NJ Fishing Reports for July 2013.....wwwStripersAndAnglers.com

[DarkSkies]

June 27/28 PM/AM trip:

Weather conditions forced me to re-plan my night. The wind and swell were bad, so I found an inlet where I could get a little lee and the wind wasn't so daunting.


17303

17304

17301

17302
Total:
6 bass to 10#,,,,3 small blues - 5 hour trip
All bass were fat and had been feeding well.
2 of the bass were legal, kept one to see what they were eating., released the rest.....


Mostly on plugs..one on bucktail.....and then when I was getting ready to leave, one nicer fish dropped, on rubber.

[DarkSkies]

June 29 PM /
June 30 AM trip....
I couldn't get out the next night,,,wondering what I missed, was driving me nuts...

Made it out one night after that.....
Fished all night...Monty Marathon hours..2 missed fish...swimmers....

Finally at sunrise there was limited bluefish activity....
They were hitting very tentatively and seemed to be focused on small bait...
Threw a teaser on and started casting one of madcaster's needlefish with a black teaser tail.


17305

The one bluefish I caught hit that black teaser tail on the madcaster needlefish....:HappyWave:

To give ya's an idea how crazy fishing seems at times, trying to figure it out....the 2 previous trips out there, I threw madcaster's needle with the black tail, not a touch.......even the bluefish had become picky as of this trip....:kooky:

[DarkSkies]

NJ fishing reports for July 2013. ..www.StripersandAnglers.com (http://www.stripersandanglers.com/)





NJ fishing reports for July 2013...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. 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.

1. 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 there today?

2. 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)

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. :fishing:












Some acronyms -

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

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

AC - Atlantic County
CISP - Corson's Inlet State Park
CMC - Cape May County
GEI - Great Egg Inlet
TI - Townsend's Inlet

RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
DB - Delaware Bay

[DarkSkies]

Porgy75,
you won the plug in the June 2013 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)

[seamonkey]

Cape may -Went down to the ocean to take a look and wet a line for an hour. The water is dirty. No fun.:skunk:

[buckethead]

Give it a few days hopefully better things ahead.

[J Barbosa]

On Saturday my brother and I took a buddy out for his first kayak voyage ever. We headed into the bay to look for all the big bluefish that have been around and sure enough since I invited a friend along not even one bluefish showed up for our party. A lot of happy bunker around thanks to those prominent winds we have been having. We also tried for fluke but came up empty handed.

On Sunday the three of us headed to a different location where we picked at short fluke until a school of nice sized weakfish decided to show up and save our day. Most were cookie cuter fish in the 16-18" range with one bigger fish in the mix.


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2880/9193403338_362fedb75b_b.jpg

[buckethead]

4-8pm yesterday 6 fluke nomoco. 2 keepers to 23". Gulp double header. jbarbosa nice going on the weakfish they are beautiful fish.

[J Barbosa]

Nice Buckethead.



Hit up some carp after work yesterday. Got two nice ones and two small ones in about two hours. Only spooked about two dozen or so :)

I go from catching the nicest looking fish in the state to the ugliest :)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/9197860093_c628235628_b.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/9197859945_603e32c605_b.jpg

[storminsteve]

JB you should save some bucks and go all over the world like the Jeremy guy whatshis name? Dude you are all over hunting for fish nice carp!:thumbsup:
I fished nomoco from 6-9 tonight lots of fog a little rain, 3 fluke on gulp one barely made keeper at 17 1/2. Lots of baitfish jumping out of the water before dark but did not see much fish to show for that. Prob getting bothered by small snappers.

[Monty]

JB you should save some bucks and go all over the world like the Jeremy guy whatshis name? Dude you are all over hunting for fish nice carp!:thumbsup:
I fished nomoco from 6-9 tonight lots of fog a little rain, 3 fluke on gulp one barely made keeper at 17 1/2. Lots of baitfish jumping out of the water before dark but did not see much fish to show for that. Prob getting bothered by small snappers.
Nice catching of the Fluke SS, I saw a good amount of tiny bait last Sunday.
JB should change his name to Mr. Fish, he's been banging fish all year, great reports!

[robmedina]

Fished LBI last night from 11pm to 5am. To my surprise I got a Striped bass on bunker chunks. He was a short at 26". ALso one doggie and that was it for the night.

[Pebbles]

That is great Rob. You must of caught one of the few to be had. Nice going!!

[storminsteve]

Nice going rob. Any fish is better than no fish! wtg.

[J Barbosa]

Headed out really early yesterday morning with the whole family for some bottom fishing and crabbing.

We had non-stop action on croakers with a few spot mixed in as well.

The croakers actually fight very hard for their size, they feel like 5lb bluefish :)
We kept about 3 dozen of the medium to large sized ones as they are delicious fried. :drool:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5522/9214211031_fb670bbaf9_b.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/9217001404_530e951cd1_b.jpg

Beautiful and delicious!!!

