NJ Fishing Reports for October 2012.....www.StripersandAnglers.com

[DarkSkies]

NJ fishing reports for October 2012. ..www.StripersandAnglers.com (http://www.stripersandanglers.com/)

NJ fishing reports for October 2012...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]

Hookset,
you won the plug in the September 2012 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)

[finchaser]

Slow morning no bait released 2 bluefish 4# on bucktail

[Mike O]

Late on my report. Computer issues. Early sat morning SH 1 bass 27" 8lbs. still swimming.

[DarkSkies]

Great report Mike....:thumbsup:

With a few exceptions, many of the NJ bass being caught right now are in the 22" range and similar year class....although yours wasn't a keeper, it's a little different than a 22".....must have put up a decent fight....WTG.....:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Night bluefish 10-1-12 Early AM....

Went out last night looking for night bluefish....
I could not mark or find any bait and was already sensing the trip would be a bust....it was. Worked the water hard for 2 1/2 hours, not even a tap. :skunk:

[storminsteve]

I fished nomoco tonight 6-8, one small blue on metal and 5 hickory shad on the teaser. I didn't see any mullet in the surf at all, that v-wake. did see a lot of small bait though, and I mean a LOT!

[DarkSkies]

Day Bluefish 10-1-12 PM


Finished work early yesterday, and went down looking for some of those bigger blues.
Found a creek area that had some mullet and peanuts pouring out, end of tide.

It was tricky as they were focused almost entirely on bait.
Managed one fish about every 30-40 casts.....the strike zone was very limited.

All on the magic Finchaser small rubber and very light jighead.
Total 9 blues to 8#.


​

[cowherder]

Wow guys at least you are catching congrats!

[finchaser]

This AM 6 blues to 11 pounds

[rip316]

I wont be able to get out until Sat. Sunday have to do the family thing and pick apples. Sat, nw winds.

[finchaser]

thanks for update make sure the apples are ripe and not bruised

[DarkSkies]

Fished last night, trying for a Monty Marathon. :laugh: :HappyWave:
post #48
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?1877-fishing-terms-dictionary/page5&highlight=monty+marathon


Started in the ocean, made 2 stops. One short bass on a Magdarter.
"Epic" fishing NJ style, October. :kooky:

Only spent a little time there as I have become addicted to the bigger back bay Night bluefish...
Went looking, very limited action.
About one hit for every 50-60 casts.
Dropped 2 fish, nothing else for me.

Then went to another fall bay spot I was hoping would hold a bass.
Water was very dirty from the day's wind and rains. Despite that there were quite a few small pods of mullet, peanut bunker, and rainfish coming in on the flood tide.....no real numbers of bass or other large predators under them.








At one point during the night I had a conversation with myself....
"You mean that you came all the way, drove all these miles and walked all these footsteps, fished all this time.....just for a small bass and a few bluefish hits?" :beatin:

It was a little humiliating, this conversation I was having with myself...these voices in my head...good thing there were no little voices answering me back.....:kooky: :laugh:

Called it quits at 6:30 am, just enough time to get to work.

[DarkSkies]

Fished last night, trying for a Monty Marathon. :laugh: :HappyWave:
One short bass on a Magdarter.


"Epic" fishing NJ style, October. :kooky:

.


I wont be able to get out until Sat. Sunday have to do the family thing and pick apples. Sat, nw winds.


Like Fin said, thanks for keeping us updated....:rolleyes:
Hurry back, you don't want to miss the outstanding NJ surf bass action we're having so far.....:kooky:





******
Picking apples....
Maybe your wife already picked a spot...lots of folks go to Monroe Twp and S Jersey areas....

In case she didn't make the choice for ya already.....:)...here's a place Pebbles and I go every year...IMO it's much more reasonable than all the others....

Riamede Farm, Chester.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7155-Picking-apples-and-the-Highlands-Preservation-Act&highlight=apple+picking



regards to the family, bro....:HappyWave:

[rip316]

Thanks for the tips.

[finchaser]

:drool:homemade pie would be nice

[rip316]

Sorry I don't bake. I just make the worlds best pulled pork sammiches and homemade split pea soup. Which you love both. I sure hope the fish start to come around soon because we are talking about apples and soup on the fishing report thread.

[DarkSkies]

I sure hope the fish start to come around soon because we are talking about apples and soup on the fishing report thread.
If you throw mullet when they'e in front of you and the fish are feeding on them, you can catch all the bluefish you can carry. If you throw plugs and fish for 8-9 hours at a clip you are likely to land one schoolie bass or other interesting fish. Hell, even Monty got fish on his last trip out....fishing has to be off the charts for that to happen....:rolleyes: ;) :HappyWave:


As for the consistency, as mentioned, when the surf is loaded with bait we should see fish. That is not happening for a lot of folks. I don't feel bad reporting a skunk, or only one fish. because many right now are having similar results. Catching more than one involves being in a place where there are both bait and fish. That is most likely to happen where the concentrations of bait are highest, and usually the only places I'm finding fish at night for the last month.


And don't feel bad about reporting your skunks, folks....even the Mighty Finchaser gets blanked. Anyone who claims they catch fish every outing, from land, or...... "I only got skunked once this year" is probably lying. :learn:

[DarkSkies]

^^Rip.....Man you are some piece of work, Aint cha? :kooky: :rolleyes:
I dropped of that homemade canned hot olive oil with chili and garlic,,,and those homemade pickled tomatoes.,......and you didn't even pass me one pullled pork sammich for my NJ skunk trips? :wow:
Couldn't even hook a brother up wit a nice sammich.....:(
I'm at a loss for words here....that is so sad,,,,,,:rolleyes:

[rip316]

Next time I make it I will drop some off. Sorry but, I just dont have pulled pork sammiches laying around. Usually when I make them I don't keep leftovers for a month to give to my friends you dillydock. Lmao

[DarkSkies]

Next time I make it I will drop some off. Sorry but, I just dont have pulled pork sammiches laying around. Usually when I make them I don't keep leftovers for a month to give to my friends you dillydock. Lmao


Yeah but you know the conditions of the food I usually eat....laying around for a month just gives it texture. :drool: :HappyWave:

[bababooey]

Hey if yous are giving home cooked food away don't forget about your old pal Bababooey.:dribble:

[cowherder]

Sorry I don't bake. I just make the worlds best pulled pork sammiches and homemade split pea soup. Which you love both. I sure hope the fish start to come around soon because we are talking about apples and soup on the fishing report thread.


Apples and soup. I like apple pie rip316 if you are making some please put me down for a piece.:)
Fished nomoco in the fog for an hour this morning., Incoming tide, 6-7. 2 cocktail bluefish on a ava and teaser. Fish hit the teaser. lots of small bait

[fishinmission78]

I'm at a loss for words here....

Never happen. Not possible, not in a million years.:HappyWave:
Fished the park this morning, even dozen small blues on ss poppers. Rip put me down for a piece of apple pie if you're taking orders. Do you do any other pies besides apple?

[storminsteve]

Never happen. Not possible, not in a million years.:HappyWave:


X2. i wonder what would happen if he went away to a monastery or some other place where you are not allowed to speak.:rolleyes:

[rip316]

As I stated, I do not bake but, I can cook up some really good stuff. For appetizers for last sundays football games I made rebaked potatoes and fishcakes made with bluefish. I believe 30 each and they didn't last too long. Finchaser can attest to my pulled pork and split pea soup. Nothing like good hearty home cooked food. Sorry if I made you guys hungry, maybe I should put a sign on my truck and sell soup while driing the beach at ibsp during the bass run. Maybe I would make some cash. Lol.

[bababooey]

Sorry to hear you don't do pies rip. I think if you were putting signs on your truck, Rip the Pie Man has a much better ring to it than Rip the Pulled Pork and Split Pea Soup Man.:ROFLMAO

[jigfreak]

Picked up a few low teen fish in the surf this week on swimmers. one bass each time out, hour before sunrise, swimmers and sp. moco. Been out 7 times, only caught fish 3x. Rip I like pies will take an apple. Do you deliver.

[finchaser]

Hey jigfreak what flavor(color) SP do you score best with been having a discussion with DS

[storminsteve]

Fished nomoco. one bass and 1 small blue on yellow chicken scratch bomber.

[finchaser]

This AM released 3 bass and a bluefish all on bucktails

[DarkSkies]

Another Monty Marathon last night..... :HappyWave:

Made 5 separate stops in the ocean looking for bass. Managed one short bass on Mag Darter, one dropped fish on SP. 2 hours of intense casting, that was the best I could come up with.

Went to the back to see if some bluefish were around. In the last 24 hours a lot of mullet had been staging to leave, and it became apparent last night that maybe they had left that area. The bluefish that were left were popping on small bait, probably rainfish or grass shrimp. Very picky and very frustrating to have feeding fish that wouldn't hit what I was throwing. Even my smallest rubber and lightest smallest bucktails didn't get touched.

Finally managed 2 medium bluefish on a Daiwa DSM. (the smaller version of the SP). 3 hours of casting for those 2 bluefish. :kooky:

[Monty]

This AM released 3 bass and a bluefish all on bucktails


Another Monty Marathon last night..... :HappyWave:
Managed one short bass on Mag Darter, one dropped fish on SP. 2 hours of intense casting, that was the best I could come up with.
Finally managed 2 medium bluefish on a Daiwa DSM. (the smaller version of the SP). 3 hours of casting for those 2 bluefish. :kooky:
:HappyWave:
Congrats on the fish guys, Dark fishing hard for them :thumbsup:.
I'm looking forward to a few mini marathons (~7 hours OTW) hopefully fishing 6 out of 9 days starting Sunday AM around 3:30. Will be nice to get out there on a bit of a consistent basis for the week :) .

[rip316]

:HappyWave:
Congrats on the fish guys, Dark fishing hard for them :thumbsup:.
I'm looking forward to a few mini marathons (~7 hours OTW) hopefully fishing 6 out of 9 days starting Sunday AM around 3:30. Will be nice to get out there on a bit of a consistent basis for the week :) .

Monty, call me, I am oin to take the day off Monday and maybe you, me and Cardoc can hook up. I will bring the tea and cardoc will bring the crumpets. Lol. Seriously, contact me, its been too long. I promise not to fall asleep on the beach again. Hahhahahahaha

[Monty]

Monty, call me, I am oin to take the day off Monday and maybe you, me and Cardoc can hook up. I will bring the tea and cardoc will bring the crumpets. Lol. Seriously, contact me, its been too long. I promise not to fall asleep on the beach again. Hahhahahahaha
:ROFLMAO
Crumpets???? I'm in!!!
Will give ya a call Saturday, looking forward to it already.

[rip316]

:ROFLMAO
Crumpets???? I'm in!!!
Will give ya a call Saturday, looking forward to it already.

Awesome, maybe we can take a ride to NY and mug Surstix. Or we can follow Darkskies to mug Finchaser. Lol. Heading out in a few, will report back later.

[rip316]

Fished this morning 5 til til 730 with Cardoc Moco jetty area. Pletny of small bait around but no fish. Did not see one rod bend.

[DarkSkies]

^^ Rip while you were posting that I was fishing on the night shift. Stopped for a bit looking for the bluefish. Saw some bait and decided to stay. That was probably a poor decision, because in 2 hours of casting I got nothing. I really think that with the mullet thinning out that back bay big bluefish bite on artificials is dead, unless some other baitfish move in to take their place.....

Ran out of energy and didn't make it to the ocean. Couldn't even make it home, had to crash in the car. I was sleepin when ya called me, sorry if I was crabby.

This whole lot of fishing for mostly nothing is getting old. :(
Even the old timers I talked to hanging at the beach club the other day are getting tired of not seeing any real numbers of fish.

If you are throwing mullet, or bunker heads, or eels in strategic areas right now you may get some decent fish when the bait concentrations are high. There is also a general feed 1 hour before sunrise, but as you guys found out today ya can't even count on that....and where you were, at least one person should have nailed a bass....
Things are spotty, unless fishin in Finchaser's private pond...
that's NJ fishing at it's finest, for right now......

It's making me think about taking the kayak out at night. You have a better chance of finding these scattered fish if you can cover more area over the water.

