, cause finchaser's the jigmeister. ;) I had friends who fish 7 days a week who couldn't buy a hit last night on artificials, and you guys pull in 4 bass? wtg, both of ya's. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

My report:

Fished 2-8:30am

Hit Sandy Hook for the outgoing, I had a feeling it might be productive. It was windy and I drove through sheets of rain to get there. No one else fishin when I got there. There is one other vehicle as I'm setting up to go fishin.

Guy sez: "That you Rich?"
Me: "Who the heck are you, man, how do ya know me?" :huh:

Turns out it was Monty. OK, cool, we're the only 2 idiots who decided the forecasts were wrong and go fishin out there.

We figured we would split up and cover more ground that way. I got my first fish at around 3am on a yozuri small swimmer, dropped it about 10 feet from me, never got to id the fish. I was pretty disappointed in myself. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon11.gif

Around 3:30, Monty and I met up and compared notes, he had a fish come unbuttoned as well, no other action, not even a tap. I had a backup plan of a bunker head on a conventional rod, nothing hit that either.

Around 5:30, we decided the water was dead after working all levels of the water column. I wanted to try one RB spot before we packed it in, so we checked it out.

It was ok when we got there, but the S/SE had turned N/NW and was getting stronger. No problem, I told him, we'lll just cast with our backs to the wind.

This was ok, but the 1-2' waves were building to 2-3', and the frequency/wave cycle was increasing. Wind at one time was consistently blowin around 30, with gusts 30+. I kept telling him the wind would lay down. :laugh:

THEN, we saw 2 guys at a spot into cocktail bluefish 1-3#. They were throwing into the wind, you had to really punch it out to get to where the fish were. So desperate to avoid the skunk, we frantically tried to catch some small bluefish as the waves in the bay built around us. We waded out to the point to where Monty's drytop wasn't so dry anymore, and I had 2 gallons of water in my waders.

The real action only lasted about 10minutes, and the guys, intelligent surfcasters they were, recognized this and left. We decided they were wrong, and there was still a few bluefish in the area. :learn:

So for the next 45 minutes, we showed how crazy fishermen are in pursuit of something, anything, that will allow them to go home and say they didn't get skunked! :wow::kooky::laugh:

It was futile, but we didn't wanna leave, we both felt alive casting into that slop, and getting slapped around by the waves. It was one of those moments where you questioned your sanity but felt full of adrenalin at the same time. :viking::dribble::plastered:

Finally we admited the bite was history, but Monty managed to scratch out a small bluefish on a teaser. I guess persistence pays off. :skunk: for me, though.

If anyone ever gets a chance to fish with Monty? Don't dare him to do something unless you're prepared to jump in too!:kooky:


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It was great to finally meet ya Monty, I've known ya for over a year on the internet and somehow never got a chance to fish with ya before. I don't regret not catching fish, had a great time, and my adrenalin levels were at an all time high this morning. That's fishin! :fishing:

[Monty]

Rich, that was a lot of fun. Invigorating to say the least being in that water (failing to dodge the waves most of the time).
I really enjoy fishing water that is rough like that, its challanging, but very rewarding at times.
Its fun plugging the beach, light wading (getting humped by the horseshoe crabs) like the first spot. But fishing like we did at the end is an adrenalin rush in itself:wheeeee:.
You have to admit, guessing that was you was pretty impresive (not like I ask everyone I meet on the beach "is that you Rich" :don't know why:.
Had a great time and fished hard.:thumbsup:

[finchaser]

:clapping: I can't believe you guys got fish. Well, I believe, cause finchaser's the jigmeister. ;) I had friends who fish 7 days a week who couldn't buy a hit last night on artificials, and you guys pull in 4 bass? wtg, both of ya's. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

My report:

Fished 2-8:30am

Hit Sandy Hook for the outgoing, I had a feeling it might be productive. It was windy and I drove through sheets of rain to get there. No one else fishin when I got there. There is one other vehicle as I'm setting up to go fishin.

Guy sez: "That you Rich?"
Me: "Who the heck are you, man, how do ya know me?" :huh:

Turns out it was Monty. OK, cool, we're the only 2 idiots who decided the forecasts were wrong and go fishin out there.

We figured we would split up and cover more ground that way. I got my first fish at around 3am on a yozuri small swimmer, dropped it about 10 feet from me, never got to id the fish. I was pretty disappointed in myself. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon11.gif

Around 3:30, Monty and I met up and compared notes, he had a fish come unbuttoned as well, no other action, not even a tap. I had a backup plan of a bunker head on a conventional rod, nothing hit that either.

Around 5:30, we decided the water was dead after working all levels of the water column. I wanted to try one RB spot before we packed it in, so we checked it out.

It was ok when we got there, but the S/SE had turned N/NW and was getting stronger. No problem, I told him, we'lll just cast with our backs to the wind.

This was ok, but the 1-2' waves were building to 2-3', and the frequency/wave cycle was increasing. Wind at one time was consistently blowin around 30, with gusts 30+. I kept telling him the wind would lay down. :laugh:

THEN, we saw 2 guys at a spot into cocktail bluefish 1-3#. They were throwing into the wind, you had to really punch it out to get to where the fish were. So desperate to avoid the skunk, we frantically tried to catch some small bluefish as the waves in the bay built around us. We waded out to the point to where Monty's drytop wasn't so dry anymore, and I had 2 gallons of water in my waders.

The real action only lasted about 10minutes, and the guys, intelligent surfcasters they were, recognized this and left. We decided they were wrong, and there was still a few bluefish in the area. :learn:

So for the next 45 minutes, we showed how crazy fishermen are in pursuit of something, anything, that will allow them to go home and say they didn't get skunked! :wow::kooky::laugh:

It was futile, but we didn't wanna leave, we both felt alive casting into that slop, and getting slapped around by the waves. It was one of those moments where you questioned your sanity but felt full of adrenalin at the same time. :viking::dribble::plastered:

Finally we admited the bite was history, but Monty managed to scratch out a small bluefish on a teaser. I guess persistence pays off. :skunk: for me, though.

