NJ fishing reports July, 2010

[DarkSkies]

NJ fishing reports for July, 2010
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]

We've hit the summer doldrums for the surf guys. There are still bigger bass to be had for people on boats. Bunker continue to migrate through our area. The ones that don't get netted have some bass underneath.

2 factors against bass fishing right now are higher water temps and the scarcity of small and intermediate size bait inshore other than bunker. Last year we had bass in NJ well into July, and guys were always able to pick up residents here and there.

I know there are some who claim it's the best year ever. :huh: When you're directly on the bunker schools, and have direct access, fishing is fantastic in those areas. This is usually out of reach of surf guys, other than for a brief hour or 2 when the fish corral the bunker in the sand or rocks. There are a surprising number of qualified good fishermen, including guides, who've commented on the lack of smaller classes of bass this year.

I'm happy for all who are catching large bass. :thumbsup: I just thought I would be interesting to point out the disparity between what some seasoned captains are saying. And a reminder that past performance is no guarantee of future results, both in financial statements, and fishing. ;)

Conversely, the surf bite at the great northern meccas, Montauk, Cape Cod, CCC, Block, Rhody, etc, is good but not spectacular. There are guys up there who say the bass are slightly offshore as well. In some cases there are giant schools of bass in the EEZ. Those bass are untouchable, as it should be. They and the jumbo bluefish are feeding on the huge schools of sandeels and small whitebait that's stacked up offshore.

The fluke are getting bigger. A lot of guys have complained to me about the lack of surf bluefish this year. While there have been some good days where jumbos were caught in the surf, I would have to agree with them on the scarcity of the bluefish blitzes we're used to. This is definitely tied into the unusual lack of small bait in the wash.

Cownose rays, croakers, kingfish, black drum, and different sharks will make it interesting for the rest of the summer until the small bait stacks up in the back bays and the surf line. A bad day of fishin beats a good day at work, at least I think so....:lookhappy: :fishing:

[storminsteve]

A bad day of fishin beats a good day at work, at least I think so....:lookhappy: :fishing:

Spot on, dark.:plastered::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I fished a nomoco beach last night from 8-12, most of the incoming. There were some bunker around, scattered. I got a 29" bass on a bunker chunk, and a big dogfish.

[c4charlie]

Fished yesterday from 6pm until 1am or so in 4 different locations. Usually not out in the daytime and I have been doing a lot of freshwater lately so it was nice to hit the surf.

Now I know why you guys fish during the day... ran into a bikini model on my way out who told me that she rather be fishing than posing. I told her that I had a rod for her if she was up to it after the photo shoot.http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/images/smilies/wink.gif Wish I had my camera on me but since I went down straight from work I did not have it or you guys would have been in for a real treat. Very HOT! Tiny black/red bikini, dark hair, red heels, and this see through covering with lace that covered very little. Even less was covered when she took it off. She said it was a bikini but looked a lot more like lingerie. Fishing was slow off the rocks so decided to watch the photo shoot for a while.

Regarding the fishing it was slow. Even tried fluking and did not catch. Later in the night, met up with Yukon and we plugged and tossed some bunker. Got a skate on a bucktail and Yukon got some dogfish and skates as well. Water was warm.

[VSdreams]

Fished a south jersey beach before the people came on today, 5-8am. A doggie, a skate, and finally a few kingfish, kingfish on bloodworms, rest on bunker.

[VSdreams]

... ran into a bikini model on my way out who told me that she rather be fishing than posing. I told her that I had a rod for her if she was up to it after the photo shoot.http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/images/smilies/wink.gif Wish I had my camera on me but since I went down straight from work I did not have it or you guys would have been in for a real treat. Very HOT! Tiny black/red bikini, dark hair, red heels, and this see through covering with lace that covered very little. Even less was covered when she took it off. She said it was a bikini but looked a lot more like lingerie. Fishing was slow off the rocks so decided to watch the photo shoot for a while.