[DarkSkies]

:HappyWave:
Congrats on the fish guys, Dark fishing hard for them :thumbsup:.
I'm looking forward to a few mini marathons (~7 hours OTW) hopefully fishing 6 out of 9 days starting Sunday AM around 3:30. Will be nice to get out there on a bit of a consistent basis for the week :) .
Thanks, it's up to you to carry on with the Marathons...I'm getting damn tired of the lack of action in NJ. Remember, there are hundreds of stargazers and exotic sea creatures out there just waiting for a Monty Meal.....:laugh: :HappyWave:

(Rip caught a huge stargazer today, apparently the star-gazer blitzes are starting.) :rolleyes:



I promise not to fall asleep on the beach again. Hahhahahahaha
I think it's not a good idea for ya to make promises that ya can't keep.....:ROFLMAO...Maybe Monty can bring an extra dozen of those energy drinks, just for you....:)


:ROFLMAO
Crumpets???? I'm in!!!

Bunch of freaking girl scouts and dillydocks, ya's are.....:rolleyes: :HappyWave:

[Monty]

Rip, I think it's not a good idea for ya to make promises that ya can't keep.....:ROFLMAO...Maybe Monty can bring an extra dozen of those energy drinks, just for you....:)

Dark, you know the one thing I am pretty good at is being prepared.
Rip should have no problem staying awake this time.....
15540

[chas527]

fished the hook friday morning. blue fish chasing bait all over till 930 then that was it over.saw loads of mullet swimming by.

[finchaser]

This whole lot of fishing for mostly nothing is getting old. :(
Even the old timers I talked to hanging at the beach club the other day are getting tired of not seeing any real numbers of fish.


Get use to it,the bass are being wiped out and things are reverting back to how they use to be. I never thought that would happen again,lets here it for for the INTERNET and cell fisherman (especially the snag and drop kill everything group). Now they will have to learn to fish or quit hopefully the latter.

Also all the dredging is doing nothing but making huge sand bars that are holding the fish offshore.

[Monty]

Fished our front this morning 3:30 - 11:00, worked a good mile of the beach. Started off in normal form missing a solid hit on a plastic swimmer :thumbsup: .
Then around 5:15 picked up a short bass on the plastic swimmer. Then around 6:15 another short bass on the rubber teaser.
Then when the sun came up I was in the middle of a ton of small bait. Half hour later bunch of swirls on the bait but I can't hook up.
Saw lots of bait and some decent swirls on it as I fished back to where I started, I have been hopeless so far in catching fish that are chasing this small bait. Then around 9:30 was working a pencil and about 30 yards out I see a fish swiping at it. No hook up..then about 10 yards out the fish hits it and I see stripes :wheeeee: . Was about 26 inches. Was a really fun trip, cooler weather was awesome. Decent sunrise too.

15543

15544

[jigfreak]

Hey jigfreak what flavor(color) SP do you score best with been having a discussion with DS

Red head, first light. And the magdarter has worked too and yellow bombers.

[jigfreak]

Fished last night into the morning, threw the bag, pulled the skunk duty,:skunk:
Monty nice report and fish. It appears you do know how to catch a bass, wtg, dude.

[storminsteve]

Get use to it,the bass are being wiped out and things are reverting back to how they use to be. I never thought that would happen again,lets here it for for the INTERNET and cell fisherman (especially the snag and drop kill everything group). Now they will have to learn to fish or quit hopefully the latter.

Also all the dredging is doing nothing but making huge sand bars that are holding the fish offshore.


Amen, finchaser! Fished nomoco AM. lots of bait perfect morning, Lame-o for fishing though, got blanked. Monty great report and pic, awesome sunrise. Catching is better than not.

[cowherder]

Wow cool catching Monty congrats and nice pictures too!

[hookset]

Nothing for me this morning either. Nice catching Monty.

[fishjay]

Could not agree with you more Finchaser.

[Monty]

Fished this morning ocean side 3:30-~9:30. Tons and tons and tons of small bait fish. One short bass on the rubber teaser in close (10 feet from beach) as it was chasing bait as the sun was rising. Hit hard and felt like a blue :). Had one other real hard hit and missed (I need to really work on my reflexes and slam that hook home :idea: ). Nice morning, had a good time, fished with Rip (he stayed awake this time :thumbsup: :HappyWave: ). Saw the rod Finchaser made for him, real nice. Cardoc fished some too, was good to see him again.

Sunrise pic with small bait in close:
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_10_8_SR.jpg

[DarkSkies]

Fished this morning ocean side 3:30-~9:30. Tons and tons and tons of small bait fish. One short bass on the rubber teaser in close (10 feet from beach) as it was chasing bait as the sun was rising. Hit hard and felt like a blue :). Had one other real hard hit and missed (I need to really work on my reflexes and slam that hook home :idea: ). Nice morning, had a good time, fished with Rip (he stayed awake this time :thumbsup: :HappyWave: ). Saw the rod Finchaser made for him, real nice. Cardoc fished some too, was good to see him again.

Sunrise pic with small bait in close:
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_10_8_SR.jpg


Monty catches a bass :clapping:
(BTW that's the new feeding window, precious half hour before sunrise unless you can find bait trapped in the pocket.)
Monty loses a bigger fish (bring your gear to the Finchaser workshop for inspection)

Rip Doesn't fall asleep (how many 5 hour energy drinks did he have, my $$ says at least 4.....:laugh:


Best sunrise pics I've seen.....beautiful...:drool:..I'll pray to King Neptune to send ya another one this week....:HappyWave:
Great report, Monty.....
thanks for taking those other 2 Googans in tow, trying to get them a fish.....:d

[rip316]

For the record I had 1 energy drink. just 1 damn it. lol. anyway, the report Monty gave was spot on. There are NO REAL QUANTITIES of any type of fish in the surf at all so, with that, I am no longer fishing until Finchaser calls Killie and myself to tell us where the fish are. PS not walking 500 miles to the tip of Sandy Hook does help in ones staying awake while fishing. lmao. I will never ever ever do that **** again unless King Neptune Says So. Nice to see you again Ray and glad we fished.

[DarkSkies]

Get use to it,the bass are being wiped out and things are reverting back to how they use to be.

I never thought that would happen again,

lets here it for for the INTERNET and cell fisherman (especially the snag and drop kill everything group).
Now they will have to learn to fish or quit hopefully the latter.

Also all the dredging is doing nothing but making huge sand bars that are holding the fish offshore.


Could not agree with you more Finchaser.






I sometimes wonder if when I say these things it doesn't turn people off from reading the threads here.
I can't help it, it's what I'm seeing.

I caught fish every month this year, but had to go to insane lengths to do it.
It seems to me, not many are willing to talk about this till the middle of the winter, and folks are more willing to listen.


How could I talk about declining numbers, when they are crushing them at Montauk right now, you ask?

there are quite a few threads here that can give folks more info....

(Or. ya can just listen to the ones I quoted above, Finchaser and the OFFC..who among them have approx 200 years of Saltwater fishing experience...
They've seen it all...the Rise and Fall.........learn from what they are saying, or ignore it, ,,,your choice......:learn: )









Montauk
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8039-Why-are-there-no-fish-in-Montauk-right-now (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8039-Why-are-there-no-fish-in-Montauk-right-now)

Where are the striped bass?
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?760-Where-are-the-Striped-Bass&highlight=bass (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?760-Where-are-the-Striped-Bass&highlight=bass)


Striped bass migration
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?3604-talk-about-striped-bass-migration


Fall back bay migration
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5149-S-amp-A-Education-Series-Understanding-FALL-back-bay-bait-migration-and-fishing-patterns



NJs resident bass why have they abandoned us?
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7174-NJ-s-resident-bass-why-have-they-abandoned-us

[finchaser]

Feeling better today after a stomack virus so I played a hunch and gave it a shot from 5 to 6:30 PM and released 13 bass to 26" and 2 bigger 7# bluefish all on jig head and chartreuse havoc tail

[vpass]

Feeling better today after a stomack virus so I played a hunch and gave it a shot from 5 to 6:30 PM and released 13 bass to 26" and 2 bigger 7# bluefish all on jig head and chartreuse havoc tail

:wow:Nice going Fin.

Got out last night fished from 6 to 10pm got 2 short bass and 2 nice keeper size fluke better then 19 inches maybe 21 inches. The fluke took the SP Minnow, and the Bass were on Strorm shad. Lots of bait where I was and seen lots of swirls. Anyone seen any sandeels yet?

[Monty]

Fished this morning out from 3:30 to 8:30. Water felt a little colder today. Breeze out of the north east. Got one short striper on an Ava 007 green tail around 8:15. Nice time, great weather (had other stuff to do today so trip was a little short, will be back out Thursday in the AM more than likely). No sunrise today.

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_10_9_ww1.jpg

[cowherder]

finchaser didnt know you were sick hope you are feeling better. Nice going on the bass I don't think too many people catch as many as you do on a regular basis. monty you got bass 2 days in a row you're on a streak! vpass nice going too! Great pics keep them coming.

[finchaser]

Fished tonight 5 to 7 PM released 11 bass to 8# all on jig head and chartreuse Havoc tail water down to 64 today. My partner released 16 tonight. Fish turned off as soon as it got dark for the second day in a row.

[chas527]

fished the hook this morning.rough water 6 onces was just holding bottom.4 bass 2small 2 keepers on clams.also got a drum.i think? pretty fish silver with black horizontal stripes about 6 lbs.

[chas527]

that was a sheeps head. the tackle store told me it was a druml

[finchaser]

tonight 5:30 to 7 pm 2 released 2 bass on jig and havoc tail

[Monty]

:wow:Nice going Fin.

Got out last night fished from 6 to 10pm got 2 short bass and 2 nice keeper size fluke better then 19 inches maybe 21 inches. The fluke took the SP Minnow, and the Bass were on Strorm shad. Lots of bait where I was and seen lots of swirls. Anyone seen any sandeels yet?
Congrats on the catching, have not seen any sand eels....yet


Fished tonight 5 to 7 PM released 11 bass to 8# all on jig head and chartreuse Havoc tail water down to 64 today. My partner released 16 tonight. Fish turned off as soon as it got dark for the second day in a row.


fished the hook this morning.rough water 6 onces was just holding bottom.4 bass 2small 2 keepers on clams.also got a drum.i think? pretty fish silver with black horizontal stripes about 6 lbs.
Congrats on the catching guys :HappyWave:

[storminsteve]

Fished nomoco tonight:skunk: for me.
I haven't seen any sand eels either. sure would like to though. fin and chas congrats on the catches. Have never heard of anyone catching a sheepshead from the beach this far north. way to go!

[ledhead36]

Sheeps head at the hook, what a wild catch. Nice going Chas. did you eat it? what did it taste like? I have been fishing the back with bait. Waiting for the bigger stripers. A few smaller runts on bait. Lots of insteresting other fish too, like small grunts, spot, and a few lost baby drum.Crazy year.

[skinner]

Most unusual catch of the fall thats for sure. Good job chas527.

[buckethead]

3 bass to 29", bucktails, moco. Surf is still bad but the strong west wind should knock it down tomorrow.

[finchaser]

As to sand eels don't want to be the bearer of bad news but there are none even the mud hole is void of them the big blues are feeding on squid and sardines and butter fish. This comes from my charter boat friend who is well informed by lobster men and other captains.

[vpass]

Fished tonight 5 to 7 PM released 11 bass to 8# all on jig head and chartreuse Havoc tail water down to 64 today. My partner released 16 tonight. Fish turned off as soon as it got dark for the second day in a row.
Fin, you are on fire.:thumbsup::thumbsup: I hope to my numbers increase :embarassed:


As to sand eels don't want to be the bearer of bad news but there are none even the mud hole is void of them the big blues are feeding on squid and smelts and butter fish. this comes from my charter boat friend who is well informed by lobster man
I'm not really crazy about the sandeels. I hate fishing Avas. I just don't want the bass to pass us by.



3 bass to 29", bucktails, moco. Surf is still bad but the strong west wind should knock it down tomorrow.

Nice going Bucket. :thumbsup::thumbsup:Are you using anything with the Bucktail? I was throwing Bucktails Yesterday with Pink Fins with no luck using the bucktails.


fished the hook this morning.rough water 6 onces was just holding bottom.4 bass 2small 2 keepers on clams.also got a drum.i think? pretty fish silver with black horizontal stripes about 6 lbs.
:wow: Chas. Never seen a Sheepshead caught around here. They must of been common at one time. I guess they named Sheepshead bay after them. Nice going.:thumbsup::thumbsup:



Last night I fished from 6pm to 8:30pm I got 1 bass just shy of being a keeper. The bass was caught on a X-Rap. I wasn't prepared, the rod almost came out of my hands on the hit. The bait seem to have moved.