If anyone ever gets a chance to fish with Monty? Don't dare him to do something unless you're prepared to jump in too!:kooky:

It was great to finally meet ya Monty, I've known ya for over a year on the internet and somehow never got a chance to fish with ya before. I don't regret not catching fish, had a great time, and my adrenalin levels were at an all time high this morning. That's fishin! :fishing:


Thank you for your kind words, we finished with 7 and missed some too;)

[amboyangler]

Out Back. Outgoing tide. Pre Dawn Bite. Snagged some bunker. I reel one in, live line it, get a monstrous hook up and its taking drag like never before. Can barely get a turn on it.... Fish surfaces and I see the bunker fly out of the water... Fish lost..... No problem (Sike), let me try this again... This time I'm ready... I hook the bastard 3 times to make sure he's on and its curtains after that..... Next my main man June hooks up into a nice bass on a half a bunker that was left over from a bluefish bite while reeling it in..... Caught a couple of blues as well and was a very fun morning.... Hey do you guys think my buddys bass is a hybrid? We noticed the stripes were a little weird... did not connect correctly..... here are the pics

[DarkSkies]

Rich, that was a lot of fun. Invigorating to say the least being in that water (failing to dodge the waves most of the time).

You have to admit, guessing that was you was pretty impresive (not like I ask everyone I meet on the beach "is that you Rich" :don't know why:.
Had a great time and fished hard.:thumbsup:

Your powers of deduction would impress the Amazing Kreskin. ;) Great fishin the slop with ya, gotta do it again sometime.




Hey do you guys think my buddys bass is a hybrid? We noticed the stripes were a little weird... did not connect correctly..... here are the pics

Find the bunker, lose the bunker, repeat until successful. :laugh: Gotta give you credit for persistence, man, you must have intercepted them on that migration path we talked about.

That bass isn't a hybrid, just smoked too much pot when it was smaller. ;) WTG guys, nice report. :clapping::thumbsup: I gotta say man, the most interesting thing about your report was those striped pimpin pants you're wearin. Who sez ya can't be stylin while fishin? :ROFLMAO: ;) :D

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

[captnemo]

We fished Raritan Bay Sunday, near one of the channels. Conditions were tough, only managed 1 bass 29" on bunker spoon. Nice fish AmboyAngler, I am assuming you got them from shore.

[amboyangler]

Your powers of deduction would impress the Amazing Kreskin. ;) Great fishin the slop with ya, gotta do it again sometime.





Find the bunker, lose the bunker, repeat until successful. :laugh: Gotta give you credit for persistence, man, you must have intercepted them on that migration path we talked about.

That bass isn't a hybrid, just smoked too much pot when it was smaller. ;) WTG guys, nice report. :clapping::thumbsup: I gotta say man, the most interesting thing about your report was those striped pimpin pants you're wearin. Who sez ya can't be stylin while fishin? :ROFLMAO: ;) :D


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



LOL.... I had the bib on when I was fishing but took it off for the pics.... The fish only weighted in at 18.5 # and was 36 inches...... Plus it had 3 adult bunker in its tummy, including the 1 that he swallowed before I hooked him..... I finally felt what a bigger fish feels like before I caught this one Rich... I was scared man..... Never felt anything like that before.... Drag was screaming and could not get a turn on it..... I'll be ready next time and set the hook deep.... Damn I thought I had it... Probably would have spooled me though.... who knows..... anyway this fish left a pleasant surprise on my jacket when I threw it over my back.... I think it was a male: :naughty:

[storminsteve]

LOL.... I had the bib on when I was fishing but took it off for the pics.... The fish only weighted in at 18.5 # and was 36 inches...... Plus it had 3 adult bunker in its tummy, including the 1 that he swallowed before I hooked him..... I finally felt what a bigger fish feels like before I caught this one Rich... I was scared man..... Never felt anything like that before.... Drag was screaming and could not get a turn on it..... I'll be ready next time and set the hook deep.... Damn I thought I had it... Probably would have spooled me though.... who knows..... anyway this fish left a pleasant surprise on my jacket when I threw it over my back.... I think it was a male: :naughty:

It shows how nutty we fishermen are that we would proudly display that like a badge of honor.:kooky: No wonder our wives and girlfriends don't get it.:eek: Nice fish AA, I fished the Hook yesterday afternoon, total 2 short bass, 3 skates, and 4 sea robins, all on clams. I think I hit the trifecta!;)

[amboyangler]

Definitely the Trifecta... you guys should be getting some bigger bass soon..maybe another week if that... bunker are heading down there very quickly.. trust me.. .I spent 12 hours looking for them today

[amboyangler]

We fished Raritan Bay Sunday, near one of the channels. Conditions were tough, only managed 1 bass 29" on bunker spoon. Nice fish AmboyAngler, I am assuming you got them from shore.

Thanks. Yup all of my fish are always from shore... I get seasick :upck:

[gjb1969]

congrats guys atleast u guys got some fish:clapping::HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Hit the last hour of outgoing OC last night with my girlfriend. I wanted to take her somewhere else, but she wanted to see the waves and fish a bit. Threw jigs and mid level swimmers, nothing for us. Sunset was amazing. :thumbsup:

[cowherder]

I went to the ocean last night, moco. White and lime green storm shads, nada.

[katiefishes]

Went to SH got:skunk: . I must be doing something wrong!

[DarkSkies]

Last night, all over. Hit the bay first, tried with 5 other guys for the magic prize on the flats before sunset. ;) We casted everything we had for about 2 hours, not a tap. Hit a few other spots, water was cold.

Finally found a place where they were eating bunker chunks. Here's Freddy. :HappyWave: I met him last night as he caught the biggest bass of his life 42" and around 27#. Bite died after that, tried to salvage it at a reliable spot, nothing working all levels of the water column with artificials. Water temps really dropped in the last few days.

Katie, when the water is colder like this, you're better off using bait. I would say clams will catch everything under the sun, but now is the time to be fishing bunker.

If you're fishing artificials, you want to be fishing the bottom half of the water column when the water is cold. If the bottom isn't weedy where you are, try bucktails wiht porkrind, 1/2 to 1 oz depending on the tide and current. You could also try Storm shads, or just a lead head, 1/2 to 1 oz, with a rubber shad, or small profile white rubber tail, pink zoom or fin-S, or some small profile rubber.

The key is to keep that presentation on the bottom, drag it along, and twitch every now and then. When the water temps go down, that's where the fish are sitting. Don't be afraid to lose a few bucktails or jigs, you will if you're getting down to where they live. Hope this helps.



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[clamchucker]

I fished Island Beach yesterday on the incoming and got 3 bass on clams. I was using a high low rig with smaller pieces. The biggest bass was 30", the others were shorts. I also fished early this morning before sunrise, one bass 24", and a few skates. Bunker are offshore but too far to reach.

[surferman]

Went to moco early this morning. I got a few bumps and that's it.

