NJ Fishing Reports for December 2011 www.StripersandAnglers.com

[vpass]

Fished this morning from 5:00am to 10:00am. Caught 7 Bass from 27 inches to about 39 inches(21 pounds on the Boga). I also snagged 2 Spinny dogfish in consecutive casts. I did drop 2 bass where one was bigger than the 21 pounder. I also pulled a seam in my waders and my left leg was taking on water. Got to go buy Goop now to fix it for tommorow.

14405

Check this guy out with the sweat pants. He was so excited to get a bass. I could feel his energy, But I could see him get himself in trouble.

14406

[finchaser]

Fished this morning from 5:00am to 10:00am. Caught 7 Bass from 27 inches to about 39 inches(21 pounds on the Boga). I also snagged 2 Spinny dogfish in consecutive casts. I did drop 2 bass where one was bigger than the 21 pounder. I also pulled a seam in my waders and my left leg was taking on water. Got to go by Goop now to fix it for tommorow.

14405

Check this guy out with the sweat pants. He was so excited to get a bass. I could feel his energy, But I could see him get himself in trouble.

14406

At least some one I know got fish. Looks like a real man (assho_e) in that photo When Dark See's this he'll try this new way to wash his feet while fishing. I guess as soon as marathon man gets back,(bet he sleeps in his waders tonight where you caught those fish this morning), we will have a December reports thread too.








A great and truthful report^^^^as always

[vpass]

I Fished this morning from 6:00am to 10:00am. Walked out to the bar and casted a black SS Needlefish. The First cast and first crank of the reel I hooked and landed a 29 to 30 inch bass. Then nothing to about 7:00 to 7:30. I thought to myself the first cast curse. :scared:Then I caught 2 more moving around jumping on differnt Bars. Did see a few individuals that were consistantly hooking up. Most bass I saw were between 25 to 30 inches. The bigger fish were missing. I'm hoping to get out a few more times this Dec. I'm back to work on Monday.:beatin: Hope there's a night bite.:rolleyes: I Might become a weekend worrior, but almost nobody fishes after Nov.:kooky:

14416

Here is another fisherman in sweatpants.:kooky::kooky:

14417

Here is a fisherman who decided to go for a swim near a cut. I from a distance knew he was going under as he was crossing to get to the bar. The water is a lot deeper near the cut.

14418144211442014419

[DarkSkies]

NJ fishing reports for December 2011. ..www.StripersandAnglers.com (http://www.stripersandanglers.com/)




NJ fishing reports for November 2011...www.stripersandanglers.com (http://www.stripersandanglers.com/)
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:
Out Front (Ocean) OR -- Out Back (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]

Skinner,
you won the plug in the October 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)

[DarkSkies]

2 day report, the brief one...more details here..
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8128-Stories-of-the-NJ-fall-run-2011.....&highlight=cold+water+safety


Thu
Fished Island Beach, AM bite, really missed out on the hottest action because I was about a mile from it. Few fish caught where I was. After 2 hours, managed one short bass on metal.

Afternoon - Hooked up with the OFFC
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8138-Tribute-to-OLD-FARTS-The-GROUCHY-BASSTARDS-and-the-CRABBY-OLD-BASSTARDS-out-there..

Spent a few hours driving up and down the whole beach, action almost non-existent...the Metal Master from the OFFC managed one bass on metal (naturally! :ROFLMAO) This old geezer landed a nice bass on his first cast! First frikkin cast! Then we rode up and down...I finally managed my 2nd bass on metal as well.

There was a short 1/2 hour period of activity right before dark, some keepers to the teens were caught, but not many.

PM. - decided to ramp up my skill set, learning different areas, and fished another beach in the park for an hour on the flood tide. Out on the bar, beautiful water, needlefish and some other profiles, not a touch....http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png








*******
Fri - Slept in my car as not to miss the morning bite....OTW at 6am, no fish for me till 7:30. Hot bite between 7:30 - 8am. I picked the bars that seemed to have the most action and did OK, 5 bass, biggest mid teens and 34", ava with green tail outfished other profiles 10:1 today.

The bite continued to 9:30 in some areas, as the tide came in...
One last bass was caught as I left the beach at 10am. I predicted the next notable activity would be around the turn of the tide... good morning on the beach, and good 1 1/2 days at IBSP, met lots of good people. :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

Fished this AM 6 to 7:30 released 2 fish to 32" in a nice unpopulated area with my friends and didn't have to put up with crowds of mostly idiots and the minimal so called bite at IBSP yesterday and today.