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2826/9214224449_72b54c67c1_b.jpg

At spot #1 we were only able to get 4 large crabs so once we were done croaking (new term, lol!) we went to the crab honey hole. Get there and were all alone left to crab in peace on the 4th of July!!! We had great action and only kept the really big ones.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5520/9216989290_fb6cc2a2ec_b.jpg

[robmedina]

Nice JB! the croakers head looks just like their cousin the redfish! Did you catch them in the surf or outback?

[vpass]

Nice JB, looks like lots of fun. You used Bait for the croakers? I want to try for some. what do they tast Like?

[storminsteve]

Coming this summer - the best of nj fishing show.
JBarbosa, going where no man has ever gone before. Suffering through urban jungles, the beautiful coastline - catching bass, blues, crabs, carp, weakies, croaker and more. No creek is too shallow, no ocean is too deep as we follow jb on his treck to find all the nooks and crannies in nj holding fish!:thumbsup:
awesome reports fellas,what were you using for bait jb?
ps not bad on the crabs either are you finding bigger crabs as summer gets hotter?

[J Barbosa]

Nice JB! the croakers head looks just like their cousin the redfish! Did you catch them in the surf or outback?

In the bay


Nice JB, looks like lots of fun. You used Bait for the croakers? I want to try for some. what do they tast Like?

Sandworms, bloodworms, and tapeworms.

They taste great fried IMO.

Shoot me a text I'm available Sunday AM, well go croaking!


Coming this summer - the best of nj fishing show.
JBarbosa, going where no man has ever gone before. Suffering through urban jungles, the beautiful coastline - catching bass, blues, crabs, carp, weakies, croaker and more. No creek is too shallow, no ocean is too deep as we follow jb on his treck to find all the nooks and crannies in nj holding fish!:thumbsup:
awesome reports fellas,what were you using for bait jb?
ps not bad on the crabs either are you finding bigger crabs as summer gets hotter?

Crab sizes will get bigger as the year goes by, each time they shed their current shell and grow a new one its 30-33% bigger. I'm not so sure that's the reason my catches are getting bigger though.

As the water warms the crabs get more active and keep moving further into the shallows. By August the crabs will be hanging around and moving in 1-2ft of water and stalking them by sight a super effective way to catch them.

I'm catching more crabs now and we can cull the smaller ones. Five crabs per person is enough for us considering the size.

if I kept every legal crab we caught we would have had well over 100-150 crabs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did the fluke thing this afternoon and caught a bunch of shorts. My brother had a 18" fluke and Butterfingers McDad accidentally released it because you have to wash the sand off a slimy fish before you put it in the cooler.

[robmedina]

JB are you fishing the bay by boat or by land? I am so into the surf that perhaps I am neglecting a great fishery. Maybe it's time to get my but in gear and dust off the kayak and hot the bay!

[J Barbosa]

JB are you fishing the bay by boat or by land? I am so into the surf that perhaps I am neglecting a great fishery. Maybe it's time to get my but in gear and dust off the kayak and hot the bay!

The croakers and crabs are land based. It's too hot for a kayak, it may just melt in the sun.

[robmedina]

The croakers and crabs are land based. Really? Even better!

[J Barbosa]

Really? Even better!

Yes, really. Why would I lie to you? :naughty: I prefer to catch fish from land whenever possible.

I tried for fluke this morning at three different spots.

Spot # 1 just a bunch or short fluke and blackheads biting.

Spot # 2 more short fluke and some big sundials with only a few blackheads.
spot #3 the croakers would not leave my gulp alone :burn:
I would cast and before it hits the bottom the croakers are pulling your baits down the shank and ruining the presentation. They ruined more gulp than I care to admit too. A few keeper fluke were caught at spot #3 but not by me. :don't know why:

PS...it's too dam hot

[Monty]

Fished ocean side Sunday AM (1:00-8:30).
Beautiful night, could only manage one Fluke around 4:00 AM on an SP Minnow.
Missed a few hits (fluke), after sun came up.

[robmedina]

Yes, really. Why would I lie to you? :naughty: I prefer to catch fish from land whenever possible.

I tried for fluke this morning at three different spots.

Spot # 1 just a bunch or short fluke and blackheads biting.

Spot # 2 more short fluke and some big sundials with only a few blackheads.
spot #3 the croakers would not leave my gulp alone :burn:
I would cast and before it hits the bottom the croakers are pulling your baits down the shank and ruining the presentation. They ruined more gulp than I care to admit too. A few keeper fluke were caught at spot #3 but not by me. :don't know why:

PS...it's too dam hot

Cool- Cause I am not digging my kayak. I took it out on the lake up here and as I was paddling my paddle broke. Kayak's have their place but I just aint feeling them anymore. I guess that's why I like surf fishing so much. I do like fishing from a boat though- Boating is just to darn pricy!

[Monty]

I guess that's why I like surf fishing so much. I do like fishing from a boat though- Boating is just to darn pricy!

Plus the fish caught on boats don't count :soapbox:

[DarkSkies]

July 1 AM trip

Fished 5 hours, flood tide.
Most of the fish came in the first 2 1/2 hours.


17307


17306

Total:
Managed 3 bass to #14, released.
All on rubber.
No hits or misses other than that.
That lasted for about 45 minutes. All downhill for the rest of the trip.

