Was it the Raritan Bay pay boat hype man PGOINS?
Yeh these guys that are saying they're thick must be smoking some good seedless californian red hair! I went out early today to scope out the situation. I saw some boats out there didn't look like they were doing much. Once it got dark I tried a few places up and down moco. Ended up with a mixed bag o fish. 2 skates, 11 hickory shad, 1 short fluke, one small blue, and finally one baby striper!!!!!!! that must have just have gotten out of diapers it was so small. If I had a sea robin maybe I could invent the new NJ grand slam definition.`Weapon of choice was the bucktail with redgill teaser. Thanks to buckethead I will be using the redgills from now on. The only problem is the hickory shad love them a lot.
Oh come on lighten up Francis! Just some good fun. What else are we going to do while waiting around for the bite to get better. :don't know why:
OK you think that's funny? I am going to find some commercial fishermen and win the contest legitimately when I slip them a case of beer and a $50 to throw some unknown gutted dead fish into the water so it floats to somewhere in nomoco. Then I will find it and I'm back on top again. Anyone know some places where those guys hang out? I'm on the hunt to get my epic dead thing. All sources considered. Even if you live near a processing plant and it touches sea water, let me know. Under contest rules if I'm fishing that water and find it, that counts. Thanks guys.:HappyWave:
Man that guy is a total a**munch. If stripers were as healthy as he says they are there would be 50 pounders jumping out of the water at the oceanic bridge. Is that where he fishes - the raritan bay? I fished there a few times in the spring. Some good blue action and decent bass but nowhere as good as he says it is. Another internet expert.
Fished tonight, steve you got me beat with the hickory shad. I got a few. The conditions in moco were perfect. The weather was outstanding. The fish, still up north I guess. One ornery stargazer, on bucktail, then a few shad when I switched to a small darter with a teaser.
You guys are right it was great weather. Felt like late spring. Too nice not to fish. OC from 5-10 outgoing tide. Managed small blues and those famous shad. Magdarter and teaser. Will be out this weekend looking for the stripes.
I hate it when someone tries to be an internet hero and shows how stupid they really are.He lives close to the bay so he is the raritan bay resident expert. Hoo boy.
We fished hard for the last 2 weeks and caught a few stripers. It is so spotty it is depressing. Sure they're killing them. Doing so well that the fishermen stopped its day striper trips until more bass show up. As for cows being in the bay, take a look at last nights catch from the fishermen. Do you see any cows in that pic? Most of the fish barely look like keepers up to about 31 inches. Cow-BS!
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...id=19740&stc=1
OK here's the report. Fishing last 2 weeks with a good variety to choose from. We are still getting mullet which is strange. Some really big shad showed up. We have tried mullet, shad, clams, and bunker heads for bigger stripers. Managed a few till it got really cold on the 18th then it shut off. Last 2 nights got a little better. We fish an average of 5 hours/night like we usually do. Got one keeper each night, barely 28 inches like the fish above. The rest of the action is mostly dogfish. And small stripers. Bluefish non existent except for one about 10 lbs we got a week and a half ago. Still lots of bait in some places but very few fish on em.
Holy smokes. Those look like barely keepers or those guys are all over 6'5" tall. Only the one on the right side looks like it's above 29 inches. thanks for sharing.
^^^^bonus tag on head boat 1 fish 24 to 26" thank Tom Fote and the JCAA again
This morning 4 to 6:30 AM released 3 small bass on pink 4" finesse and jig head tons of rain fish also had 10 fluke in the river
You did better than me finchaser. Only got 2. Fished my usual area from 4-6a. One was 16 inches. The other went 16 lbs on the boga, 36". Both took the redgill teaser in front of the bucktail. Still swimming.
Way to go guys! Hits count whether they are singlers doubles or triples. At least we have some stripers coming through. Will be out this weekend good luck to all.
16 lbs very nice!:clapping::clapping:
Needle in a haystack! Awesome nice going and nice on the release as well.