:don't know why:Way to go Dark over 36 hours to catch 6 or 7 fish now thats some bite.:ROFLMAO I am starting to believe you are not firing on all cylinders and have some major issues.

Hundreds of guys and B&N only weighs in 15 fish.

[surfwalker]

Walked my regular beach this morning- 5am to 8:30am. Nothing going on at all, not a tap, left.

[DarkSkies]

Fished this AM 6 to 7:30 released 2 fish to 32" in a nice unpopulated area with my friends and didn't have to put up with crowds of mostly idiots and the minimal so called bite at IBSP yesterday and today...Hundreds of guys and B&N only weighs in 15 fish.

WTG for running against the herd, OGB.






:don't know why:Way to go Dark over 36 hours to catch 6 or 7 fish now thats some bite.:ROFLMAO I am starting to believe you are not firing on all cylinders and have some major issues.
.

You're only just discovering this? :kiss:
and you've known me for HOW LONG????? :ROFLMAO :kooky: :HappyWave:

[Monty]

Fished this morning SoMoCo from 1:30 to 8:30. Nothing in the dark, Sun up on long cast from beach just over the bar ~28 inch Bass on yellow/white teaser, released.
Then got out on the bar and nothing doing. Great time playing in the white water.
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2011_12_4_ww1.jpg

[ledhead36]

That is an awesome pic, Monty! Got 3 bass last night around high tide back in the bay, one keeper 28". Clams

[storminsteve]

Like the pic too monty, good job. Fished island beach this am, managed 2 bass to 8 lbs around 8, when there was a 1/2 hour activity. The guys at betty and nicks are bs'ers as there were not many fish at all. Lots of hype don't believe it.

[albanyguy1]

12-3 report. Much to my surprise, was able to eek out another trip to the shore. Fished OC friday night. Not even a bump. Fished ISBP Sat morning saw a handul of fish caught, only 1 keeper. Pretty small ratio of fish to fisherman. Didn't want to endure the punishment the guys out on the bars were experiencing - especially because there was no real bite on. Man, saw at least 3-4 guys take a good dunking. One couldn't get his footing and had to get pulled out of the wash by some friends. crazy stuff for 22-24" bass.

Anyway, as I like to work north up the coast, took a long drive along the shore. Miles and Miles of dead water. I remember years when in late Nov/Dec you could pretty much pick at shorts throughout the day with metals. Not this year at least. Found some birds working around a Jetty in MoCo, didn't see any fish working, but took a long walk and gave it a shot anyway...nothing. Finished up at SH for the outgoing. Took the long walk, some bird activity, but didn't connect w/ fish. Fly rod guys were find a pick of shad and small stripers. tried some small plugs w/ teasers but couldn't entice.

Big fat skunk for me, but I just love getting away and fishing. As usual, met some really cool people. It won't be long and some of my boys will be ready to go w/ me. Maybe even next year. Can't wait.

[GeoffT]

For some reason I decided to take the 2.5 hour drive down to LBI last night. :kooky:

Fortunately, fish felt sorry for me. Before top of tide to sunrise, 19 bass to 26 lbs., mostly in the 30-33" range on SS needles. I'm glad the drive was worth it because it could have been an awfully long drive back home if I'd skunked or only caught a couple shorts.

But I ain't doing the five hour round trip again this year! :banghead2:

[captnemo]

Fished the hook down to the rocks today, trolled shads. One short striper around the area right before the rocks. Otherwise it was like the dead sea out there. That was frustrating because there was a lot of bait.

[jigfreak]

Hundreds of guys and B&N only weighs in 15 fish.

That's because he is the biggest liar of all time. His reports have no credibiility for me. He's not an honest guy, lies like a rug.

Vpass, Saturday I saw a guy go off the bar, some guys from Berkeley had to save him. Crazy. Cool pics.





Fished the last hour before dark tonight, 1 small bass on a needlefish. Nice catching Geoff.

[SharkHart]

I was on the boat yesterday, the herd at IBSP has definatley thinned we had two bass there saw 2 others among the flotilla. Seems like the bait left there and its not an end of the season too cold thing. But on the way back found bass and blues in northern OC, had to come in semi early was still going on @ 1:30. If anyone saw the party boats there was a body of fish that just havent been there in weeks, don't know what it means for the surf bite though.

[wish4fish]

last nite we got 3 rats on clams in the bay. missed one monster hit, musta been godzilla.

[clamchucker]

4 short bass this morning in the park. Diamond jig with green tail.

[fishinmission78]

That's because he is the biggest liar of all time. His reports have no credibiility for me. He's not an honest guy, lies like a rug.

Vpass, Saturday I saw a guy go off the bar, some guys from Berkeley had to save him. Crazy. Cool pics.