[DarkSkies]

July 4 AM trip

Fished 4 hours, flood tide.
First 2 hours not a touch.

Fishing was so bad was getting ready to leave there.
An old timer met me on the beach. I was crabby at the effort and lack of results.

He said "Come on Rich, theres fish to catch, lets go!"
His enthusiasm was infectious.

I got up, rallied again,
within 5 minutes he had a short bass.

I started throwing again.

10 minutes later, at 4am, an army of dolphins came by, most dolphins I have seen at one time in years, over 2 dozen, could have been 3 dozen, 2 at a time, at times only 75 feet away from us. It was spectacular! :wheeeee:


Based on that, and hoping they were there because of bunker, I started throwing plugs, nailing and missing a few bass on a medium swimmer, only thing they would touch.
Fish were hitting in close, nothing out far.
I landed one, missed quite a few others, dropped 2 fish, one was a drag puller.....

Total:
one short bass, and the sight of the year for me...all those dolphins, coming by like a military procession. :cool:

[DarkSkies]

July 6 AM trip

** It was S/SW pattern, with colder ocean water in the high 60's and brown algae bay water up to 85 degrees.


Didn't make it out the night before. I got up late for this trip as well, knew at most I would have one hour to fish by the time I got down there.

Decided to make the trip anyway.
Fishing was fun, catching was very dismal.
There were bunker showing but not many bass on them. Only saw 2 bass blowups among hundreds of bunker.
Fish weren't interested in anything I threw. Even a snagged bunker could not make it happen. It became apparent there were very few fish following these bunker. Gave it my best anyway.

Water had gotten substantially warmer.
Finally saved from the skunk by one sea robin on metal.


















July 7 AM trip

Decided to change it up a bit and seek out some cooler water. Stayed away from the inlets and tried to find water that had held some bait before. Pebbles and I had been out at the beach earlier on and seen some promising things.

2 hours of casting in the dark produced nothing.
Finally managed to raise a fish, either a short bass or bluefish, around 5:30 am on a popper. That was my only activity for the trip.
Other than that......:skunk:

Guys fishing bait in the area were only catching small dogfish.

[J Barbosa]

Cool- Cause I am not digging my kayak. I took it out on the lake up here and as I was paddling my paddle broke. Kayak's have their place but I just aint feeling them anymore. I guess that's why I like surf fishing so much. I do like fishing from a boat though- Boating is just to darn pricy!

Having the right tool for the job makes everything easier and more enjoyable; a kayak is just another tool.

I believe if you tried a Hobie with a peddle system you would be hooked.

As much as I like surfcasting the kayak opens up a lot of doors that were either not available by foot or have been closed down over the years for different reasons.


Plus the fish caught on boats don't count :soapbox:

Kayak fish count double...it seems like I have to work twice as hard to catch them :p

[hookset]

Nice going fellas. Fished oc from 4:30-6am this morning. Skunk city,

[ledhead36]

Kayak fish count double...it seems like I have to work twice as hard to catch them :p

Suuuure - tell us how hard it is to stay on a school bass when they are blitxing at first light on bunker and you are the only one on the school.:rolleyes:
Don't mind my comments Im jealous. Would love to get into it one day. You are right with the things that have been closed down or happened in fishing a kayak opens up more access.
Fished this weekend between the heat stroke.
Is anyone praying for torrential rain and rough surf to break up this heat pattern a little?

Managed a bunch of croakers. Some dudes were useing small bits of clams. I was useing gulp bloodworms and sandworms. Getting 6-8 pieces of bait per worm. The croakers seemed to hit best last 2 hours of the incoming. Might have been due to where I was fishing though. Some nice feisty fish. Good when you fry them up. They are out there dudes catch em up.

[storminsteve]

I was out fishing for croakers last night before I read this ledhead. Was using clams and they were pretty active around high tide. Next time I'll try the gulp. Thanks for the info.

[storminsteve]

Cool- Cause I am not digging my kayak. I took it out on the lake up here and as I was paddling my paddle broke. Kayak's have their place but I just aint feeling them anymore. I guess that's why I like surf fishing so much. I do like fishing from a boat though- Boating is just to darn pricy!


It's also the number of times you can get out there. rob. It probably costs 1/10 of what it costs to run a boat to get out in the surf to fish. Even factoring in tolls, gas, coffee, etc. So you get 10 trips for the price a boat guy pays for one trip. 10 times as more chances to find fish. Even if you get blanked 9 times and catch fish the one, you also had 10 times as many jaunts out there where you could get some cheap therapy and get away from it all for awhile.

[seamonkey]

Cape May last night from 7-9pm incoming tide. A few spots and kingfish. 1st to 3rd waves, fishbites.

[seamonkey]

It's also the number of times you can get out there. rob. It probably costs 1/10 of what it costs to run a boat to get out in the surf to fish. Even factoring in tolls, gas, coffee, etc. So you get 10 trips for the price a boat guy pays for one trip. 10 times as more chances to find fish. Even if you get blanked 9 times and catch fish the one, you also had 10 times as many jaunts out there where you could get some cheap therapy and get away from it all for awhile.

Amen! And when you are finished no boat to clean off. Rinse off your gear with a hose and you are done.