[LennyD]

yesterday evening drove down to the beach, SH - MOCO. Right away spotted birds diving into water, watch them for a while, they moved south slowly, they were 100's of yards out, drove ahead then i stopped at another location, no birds, but fish was splashing water, blues , seen guys catching some monster blues, hooked up a fish then i lost it in battle.
stayed there for an Hr, fish was still there, a little bit out of reach.
Next time i'll take my kayak out there.
Ocean starts to heat up slowly.

[DarkSkies]

Yeah Lenny the ocean does heat up slowly. A friend gave me the reading this morning off Ambrose of 56deg. Once it hits 60 the action will be crAzy! In the meantime, try to fish as much as you can.

I fished out front last night 8p-2a. The word must have got out that a few fish came through, it was like an armada, about 100 guys in a 4 mile stretch. I hope most of these guys are remembering what happened last year with some of the closures and parking restrictions. It's real easy for the town to close another street with a few no parking signs. :learn:

Except for a 1/2 hour report of some decent fish early in the day, most of the winners yesterday were the guys on the boats. That was enough to drive traffic and crowd things up a bit. No one was catching at a few of the usual places I stopped at. Decided to set up at one area fishing a metal lipped swimmer. It was the bottomof the outgoing, nothing after 3 hours of plugging.

The wind was funny too, shifting from SE to SW. With the SE, it was in the low 50's. With the SW shift, you would get a blast of 60+ air, kinda cool.

Then I hit an inside spot where there was some bait from 11-2. 2nd cast was a 5 lb bluefish on the metal lip. Should have brought teaser rigs with all the spearing around, next time I will. Even the bluefish were spooky, or light hitters, as I had to work 2 hours for the next hit, a very light tap from a bluefish. There were some bass caught, (none for me) maybe 2 or 3, but the action was mostly bluefish.

I think with the colder water I'll be bunker fishin the next few nights, with plugging thrown in because I can't sit still for more than an hour. ;)

After a few hours sleep, I finished off the night by throwing metal lip swimmers, megabaits, mambo minnows, redfins, bombers, and rubber shads back at the previous spot from 5-6:30 am. I did see a nice pod of bunker, it was too happy to suit me. They were so happy if they could sing, they would be singing "Joy to the World!" :D Beautiful sunrise, I hope someone gets into em while I have to work today, back at 'em tonight.

[hookedonbass]

Got a couple of small skates last night at SH, nothing else though.

[cowherder]

I fished Sandy Hook this morning, 2 small blues on a pencil popper. I hope we get some striped bass coming through this weekend, I'm hungry for bass! :heart:

[fishinmission78]

ibsp in the morning, 2 small bass to 26", fresh clams.

"Yeah Lenny the ocean does heat up slowly. A friend gave me the reading this morning off Ambrose of 56deg." Dark the ocean is cold, I don't know if it was even 56 this morning, the south wind put a chill on things. Bunker were offshore, peaceful, like you mentioned.

[storminsteve]

. I did see a nice pod of bunker, it was too happy to suit me. They were so happy if they could sing, they would be singing "Joy to the World!" :D Beautiful sunrise, I hope someone gets into em while I have to work today, back at 'em tonight.

Well, maybe you should have sang to them dark, and your prayers would be answered!:lookhappy::wheeeee:

I fished raritan bay in the back before work, only one loneley bluefish on fresh bunker. Looks like it's time to hit the beach! Any bikini reports from the front, or has it been too cold?

[voyager35]

It's not too cold for the bass guys. We had them for 2 hours yesterday, snag and drop bunker, off of nomonmouth county. We ended up with 2 bass on a friend's boat, 20 and 26#. When I cleaned them, they had porgies, bunker, and sandeels in their bellies. Good luck, I hope they come in for you.

[wish4fish]

got one bass tonite 32" released, and some monster blues that were fun, waaay in the back, big river, bombers

[fishinmission78]

Great action at Island beach today 5 keepers to 38", pencil poppers when the bunker came in. I kept the smallest, 29". A day to remember.:fishing:

[clamchucker]

The migratory fish have arrived. They came in for an hour at the end of the day at IBSP yesterday for a lucky few of us. I chased them around until I got into them. 6 nice bass, the biggest was 45", all released. Pencil poppers were the ticket, although some were snagging and livelining bunker. I got them at 2 locations.

[cowherder]

Wow guys sounds like you are really into them! Grats on the nice fish, and even more on the release! I am trying to get off early so I can get down there, save some for me!:clapping::dribble:

[DarkSkies]

wtg, Fishinmission and Clamchucker, nice fishin! Good mojo for the release. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[plugcrazy]

:thumbsup: great news guys, remember that bunker makes everyone a bass fisherman.;)

[storminsteve]

:thumbsup: great news guys, remember that bunker makes everyone a bass fisherman.;)

Congtatulations on the nice fish, fellas. I fished last night with bunker and all I got was one bluefish. Does that count? I would be happy to get one of those big bass by snagging bunker. There is no one I know who gets 40 pound fish on a regular basis without some kind of big bunker being around, so give me that bunker anytime.:wheeeee:

[7deadlyplugs]

I fished the back side of LBI last night, whole outgoing and some of the incoming. 3 bass on clams, one was 29" and two were exactly 24" each! Also a few bluefish. Maybe my next bass will be 48"?:D Nice reports amboy sounds like you are killing them. I was out for 6 times in a row before I got these fish. And c4c, welcome to the site.:HappyWave:


I guess plugs aren't working yet? I was visiting friends and fished the front side of LBI last night from 6 to 10 and hit up a school of small bluefish, 3 fish around 16' on metal. I got nothing on the plugs, I used bombers and some topwater plugs.

[wish4fish]

cool on the fish dudes, hope they stay around for awhile:clapping:

[surfwalker]

Some good reports there, good times. On the walk at 3:30 this morning, out front, not a tap on plugs in the dark. Sunup- one downtown blue on a popper, then a bunch of small blues the rest of the morning on metal. Saw two pods of bunker pass through, little out of casting distance, danced the pencil, no takers.

Happy Trails

[finchaser]

Fish are very tight lipped with the south winds dropping water temp from 58 on Wednesday to 47 tonight

tons of bunker very few fish

A few charter boats that go to Cape May for the spring run at the rips said it was the worst year in 10 years. They feel the bass are on the decline, as this year was worse than last which was not all that great.:(

[LennyD]

Fished MOCO this evening, first 2 stops, no action, no bunker no fish.
Moved away, another location, tons of bunker, snagged a few and dropped them, nothing under them.
Tomorrow is an other day!