Hey c4charlie, I had a girlfriend once that was a model type, she was stuck up but she was hot!
I lost her at the beach one day, still trying to find her, did the chick you saw look like any of the ones below?:drool:

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[cardoc765]

What Dark says in his post is very true. Bass were up on the beaches last week real tight working on some bunker. You had to be at the right place at the right time as always. However, the stretch where i saw them was about 20 miles. Meaning they could be in moco one minute then later that day somewhere in nomoco. Even from the boat they have been pretty hard to find this week. Water temps are getting really high and a serious lack of bait. I have seen more bunker popping around just having a play date than i have seen fish working under them. Blues are being caught, but it's a night bite and offshore.

So for now we wait until the return. That really stinks.

[bababooey]

:drool::dribble::drool::dribble::naughty: If you folks are seeing that quality of pootie-tang on the beach, maybe I'm missing something.:don't know why:

Fluking today nomoco, 28 fluke, 2 keepers. Gulp for the one keeper, spearing and squid for the other. About 30' of water, in the shrewsbury rocks area, and down the beach.

[voyager35]

sea bass- we had good seabass action this morning about 1 mile out of the manasquan inlet. A lot of fish were keepers. We got an early start, back in the barn before the crowds came out. Fished the first few hours of incoming, great morning.

[jigfreak]

Awesome hotties, VS.:thumbsup:
Plugged the beach 4-6am :skunk:

[DarkSkies]

Porgy75 you won the plug in the June random drawing!:clapping: :thumbsup:
PM me your address so I can send it out to ya!



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, or something similar.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...splay.php?f=83 (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/forumdisplay.php?f=83)

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)

[rip316]

Fished Northern Barnegat Bay today with Katie(daughter 12yrs old) Gabby(katies friend) my old boss, now retired and my wife. Slow start til about halfway through the flood. Then the fish started biting. Killies, gulp swimming mullet chartreuse and white. 1/2 oz jig heads and the slaughter was on. Made a drift with a nice four foot drop and 3 on at a time. Made the drift again and had a consistent bite with the drift. Made the same drift repeatedly and caught 50 fluke and took home 7 keepers. My wife had the biggest of the day at 19" and talked chit the whole time. We wanted to get going but, leaving biting fish sux besides, she was not going to outfish me. Started toward the start of the drift and I rebait, armed and ready for battle, I look right at her and call my shot. Told her I was going to get the big one now just to shut her up. We approach the ledge, I drop and start to bounce my chartreuse mullet. Tip, tip, tip, I feel him. with the size jig heads and bait there is not much of a drop back and let him chew. It's tip, tip, and set. I get him close to the boat and feels just decent. When I get him to the point where he sees the boat, he takes off and peels line. I drop my rod tip and fight him right into my net. 20 BEAUTIFUL INCHES. I did my share of trash talkin to her because now I have the biggest fish of the day. Had a great day on the water and can not wait to get back out there again to defend my title.

[surfwalker]

rip, sounds like you had a fun day, great.

4am-11am/front/plugs. Nothing in the dark. Blue on popper at first light, then a few more blues a little later on-metal. Osprey finally picked up a small blue. The Dolphins were in very, very close this morning. No bait seen. Other than that, Nice Day.

Happy Trails

[cardoc765]

WTG RIp. Congrats on the 20. :lookhappy: After all you've been thru this year, it paid off for you. Yesterday evening was spent at the boat sitting on the dock meeting folks walking by along with some food, drinks, and then fireworks. Never seen so many people in AH at one time. Good thing I knew how to get out of there without following the flow of traffic. Was a good time with the MRS and friends. Tonight fireworks at Marine Park in Red Bank.

[clamchucker]

Rip congratulations on the nice fluke. Try to be kind to your wife. I don't know how long you have been married, but if you can get her to go fishing with her you are lucky. It sounds like you all had a great day.

I fished above the park this morning, the weekend traffic was too much to bear yesterday. Managed 2 cocktail blues at sunrise on a a popper. 3 short fluke on gulp after that. The water and conditions are beautiful, folks.

[storminsteve]

Way to go on the fluke rip316, I haven't caught a keeper fluke yet this year. Lots of shorts, but no keeper yet. I did get a keeper bass last night in nomoco, though, bunker chunk, outgoing. Just made it at 28" on the nose.