[storminsteve]

Downsized everything and fished for whatever would bite tonight. Got some croakers and small fluke, biggest was 17". Gulp, nomoco 6-8. I wish this south wind would stop. We need some west wind. Where is west wind wally?

[J Barbosa]

Went carp fishing yesterday and we caught 6 or 7 mostly smaller carp with one bigger one. Also pitched my bait to two largemouth and both times they spit it out before I could hook them. Also caught a catfish that I pitched a bait to. So cool to see a catfish swimming in like 5" of water.

[jigfreak]

Somoco 6-10pm 3 short bass on small rubber. Steve the S wind sucks but it can be manageable if you find a lee. John nice going on the carp they really are an underrated fish. I fish for them in the winter when I am going nuts from not being able to fish for bass. They will hit in the coldest weather after one or 2 sunny days. The next time you know lmb are around in the summer try pitching a black or purple worm on the bottom and crawling it painfully slow on the bottom if there are no rocks there. That and killies have been good to me in hot weather like this. They will hit rubber when they won't touch anything else but it you have to crawl it real slow.
How big was the biggest carp?

[J Barbosa]

Somoco 6-10pm 3 short bass on small rubber. Steve the S wind sucks but it can be manageable if you find a lee. John nice going on the carp they really are an underrated fish. I fish for them in the winter when I am going nuts from not being able to fish for bass. They will hit in the coldest weather after one or 2 sunny days. The next time you know lmb are around in the summer try pitching a black or purple worm on the bottom and crawling it painfully slow on the bottom if there are no rocks there. That and killies have been good to me in hot weather like this. They will hit rubber when they won't touch anything else but it you have to crawl it real slow.
How big was the biggest carp?


Not sure jig freak as I never weighed one but it was bigger than the two big ones posted last week. About 15lbs? I will bring the boga next time and weight one in the net.

[DarkSkies]

July 11 AM trip....
This was a tough trip, short but intense casting session in the pre-dawn hours.
Hadn't been out on the water in a few days....I was full of energy and hope.....

3 1/2 hours later not a tap to show for it.
Worked all levels of the water column.
Whatever feeding window there might have been, I missed it completely. :skunk:
Hey, that's fishin. :fishing:

[surferman]

Nice catches fellas. I fished cape may from 7-8:30pm. Fishbites on a porgy rig double hooks. Skies were ugly looking and overcast. Managed 2 kingfish and 4 croakers.

[cowherder]

Been away in Ohio for awhile to visit the wife's family.

Really enjoyed all your reports guys it helped to keep me sane reading them and knowing I could come back and walk in the salt water soon. Fished in moco this morning and it was dark and cloudy. The surf wasn't that bad but the wind was building from the North. I fished from 5:30-7:30am and got some fluke. 2 up to 17" on gulp. Good to be back!:HappyWave:

[storminsteve]

Nice going cowherder you got out before the storm good job.:thumbsup:
I see you didn't mention finding any dead things. You also forgot to mention my name in the dead things thread. Just because you found one measly sturgeon, now you think you are hot stuff!! Well I am the DEAD THINGS KING. None of you guys can come close you are all amateurs compared to my superior skills. After this storm I will be scouring the beaches in every county for a prize. And I will win that title you can mark my words or I will eat them.:laugh:

[bababooey]

Nice going gents. For those of us who fish boats, I have it on good authority that the bigger fluke are leaving the back bays and concentrating around the rocks and deep water near inlets and the deeper channels of the bay. fwiw that would be good places to be in July and August. Good luck.

[J Barbosa]

Nice going cowherder you got out before the storm good job.:thumbsup:
I see you didn't mention finding any dead things. You also forgot to mention my name in the dead things thread. Just because you found one measly sturgeon, now you think you are hot stuff!! Well I am the DEAD THINGS KING. None of you guys can come close you are all amateurs compared to my superior skills. After this storm I will be scouring the beaches in every county for a prize. And I will win that title you can mark my words or I will eat them.:laugh:

see page 12 and 13 for the clear winner :)

[buckethead]

Heard the same thing bababooey. The back bays are full of fluke which are composed of many postage stamp ones till you get near the channels, It does seem they are starting to move out a little earlier this year. The big push often doesn't happen till August but we have had a block of hot weather lately.
Cowherder nice job on the fluke. I'm hoping the weakfish will load up in their usual late season areas and we can have some more time fishing for them. Big surprise on the weakfish this year.

[fishinmission78]

There are still fluke in the wash along the beach but many shorts to wade through. Fished island beach today from 6-9 incoming tide. Managed 4 shorts on gulp.

[J Barbosa]

Took the kayaks out yesterday and both my brother and a friend had brand new shiny 2013 Hobies.

Got to the water early in the morning and the fog was so thick you could barely see the 30' yacht moving 20 yards away. We took our time to unload the kayaks and rig everything and waited for the fog to start thinning.

Once the wind shifted the fog thinned and we launched staying a few feet from the shore line. About 15 minutes later the fog was completely gone and we moved into the channels and drifted for fluke. Right away the croakers show up along with some fluke. Barley into our first drift I saw a few birds working far out so we decided to go check it out.