Thank you for the kind words guys. It really wasn't different than my normal morning routine. That larger fish was a surprise and startled me when she hit. It was one out of 100 that we are seeing right now. I m not trying to come across the wrong way. It's real poor fishing for this time of year. Grateful for the few chances we have. Sometimes I wish the younger anglers here could step back into a time capsule and backtrack 20-25 years. The Septembers and Octobers of 2 decades ago were alive with fish and predators. I never thought I would live to see the day when we were back to the slow pick for this time of year. Deja vu shades of 1982 are happening all over again.
^^^^ Me too when I hear stuff like that it is hard to comprehend. You guys must have had the best times fishing. It's a shame that someone in the gov't can't see how bad things have become.
Well add me to the skunk reports. Fished nomoco last night and the northeast winds were pretty bad. Tried heavy bucktail and nothing. Did catch one skate but that was it for me. Hope some of you other guys caught fish. I didn't see anyone catch in the crowd where I was standing.
Out in moco this morning at sunrise. Bassy water as john from B&N always says. Threw bottle plug for an hour and I was done. Little too windy and no fish or bait.
SoMoCo from 4:30 6:30. Very windy and choppy ocean. One bump, one fluke, on a bucktail.
Could not repeat my good fortune from yesterday. As mentioned the surf was sporty this AM. Wind from the NE at 10-15 Picked up 1 very small bass with the bucktail combo. More fishermen out than usual. Got the one in the dark.
They were the best, and I fear we will never see them again. One of the chief persons in NJ who has the ear of the government is Tom Fote. All of his testimony supports his claims that the bass fishery is very healthy. As you can see it is not. As long as he is in the position he is we don't stand a chance of changing things.
Skunkville in moco. Talked to a few other guys, more of the same for them.
Nomoco 6-8:30. Great conditions total skunk. Taking a coffee break and may go out again change of tide. There has to be a few fish out there this fall fishing is so lame so far!! Sorry for the rant will feel better once I drink a coffee and eat a sandwich.
Fished to 3am last night. Went and put a teaser clip on and figured if I experimented with different teasers I might have a better chance. What worked was the one that buckethead uses all the time the redgill. Great conditons out there. I really thought there might be more fish but I guess I'm not in charge of that Tom Fote is lol. Picked up a few shad on the teaser and one short striper when I moved a little south. Hoping for some more fish around halloween. I remember we have had some good fishing around that weekend. Good luck guys.
Have to say times 3 to infinity on this! When I first joined here I wasn't that experienced and did not catch a lot. You guys helped me with your pointers. I feel like I did catch a lot in the years 2008 to 2010. Some nights I got 15 or 20 stripers and blues and felt so great. Lately I feel like I suck big time. You go out there. You fish the night tides like all the books and threads say. You work on your presentation experimenting with different retrieves. You are trying your best with the accumulated knowlege you have. And you still strike out or get one or two. I am starting to think I am cursed. We need to figure out a better way to regulate these stripers!
Sat Night - No bass where they shoulda been headed back to OC and found 2 rats to at least sorta make it feel like striper fishing.
Sunday am on the boat- I thought it was going to be a windy day skunkaroo but the winds weren't bad and albies saved the day, and there were a lot of them in N mon area mini surface blitzes and birds for hours, had to be hundreds.....maybe a few get into the surf line?
Attachment 19746
Nice job on the albies. That has got to be 7 or 8 lbs? What were they feeding on rainfish? Thanks
I weighed a few for kicks and they were all twins around 7 lbs, yes rainfish, coughing up rainfish on the deck
Those albies are a beautiful looking fish, good going.
this morning 4 smallllllllllllllllllllll bass all on pink 5" got stripers and jig head also numerous really fat FLUKE 12 to 17" range I'd say
Skunk for me this morning. Pretty decent conditions out there, slight E wind and small chop to the surf. Lots of rainfish. It's really hit and miss lately. Got a good morning walk out of though.
Nice going on the fish shark hart and fin chaser. I guess they don't know they are supposed to be making a beeline for offshore yet. there is still a lot of small bait around for them to feed on and the water is still warm enough.