[amboyangler]

When LiveLining doesnt work, try cutting that bunker up into small chunks (an inch to an inch and a half wide)... sometimes the easier meal gets the fish :thumbsup:

[basshunter]

When out to SH late last night went home empty handed.

[DarkSkies]

You're not the only one basshunter. We hit some spots late last night until 6:30am, fished the front, water was cold, only skates on the bait, and no taps on the plugs, metal lip swimmers, bucktails, shads, and some others.

Beautiful sunrise, million dollar views.:heart:

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bunker were around, but again they were peaceful.

Happy Happy bunker. They won't be too happy when they're dinner for the cows very soon. :rolleyes:

[cowherder]

I went to Sandy Hook this morning, 2 bluefish on a gator spoon, the biggest was about 4 pounds. I saw a few fluke, skates, and robins, caught, no bass.

[amboyangler]

Out Front Last Night for the first time this year... Plugging Till Dawn... El Skunko..... Headed back to the Bay for some Fluke action in the morning..... Double Skunk.... My buddy June was able to avoid the skunk with a skate out front and a keeper fluke out back (18.5 inches)... as we got to the fluke spot, we saw the game warden bust some guy taking a short fluke to his car...... glad to see them out more.... had a nice lil convo with him and told him I was glad to see him around these parts :D

[jigfreak]

NoMoCo got one at 26" but nothing else. I'll be out again tonight.

[vpass]

A Late Report, Fished Friday the 22Nd. Fished from 9:30pm to 1:30am NoMoCO. Had Bunker in front of me all night. Swam a few Nothing. I was snagging them accidently with a bomber. At 12:00am I had 2 bass on one after the other. Only landed 1 at 30 inches on black Bomber. It was a peaceful night, Glad I didn't get the :skunk:. Heading out tonight sometime after Midnight.

[DarkSkies]

Vpass, wtg on the bass. :thumbsup:The places I have been hitting up, it seems like they hit in spurts, guys will get 2 or 3, and then it's dead for another hour or 2 before the next.




Hit up a few places in the back last night. 10-4am. The fog was incredible, it reminded me of that movie "The Mist". It filled in all the clear lines, and people 200 feet away looked like they were part of a dream sequence, very cool.

I started out fishin with a friend, he got a small bass on a sandworm. Believe it or not those things work year round. We were in deeper water, so jigging the bottom was the way to catch. I got blanked using shads and bucktails, and decided to hit another place when he went home.

I was fully prepared to catch fish with bait last night. I knew that water was colder and said I wasn't leavin till I got one fish! :D I had fresh clams, friend gave me some fresh bunker, :HappyWave:and I had live and dead eels.

Went to a place in the back that had warmer water, and current. Decided to start plugging as I waited for the tide to fill in. Throwing a metal lipped Ace Baits swimmer and retrieving painfully slow, I got a tap on the 3rd cast. I was psyched as I thought "Yes! there are fish here!" but didn't get a touch again till the 75th cast.

Set the hook and it was a nice little ride to have a fish pull some drag. Got her in, quick measure and weigh, healthy 38" and 20# on the hand scale. A guy nearby took my pic, I'll post it when I get a chance.

6774

6775



I really like the Ace swimmer, called a surf pig. I have been switching back and forth a bigger Creek chub pikie, and the Ace metal lip. I originally preferred the Creek chub because it's heavier (maybe 4 oz)and can cast farther, but they don't hold up very long, the finish cracks and they need to be re-sealed after a few uses. What's up with that? :don't know why:

So I have been using the Ace surf pig more and more. I have them for sale here, but unlike the medic super spook which I use a lot, I didn't use this surf pig much, and was hesitant to promote it. I wasn't familiar with the action and the durability.

Now that I have been swimming it for awhile, I like it, and the waggle. :thumbsup: I think the waggle of the plug sometimes makes a big difference in the darkness of night, that's why I'm dying to try some of Rip-plugger's next, you need something that will move enticingly in deep current.

Since it was a little slow, I said I would go home an hour after that. Got one more light tap right before I was ready to leave, but no hookup, which extended my "last cast" time by another 1/2 hour. :rolleyes: Fish seemed to be very sluggish, the 20 hit the same way.

It was nice to finally get a quality fish, one that didn't come from a bunker or bait blitz.There was no visible bait in the water where I was, I worked my azz off for that fish. I kissed her and put her back on her way. Great night! :lookhappy: :wheeeee:

[stripermania]

Wow great report DarkSkies, felt like I was there!:fishing: I went to Sandy Hook this morning and got 3 bluefish on an Ava jig and green tail.

[wish4fish]

fish blew up on bunker moco this morning. bunker were pushed in for about 1/2 hour, i got 2 bass 32" and 36" on pencils, let em go after dragging them in, then the action died.

[LennyD]

Excellent report Rich, im happy for you, cant wait to see the pix.

[amboyangler]

Vpass, wtg on the bass. :thumbsup:The places I have been hitting up, it seems like they hit in spurts, guys will get 2 or 3, and then it's dead for another hour or 2 before the next.




Hit up a few places in the back last night. 10-4am. The fog was incredible, it reminded me of that movie "The Mist". It filled in all the clear lines, and people 200 feet away looked like they were part of a dream sequence, very cool.

I started out fishin with a friend, he got a small bass on a sandworm. Believe it or not those things work year round. We were in deeper water, so jigging the bottom was the way to catch. I got blanked using shads and bucktails, and decided to hit another place when he went home.

I was fully prepared to catch fish with bait last night. I knew that water was colder and said I wasn't leavin till I got one fish! :D I had fresh clams, friend gave me some fresh bunker, :HappyWave:and I had live and dead eels.

Went to a place in the back that had warmer water, and current. Decided to start plugging as I waited for the tide to fill in. Throwing a metal lipped Ace Baits swimmer and retrieving painfully slow, I got a tap on the 3rd cast. I was psyched as I thought "Yes! there are fish here!" but didn't get a touch again till the 75th cast.

Set the hook and it was a nice little ride to have a fish pull some drag. Got her in, quick measure and weigh, healthy 38" and 20# on the hand scale. A guy nearby took my pic, I'll post it when I get a chance.