Get there and its bluefish practically everywhere feeding on the surface in only 6-8 feet of water. We had double and triple hookups for over 3-4 hours all mixed sizes but most were smaller in the 5-10lb size and some pushed 10lbs.

I still have no clue as to what they were feeding on. I didn't see any bait and none of them spit anything up. My best guess is that they are feeding on all the croakers that are around.

I have some great footage of my brother trying to keep a pencil popper away from the bluefish but unfortunately the video clearly gives away where we were fishing so I won't be posting it.

With our arms tired we decided to leave the blues and try for some fluke...buddy managed a 22" fluke and then we called it quits.

So much for all the bluefish being offshore :kooky:

First cast out there I did manage to open up another 5H Rasco split ring...this is starting to get old really quick.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5341/9283590367_792cda90cb_b.jpg

[cowherder]

Great report john nice to hear about the action in the channels and see the blues are back in town!
I fished nomoco from 5-9am this morning on the incoming. The surfers and people coming in messed things up a bit so I bailed early. Had double gulp pink and white with small sinker. Managed 5 to 17" hoping for a keeper next time as some of them were fat!

[jigfreak]

Nice reports fellas. John I noticed this is the 2nd time the blues trashed your SPs with the rosco split ring. Maybe try some other split rings. I have used the roscos and never had a problem with them even with big blues. It may be different in a kayak because you may have less leverage and control over the fish as compared to land. Otherwise I don't know why that could be happening. Better luck next time dude.

[ledhead36]

:thumbsup:Awesome news on the blues I want to do the bluefish dance. Fished last night the incoming tide in the bay 9-12. Mess o croakers and 3 kingfish. Was using small pieces of clams and small broken up pieces of gulp with the tails bit off. Another use for the gulp that blues bite the tails off of. Dont need to throw it away.

[hookset]

Nice reports guys. Love the bluefish action glad to hear they are coming back to dinner.
jbarbosa I read what jigfreak said and 2nd it. Another thing to try is a different plug. Try trolling a northbar bottle darter next time. It resembles a lot of different fish and imo is bullet proof, have pulled in blues over 18# with the northbar no problem.
Small light bucktails are good to throw when the bliues are around, great for quick release on the kayak too I would guess.

As for what the blues were eating they could have been snacking on spearing which is all over the bays and some inlets now. I was checking some inlets out yesterday afternoon and saw some guys get tinker mackerel on small hooks meant for snappers. Both the MI and SRI, So it could be tinker mackerel too. They used to show up in the inlets and bays in June but I think everything was late this year because of the after effects of the storm.

[Monty]

First cast out there I did manage to open up another 5H Rasco split ring...this is starting to get old really quick.


Great report JB, awesome that you got into the Blues again. I have used the Rasco split rings for years and never had an issue. Sometimes when I put them on there is a space between the spring action, possibility of them working themselves off the lure, but I have not had anything like that happen. Are you actually seeing them bend? I always thought they were more robust than the Roscos.

I fished ocean side this morning 1:00 to 8:30. One hit around 2:30 on a Sluggo, even with my cat like reflexes I missed it. Then nothing the rest of the outing. Could not even manage a fluke on a Bucktail/teaser rig. Beautiful night, great time on the water. Water was a bit dirty, but decent white water.

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_7_14_sr.jpg

[finchaser]

JB if you are using a #5 it is a 40# split ring as there is no such thing as a Rosco 5H. I use 4H which are 80# and have never had a failure. A Rosco 5 1/2 H is hundred pound which is next to impossible to open on a spinning outfit. Also the split rings on an SP minnow should be replaced before fishing it.

[J Barbosa]

Nice reports fellas. John I noticed this is the 2nd time the blues trashed your SPs with the rosco split ring. Maybe try some other split rings. I have used the roscos and never had a problem with them even with big blues. It may be different in a kayak because you may have less leverage and control over the fish as compared to land. Otherwise I don't know why that could be happening. Better luck next time dude.


Jigfreak,


I think I have more leverage as I am using a shorter rod. From the little I know you can apply more pressure with a 7ft rod than you can with a 11ft. The hardest thing in a kayak is having nowhere to land the fish. From land I can just drag them onto land and the fight is over. Both of these fish were lost very close to the kayak.



Nice reports guys. Love the bluefish action glad to hear they are coming back to dinner.
jbarbosa I read what jigfreak said and 2nd it. Another thing to try is a different plug. Try trolling a northbar bottle darter next time. It resembles a lot of different fish and imo is bullet proof, have pulled in blues over 18# with the northbar no problem.
Small light bucktails are good to throw when the bliues are around, great for quick release on the kayak too I would guess.


I have a north bar that I won on here but I am saving that for when the bass outnumber the blues :)



Great report JB, awesome that you got into the Blues again. I have used the Rasco split rings for years and never had an issue. Sometimes when I put them on there is a space between the spring action, possibility of them working themselves off the lure, but I have not had anything like that happen. Are you actually seeing them bend? I always thought they were more robust than the Roscos.