[chas527]

fished the hook this morning.nothing but skates.did see birds working early with big fish under them but they were to far out . about the sheephead it tasted real good all white meat. the guy in atlantic tackle said it was a drum.but the fish i caught i went on line and it look just like a sheephead. same color same stripes same fins on top an bottom.just wish i would have taken a picture.

[Monty]

Fished out front this morning 3:30-10:30. Ocean had calmed down and looked great. Water was pretty dirty. I worked a lot of beach, lots of walking and ended up with the skunk. Had a hit early on a 10" Hogy and missed (normal start for me). Found some small bait and a few small swirls but no hook ups, then around 7:00 found a big area with fish slamming through bait mostly 200-500 yards off the beach. There was activity as close as 30 yards (semi consistent), but most was out there. I hooked up in close (5 yards out)for 5 seconds on a PoJee, rod bent then nothing, had one other hit on a long cast, PoJee again. Had this in front of me for at least two hours and could not land a fish. Not sure what was out there, whatever I had on for that short period was not a snapper. Threw all sorts of metal at different retrieves Ava 007 green tail, Hopkins shorty, PoJee 1 1/2 and 3 oz, Deadly Richard, Kastmaster 3/4, 1 and 1 1/2 oz. , 3 oz crocodile spoon, 2 oz and 3 oz Crippled Herring...also threw a couple spooks and a 2 sizes of pencils (very small and 2 oz), small needle, and SP and DSM Minnows, a small white mullet metal lip, white bucktail (1/2 oz), chartreuse 10" Hogy..... white tube teasers, yellow feathered teasers, white feathered teasers, chartreuse feathered teasers..no teasers......4 foot of 30 lb fluorocarbon without clips (tied direct)......I was amazed I could not catch a fish......
Had a great time out there, except for the murky water, conditions were beautiful, was all alone, just me and lots of fish that I could not catch.....
Had a streak of 5 outings in a row with at least one Striper, going into this trip I was thinking today's conditions were the most favorable out of all of the last five days I have fished. Had a good idea where all that bait would be as well as other spots where I had a good shot at a fish. Was very confident when I hit the water, more than the other times. I sent Rip-Plugger an e-mail with my plan, how confident I was....also I included in the e-mail "I'm all set up for the skunk", Yup, and a huge one it was :skunk:.

Also there was a nice sunrise

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_10_11_SR.jpg

[jigfreak]

As to sand eels don't want to be the bearer of bad news but there are none even the mud hole is void of them the big blues are feeding on squid and sardines and butter fish. This comes from my charter boat friend who is well informed by lobster men and other captains.

I disagree finchaser some of the internet know it alls are talking about sandeel sightings. They are the cool kids they must know. Why listen to a lobster guy or charter capt? After all a lobster guy is only at sea for 1-3 days at a time. Thats 24-72 hours of observation. Versus the internet sharpies half of who don't even fish. Surely they would know more than a lowly lobster capt.:rolleyes: I fished this morrning moco 5-7:30, the skunk smell was powerful where I was. no one got a fish. Not 1.
chas527 that is a great catch a sheep head. Dark should give you and award for that, and monty too. I swear every time I check in here I don't know what some of you will pull out of the water. Makes for great reading. Keep up the good work.

[DarkSkies]

Fished last night, mini Monty Marathon. :HappyWave: Someone said I was a little down on the last report, they were probably right.

So I tried to change my attitude last night.

I was kind of optimistic, but the noreast pattern really messed up the sea. Still can't understand why guys do cartwheels when there is a Noreast pattern. The water gets dirty and unless there are huge amounts of bait and fish around IMO it almost always puts a damper on the fishing, with artificials (in NJ...Montauk is a different story).

Monty has a thread here where he talks about fishing these kinds of conditions.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8628-Weather-conditions-poll

West Wind Wally feels the same way....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5418-West-Wind-Wally-thread-a-SHOWDOWN!-NE-vs-NW-fishin-PARENTAL-ADVISORY






Spent 3 hours in the ocean. The swell dropped down substantially. The water was still murky. Didn't see much bait on any of my stops, fishing 10 miles of the Coast.

6 stops later, very frustrated, only one short bass on a bucktail.
But, it really was beautiful out there....the skies were very clear, even saw a few shooting stars. The fishing was great, :fishing: ......the catching left a lot to be desired, though......

The bucktail was the only thing that produced for me, working all of the water column with other artificials. Note...when the conditions are like this I tend to favor things that will present in the bottom half....unless they are chasing bait at night, many fish in conditions like last night will be looking down for food.

Thinking the Finchaser Magic Fish Fountain may be in danger of being turned off....:laugh: I left the ocean before sunrise to do some back bay scouting and fishing. Did that for 2 hours, nothing at all and the water looked terrible from the rain and wind, There is still some bait around but as I mentioned fhe fish only seem to be concentrated where the bait concentrations are highest.

As I left to go home, I was thinking how much clearer the water in Ocean County was, and wondering about moving to a house a block away from Finchaser. There was a pack rat house....maybe for the right price I could be his neighbor.....:scared:


Naah.....he would complain too much about the smell....it would probably kill him....and then his family would blame me, hunt me down and burn me at the stake....:) :ROFLMAO



















chas527 that is a great catch a sheep head. Dark should give you and award for that, and monty too. I swear every time I check in here I don't know what some of you will pull out of the water. Makes for great reading. Keep up the good work.

Chas WTG. :clapping::clapping: :thumbsup:
As others have said, I can't remember the last time I heard of anyone catching them in NNJ....
when you described it to me on the phone, I really had a feeling it was something other than a drum.
I remember telling you when the water stays warm, they catch them regularly south of Atlantic City near some of the bridges and structure, but that's a most unusual catch for these waters.

If I had a trophy I would give ya one.... :HappyWave:
Maybe when I get some time I'll try to put a thread together documenting all the crazy fish you folks have caught....Thanks for the suggestion Jigfreak.

[DarkSkies]

As to sand eels don't want to be the bearer of bad news but there are none even the mud hole is void of them the big blues are feeding on squid and sardines and butter fish. This comes from my charter boat friend who is well informed by lobster men and other captains.


Finchaser makes a good point here folks.
They are reporting some off of Moriches, but that's way to our North.
There are tons of them in the Cape Cod area but those won't do the folks in NJ any good.
If the commercial guys don't start seeing them off our shores soon, I wouldn't put too much faith in having a repeat of last year.

Of course, things can always change, and they often do. I hope I am wrong. Read up on this if you want to be better informed.
More about that in the thread below.....


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5035-All-about-sandeels-and-needlefish/page2



And thanks to Finchaser for his many intel sources. :thumbsup:
(He's still an OGB, though....):HappyWave:

[hookedonbass]

Fished somoco in the morning. It was a great sunrise. A few other guys out. I was tossing poppers in the sunrise and then switched to metal. no luck.

[finchaser]

I disagree finchaser some of the internet know it alls are talking about sandeel sightings. They are the cool kids they must know. Why listen to a lobster guy or charter capt? After all a lobster guy is only at sea for 1-3 days at a time. Thats 24-72 hours of observation. Versus the internet sharpies half of who don't even fish. Surely they would know more than a lowly lobster capt.:rolleyes: I fished this morrning moco 5-7:30, the skunk smell was powerful where I was. no one got a fish. Not 1.
chas527 that is a great catch a sheep head. Dark should give you and award for that, and monty too. I swear every time I check in here I don't know what some of you will pull out of the water. Makes for great reading. Keep up the good work.


To each his own but they need to move in from offshore to get to the beach and where there were tons last 3 or 4 years there ar none. I'm sure the internet guys think they come from the back bays. Only fish this AM was my friends 19# that swallowed a pencil popper

[zev]

looks like the bite is on in my local river. three keepers all 30" in the second to last hr of outgoing on a Yozuri black over silver crystal minnow. as soon as i showed up I saw some activity and knew I would get into fish but this was my first hat trick. lost a fourth keeper when he got unbuttoned. fish were hitting in fifteen min intervals in right off the back side of the "pillars". caught a small guy and then called it a night. should probably try the incoming later. we had a really good, what I would call healthy incoming tide today with the wind blowing north and every year when that happens it seems to bring a wave of fish thru.
15578155791558015581

[gjb1969]

way to go on the bass i am glad the bite is on in the river now if i can hook with some bass i will be happy

[storminsteve]

Nice going zev! Sounds like awesome action! I fished nomoco last night from 8-10 got one 26" bass on a tsunami shad.No other hits or bumps.

[Monty]

Fished ocean side this morning 3:30 to 9:00. Picked up a short Bass in the wash around 5:30. Not much else happening, quiet morning. Small fraction of the bait that was there yesterday (no fish feeding on what was there and what was there was tiny, tiny bait). Looks like some sand moved from the storm earlier this week. Some rocks were uncovered in one area (2 feet easy) and the north side of one of my favorite small jettys looks like it filled in some.
Sunrise was kinda blah..... Pleasant fishing morning.
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_10_12_SR.jpg

[basshunter]

Love those reports monty you really say how you did it and why. thanx. Fished ocean county above island beach from 5-7 today, nothing, There was some kind of activity far off for about 15 minutes, but too far to see what it really was. Maybe albies.

[DarkSkies]

Fished ocean side this morning 3:30 to 9:00. Picked up a short Bass in the wash around 5:30. Not much else happening, quiet morning. Small fraction of the bait that was there yesterday (no fish feeding on what was there and what was there was tiny, tiny bait). Looks like some sand moved from the storm earlier this week. Some rocks were uncovered in one area (2 feet easy) and the north side of one of my favorite small jettys looks like it filled in some.
Sunrise was kinda blah..... Pleasant fishing morning.
http://rocksimpson.com/images/2012_10_12_SR.jpg



Glad to see ya got at least one, Monty.....

See Rip, it's time to fish, ,,,,even Monty is catching.....:laugh: :thumbsup: ...and that same window, 1/2 to an hour before or around first light.....or sunrise....but in that time frame......still sounds like ya had a blast Monty....I feel better days are just ahead......


******
For those who have the incentive to search....
This place can be a valuable resource...

I went back and checked my logs and the site's reports.....
Last year on Oct 13...I managed a 16 and 25#, both released, on rubber....

Monty was catching quite a few more fish on his trips...and Vpass and others started getting a few bigger fish here and there.....

Just to be clear, this year is different, and I really feel the need to mention that there are less bass around, particularly resident fish.....it has become a lot harder and as a result there is less participation.....

The migratory fish from Montauk are hitting our shores as I type this....there are only a few bigger fish in the mix ..and as mentioned the fishing is tough....but in the next 2 weeks you will start to hear of more quantities and sizes reported.....

And, as mentioned, ya can't catch these fish sitting on the computer or watching your TV...time on the water is the only thing that will bring them to ya,,,not the Finchaser Intel Machine.....:laugh:







When ya hear Finchaser rant about the lack of fish....please take him at his word....he can catch more fish than most groups of 4 guys put together....with the exception of the other old Farts he fishes with, he has outstanding skills that usually translate to more numbers than the average fisherman......but he has also seen the decline and fall, as many of our other members,....so please realize when you see him (and me) ranting here,,,,we care about the Striped Bass and their future.....we need to fish for them....and we won't play golf if we can't fish for them,,,.....:rolleyes: :learn:








*****
Congrats to all those who are getting out there....Zev that was a fantastic report..:HappyWave:..was a little worried about that area after you mentioned the poor action in the Spring this year.....

[skinner]

Just to be clear, this year is different, and I really feel the need to mention that there are less bass around, particularly resident fish.....it has become a lot harder and as a result there is less participation.....

The migratory fish from Montauk are hitting our shores as I type this....there are only a few bigger fish in the mix ..and as mentioned the fishing is tough....

Thanks for the honesty ds, and nice fish zev. They say you can't go home again. I don't think we will return to the good days. I think it has to crash before it gets better. Fishermen don't want to cooperate. These types of things only change when the regs change. Self-regulation does not work. I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[jigfreak]

To each his own but they need to move in from offshore to get to the beach and where there were tons last 3 or 4 years there ar none. I'm sure the internet guys think they come from the back bays. Only fish this AM was my friends 19# that swallowed a pencil popper

Finchaser I am not sure if you understood that my comment was sarcastic. I agree with you. The lobster guys and charter capts would have a better handle on what is going on than the internet professors who are still talking about these sandeels coming in.