Fished OC early after work, got 5 bass to 30" before dark, in close. bombers, diawa, and magdarter did the work.
Jigfreak, I was there that day and heard about that, here is the official report:


"The Berkeley Striper Club had a record striper tagging weekend, as 347 bass were tagged from Friday through Sunday at Island Beach. Best of all, they also saved the life of a non-member surfcaster swept off a bar while trying to get closer to the fish -- and was being carried out to sea before a club member made a cast to him and kept him close enough to rescue."

[surferman]

Got some bass to 33" last night on the outgoing in southern ocean county, needle fish with a teaser. Total 9. Good on the BSC for saving that guy, you never know when you might lose your footing. Be careful out there.

[vpass]

Nice going BSC. Thank god they where there or we would have heared of another drowning. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Nice going Surferman.

Fished last night with the fly rod. There was a ton of bait, and the birds were working little pods. I believe most of it was shad/herring, did see some bass roll. I seen 2 fish landed and heard of keepers caught. The fish stop hitting as soon as the sun went down. I got there to late, but what could I do work is going to get in the way. Still love to be in that environment.

[clamchucker]

Fished the park in the morning, managed 11 bass to 30", diamond jig with green tail. There is a strong sweep from the S to the North, be careful folks.

[vpass]

Nice going clamchucker. Is it still crazy in the park?


Fished this afternoon I got to the action alittle to late. My second cast and I got a short. A few fly fishing guys had a real good time on the last of the incoming. 1 guy got 3 keepers on the fly rod.:drool:

14458

[clamchucker]

vpass, it is still crazy in the park but this morning it was not as bad. I think the rain kept a lot of the guys away. I see you got fish, nice job. What fly did you use?

[vpass]

The fly that I used is a streamer Yellow/white with peacock Hearl with 1 hackle running flat thru the center, but it doesn't matter. It is more about size. It was a 3 inch fly. I just got to get on the beach hour or 2 earlier.

[fishinmission78]

Fished the park before work today, no time to wait for the tide to go out.:skunk:

[seamonkey]

LBI on the outgoing this morning, 4 bass, 1 was a keeper, on avas. Beautiful morning, but cold.

[clamchucker]

Managed 5 bass to 29" today Island Beach. The bite got better as the tide went out. Diamond jig with green tail.

[storminsteve]

Got 4 to 28" this afternoon. Bomber and megabait.

[ledhead36]

Still trying in the bay. The water is like an icickle, and colder than a witches ***. Nothing tonight, shooting for the ocean next outing.

[clamchucker]

Fished the park today, fishing was very spotty. One short bass, and a lot of anglers. Some areas were very crowded but I did not see too many fish caught.

[surfwalker]

Fished 5:30 - 10:30 this morning. No Stripes/plenty of shad.

[toadfish]

FYI Sandy hook closed at tip for dredging. Called ranger office 732 872 5900 to confirm. They said prob closed for a couple of weeks.

[Monty]

Fished this morning from 2:00 TO 5:00
Ocean County.
Was cold, caught one short bass (on rubber teaser) and a small fluke/flounder? Beautiful night, saw a couple shooting stars.
Last fishing outing for me this year, travel for work next weekend.
Had a fun year fishing.

[SharkHart]

got rewarded for fishing in the cold last night and burning lots of gas las few weeks, my hands were numb when this one hit oh so lightly wasn't even sure it was a hit. If it was my last of 2011 I went out in style

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll194/SharkHart/2011stripers025.jpg

[vpass]

Fished 5:30 - 10:30 this morning. No Stripes/plenty of shad.

Shad are alot of fun with the right Rod but do get boring after a quick doz. Nice going.


got rewarded for fishing in the cold last night and burning lots of gas las few weeks, my hands were numb when this one hit oh so lightly wasn't even sure it was a hit. If it was my last of 2011 I went out in style

Beautiful fish there Sharkhart.



Fished this morning from 2:00 TO 5:00
Ocean County.
Was cold, caught one short bass (on rubber teaser) and a small fluke/flounder? Beautiful night, saw a couple shooting stars.
Last fishing outing for me this year, travel for work next weekend.
Had a fun year fishing.

I give you guys credit. I thought about going last night and chickened out. I should have.

[ledhead36]

Fish are still in the bay, slow pick. Last report I said I was done, but a few of us were out last night, got some bass to 35" at the top of the tide, clams. Man was it cold. Bite died within an hour after that. Shark, that's a pig, what did you catch it on.

