NJ fishing reports for April 2010

[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]

Cardoc765 you won the plug in the March random drawing!:clapping: :thumbsup:

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.

If you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well. Anyone who posts a report can win a plug even if they got skunked! :skunk::D


This month we're giving out plugs from Ace Baits.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...splay.php?f=83 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/forumdisplay.php?f=83)

PM me your info so I can send it out. Thanks for posting and helping to make this a great site! :clapping:


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6338&thumb=1&d=1238964999 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6338&d=1238964999)

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6340&thumb=1&d=1238965622 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6340&d=1238965622)


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6339&thumb=1&d=1238965319 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6339&d=1238965319)

[DarkSkies]

Hit up some places in the back with the OGB last night. We were dying to get out, find some more "artificial bass" ;) and see if they would be hungry after the noreaster.

I started the night with my usual scout duties. Because it was dark, I couldn't find the swans :2flip: so I concentrated on looking for any signs of bait or decent water.

I was able to play the bird dog well after a false start at one place that had produced in the past, and where the water was too dirty. A few more stops and we finally found some cleaner water, and some potential....some bait. :dribble:

I had located some grass shrimp and tiny spearing in the water. With the additional spotting of a lone 5" jumbo winter spearing, I was psyched. :wow: Honestly it wasn't that great. The bait was spread out over a wide area. I heard a fish pop and pushed for us to make a few casts.

That's the extent of my prowess for the night, it was all downhill for me from there. :laugh:

The master angler, harking back to his Stevens Surfsters days, got up to bat and scored a triple play. :cool:
(or at least a double, if you don't count RBI :) )

It took us a while to figure out the pattern. I was using rubber, very small needles, small plastic spearing profiles, no soup for me. The OGB figured out a small yozuri was the ticket, but he had to tweak the presentation for that place and tide to get the fish to hit the artificial. His first fish he had on for a sec, then came unbuttoned on the crushed barbs.

He then nailed a decent keeper sized fish, about 32", maybe 13, probably a resident. It pulled some drag, nice fight. Quick pic and back into the water. :thumbsup:
10616


The last fish was a short, but feisty and fat as the rest, probably a migratory fish.
10617

In all we had about 1 1/2 hours of sporadically feeding fish to present to as the tide filled in.
1/2 hour before the top, the bite died as the water calmed, and the wind died as well. :(

It's a privelege to watch the grouchy bassturd at work when he's working an angle in his head, all fishing poetry in motion in the pursuit of getting the strike.

He felt sorry for me as I couldn't dial in to them like he did. :o So I fished the first 20 minutes of the ebb, but as he correctly predicted, the bite was done for the night. The water temp reading we did as we left was 48, prime territory for an artificial bite, as long as you can find the bait.

It's all good, I was happy to play the bird dog, nothin wrong with that. I don't mind getting schooled by the Master, as long as we can tell Killie what he missed out on. :moon: :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

Your photo shop work on my smaller fish makes it look like a mutant cross between parrot fish and a bass:thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

We were so far south that could have been a peacock bass. ;)
Wasn't that the White House in Washington we saw looming in the horizon?

10620

As you reeled in the last one I thought I saw Dr Lubchenko with a clipboard in her hand counting the fish. Maybe I was just over-tired...:huh:

[cardoc765]

NIce job there OGB. Sorry you didn't get any Rich. Hopefully you will soon. Mrs Cardoc and I went out last night. Got there and in the water at 7 and left at 11. There was 1 guy who caught 6 fish about an hour or so before we got there. 2 of which were keepers. There was another guy who had a keeper as well. The park ranger was out randomly checking for registrations and measuring fish. He seemed to be a really cool guy. Going to head out again today around 4. We'll see what happens.

[storminsteve]

Nice fish OGB, that one looks like it's pretty fat:thumbsup:. Dark still waiting to see you hook into a nice one. I haven't been doing much of anything lately except taking up space. Hope to get out there with the mongrel hordes this weekend. Let's hope this nice weather lasts for a spell. Good luck to all.

[jigfreak]

Fished last night for a few hours.:skunk:

[clamchucker]

The master angler, harking back to his Stevens Surfsters days, got up to bat and scored a triple play. :cool:


Steven's surfsters, now there is a name you don't hear much anymore. Well-written report Dark, I enjoyed reading that. I have not been out yet and feeling a bit under the weather. I do look forward to reading the entertaining reports here. Congratulations to you both.

[wish4fish]

6-8 rb today, got one tiny fish with clams, there wuz a bunch of guys, only one other fish, water was dirty. grats on the nice fish ogb, dark it looks like u got schooled!:plastered:

[buckethead]

That's a great fish Fin! I was hoping to head out the SH this weekend. Has any heard if is any action there?

[rip316]

OK. I met up with my buddy T this morning for 3hrs til the tide was full. One really nice hit on a baitholder. NADA. Being a glutten for punishment I go back out to the same area different spot with my other new buddy Cardoc and his wife Deb. ( really cool people. I am happy to have met you both. Good time shootin the chit with you guys and can't wait to do it again.) As we are sitting there complaining of the lack of action and start to get ready to leave, What do we hear. BELLS! Me and Cardoc jump up as if Saint Nick himself was on our roof. I, jump to my rod, set the circle hook home, and the best part, hand the rod to my 9yr old son Aaron. This kid gets pumped when fighting fish. He gets the fish close a couple of times and we hear the sound of the drag screaming as the fish refuses to come in. Finally the boy brings the Keeper in. 29inches of beast. I will post a pic in the morning.

[finchaser]

Fished with DS and Pebbles tonight felt bad for Pebbles she didn't christen her new rod .Found fish feeding on spearing I got 2 bumps early on and later released a 28" fish on a needle fish. Wind picked up from the south and shut it down like someone flipped a switch. I'm sure DS will comment and probably post a picture.

[cardoc765]

Went out again yesterday from 4-10:30 with Mrs cardoc. Met up with RIP later.Got 1 short and I will let RIP post his story. Another great day on the water and great company. Had a blast. Water was still very dirty in the bay and lots of logs and weeds to watch for. Will do it again today I think.

[Pebbles]

Maybe I did not christen my rod with a fish, but I had good company and practiced my casting. As far as I am concerned, I still had a successful night.

[DarkSkies]

What do we hear. BELLS! Me and Cardoc jump up as if Saint Nick himself was on our roof. I, jump to my rod, set the circle hook home, and the best part, hand the rod to my 9yr old son Aaron. This kid gets pumped when fighting fish. He gets the fish close a couple of times and we hear the sound of the drag screaming as the fish refuses to come in. Finally the boy brings the Keeper in. 29inches of beast. I will post a pic in the morning.


Another great day on the water and great company. Had a blast. Water was still very dirty in the bay and lots of logs and weeds to watch for.

Rip, congrats on Aaron's fish. :clapping: I'm sure he will remember these moments when you're old and grey in 5 years. :laugh: ;) :HappyWave:Rip and Cardoc, the water is dirty in a lot of areas, may not clean up for a few tide changes. The S wind won't help it either. The record air temps this weekend may not affect things as much as people are hoping for. IMO at this time of year it's more about feeding opportunities, mud temps and mud creatures, and bait moving in.(Your strategy to fish the incoming to the top was smart, BTW. :thumbsup: More on that in the Turd thread.)

Yet you still had a blast anyway. Glad to hear you did, that's what fishin is about for me too. :thumbsup: :fishing:


Fished with DS and Pebbles tonight felt bad for Pebbles she didn't christen her new rod .Found fish feeding on spearing I got 2 bumps early on and later released a 28" fish on a needle fish. Wind picked up from the south and shut it down like someone flipped a switch. I'm sure DS will comment and probably post a picture.

You said it all and saved me some words, (most of them anyway ;)) thanks, Fin.

We tried some places in the back that had seen bait. Fished the last 2 hours of the flood. There was a magic 10 minutes of action, during which Finchaser's amazing skills gained him 2 sluggishly hitting fish within minutes of him starting to fish, and the keeper (released) on the brown root beer needle.

10624
Other presentations, (the productive Yozuri spearing profiles we used the night before, small rubber on 1/2 oz ledheads, mambo minnows, small magdarters, small bombers) went completely untouched. This was despite larger groups of small and larger winter spearing being around.

For the first few minutes when we got there, fish were popping on the surface. We were excited, thinking it could be a good night. The original mild S wind picked up to a steady 10-15. That was enough to turn the bite off like a switch, as Finchaser mentioned. Bait was still around, but it scattered, the water became dirty, and not one of us got a tap despite trying everything for the rest of the 2 hours we fished.

Tried a few more places that were less affected by the wind. It didn't matter, the bite was completely dead for that part of the incoming. Water temp reading was 48 degrees when we left.

Pebbles did get to try her new rod out, an amazingly light stick built by Finchaser, and she said her shoulder didn't bother her at all. :thumbsup:

She also got some fishin tips from one of the best fishermen out there, a guy who could pull a fish out of a toilet bowl if he had to. ;) :HappyWave:

[fishinmission78]

..one of the best fishermen out there, a guy who could pull a fish out of a toilet bowl if he had to. ;) :HappyWave:

Watch out for the brown trout.
Fished today from 5-8am, back of Bbay, nothing.
Nice catch finchaser.

[surfwalker]

Been out front 3 or 4 times so far, mostly just a walk. Water still cool, discolored and a little weed with the SE breeze early this morning. Threw the regular routine, small Rebel plugs, and shads and then various other goodies, feels good to cast after the long winter. When the walk was over (5 hrs. later), and I got back to where the bait guys set up, I was shocked to see how many were there. They also were shut out. Some areas are really getting crowded. Between the plovers and the crowds, the walkers are getting squeezed out.

Happy Trails

[bababooey]

Watch out for the brown trout.

Yes but some of them can be trophy sized.:scared:
Nice catches guys.

[wish4fish]

:clapping:trophy brown trout, lol. i fished today in the back with clams, nada

[chas527]

That's a great fish Fin! I was hoping to head out the SH this weekend. Has any heard if is any action there?

fished sh this morning nothing one small hit didn't see any body catch anything.water still too cold.

[chas527]

fished rb last night , two small fish got a lot of hits. going back out in about an hour.hope there a lot bigger.

[rip316]

Hi Chas. I have been fishing RB as well. Obviously you are fishing the incoming tide this evening. I have a few keepers this year and they have all been caught just about at the top of the tide. Would you possibly let me know how you made out this evening? Thanks. You can PM me if you don't want leak any info. Thanks
RIP

[cardoc765]

Hey RIP, I went out in my spot just to take a walk and do some homework LOL. Water was flat and incoming. The guy that was next to me last night who wanted to pay me 5 buck to reel in my fish so he could feel waht it was like said nothing happening. Talked to a couple other guys out there and same news. Feeling a lil under the weather today, so I'm done till monday now.

[chas527]

Hi Chas. I have been fishing RB as well. Obviously you are fishing the incoming tide this evening. I have a few keepers this year and they have all been caught just about at the top of the tide. Would you possibly let me know how you made out this evening? Thanks. You can PM me if you don't want leak any info. Thanks
RIP

hi rip went out last night 6 too 10pm , nothing got acouple of small hits.one guy had a keeper at 630 but that was it.water was brown.i'll try again tonight

[rip316]

I know for a fact that giving it a shot tonight will not be worth it. The South wind is messing up the water worse than it was before. Don't bother unless you just want to get out. Wit for tomorrow evening and Monday. jmo

[madcaster]

Fished RB from 8 to noon ..so crowded it was hard to find a spot . big:skunk:. I didn’t see any action on the beach either:boring:.
Dark ..thanks for the offer of a free plug :thumbsup: …but it should go to Buckethead …he gave me the ideal:rolleyes:.

[buckethead]

Madcaster, Thanks man, you deserve it. You picked up the trash. You should be commended.

I went out the other night got skunked but I did pick up some trash. Let's just keep spreading the word. Cleaner beaches means fewer access restrictions and cleaner living.