[zev]

showed up too late tonite. wind was kickin outta the west and was moving the tide out quickly. couldnt cast where i wanted to. all of a sudden wind dies, waters flattens and fish on. i think i showed up too late as there were only a few small guys around. broke my back up pole getting in the car!!ouch! great pole too ,PS70hf st croix. good thing my birthday is on Monday...

[finchaser]

This AM 5:30 to 7 released 11 bass all on jig head and white Havoc tail

[finchaser]

Finchaser I am not sure if you understood that my comment was sarcastic. I agree with you. The lobster guys and charter capts would have a better handle on what is going on than the INTERNET professors who are still talking about these sandeels coming in.


I knew that to each his own was directed at the INTERNET pro's, the lobster guy's yesterday encountered large school of bass 4 miles off coming from the NE headed south chasing squid ,still no sand eels

[Mike O]

Early this morning got the skunk, with the exception of a small stargazer. Cold out here too.

[surfwalker]

This morning-5-9am. Out front, plugs, metal, bucks, rubber. Poppers drew two rises in close, 'ats it. Saw no bait or any action. Gulls chasing the poppers.

[DarkSkies]

showed up too late tonite. wind was kickin outta the west and was moving the tide out quickly. couldnt cast where i wanted to. all of a sudden wind dies, waters flattens and fish on. i think i showed up too late as there were only a few small guys around. broke my back up pole getting in the car!!ouch! great pole too ,PS70hf st croix. good thing my birthday is on Monday...


sorry to hear that,,,Zev...the wind got even worse at 3am.....it killed the bite where I was......At least ya got fish.....and sorry to hear about the rod....we've all ruined some good rods,,,,,at least I know I have.... (better not let finchaser see this) :o

[DarkSkies]

Everyone who fished last night, great effort....it was cold as a witches....***...and the wind kicked up....making this morning terrible for fishing....a few fish were caught, but the better window was before that N/NE Howling 25mph wind shut it down.....


Where is Monty....I want to have a word with that goog......:argue: :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Found a pocket of migrating fish in the ocean last night......
14 bass to 15#.........lots of fun......


What worked for me...
Bomber
Daiwa DSM (small version of SP)
Mag Darter
Storm thunderstick saltwater version.....



What didn't work.....
X-Rap (despite some of ya's doing well on it few days before)
Rattle traps
Surface bottle plugs
Bucktails and grub
Bigger shads
Finchaser rubber



Fish seemed to be on a migrating path just beyond the last breaker.
After awhile I realized they were 1-3' down, where I was.....
They weren't very aggressive, I had to aggressively hook them, and missed quite a few......
Many of them were small and skinny with a few larger ones in the mix.......












Still lots of fun....
When I lost them at that location, went to another one.....

Met up with an old timer I haven't seen in about 2 years,,,he has an area he fishes every morning.....so we set out to fish together before dawn.....
We got hammered by the waves.....as the N/NE ( Where is that Freaking Monty the NE wind lover! :2flip: :moon: ) as the N/NE, mostly North...... built the surf up to such a size that the waves were coming at 5 and 6 feet....

Most guys would have packed it in...but as I figured he knew his area. we fished together for a little bit till neither of us could take it....
We fished right into the wind, it was pretty insane....hoping a few bass would be in the front pocket.....
And it was pointless, crazy, but fun at the same time...especially to see a 70 year old man out there in those conditions giving it a shot.....:headbang:

He came to his senses, left, and I still stayed,,,,bucktailing,,,finally managing a skate of around 10lbs.....(Monty Googan award) :bucktooth:





Are there still guys out there who want to speak out on the benefits of a hard Noreast/North wind in the NJ SURF?
Please show me all the big fish you are catching.....I may seem a little irritated, because it killed the good action and dirtied up the water........

As they say....that's fishing.........:fishing:

[storminsteve]

This AM 5:30 to 7 released 11 bass all on jig head and white Havoc tail


Finchaser still at it! Seems you and dark were neck and neck this time only he spent all night to get the fish and you got it done in 1 1/2 hours. (just kidding dark):HappyWave: Great reports I especially like where you fished with the old timer. I cant imagine a 70 year old guy doing the fishing you do. Must have been fun. Scary too, I wouldn't be out there in those waves. Be safe.
I fished nomoco from dark till 8 tonight. skunk a roonie. Please send some migrating fish our way, long island!

[jigfreak]

.........lots of fun......

Are there still guys out there who want to speak out on the benefits of a hard Noreast/North wind in the NJ SURF?
Please show me all the big fish you are catching.....I may seem a little irritated, because it killed the good action and dirtied up the water........

As they say....that's fishing.........:fishing:


Yup, last night was fun., 23 to 17 lbs. That wind killed it. Does it every time. We should make Monty walk the plank.;)

[baitstealer]

Wow jigfreak, 17 pounds awesome! Any advice as to general location?

[jigfreak]

west of the parkway, oceanside

[Monty]

14 bass to 15#.........lots of fun......
:


Yup, last night was fun., 23 to 17 lbs. That wind killed it. Does it every time. We should make Monty walk the plank.;)
:HappyWave: :wheeeee: :ROFLMAO
Great reports guys, congrats on the catching, real nice numbers. Looks like the fall is officially here.

[finchaser]

Finchaser still at it! Seems you and dark were neck and neck this time only he spent all night to get the fish and you got it done in 1 1/2 hours. (just kidding dark):HappyWave: Great reports I especially like where you fished with the old timer. I cant imagine a 70 year old guy doing the fishing you do. Must have been fun. Scary too, I wouldn't be out there in those waves. Be safe.
I fished nomoco from dark till 8 tonight. skunk a roonie. Please send some migrating fish our way, long island!

Yeah marathon man hasn't learned to fish smart yet like the 70 year old.

[SharkHart]

Got a somewhat late start last night and when i got started I couldn't believe how much wind was over what was predicted but i started to catch some schoolies, less then
an hour later the wind was at stupid levels, unfishable, a big let down as some fish definitely moved in.

[SharkHart]

Are there still guys out there who want to speak out on the benefits of a hard Noreast/North wind in the NJ SURF?
Please show me all the big fish you are catching.....I may seem a little irritated, because it killed the good action and dirtied up the water........

As they say....that's fishing.........:fishing:



I was at Montauk Last week and the fish came back monday and if you could cast bass were pounding Pencils into Dark with zero wind, I was staying until tuesday, looking for the pattern to repeat, but a NE pattern was developing. Guys in the parking lots were cheering it on, I tried to talk sense to one guy like Why do we need a condition change, they are hitting!! Well woke up Tuesday and it was screaming NE @ 20 mph and light rain and you could'nt reel 5 feet without getting huge globs of grass with no joy on fish. Guys were still saying maybe it will get them going by the afternoon :don't know why: I left to come home to stare at the wall instead.

[Monty]

I was at Montauk Last week and the fish came back monday and if you could cast bass were pounding Pencils into Dark with zero wind, I was staying until tuesday, looking for the pattern to repeat, but a NE pattern was developing. Guys in the parking lots were cheering it on, I tried to talk sense to one guy like Why do we need a condition change, they are hitting!!
Its amazing, how people just do not get it :kooky:
But the different weather patterns are all part of the "fishing" puzzle :fishing:
Natures way of slapping us around :).
I fished this morning 1:15 - 8:30. Ocean side, one of my favorite areas, first time there this fall.
Not a tap, did not see any bait like I had in other areas this past week. Waves were like a foot, but for a foot it was pretty rough out there. Water was actually a bit murky too.
Worked a lot of water, threw rubber, wood, plastic and metal. Was great being out there.

[DarkSkies]

Yeah marathon man hasn't learned to fish smart yet like the 70 year old.

Nor have I learned to fish as smart as the Old Grouchy Basstid......Woe is me...will I ever learn? :don't know why: :beatin: :laugh: :kiss:








Fishing Skunk report......
Did a Monty Marathon last night......1-8AM.

There was no level of feeding activity where I was....
There was almost zero catching activity.....
Fished hard all night..several different areas..I can't even claim I dropped one.....by the end of the night I was questioning my ability to catch a fish...

Ended up at first light at a popular nomoco spot. Me and 40 other guys on a 1/2 mile of beach.....
A handful of fish were caught.....not by me......water was extremely dirty......small pods of bait were passing by but no real numbers of fish on them......

I haven't been out fishing in daylight so long my eyes actually hurt when the sun came up.......:scared:












There's a statistical term called "regression to the mean"..... which basically means that extraodinary results, if they are extraordinary, cannot be guaranteed to continue beyond the norm...and I felt that big time last night......giving me further pause that I hope our Fall surfcasting season isn't a compilation of these results.....as they say, Hey, that's fishin.......

Ran into a site member out there....always a pleasure......:HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

looking for the pattern to repeat, but a NE pattern was developing.

Guys in the parking lots were cheering it on,

I tried to talk sense to one guy like Why do we need a condition change, they are hitting!!

Well woke up Tuesday and it was screaming NE @ 20 mph and light rain and you could'nt reel 5 feet without getting huge globs of grass with no joy on fish. Guys were still saying maybe it will get them going by the afternoon :don't know why:

Lately I feel like parts of my mind are falling out..:laugh:.but one of the things I try to remember is that when the fish are feeding you don't want a pattern change.....So many guys rally behind a Noreaster, not thinking if they're throwing artificials, that severely hampers their presentation.
Montauk can turn on in a Noreaster, but that often refers to when there is a period of inactivity or scattered fish

The Northeast will tend to bring the scattered fish and bait together closer to the surf. But to hope for a pattern change, when the fishing is good?
I just can't understand that.....no sense at all....and today was the best example....a few of us were getting some fish, and today the bay and ocean waters were terribly dirty....

Again, the presence of large amount of bait will sometimes trump a weather pattern.....but IMO, and based on yours and the results of many guys here.....the NW or W wind and weather pattern is most stable for getting large numbers of fish in NJ......:learn:


West Wind Wally talks about Noreasters and Sharkhart :HappyWave:


http://vimeo.com/8006123#

[DarkSkies]

Its amazing, how people just do not get it :kooky:
But the different weather patterns are all part of the "fishing" puzzle :fishing:
Natures way of slapping us around :).
I fished this morning 1:15 - 8:30. Ocean side, one of my favorite areas, first time there this fall.
Not a tap, did not see any bait like I had in other areas this past week. Waves were like a foot, but for a foot it was pretty rough out there. Water was actually a bit murky too.


Monty,,,,I was doing some thinking about this today,...I know Finchaser can't understand it...but for some reason you and I must enjoy getting slapped around by Mother Nature.....:kooky:
And just so we're clear, I'm blaming the crappy fishing in the last 24 hours on you.....I think you must have a voodoo altar somewhere where you pray for stuff like this to happen.....:laugh: :HappyWave:



Monty...West Wind Wally had a message for ya.....:moon:


http://vimeo.com/16750980#

[DarkSkies]

THIS is fishing as it should be, courtesy of SharkHart.......:thumbsup: :HappyWave:

This is what a stable NW pattern (and abundant sand eels) brings ya.....:cool:



http://vimeo.com/8142245#

[seamonkey]

"Wheres the fish in the northeaster I don't see em!" Dark the voices in your head should have a place in the mental health hall of oddities. Thanks so much for the west wind wally series. Please find time to do another one. I spit coffee on the screen when watching that one, thanks for the insanity.:clapping: Sharkhart that video is just awesome I think you really capture what its all about. I hope some sandeels finally find their home in NJ this fall.
My report, fished an inlet in south ocean county last night, windy, nasty, No luck.

[storminsteve]

:bigeyes: ROFL! Love those videos guys keep em coming!

[plugcrazy]

Love those videos to, it really makes the site more colorful and they are good to watch in the winter. Fished the barney bay last nite, the wind was pretty stiff so I had to find a place to get out of it. Picked up a few small bass on soft rubber. Biggest was 23".

[storminsteve]

Fished nomoco from 8-10pm, some nice bass around. Picked up 3 to 28"on bucktail and white grub.

