NJ Fishing Reports for the Week of 6-30 to 7-6-08

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

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

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

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


If you are unclear on this concept, ask yourself:


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


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


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

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

Some acronyms -

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

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

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


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

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Week in Review 6-30-08

New Jersey

Well folks it has been another spectacular week for NJ surfcasters. It has slowed down a bit since last week, but there are still big bass to be taken by surfcasters, right place, right time.

The bunker are still rolling through. However, ocean temps are heating up. This MAY be the last week we will get a shot at those big bass. You never know, but you will only have a chance if you are out there casting.

Again, best times are late afternoons. The bite had been shutting down at dusk, but not always. Some of our more experienced members are catching bass in the dark.

There has also been a slight change in that some big bass are now feeding in the early dawn hours. If you want a shot at these, particularly after a strong S or SE series of swells, your best chance is between 4-5am, bait fishing or plugging.

Guys in boats are catching them as well, but not always. Many times they will come upon pod after bunker pod, with no fish on them.

Anglers seeking fluke are hooking up, but it is disappointing to have to throw back so many until you get a keeper.

On the lighter side, thresher sharks and cow nose rays have shown up along our coast. They are mingling nearshore, the sharks with the bunker, and the rays in the surf. Don't be alarmed if you see 2 fins the same distance from each other, it's probably a ray. They are very strong. If you are bait fishing, it's likely that the bigger rays will spool you. If you manage to bring one in, they put up a great fight.

There have also been some exotic and tropical species spotted. A few people are catching triggerfish. I was walking near an inlet the other day and saw divers come up to surface, saying they had seen an angelfish. You never know what you might find out there as the water heats up.


Recently our surf fishing community has been plagued by closings of certain popular areas, and bad press given to fishermen. Most of us respect private property, and clean up after ourselves. It's always a few bad apples that make others mad at us.

If you are out there and see someone has left garbage in your favorite spot, be the bigger person and bring some of it home with you. We all benefit in the end. :thumbsup:

Good luck out there, folks. Catch 'em up!

New York

Again, there is more action in the back bays, though still spotty. The ocean is providing some good action for surfcasters willing to put in their time. Learn the water you are fishing in. Go there at extreme low tides, if you can, so see how things are set up. You will be a better surfcaster because of it.

Guys are still using bait to catch bass in the NY coastal waters. A lot of action is moving to the ocean as the bays are heating up. I would concentrate my efforts around the inlet areas, and the ocean where the inlets are. Back bays will still produce if you find areas that are accessed by deeper channels, cooler water.

The fluke continue to be a major disappointment, though people are catching quite a few. Again, many anglers feel it's wrong to throw back a 5 lb fish, because it's not big enough for this year's regulations. I can definitely agree with this.

The next time they have meetings, go there and voice your protests.

Montauk has turned on for those who know their way around there. Quite a few folks go there for a day or 2, find no fish, and declare Montauk unfishable.

It is a very tough place to fish.

Since hordes of people visit it, maybe that's for the best. Anyone who wants to get good at fishing Montauk has to put their time in and study the place, low tide. (Or hire a guide at $300+ :D)

Beautiful weather out there, folks, despite the storms. Get out there and enjoy it, bring the family, and catch 'em up!

Took my girl fishing last night at SH after we saw the dolphins. Checked out a new spot, met someone comin outta there that got a few bluefish on a fly rod. We tried all the usual combos, topwater to shads. on the last of the outgoing. 9pm-11:30pm, :skunk:
We did hear some bunker feeding, but there weren't enough of them to interest big predators, they were scattered.

somoco last night 5-9. :skunk:

MoCo last night. Started out by the rocks, strong S winds killed any bite or chances of seeing bunker. Circled to back bay, pods of peanuts are around, have been theere for about a month.

Then fished SH,but again S winds turned back waters into a weedy, paper filled toilet, too warm. Flies are intense whenever the wind stops, even with bug spray. There are a lot of manowar jellyfish around, be careful if you wade in shorts like I do. :scared:

Fluke bite is good, met a guy walking off who nailed 18 fluke in 2 hrs, 2 of them keepers.:thumbsup:

Went back down to the rocks after sunset. Quit after getting 4 headers over my head, swell still too strong.