[rip316]

I went to a usual spot today and discovered that a party went on the night b4. Burned logs empty beer cans, chip bags, cig boxes, all kind of junk. Pick up after yourself people. Honestly. It was just disgusting. No need for it. Apaulling.

[cardoc765]

That sucks RIP. I hate seeing that crap on the beaches. After talking to a couple cops last year, no one is supposed to be having fires on the bay beaches. Last year I fished Cliffwood a lot and almost everynight someone would have a fire out there. Sometimes there were 4-5 fires going. The cops that I met had told me if I see anyone out there with fires going to let them know. Because if it happened and continued to happen they would start by kicking those guys off the beach. However, ny thought was they would eventually stop all fishing after dark. Even though they tried to do so on the other side of the wall because some *** thought it was ok to use the place as a public bathroom where people could see form their house. That didn't totally work out only because the 3 or 5 of us who made friend with the cops were not hassled. Sometimes them seeing you take garbage out with you and cleaning the beaches allows them to gain trust in you. All it takes is one time for a ranger or cop to go out there at night where you were RIP and see that chit and it will be locked down for the rest of the year. It's not like a fire is easy to hide at night!!! :burn: It is enough that they want to close us out from certain areas as it is. Have some respect those who don't care about tomorrow and the rest of us. Stop risking our beach access so you can have one night of drunken skunk.

[chas527]

fished rb last night,from6too10pm nothing not even a tap.had too be 15 to 20 people there' didn't see anything caught.

[rip316]

Well said Cardoc.

[stripermania]

Fished the back bay earlier this evening. Got a few taps and one short.

[DarkSkies]

I was close to a back bay area after Easter dinner tonight, so I had to pull out the rod for some casts. I was dying for some artificial action. :dribble:

The bay was warm, in the high 40's, as I threw small plugs and rubber for about an hour of the flood tide. There was no bait to be seen at all, and I knew it was time to quit as the S wind started building again.

I still wanted some action, so I went to the back of RB with a bag of clams to fish the rest of the flood. As I got there I ran into a friend, who had just nailed a keeper on his first cast.

Unfortunately, he was marked with the "first cast curse".For the next 2 hrs neither he nor I got any hookups.

Despite the warm days, there are still some bay areas where the water is pretty cold. :learn:

IMO that's one of the reasons the early spring run this year is different from last year's.

Pic of my friend's fish:


10648

[rip316]

I know that fish. LOL.

[chas527]

had some clams left over from last week. went to sh this morning'got my first keeper nice 29 inch fat fish.got it at 12 noon,one small hit all morning.

[hookedonbass]

Fished SH last night got skunked.

[DarkSkies]

G and I hit some RB spots last night to do some scouting and fishing. Bunker were playing musical chairs and were not in some of the places they had been visiting. At one of the first stops, we met some cool people who fish every night :HappyWave:


We intended to fish the last of the flood and half the ebb. We did but it was boring as hell. We had fresh clams, rotten clams, and clams that were only slightly stinky, covering all bases for the "hot clam bite". :wow:

G had one small runoff on his bait runner. I had no action whatsoever other than small flounder trying to supersize their meal. ;)

There was a mid-teens S wind when we started. That continued for the duration until it shifted back and forth from S to W. It was interesting as the S wind of mid-60's air made it feel like June, and the cool intermittent W wind was in the mid-40's.

I grew impatient with the lack of action and waded about 1/2 mile of shoreline probing every slough and depression I knew of in that area.

I kept getting serenaded by some traveling geese that decided to rest in the area I was. There must have been about 300 of them in a shadow line on the water, a long line of quacks in the night.

Try as I might, I couldn't find any swans, though.
How about that, Fin? :2flip: :HappyWave:

We finally decided mid-tide that it wasn't gonna happen for us. This despite seeing scattered single spearing up to 5". I brought spearing profile yozuris to fish, but as I said the spearing were few and far between, not one school to be found. The bunker we were hoping would show never came in to that area, and we packed it in to scout some more bunker spots.

We hit a few and at one of them, G looked depressed because he knows his Dirty Water Spots are more productive right now. I think he was hanging over a bridge somewhere...;) :ROFLMAO
Someone thought he was a jumper and called the police. :scared:

They appeared like ghosts in the night to question our motives. When we told them we were just fishin freaks lookin for bunker :eek: it was all good and we stood there BS'ing for awhile. Turns out they're fishermen too. :cool::fishing:

They agreed to let us go on the condition that G get psychiatric help for his Dirty Water Depression and promised them he wouldn't hang over any more bridges. :laugh: ;) :ROFLMAO

We continued on to some other spots, marked small pods of bunker. We tried snagging a few but they were scattered. It was still good to be out and about on the bunker adventure. The fishin sucked, but we still manage to find adventure wherever we go, and G tolerates my lunacy. ;)

[finchaser]

You bait guys sure do put alot of time in, for next to nothing:dguess you like the smell of clams all over you:don't know why:

[DarkSkies]

Here's a little secret, Fin, if ya rub stinky clams or bunker all over your body right before you go to bed, on the 2 nights after a new moon, you'll catch a 40# bass. :ROFLMAO :HappyWave:

You'll also be single forever...;)

[finchaser]

Here's a little secret, Fin, if ya rub stinky clams or bunker all over your body right before you go to bed, on the 2 nights after a new moon, you'll catch a 40# bass. :ROFLMAO :HappyWave:

You'll also be single forever...;)

All you need to catch a small head 40# is a Northbar bottle darter:rolleyes:

Part 2) I plan I being single for ever anyway:HappyWave:

[gjb1969]

dark u are out of your mind but i do need my dirty water fix i am going into get help i need a doctor :plastered::bong2::bong2:

[cardoc765]

Congrats Chas on your forst keeper of the season. Nice to hear someone got a keeper these last couple days. I'm going to try tonight and tomorrow night where I normally go and see what happens.

[jigfreak]

Grats on the keepers guys. I'm in a slump lately. I fished a back bay piece of structure tonight 6-8pm last of the outgoing tide. Rubber on a ledhead, skunk city.

[storminsteve]

Don't feel bad jigfreak, same results for me tonight using clams. I got one solid hit, no hookset.:burn:

[storminsteve]

Bunker were playing musical chairs and were not in some of the places they had been visiting...

We had fresh clams, rotten clams, and clams that were only slightly stinky, covering all bases for the "hot clam bite". :wow:

G had one small runoff on his bait runner. I had no action whatsoever other than small flounder trying to supersize their meal. ;)

I kept getting serenaded by some traveling geese that decided to rest in the area I was. There must have been about 300 of them in a shadow line on the water, a long line of quacks in the night.

We hit a few and at one of them, G looked depressed because he knows his Dirty Water Spots are more productive right now. I think he was hanging over a bridge somewhere...;) :ROFLMAO
Someone thought he was a jumper and called the police. :scared:

They appeared like ghosts in the night to question our motives.

They agreed to let us go on the condition that G get psychiatric help for his Dirty Water Depression and promised them he wouldn't hang over any more bridges. :laugh: ;) :ROFLMAO


Great writing style, dark! If I do get a job writing short articles I hope you don't mind if I steal some of your stylings.;) btw, did G really hang over a bridge, or are you exaggerating as usual?:lookhappy:

[gjb1969]

no i was not hanging off a bridge

[rip316]

hahahahahaha

[DarkSkies]

Congrats on the keeper, Chas. :thumbsup: :HappyWave:



*****************


did G really hang over a bridge, or are you exaggerating as usual?:lookhappy:


no i was not hanging off a bridge

Steve, G would never do that, he's got too much common sense to hang over a bridge, I was just bustin his balz. :HappyWave:
Actually, I was the one that was hangin over, and it was just a bit. Those sneaky bunker sometimes play hide and seek when they see someone above, so ya gotta peer over and move back in a kinda surprise attack. Someone saw me doing that, thought there was a jumper, and police were called. They really were very cool about it, though. :eek: Oh well... ;)

[cardoc765]

fished the RB last couple hours of the outgoing with Mrs Cardoc and RIP. Had a great time on the water. Weather was superb and water temps were high. Despite all the negative reports, I had a hunch and Mrs cardoc landed a nice 31 inch keeper. I got a fat 26 and RIP got 2 shorts. Made for a really nice night. We also had a lot of hits stealing bait.

[DarkSkies]

I don't think you should ever fish without your wife, Cardoc, she's definitely a good luck charm! :clapping::clapping: :HappyWave:

Congrats to you all. Whether you catch keepers or not you guys know how to have a good time. :thumbsup:

[Monty]

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
:ROFLMAO:ROFLMAO:ROFLMAO:ROFLMAO
It hurts when I laugh so hard
:ROFLMAO:ROFLMAO:ROFLMAO:ROFLMAO




Actually, I was the one that was hangin over, and it was just a bit. Those sneaky bunker sometimes play hide and seek when they see someone above, so ya gotta peer over and move back in a kinda surprise attack. Someone saw me doing that, thought there was a jumper, and police were called. They really were very cool about it, though. :eek: Oh well... ;)

[wish4fish]

dark wherever u go the po po follows lol. whats up wid that?:laugh:
fished this morning rb 3-6 wit some bunker, 2 bass to 27".

[voyager35]

Nice fish cardoc765. You seem to be having some consistent success.

[jigfreak]

Fished the bay for the morning bite. No fish but lots of bait moving in.Mr and Mrs Cardoc, great fish.:clapping:

[bababooey]

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=10680&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1270733316 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=10680&d=1270733316)


Congrats to the cardoc family.:thumbsup:
Your wife looks very happy.

[cardoc765]

Thanks guys. Yeah somehow my wife installed an ejection button on her chair. She is so on top of it now. She'll be sitting there joking and having fun and a small tap on a rod and she's airborne and at that rod in a sec. She loves it now.

[gjb1969]

good fish keep it up:clapping: it will only get better :fishing::HappyWave:

[rip316]

I had a blast guys. Can't wait to see you again in a couple of hrs. I think there will be a trifecta tonight for sure.

[yukon]

Great fish.... Sounds like you guys really have a blast.

I finally got out this morning 7 - 12 RB Two spots. Clams and worms... not a tap. Hit a small creek on the way home and got a short. At least I avoided the skunk. I might make another trip out tonight with the clams I have left over.

[storminsteve]

I can't wait till the bluefish are here, I really want some of that drag screaming action. I went to sh today to throw metal and some bucktails. The only thing I caught was the skunk. Nice catches guys and ladies.

[wish4fish]

I can't wait till the bluefish are here, I really want some of that drag screaming action.

dude u dont have to wait anymore we fished rb from 3-7 tonight and they were hitting on the outgoing small smak it poppers and small 1z kroc spoons.:eek:

[jigfreak]

Fished early this morning at SH on clams. Got one keeper but put him back.

[surfwalker]

Out front this morning. Threw the small plug/shad routine from the dark till 8am-not a tap.

Had some salted clams(not my preferred method, wanted to see Stripes though). Picked up some shorts(22" up to 27") plus a few keepers(released).

Wind was steady all morning-NW then WNW. Overcast til around 8am then some cloud cover. Small rollers/little off color.

All Bass looked clean and good color, happy to see. Except one, cuts/sores in the belly area. Not a soul in my area.

Happy Trails

[DarkSkies]

WTG, Surfwalker! :thumbsup:
You definitely deserved that action!

**********
Fished RB last night with G, Cardoc, and Pebbles. The W/Nw winds were building, and the bite was definitely off. Previously productive water had dropped drastically in temp. We fished from 9:30-2:30 am, last of the ebb, some of the flood.

The wind made it tough to feel the fish, which were only mouthing the bait. I had one weak runoff on the baitrunner. There were a few fish caught by guys who held the rods the whole time, nothing of size, small fish.

A check of the water with my human thermometer revealed it was damn cold. :eek: We estimated the water temps had gone down to the low 40's. When I got home I checked the temp ranges for that day. It seems the official readings had them declining to mid to high 40's, which was close to our estimate given the variations of bay waters. It was also the lowest the bay water had declined to in the prior week.

That was enough to give the fish partial lockjaw.