I really like the Ace swimmer, called a surf pig. I have been switching back and forth a bigger Creek chub pikie, and the Ace metal lip. I originally preferred the Creek chub because it's heavier (maybe 4 oz)and can cast farther, but they don't hold up very long, the finish cracks and they need to be re-sealed after a few uses. What's up with that? :don't know why:

So I have been using the Ace surf pig more and more. I have them for sale here, but unlike the medic super spook which I use a lot, I didn't use this surf pig much, and was hesitant to promote it. I wasn't familiar with the action and the durability.

Now that I have been swimming it for awhile, I like it, and the waggle. :thumbsup: I think the waggle of the plug sometimes makes a big difference in the darkness of night, that's why I'm dying to try some of Rip-plugger's next, you need something that will move enticingly in deep current.

Since it was a little slow, I said I would go home an hour after that. Got one more light tap right before I was ready to leave, but no hookup, which extended my "last cast" time by another 1/2 hour. :rolleyes: Fish seemed to be very sluggish, the 20 hit the same way.

It was nice to finally get a quality fish, one that didn't come from a bunker or bait blitz.There was no visible bait in the water where I was, I worked my azz off for that fish. I kissed her and put her back on her way. Great night! :lookhappy: :wheeeee:



Way to go RICH !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you catch it on the new rod? Wish I was there man.... I'm in Allentown PA right now at my girls sisters house at a BBQ..... Good to know they are hitting the plugs... especially out back.... I think my addiction is going to take another turn soon :dribble:

[Monty]

Rich, great report and real nice fish. Gotta like getting the fish on the plug, you earned that one big time. Congrats!!





It was nice to finally get a quality fish, one that didn't come from a bunker or bait blitz.There was no visible bait in the water where I was, I worked my azz off for that fish. I kissed her and put her back on her way. Great night! :lookhappy: :wheeeee:

[storminsteve]

I fished ocean county this morning, clams, a little above IBSP. One bass 26", 2 skates, 1 dogfish. Beautiful morning, a litle misty but then the mist went away. Great reports guys, looks like I should start plugging.:clapping:

[c4charlie]

In the back last night with plugs/lures/teasers. Got three bass to 24-28", 2 on a teaser and one on a 5" mambo minnow. It was dark and foggy but if I remember correctly, the color of the mambo was pink.

Friend of mine that I was fishing with gave me the teaser to use for the night, it worked well. He caught a nice healthy 34" bass.

All fish are still swimming. Need to go back out front. Recuperating tonight from lack of sleep and also took my kids freshwater fishing all day long. Good Times! :)

[Monty]

Picked up two bass on Jrodscustomtackle metal 4 oz bunker. Real long casts needed (more than likely the longest casts of my life). Largest was 41" 25 pounds (it inhaled the lure). Great fights. Monmouth County ocean side. Fished from 1:00 AM to 6:30 AM.

Pics are here:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?p=19131#post19131

[surfwalker]

Nice fish Monty. I plugged the front last night, in the rain, in between the lightning- the fish are safe from me.

[DarkSkies]

WTG on the fish guys! They might not be there all the time, but they're there if you put your time in. You can chase the bunker during the day, or strategically target where they're likely to be at night, and get them one at a time. It's all good, congrats! :clapping:

I took my girlfriend out last night, 9p-2am. We waited out the storm. Some guys had a slow pick at the end of the day on pencils before the rain. I figured after it ended, it would be magic again, but it wasn't. Threw metal lip swimmers and bombers for the outgoing. It just wasn't happening last night where we were, that's fishin. :fishing:

[gjb1969]

:clapping::HappyWave::fishing:way to go guys

[vpass]

Fished NoMoCO from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. I got the Big :skunk:. I could smell the Bunker, but couldn't see them. Casted Pencils, Poppers, school bus Bomber, and Shads. Water felt Cold. Wind was out of the South switching to Southeast.

[Monty]

Fished ocean side NoMoCo sunday 5:30 to 8:30. Could not get a hit. Nice sunrise. Anyone know why the boats must run up and down the coast so close to the beach (could have his a few with a cast)..

[DarkSkies]

Anyone know why the boats must run up and down the coast so close to the beach (could have his a few with a cast)..

I 'm not sure what all the reasons are Monty, but it seems to me a general lack of manners or concern for your fellow man, whether you're in a boat or on the beach. A lot of people today don't feel a need to be responsible, and they're semi-anonymous in the dark. Why bother being nice or considerate toward your fellow fishermen, that's too much trouble. :rolleyes:

(Plus, it was worse down South. A friend was at IBSP, this was his rant. I agree with it. So many times I have seen newly minted boat owners drive right on top of the pods, putting them down) :kooky:

"There was good bunker action in the AM then it slowed as the boats formed their own picket fences and put them down. For the life of me, I cant understand how a guy who can afford a $150,000 Regulator is too stupid to stop from driving over what he bought the damn thing for."

I know there are a lot of good, considerate sportsmen and women out there, it just appears that the inconsiderate ones seem to stand out in our minds.




Fished moco 4-10pm yesterday with my girlfriend, the whole stage of the incoming. There were acres of bunker in places, no fish on em. Finally found a few pods that were close in and had bass under. They were from 100' to 500' feet out, pretty decent sized pods.

It was still a slow pick, we only saw 2 bass caught as we maneuvered to position. Bite was short lived, so we hit a few other places. Ended up at a decent place where fish were caught 2x that day. 5 minutes at a time. :D

I felt there would be bass there at the end of the day, so we blind casted evrything in the bag. She finally had some success near slack tide, beginning of outgoing, with the Ace metal lip swimmer. 2 hits that came unbuttoned. I only had the one with me so I let her use it. I was using the big Creek chub pikie metal lip, nothing on that one.

I think part of her success is that as I was watching her retrieve, she was moving the handle xtremely slow, maybe an inch at a time. Women are more patient sometimes, they have the right touch. Whatever it was, those fish either weren't hungry at night, or were very sluggish, as the hits she got were only very light taps.

Beautiful sunset, I still feel it's worth it to plug at night and avoid the crowds. A few more degree rise in the ocean temps, and the night bite will be more consistent.

[Monty]

Nice that you found some action. I could not get anything under the bunker I was around.
I stoped short of typing my boat rant.





I 'm not sure what all the reasons are Monty, but it seems to me a general lack of manners or concern for your fellow man, whether you're in a boat or on the beach.

[c4charlie]

I worked my *** off last night jetty hopping out front from 9-2am with not even a tap using everything in the bag from bucktails to big swimmers, topwater to subsurface. Was able to get to the tips of most of the jetties. Ton of white water, good current, looked real good but could not buy a hit.

Wondering where those big fish go at night.:huh:

Nice to be out front again in some of my old spots. Had all the jetties to myself.