[rip316]

Me and wife are just breakin each others balls is all. We had a blast. I was at ends on deciding on selling my boat and she was the one that mad me not do it. She loves going in the river flukin. Not much of an ocean person though. Gets sick. She has tried even prescriptions and it just doesn't work for her so we make short river trips. I had to learn the area to be productive at catchin. Congrats on the bass Steve.

[gjb1969]

way to go rip with the fluke those are some good fish on the table:clapping::fishing:

[buckethead]

What a great day you had Rip. Congrat's. I headed out yesterday afternoon and got myself two short fluke nothing compared to what you caught but I still had myself a good time.

[captnemo]

Against my better judgement yesterday we fished for fluke in Raritan Bay the last of the outgoing and some of the incoming tide. We had wind against tide for some of the drifts, and countered that by power drifting. It gradually got better and we picked up a few on each drift. We managed 40 fluke, only 2 of which were keepers. It's not fair that the netters get to keep the 14" ones and we have to toss back 17 7/8" fluke. The boat traffic was horrendous, but looked worse by the Highlands. Good luck if you're out there today, folks!

[fishinmission78]

OC this morning before sunup. Bass were the target.:skunk:

[rip316]

Took my bro in law and my neice crabbing yeasterday. Maryland traps and actually caught a bunch on handlines with chicken breasts. Took home close to 2 and a half dozen keepers and threw back a ton of pregnant females. Tried flukin the same area where we caught the keepers the other day and the bite was non existent. Thinkin the boat traffic may have had something to do with it.

[clamchucker]

Tried flukin the same area where we caught the keepers the other day and the bite was non existent. Thinkin the boat traffic may have had something to do with it.

The boat traffic this week was as crowded as I have ever seen it. You're better off fluking on the weekdays if you can get a day off.

I managed 4 fluke to 17" this morning at the park, bucktail and gulp teaser.

[rip316]

I have every Monday off for the entire summer. Lucky me. Could not go today though. Aren't the 17 inch just fat. Ashame to throw them back.

[Monty]

Fished bay side 1:30 AM to 7:00. Lots of good water, choppy and current. Had one solid hit and about five swirls, but no hook-ups. All within an hour and half period after first light. Real nice out, no bugs, not to hot... but me catch the SKUNK. Threw plugs and rubber.

[storminsteve]

I didn't do much better monty. Fished nomoco rocks, beginning of the incoming. One doggie, one skate, bunker.

[jigfreak]

:skunk:

[buckethead]

Early this morning I hit a jetty in moco. Tried bombers then tried some metal still nothing.

[chas527]

fished sh this morning 7 small fluke 4 sea robbons.nice morning cool breeze felt good.fished from 6am till 1130am.

[voyager35]

Fished down the beach from sandy hook yesterday, some bunker in scattered pods. Most were unmolested. Early on found one near the mouth of raritan bay with bluefish to 8lbs and bass to 12lbs, Caught a few on chunks but the water seemed too warm. Finished the day drifting for fluke, 30 fluke 2 keepers to 18 3/4".

[c4charlie]

Took the kids and my younger bro crabbing in the Navesink today. First time crabbing off of a boat with hand lines. We caught 4 dozen in 2.5 hours taking only males and threw back a lot that were less than 5". We tried to keep bigger crabs rather than anything that was a keeper. We had lots of doubles and even a triple on one line. Kids had a blast. They actually brought up and felt the tugs for most of the crabs.

We were on the water by 7:30am and heading to the dock by 10:30am. On the way home, my older son says, " I had a lot of fun, can we go back."

My reply "Definitely, we'll go back again!"

My son's immediate response as we are driving the boat back home, "After Lunch?" http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

They absolutely loved it!

I invited my parents, brother, sister's family and we had a feast! Made some gumbo on the side with rice along with well seasoned crabs and some nice wine my dad brought over and we had an EXCELLENT Dinner!

[cowherder]

Fished moco 6-8am. The tide was high and there were some type of birds far out. Maybe bluefish or something else they were hovering over, I couldn't see that far. It was a nice overcast morning, caught 4 short fluke on gulp new penny shrimp, 1 sea robin as well.
Great crabbing story, c4charlie!

