NJ Fishing Reports for the Week of 6-2 to 6-8-08

[bunkerjoe4]

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Please post fishing reports here.......as little or as much detail as you want to give.

Please note: NO SPOT BURNING! Posts burning spots will be Edited or DELETED!
Some veteran fishermen have put in years developing and learning about certain spots.Some of these spots can only handle a few guys at a time. We are losing enough access as it is, due to the unfortunate behavior of a few selfish people. No sense in making it worse.

For some areas, it would be wiser to say:
OutFront (Ocean) OR -- OutBack (Bay) -- if you feel too many people will figure out what you are talking about. "Spot burning" also could involve mentioning something specific only to that area. If you do this, your post may be edited, or deleted. Remember that thousands of people could potentially read these posts. You don't want to be fishing next to ALL of them at the same time!

IF you are fishing an area that is NOT residential, being vague is less critical. For example, it's acceptable to say (Any)Park, or (Any)Bay, or mention a specific state park that has loads of parking and can handle the crowds.


If you are unclear on this concept, ask yourself:


If I name this place on the internet, will it be too crowded for me to enjoy tomorrow when people hear I got 30 fish here today?


If the answer is "Yes", then you should probably not be so specific.


We post these reports so our community will have a sense of what is working, what is not. We want to show people how to catch fish, rather than where.Even if you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well.

If you have any additional details you would like to share - weather conditions, tide (incoming, outgoing, ebb, flood) water temps, bait present, or other mention of techniques or plugs used - feel free, as long as you are not overly specific about location.

Some acronyms -

SH - Sandy Hook
NoMoCo - Northern Monmouth County (below the hook to Shark River Inlet SRI)
SoMoCo - Southern Monmouth County (below SRI to Manasquan Inlet)

OC - Ocean County
IBSP - Island Beach State Park
LBI - Long Beach Island

AC - Atlantic County
CISP - Corson's Inlet State Park
CMC - Cape May County
CMR - Cape May Rips


RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
CBBT - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
DB - Delaware Bay

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[bunkerjoe4]

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


NJ Week in Review 6-2-08

Well folks this has been another good week for fishing, but boaters have again done better than surfcasters in terms of catching bass. This has some long-time surfcasters saying "Where are the Bass? ". (Look for the thread pertaining to this)

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=760

I hope those who are interested, in all states, can take some time and look at this , even if you only skim it over.

Everyone's opinion is welcome, even if just to say you don't agree with it. Most importantly, we as anglers are one of the most un-organized lobbying groups out there (if you compare us to other well-organized lobbying groups).

One of the reasons for that thread was to get people interested and asking questions. If you're too busy, I understand. But sooner or later some groups may be pushing for closures of certain areas, and we want to be prepared if this begins to happen.

The significant body of bunker that had been sitting in the area off IBSP has again provided action a few times this week

As far as bait other than bunker, larger spearing, and decent schools of rainfish, are starting to appear with greater frequency in the bays and inlets. Small herring are also being slaughtered by hungry predators. Incredibly, the first schools of baby peanut bunker have been reported swimming through the inlets, the progeny of the adults that have been here for 2 months.

Realistically, night fishing offers you the best chance of getting a bigger bass, but please be respectful of others out there, and the lights you may use to guide your way around. If you don't have a lot of fishing experience, it's dangerous at night, particularly for those who try to catch fish in the rocky areas. Please be careful, and good luck out there.

NY Week in Review 6-2-08

NY fishing in the surf continues to seem better than that in NJ right now, as reported privately by our members, and on some other boards.

The NY back bays and inlets are still offering good chances to connect with decent fish for those at the right place at the right time. Sometime soon, the bays will heat up and push the bigger predators out into colder water, on the ocean side.

Once the bay water temps are in the higher 60s and low 70s for a sustained period of time, this boom of better catches will slow down for surf fishermen, except for those who fish exclusively at night, so get em while you can.