[storminsteve]

Fished nomoco from 7-11pm. Froze my fingers off. Had to change plans because one place was closed, that sucks. Got one small rinky dink bass 18" on a bomber.
Shark that is a beauty, congrats!

[plugcrazy]

Fished lbi today got one short bass on metal at sunrise. Toadfish thanks for the info about sandyhook. Sharkhart awesome fish you got there, any idea how much it weighed?

[Monty]

If it was my last of 2011 I went out in style


Nice Bass SharkHart !

[clamchucker]

Fished the park from 6-7:30 am, got nothing. The bite has really slowed down. For those folks who are still out there, low tide this afternoon might be better.

[wish4fish]

fished the bay last nite around high tide we got fish, sum were up too 44" all on clams, ledhed was there too and got sum, these fish had not one thing in there bellies.

[DarkSkies]

Nice fish, Shark and others...:clapping: :thumbsup: I haven't been able to get out in a while, it's killing me...:drool: ...congrats on the persistence...:fishing:

[seamonkey]

Great reports guys. I fished lbi yesterday but must have dialed in to the wrong time, used avas and got the skunk.

[DarkSkies]

Seamonkey, don't feel bad, this late fall bite is winding down very quickly. The guys who are getting fish are playing a game of musical chairs. For 2 days in a row, the red X will be in one area, and the next 2 days, dead water....these are small pockets of fish we're pitching to....with the exception of the 2 decent size bodies I saw this morning, out of reach of surfcasters, we're in the final weeks of this 2011 surf season....any further consistency wil have to come from getting on a boat and chasiing them. for the guys who want decent numbers before it['s over...otherwise, the rest of the surfcasters will have to be content with a bass or 2 here or there, unless you get lucky....but ask yourself, when was the last time you were able to fish this late in Dec without feeling like your fingers would fall off...that, my friend, is the true blessing that I'm seeing now...best of luck...:HappyWave:




*********

Fished all night last night. There was no wind, there were some mumblings of a night bite, and I had to give it a shot.

First place lots of birds and bait in 46 degree water, and a very few small fish in the mix...http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png I geve it everything I had, even ended up with small 3" rubber and teaser, still could not pull a fish out of that area. Ego kept me there for over 2 hours, still no success.

Moved to the rocks. Hadn't been there since I had a fall last time and did $100 worth of damage to my reel, and some possible damage to my brain, but with all I've been through, brain damage isn't that noticable...:laugh:

8th cast got a bump on a small swimmer. Anticipation of a good night reared it's ugly head, and I paid for that false anticipation dearly...another 2 hours went by before I nailed the only fish of the night, small bass, on a Surfstix 3" teaser :clapping: :HappyWave:

The cold seemed to make the water cloudy where I was, and the fishing really sucked...but being out there didn't....:drool: it was just me and the jetty rats, :eek: the ones that will eat your eyeballs out if you accidentally fall asleep for a few minutes....:scared: ;)

It was 31 degrees when I started, and ended for the night...but with no wind, the feeliing of being out there in mid-December, with no one fishing for miles around me, was a powerful motivator to keep going. Even though I did poorly, the solitude and awesomeness of those rocks was enough to fill my cup of surf addiction for just a little while longer....

Finally left those rocks, to return to the original place. By that time the bait and birds has left, it was as if they had never existed....

Slept in the car for 2 hrs, up at 6:30 to hit the beach for the morning bite. Upon scouting, I found 2 areas with massive clouds of birds, each about 1 mile long, and breaking bass..all about 2oo yds out.

Only 1 other surfcaster and I were fishing, neither of us managed a fish, while we stood there and drooled at all the predators breaking water just out of reach....:bigeyes:

Shot some video footage before I left to go to work. Will post up in the kayak reports section when I get a chance....

[Monty]

It was 31 degrees when I started, and ended for the night...but with no wind, the feeling of being out there in mid-December, with no one fishing for miles around me, was a powerful motivator to keep going. Even though I did poorly, the solitude and awesomeness of those rocks was enough to fill my cup of surf addiction for just a little while longer....

Dark, my last outing was only 3 hours long, 2:00 -5:00 AM, low tide, full moon (below 30 degrees), awesome structure with nice wave action. Only got that short bass, but as you said, "the solitude and awesomeness of those rocks", substitute the beach for me, I was awed by how perfect the night was. Its fishing, not catching, its the experience. Don't need to catch to enjoy the experience.

[ledhead36]

Fished last night, high tide, bayside. I think the bay is finally dead. None of us got a fish last night, not even a short. We had a nice bite for 2 weeks, not consistent, but nice. I think I may finally hit the ocean this week.
Monty I like what you said. A few of us fish together a lot. Lately it's been cold, and not great, except for the last few days. We have a real good time out there, and even when we don't catch, we are always playing jokes on each other. The fish isn't what it is about sometimes.