Pebbles, always the trooper, put up with hard W winds, gusts to the mid-20's. She said she might not be out there again in those conditions. As the eternal optimist, I kept leading everyone to believe we could have fish if the wind would lay down a bit. :kooky:

Still, everything considered, we had a good time, and not much company as only a few hardcore nutcases were on the beach with us. :HappyWave:

[rip316]

I fished the outgoing this evening with my wife, daughter, and one of my sons. My wife had a friend of hers meet us out there for a few laughs also, the Cardoc crew showed up just to hang out for a while. Few hits and my daughter was lucky enough to get a ssshhhhoooooooooorrttt. This little guy had no business even biting a hook. She had a blast realing in her first striper and all kinds of laughs from the coo coos nest. Had a great time out there with some really cool people. Will be out tomorrow to give it another shot. The fish are there when the conditions are right. See yas out there.

[Monty]

Fished bay side 3:00 am-8:30 am. Through plugs, rubber and metal and had one hook up on an Rip-Plugger Plug at Sunrise, but it got off. Birds were active sporadically about 4 casts out. First time out, was great to be out there.
Surfwalker, nice going!!:thumbsup:

[hookedonbass]

Fished the RB last night. Was lucky enough to get a short, yet somehow I managed to lose a nice one.

[DarkSkies]

Few hits and my daughter was lucky enough to get a ssshhhhoooooooooorrttt. This little guy had no business even biting a hook. She had a blast realing in her first striper and all kinds of laughs from the coo coos nest.

Rip, catchin and reelin in her first 2010 fish, priceless! I bet the smile on her face was worth a million $$. WTG. :thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Fished bay side 3:00 am-8:30 am. Through plugs, rubber and metal and had one hook up on an Rip-Plugger Plug at Sunrise, but it got off. Birds were active sporadically about 4 casts out. First time out, was great to be out there.
Surfwalker, nice going!!:thumbsup:


Fished the RB last night. Was lucky enough to get a short, yet somehow I managed to lose a nice one.


WTG, guys, now's the time to fish hard. :thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Fished the late shift last night till early AM today, around 4-9:30am or so. Got a call from Psycho Zimno from Stripers 24/7 asking me where the eff I was?? :beatin:

I was sleepin and forgot they were having a gathering. Gathered up my gear and went out in the night to meet the assorted fruits and nuts. They were more nutty than fruity, but the rainbow jokes were enough to get the whole population of Greenwich Village in a tiff. ;)

There was a motley assortment that had assembled, Brasilva, Jersey Striper, dPohlsen (drove all the way down from MA), JoeWiz, and the (in)famous Skishing maniac Blasko.

Last but not least:
the beloved and demented,
brutally sarcastic,
showing no mercy in photochop,
the guy you might love like a brother but will eventually annoy you by wearing out your cell phone batteries,
and generally being so offensive that you want to strangle the emeffer at times...
the one and only Zimno. :kooky: :laugh:

Also a phenomenal fisherman, a guy who lives to catch large, doesn't put on the VS or Zbass airs, will help a newbie at any time with a detailed answer, and one of the sickest, and funniest people I know...
the one and only Zimno. :moon:

Striperjim, Tituspollo at 24/7 was supposed to meet up with the crew, but somehow he missed the boat. We missed ya, Jim! :( :HappyWave:

There were some other regulars from last year who never made it out there. Part of the problem may have been the changed dates. I told a few members here I wanted to bring them, and forgot it myself. There were also some guys we met fishin the other night who said they wanted to go, but I didn't see them. Rather than judging people who couldn't go, let's make a better effort to get it together and get the date communicated next year so more guys can show up. :thumbsup:


After you meet these guys, you get a sense that it's only by some tragic injustice that they aren't locked up in an insane asylum, they're that twiZted.
If anything could be said about last night, I would call it a night of insanity, the most fun you could have on a Sat night without getting arrested.


Fishin sucked big time. The chilled bay temps turned the double digit action of a few days ago to a night where we rejoiced that one small bass was caught by Joe Wiz.

Then, for the morning bite which were hoping would develop and seeded the bay with 100 crushed clams to "help" it along, the best we could manage was a missed hit by Brasilva and a tenacious skate caught by dPohlsen.

The skate added insult to injury. We were saying that no skates were usually caught back in the bay, and 5 minutes later dPohlsen had one on. :laugh:

Yet he was a good sport, and let us take a pic of him as he held up his "prize" and we made fun of him, not one bit of embarassment. :thumbsup: Ya gotta like a guy like that, makes the best of an embarrassing situation, and not afraid to take a little ball busting. :clapping:

I got pranked as well as we grew tired of holding the rods in our hands all night with dead water all around us. Brasilva came up behind me and played the old "fish tapping on my rod" trick with the back end of the rod. :2flip: Although I didn't quite fall for it, I admit to being confused for a few seconds. They all had a good laugh at my expense, the goog that I am. :ROFLMAO

It's pranks like this that keep me coming to those gatherings year after year. I wanted to share some of them so if anyone comes next year, you know what you're in for.

We're equal opportunity ball busters, bashing every nationality and religion under the sun, with particular emphasis on making fun of googan white guys and communist liberals. :laugh:


So don't be shy, guys, we'd like ya to come down next year and have a blast with us! We guarantee that whether fish are there or not, it will be a night to remember, as long as you can take a joke and laugh at yourself.

Sometimes Zimno gets me so effin mad I want to drive over there and strangle the dude, but that's the way he is. If he was any other way, he wouldn't be Paulie. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/smilies/don't%20know%20why.gif




The one thing I regret is we didn't get a real fish for dPohlsen. I didn't realize until almost the end of the night that he's serving in the National Guard in Afghanistan. I hope I don't embarass him saying this, but felt the need to share. He's only home until April 20. Then he goes back to the front lines, with the IED worries and all the other stuff those guys have to deal with. He drove all the way down from MA, and the best fishermen in the area couldn't get him into one frikkin fish!

Hey that's the way it is sometimes, we tried but the cold water choked the hot bite in that area. You're in our thoughts and prayers, brother, and we look forward to fishin with ya when ya come back Nov 25. If anyone wants to write him via e-mail, try his 24/7 e-mail, or contact Zimno, Striperjim, or me. I'm sure he would appeciate our e-mail support. Thanks for all you guys do to protect our country, D. :clapping::clapping:

[rip316]

High tide was 7 am this morning. Fished at 4 am til the top. NOT AN EFFIN BITE. Clams and fresh bunker at a spot that has been producing some nice fish. OH well.

[cardoc765]

My mom and dad have been chomping at the bit to catch a striper after seeing the fish we have caught. So we took them out yesterday hoping for a dusk bite. I felt bad that not even a single tap happened. Beach was loaded with guys which sucked, but none of them got a hit. So we went out to dinner with them and then Mrs Cardoc and I headed out again to the RB and hot 3 good hits but that was all. Still managed to have a good time though as usuall.

[c4charlie]

Went out last night for a few hours from 9-midnight. Got a couple taps on clams but no hookups.

It was a nice night to be out. There was a bit of rain around but nothing too bad.

Wore some fleece sweatpants under my waders which I don't usually do. Went in the water to cast as it was raining. All of a sudden as I was casting. Sparks and electricity every where my waders touched the water. I felt the shocks in my legs. Luckily, I got the cast out straight and then I "bolted" out of the water. Must have looked like I was about to get eaten by a shark.

Honestly, I thought that it was the last few seconds that you get before you get struck by lighting. Not a pleasant thought. No lightning and I am safe! Thank God!

[clamchucker]

That sounds like a close call c4charlie. No fish is worth your life. It's a blessing that lightning did not hit the water. Glad you are safe.

[yukon]

Decided to switch it up and fish out front last night 9-2 outgoing to low. With all these reports of bunker already on the beaches on Sunday and the boat reports going crazy I figured what the hell. Got this keeper and a short all on clams. Nice clean fish. A bunch of hits as well. Had to deal with the damn skates which really sucked. We also fished chunks but they seemed to be ignored.

[cardoc765]

nice fish yukon. I've seen the party boat reports too. I just can't wait till the blitzes hit the beaches, especially the bay areas.

[chas527]

fished rb last night 6 to 10.30 . two real small fish.went out to sh this morning.got two one 26 1/2 the other 25.a lot of small hits. nice morning lite breeze.

[storminsteve]

Fished the ocean side nomoco 3-5:30pm, incoming. 1 small bass, fresh clams. Could see some birds working but they were too far out to see what they were on. I also saw what looked like a dolphin past the 3rd set of waves.

[clamchucker]

I fished the nomoco area from 8am to 11am today, outgoing tide. 2 bass to 27" on clams.

[hookset]

Fished SH last night got :skunk:

[cardoc765]

fished Rb last night for a couple hours of the outgoing and not even a tap. Did hear from friends of bass being caught though in different areas. So the fish are around. I think it's jsut the up and down temps that are holding a good bite back right now.

[porgy75]

Nice catch Yukon. I'll be heading out tonight around 8.

[yukon]

Nice catch Yukon. I'll be heading out tonight around 8.

Thanks Porgy. This weeks tides and moons are nice. Can't wait to have this same line up in May and June. 4 days ahead and 4 days behind:drool:

[cardoc765]

Went out last night to fish couple hours of incoming and 2 hours outgoing. Changed locations in the RB and had 3 good solid hits and this keeper. Good to be back in action. Gonna give it a try again tonight.

[gjb1969]

way to go man nice fish:clapping:

[finchaser]

Went out last night to fish couple hours of incoming and 2 hours outgoing. Changed locations in the RB and had 3 good solid hits and this keeper. Good to be back in action. Gonna give it a try again tonight.

Way to go heres a man that pays attention to wind and weather patterns:thumbsup:

[chas527]

fished sh this morning 5 nice fish 2 keepers, all fish caught early morning. by 9.00 it was over.

[DarkSkies]

Nice catches here for the guys putting their time, WTG. :thumbsup:



Fished a half hour before work this morning testing the RB waters with artificials. I missed the fog on the water, it had already started to burn off by the time I started. The water was nice, in the 50's. Slight W wind put a desireable chop on the water. There were seagulls following bait about a mile out into the bay.


I was trying to see if some bigger blues were racing by, they weren't.
Threw small poppers and yozuri profiles during the last of the flood.

[cardoc765]

Nice going chas. Thanks guys. I'll let you all know what happened tonight later.

[rip316]

Cardoc. It's nice when a plan comes together isn't it.

[skinner]

I headed out last night and caught a 4lb blue after an hour. I was in the back, using a black bomber near structure.

[gjb1969]

congrats on the blue :clapping::fishing:

[rip316]

Me and Cardoc fished RB tonight from 600 til 1000pm. Multiple hits as soon as we set up but, fail to connect. Little upsetting but, thats fishing. about 7 I nail a 32"er. Nice fat clean fish from the ocean. Had a great time as usual Cardoc. Sent the pic to Dark so he can cut the background out.

[DarkSkies]

WTG guys, we had a howling S wind pushing whitecaps in the bay where we were. Seems you guys had some more protection from that wind, way to go, ya gotta be in it to catch. :thumbsup: :clapping:

The fish:


10735

[DarkSkies]

Fished with Finchaser last night, artificial only.
Full report when I get a chance unless he posts first.
The OGB is amazing. Last night it became almost impossible to present in that S wind, steady in the 20's. Yet he managed to nail 2 short bass in tough conditions. :wow:

Finchaser Fan Club, signups begin May 1, Killie will be printing the applications. :laugh:




*************************
Here's the report:

When we started there was a light W wind. Light W/Sw winds were forecast for the evening. When we got to the bay the wind was building to the mid teens, and wind had changed to the S. This usually kills the bite in the area as it muddies the bay water and scatters the bait.

We decided to give it a shot anyway, hoping the wind would lay down (famous last words for anyone who has fished with me) ;)

Instead, the wind kept building from the south. We changed different presentations as the wind got stronger. This time it took Fin almost 15 minutes to get his first bass. :eek:

Short fish was caught on a yozuri spearing profile. We were hoping for some nicer fish, but it was tough to present. The wind kept putting a bow in the line making it tough to keep in contact with the plug.