Look for concentrations of bait, you will find the bigger fish not far behind. Good luck out there! -- bunkerjoe

[fishinmission78]

Been getting followed by the skunk for the past few days, and gettin :burn: So after work today i fished the back of an inlet. My buddy said bluefish had been holding there, and he was dead on. About 15 bluefish in an hour, throwing a17 diamond jigs, and finesse. But don't throw finesse you'll go through a lot of em. Fish in the 5 lb range.

[clamchucker]

Island Beach was my strategic target today, just felt like it would bust open again. Fished 4am - 5pm. I used clams and bunker, only 3 skates, 2 robins. Didn't see anyone else get a fish to bring home, either bait guys or pluggers.

[wish4fish]

Rb last night, dead as a cemetery.

[basshunter]

Fished inside Raritan Monday pm from sunset till 11pm. Throwing a black and schoolbus bomber, I fished near a marina with some deeper water. After about 300 casts, I got a 27" bass oin the black bomber. That was it for the night.

[clamchucker]

Mugged fnm's spot today, late afternoon tackle workout. Blues can't get enough of those spearing, or the small profile metals.http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

[wish4fish]

last night, NoMoCo rain, 5 bass to 27", swimmers, bombers, feedbag on, my friends caught 2 keepers.

[fishinmission78]

Quick run to Island beach for sunrise, one bluefish, and short fluke 16", bucktail. Water doesn't look that bad, some salad, but not bad.

[fishlipper]

last night, NoMoCo rain, 5 bass to 27", swimmers, bombers, feedbag on, my friends caught 2 keepers.


Hey, wish4, fishin in the rain in what the doctor ordered! All these people talkin about better fishin when the storm breaks, last night I was in the middle of the slop and the bass were on the feed big time. :drool:

Fished MoCo 6pm-1am. When I got there bluefish were breaking on bait, but not concentrated. Little far out, and throwing metal or poppers did nothing. I worked the beach, moved 4 times till I set up at a strategic spot for the night. Still no fish using my bluefish beaters. Kept changing plugs, finally figured they would commit suicide for a pink oversized wooden saltwater Spook. That plug worked, but I still only got hits at the furthest end of my casts, even with the tide coming in. Started to rack up c&r cocktails 3-5lbs, then it stopped dead as it neared slack.

(At this point the 2 guys fishing where I was decided to give up, and left.)

Figured it was safe to try a custom swimmer, so I put on one of those Davis lures, yellow, threw for about 5 mins. Bam! Solid hit by a 30" bass, around 11 lbs, about 10 minutes before complete high slack. Tried all through the slack for another on the Davis swimmer, but nothing.

I decided to change it up with a bunker profile swimmer that was selling at the shows in the spring. I know match the hatch is important, and the only thing out there last night was small bait, no bunker at all.

But the Davis lure, and this bunker swimmer were the only things I had that would produce bass for me last night. Go figure, could have just been right time right place, I'll never know. :don't know why:

In the next 2 hours I caught and released 7 more bass, 26-36" Kept one more around 33 1/2" 15.5 lbs b/c the hook severely damaged one of its eyes. No trophies, but nice action with fat healthy bass.

And I lost a decent bass, maybe 20+ lb class. I can estimate the size b/c the other fish I was able to turn when I got to certain point. This one I couldn't turn as I brought it in after 2 runs, and it got close to a spot where it would break me off on the beach. I fell in as I waded out to get a better angle in turning it, and she was gone in an instant. Nice fish.:drool:

Last night was one of the nights you put in your memory bank for those cold miserable days when you can't seem to buy a fish from the suds no matter what you try. They really had the feedbag on, but it stopped about 2 hours into the ebb. I would say the best hits came as the rain came down hardest, then stopped as the rain stopped, when the bluefish came back again.