[jigfreak]

OC from 6-8:30a today, 3 bass, 2 on the teaser, all runts.

[xtreme_visions]

:HappyWave: fished rocks last weekend for the 1st time and had a blast! :headbang:caught alot of blackfish! :viking: lost 10 rigs/fished with crabs. alot of keepers but everything went back. plan to go again this weekend. :devil: :fishing: could use a little help identifying the types caught. a few had a tiger like pattern while others solid black with a few white spots on each side. :confused:

[gjb1969]

thay are all black fish

[fishinmission78]

OC 5-8, wind building up, one keeper on a ss needlefish.

[BassBuddah]

This is a late report, sorry for the tardiness. I drove from LI last Sat to Island Beach State Park with my nephew. It was the 2nd time we have been there. We both want to thank Dark for his guidance and feedback. It really helped us to dial in with the fish. He called several times to check up on us and gave us some different suggestions.
During the Thanksgiving week we went there, we both did well. This saturday, it was not that great. There was a line of guys where we were, about 300, and only maybe a dozen fish were caught. My nephew managed one fish out of those dozen, and nothing for me.
Based on Dark's advice, we did drive around, but did not stay for the afternoon, which I understand was a little better. We wanted to get back home and avoid the traffic. I want to thank you for your hospitality and involvement Dark, nice bunch of folks we met out there, and even some fellows from the area we fish. It was a pleasure to see my nephew get some fish, and we thank you for your part in that. We may be back again next year. Hope to see you all out there then.

[finchaser]

Dark, my last outing was only 3 hours long, 2:00 -5:00 AM, low tide, full moon (below 30 degrees), awesome structure with nice wave action. Only got that short bass, but as you said, "the solitude and awesomeness of those rocks", substitute the beach for me, I was awed by how perfect the night was. Its fishing, not catching, its the experience. Don't need to catch to enjoy the experience.

Thats because you are sane and use judgment (3 hours), while the head googan marathon man(DS) pursues rumors with kayak in tow. He as the Master Googan chases rumors ,spends way to much time matching profiles as he pursues a night bite that rarely if ever exists this time of year.

[fishinmission78]

OC around sunrise, dirty water and skunk time.

[skinner]

Fished moco 6-8, water was churned up like fishinmission said. A little gusty with the wind. Threw needle fish and metal, nada.
Dark I just wanted to thank you for that plug, and all you do. Happy Holidays to you and kudos for all you do.

[seamonkey]

Same report from lbi guys, dead water this morning, Hope someone did better than I did.:skunk:

[surfwalker]

Sat. 12/17 - 6:30am-9:30am. 3 tiny shorts on leadhead/rubber. Quite a few light/lethargic taps. Saw no activity anywhere. Water a little off color. Beautiful morning for mid Dec.

[SharkHart]

Coming in now On the boat, the rumors of thick bass in monmoth county are indeed true drift was a bit fast but lots of bass and blues and birds all day bite unlike that ibsp early bite last month. Not dinks either

[GeoffT]

Acres and acres of bass and blues just off the beach in MoCo today. Boaters killed them.

[gjb1969]

i got a call from a friend on a boat and he was a happy man its odd bass and a few big a bluefish to strange year!!

[DarkSkies]

Thats because you are sane and use judgment (3 hours), while the head googan marathon man(DS) pursues rumors with kayak in tow. He as the Master Googan chases rumors ,spends way to much time matching profiles as he pursues a night bite that rarely if ever exists this time of year.
Aren't you the one that says even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then? :laugh:
Master Googan, I thought there was some kind of 3 year apprentice program to get to that level....thanks. :rolleyes: :kiss:


Sat. 12/17 - 6:30am-9:30am. 3 tiny shorts on leadhead/rubber. Quite a few light/lethargic taps. Saw no activity anywhere. Water a little off color. Beautiful morning for mid Dec.
Finally some activity, I know ya worked for each of those fish, congrats! :clapping: :fishing:


Coming in now On the boat, the rumors of thick bass in monmoth county are indeed true drift was a bit fast but lots of bass and blues and birds all day bite unlike that ibsp early bite last month. Not dinks either


G and Shark, saw that activity this morning, most of it was near the 3 mile line...the OFFC was watching it yesterday, same deal...if ya can cast at least 2 miles from the surf you got yerself some epic fishing! :ROFLMAO
Congrats to the guys getting them from the boats. IMO we'll close out the season with most of the numbers of bigger fish coming from boats from now on....as of now it doesn't look like that body is moving any closer to the surf line....
Glad ya's got in on it....:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Fished last night till the top of the flood, 2 hours and I couldn't take the cold any more....31 deg when I started, 28 when I stopped. The temp would have been bearable if not for the steady W/NW wind....