This am, fished MoCo rocks again with bait 4:20-5:30 am, only a skate and sea robin.

Winds started to shift to the W, hoping today will be better.

Today Ocean county looked promising. There were some nice bunker pods, but snagging and dropping did not produce any bass for us. Ended the day drifting for 3 keeper fluke on some lumps. Many were thrown back.

Fished moco late afternoon till dark. The w wind early this morning turned strong s, kicking up some whitecaps. We watched a few boats being rocked around like toys. Some bunker came close to a rockpile, chased by dolphins. This lasted for about 3 1/2 minutes until a boat came zooming into the pod and put them down. no fish caught. :burn: Why do some guys in boats have to do this, ruins it for everyone? http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ons/icon13.gif

Lot of guys standing around waiting for others to catch fish. I moved around to a few spots, found a few pods, hoping for them to get closer. There was one pod almost 1/2 mile long, but it was about 1 mile offshore. :drool: There were some other smaller pods in that area, bass underneath, so I went to an empty jetty and blind casted for an hour.

Didn't see any fish caught, but sunset was great, and I noticed the ocean water was exceptionally clean and clear. If I were a bass, I wouldn't swim anywhere else but the NJ rocky coast.;)

Also a head's up for the boat guys. If anyone goes out tomorrow S of SH, N of Shark River, there is part of a bulkhead that was getting smashed by the new moon tide and waves. It was breaking apart as I watched, big timbers floating out to sea. Guys be careful of those timbers out there.

Some pics of the broken bulkhead.

Island beach for the sunrise, but it was dead. Getting tired of dragging myself out there for no fish.

occo near an inlet yesterday near sunset. 2 small bass 25" storm shads.

Thu 7/3

Bunker in and out, but hard to see them, strong south wind, big swell. a few guys caught fish blind casting, and the jetty filled up. I went out to fish that jetty, but only the tip was not crowded. I set up there, first man to get hit by the waves breaking over the tip.:scared:

After I got knocked down 3 times, I was debating whether I could go to a higher jetty or not. A guy from the Asbury club felt sorry for me, said: "Man, don't want to see you get killed, you can have my spot, I'm leaving." (thanks dude) :clapping: so i fished there at the side for awhile. Tide was coming in and waves were reaching further down, causing us all to be cautious. About 8 fish to the 20's were caught before I walked out there.

Then I left and went to a higher jetty. Again, my famous luck followed me. :skunk: Got there as the last fish was caught, fish to the 35lb class, and my friend from Asbury got a 41. Great fishin while it lasted, seems they are still around, but at specific time intervals.

Fri-
Fished the early first light bite with a friend, bait fishin with clams. He caught a fluke, I got 2 skates. Water looked good, some cloudy weather coming in, but nothing was happening, so I left to come back later.

Fri pm -
The bite never developed, though it looked promising.

Sat pm -

Same thing, few large pods moving down the beach. One was about a mile long, maybe 100 ft wide, but it was way too far offshore. Nice groups of fish would periodically plow through it.

Took my girl out to try to get her a fish, but it was not to be. We ended up following a pod 200' off the beach near sunset, bunker got nervous, but the bite never developed. Blind casting produced no results.

It seemed for a holiday weekend, a lot less people were on the water in boats, and in the surf, than usual. Maybe the hight fuel prices are really starting to affect people, or maybe some just stayed home because by us it was raining for most of the weekend. Who knows.

Fished the Jersey Coast from SH to PP twice this weekend. Both times we found pods of bunker with nothing underneath. Decided to fluke, and nailed 5 fluke in 2 visits up to 7 lbs. Using peruvian spearing/spro at first, then gulp penny shrimp. Many, many throwbacks. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ons/icon13.gif

been fishing sh and some towns below that, not much to report, lotta small fluke, and 1 keeper in the last week, too many sea robins and skates.