We both failed our boy scout preparedness exams for the night. :beatin:

My plug box was getting too crowded and I took some heavier things out. Fin had done the same. That left us with some small needles, heavier rubber shads, and some bucktails in addition to the light rubber jigs and yozuri spearing profiles we usually throw.

I worked a small needle and got a decent bump on that, but that was it for me for the night. The bait we were used to seeing wasn't around, no spearing at first, only a few scattered killies.

We were debating on whether to move, but we did hear sporadic fish pops, maybe once every 5 minutes. Of course, I kept saying the wind would lay down, because I wanted a shot at those scattered schools that were passing by, and didn't want to leave. :fishing:

The best we could figure was they were feeding on the very scattered spearing. The wind, which now got worse and was in the low 20's, made it tough.

We decided to make a move to a place where there was a lee from that wind. Immediately we checked for bait when we got there, and found none. We decided to fish there until the wind minimized and then we'd go back to the other area.

Wouldn't you know it, with no bait around in any direction, Fin brings back his needle fish with a 4" spearing on the frikkin treble! :wow: I don't feel bad fishin with him when he :beatin: me because the guy is almost supernatural sometimes. He measures his success as to whether he caught fish or not. I say it's more uncanny that he snags the only spearing for miles around in a place where there is none!

We had fished 2 hours of the flood, and decided to fish the last hour to slack at the first area. It was still dismal and windy there but we weren't ready to go home. He ends up getting another short fat migratory bass in that rough water on a megabait. I continued to use the needle, nothing for me even after I switched to the megabait.




Our theory for the night:
There were bass traveling by, looking for food, feeding opportunistically. It seems you would get a fish or a bump when your presentation landed within inches of that fish. Fish were feeding, as noted when we heard them, but it was nowhere near as aggressive as they had been in the last few weeks on artificials. You had to be patient with a very slow retrieve.

Otherwise, it was tough, and the bay swells, approaching 1 1/2', made it difficult to present, and scattered the bait all over. In the ocean we would have used a bottle darter, heavier swimmer, or bucktails to either dig in or stay in better contact. However, this wasn't practical where we were.

We felt the wind might have died down with the tide change, but it actually got a little stronger. Water temp reading was 55, perfect feeding temp. :thumbsup:
An interesting thing we saw was that a lot of large stinging jellyfish had moved in to the bay from the ocean. To my recollection, this annually doesn't happen until around May or June. Weird.

If the wind would have laid down a bit, things could have been different. Hey, that's fishin! :plastered:

[cardoc765]

It is always nice to come up with a plan and have it produce. I was amazed at the amount of hits we got yesterday and the time in which we got them. The water was warm. Like Dark I kept saying the wind was gonna lie down and it did. Thanks to those of you who have helped me learn more this year so far. I have put your thoughts and knowledge to work and it's panning out. You all know who you are. Once again, Awesome time out there with you RIP

[chas527]

fish sh this morning, not one good hit ,got three skates. guy to my right got two keepers.

[rip316]

Two heads is always beter than one Cardoc.

[finchaser]

Two heads is always beter than one Cardoc.


But not on the same person:HappyWave:

DS(SOS) you should be an author alot of words to report i caught 2 fish

[jigfreak]

Last night fished the incoming till slack, 2 hours, 1 bass 27", rubber, back bay. Water was scary high in places.

[cardoc765]

Awesome, the site is back up and running. I missed you guys.

Got to fish this week tuesday thru yesterday afternoon in the RB. Got a bunch of hits, no shorts, 2 keepers. Lost a couple too at the hookset. This time the Mrs didn't get any. Been trying to get on some sort of pattern with the fish, but that isn't happening. I will start a thread explaining what i've been seeing and see what you all think. Good to be back with the site.

[cardoc765]

I already posted a pic a couple replys prior to this one of the 2nd fish. Going to head out tomorrow morning since we have a bday party to go to in the evening.

[surfwalker]

Out front. Slight breeze outta the NW, constant breakers, heavy overcast sky. Plug routine for the dark, not a tap. Had a few salted clams and threw one out at 6:30am with a light sinker, let it roll around and walked with it. Picked up shorts at 6:40/8:30/8:45, smiles on my face, area to myself. Non-aggressive, lethargic bites.

Not that many people when I returned from the walk, but plenty of deadsticked rods.

Happy Trails

[LennyD]

Awesome, the site is back up and running. I missed you guys. Good to be back with the site.

You are doing good my friend.:d
Tuesday went out with my kayak (RB) landed 3 bass in 1 hr. 2 keeper up to 32" and 1 @ 27"
They are there, they were swirling all around my kayak!
Wind sucks this weekend, no kayaking, tuesday im out there again!

[c4charlie]

Fished for 4 hours or so on Thur night 7:-30-12:30 and no takers in the back and out front. Fished four different spots. Mainly clamming but also tried plugging out front. there were skates out front and very sporadic fish in the places I went to in the back. Had two hits, one was just a tap and the other, tried to set hook and fish was not there.

Wind really started cranking at about 11:30pm from the East, Northeast. Thought it mught liven things up but it didn't.

Getting ready to go on an early morning fly fishing trip tomorrow for trout that I am looking forward to.

[GeoffT]

Late report but wanted to wait until pattern stopped. :)

Best. Season. Debut. Ever! :thumbsup:

I had at least two dozen hookups, about half of which I landed, plus numerous hits and swings and misses on a wild Wednesday night somewhere in NoMoCo. All keepers in the 10-15 lbs range. Mag bombers, bottle darters and SS darters were the tickets. I'm positive there were some big blues in the mix but if they were they came off after kickng my butt for a minute or so.

Twice, I had savage hookups close by but the plug came off flying right back like a bullet, just missing my face. :scared:

[cardoc765]

Sounds like loads of fun. Be careful with those flying hooks though. I went out on the hunt this morning just to look around and hopefully find some action. Didn't see a thing. Found some birds in the back hovering around, but didn't see any bait or them dive. Watched em for about a holf hours or so. Didn't see any hook ups across 3 spots.

[captnemo]

Decent day yesterday in the area of the Shrewsbury rocks. We ended up with limits of bass to 21lbs. There was intermittent action and we had to move a few times, but the fish were around. Jigging avas and 5 oz spoons did the trick.

[storminsteve]

Fished the ocean today in nomoco, 6-9:30 am. 3 shorts on clams, one was pretty round, 27 1/2. I had to hold the rod in my hand to feel the soft hits, like surfwalkersaid.No visible bait, some birds diving way out there, didn't have binoculars to see better. Surfwalker, cardoc, geofft, captnemo, and others congrats in getting out there and fishing in all kinds of weather. It's good to hear there are some nice fish here and there.

[rip316]

wanted to give it a shot with my bro in law tonight but, the temps are not very favorable. Last night it dropped to 48 on the incoming.

[surferman]

The front water was a little messed up so I fished a SJ back bay area last night. 2 bass to 30", released, fin-s gray n white. Nice action but it only lasted till one hour after the tide started going out.

[Monty]

In the back early AM today. It was cold and windy and cold.
Skunkaroo :skunk: throwing rubber and plugs. Was nice getting out, water looked nice, very choppy.

[wish4fish]

mee too giant skunkola this morning.:burn:

[gjb1969]

have faith guys its still very early in the year the are still comeing up from the south u will get them:fishing:

[clamchucker]

I fished Island beach this morning clams and bunker. Outgoing. One small bass on a clam. No other hits. The water was cold. Otherwise it was fishable.

[cowherder]

Fished a nomoco beach yesterday from 3-8, incoming. I got 2 bass to 29" and lost a few more with the short quick hits. Clams. It was pretty nice out.

[fishinmission78]

IBSP 4-6 a, 1 short bass, one bluefish, bunker chunk.

[DarkSkies]

Made a drive to a southern bay last night with Finchaser. The wind conditions were very mild. There was no wind when we started fishing the top half of the flood. The usual schools of bait were not there. There were scattered spearing, and we covered a lot of ground looking for them. We also found one lone killie, swimming around like it was lost. :D

Gradually a W/SW wind started, a very light one. That would have been great if fish were actively feeding, but it was a strange night. We had to pass by many areas that were dead water because of the jellyfish and algae.

One of the areas we worked hardest had dirty water from the past few days, and an extreme invasion of large manowar type jellyfish. There were literally dozens of them floating by at a time. It was a pretty cool sight. I wanted to take some pics for you guys, but it was too dark.

We plugged for hours without any results, threw everything we had. It seemed even at mid-tide the water took forever to get moving. When it finally did, the water got a little cleaner and the jellyfish hordes spread out a bit.

He had said as soon as he saw the conditions that we weren't gonna hit any fish that night. I had a sinking feeling he was right, but we persisted anyway.

It was too beautiful a night out there not to give it our best shot. The stars and weather were amazing, one of those nights you want to thank God for all of his creations.

Alas, the fish were not part of the plan last night. The algae bloom on the water probably skewed that just a bit. :don't know why:

He caught his first skunk of the season. In the hours of plugging, he raised one fish that quickly became unbuttoned on a medium needle. After trying many previously productive small swimmer, needle, and spearing profile patterns, the best I could do was 2 quick taps on a small rigged sluggo.

That's all she wrote, that's fishin. :skunk: :)

[finchaser]

He caught his first skunk of the season. In the hours of plugging, he raised one fish that quickly became unbuttoned on a medium needle.

That's all she wrote, that's fishin. :skunk: :)



Fish are gone, was a good season see ya next year:D

[cardoc765]

Fished the RB last night during the out going tide. Interestingly enough, the tide was very slow moving on its way out. Seemed to take forever. Very nice flat water and even on 2 occasions saw bait jump from the water. Just a single fish each time though. Got a few small taps and some semi decent hits. But nothing swallowed the hook enough to stay on at the hook set. NIce quiet time on the water, but just seemed like a weird tide. Seeing skates already too in the back.

[chas527]

fished sh this morning 3 small bass and my first sea robbin of the year.guy on my left got a nice bass 32 inches.

[storminsteve]

Fished rb this morning 4-7, incoming using clams and bunker. The water was very quiet, not much life where I was. And cardoc you are right about the tide. I thought was taking a long time to move.

[storminsteve]

There were scattered spearing, and we covered a lot of ground looking for them. We also found one lone killie, swimming around like it was lost. :D



The lone Killie should have had a cell phone to call Finchaser.;)

[clamchucker]

There was a good bluefish bite at Island Beach yesterday from late afternoon till dark. I got 11to 8lbs on a hopkins with a bucktail. I also got two short bass. There were a few other fellows who got in on the action. There was a lot of bunker coming by. Some of the others were using pencil poppers and getting a lot of bluefish. It was a nice afternoon of fairly steady action with a few breaks in between.

[plugaholic]

Fish are gone, was a good season see ya next year:D

That is exactly what it feels like, a done season. Was out last night as well got :skunk:.

[c4charlie]

Two nights ago, 8-12 I was determined to get one on a plug. So I tried plugging at least a mile of beach but I got the skunk. I hit a couple spots out front and then did some wading out back. I just did not see any bait around.

[cardoc765]

I personally don't believe the season is over at all. There are reports of all kinds of fish being caught in the ocean just out of our reach from the shore. They will move in because they need to get in the rivers to spawn. Just look at some of the posts here on this site with hints and helpful tips. Watch water temp to stabilize and as i always say, do your homework.

There is such a thing as opportunity fishing, where you just go out and get lucky. I do that sometimes as well. But there is a lot one can learn here if you just read some of the posts. Keep your chins up, they will come in soon.

[yukon]

Last night NoMoCo 6 - 1am Looking for bass on clams and bunker. S SW wind which died by 11. Tried about 3 spots without a touch. Made some more moves and then they appeared. One rig gone... change to wire... next rig gone... All in all over a dozen hookups... Lost at least 6 of em. One thing was that I was going between two rods one with bunker the other with clams. Not at the same time but again hoping for a bass when I got tired of the blues. I got two real nice hits but they all got dropped and cleaned. So I focused on the clams. Again big hit clam gone. This happened 3 times then the next big hit and another rig gonehttp://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/images/smilies/mad.gif The bastards were eating my damn clams... Anyway it was a bend in the rod and I had some fun. Here's a pic. That's a size 13 boothttp://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/images/smilies/graemlins/cwm31.gif

[cardoc765]

WTG Yukon. Looks like you found some fun out there. Nice to see one of us did. Good job on sticking it out.