The bait I was looking for was not there. 2 other fools out there. We compared notes, they had been out since 8pm and had no luck...gave it a shot with swimmers, bucktails and rubber. :skunk:

Slept in the car, took a walk along some ocean beaches around 7am but no fish or signs of life....

The fish I did find were all in one area, boats clustered up...
As mentioned, I was watching those fish this morning through binocs...pretty far out today, 95% of the boats aligned at 2 miles and better out there.... even the yakkers thought better of it and did not launch....



********
The OFFC was out yesterday afternoon, had very limited activity on plugs. had some on, dropped one decent fish, nothing landed, very sparse action....way to make the effort, guys!

[finchaser]

fish schooling to go up the Hudson

I believe except for a fish here or there the

[fishinmission78]

^^^Fished the park this am, 6-7 low tide, not much going on. Skunked out. Fat lady is around the corner.

[storminsteve]

Late report, fished nomoco twice on the weekend and got one micro bass on a rubber teaser. The fat lady she be rolling down the street!http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png See my letter to Santa to learn more.:d
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5481-Dear-Santa-please-help

[xtreme_visions]

thay are all black fish

ARE THERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLACKFISH THOUGH? HERE IS A PIC OF THE 1ST 1 I CAUGHT.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=14514

[gjb1969]

not in nj just the patterns and the colors of the fish can be differant

[DarkSkies]

Nice fish Xtreme. :thumbsup: :HappyWave:

[xtreme_visions]

Thanks! I had a blast! Me and my uncle got alot of action that day. Wanted to give 1 a try but was not sure what the procedure was after catching them before taking them home. Just keep them on ice until home or would i need to do anything on the spot?

[vpass]

Fish from 7 am to 10 am. I caught 2 short bass 1 on teaser and the other on a SP minnow. Seen birds working just out of casting range. Off shore the gannets were dive bombing on the herring.

1451514516

[gjb1969]

nice fish dude fat clean and healthy:fishing:

[jigfreak]

Fat slobs, these little footballs are. Fished moco around the top of the incoming tonight. 2 short bass on swimmer, 2 on the teaser. Nice fish vpass and xtreme visions.

[plugcrazy]

way to go guys! I fished lbi this morning and caught a skunk.:skunk: There were birds working but they were too far out to reach. Oh well it was a beautiful sunrise and you cant beat fishing in December in 55 degree weather.

[hookset]

Fished somoco from first light to 7:30, one fat short bass on a black bomber. Plugcrazy I agree the sunrise was fantastic. There are some things about fishing that are as good as the catching. This morning was one of them. I don't remember the last time I was able to fish a beach comfortably on Dec 22.

[captnemo]

Good bite at the Shrews Rocks the last 2 weeks folks. We limited out in the last 2 trips keeping fish around 29" and releasing bigger ones. There are a lot of smaller fish and the action is great. A37 and 47 with green tails get it done.Get out there before it's over.

[vpass]

Went out again this morning in the same area as yesterday. around 7:30 to 9:00am Wished I got out earlier. Got 1 short on a Sp minnow on the 3rd cast and again I thought it will be a great day. Fish were raising to the top all over the surf line, and then it stopped as soon the sun broke over the horizon. Birds were working the whole streached from a 1/8 to 1/4 mile out. The Gannets were working from 1/4 mile to a mile out The birds stopped working as soon as the Sun broke the Horizon.

What a beatiful day can you believe it the first day of winter :wow: Nice going Guys Enjoy it while it lasts.

[clamchucker]

Fished the area in and around the park yesterday and this morning. Yesterday managed 1 bass to 25" on yellow teaser. Today managed 4 bass to 26", teaser and swimmer. There is a slow pick around sunrise. Today the cloud cover helped it to last a bit longer.

[fishinmission78]

One short this am on a teaser, OC.

[storminsteve]

Great effort fellas! Going to try to get out there this weekend. It's too beautiful not to.:fishing:

[jigfreak]

MOCO in the morning, water looked perfect, sky was black, should have been exploding with fish. 2 hours, nada.

[vpass]

Fished from 1:30pm to 5:00pm. Had birds in front of me for a 15 to 20 min. I threw the bag covering all water colume had only 1 bump. plugged the beach for 1/2 mile befor calling it quits. further out was a boat and seen him land a few nice size bass.