[vpass]

Fished yesterday from 5:30 to 10pm. seen some nice bass caught. I got 2 short bass and 1 fluke all caught on white bucktail with a 7 inch sluggo. I also had a sluggo bitten in half by a blue. The biggest bass I seen caught was between 33 to 36 inches.

[chas527]

fished the hook this morning with clams 1 small bass 1 sea robin.didn"t see any bird working or bait swam by.

[basshunter]

Fished oc last nite in the back, 2 runts on rubber.

[DarkSkies]

2 nights of skunk...epic...:laugh: :skunk:




Lately if you fish artificials in Ocean or Monmouth counties, there are places where you can find fish,,,,but IMO you can count those on the fingers of your hand...
Solitude is a big part of my trips out there, and the thing that drives me out there again even when I can't find fish. As the fishing pressure increases and more guys are out I've always been able to find a few fish in other areas.....until the last 2 trips......

I have some routes for calm water, rough water, heavy 25mph wind and rain storms, and everything in between.....all the places I fish, have for years produced a few fish, away from the herds.....not so much lately.....:bucktooth:






Tue night, fished 5 hours, bay and ocean, not a tap.
The swells were manageable, but sometime during the middle of the night they went from 3-5 feet. Presentation became difficult and I knew it was a losing battle. Nothing at all for me.

Ended up going against my solitude policy and fishing pre-dawn at a popular beach. Wind was steady 20-25mph N/NW....There were only 3 of us out there fishing hard for the fish we imagined would be there. At that time they were not. Skunk not only for me, but my 2 unknown fishing partners....

Ended the trip by finding a dead body on the way back.....
..more on that here.......
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8636-Headless-Torso-at-Sandy-Hook






Wed night....again fished 5 hours, bay and ocean, no action at all, can't even claim I missed a fish...all levels of the water column.


May take the kayak out and start exploring some of the fall season places I have down in my fishing log.....

Congrats to all who are catching something....and some of ya's..on the red X....are managing double digits...:HappyWave:..enjoy the crowds, not for me....but congrats anyway.....:thumbsup:

[storminsteve]

Hey dark putting in your time, you will get some soon. :HappyWave: Fished nomoco tonight the ocean was a little big so had to move to a better spot.. 4 bass to 25" on bucktails.

[wish4fish]

yeah dark u cd always fish wit us back of the bay. u dont even stop by anymore dude. we got 6 bass tonite but 5 were little rats, 1 was 32 inches, clams

[buckethead]

nomoco last night. There were quite a few out there. We all got bass because we cooperated. There was a strong sweep with the outgoing and you had to cast to your left. Picked up 3 to 35" on bucktail and pork.

[hookset]

Hookset,
you won the plug in the September 2012 random drawing!:clapping: :thumbsup:
PM me your address so I can send it out to ya!



Thanks dark much appreciated. Attempted to fish the ocean today, just finished up, 6-7 tide just starting to come in.moco. It was pretty nasty. Threw bucktails and tins. :skunk:

[vpass]

Last night from 7pm to 12am I picked up 8 Bass. First bass was caught on a sluggo and was 29 inches. The others were on storm shad perl color. from 22 to 27 inches. had a lot of bumps and had a few come unbuttoned. It was a great night out. looking foward to bigger bass and more bass spread out.

[c4charlie]

Picked up a couple short bass last night and got a few taps that I did not hookup. So far, I have been out 6-10 times this fall and it has started a lot slower than previous years and the fish have been difficult to find for me. Lots of nights nights fishing 5 hours for one or no fish covering lots of sand.

[buckethead]

4 sub legal bass tonight, nomoco . Buck and pork.

[DarkSkies]

Took a short trip last night. I had planned on taking the kayak out to find some bigger fish. It proved too foggy and dangerous for that so I had to bail on that idea.

The hit and miss fishing I've been having lately is tough, but I'm still not ready to join the picket line...would rather hunt for them on my own.....

Fished 5 back bay spots....nothing in any of them.




Some observations:
The bait that was stacked in some of those spots is no longer there.
Bait is still around but it's like a game of musical chairs to find it now.
I believe the bay temps are still a bit warm for this time of year, resulting in an irregular bite in the ocean.
Whatever bait I found was scattered and not concentrated.

There are still a lot of spot/lafayette in the back bay.....
The bass may be feeding on them, some rainfish, and spearing.

[surfwalker]

This morning, 5-10. Out front, bucktails/metal-niente. Big surf, pounding waves, strong current (plenty of white water for Monty). Saw nothing. Maybe I woulda had better luck looking for "headless torso's".

[Monty]

This morning, 5-10. Out front, bucktails/metal-niente. Big surf, pounding waves, strong current (plenty of white water for Monty). Saw nothing. Maybe I woulda had better luck looking for "headless torso's".
Oh, I'll be out in the AM in it :HappyWave:

Rumor going around that as an added bonus when you purchase a ticket for the Finchaser Seminar you get a free pass to Dark's "How to locate headless torso's seminar". With specific, cutting edge information on securing and setting up the perimeter. :HappyWave: Hi Dark.....suspense....:)

[DarkSkies]

Maybe I woulda had better luck looking for "headless torso's".

Et tu, surfwalker?......:cool: :laugh: :clapping: :HappyWave:



Rumor going around that as an added bonus when you purchase a ticket for the Finchaser Seminar you get a free pass to Dark's "How to locate headless torso's seminar". With specific, cutting edge information on securing and setting up the perimeter. :HappyWave: Hi Dark.....suspense....:)

You engineering types are all the same, with your slide rules and parameters of perimeters.....:scared:
I know if it was you that found that Monty....the torso would have been carefully protected like at Fort Knox....

1. You would have found some way to move it without disturbing evidence (engineering types are good at that)
2. You would have used some kind of math involving vectors, current, wind velocity, and load factors to figure the perfect path to bring that carcass undisturbed to the highest point of land beyond the mean high tide there......
3. Calculating mean, standard deviation, and median points of tide before you set out on your task....:moon: (and correcting for any outliers).

4. Your perimeter would have been clearly defined, using the straightest pieces of driftwood and bulkhead pieces you could find, marked on the top by clamshells for contrast, and having 4 distinct plover signs (instead of my one) that you would use to mark the outward edges of the "crime scene".

5. Further, by the time the rangers got there, you might have set up a CSI like crime lab scene there, :rolleyes: using cell phone technology and the latest apps to compare and contrast bone structure of humans and at least 10 different animals of that size.....
(BTW anyone watch that TV show Bones, great drama...) :cool:

6. Then, if it did turn out to be a dead body, you would have photographed that torso at every conceivable angle, and had each shot clearly lableled, for presentation and inclusion into the police case files..... ;)

[DarkSkies]

Is White Water Monty his only skill set?...nope....he can turn into Inspector Gadget on a Moment's notice.....:clapping: :thumbsup:

How do I know this?
Because I've seen your plug bag...if you had that plug bag and were marooned on a tropical island, you could last for 5 years before rescuing with the assortment of plugs in there......:ROFLMAO







Me?
I'm just a simple, stinkin, Googan......:bucktooth:

Who had to get to work that day...and am glad I corralled the Old Timer into watching the carcass until the Rangers got there....
We've since become good friends....it's amazing what the old timers see, that the young folks are too busy to look at.....:thumbsup:






Thanks for the laughs, guys.....hope you liked my Monty characterization...it's highly exaggerated, all in fun....:HappyWave:
Ya ever run into Monty out there...you could learn some things....about perimeters.....:laugh: :kiss: :thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Rumor going around that as an added bonus when you purchase a ticket for the Finchaser Seminar....... :HappyWave:


Tickets for the Fall Finchaser Seminar are going fast.....I have designated Rip316 as the official Greeter and Googan Table Coordinator....:laugh:
Monty and Surwalker will be setting up a table, with a perimeter, :HappyWave: to guard the cash receipts (last minute walk-ins are welcome) :thumbsup:









Some highlights of things on the menu...this will be unlike any Finchaser seminar in the past, as this time he will give tips on how to catch bass, that are not overfished or over-harvested. :rolleyes:





Some past highlights:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?6421-Finchaser-seminar-series

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5550-Long-Branch-back-in-time

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


sandeels...I want to be clear that a lot of reliable intel comes from Finchaser and the Old Farts he hangs out with...if a fish is caught anywhere in NJ and it's decent sized, they know about it within hours.....
And they also have been the most accurate, of any source, on the internet or not, in describing what is happening with the sandeels out there.....

No rumor, innuendo, hypothesis, .....they are the definitive source for what is going on with sandeels as they have many connections in just about any area of fishing you could think of....just wanted to point that out for those who think they might use Finchaser's words, and predictions, as their own........:HappyWave:


http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5035-All-about-sandeels-and-needlefish/page2&highlight=sandeels (http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5035-All-about-sandeels-and-needlefish/page2&highlight=sandeels)













We are truly lucky to have some of the folks with that caliber of knowledge, and experience, posting here......:clapping: :thumbsup:

I hope folks realize that many of the ideas for my posts about the state of fishing today, VS the state of fishing in the moratorium, have come from such old timers as Finchaser, Surfwalker, the Old Farts Fishing Club, JonthePain, Surfstix....and many other old timers who graciously share their knowledge here :thumbsup:..... (or met on my travels,) to try to help some of the new comers understand the big picture...........I for one am truly greatful for that, and hope the new guys can learn from these Old Salts....and Grouchy Basstards....:fishing:


(http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5035-All-about-sandeels-and-needlefish/page2&highlight=sandeels)

[Monty]

Is White Water Monty his only skill set?...nope....he can turn into Inspector Gadget on a Moment's notice.....:clapping: :thumbsup:

How do I know this?
Because I've seen your plug bag...if you had that plug bag and were marooned on a tropical island, you could last for 5 years before rescuing with the assortment of plugs in there......:ROFLMAO
Me?
I'm just a simple, stinkin, Googan......:bucktooth:

:ROFLMAO
Dark, don't try to out Googan me, I have some big Googan moves left in that surf bag. :HappyWave:

Congrats to the guys getting out there, reports seem lately to have been very mixed.

[Mike O]

Fished 2am to around 8am, skunko for me. Saw a few guys get a couple of shorts. Looked like they were using rubber slugo's could not quite see. Not much bait action where I was. I was talking to a guy and he said there were some monster blues right where we were earlier in the week. Yeah, that is because I was not there! Get em next time.

[vpass]

I was out between 8pm to 2 am. The pattern that developed 2 weeks ago took a break last night. I end up walking a few mile and ended up with 2 shorts. I'm pay the price for all that effort today. I almost didn't make it back to the car. I Was exhausted. I forgot to mention, I didn't see no bait.

[Monty]

Fished this morning 1:30 to 8:30 Bayside. King size Skunk for me. Water a bit stained, saw very little bait around, fished big area, nothing doing. Liked the conditions, I just stunk the place up. Great being out there, wish it would have rained, cool night and breezy.:) No sunrise (was facing the wrong direction).

[jonthepain]

Maybe I woulda had better luck looking for "headless torso's".


Post of the week

[SharkHart]

Boat fished today and it was exactly what i expected, Blues. Decent amount of birds but just scattered fast moving pods of blues Saw no boats take any bass. Got a few rats after dark from dry land. Its a few days away from the big POP

[chas527]

fished the hook this morning.bunker all over; with big blue fish after them.did manage 4 but lost 3 hooks. all on bunker that i caugth.

[DarkSkies]

Nice efforts to all those who are getting out there.....

I fished last night, another Monty Marathon..... :kooky: :HappyWave:

Both sides of the tide, 20 miles of beachfront.
I was telling one of the members on the phone that I wasn't quitting till I found some bass.....and that it would probably take me at least 10 stops to do it...


I did find some bass...

and a bitter dose of reality not just coming from me, but from a few old timers I met on some of my stops, who were fishing some places along the migration highway to try to avoid the crowds at some of the most obvious and publicized areas......

I usually am not too friendly at night, but was a little less cautious as these fellow surfcasters I ran into had decades of experience....

We talked about the hype about the sandeels that do not exist right now in NJ, the denial that this is the 3rd week of Oct and the fall surf fishing has been extremely spotty, and that the places for access are dwindling, and that no one really seems to care...because of the allegedly large body of bass that will hit NJ within the next few days....and we will all forget these things, as soon as a few bass are caught.......:kooky:
















I managed one short bass each at stops 4 and 6. making 9 total stops for the night.....
Both on mag darter, and both "lucky fish".