[GeoffT]

They're resting, happily engorged with all the 2-pound candy they could want during the day. :)

[fishinmission78]

I took a ride out front, ocean county. Big surf, decided to pass. A friend said he couldn't hold with 10oz. The fish are there fellas, a day or so and it will be on again.

[voyager35]

We had a good weekend, basically Seaside Heights and south. We found bass under bunker early on, at one point it was great lock and load fishing on live bunker. We caught 20 bass between 3 of us, released 17, kept 3 around 15# each. I think the biggest one was around 35#, we tried to release them as quickly as possible. All this took place in about 30' of water.

[clamchucker]

I worked my *** off last night jetty hopping out front from 9-2am with not even a tap using everything in the bag from bucktails to big swimmers, topwater to subsurface. Was able to get to the tips of most of the jetties. Ton of white water, good current, looked real good but could not buy a hit.

Wondering where those big fish go at night.:huh:

Nice to be out front again in some of my old spots. Had all the jetties to myself.


c4charlie, do not get discouraged. The fish are there every day now. Some are migrating, and some are holding. The water is still a little cold and that is why we are having better success in the daytime as the nearshore water temperatures heat up on a sunny day. Keep at it and you will get that big bass. I fished for an hour this morning, as I had some errands to run. Small yozuri swimmers in the back of ocean county. One bass 24". There are a lot of smaller baitfish around, spearing and rainbait. Do not be afraid to try smaller plugs when you get the chance.

[wish4fish]

just got in from fishing the back, had to get out there, sloppy and windy:skunk:

[buckethead]

Nomoco, one 26" bass on a bomber.

[amboyangler]

Thought I'd hit the back and skip the front last night because of the east winds... No bait in site, luckily I had some fresh Bunker sitting on ice.... Fished from 12 AM to 7 AM caught the outgoing and most of the incoming... did not get one bite till false dawn.... reeled in a 34 that I released as I promised I would...... Hooked right on the lip... damn I love Gamakatsu ..

About 20 minutes later... Hook into a 29 incher and I decided to keep him... he was perfect for the table.... My portuguese girlfriends mom is seasoning it up as we speak...... Also caught 3 gator blues within a 15 minute span.... Thank God I was using those hooks and they were right on the lip because I was not using steel leader but 50 # Fluoro..... anyway this is what the little guy had in his tummy..... this is like the 4th fish I catch since last year that has had these big Mantis Shrimp in them.... gotta find someone who sells these live so I can use them as bait.... either way a fun night.. or should I say morning..... Glad I brought my rain gear out.... Won't be able to get out front till Saturday and try to get a chance at one of those monsters.. hopefully they will still be in the area :drool:

[gjb1969]

:clapping::clapping::clapping:way to go man this is your year dude go do your thing:fishing:

[c4charlie]

c4charlie, do not get discouraged. The fish are there every day now. Some are migrating, and some are holding. The water is still a little cold and that is why we are having better success in the daytime as the nearshore water temperatures heat up on a sunny day. Keep at it and you will get that big bass. I fished for an hour this morning, as I had some errands to run. Small yozuri swimmers in the back of ocean county. One bass 24". There are a lot of smaller baitfish around, spearing and rainbait. Do not be afraid to try smaller plugs when you get the chance.

I am not one to get discouraged. I am usually one of those last guys remaining on the jetties when the saltwater is changing to frost as it splashes up on my gear just looking for that last fish of the year. I have had many nights fishing with Darkskies hitting more spots than I can remember on any single night and then asking if are ready to take the long walk at SH.

I have seen a lot of the smaller baitfish around as well. Most of my stripers so far this year have come on smaller plugs and bucktails.

[DarkSkies]

WTG Amboy, persistence pays off. Those mantis shrimp are nasty looking creatures, but the bass love em, great beginning and end of season when the bunker aren't in every place, keeps the fish around.


I had a marathon night last night that almost resulted in skunkville, but I pulled a hat trick at the last hour. Fished 9pm-6am in the back.

I bundled up like a kid in the winter snow, was glad I could find the thermals. I spent hours standing in the water with my breathables. It was a little cold, felt like fishin in March. The layers made it bearable.


Made a mental note that the guy who designs breathable waders with a waterproof zipper for guys over 40 to take a leak out of will be a millionaire. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.gif :laugh:

The winds were brisk when I set out, didn't let up till 4am, steady 15-20. I had a spot I wanted to work. I tried to, but the wind made it difficult, so I settled for fishin an area of a lot of current. The current was strong with the approaching new moon, I could feel it almost until slack.

Worked the last of the flood, and the whole ebb tide. Presented offerings top to bottom. I saw hundreds of spearing coming by at a time, so I realized I needed to keep it small. Unfortunately, there were no fish on them, no fish popping, very unproductive water while I was there. I thought about leaving, but the bait kept me there. I kept plugging away with small plugs and a teaser.

Finally at 3am I raised a decent fish which broke water about 5 feet away from me as it hit either the teaser or the small crystal minnow I was using. That was the best I could manage, made me jump a little in the darkness.

A little frustrated, I decided to hit another place, moving current, at 5am. Fished that till 6. no signs of bait or fish present, water was cold there as well. I know the place, and how to present, so I cast out to where the fish usually sit. Believe it or not, it was difficult to entice the fish that were there, they were picky! :don't know why:

I finally hit a presentation of using a jointed metal lip swimmer. The metal lip and other swimmers I was using got me nowhere, even my deadly Ace squid with the rubber skirt got no hits. The side to side action of the jointed metal lip swimmer started getting me hits.

I landed and quick released 5 bluefish in the next hour, 6-9#. Not much, but it saved the night, and I know I can go back to them when I have a bad night elsewhere.

That new moon current is strong, guys, be careful.

[finchaser]

Killie fished with us last night and landed a 15# weakfish, we also had bass and small blues.
all on lead heads and rubber mullet

[chas527]

fished s.h. this morning got 6 bass 2 keepers one 28 1/2 and one 33. that;s 16 for the spring. all off the surf. best spring i ever had. all on clams one on bunker but that one 20lbs.

[hookset]

fished s.h. this morning got 6 bass 2 keepers one 28 1/2 and one 33. that;s 16 for the spring. all off the surf. best spring i ever had. all on clams one on bunker but that one 20lbs.

Wow, you seem to be pretty consistent catching bass. Good Job! Incoming or outgoing?