[DarkSkies]

WTG, Yukon, way to stick it out. :clapping: We almost gave up after fishin all night for nothing. We decided to keep at it. Glad to see you did too, bro! :thumbsup: Yep, the tackle busters are definitely here. Even bigger ones reported at IBSP yesterday. It should be a few good weeks at least for those of us who love fighting bluefish.


*************
G and I decided to fish the ocean last night.

We fished the moco area from 10:30-5:30 am. Last of the flood, all of ebb. We had clams and bunker. We also plugged different presentations through the night. It was pathetic, we couldn't even catch a skate. We felt lower than whale snot. :embarassed:

Around 5:30 am, I started plugging again right before first light. Determined to shake the stinky skunk, I caught the first fish of the day, medium bluefish on a megabait swimmer. The fish were passing by, but the hits were very sluggish at first. You had to crawl your presentation, wait for the light strike, then set the hook hard.

G started plugging like a madman, and was fishin like he was on fire. :eek:

He was using a small swimmer similar to a yozuri, but it dove a little deeper. He started banging out the catches on that plug.
I developed line trouble and was out of the game for 20 mins, king of the googans once again. :plastered:

G continued to catch fish. It wasn't that easy, we had to work for every fish. We each had a few strikes that came unbuttoned.

There were a few other guys that came to fish. The ones using pencils caught nothing. We got mugged by an elite VS angler crew, 2 guys in their 40's with all the right gear, VS reels, VS plug bags and pliers.... they looked like they were advertisements for the VS catalog. Normally that wouldn't phase me or be worth mentioning. It's all good with us in the fishin world. We'll fish with anyone, even that OGB Finchaser! :HappyWave:

However, these guys mugged us like they wanted to smell the anti-perspirant we were using. It was over the top rude. There was 15 feet of space between me and G. With 1/2 mile of productive beach to fish, one guy gets in between us, another to the left of me. We don't really chat when we're out there, we're there to fish hard. But you can't even grunt a "G' morning" to the guys you just mugged, come on now! :don't know why:

G continued to work hard and catch bluefish up to 10#. I was finally back in the game. There was a left to right sweep with the current. We were casting to the left of that sweep, and then working the plug in. These 2 jokers were casting directly in front or to the right. Eventually the one to my left got snagged with my line. I freed him up, not a word or thanks or even a grunt from him.

Then G got a short bass, and a few minutes later got a 2nd one on a very small profile orange yozuri. The sharpie on my left, seeing that 2nd bass, had his eyes bulge out of his head with jealousy. :wow:

Within 30 seconds he runs to change his plug, and 30 secs later is plugging with the same exact orange plug G was using.

Not only that, but despite not acknowledging us though we were only 10 feet away, he runs like a cartoon character to get closer to G and fish the red X G was standing on. This is about a half hour after G told me he didn't like the beach we were fishing at because it was all the same. Apparently G's new shadow didn't think so. ;)

The guy caught one bluefish with his orange yozuri, grew bored and drifted down the beach. 15 minutes later he came back to mug us again when he couldn't catch any fish. Someone must have called him on his cell phone and told him they were only in front of where we were standing. :laugh:

Fishing the same way as before, he continues to snag my line again. I tried to be diplomatic and reason with him. He didn't think it was a big deal. So instead of complaining about it here, I finally opened my mouth and went off on him. :beatin:He stood there silent like a little mouse. Maybe he learned something, who knows. :don't know why:

G's total for the marathon was 6 bluefish landed to 10# and 2 short bass. I got 2 bluefish to 8#. We both lost quite a few more. The "first light" bluefish had some bigger ones mixed in, and then a bunch of smaller ones came in. It was great fun, about an hour of consistent action where you could catch them if you worked at it. We fished an hour after that till 7:30am, but the action diminished as the sun got higher.

We saw not one piece of bait the whole night and morning. We looked and looked, maybe it was hiding.

In all a great morning as part of the Dirty Water Anglers crew. G had the hot hand, catching more bluefish than anyone else, and catching the only 2 bass on that town beach this morning. :clapping::clapping::clapping: :thumbsup: Great fun, good times, Dirty Water style! :fishing:

[chas527]

fished sh again this morning, same as yesterday 4 shorts . this time guy on my right gets one 30 inches.

[cardoc765]

your a good guy Dark. I would have said something a lot sooner. I'll fish with anyone as well, but when they get right next to me like that and tangle me that's not cool. It happens though. Just makes it frustrating when people think the ocean is a 4x4 square box and there are no other fish other than where you are casting. Hopefully they moved after you said something. I'm not a jerk of a guy, just get annoyed when that happens.

[cardoc765]

Chas, maybe you should have done like the VS guys did to Dark. LOL At least you got out there and tried.

[gjb1969]

now if i could get a keeper bass i would be very happy:d

[Simp]

Yeah Dark, you're a better man than me. The muggings have started already.:eek:

Oh yeah, a report...Plugged MoCo this morning after the kids got on the bus and couldn't buy a bite if they were a dollar apiece and I had a fist full of hundreds.

[finchaser]

now if i could get a keeper bass i would be very happy:d


Way to go G even after Dark INTERNET mugged you ,you were still nice enough to put him on fish;)

[rip316]

Good job guys. My phone does ring you know.

[Pebbles]

I think I would have cut his line and left him standing with nothing.

[porgy75]

SoMoCo was my home last night. Tried just about everything I had with me but I could not hook up.

[basshunter]

Hit SH last night got a few blues around 8"s. before dark, fresh bunker.

[cardoc765]

HIt moco this morning with plugs and metals without a hit. Guy to the left of me pulled 2 keepers on clam in a matter of 20 minutes. Go figure.

[DarkSkies]

^^ Cardoc you had some of the right tools but these spring surf bluefish are sometimes picky unless there's a heavy concentration of bait around. The front that came through last night brought the water temps down as well and affected the artificials bite. This time of year you should be hedging your bets with bait unless you're comfortable reporting as many skunkings as I do. ;)
We'll talk later, at least ya gave it a shot. :thumbsup:


*********


G and I hit the ocean last night to fish in front of the impending rain. We fished from 7:45 till 9:15, a small window until the clouds opened up on us. The seas were building and the wave duration was increasing. It went from every 10 secs to every 7, with some double waves and some 5' ers thrown in at random. There was a strong sweep from right to left, and we were starting to get knocked sideways a bit by the building flood tide.


On the plus side, the weather and winds weren't that bad, and no rain till 9:15. The ocean temps were probably in the low 50's. Guys were walking off with one bass and a few bluefish caught in the afternoon wiith clams.


We started with small spearing profile swimmers, but that went out the window with the bigger seas. Switched to some needles, bottle darters, etc. Rubber on the bottom for awhile, and finished with bucktails of various sizes.


No fish. It wasn't bad for a quick trip out there, although we should have been there in the earlier daylight.


Also met a fellow maniac fisherman on the way out, Joesfishinproblem. Nice to meet ya Joe! :HappyWave:

[porgy75]

I fished a nomonco beach this morning with fresh clams from 5 to 8am. the tide was coming in I think. I got one bass, it was tiny about 18", but it was still fun to catch and I put it back into the water right away so it would live to get bigger. congrats on the catches guys I hope to hook into some of those nice bluefish that are around.

[seamonkey]

CM area spot from 7 to 9 am. One 30" bass, hi lo clam rig.

[jigfreak]

In the back, 3-5p, threw some rubber, :skunk:

[GeoffT]

As I was getting dressed, an elderly gentleman jogged by and stopped to rest nearby. When I was about to walk past him to the water, he said, "A friendly word of advice, son. Don't waste your time because everyone told me there were no fish today!" Well, he was certainly nice enough to volunteer the info.

Needless to say, I didn't heed his advice and had another good night on plugs. We had blues to 15 lbs before dark and bass to 12 lbs after dark on ML swimmers (big and small), SS darters, mag bombers, and redfins. :thumbsup:

[yardvillejimmy]

Fished MoCO with Dark Skies and Cardoc yesterday evening. Had a good time with a nice catch of bass and blues on rubber, artificials and bucktails.:HappyWave:

[lostatsea]

Caught a schoolie on a bucktail last night at the hook. Also landed a couple of nice blues.

[captnemo]

We had some nice action yesterday in Raritan bay, we were trolling in 30' of water. Had some decent action with bass up to 20#. Kept 2 for the grill.

[DarkSkies]

Porgy, Lostatsea, Geoff, Seamonkey, Basshunter, Jigfreak, Cardoc, Yardville, Captnemo, nice catches, thanks for helping out with the reports. :thumbsup: It seems we have some hit or miss fishing depending on if you're on a boat or not, and what the water temps are where you're fishin at. Hey, that's fishin. :don't know why:

In addition the spot that produced yesterday is like a barren desert today, which keeps guys on their toes. It makes you think and try to analyze, look at past logs, and presents a challenge. Things like that help to spread people around as you never know where a land bite will pop up. (Or you could just mug Finchaser, I hear the old grouchy bassturd OGB likes peanut snack cakes) :laugh: ;) :HappyWave:

********************


Hooked up with Cardoc last night in moco because I wanted him to get an idea of some of the nuances of plugging. He's gone as far as he can as a clam fisherman ;) Now it was time to take the step to the dark side and turn him on to what makes one addicted to artificials. :dribble:

We got to the beach before dark, and met up with Yardville Jimmy of the old farts fishing club (OFFC).

We were lucky to meet up with Yardville so early in the season. I hope his first venture out can prompt some of the other OFFC members :HappyWave: out of semi-fishing-retirement... they really know how to put a :beatin: on the young gun surfcasters when they're out there.

Conditions were not promising. The sky had pending showers looming, we were warned it would be a waste of time. What the hell, no guarantees in fishin.

We started working small profile swimmers. A few taps, no hookups. Saw 2 bluefish caught in the hour before dark.

I gave Cardoc some lessons in the different profile plugs and when to use them. Actually it wasn't that hard, he's a fast learner and and appreciative student. He's the kind of guy who makes you glad you decided to help him because he's sincerely thankful, no false manipulation here. :thumbsup: I have a great time whenever we fish with him.

As soon as it neared dusk I suggested bucktails because of the sluggish fish in the cold water. Good choice. Cardoc had never before used bucktails in the surf. Some quick advice and we were bucktailing. He banged the first fish in the dark, a nice angry bluefish. They were barely hitting so we had to slow the presentation way down.

Then Yardville was in, nice big bluefish.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch!
(My Dad tried to teach me this lesson, sometimes I need to re-think it) :embarassed:
I was next at bat, and hooked what I thought was a nice bass. After you catch enough fish you learn to recognize the unmistakable head shake of a bluefish and up and down antics vs the strong steady deep pull of a nice bass. I couldn't turn my fish for a few minutes as it pulled steady drag and I only gained inches at a time. Then it would sit there as it got strength for another run.

I was thinking I had a nice bass in the mid 20's, a good photo op C&R to make Finchaser proud. :HappyWave:

I can usually bring any fish in within a few minutes, this one I fought for 10. When I finally see the fish I see that the bucktail was impaled in its back, like it was a giant bunker. Only instead of a decent bass it was a foul hooked bluefish. If only some thresher sharks were around we would have had some fun! :eek:

The night continued to produce some nice blues up to 10#. Then Yardville hooked into a nicer fish and ended up beaching a 32" bass, around 14. :clapping:

OFFC smokes the youngsters, I tell ya! ;)

Action gradually died down as slack tide approached. By then we had all caught a few nicer blues, and lost some unknown fish after some nice runs. And Yardville had the hot hand with the only bass landed. :clapping::clapping: :plastered:

We all had a blast, I'm happy we got the chance.