Also C&R about 25 bluefish, mostly smaller, but one was in 12lb class. A night to remember forever.:dribble:

[cowherder]

wtg, fishlipperhttp://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon14.gif Nice report as well, appreciate the detail. You should write a fishing column. :fishing: http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon10.gif

[clamchucker]

Fished a few areas above IBSP today. Very slow action, didn't see anything caught but a pick of bluefish and skates. There were huge pods of bunker ina few places, just sitting there unmolested. It feels like the calm before a tornado out there.

[yardvillejimmy]

Yesterday early evening. Short lived action on poppers with small bluefish NoMoCo.

[wish4fish]

rb last night before dark. small blues on metals under working birds. No size to 'em, but one weighed around 10lbs.:wow:

[fishlipper]

MoCo last night same place, but fishin was harder this time. Wind kicked up, making poppers and swimmers tough to work. Finally managed a fat 28" small bass and a few blues on a bunker profile sub-surface swimmer.

I needed more action, so this morning went to a different place. Tried to liveline some bunker, but no takers. 2 bigger fish 30+ lb class pulled in last night, but a lot of guys were fishin for 'em. It's just the luck of the draw, blind casting, by some truly dedicated surfcasters. Enough said, nice work, guys. :thumbsup:

[hookset]

Some of you guys must be charter guides, or bsers, because I went fishing 2 days in the last 2 weeks, and all I caught, using fresh bunker and clams, is skates and sea robins.:burn:

[fishlipper]

Some of you guys must be charter guides, or bsers, because I went fishing 2 days in the last 2 weeks, and all I caught, using fresh bunker and clams, is skates and sea robins.:burn:
Hookset, maybe that's part of the problem. fishing in the middle of the day? Or sunrise and sunset?

If you can't fish in the dark, then maybe consider the 2 hours before sunrise, and before sunset. They are IMO one of the most productive times when fish are actively feeding, and less "spooky".

If you just modified your fishing trips to only include these times and nothing else, I bet you would start catching keepers, striped bass and bluefish. During the day, you have a good shot at fluke if you can reach any places where water runs by, or there is a deepwater channel nearby.

Give us some more info about how you fish, and maybe one of us can help you more. Welcome to the site, man.:HappyWave:

[clamchucker]

Fished a little above IBSP very early AM. Bluefish up to 10 lbs came in chasing bait for about 15 minutes, and were gone. No bass in the mix, got 4 angry bluefish on metal, crocodiles and hopkins.

[fishinmission78]

Island beach quick trip for the first light bite.:skunk: Nothing today, like the dead sea.

[fishinmission78]

IBSP dead sea, day2.:skunk: man is it hot out there. Lot of bunker offshore, but they are happy, nothing bothering them.

[fishlipper]

Out front last night, went to check out a hot bass bite. When I got there, one place was crowded, so I went to 2 other less crowded places, and then came back.

What's with the guys who drive all the way down to fish, then stand around at the top of the beach waiting for something to happen? :don't know why: How about making your own rain for once, instead of running to the bloody scene when someone else hooks up? Every spot I go to I always put in a few casts. Just because fish were caught at "X" last night is no guarantee they will be there tonight. Many of these bigger fish in the last few days were caught by blind casting. You never know till you try, right? :huh:

OK, rant over, I got blanked last night, not just in one state, but 2. When I made it back to the place I originally stopped at, guys were carrying bass off the beach. I went to try and put in some casts, and the story I got was:

The guys who were all hanging around staring, went home when they didn't see any 30's being pulled out. Then, the bite started, and lasted for about an hour. No huge fish, but about 15 fish 28"-34" were pulled in.

The coolest thing was when I got there, a group of friends who filled me in said: 'Hey man, hurry up, the fish are here, there're over that way, go get one!" :clapping::thumbsup:

If you guys read this, you know who you are, thanks. :thumbsup: I missed that bite by 5 minutes, but that's fishin. Congrats on all those fish you guys caught. :clapping:

After that, went to get some bunker, and headed for NY.