[gjb1969]

:clapping::thumbsup::plastered::thumbsup::plastere d: way to go guys

[finchaser]

way to go AMboy:clapping::plastered:

[surferman]

Fished OC in the back last night I had a bumps and caught one short.

[amboyangler]

Fished from a pier out back last night with very very fresh clams :thumbsup:
5 Minutes into the first cast my buddy hooks up and as I'm watching him reel it in, my bait runner goes off... Fish on... My buddy ends up losing his fish right at the surface.... I see mine is a smaller fish, tighten my drag, hold the base of the top piece of the rod and swing that sucker over... damn thats some good line... thanks for the recommendation G.... 17 # Sufix Tritanium Mono.... anyway the fish is gut hooked and I'm here almost crying thinking about what should I do... Ended up cutting the leader as close to the hook as possible... Measure the fish real quick, its a 28 1/2 but I take it away very quick and yell out 27 just to not get questioned as to why I released it.... Kiss it on the head and send it on its way..... If you catch a 30 pounder in the very far future with a 10/0 Gamakatsu and steel leader in his throat, chances are its my fish :D ..... I put on another rig this time with a smaller Gamakatsu Baitholder hook.... Cast a humongous clam out, bam another one is hooked... This one was fighting weird, shaking its head alot..... I was hoping it was a weakie but once again, a bass small enough to swing over the pier... this one was actually 27 inches..... this time hooked right on the lip... actually off a little tiny thread of the lip.. aweseome, give him a kiss, slime all over my lips, send him on his way....... Both fish were caught at the very end of the incoming and not a bump after that.... Actually no, my friend also caught a horshoe crab somehow on his hook.. it was a ***** trying to get it off..... Rich, G.... hope you guys got into some action last night..... After work tonight I'm definitely gonna hit it hard.. I'm off tomorrow.... planning on chunking bunker tonight and tomorrow morning plugging out front.... let me know the gameplan.... take care...

[gjb1969]

well we fished hard last night went to the hook last night and a few other spots with some nice fresh clams to first long cast i got small bumps right off the bat rich pluged hard but no takers my buddy hank cast out he also got bumps right away he hook up with a small fluke 16 inch set free to bite another day took the long hike out to fish way in the back of the river it was just abought time to go home when rich puts on a big jointed swimmer cast out he get a nice size fish to give chase but no hook up so he pumped now he gose back out this time two fish give chase so guys the bass are still out there u just have to work hard rich u will get next time dude man i did not want to go rain or no rain well its allmost time to go back out and use the rest of the clams i will hit u up later tight lines and good fishin to all:fishing::fishing:

[Monty]

Amboyangler,
Whats with you and Rich and the bass?:heart:
Not that theres anything wrong with it.......
New Stripers and Anglers release procedure?


yell out 27 just to not get questioned as to why I released it.... Kiss it on the head and send it on its way.....
... this one was actually 27 inches..... this time hooked right on the lip... actually off a little tiny thread of the lip.. aweseome, give him a kiss, slime all over my lips, send him on his way....... ...

[DarkSkies]

G I'm glad you wrote that report I was too shot this morning after the marathon last night. Fish are around, but we had to drive all over the place to find some.

Just wanted to add that I fished with G and part of his crew, we fished hard, and even made it to the ocean to fish the 6 footers breaking for dawn. It was awesome surf, if the bass were there we would have slayed them. :plastered:

Every good fisherman strives to become better with each trip, and learn from his mistakes. The mistake I made last night was not recognizing the small bait pattern. On a previous visit I found hundreds of spearing at a time, last night the menu was sandeels and nice size grass shrimp.

I was too lazy to bring the right teasers, the one I was using the other night was more of a bucktail peanut bunker-size teaser. That's probably the one that raised the fish close to me the other night. The way I could have done better was to bring teasers that matched the sandeel or grass shrimp profile. Next time.

The bait was more scattered last night with the rough weather, but it was around. It was especially cool to see the sandeels come in and out of the wash, and swim by to investigate you.

The water is warming up, still a little cold, bait fishin is your best bet. A fly fisherman could have done well last night. The wind wasn't that bad, but the swells were a little hairy. Especially the one that broke over G's back. :kooky:

6792

6793

These are hardcore guys, never once complained about the rough water, the rain that came down in sheets after dawn, or the futility of plugging for bass that we saw (3 in a row) that we could see the profiles of, but would only chase and not hit the plug.

Highlight of the trip was on the way back, I was too tired to drive. So I drank 3 cups of coffee, and the nutcases kept me entertained as we talked about our most embarassing stories. :eek: Something only guys can relate to, the more disgusting the better. :laugh:

These are guys who would take the train down to PP and fish for 2 days, they fish hard whether they got transportation or not. The fish are active, and they want to be in on the action, no matter how hard it is to get down there. I'll fish with you guys anytime, I had a blast! :thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Amboyangler,
Whats with you and Rich and the bass?:heart:
Not that theres anything wrong with it.......
New Stripers and Anglers release procedure?

Monty, after some of the disgusting stories we talk about when we ain't fishin, kissing a bass is no big deal. How many times can one talk about "2 girls one cup" in detail before it beomes obsessive? That one always cracks me up. :D :kooky:

[porgy75]

Went to nomoco last night. Not a keeper but got a short and two skates.

[DarkSkies]

Fished the ocean 5-6:30 am today. Threw metal lip and jointed swimmers before sunrise, and then alternated between pencils and some slow swimmers after.

A school of bunker came close to where we were, in the beginning it was me, a bait fisherman, and one other guy. Other guy snags a bunker, and within 10 secs of landing it hes on the cell phone to his buddies telling them to "come on down the fish are here!"

I guess everyone falls into this temptation from time to time, but it's a different world out there once it's daylight. You meet someone at 3-5am, they might say what's up, or at least nod. :HappyWave:

In the daytime, one second you're fishin with a few people, a coupla minutes later, there are 3 guys to your left, none of whom bothered to say hello, they just come up and start casting over your line, no apology necessary. :2flip: :beatin:

I don't want to say anymore, I just put up a post about resentments in the BillW thread. Stuff like this reinforces why I like to be out at night, and fish less on the weekends. Unfortunately, for the next few weeks, if any surf guys want a 40 or 50... snag n drop, or pencils during a bunker blitz, is one of the prime ways of gettin one. So I'll put up with it, and battle the battles. Become one of the Vikings, as the OFFC calls em. ;) :viking::kicknuts::lynchmob: :bonk: :plastered:

I much prefer night fishin, one nice bass at a time, though. :D

There weren't that many bass under the bunker, so no one hooked up snagging and dropping. They moved out further so they were just beyond our reach.