[DarkSkies]

I had a great day today fighting the bluefish. Slept in the car, back out on the beach by 6am. It really is a sunrise bite, and I was mad that I was 1/2 hour late to the party, but I was shot.

Tried all the things that worked last night and couldn't get it together. The bucktail came back with bottom crap on it, so I had to re-think as I fished the whole ebb and part of the flood. Fished from 6-11am.

The W/NW wind made the water choppy and cooled the water down even more, if that was possible.

I tried a pencil for a while to prove it might work. I lost a half-hour of valuable time fishin it, as that's how long it took me to get a fish on it. :beatin:

The fish really are sluggish in the ocean, guys and girls. There are a lot better choices than pencils when the water is very cold. And the water this morning felt like ice. :scared: The bluefish hit like fluke in the early morning, even the bigger ones.

So I went with a Hopkins no Equal, about 3", very small spearing type profile. I did well on that for awhile, but things slowed down, so I had to change up. Put a white grubtail on the Hopkins and my hit ratio doubled. (One of Finchaser''s secret weapons, thanks! :HappyWave:) Fished that for awhile as I got a lot of hits but landed much less than I hooked up with.

I caught everything that was stuck in the ocean today. A water sogged high end down pillowcase that weighed at least 30, prompting the guy nearby to ask me how I planned to cook it (nice meetin ya Jack :HappyWave:)

Also hooked a lot of fish as I kept changing presentations to keep it going. Hooked up to or had brief encounters with 42, and landed on the beach 12 bluefish up to 10#, and one baby bass 20".

A great day, met some cool people. :HappyWave:

Back out again in 5 mins, get out there and fish, people!

[c4charlie]

(One of Finchaser''s secret weapons, thanks! :HappyWave:)

Uh.... :huh:
Hey Dark, you know what a secret is. Not sure Finchaser is going to fish with you again. I'll be happy to take your spot on the next outing.
:HappyWave::HappyWave:

Landed my first blues of the year on plugs. Got about 7 or so and lost one plug to one and also a number of on and off and also lots of misses on topwater. It was a fun night. I finally found the bait and the fish. My partner in crime caught blues and a really nice 20lb striper which was nice to see. Good night and great times.:plastered:

[DarkSkies]

Uh.... :huh:
Hey Dark, you know what a secret is. Not sure Finchaser is going to fish with you again.


Hey Charlie, the white tail grubs are SOP as one part of any spring fisherman's arsenal. They're in Milt Rosko's books and many other surf guides out there. I and others have been using them for years, single and double tails. I say Fin invented that to bust his ballz so he isn't so grouchy.... :laugh:
He'll fish with me again, no one takes location scouting to the level I do. :HappyWave: And no one can find swans as quickly as I can.

The real sekrit is the snack cakes... ;)

(Or you could just mug Finchaser, I hear the old grouchy bassturd OGB likes peanut snack cakes) :laugh: ;) :HappyWave:


WTG on the catches. :thumbsup: Tell your partner I said congrats, I lost his # when my phone got wet.


******************

Night of extreme top water explosions :scared:

Took Pebbles out tonight to test her new Finchaser-built rod on some tackle bustin bluefish. We only had limited time so we stayed close to home in the bay.

I wanted to go over different presentations and expand her skill set. She learned proper retrieve for magdarters, megabaits, needlefish, and for the first time ever....bucktails.

She's a fast learner, made me proud. On her 3rd cast using a light bucktail she nailed a decent size bluefish. :clapping: Everything after that was gravy.

Fishing the warmer bay waters brought out the natural aggressiveness of the demons. We landed a few and had many that either came unbuttoned or exploded on the plugs only a few feet away from us. It was much easier than the ocean bluefish I had been working hard for on each cast for the past few days. Almost 2 easy, these fish were very hungry. They were also exploding on scattered surface spearing. It was a cool sight to watch as we waded out to where the fish were.

Fished the last of the ebb, first hour of the flood. Fish bit right through the tide change.

Hot presentations for us were small bucktails, black or orange mackerel pattern magdarter with bucktail siwash, mega baits, and yozuri spearing profiles. We also had one hookup on a needlefish, but they generally were ignored in favor of the other presentations.

It was great action. There were times when we were both hooked up at once, bluefish to 10#. Action died about an hour into the incoming when the water got colder and the wind shifted with the tide change to N wind.

It was a lot of fun while it lasted. I'm proud of Pebbles' aptitude and committment to learning new techniques. :clapping: :clapping:

[Pebbles]

My luck was totally due to my new Finchaser rod!!:clapping::clapping::clapping:

I would say that every other catch I hooked up. Unfortunately due to my lack of skills, I lost several walking it back to the beach. Yet I had the time of my life! The fish were jumping 2 feet in front of me.

Fin, check your pm's I need to ask you something. Thanks, Pebbles.

Again, if anyone needs a custom rod contact Finchaser. I consider the rod he made for me one of my most prized possessions. It is perfect for me.

Thanks again for helpiing me to minimize my chronic shoulder condition with that beautiful rod, Fin! :kiss: :HappyWave:

[surfwalker]

Haven't had time to get out much, only on Saturdays. Today, out front, saw many Bass caught by the clammers in my area, mostly shorts/few keepers. Tossed plugs with no positive results. Picked up one short when I switched over to a salted clam very late in the am. 'an that's that

[vpass]

First time out this year. I fished for an hour out front from 8PM to 9PM in NoMoCo. used Bucktails and ML Swimmers. No hits. :embarassed:Will try tomorrow in the early AM.:fishing:

[DarkSkies]

Haven't had time to get out much, only on Saturdays. Today, out front, saw many Bass caught by the clammers in my area, mostly shorts/few keepers.




I really hate to say this, but there's a hot clam bite in the ocean right now. Some keepers 28-33" are being pulled in, beginning and end of day. If you're out there in the hot sun expecting a fish, good luck. But the times I mentioned are producing.


Thanks for the confirm, Surfwalker, check your PMs. :HappyWave:



Vpass, check your PMs. :HappyWave:

[jigfreak]

Fished the top of the tide near some structure this morning in occo. 2 shorts up to 27", bucktail and pork. 8 slammer blues as well.

[cardoc765]

I know this post is late, but I needed to post it.

Just wanted to say, I had a blast fishing with Dark and Yardville this week. Was great meeting you Yardville, I had a great time fishing with you. Dark kept feeding me different ideas and plugs to toss and it was great once we figured what the fish were going to hit. I have done a lot of bait fishing from shore and my boat until I sold it. I also did some artificials, but only on bluefish.

This is another stage for me and I plan to perfect it as much as i can. I got a little bit fumbled up during the bite trying to make another leader and re-tie my lie in the middle of the bite. My adrenalin was pumping and I just couldn't get it right. :laugh:

Don't give up on the bass though. They are still out there, you just have to be a bit more tactful as to when you're going to fish for them.

Thanks again Dark and Yardville. Looking forward to fishing with you guys again.

[rip316]

Very respectful Dave. It is a pleasure to know you.

[storminsteve]

I know this post is late, but I needed to post it.

Just wanted to say, I had a blast fishing with Dark and Yardville this week. Was great meeting you Yardville, I had a great time fishing with you. Dark kept feeding me different ideas and plugs to toss and it was great once we figured what the fish were going to hit. I have done a lot of bait fishing from shore and my boat until I sold it. I also did some artificials, but only on bluefish.

This is another stage for me and I plan to perfect it as much as i can. I got a little bit fumbled up during the bite trying to make another leader and re-tie my lie in the middle of the bite. My adrenalin was pumping and I just couldn't get it right. :laugh:

Don't give up on the bass though. They are still out there, you just have to be a bit more tactful as to when you're going to fish for them.

Thanks again Dark and Yardville. Looking forward to fishing with you guys again.


:clapping: To Dark and Yardville, hope to fish with you guys as well one day. Good mojo to you for creating a new surfcaster. Cardoc, feels good to catch on artificials doesn't it? Welcome to the addiction.:d



I fished RB last night. There was a light drizzle, I fished part of the outgoing. Gosh there are some big bluefish out there.:scared:
I caught a mess of blues to 11pounds on poppers, black bomber, and mag-darters. It was a lot of fun, go out there and catch them up guys!

[buckethead]

SH early this morning. Caught a few blues on poppers.

[cardoc765]

It's always a pleasure to learn from others new ways of catching fish. To me, I get a bigger kick out of teaching others as well what I know. Like Dark, I love to teach new comers to this how to catch fish and watch them reel em in. I have taught a few people already some of the things I know, and look forward to the opportuunity to teach others as I go along. Especially the kids.

A thanks to you too Fin, can't wait to go out there together.

[surferman]

Congrats on all the catches guys, it looks like fish are filling in everywhere. Fished an inlet in the rain. It slowed down a little in the afternoon and the blues came in, tackle busters. First I was using shads but then switched to metals when they chopped all my shads up. Baaaaad blues! :beatin: :fishing:
Now all we need is the big girls to hit the beach.

[fishinmission78]

Today 4-6, all the bluefish you could reel in from the shore of Barnegat bay. Swimmers.

[rip316]

I was fortunate enough to fish with DARK last night and into the morning. Fished from 830 til 3am. Caught an a__ load of big bluefish. Learned a lot from DARK. They bit on a different variety of lures but, in certain places the bite was a little tougher and had to work for the fish. Great experience and can not wait to learn the next phase. Thanks Dark.

[DarkSkies]

Tried for the artificial bite with Rip316 last night. We drove to the ocean. The SE/E wind made it unfishable as we fished the last of the ebb, part of the flood, so we hit some back bay spots that gave us a lee from the wind.

First place on our list was a place I haven't been to for awhile. I wanted Rip to learn some different aspects of plugging that he wasn't familiar with, that was the goal. Catching fish was secondary.

What part of the water are fish holding at?
This was a good bucktail spot, but there were no indications of any bait or fish at all. I gave him a quick bucktail lesson and we were set.

Bang @#%!! First cast he nails a fat bluefish! I couldn't have been more proud, as he had never bucktailed from shore before. :clapping:

The bluefish must have been stacked there by the hundreds, because I got one immediately after and we continued to hook them one after the other. The single hook bucktails, and one other factor, gave them a fighting chance, as we nailed big bluefish to 10# and lost a few bigger fish. The excitement and adrenalin for me was off the charts. :dribble: I don't know if Rip felt the same way, but I was bummed we only got a 1/2 hour of crazy action at that spot, then we had to leave. :(

That was the best action of the night. It was all downhill from there. :) Actually, when I'm fishin it's all good as long as I'm out there. What I mean to say that is for the first half hour we had stupid fishing, and for the rest of the night we had to work for our big bluefish, changing presentations along the way. That was actually a blessing, as Rip got to see it isn't always easy to catch bluefish at night, especially as a storm is coming in.

He did get to use and learn different artificials and the right ways to present given the conditions of that moment.

We moved to the next spot. 2 guys were already fishing, getting bluefish on shads. We gave them plenty of space, left them alone. I taught Rip how to work a needlefish. He caught a few, then we got some action on shads. I worked bucktails and some mid level swimmers. Not much action as the bite died there. On to another spot, but not before we had to pick up the fishing garbage of the 2 idiots who were there and left 5 mins before we did. :2flip: More on that in another thread.

The rain started getting more intense. We could see flashes of lightning, and the thunder sounded like we were in the subway, a low rumbling sound. It wasn't that bad because the storms were far off and moving away from us. However the rain did get stronger.

We went to the next area and worked it for an hour. There were fish, but they were scattered. We really had to work for the hits. I lost a nice one, and Rip lost some. The thing that kept us going was when we said we were going to leave after a few more casts, we would get a hit or tap and get sucked into a few more minutes working the water there.

We finally left when the rain was comng down in sheets. The whole time not one complaint from him. When I'm out there I don't want to go home until I'm shot or the weather forces me. Rip fits into that mindset just fine, I would fish with him again. :thumbsup:





Work the bottom when the water is cold:

We made another move to the place Pebbles and I had done so well at Friday night. We fished the last part of the ebb there to slack, and then some.