There were these black/dark brown diving birds crashing the water in front of me they dive just like gannets. Does anyone know what kind of bird they are? I did not see them come up with anything. I'm thinking they were feeding on sandeels and not herring.

[SharkHart]

there is still a good amount of small bass in the back bays of SNJ fished the last 2 hours of outgoing after some late shopping. Good amount of bass popping on the surface a lot were picky though, landed 7 to 25" lost 4 or 5 couldnt get any water for incomming and they laid down. Never felt below 40 and a 5 mph wind nice late season night

[DarkSkies]

Amen, Shark...got into feeding bass last night as well. Took a while to find them, getting discouraged, but it was a fantastic night once the tide changed and the wind dropped out...I can't remember fishing in December and being so comforbable, in quite a few years....managed 8 bass to 28", dropped an additional one at my feet about 11# and 31". It was a plug bite.. something I'm addicted to....due to the abundant herring, ....full report in the Winter Fishing Thread....

Way to stick it out to the end....catch em up! :thumbsup: :fishing:

[xtreme_visions]

:skunk: fished rocks xmas morning with a buddy and came up empty handed. we did not get out there until the tide was going out. stayed for awhile and not a single bite! talked to a few guys who spent the entire morning there and nothing for them either on the incoming/outgoing tide. hope to get out next sat again. :cool:

looking to go for some blackfish on a boat in a week or 2 if anybody knows a good 1 to go on pm me.

[DarkSkies]

12-24 8 Bass to 28", night bite.... plugs.
12-25 10 Bass to 12#, night bite...plugs...Biggest fish came on Surfstix's Danny :HappyWave:
12-26 7 Bass to 15#, night bite...plugs....

It's safe to say I'm pretty happy with the fishing this last week of December...:drool:
Full report in the winter fishing thread. :fishing:

[clamchucker]

Oc near the park in the morning, 2 bass to 27" on a teaser.

[DarkSkies]

Nice going clamchucker! Still fish in that area for those who want to work for them....

12-27-11
Fished this morning, missed my first alarm, Didn't get up to the 2nd alarm went off. Only had 45 mins to fish before false dawn by the time I got down there...
Things were different this morning, not much activity where I was. No hits or bumps other than one small bass on a megabait swimmer, similar to the Daiwa SP. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png Beat the skunk, but I have a feeling I missed the feeding window last night.

Full report in the winter fishing thread.

[jigfreak]

Dark the window was close to slack low. Got em decent last night, 7 to 18bs on the daiwa minnow and mag darter. You were right about the crabs. The one I kept was filled with em. Good to catch some fat fish for a change. Thanks for the heads up, you da man.

[clamchucker]

Fished northern ocean county this morning. The bass were chasing herriing, I managed 6 on large bombers and small poppers. The surf was building from the south but it was fishable. The largest was 19pounds. All released.

[finchaser]

Very nice way to go^^^^^

[DarkSkies]

Nice efforts guys!
Jigfreak, glad ya were paying attention to my reports. :thumbsup: Very unusual bite this time of year....

More food....

[DarkSkies]

Found a window....:kooky: :laugh:

Fished this morning last 2 hours of the ebb plus the slack...ended up quitting before 5am as the tide came in and it became unfishable where I was.

It was fishable for that brief window, and the water wasn't that dirty. The wind had died down to about 5-7mph W. Still got the :skunk:

The OGB told me not to bother, "you'll never catch a fish in this slop, don't waste your time" :argue:

Of course I didn't listen. The action has been so good I didn't want to miss it. The crab molt could still have one night of life to it, and that last night was probably last night...Where I was, there could have been that lucky 20#....:cool: ;)

Full report in the Winter fishing thread...


Oh, and before he comes on here yelling....:HappyWave:, I wore a PFD, and have been wearing one whenever I fish the flood tide now at night....:kiss:

[finchaser]

Found a window....:kooky: :laugh:

Fished this morning last 2 hours of the ebb plus the slack...ended up quitting before 5am as the tide came in and it became unfishable where I was.

It was fishable for that brief window, and the water wasn't that dirty. The wind had died down to about 5-7mph W. Still got the :skunk:

The OGB told me not to bother, "you'll never catch a fish in this slop, don't waste your time" :argue:

Of course I didn't listen. The action has been so good I didn't want to miss it. The crab molt could still have one night of life to it, and that last night was probably last night...Where I was, there could have been that lucky 20#....:cool: ;)

Full report in the Winter fishing thread...