As for the conditions, the W wind has calmed down the swells considerably. The ocean is very clear and clean, enough to bring dolphins and whales around. And there are acres of bunker once more, with about 10% of them holding feeding fish. Good fishin ahead! :fishing:


6794

6795

[storminsteve]

Fished SH this am with clams on a hi lo rig. I got 2 bass to 25", and 7 skates. Bunker were all over, but I didn't see anyone hook up or fish under them.:don't know why:

"Killie fished with us last night and landed a 15# weakfish, we also had bass and small blues.
all on lead heads and rubber mullet " :clapping::clapping::clapping: A 15 lb weakie is outstanding! I didn't know they were still around. Grats on that great catch!

[gjb1969]

well rich u can come out and fish with me in the day i dont have any problems with people they move out of my way because i give them the angry black man look and they move :ROFLMAO:

[surfwalker]

Was out a few times this week, out front-few shorts/few small blues. Was on the walk this morning at 3:30-not a tap in the dark. Sunup and the water started to sparkle with foot long bunker, no predators actively showing. Picked up some downtown blues live lineing until they were engulfing my snag hooks. Went back to poppers and picked up a short Bass and some keepers on the outskirts of the bunker.

Congrats on that 15lb. weakie, that's an impressive fish.

gjb1969- I usually act a little wacky when I start to get mugged, matter of fact sometimes I don't have to act, it just come natural. Try casting paralel to the beach and when you snag some lines, just yell "First cuts", with knife in mouth and growl, it's fun.

[storminsteve]

well rich u can come out and fish with me in the day i dont have any problems with people they move out of my way because i give them the angry black man look and they move :ROFLMAO:



gjb1969- I usually act a little wacky when I start to get mugged, matter of fact sometimes I don't have to act, it just come natural. Try casting paralel to the beach and when you snag some lines, just yell "First cuts", with knife in mouth and growl, it's fun.:ROFLMAO: :kooky:

like this?
you guys should bring Mike Tyson fishing with you, no more problems. :D
97rik4BxSWc

maybe tie the guy's line to a rock or piece of rebar?
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[cowherder]

A fishing trip with Mike Tyson? What would he do, bite the head off of a bluefish? Or have gay sex with any guy who crossed your line? No thanks, I don't need that much drama in my life.:D I fished OC this morning, clams and bunker. I got a huge skate on the clam pole and one small bass about 22". Dogfish on the bunker. All I was missing was a sea robin.

[lostatsea]

SH, used clams caught one skate. Had one bump but nothing more. Was out from 11:00pm to 4:00am.

[LennyD]

Yesterday i hit jetties in MOCO, bunker everywhere, no fish on them. Sometimes they got scared but then inexperienced boaters run them over,
i dont know why these people even fish from the boat, they always run through bunker pods.
So anyway i ended up with no fish....again.

[DarkSkies]

, bunker everywhere, no fish on them. Sometimes they got scared but then inexperienced boaters run them over,
i dont know why these people even fish from the boat, they always run through bunker pods.
.


Lenny, here's a quote from my friend Shipwreck :

"There was good bunker action in the AM then it slowed as the boats formed their own picket fences and put them down. For the life of me, I cant understand how a guy who can afford a $150,000 Regulator is too stupid to stop from driving over what he bought the damn thing for."





There are a lot of experienced boaters out there who will go out of their way to help a new guy, and (nicely) set someone straight when they make a mistake that could prove dangerous. I know quite a few members here fish from the boat, so it isn't a slam.

Today I actually felt sorry for anyone who owned a boat. There were enough boats in a 10 mile stretch of water that I imagine navigating among them today must have been terrible. A rough eyeball count I did was around 300, and that's just inshore boats, 1-5 miles out. All these boats were on the water by 7am, it was an amazing sight to see. I'll try to post pics when I can.

Fishin report - fished the ocean from 5:30-7:30am As I said, it was an amazing sight to see with all those boats on a Sunday, I guess they skipped church for the early bite. ;)

There were some bass caught from 4:30-5am in a few places, offshore and on the sand. Otherwise, it was bunker and more happy bunker, as Lenny said. Yesterday I said maybe 10% of the pods had fish under them. I would like to revise that estimate to 1% today.

I met a few guys I knew from last year. :HappyWave: Then I moved to a more secluded place and plugged for awhile. The only thing I raised was my arms as I casted. :)

Dinner is here, big girls are out partying somewhere at the bunker debutante ball. :plastered: :fishing:


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[Monty]

Pluged ocean side from 1:00 am to 9:00 am. Nothing but a tiny stargazer. Nice night and morning to be out there.
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[c4charlie]

Took the family to IBSP on Saturday and soaked clams and bunker from 4-8pm. Usual daytime fishing at IBSP for me where I am totally convinced that there are absolutely no fish or very few fish. The only reason we hear some reports is because there are usually a million people fishing on any given day. 30 fish out of a million people is not too much.

Oh, my 4.5 year old brought his own rod and reel to IBSP, put a 4 oz and high low clam rig. I casted it for him but he manned his setup the entire time, a lot of work, reeling in 4oz at low tide when dad casts it out. He got the only fish at IBSP which was a skate and he reeled it in all by himself which was a lot of work. I made sure to play it up that he got the only fish of the day and he was proud!

Anyway, convinced my wife to stay at my mother in laws for the night with the little ones so I could go to the fishing grounds in less than 15 min. At night, I met up with a good friend and we did a jetty tour around MOCO. We found small bass on a lot of jetties up to 30" one which I foul hooked in the head and side. They go beserk when they are hooked bad. I thought I had a big fish finally with the runs this fish took especially where I was on the rocks. Took him home and he was tasty yesterday. Fish were interested in bombers and minnow type lures. I have a stretch of jetties where my schoolbus bomber has yet to fail. It was my first lure I put on and I knew it would work and it did.

Jetty fishing is awesome especially when there is white water everywhere and waves crashing all around and over the rocks! We got a lot more fish than we landed. Kept leaving small bass to find more small bass.

Eventually, I'll make a mistake and actually find some bigger fish at night.

Sunday, my little ones and I had a good time wading out in some flats. They were practice casting and I was taking pics, then we went exploring t find some crabs and minnow schools. Original plan was that we were going to fish but after a couple casts I noticed how much more fun they were having just playing around so that is what we did. Just dad and the boys yesterday afternoon!

I'll be out tonight and hopefully most of the nights this week.