Fish were there but we had to work at it. It was apparent the water was colder, and there was no bait on top for them to crash like it was the other night. Bunker were around, but they were very scattered "happy" :lookhappy: bunker.


The decison was made to work the bottom. Rip did ok on bucktails and shads, but again, had to work for every fish.

I concentrated on mid-level to sinking swimmers. Also worked some fin-s rubber there, but no results. The magdarters that had proved so deadly for Pebbles and I a few nights ago produced nothing. Bombers and megabaits produced nothing. I really wanted to catch a fish on a plug that night and except for the needlefish, the plug bite wasn't happening.

However the action at this late stage of the ebb had slowed and I felt like experimenting. I diligently worked over 10 different presentations and styles before I came across something that worked, a no-name small sinking swimmer about 3" long. That finally produced results, which translated to a few hits and one landed bluefish. All that work for an hour to catch a few more fish, we must be crazy. :kooky:

But, in a way, it wasn't that bad to be out there. The rain and wind died down, the temp was very mild, and the fog rolling in at different places made for some spooky cool landscapes. :eek: :cool:

Before we packed it up for the night, we decided to hit the first honey hole one more time. Good choice. I got one bucktailing, Rip managed a few hits and misses, and we added few more after that to our night's tally.




In summary, we didn't slay them, except at fhe first spot for a 1/2 hour. After that we had to work our presentations. This was good because Rip got a chance to see that surfcasting sometimes is hard work. ;) Glad I finally got a chance to fish with him. It was a pleasure to teach him a few things, see that his understanding had increased, and watch his enthusuasm as he was drawn into the addictive world of surfcasting. :thumbsup: :fishing:

[GeoffT]

^^^^^^ Great report, DS. And good work getting yet another one addicted to plugging. :clapping:

Blues are always willing participants when practicing your plugging. :thumbsup:

[speedy]

Cardoc765 you won the plug in the March random drawing!:clapping: :thumbsup:

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.

If you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well. Anyone who posts a report can win a plug even if they got skunked! :skunk::D


This month we're giving out plugs from Ace Baits.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...splay.php?f=83 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/forumdisplay.php?f=83)

PM me your info so I can send it out. Thanks for posting and helping to make this a great site! :clapping:


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6338&thumb=1&d=1238964999 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6338&d=1238964999)

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6340&thumb=1&d=1238965622 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6340&d=1238965622)


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6339&thumb=1&d=1238965319 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6339&d=1238965319)
that swimmer is sweet who made that swimmer great job:drool::wow:

[rip316]

Thanks for the kind words Dark. Can't wait to do it again.

[albanyguy1]

Great report Dark. Being so far away, its fun to fish vicariously through you and all the other members.

Shad fishing on the Hudson is prohibited this year, so I might have to hightail down to the Jersey shore a bit earlier than I planned. Fish em up.

[storminsteve]

The rain started getting more intense. We could see flashes of lightning, and the thunder sounded like we were in the subway, a low rumbling sound. It wasn't that bad because the storms were far off and moving away from us. However the rain did get stronger.

We went to the next area and worked it for an hour. There were fish, but they were scattered. We really had to work for the hits. I lost a nice one, and Rip lost some. The thing that kept us going was when we said we were going to leave after a few more casts, we would get a hit or tap and get sucked into a few more minutes working the water there.

We finally left when the rain was comng down in sheets. The whole time not one complaint from him. When I'm out there I don't want to go home until I'm shot or the weather forces me. Rip fits into that mindset just fine, I would fish with him again. :thumbsup:



:thumbsup::thumbsup: You write great Rich, you really should consider doing it professionally. I always look forward to reading your reports. I feel like I'm right alongside you guys as you are fishing.

Unlike you, I saw that rain forecast last night and stayed in like a punk. I got up at 2am, and fished 3-6 in the back of raritan bay. I got one bass 30" within the first 5 minutes on fresh bunker. The rest of the time I was getting battered by big blues. Hey it was a lot of fun like you said. A fish fighting on the end of your line is better than none, and these blues fight like crazy. :scared:

[fishinmission78]

OC surf 6-8 pm, surf was rough, threw 3 oz crippled herring and hopkins that got hammered by bluefish. Managed a half dozen 5-11pounds.

[rip316]

The 11lbers just wont quit. It's like arguing with my wife. lololololool

[DarkSkies]

^^^^^^ Great report, DS. And good work getting yet another one addicted to plugging. :clapping:
Blues are always willing participants when practicing your plugging. :thumbsup:
Thanks Geoff, I know you're happy that the artificial bite is finally in full swing. Best of luck to you and the JSS club this season! :thumbsup: :HappyWave:



that swimmer is sweet who made that swimmer great job:drool::wow:
That's a surf pig from Ace Baits. It's a company, not one of the custom builders many know of, but he still makes great plugs. The finish in them is bulletproof. He uses a hardened 2 stage epoxy that is second to none. I have caught fish after fish on those plugs and they hold up without needing a repaint. They hold up well to savage teeth and jetty bashings. Ace Baits, and the owner is the nicest guy who really cares about quality control. :thumbsup:


Thanks for the kind words Dark. Can't wait to do it again.
Ya done good, many of those presentations you were using for the first time. Made me proud. :clapping:


Great report Dark. Being so far away, its fun to fish vicariously through you and all the other members....so I might have to hightail down to the Jersey shore a bit earlier than I planned. Fish em up
.
Come on down the water's fine and the fish are hungry. :HappyWave:


:thumbsup::thumbsup: You write great Rich, you really should consider doing it professionally. I always look forward to reading your reports. I feel like I'm right alongside you guys as you are fishing.

Thanks for the kind words Steve. I've been offered the chance to write for some magazines, but at this point I have many reservations about spot burning. I can't sell out spots for money, I just can't. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon13.gif
If I wrote for a big publication I feel that's what they would ask for, so I won't do it.

[GeoffT]

Thanks for the kind words Steve. I've been offered the chance to write for some magazines, but at this point I have many reservations about spot burning. I can't sell out spots for money, I just can't. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon13.gif
If I wrote for a big publication I feel that's what they would ask for, so I won't do it.

You don't have to, you can write one for me. I promise it'll be for my eyes only. :d

[fishinmission78]

Some bluefish action this morning in OC on krok spoons and heavy ava jigs with red tails, ava 27 to 47.

[finchaser]

SOS tell me your spot or I'll kill a SWAN:don't know why:

[clamchucker]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: You write great Rich, you really should consider doing it professionally. I always look forward to reading your reports. I feel like I'm right alongside you guys as you are fishing.


I second what storminsteve said. Your reports are always entertaining, never bragging, and they are enthusiastic and informative. You let the new guys know what is working, and that is what it is all about. On the days when I don't fish I look forward to your reports. Keep up the good work.

I fished IBSP this morning from 7-10, first of the outgoing. There was a good bass bite, pretty steady for a few of us folks. The current was strong and you needed at least 6 oz to hold. I managed 6 bass to 32" and kept one. Clams were the ticket. I did manage one small bass on a hopkins as well around 7am.

[vpass]

Fished NoMo from 4 to 8pm. Wind was howling from the NW. I caught 8 blues to 10 pounds. All fish were caught on 2oz Hopkins.

[yardvillejimmy]

Fished NoMoCo yesterday 3 to 7 PM with another member of the OFFC. 5 blues each on bombers. Other member had one about 12 pounds. North wind chilled water considerably shutting the bite down.

[DarkSkies]

You don't have to, you can write one for me. I promise it'll be for my eyes only. :d
Cmon now, I heard you guys have more intel than the CIA! :d :HappyWave: (I think we're both fishin some of the same places, there's a short list of areas that would fit our reports this time of year)



SOS tell me your spot or I'll kill a SWAN:don't know why:
Hey you secretly feed them, Chris told me so. :eek: Wassamatta fa u, got a soft spot in that grouchy heart of yours? :laugh:



I second what storminsteve said. Your reports are always entertaining, never bragging, and they are enthusiastic and informative. You let the new guys know what is working, and that is what it is all about. On the days when I don't fish I look forward to your reports. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the kind words, Clamchucker. I'm glad you enjoy my 2000 word fishin reports. ;)


Fished NoMoCo yesterday 3 to 7 PM with another member of the OFFC. 5 blues each on bombers. Other member had one about 12 pounds. North wind chilled water considerably shutting the bite down.
You can say that again, I was lower down in moco and the water was like ice! :scared:

[DarkSkies]

Last night I was supposed to hook up with Speedy so I could internet mug him. Turns out I couldn't make it on time. Speedy blew me off to go and drag race down Ocean Ave, I hope he didn't get arrested. (Fiction) ;) :HappyWave:

Since I was down in moco I decided to look for some fish. It was slim pickings, checked out a lot of spots. Fished from 12-7:15am, various back bay and ocean areas.

At 12:30 I was bucktailing a spot I like, no action. Decided to toss a storm shad before leaving, BANG! 28" keeper bass. Took a pic for the C&R thread.

Then I hit a handful of other spots. All looked promising, but they were dead as far as artificials were concerned, with the N/NW winds and cold water. Kept looking for a lee from the wind. Every time I found one there were no fish.

Finally found some great water that was 10deg warmer than the ocean, which was around 49 or lower. Only problem was wind in my face, couldn't present well. One hit on a shad at that spot, that was it, until the wind of 20-25 forced me to leave.

I was getting frustrated, thinking of going home. Decided to make the sunrise bite in the ocean. Between 6-6:20 am I got 2 short bass on a northbar bottle darter. First time I used one, I really like the way they swim, and dig in. :thumbsup:

Other presentations, hopkins, shad, bucktail, mid-level swimmers, didn't work in that place for the morning bite. I kept casting for some monster bluefish. They never came by, disappointing. :(

It was frikkin cold lasr night, and the ocean water was like ice water. I salute anyone who was out there in that cold wind.:thumbsup:

[c4charlie]

Went out last night and got my first striper of the year on a JB130 megabait. Fishing was slow, had a few more striper hits but could not get the hookup. Fish was right around keeper size. Released to fight another day. :plastered:
I was fishing with Yukon and later in the night or should I say early morning we found some highly intelligent blues in some quiet water. Start casting, we each land a few and we are thinking that we will be catching them until time to go to work.

All of a sudden, the blues learned what was going on and they were not going to have it anymore. They simply vanished or decided that our plugs were no good.

Found a bunch of new spots and had a good time! Full moon was bright. We also chucked some clams into the ocean but no fish.

[fishinmission78]

Last night I was supposed to hook up with Speedy so I could internet mug him. Turns out I couldn't make it on time. Speedy blew me off to go and drag race down Ocean Ave, I hope he didn't get arrested. (Fiction) ;) :HappyWave:

Since I was down in moco I decided to look for some fish.


You should have came south to ocean. We slayed them this morning just above the park, blues to 12, got about 10 on metal. Also one bass 33", dinner tonight.

[basshunter]

Nomoco early this morning. Hooked two shorts and two blues on bucktails.

[cardoc765]

Fished nomoco with RIP316 this morning from 5:15 to 10:15. Got into a great bite that started around 7ish. Fished with clams and bunks and only got hits on the bunker. Got into a great 2 hours or so or heavy hits, loads of bites, lots of hook ups, and some fish on the sand.

RIP always a great time hangin with you. Dark, I wish we knew you were local. We would have asked you to join us.

All fish were blues. There were 2 fish that I believe were really nice sized bass because of the lack of head shake fight and when the hook came out its mouth with the bait still on it, there were no teeth marks on the bait. Boy but what a huge hit and temporary fight.

We seemed to be the only 2 catcing fish and getting hook ups and hits the entire time. There were 2 other guys that got a fish each.

Hold a sec guy the phone is ringing!!!!! OK i'm back. Hey RIP, that was that big striper i lost in the wash this morning. He wanted to know if you want your cell phone back!!!!! :ROFLMAO

[rip316]

Hardi har har. So, you have jokes. it's ok man. The fish Cardoc HAD on had wrapped around my rig that had a bunker head on it and when I turned around and saw my rod going off I ran my a__ off and cell phone must have popped out of the holder. No biggie, it is a work phone and they are replacing it with no charge to me. Good time Dave. Tnamks for the lunch Deb. ( I still have heartburn from the hotdogs) lol

[DarkSkies]

^ Like the dark glasses guys, you look like FBI agents. ;)
Congrats on the fish, the cell phone comment was funny. :thumbsup:
Sorry I missed ya's, had to get to work on time.