[jigfreak]

Sharking from the beach tonight, got 2 smooth doggies, and 1 brown to about 20lbs, bunker and old mackerel chunks. A few other run offs, they bit until the tide died, OC.

[fishinmission78]

Good report on the sharks jig, some browns are definitly around. I might start fishing for them this week.
I fished an OC inlet this morning near high tide before sunrise, one runt bass on a shad.

[Monty]

Hit out front this am for an hour at one, nothing, moved to the back, threw the bag....which included a popper at 3:30 AM that got me a short bass. My first fish on a popper in the dark. Got a couple short Fluke (teaser and 007 Ava) sun-up, finished up around 7:30. Great being out there.

[rip316]

Good job C4.

[plugaholic]

Hit some jetties in ocean county, 4 to 6a. One small bass off the tip on a darter .

[bababooey]

Tough drift yesterday. One keeper fluke at 20". Not many shorts.

[chas527]

fished sh this morning 6am till11am. got 5 small fluke an a small star gazer.

[clamchucker]

Fished the park from 5 to 7am, incoming tide. 4 short fluke and one sea robin using bucktail with gulp shrimp teaser.

[wish4fish]

few small blues last nite, bunker chunks, out front. had to downsize the hooks for these baby blues.

[jigfreak]

I fished near the hook late last night. Got myself a 4lb blue on a bucktail.

[fishinmission78]

Managed some nice sized sharks weds night 10-1, near the top of the tide. 3 smooth dogfish, biggest was 48". One brown, about 53", he wasn't happy. OC, bunker heads.

[wish4fish]

jigfreak thats nice the ones we got were like 10", and it was slow fishin i cant wait till the bluefish spawn is done i want to get some gators!:wow: fnm wtg on the sharks i wanna do some of that fishin soon.

[captnemo]

We fished for fluke today, hitting the Shrewsbury Rocks and some other structure down to SRI. 3 keepers to 22", lots of fluke that were 17 1/2". Blackfish opened today, we didn't have any crabs. While 1 blackfish may not seem like much, at least we can still fish for them. Good luck this weekend, gents.

[cowherder]

NoMoCo from 6-8. 2 short fluke on a double gulp rig. Water is very warm.

[jigfreak]

Fished the last of the outgoing this am, occo. I small bass on a bucktail and pork, 3 small fluke. Action died at slack.

[finchaser]

Did the boat thing yesterday,in general ocean was pretty void of life from Bay Head to Monmouth Beach. Caught sea bass,fluke ,large skates and a few monster spiny dogfish. Saw no blues did run into a few monster schools of bunker out for a Saturday swim.

Next weekend tuna,as my girlfriends son had 4 tuna to 100 pounds on my other friends boat,total which was part of a 29 tuna catch.

[Monty]

Fished Bayside this morning 1:45-7:00.
One blue on a Hogy around 3:00.
Missed a few, then after the sun came up another blue on a yellow Danny and then one more on a popper.
Cocktail Blues. Nice night out there.

[gjb1969]

late report i fished sri on sat just 6 short fluke and that was all from shore was going to do the boat thing but something told me not to so i stayed put all the boat got was 12 blues i am glad i stayed put we need some fish to come in close :burn:

[rip316]

Good to see you got out there Fin.

[plugaholic]

Fished S of AC from 6-8:30. Got a few small kingfish, and some small doggies. The dogs are everywhere, they are a nuisance. We're talking about 12" ones, the water is infested with them.:burn:

[chas527]

fished sh this morning 7am till 11am 4 small fluke,an 3 big sea robbons.the flies were there early but the wind changed at 8.30 and they were gone.

[jigfreak]

Went shark fishing last night in OC. For some reason it was slow, maybe the rain put them off. One dogfish, bunker.

[storminsteve]

Moco fished part of the outgoing after work for fluke. 3 shorts on gulp curly tail teaser.

[fishinmission78]

Fished the park this morning, near the inlet, few blues on metal.

[wish4fish]

fished for sharks in the ocean last nite only got a few small dogs on bunker heads.