In each of those areas...... working the whole water column I was not able to get any other action at all.

Quit before sunrise to start work on time.
The ocean, swells, surf, stars, shooting stars, and the fishing was perfect. You couldn't have asked for better conditions. :drool:


Highlight....there was an awesome shooting stars show for most of the night.....:clapping: :thumbsup:





A small sprinking of nicer fish have been caught from the surf in the last week, 1 out of every 500 so far. :kooky:

A few of us were out there looking for those fish, and failed. The highest numbers with the guys I touched base with last night were 4 schoolies, going to insane lengths and fishing all night to get those fish.....

Decades of experience, looking, poking, prodding, cuts, banks, edges, rips, current, outsucks, pockets, corners, etc...and the best we could come up with was some starving schoolies.

[DarkSkies]

Yet, people are chattering on the internet about when the 40's and 50's will be here....not understanding that these fish come by in pods at a time....and if there is a storm, bad weather, unfishable conditions, etc,,,,those fish are long gone by the time we are out targeting them the next day...moving very fast this year on the Southern migration......
With the exception of Moriches and the Fire Island areas....and as of this weekend that bite is starting to dry up there as well.....



I wish I could be more optimistic, I hate posting a report with all this negativity.....:don't know why:
But this is what I am seeing out there......and I have to be honest about what I see and hear from others as they share their frustration.....

I don't know how a new guy wanting to learn bass fishing with artificials for the first time could not get discouraged by all this....
Last night I fished places I hadn't been to in weeks, and caught fish....while my sure-fire places that always produce were devoid of life....


Finchaser was out in the boat yesterday searching all day for bass.....burning insane amounts of fuel, only to mangage a few bluefish.
Fin is like a bulldog....if there any bass in the area he can smell them, that's why he's so in demand by his friends who have boats....
And yesterday, collectively, a lot of capts could not find fish......

I say this because there is a lot of anticipation of the bass that will be "coming down the pike".
We know about those bass. We are out fishing for them.

Some of the old timers I know, fish 2 and 3 times a day/night for them.

If they were there in numbers, or consistency, they would find them....and I am hearing the same mantra over and over again from them...."We are not finding them with any consistency."


OK, rant over....
I know folks don't like to read negative things like this....but it is part of the reality we currently face...and I'm not willing to minimize or sugar coat the fact that the best of the best are out there looking for bass right now.

The majority of these dedicated fishermen, are not finding any fish of size, other than the needle in the haystack fish that put me out there last night.......

Will try to be more positive in my next report, but I feel my first obligation is to be honest....no matter how distasteful it is to read my words here....and these words, are echoed, by some of the most dedicated surf fishermen I know, right now......

Food for thought, folks....thanks for readiing....:HappyWave:
















*******
Just an FYI - Chas has been fishing a long time, and has the right idea......:thumbsup: :HappyWave:
When fish are scattered you have a better shot at them in a boat, or if land based, by fishing bait,,,,as several others I know are now catching bass with clams and bunker.......

[DarkSkies]

Boat fished today and it was exactly what i expected, Blues. Decent amount of birds but just scattered fast moving pods of blues Saw no boats take any bass. Got a few rats after dark from dry land. Its a few days away from the big POP

I know you keep detailed logs and put in more time than most salt maniacs.....:HappyWave:
I'm really hoping you're right on this one......

The biggest body of bass that was holding in the Moriches to Fire Island area has moved West as of yesterday.....
A lot of them have been jumping through the Mud Hole, and offshore.....casual fishermen may not be seeing these fish......

Last year I was catching mid teen and a 25# bass on Oct 13 and the 10 days directly after that....
And for years my catches have followed a pattern of bigger bass by the 2nd to 3rd week of October...

Some of the reported catches in the last week were by guys fishing for bass in the EEz,,,which is another whole can of worms....http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon13.png
















I just hope the guys who are land based, or fishing inshore from boats get a good shot at them.....:thumbsup:

[SharkHart]

WHAT?!?! Santa isn't coming this year!?!?! Have faith ,its merely 10/22 The Red X is exactly where they should be and should be on the calendar, Last year 10/23/11 I had bluefish in the exact same spot as yesterday with only one Bass.

They are coming.

[storminsteve]

Dark I have a new name for you and finchaser, the gloom and doom team.:laugh: :HappyWave: Just kidding. Thanks for the honesty, it is dead on accurate for my fishing this year. We will have one or two nights of great fishing, and then it dies out big time. Even nomoco has petered out. It seems like we are all waiting on the fish. My question if we have to do so much waiting and the boats cant even find them every day it makes me scratch my head about them being a big mass of fish.:huh: All I see is a few groups here and there and then they vanish.

[SharkHart]

Facebook fishing groups are a buzz with the prospect of hurricane fishing and all the BIG bass they are gonna get if it hits:kooky:

[finchaser]

Facebook fishing groups are a buzz with the prospect of hurricane fishing and all the BIG bass they are gonna get if it hits:kooky:

assh_les

[vpass]

Fished last night from 11pm to 4:30am. I took both my flyrod and plugging stick. I caught a 25 inch bass on the flyrod around 12am on a MV baitfish Fly that I tied earlier, before my trip last night. It's been a year since I used the flyrod, and Years since I use it at night. You learn so much about casting timing and using feel of the rod loading before your next false cast and shooting cast. I was casting better at night then the day. I had many good hit that I screwed up on setting the hook. one hit stripped line from my wet finger, I'm really pissed about that hit. I switched to the plugging stick and caught a bass about 20 inches on a shad. There were other fisherman fishing near me and I only saw 2 fish caught. I seen some rainfish shower in front of me that the only evidence of bait that was around. It was a great night out and can't wait to use the flyrod again.

[buckethead]

Fished last night from 11pm to 4:30am. I took both my flyrod and plugging stick. I caught a 25 inch bass on the flyrod around 12am on a MV baitfish Fly that I tied earlier, before my trip last night. It's been a year since I used the flyrod, and Years since I use it at night. You learn so much about casting timing and using feel of the rod loading before your next false cast and shooting cast. I was casting better at night then the day. I had many good hit that I screwed up on setting the hook. one hit stripped line from my wet finger, I'm really pissed about that hit. I switched to the plugging stick and caught a bass about 20 inches on a shad. There were other fisherman fishing near me and I only saw 2 fish caught. I seen some rainfish shower in front of me that the only evidence of bait that was around. It was a great night out and can't wait to use the flyrod again.

Great fly fishing report vpass. You can't win them all. At least you got a few. Ds the fishing is definitely different this year. You get shots at fish a few hours at a time. I miss the nights of fishing at the Hook when you could catch fish all night.
I was in nomoco this morning casting before sunrise. Nothing happened till around low tide, after it started moving in again. Then all hell broke loose. Bigger bass pushed adult bunker close to the beach and there were some nice ones. Managed 2 to 22# on little neck popper.Both released.

[storminsteve]

Thanks for the reports, will try to get out this week before the storm. buckethead, congrats.

[finchaser]

tonight 5 to7 pm released 2 micro bass both on rubber water down to 58

[hookset]

I was in nomoco this morning casting before sunrise. Nothing happened till around low tide, after it started moving in again. Then all hell broke loose. Bigger bass pushed adult bunker close to the beach and there were some nice ones. Managed 2 to 22# on little neck popper.Both released.


Nice job on catching up to them buckethead. No moco in the afternoon. It seems that everywhere I went I just missed them. Finally one bass about 33" on Daiwa around 6pm, released. During the morning I had heard Dennis and Judy on 101.5 talking about them. So Judy a woman who doesn't even fish was the spotburner of the day. lol.

[buckethead]

Thanks steve. Picked up only one this afternoon, SS bottle plug. 18# released. Lot o terrified bunker around.

[vpass]

fished yesterday afternoon around the bunker schools. ended up with one bass just shy of being a keeper on storm shad. lost a few after a decent fight. the bite stopped when it got dark. The guys that were snagging and dropping were hooking up instantly. The bass wanted nothing else but live PB.


Fished this morning around the bunker schools. This morning was nothing but blues, mostly 4 pounders. I did hook a high teen blue that finally bite through my leader in the wash. The big blue gave an awesome fight.

Went out from 4pm to 7pm. used shads and xrap. Hooked 1 bass just shy of being a keeper. seen 1 other fish caught. didn't see any PB were I was.

[finchaser]

tonight fished the river 18 bass and 2 bluefish all released all on jig head and rip tide mullet tail in chartreuse

[DarkSkies]

24 hour Monty Marathon......:laugh: :HappyWave:

Round 1....
Started out last night in the dark....some friends got fish on swimmers...By the time I got out the tide was coming back in, and the duration had changed from 12 secs to 4 secs....not that safe, kind of dangerous...I got a little wet and called it a night.

Slept in the vehicle nomad style......
Up at dawn to fish with light E winds....perfect water that hasn't been dirtied by the pending storm....This white water was so beautiful that Monty might have an apopleptic jumping fit if he were allowed to see it in the daylight..:drool:....Decided to take the day off from work as I figured Thursday would be the last decent fishable day before the swells get bigger and the weather starts to turn.....

It was going to be one of those "no sun" days. I had high optimism..fished a few places,,,no activity at all.

Around 10 am ran into a good fishing buddy, haven't seen since the Spring....

We were among a group of a few other guys standing around talking about when the fish might turn on....along with Charlie K...up from IBSP....(always a pleasure, great storytelling)...:HappyWave:...and half of NJ's fishing clubs seemingly converged on Monmouth county.....

My fishing buddy said "I'm not standing around, let's fish!" :headbang:

We set out to a beach where no one was fishing, just watching....
Within 15 minutes we saw some action develop as my friend choreographed the action, accurately depicting each stage of the blitz that was about to happen minutes before it actually did (more on this in another thread)..

We fished hard, pencils, and each managed a few large bluefish, 15# class.

Some of the online reports touting these fish as 15# and bigger had me skeptical. :kooky:
After today, I no longer am...these are the biggest, thickest, bluefish I have seen in the ocean this season....:bigeyes:.many of them monster gorilla blues, direct from offshore haunts, coming in to fatten themselves like footballs on the abundant peanuts...

Blitzing action lasted for 1 hour as the tide dropped to slack, then shut off.

After the tide turned, action started again for a bit, about 45 minutes. This level of activity has been going on intermittently for the last 3 days, making a lot of folks happy....and this level of solid activity will likely end with the pending storm on late Fri or Sat.....

Moved to another location, found fish again...but this was short lived.....





















Round 2.....
Took a food break....after that did some scouting.....I found no activity, at a few places....
Finally managed to find some peanuts that were being pinned in to the surf zone....

At the start of this there were about 10 guys. By the time it ended we numbered about 30 spread over 1/4 mile of beachfront...not that bad as everyone was pretty respectful to each other, very few crossed lines, and guys courteously moving when someone got into a bigger fish.....

The mix was about 75% bluefish and 25% bass.....

At times the action was unreal....fish at our feet within 20' casting range, or right in the wash, or at most a half cast out.....the carnage was intense,,,it was a bad day to be a peanut bunker.......

I really wanted to take pics and video but didn't want to lose that time. The way the bite has been it's like a game of musical chairs....you don't know when it will stop.....so fishing intensely was the goal of every guy there....and we all worked together.........ran into a few sitemembers as well.....:HappyWave:


What worked......
Pencil poppers...
ML Swimmers...
Snag and Drop (as others have said guys snagging and dropping outfished others about 3:1)
Bucktails ( I started bucktailing after a younger guy in the group nailed 3 fish in 5 casts bucktailing )....I think he was probably high hook with around 40 fish landed and the biggest bass in that area for the day....around 22#. :thumbsup:



The fish bit through slack tide, and into the dark (about 1/2 hour into darkness).
lots of fun and screaming drags....
Managed 15 bluefish to 15#, and one low teen bass.. (bass released)

I tried to keep it going by making some moves to different areas for a few hours in the darkness...but couldn't raise a fish....and finally had enough as I felt like I got run over by a truck....