Monty, I have been using them in the surf for a few years as well and have never had any issues. I am not seeing them bend but The plug is coming back with no split ring and hook. Last time it was a 4X VMC hook, this time it was a VMC siwash hook.


In the past when I used the smaller 4H size on bigger hooks I noticed the gap but never had one come loose on me. I now reserve the 4H size only for small plugs with 1/0 hooks.



JB if you are using a #5 it is a 40# split ring as there is no such thing as a Rosco 5H. I use 4H which are 80# and have never had a failure. A Rosco 5 1/2 H is hundred pound which is next to impossible to open on a spinning outfit. Also the split rings on an SP minnow should be replaced before fishing it.


Sorry Fin, your right not a 5H but it is a Rasco 5.5H just verified the one still on the plug against the package. It definitely wasn't a stock Diawa SP split ring as I replace all of mine.

Rod is a conventional 7' St. Croix Avid rated medium-heavy power with a Diawa Lexa 300.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2868/9289803844_2031c6a88a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/94721242@N02/9289803844/)

Here is what was in my bucket this weekend. I wasn't expecting the blues to be honest. I did some emergency on the water surgery on the Diawa.

I don't like how the Siwash hooks sit on the smaller swimmers without a split ring. It's fine on the bigger plugs like the pencil though.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5497/9289803994_483f77cb34_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/94721242@N02/9289803994/)

[finchaser]

just wanted to make sure as there are allot of cheap imitations around could be from the pressure of dragging the kayak

[DarkSkies]

I have a north bar that I won on here but I am saving that for when the bass outnumber the blues :)



John, very sorry to hear that.....

There is a guy I know....his girlfriend bought him a nice fly rod....and a nice collapsible net to land fish with when he goes out in his kayak....the sad thing is....he never uses them....because they are "too nice" to use....:(....those of ya's who know me....know I'm talking about myself.....:bucktooth:

The Northbar Bottle darter is one of the premier things I troll in the yak at night...especially when I'm fishing waters I haven't fished for awhile and need to see where the fish might be......have pulled more fish with a Northbar from unknown water when they are scattered, than almost any other presentation in the dark......








Tell ya what....take that NorthBar plug, beat it up...:kicknuts:..let the blues and whatever else snack on it......:bonk:
And if it gets too beat up and ugly looking for ya, that ya feel it won't catch any more fish....send it so me...and I'll send ya a brand new one to replace it.....

Remember that many of us are catching fish regularly on ugly or out of favor plugs...that's why I started the Surfwalker Challenge thread....

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?9001-The-Surfwalker-Challenge-Do-you-Follow-the-Herd-or-Lead-your-Own-Way

[seamonkey]

Fished brigantine from 5:30 to 7:30 am with small pieces of clam on porgy rig, 3 oz sinker. Picked up 5 croakers right past the first wave. Breakers were small ocean was relatively calm.

[seamonkey]

just wanted to make sure as there are allot of cheap imitations around



Just a question jbarbosa maybe the rasco rings were counterfeits and made in china? lots of chinese stuff claims to be a certain breaking point but it is not.

[finchaser]

JB Didn't realize you were using RASCO they are in most cases less strength then Rosco

[J Barbosa]

We can continue the conversation here to keep it consolidate on one thread.

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?8899-advice-about-split-rings

[captnemo]

Fished the shrewsbury rocks and south to the red church today for fluke. Managed half dozen keepers twice as many were throwbacks. On bucktails tipped with gulp and peruvian spearing The spearing also worked. Also managed 3 brown sharks. Only able to get one to the surface by luck. About 40 lbs. The other ones bit through the line.

[clamchucker]

Some friends of mine caught small cocktails in the Barnegat inlet yesterday.

[Monty]

Fished bayside from 1:15 to 9:00 this morning.
Picked up a small bass on a black teaser around 2:30
A small Blue at 4:30 on a 9" Black Sluggo and another Blue on a teaser around 7:00.
Lost 3 fish (after sun up), had a great time out there.
Googan moment of the trip:
I had waded out about 20 feet and it was just starting to get light. I use a long leader and was changing from a
dark teaser to a lighter one, the White Hogy was dangling in the water and a Blue slammed it and scared the heck
out of me.

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_7_21_H.jpg

[robmedina]

I had waded out about 20 feet and it was just starting to get light. I use a long leader and was changing from a
dark teaser to a lighter one, the White Hogy was dangling in the water and a Blue slammed it and scared the heck
out of me.

LOL that's funny. I would have to change my draws after that!