[chas527]

fished sh this morning ,nothing not even a sea robbin.

[fishinmission78]

Fished the park again, early. Some more small blues on metal, small ava with tail. Finished up at 7am, the heat is brutal today, thank God for the wind.

[cowherder]

Nomoco from late afternoon to dusk. I had 2 rods, one with bucktail for fluke and another with a bunker chunk. I am glad I was close to the bunker rod because I got a hit that I thought was a world record striper. I had the reel in freespool or else I would have lost it. I set the hook and after about a 10 minute fight I brought in a cow nosed ray. Those things are evil looking!
I brought it in and managed to get the hook out for a release. What a fight!

[DarkSkies]

I had a 2 hour window between polyurethane floor coats this morning. Made a quick run to the ocean, found some cooler water, maybe in the low 70's.

I only had time to grab the plug bag and the rod. Forgot the gulp at home, so I concentrated on plugging for the sunrise.

No fish, I did mark a very small pod of bait being harassed by snappers. Finished up at daylight, near the top of the flood. First time out in about a month, great to have the colder water hitting you in the face. :lookhappy:

[buckethead]

Fished an oc beach from 7-10. Managed 5 short fluke on a bucktail tipped with pink gulp curly tail, chartreuse curly tail as the teaser.

[Monty]

Fished out back this morning 1:30 to 7:30. BIG moon, nice night, water looked good as tide came in. Had a couple bumps and a Hogy bit in half. Ended up with a skunkaroo.

[surferman]

SJ for a few hours before work today, 4 kingfish, 1 sandshark, worms and bunker.

[c4charlie]

Took my two boys and little guys crabbing on the Navesink this weekend. Action was a bit slower than a couple weeks ago but we did manage at least a couple dozen good sized ones. There were snappers in the river that were jumping in and out of the water but they were so picky. Kids had the snapper poppers and we also put some bunker on a long hook and they did not go for it. Actually, my older son caught one and that was it. We also managed one short fluke. It was a fun day. We went on Friday so it was cloudy and not too warm.

[fishinmission78]

There were snappers in the river that were jumping in and out of the water but they were so picky. Kids had the snapper poppers and we also put some bunker on a long hook and they did not go for it. Actually, my older son caught one and that was it..

Charlie do you have any very small freshwater silvery spoons or small kastmasters in the 1/4 oz range? Try those you might have better luck. The snappers are all over the place in the back bays, now we need some bigger ones.
I fished oc last night only one dogfish on bunker.

[c4charlie]

I will be better prepared next time. When I was at the tackle shop, I debated between the little metal spoons and the poppers, went with the poppers for the kids because of the single hook. Next time, we will have both and I will just crush the barbs on the treble.

[jigfreak]

Fished a piece of structure in SJ, concrete. Targeted blackfish with crabs during the slack, managed 3 shorts.

[buckethead]

Went out last night from 8 to 11 in moco. I didn't see anything going on and I came up blank.

[clamchucker]

9 short fluke on the incoming tide at the park. I fished until the slack. Gulp mullet on the teaser were the ticket, though I did get 1 on the bucktail,and one large stargazer on that as well.

[DarkSkies]

Took the yak to a relatively new (to me) piece of water last night with a lot of structure. I had been getting reports of double digit bass catches and wanted to make it out for a while.

I didn't make the double digits, but I did manage 4 bass to 27" and 2 sea robins using sandworms. Had a great time, first yak trip of the year, good to finally see some stripes in the hot summer.

Full report in the kayak section. :fishing:

[c4charlie]

On Saturday, took my two little guys, Yukon and his son for some crabbing and snapper fun. My little guy even wound up with a small fluke. Snappers were out in full force all day. They loved the spearing on a long hook. All of the kids hooked up well and often. Crabbing was a bit slower than usual but we did manage to get just under a couple dozen using hand lines.

Nice when fish are biting the whole time and everyone had a blast. Here are some pics...

Of course, my little guy got the best and most fish of anyone on the boat including the only fluke.

I think I have been on the water 3 out of the last 5 days.:thumbsup:

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[rip316]

Awesome trip guys. Glad to hear you are getting out and often.