Oh, and before he comes on here yelling....:HappyWave:, I wore a PFD, and have been wearing one whenever I fish the flood tide now at night....:kiss:

Googan windows are the calm period between fronts usually before a storm, which boaters take advantage of to run offshore. You are fishing a pattern when fish show or feed on a stage of tide and feed approximately an hour later everyday until something like a storm,water temperature or wind direction changes the feeding pattern. (dam Googans):HappyWave:

[fishinmission78]

Fished OC, 6-8am, incoming, 3 bass on ava dragged slowly, biggest 30".

[vpass]

Fished OC, 6-8am, incoming, 3 bass on ava dragged slowly, biggest 30".

Nice going Fishinmission.

I'm stuck home till sunday morning. That might be my last outing.

[lostatsea]

Way to go fishing mission. You are hardcore for still sticking it out!

[toadfish]

NoMoCo 10-2 silence of the clams

[gjb1969]

have u guys heard a nice bluefin got pulled in today on the mbp while bass fishing the tuna hit a krock spoon the weight was between 175 180 lbs and 61 inches long i got the call before the pic so i was saying bs till i saw the pic its up on the net now so if u still say bs look for your self and the bass are still here to pic of a 42 lb bass

[storminsteve]

Wow gjb that is a nice bass! How far off the beach were they when they caught that?
Got some bass tonight, after dark they started hitting. Metal lipped swimmers and bombers did it for me. 7 basss to 31", released, nomoco. I can't believe how nice out it was. This weather and bait around is mind boggling. I wonder how long it can last?

[storminsteve]

NoMoCo 10-2 silence of the clams

Ha toadfish that was great!:clapping::clapping: Do you have any video skills? Sounds like a great topic for a movie. I fished nomocoo too, the clam guys didn't seem to get anything, I don't know why. But next time bring some bombers and metal lip swimmers with you. I heard the bass were on herring though I didn't see any, Good luck and Happy New Year!

[DarkSkies]

Yeah Toadfish funny stuff, thanks for the report. :thumbsup: :HappyWave:
PM me when you're heading out next time, it's still worth the trip.... :fishing:
Way to get out there and catch em up, guys! I wonder if we know how lucky we actually are to have these quality bass in the last week of December.



*********
With one skunk in the last week, the good fishing continues...:drool:
Worked a 10 mile area of beach last night till 9am today.
8 stops in all, where I picked up fish at some of them.. and others were dead.

Managed 14 bass to 15#. Worked hard for these fish, as the conditions changed with the tide and the light levels.
Nonetheless it was a blast!
That brings the total for the last 7 nights to 40, not bad for the last week of December.
When else have we had conditions of 50 degrees, feeding fish, and limited night wind on Dec 30? Not in about 8 years or so....:wheeeee:


2 biggest fish of the night came on Surfstix's Danny Swimmer, thanks Surfstix!
Full report in the Winter fishing thread. :fishing:

[gjb1969]

well i did the boat thing and it was a bust four bass came over the rails and one blue and that was it i am done till spring

[cowherder]

at least you tried gjb, and as they say here you can't catch them sitting at home in your easy chair!

I fished nomoco last night and got 2 bass, one on a black bomber and one on a black teaser. They were both short but fat! Biggest one was 25". It was beautiful out.
Dark you are really on fire this week, way to go!

[storminsteve]

Yeah ds kudos on the great catch reports this week. Thanks for the heads up via PM, it helped. I tell you one thing, you really pay attention to the bait or forage as you call it, and it paid off for you. :HappyWave:

[xtreme_visions]

:skunk: fished rocks again sat with a buddy for some blackfish and once again no luck! :banghead2:

[vpass]

NIce going guys. It worth taking advantage of the nice weather considering it was the last week of Dec. Dark you kicked @$$. You caught more fish in the last week of Dec. then the peak of the Fall Run. Nice going.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[toadfish]

Thanks,storminsteve. I wasn't using clams,just like the way it sounds.
Dark, I'm the guy that gave you the homemade slug go's a couple of seasons ago at the hook. Missing that long walk on account of the dredging...it's the only exercise I get.

[xtreme_visions]

Fished sunday and caught the big :skunk:again. used green crabs and clams, fished rocks and surf.

[DarkSkies]

Guys and gals, I'm closing this thread. Not for anything bad, I just want people to cycle all their reports and comments into the winter fishing thread in the main forum...thanks! :HappyWave:


** and also a reminder that fishing in the back bays and inlets is closed as of Dec 31. That means the only fishing permitted is in the surf, and the outside areas of inlets (pockets), from 1-3 miles.
Outside of 3 miles is the EEZ, and fishing in that area beyond 3 miles for striped bass is not permitted at any time, whether you are "C&R" the bass or not...
Thanks....