[robmedina]

Saturday fishing report- Took my cousin out to LBI. We stopped by on the bay side to use my new cast net. I tried it in my yard once before we left and I did it right but could not get that darn thing right on the water! My cousin tried and I tried, we watched more videos on youtube right there on the water and tried again. no go. Talk about Googan! there were bait everywhere. I wanted to see what they were but since we sucked so bad that wasn't going to happen. I tried fishing while he was casting but the water was so shallow that as soon as the lure would hit the water and I started a retrieve it would dive and hit bottom. Of course we couldn't walk out to where we really needed to be because that was "too far" so we left and went and got some bunker so my cousin could sit his lazy @** down in the chair and wait for a bite. So we get down to my honey hole only to find that the hole has been mostly filled in by the beach replenishment people. Only good thing is they made a slough 10' wide by80 feet long. Should be nice to go back to (if it is still there)So I wanted to move to my left but that was too far too (@&&@#&%%!!) so as we are baiting up he sticks my rod in the sand...***! I made him buy his own rod and reel at a yard sale on the way back. He can stick his stuff in the sand all he wants now. Anyway. We casted at 12 o'clock and within seconds our baits were at 9 o'clock and that was with 6 oz lead. SO I said plan b lets go to this marina a little further south there is a deep channel that runs along it and people are catching sharks there. as we are headed there a brutal lightning storm starts. No way we're fishing in that. so We just leave :burn:

I went the next morning to the Delaware river to use the bait up and catch some catfish (I needed to catch something) and got a couple good pulls on the bait but no hook ups. I left dejected and empty. I need my fix man, I need it!

[cowherder]

Need a fix lol. So true rob this can be an addiction just make sure you don't end up like the winos in the cardboard boxes!
Fished 2 times over the weekend. Got some short fluke no keepers. They were hitting in close to the wash. Fished both moco and nomoco. Liked nomoco because the surf was a little calmer but the fishing didn't seem any different to me. Summer doldrums.

[cowherder]

Fished bayside from 1:15 to 9:00 this morning.
Picked up a small bass on a black teaser around 2:30
A small Blue at 4:30 on a 9" Black Sluggo and another Blue on a teaser around 7:00.
Lost 3 fish (after sun up), had a great time out there.
Googan moment of the trip:
I had waded out about 20 feet and it was just starting to get light. I use a long leader and was changing from a
dark teaser to a lighter one, the White Hogy was dangling in the water and a Blue slammed it and scared the heck
out of me.

http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_7_21_H.jpg



Ouch those blues really make fishing rubber expensive! Well at least they are back! Nice report monty. Maybe its time to hit the back bay spots and harbors. Did you see any peanut bunker or other bait?

[jigfreak]

Fished ocean county 5:30-7:30. Top of the incoming and a little snotty. Wind and waves SE S to N direction. Stopped fishing for 20 mins to check the storm cells on the radar. Actually it wasn't that bad but better safe than sorry. Skunk followed me home.

[jigfreak]

I went the next morning to the Delaware river to use the bait up and catch some catfish (I needed to catch something) and got a couple good pulls on the bait but no hook ups. I left dejected and empty. I need my fix man, I need it!

Good to hear you made him buy his own gear rob. I don't mind a friend trying out my gear but don't want them to be buying new stuff if they screw up and break it. If I am out with a newbie or someone in the family who doesn't fish a lot I try to have a beater rod and reel handy so it won't hurt so much if they grind it in the sand. You talked like fishing fix. I feel the same way. Going out 3-4 times in a row and not catching causes crabbiness and hairy palms lol.
Something about the addiction of fishing I read here
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?1760-The-Dark-Side-of-surf-fishing

[robmedina]

thanks Jigfreak. Well I went out today inspite of having to get up early to be in manhattan. Oh well I guess I will just take the train in and get some rest. I fished Barnegat bay from 5pm to 8:30pm on the incoming tide. managed 1 23" flounder on a white bucktail with a white curly tail grub trailer.1727317274 the fish was released.

[baitstealer]

23" looks like a fatty! Good job dude!

[J Barbosa]

Saturday...crabs, crabs, and more crabs. Yum

Sunday...took the yak out.

Strong currents with the full moon tides made fluke fishing in the channels practically impossible. Shorts came on board but nothing even close to measuring. Croakers are still around in great numbers.

Found a small pod of 1lb blues chasing spearing around. Didn't have any small plugs with me so I had a hard time catching them but still caught a few. Lost track of the school just a few minutes after finding them :(

Lots of bunker around as usual.

I covered a lot of water, more than I ever have covered in a kayak.

Cow nose rays have invaded the bay and you can see them fin at the surface; way too many to count. Those suckers have some speed to them.

[porgy75]

I am happy to hear the blues are coming back but not to happy when I am using gulp because they bite my tails off and I waste a lot of it!
I fished somoco for fluke between 6-8pm tonight. The surf was ok and it was real nice out. Stayed away from the beachgoers found some jetties that I fished near. Got 2 small fluke which was fine but the tiny snapper blues were biting my gulp I hate that! Went through 2 packs of gulp because of all the snapper bite offs.

[ledhead36]

porgy you can still use the gulp with the tails bit off if you are fishing for croakers and kingfish. All you need is little pieces and they will find it. Use a double rig with lite sinker if you want some. Have been catching croakers every time I go out lately. I can get 3-4 baits out of a busted up piece of gulp depending on what it is.

[storminsteve]

NoMoCo last night fished from 8-10. Managed 4 short fluke and one keeper. Gulp new penny shrimp

[Monty]

NoMoCo last night fished from 8-10. Managed 4 short fluke and one keeper. Gulp new penny shrimp
Nice catching and congrats on the dead stuff...... That's a start, but maybe nudges you into the competition:HappyWave:

[baitstealer]

Happy to hear the blues are coming back. They were gone for too long. I read that the belmar boats are finally catching them too. Small but at least it is something.