Vpass, nice to see you got into some bluefish action, they're great fun, and pound for pound the large gators fight harder than bass the same size.

********************




I did an internet mugging :laugh: and fished with Finchaser in Ocean County last night. The NW wind had been a problem for surfcasting further north , so we figured the OC beaches might be better. They were. The wind dropped out around 7:30, and it was a pleasure to fish that cool clear ocean county water. It's a lot different from NY bight water.

The only problem was lack of bait in the surf. We presented for 45 mins, not even Fin could get a tap. We then hit a place in the back and found out blues and small bass were around all day. They got into a number of small blues just 5 minutes after we left from there after briefly stopping to check it out before fishing the ocean.

Hey, that's fishin. :don't know why:

Most of the guys had left because they felt the bite was over. Fin and I continued to probe the incoming water with rubber and bucktails. We managed a few hits, he pulls in a small bluefish, only one strike for me, no fish landed. The bite died as it turned slack.

The good thing being down there was the wind pattern was different.

I left, slept in my car, and this morning drove up to nomoco to hit a few spots before sunrise for 30 minutes of hit and run fishing before work. Not a tap in the building winds, hope they die down by afternoon, there's fish to catch! :fishing:

[DarkSkies]

Hardi har har. So, you have jokes. it's ok man. The fish Cardoc HAD on had wrapped around my rig that had a bunker head on it and when I turned around and saw my rod going off I ran my a__ off and cell phone must have popped out of the holder. No biggie, it is a work phone and they are replacing it with no charge to me. Good time Dave. Tnamks for the lunch Deb. ( I still have heartburn from the hotdogs) lol

You guys should have your own youtube channel. Next time I wanna see pics when ya screw up. :d :HappyWave:

[cardoc765]

OK. so Deb and I have had the best laugh this week after reading these last couple posts. :d RIP, I still am baffled about the freeaking phone deal and still feel bad about it. At least they are getting you a new one without any charge to you. Hopefully they are using their upgrade (if they have one) to get it. Let me know as soon as you are up and running. There are still lots of fish to catch.

Guess what RIP, from what I see in the posts, we finally out fished Dark hahahahahaha :laugh:. For one day at least LOL. (he'll get us back) LMAO:laugh::d

[wish4fish]

Guess what RIP, from what I see in the posts, we finally out fished Dark hahahahahaha :laugh:. For one day at least LOL. (he'll get us back) LMAO:laugh::d

hey nice catches guys you r getting those monster blues.:wow: dont worry about dark, anyone can outfish him hes too busy saving swans and giving fishing lessons its like he never fishes with us anymore. dark u gotta hang with us some night call me dude!:2flip: we got big blues on the incoming this morning in the back of rb, poppers, we each got like 10 to 12lbs.

[fishinmission78]

OC from 6-7:30am, 3 blues on metal

[bababooey]

Just to let you moco guys know there are massive schools of bigger bass and blues moving your way. We were out yesterday in that insane wind, N of BI. We got bass to 35# and blues to 15 in 50' of water. It was a great bite with Ava 47s and heavy kroc jigs. Kept a few for the table, the readings were so thick it was almost surreal.

[ledhead36]

I was out back early this morning a caught a few nice blues.

[yukon]

Yesterday we made a trip south to IBSP. Started at 4 and we knew it was gonna be fun when the first look at the beach presented a pod of bunker getting busted up. A few guys on it already getting a couple blues. Took a walk south to find a good cut. Set up and in the clams went. Got 2 bass just under 28 pretty quick then the fun began. Looked at the wash and at our feet a big pod getting beached and it was on with big blues. At one point if you looked up the beach you could see 20 ppl hooked up at the same time and this went on for hours. What a sight... Once it got dark the blues moved out and a guy near us got this nice bass on a bunker head. A real good local guy who insisted we stay and fish with him. I had to double check we were still in NJ. My buddy got another bass then we called it a night getting home at 2. A good trip.

[yardvillejimmy]

Fished NoMoCo yesterday afternoon with the OFFC. Slow pick of blues on artificials.

[chas527]

fished sh yesterday morning 2 shorts. fished sh last night 5 fish 2 keepers,in an hour and half. fished this morning 3 shorts and 8 skates.

[DarkSkies]

... Once it got dark the blues moved out and a guy near us got this nice bass on a bunker head. A real good local guy who insisted we stay and fish with him. I had to double check we were still in NJ. My buddy got another bass then we called it a night getting home at 2. A good trip.
Great story and informative report Yukon, we do run into a few good people every now and then. :thumbsup:


Fished NoMoCo yesterday afternoon with the OFFC. Slow pick of blues on artificials.
OFFC back in the game! Sorry I missed yas had to work late. :(


fished sh yesterday morning 2 shorts. fished sh last night 5 fish 2 keepers,in an hour and half. fished this morning 3 shorts and 8 skates.
WTG Chas nice to see you into some keepers, check your PMs or call me. :thumbsup:

Congrats to the other members gettining out there as well, and thanks for the head's up on the larger fish Bobabooey.

[DarkSkies]

Had to work late yesterday and got down to the water after the flood. Tide was extremely high so decided to fish the nomoco ocean. One of my most productive spots drew a blank. I fished for 2 hours from 11-1 probing the whole water column, couldn't even manage a tap. I was a little frustrated as I felt some fish should have been there. The horrendous winds of the last 2 days dropped out to a light W breeze, conditions were almost perfect.

Took a nap in the car, was woken up by 2:30 cell phone call from Wish4fish the 420 dude. ;) I felt bad blowing him and his crew off all the time, so we met up. We decided to hit a spot with bucktails. The first few minutes we had good action but no hookups, very non-committal hits. Picky bluefish, aggravating. :burn:

We changed it up a bit and started throwing storm shads. Fish hit more aggressively and we had more hookups. We each landed about 1/2 dozen, give or take, to 10#. Each lost several more. The tide dropped out and it got real shallow. I hit one keeper bass as the tide approached the last hour of the ebb.

Took a pic for the C&R thread and sent it back.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=5854

That was the last of the action at that spot. The young punk :laugh: :HappyWave:said he was tired and had to go home.

I continued on to another place and fished it from 4:30-6am. Again, I had trouble finding what to present to the fish as they were picky. I managed one hit on a white magnum bomber under the full moon's illumination of the water. Several more hits on the different bucktails, nothing at all on magdarters and various small swimmers that had been money over the past week.

There was no consistent bite until I again switched to shads. Started getting bit, and landing fish. Landed 3 to 12#, those big blues get me more pumped up than the bass as the fight gets my adrenalin going. :headbang:

I hate recommending storm shads when big bluefish are around. Wish4fish and I each went through 2 packs and some singles I had laying around. It's an expensive way to catch fish. Bucktails with pork or ledheads with rubber are usually a better alternative. :learn:

But last night the storm shads outproduced all other presentations even though there wasn't much bait around in the water. It is what it is, gotta roll with what works.

The bite died at 6am. I went somewhere else to find a different part of the tide, but that was dead too.




**********
On the way home I stopped at the beach to see how Cardoc, Mrs Cardoc, and Rip were doing, they were at a local beach clam fishin.

At that time they had not caught anything, hope they can get into fish as the tide turns around this afternoon. :thumbsup:

Rumor has it that's because RIP brought a banana sammich to the beach and the early morning bite shut down. :laugh:

Rip, that's bad mojo! ya can't bring those bananas on a boat, or on a beach either!
No more bananas on the beach! :beatin: :ROFLMAO ;) :HappyWave:

The water is warming up, and so is the hype about all the fish being caught. :rolleyes:

There were some nice bass caught this morning. Anytime you have 100 guys lined up fishin next to each other someone is bound to stick a fish or 2. :lookhappy: Honestly it was a very slow pick, it could get better as the water rises a degree or so today.

Good luck everyone. :thumbsup:

[rip316]

Damn man. Do you have a computer in your pocket or something? How in the world did you beat me home and to the computer. Now in my defense, I did not take a bannan samich out fishing. It was actually Cardocs wife. She makes these mean spicey hot dogs and came up with the idea of mixing them with bannanas. I told her they were bad luck but, I guess her logic was that if she gave one to me and I ate it than The bad carma would go my way and they would catch all of the fish. Ha so there. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[DarkSkies]

I told her they were bad luck but, I guess her logic was that if she gave one to me and I ate it than The bad carma would go my way and they would catch all of the fish. Ha so there. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

That's it blame it on the women! :moon:
You know you're gonna be doggin it today if she catches a nice bass like she usually does and beats out most of the guys on the beach....;)
My money's on Mrs Cardoc. :thumbsup: :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

6:30 to 8 AM 3 bass to 31" all alive and well

[rip316]

Nice job Fin. Is it May yet already?

[gjb1969]

good job everyone u all are die hard nite in nite out with all the bs reports i see, with this group most of the time its not hype tite lines and good fishin to all:fishing::HappyWave:

[clamchucker]

Great bluefish action at the park yesterday with blues from 7-12lbs. metal and poppers. They were following bunker. A few bass were caught as well. I only got bluefish.

[voyager35]

We had a nice day of trolling stretch 25s and jigging just down the beach from the hook. Bass to 21lbs, blues to 13lbs. Great day on the water.

[cardoc765]

It's amazing what happens when bananas are farther than 500 yards away from the water!!!!!! :d

Mrs cardoc and I fished 6:00 till 3:00. Couldn't get a fish to even give us the stink eye. Couldn't figure it out. Tried everything but the kitchen sink. LOL not really. Then mrs cardoc leans over to me and asks "hey whats RIP eating over there? I swear its a banana!!!" I was like no way thats whats wrong here. All of a sudden here come Dark up behind us, so we had to tell him. RIP says it wasn't a banana, but sure looked like one from where i sat. :beatin::naughty: hahahahahahahahahahahha

Got some fresh clams and hung out for a while longer and it paid off with a nice fat keeper. The water did start to warm up. Bass were all on clams. For a long time not even a hit on bunker at all other than a huge skate. Around 2:30 bunker started to produce and a school of blues swam along the beach and you could tell where they were because everyone in line as they swam hooked up. What an awesome sight.

There was a guy with a kayak and we tried some yak casting. He took my line out on his kayak while i held the pole and dropped it about 200 yards out for me. :kooky: I know, its silly but we tried just to have fun. All i got from that was a skate and on top of the skatet were 2 horseshoe crabs mating. So I reeled in the 3some felt like a 50lb anchor and we headed home. Saw some nice blackfish caught too.

I must say, we have met some awesome friends here on this site. We have also met some really cool people on the water as well. Love hanging and fishing with you guys. Lots of laughs and good times. RIP says he didnt have a banana, so I guess he didn't. But it was worth the awesome laugh that lasted till i read the posts.

[Pebbles]

Sounds like you are all having a great time out there. Not too sure when I will be going out, I am down and out not feeling so good lately. :( Oh well, I guess the fish will be there when I feel better.

Keep on fishing!:HappyWave:

[gjb1969]

get well soon kim they will and it will only get better when u feel sick its more important to get better

[jigfreak]

OC fished a piece of structure in the back this morning, one short runt 24", rubber. wtg on the reports guys looks like a lot of fun is being had. Hope you feel better Pebbles.

[lostatsea]

We fished S of BI today for bass. Marked some bait, but nothing on the umbrella rig. Tried jigging over the bait and got 2 bluefish. That's all she wrote.
Feel better Pebbles.

[rip316]

Yes we are having so much fun and along the way learning a lot of interesting stuff. We are all so interested in how to catch bass. I am definatley going to be on a mission sunday night. I am going to plug and jig my a s s off. I can not wait. I am going to spend some quality time with my family and then its on

[speedy]

sorry to here your not feeling well hope you feel better soon