I have enough stories and characters met in these 24 hours to last all Winter......
Congrats to all who caught fish....and the sportsmanship and courtesy I saw out there today.....:clapping: :thumbsup:

[Monty]

I have enough stories and characters met in these 24 hours to last all Winter......
Congrats to all who caught fish....and the sportsmanship and courtesy I saw out there today.....:clapping: :thumbsup:

Awesome report Dark, congrats on the great action. Gator Country :HappyWave:

[rip316]

Yesterday afternoon, Moco, fished from 4pm til 6pm. Cauht the biggest bass of my life. 38" beaitiful bass. Red and white popper. Thought it was a big blue at first as I have never had a bass that big on in my life. When I saw the fin I freaked out. Took my time and landed her perfectly. I was shaking I was so nervous. Multiple bass and monster blues. Went home ehausted but very happy. Fin, the rod is perfect. Tnx. Sorry I didn't find Darkskies out there. Next time Rich. Tnx.

[SharkHart]

Your probably better off not finding him lol Nice fish

[clamchucker]

Sorry I have not posted for awhile. I have been fishing Island Beach state park. When the mullet were here we caught bluefish every day. Since they left it as been dead. That all changed yesterday. We had 2 hours of great bluefish blitzes. They are eating adult bunker, peanut bunker, and rainfish. Pencil poppers or bucktails or diamond jigs. Yesterday I had 12 over 10 lbs. Today they were even bigger. I had 20 over 15 lbs. They are a lot of fun but too much for an old man like me. I may be back there after the storm if there are any fish left. Go out there and get them if you can. The fights are igreat.

Darkskies, vpass and finchaser I have enjoyed your reports. Darkskies I can tell by your writing you take a lot of enjoyment in catching fish and sharing with others. It is nice to see you help all the folks you do. If you ever come down to Island beach look me up. We talk more than fish because the fishing has been so poor lately. Bluefish are tremendous fun to catch when they are big. Many of my fishing friends will not fish for them. Their loss. Finchaser I feel we are both getting older. We may not have too many years left on this earth. I remember you had some health problems and it seems you have overcome them. I am glad to see another Sr Citizen out there and out catching the young bucks. Many young folks have given up on fishing and that is too bad. Rip316 I dont know if you are young or old but congratulations on your personal best fish. Remember that catching is only part of the whole experience. I could tell you about the many times I have taken my granddaughter out and she has been delighted to be out there fishing with her grandfather. That is part of the true joy out there, showing others what fun it is. Vpass I really enjoy your reports as well especially the ones where you fly fish. Fly fishiing is a challenge in itself, but when the bait is small like the rainfish is is a way to match the hatch. and so rewarding if I might add.

[storminsteve]

24 hour Monty Marathon......:laugh: :HappyWave:

Round 1....
Started out last night in the dark....some friends got fish on swimmers...By the time I got out the tide was coming back in, and the duration had changed from 12 secs to 4 secs....not that safe, kind of dangerous...I got a little wet and called it a night.

Slept in the vehicle nomad style......
Up at dawn to fish with light E winds....perfect water that hasn't been dirtied by the pending storm....This white water was so beautiful that Monty might have an apopleptic jumping fit if he were allowed to see it in the daylight..:drool:....Decided to take the day off from work as I figured Thursday would be the last decent fishable day before the swells get bigger and the weather starts to turn.....

It was going to be one of those "no sun" days. I had high optimism..fished a few places,,,no activity at all.

Around 10 am ran into a good fishing buddy, haven't seen since the Spring....

We were among a group of a few other guys standing around talking about when the fish might turn on....along with Charlie K...up from IBSP....(always a pleasure, great storytelling)...:HappyWave:...and half of NJ's fishing clubs seemingly converged on Monmouth county.....

My fishing buddy said "I'm not standing around, let's fish!" :headbang:

We set out to a beach where no one was fishing, just watching....
Within 15 minutes we saw some action develop as my friend choreographed the action, accurately depicting each stage of the blitz that was about to happen minutes before it actually did (more on this in another thread)..

We fished hard, pencils, and each managed a few large bluefish, 15# class.

Some of the online reports touting these fish as 15# and bigger had me skeptical. :kooky:
After today, I no longer am...these are the biggest, thickest, bluefish I have seen in the ocean this season....:bigeyes:.many of them monster gorilla blues, direct from offshore haunts, coming in to fatten themselves like footballs on the abundant peanuts...

Blitzing action lasted for 1 hour as the tide dropped to slack, then shut off.

After the tide turned, action started again for a bit, about 45 minutes. This level of activity has been going on intermittently for the last 3 days, making a lot of folks happy....and this level of solid activity will likely end with the pending storm on late Fri or Sat.....

Moved to another location, found fish again...but this was short lived.....





















Round 2.....
Took a food break....after that did some scouting.....I found no activity, at a few places....
Finally managed to find some peanuts that were being pinned in to the surf zone....

At the start of this there were about 10 guys. By the time it ended we numbered about 30 spread over 1/4 mile of beachfront...not that bad as everyone was pretty respectful to each other, very few crossed lines, and guys courteously moving when someone got into a bigger fish.....

The mix was about 75% bluefish and 25% bass.....

At times the action was unreal....fish at our feet within 20' casting range, or right in the wash, or at most a half cast out.....the carnage was intense,,,it was a bad day to be a peanut bunker.......

I really wanted to take pics and video but didn't want to lose that time. The way the bite has been it's like a game of musical chairs....you don't know when it will stop.....so fishing intensely was the goal of every guy there....and we all worked together.........ran into a few sitemembers as well.....:HappyWave:


What worked......
Pencil poppers...
ML Swimmers...
Snag and Drop (as others have said guys snagging and dropping outfished others about 3:1)
Bucktails ( I started bucktailing after a younger guy in the group nailed 3 fish in 5 casts bucktailing )....I think he was probably high hook with around 40 fish landed and the biggest bass in that area for the day....around 22#. :thumbsup:



The fish bit through slack tide, and into the dark (about 1/2 hour into darkness).
lots of fun and screaming drags....
Managed 15 bluefish to 15#, and one low teen bass.. (bass released)

I tried to keep it going by making some moves to different areas for a few hours in the darkness...but couldn't raise a fish....and finally had enough as I felt like I got run over by a truck....

I have enough stories and characters met in these 24 hours to last all Winter......
Congrats to all who caught fish....and the sportsmanship and courtesy I saw out there today.....:clapping: :thumbsup:




Dark you described how it went down yesterday better than I ever could. Felt like I was right there fishing beside you as I read that. ;)
I had 2 nice bass to 20lbs, released. Metal lips and poppers. And those bluefish were insane! One after the other and like you said it seemed like they kept getting bigger. I think I had at least 15, lost count when I had to rety twice after they swallowed 2 swimmers and kept running. That was a great group, fish were walked off the beach but a lot were released. That dude bucktailing was slamming bass almost every cast. Great pleasure to fish with total sportsmen who get it. You da man, thanks for all.:HappyWave:That was ground zero yesterday for sure.
Rip316 congrats on your pb bass, any pics to share? Was looking forward to finally meeting you. Dark lost some fishing time waiting for you to show up in the lot he said you ended up fishing close to where we were.

[cowherder]

Man I am so jealous I had to work this week. You guys suck! Just kidding congrats on the fish and rip316 congrats on your pb fish! I think you all got the best of it. Surely the fishing won't be this good when the storm is done?

[plugcrazy]

Awesome catching!

[surferman]

Great going fellas.

[vpass]

Fished yesterday morning first light to 12 noon. Walked on the beach looking for bunker, water was like glass. as I just noticed the PB there was eruption of large amount of white water.:thumbsup: I cast just pass the eruption and hooked up instantly. after a long run:drool: i landed my largest bass this year 23 pounds on the boga.:wow: I ended up catching another 3 bass from 13 to 18 pounds. the 18 was weighted on the boga others were approximated. A boat came in super fast and ran over the school of bass. The bass were put down and was not able to locate them again F'ing Boats.:burn:

[rip316]

Dark you described how it went down yesterday better than I ever could. Felt like I was right there fishing beside you as I read that. ;)
I had 2 nice bass to 20lbs, released. Metal lips and poppers. And those bluefish were insane! One after the other and like you said it seemed like they kept getting bigger. I think I had at least 15, lost count when I had to rety twice after they swallowed 2 swimmers and kept running. That was a great group, fish were walked off the beach but a lot were released. That dude bucktailing was slamming bass almost every cast. Great pleasure to fish with total sportsmen who get it. You da man, thanks for all.:HappyWave:That was ground ze







ro yesterday for sure.
Rip316 congrats on your pb bass, any pics to share? Was looking forward to finally meeting you. Dark lost some fishing time waiting for you to show up in the lot he said you ended up fishing close to where we were.

Steve, i wonder if we were actually fishing the same stretch of beach. You mentioned Dark being a little south of you and i know exactly where Dark was which was a little south of me as well. The action you described and bass walking off the beach was actually what i saw. Just wondering.

[jigfreak]

Picked a few bass today to 21#. Poppers. Some gigunda bluefish as well. Lost some stuff, tough conditions. Fish hungry anyway,

[jigfreak]

Fished yesterday morning first light to 12 noon. Walked on the beach looking for bunker, water was like glass. as I just noticed the PB there was eruption of large amount of white water.:thumbsup: I cast just pass the eruption and hooked up instantly. after a long run:drool: i landed my largest bass this year 23 pounds on the boga.:wow: I ended up catching another 3 bass from 13 to 18 pounds. the 18 was weighted on the boga others were approximated. A boat came in super fast and ran over the school of bass. The bass were put down and was not able to locate them again F'ing Boats.:burn:


Great report vpass, congrats. Some nice bass around now. I hate when the boats put them down. Idiots.

[DarkSkies]

Congrats to all those getting out there.....

There are some very nice fish around right now...the opportunity is there even if you swing and miss. If you work hard enough it could be the fish of a lifetime....

With that in mind I set out last night to target some.

I usually fish alone, but last night some of had a plan to target some bigger ones. We changed the plans several times as different things developed.
One of the group drives 2 hours to get to where we fish, every time, and I was more concerned about him and his friend getting fish as they don't get to fish as often as we do.....:thumbsup:

With that, they started at point B...I started at Point A...not too far from them, each of us trying to target fish that would be following bunker.

They struck gold....
I stubbornly refused to find them, instead believing I would find numbers where I was....

I did manage one (barely) legal bass, ML swimmer, released. A lot of work for that one fish,...no other action at all for me...

Met up with another friend later on, 2 hours after the action had died. We felt we could find some fish anyway, and fished hard all night.
Nothing for either of us despite some promising signs. :don't know why:

The fish are always a bonus...but one of the things I groove on when I'm out there are the conditions.....the things that make you drool as a surf fisherman when you are out there....fishable clean water, good winds and tides, decent swell, not too big, not too flat......













Last night was one of the most perfect nights for surfcasting yet....the calm before the storm....
I'm sick right now with a bad cold.... and was suppoosed to be taking it easy...but as is my pattern, pushed it till I dropped and had to crash for 2 hours.....

The opportunity is here, now, and has been for the last 5 days.....
These perfect conditions will be smashed into smithereens after this storm......

[surfwalker]

Fast trip this morning, 5-8am. One short on a blk/purple hackle teaser at sun up, 'ats it. Saw no bait, no activity at all. Gulls were on the beach watching me beat the doo-doo outta the water with various so-called producers ( I'm not sure, but I think they were laughing at me). Did see hoardes of fisherman in my usually deserted area. Time enjoyed, nonetheless.

[DarkSkies]

Fished yesterday morning first light to 12 noon. Walked on the beach looking for bunker, water was like glass. as I just noticed the PB there was eruption of large amount of white water.:thumbsup: I cast just pass the eruption and hooked up instantly. after a long run:drool: i landed my largest bass this year 23 pounds on the boga.:wow: I ended up catching another 3 bass from 13 to 18 pounds. the 18 was weighted on the boga others were approximated. A boat came in super fast and ran over the school of bass. The bass were put down and was not able to locate them again F'ing Boats.:burn:


Still a great report, Vpass. I know your time out there is limited as well....last year you had multiple fish in the high teens and I believe a little bigger for many of your trips in Oct....the way you described stalking yesterday's fish was great to hear.....glad ya got some....:thumbsup:





Gulls were on the beach watching me beat the doo-doo outta the water with various so-called producers ( I'm not sure, but I think they were laughing at me). .