[J Barbosa]

Tried to target some fluke last night but came up empty. Fished live peanuts from 7pm to 2am in different locations but only caught a few doggies and skates. The bay was still a little warm but the surf felt cold.

[robmedina]

I went to LBI to hit my usual spot on the bayside. I figured I would give some day time fishing a try. Big mistake. There were about 30-40 boats anchored up all around the area with people frolicking in the water. Not good for fishing, but was a nice pleasant scene. I managed a huge flounder on one of my flies.... 17284. Then I went to the inlet. Nothing happening there. so came home.

[Fishman]

Went out early this morning to nomoco. Tried all kinds of lures, but came up empty.

[paco33]

Fished southern monmouth from 4-7 today. Incoming tide was using a deadly **** with a redgill teaser. Picked uo one short bass and 3 short fluke. Surf was a little big but not too dirty. Nice overcast morning I felt the action should have been a little better but it beats the skunk. All fluke on the teaser bass on the deadly ****.

[Monty]

Fished this morning from 1:00-5:30, ocean side. Was an absolutely great night out there, cool, moon, lightning way out in the ocean, incredible night.
Ended up with I guess what I'll call a Monty Slam (LOL), had a few hits and misses mixed in. Teaser was important.


http://rocksimpson.com/images/2013_7_28_Monty_Slam.jpg

[robmedina]

nice! them stargazers sure are ugly! Just curious- is there anything I need to know about them when taking them off the hook? I don't know they just look nasty- worried about some poisonous spines or something....

[finchaser]

They give electric shocks do not grab them with bear hands. They have contributed to DS's strange ways and extreme googanisum

[robmedina]

thank you sir!

[jigfreak]

I think finchaser is exaggerating rob. Rumor has it its good luck to kiss them on the forehead.
monty nice going on the slam. I fished moco last night 10-12:30. Picked up 4 bass to 27" on the sp.

[J Barbosa]

Getting behind in my reports...hmm does that sounds familiar to anyone? :laugh:


Tried to target some fluke last night but came up empty. Fished live peanuts from 7pm to 2am in different locations but only caught a few doggies and skates. The bay was still a little warm but the surf felt cold.

So Friday Night I tried fishing these peanuts live but only came up with dogs and skates.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/9406197212_e3aa305657_b.jpg
Saturday I wanted to take it easy and relax before the offshore trip so I decided to tag along with my mom and brother who where going crabbing.
Business as usual when crabbing with the Barbosa family!
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5526/9406198220_2007df06a9_b.jpg

Also...If you get really good with the net you can catch the turtles and set them aside until your finished crabbing (they will yank and steal your baits).

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5460/9403441535_4d6f4af29e_b.jpg

These were all safely released unharmed...cool creatures and very strong for their size. Top left one is my favorite; I look forward to seeing him again!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/9406199006_798dc559e4_b.jpg

Went home and feasted on some crabs before heading to bed and setting the alarm for 11pm that night.

Woke up, took a shower, and took the hour long drive to the boat that was leaving at 1AM.

Four of us took the 90 mile ride out to the first canyon before setting up a nine rod trolling spread. It was very slow at first trolling the ledges with only a few small mahi around the lobster pots interested in the spread. A total of four canyons including 1000 fathoms line (over 6,000 feet deep) past the hudson before finally finding more life and some fish in amazing blue water. The amount of life out there is incredible between all the dolphins and whales. I think the total trips mileage easily went over 300 miles.

Sorry for the strange picture...I think my brother changed some camera setting on our digital POS (point and shoot; and sometimes piece of shat).

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7410/9403442441_7cf524b806_b.jpg
It did make for a cool yellowfin shot somehow even though it looks edited....I should have just used my cell phone.

I have more pics on a friends camera and will post some when he sends them to me.

Sliced open an avocado and it was spoiled so these rolls were made plain.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7296/9406200194_4b64863be4_b.jpg

[jigfreak]

Fished moco again 8-12:30am. Picked up 5 short bass. Sp did the trick again. Lots of bait in tight. Also raised one short fluke on that plug.

[jigfreak]

Sorry for the strange picture...I think my brother changed some camera setting on our digital POS (point and shoot; and sometimes piece of shat).

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7410/9403442441_7cf524b806_b.jpg
It did make for a cool yellowfin shot somehow even though it looks edited....I should have just used my cell phone.



Dude that is an awesome pic. Jmho but him changing the settings brought everything out in stark contrast. Even the blood is awesome. Great job congrats on the tuna heard there is a lot of action out there right now.

[J Barbosa]

Dude that is an awesome pic. Jmho but him changing the settings brought everything out in stark contrast. Even the blood is awesome. Great job congrats on the tuna heard there is a lot of action out there right now.

I am actually starting to like it :wheeeee:

Turtle footage
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94721242@N02/9406055095/

[chas527]

fished the hook yesterday morning 4 small fluke. didn't see any bait in the water or birds working.later fished the navy pier got at least 50 nice crockers an big spots. plus two blue fish.

[seamonkey]

Awesome reports guys. Chas 50 croakers is a lot good deal!