Um....I believe you may have run into the laughing gulls....I asked King Neptune to send them to your beach to help you understand what a perimeter is......:laugh: :HappyWave: Great report nonetheless...I know you don't have many chances out there surfwalker....if you did your catches might give Finchaser's a run for the $$....:fishing:









congrats to everyone who is getting out there...it isn't always easy as it sounds.....:fishing:

[finchaser]

:clapping::clapping::clapping: Let's here it for marathon man, who won't believe like every fall the fish are feeding in daylight and yes there are a few caught at night but not many especially when they are on any size bunker. For the past 5 days it's shut down around 8pm and starts up around 5am. Now he's gone and made himself sick and with the hurricane will be suicidal so no more googan stories. Monty will be the only happy one having a 5 day orgasmic experience with all the white water. For me I will seek out the back until it floods. Bait has been pouring back into the inlets, rivers and bays the last 2 tides.

[vpass]

Bait has been pouring back into the inlets, rivers and bays the last 2 tides.

Yes, I noticed the last 2 days that the PB were heading north, back into the river. Hope they don't get flushed away with the storm, but it doesn't look good. We are going to depend on the bait further up north to start thing up again.

[Monty]

One short on a blk/purple hackle teaser at sun up, 'ats it. Gulls were on the beach watching me beat the doo-doo outta the water with various so-called producers ( I'm not sure, but I think they were laughing at me). Did see hoardes of fisherman in my usually deserted area. Time enjoyed, nonetheless.
:HappyWave: More than likely you were the opening act, wait till the gulls get a look at me in the AM, I'll do my best to keep them entertained.


Congrats to all those getting out there.....
I did manage one (barely) legal bass, ML swimmer, released. A lot of work for that one fish,...no other action at all for me...
Last night was one of the most perfect nights for surfcasting yet....the calm before the storm....
I'm sick right now with a bad cold.... and was suppoosed to be taking it easy...but as is my pattern, pushed it till I dropped and had to crash for 2 hours.....

:HappyWave: Dark I hope you feel better soon, this storm should give you some time off, won't be missing anything.
Ditto to the congrats to the guys getting out there, been some great action per the reports:thumbsup:.


Monty will be the only happy one having a 5 day orgasmic experience with all the white water.
:HappyWave:It will be a white water extravaganza.....and then some.
Maybe dust off some jettys, move around some of last years beach replenishment sand?
:bigeyes:
Was looking at one of those surfer sites that forecast wave heights.
Yesterday if I remember correctly they were calling for 10-12 footers Tuesday. They are now forecasting a high of 24 feet. That seems ridicules:kooky:.

[cowherder]

^ Monty surely you aren't going surf fishing in that weather. You are worse than dark!:kooky: great catches guys kudos!

[Monty]

^ Monty surely you aren't going surf fishing in that weather. You are worse than dark!:kooky: great catches guys kudos!
No way would I be even close to the ocean in the weather we are going to get, (not sure how bad it will be tonight, planning on checking it out). Worse than Dark? :ROFLMAO :HappyWave: . I may throw a plug in a tree, fall in a 4 foot hole on the beach, bury a hook in my pinky (yanking the plug from the tree), hook myself in my back with a plug (and not be able to reach it....a few times), and maybe a couple/few other googan things.....but worse than Dark?

[bababooey]

. I may throw a plug in a tree, fall in a 4 foot hole on the beach, bury a hook in my pinky (yanking the plug from the tree), hook myself in my back with a plug (and not be able to reach it....a few times),

I am very curious how you would be able to hook yourself in the back with a plug more than once. No offence, maybe your jacket has a tab on it and you thought it was a hook holder? You know, the kinds of tabs they have on the back of ski jackets to hang them up when done skiing.:HappyWave:
You realy aren't going fishing in this weather are you? The winds are predicted to reach 30mph tomorrow. How could you even begin to fish in something like that. Far better to relax in front of the fire with a glass of Jim Beam.

[madcaster]

Fished a few stops in the Hook today:skunk: it was good to get out . News trucks all over the place
Sea bright had sand piled up at acess points
Waves wern't that bad :HappyWave:

[finchaser]

fished tonight 5 to7 released 4 bass to 27" getting ugly

[cowherder]

Congrats finchaser thanks for the heads up! bababooey why don't you lay off monty. I think he is a GREAT fisherman. He is funny too and has some of the best pics on here. No one is perfect. Could you fish for 10 hours at a time without getting tired or making a goof? I for one enjoy the stories he posts up.:clapping:

[Monty]

Congrats finchaser thanks for the heads up! bababooey why don't you lay off monty. I think he is a GREAT fisherman. He is funny too and has some of the best pics on here. No one is perfect. Could you fish for 10 hours at a time without getting tired or making a goof? I for one enjoy the stories he posts up.:clapping:
:HappyWave:
It's all in good fun, thank you for the compliments, I enjoy bababooy's humor. I never take anything serious, if I can get a few laughs at my expense its good. Hook in the back happened in cranking wind, one of the times a guy walked by and started talking to me, made sure I faced him the whole time, didn't want him to see the hook in back, would have felt silly.

Fished this morning bayside, 2:00-4:15, was told area closes at 5:00 am so had to cut trip short.. Found some nice white water and lots of wind, lost a nice fish on speedy's chartreuse BD after it took some drag, had it in close, water was turbulent, lost it....urghhh. Then on a gold Danny caught around a 32 inch blue (miracle I landed it). Was a safe and fun trip. Took a ride and looked at the ocean, its very dangerous, wind is cranking. Have a feeling this is going to be a terrible storm at the Jersey coast.

Pics of the ocean here: http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8645-Hurricane-Sandy-Thread-Getting-ugly-stay-home&p=62987#post62987

[DarkSkies]

^^ I had a feeling ya were gonna be out there....:laugh:
You got the last of that open window,,,,maybe....;)....Nice work, and glad ya made it home safe and sound.....:HappyWave:

[SharkHart]

I just posted this below on facebook......The think that stinks about the next 5 days being a wash is that I cut my time down from being an hour late to the blitz down to 15 mins late, I would have those bastards eventually. I fished like a million hours between friday evening til dark sat and got 1.5 fish.

Time to keep it real- Where's todays reports?? I dont mean just here, all of internet guys couldn't wait for storm to hit and to be on the jetty with it blowing @30 with waves crashing over the head, BIG weather BIG Fish out front,.......log and learn :)

[hookset]

Time to keep it real- Where's todays reports?? I dont mean just here, all of internet guys couldn't wait for storm to hit and to be on the jetty with it blowing @30 with waves crashing over the head, BIG weather BIG Fish out front,.......log and learn :)

Dont feel bad sharkheart I have been running and gunning myself. You find one nice pod of fish, you miss out on 10. It is like finding a needle in a haystack unless you are in a club with a cell phone chain. As for the crazies fishing the noreaster have you seen the facebook pundits talking about how good the fishing will be after? Where are they today? I checked some cams. For some reason didn't see any fishermen .:don't know why:

[bababooey]

Monty hope you were not offended by what I said. I was joshing you.:HappyWave: Be safe out there gents.

[jigfreak]

You might have just caught the last fish of the fall run monty. Good job.

[madcaster]

Fished route 36:skunk: Water was dirty
Snagged a stop sign ....:naughty:
saw some bait by a gasation but nothing on them :huh:
Jigged a alley way .. some fast moving water .. nothing
thought I saw a swirl ...might have been a drain
:HappyWave:

[storminsteve]

Madcaster did you try using bucktails? Fish might be on the bottom lol.:laugh:

[buckethead]

Fished route 36:skunk: Water was dirty
Snagged a stop sign ....:naughty:
saw some bait by a gasation but nothing on them :huh:
Jigged a alley way .. some fast moving water .. nothing
thought I saw a swirl ...might have been a drain
:HappyWave:

:clapping: Good try madcaster. I hear clams is the way to go in a noreaster. Next time try trolling a clambrella rig down Rt 36. You will catch.

[SharkHart]

Hope everyone is doing OK, lots must be out of power as its been quiet.

[vpass]

Hope everyone is doing OK, lots must be out of power as its been quiet.

Glad to see your OK. Hope you maded thru this with out any issues. Just got my power back alittle earlier today.


I hope all of you are safe, and ok. can't wait to all of us being back to normal.

[Monty]

Dark and Finchaser are without power otherwise doing OK.

[rip316]

Same here. The fuel is the issue. Staying at my brothers in Westfield for now. Tired of puttin gas in the generator.

[speedy]

Dark and Finchaser are without power otherwise doing OK.dark /rip are ok talked to them today dark said fins ok and yes i am still here lol:plastered:
hople all are doing ok and are safe

[SharkHart]

Hope its not too soon to talk fishing, But i figured minimally I d be putting my truck through $10 worth of tolls I packed no food or drinks like i usually do, and bought locally, and even topped off the gas locally , I headed to Ocean city which was less affected then some areas, was on the bay side which is totally fine without any restrictions and life seems to be going normally there with many people out and about, the areas seem to be powered up.

The surprise I didn't expect was an incredible bite, I didn't know what to expect from the storm but the fleet was in big time. Mostly small but fat fish to 26" but a few to 30", many the former "slot" size, Mad stupid total numbers I won't even say. The crazy part was many many wouldn't hit, would pop on bait and not hit the lures. Fishing gets your mind of the troubles, and i don't know for certain what this will mean for other areas, but the fall run was on where i was.

Soon as everyone gets back to normal, life might include some stripes ;)

[vpass]

Hope its not too soon to talk fishing, But i figured minimally I d be putting my truck through $10 worth of tolls I packed no food or drinks like i usually do, and bought locally, and even topped off the gas locally , I headed to Ocean city which was less affected then some areas, was on the bay side which is totally fine without any restrictions and life seems to be going normally there with many people out and about, the areas seem to be powered up.

That's great Shark. There is nothing wrong with it. As long as we help out those in need and we are not selfish. The sooner that everyone gets back to normal the better, that how the economy gets started again, and that is our way to relieve the stresses we are all going thru. I'm worried about the beach access from sandy hook to LBI. I'm even looking to Long island far rockaway area also. If the fall doesn't happen I will head north and do some cod fishing this winter.

[Monty]

That's great Shark. There is nothing wrong with it. As long as we help out those in need and we are not selfish. The sooner that everyone gets back to normal the better, that how the economy gets started again, and that is our way to relieve the stresses we are all going thru. I'm worried about the beach access from sandy hook to LBI. .

What Vpass said, great to see you got into some great action Sharkhart.
I agree Vpass, just might not be anywhere to fish.
If that's what it is so be it, what ever is best to help the people who were effected by Sandy.

[SharkHart]

If things don't improve up north as this fall progresses, i'm open to meeting guys down south.

[gjb1969]

i am so glad just got power back lost all my food in the house and lost the last of the bluefish i had just glad u guys are ok i will try and get out and fish the river i hope the fish are there just have to give it a try:thumbsup:

[dogfish]

hope you and your families stay safe

[bluesdude71]

That has to be tough living through that. Hang in there all

[chas527]

finely got power yesterday.now its snowing like crazy what next.hope everyone is ok.

[gjb1969]

i have had it bad weather or not water looks bad things a little slow i am going to wet a line this weekend so fish or no fish i am going to be out i dont care how bad it looks:soapbox:

[storminsteve]

Hope its not too soon to talk fishing, But i figured minimally I d be putting my truck through $10 worth of tolls I packed no food or drinks like i usually do, and bought locally, and even topped off the gas locally , I headed to Ocean city which was less affected then some areas, was on the bay side which is totally fine without any restrictions and life seems to be going normally there with many people out and about, the areas seem to be powered up.

The surprise I didn't expect was an incredible bite, I didn't know what to expect from the storm but the fleet was in big time. Mostly small but fat fish to 26" but a few to 30", many the former "slot" size, Mad stupid total numbers I won't even say. The crazy part was many many wouldn't hit, would pop on bait and not hit the lures. Fishing gets your mind of the troubles, and i don't know for certain what this will mean for other areas, but the fall run was on where i was.

Soon as everyone gets back to normal, life might include some stripes ;)


Awesome report shark. I want to try to get out fishing just to wet a line. Dont care if I catch or not. Glad everyone is checking in and ok. I have been texting back and forth with dark he still doesn't have power yet, seemed a little down in the dumps today. Hang in there brother! Can't be long now.

[SharkHart]

Well my bite survived a hurricane but not a Noreaster, got out last two nights only to find a few rats and searched some other near by areas to find nothing but dead water all around. The large numbers of bass I saw a week ago were flushed from the Bay.