NJ Fishing Reports for May 2014.....www.StripersAndAnglers.com

NJ Fishing Reports for May 2014.....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.

** Since Sandy and the rebuilding/Beach replenishment, a substantial amount of Fishing Access has been lost. The ones who want to fish, are now crowded into less places, particularly the popular ones.
Please use common sense, when describing where you were fishing. :learn:

1. 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.

2. 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

3. 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?
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



**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
CMC - Cape May County


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

Mecca.....Montauk

Here we are, the first week of May.....and except for a few scattered reports.....no real amounts of bluefish.....
Many feel this colder winter put things off a bit....I agree.....
I know most don't care about blues...like to grumble.....but they sure do give kids, families and anglers a helluva lot of fun.....
As many know the bigger ones come from offshore, while the smaller ones migrate up the coast.......

More on that here.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...fish-Migration






It was only 8-10 years ago that you could find schools of taylor bluefish and striped bass right in the surf.... hot on schools of early season rainfish, herring and shad as they followed these forage fish up the coast....and the racer blues would hit the bays like clockwork, either on or before April 14........This was part of the early Spring patterns that you could count on yearly.

I had lots of good times introducing kids to the sport of fishing by taking them to get those racers.........
I still anticipate and look forward to them every year..........
Monty's thread for more info.....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...-Bluefish-2014

Meanwhile, migratory Hudson bass finally showed up in northern NJ bays around April 17...with a few (though less than usual) resident bass around in the weeks before that............
These threads go into further detail about migratory bass, resident bass, and the yearly patterns....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...tion-for-NJ-NY

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...y-abandoned-us


Weakfish have also been making an appearance here and there.....

In my experience, though bass and weakfish have shown up in some coastal areas......there is (generally) only a limited window to fish for the Hudson bass before they head up river....and then a bit of a lull as we wait for the other migratory fish to make their way up the coast......

Hence my excited anticipation for the downtown blues....(surfwalker term :HappyWave:)........
If you love to fish....for the sake of fishing.....they put a bend in the rod and a smile on your face......



Best of luck to everyone.....it's May and there are fish around......:fishing:

We have a lot of new members and traffic lately.......
If some of ya's have questions feel free to ask away in this thread by Surfstix....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...-Newbie-Thread

Please remember our restricted fishing access bottlenecks if you want to post a report.....thanks....:HappyWave:

Fished the back this morning. Last of outgoing (water dirty) and one hour of incoming. Water was still dirty feels like it will take about 2 tide changes to clean up. Nothing for me. Any one remember the movie the fog?
Check this out-
http://www.surfchex.com/manasquan-web-cam.php

my log book in my head says that I've caught blues already ....no signs yet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DarkSkies

Hence my excited anticipation for the downtown blues....(surfwalker term :HappyWave:)........

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by madcaster

my log book in my head says that I've caught blues already ....no signs yet

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^^^^^^ O Lord please give me some downtown blues. They will be here by this weekend or I'm buying a 50 gallon container of blood from the cow processors in Newark to dump in the bay! just kidding but come on already!!!!!!!!:plastered: Thanks for the report jigfreak at least you tried. Surf looks gnarly.

Yep that would be a great idea dude.:kooky: :HappyWave:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvib20XWewg

haha great video. Put me in for an order of those downtown blues. Its time.

Loved that blood.
"shark lifeless eyes, black eyes like a dolls eyes - doesn't seem to be livin, the ocean turning red"
Classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZhodPIXSyU

Thanks for the conditions report jigfreak. I feel the same way the bay should be almost back to normal by Friday. Watch the full moon high tides if your on the sod banks out there you could get stranded.

My first blues of the year came on April 24-25 last year with eveything being late this year i say another week or 2 before we see them..It should be getting cleaned up by Friday and fine by Sat/Sun...Ill be out there this weekend

Some decent action in the back tonight. Picked up 5 bass to 16# on ml swimmers.Top of tide incoming and two hours into the out. All fish were over 28", All still swimming.

Jigfreak nice going and the same on the c&r. Fished nomoco this morning before work. No one else on the beach. Tossed shad, and bucktail with white worm. Only had an hour to fish, 6:30- 7:30 am. Water wasn't that bad where I was fishing. Some pieces of wood on the sand but other than than not too bad. Should clean up great by tomorrow and water seemed warm to me. Oh and I got blanked. Nice morning on the beach though

Nice work jig. Fished the ocean in moco this morning. It was a little rough and dirty as mentioned but should clean up in one or two tide changes. Worked buck and grub to no avail. Back at it again soon.

WTG Jigfreak..Im contemplating hitting outfront after work tonight..Gonna be plugging..Thinking maybe some bass cashing in on those broke up clams in the wash..we shall see...Plus got some new pluggage i wanna try out..any of you guys no if i can by the night pass at the hook after 5pm wont get down till around 730...I no its open till 10 but i tend to fish well past 10

fished the navy pier last night 2 bass 1 351/2 inches the other 33 1/4. warm night .no bunker swimming last night.

Nice scores chas and jig. Jig wtg on the releases. blazin don't know if you fish sandy hook a lot so here goes. Since sandy they moved the guard shack to the front. New brick bldg. on the left by the toll barriers. It used to be that you needed a check or money order to buy the pass. Now in the daytime you can buy the pass with cash. Think that ends at dusk or with the end of day shift change. So either at 5:30 or so. I could be wrong on that. If your going down there 7:30 you prob need to bring a money order. Can get from quik chek on the hill. Check out the new blond hottie who works quik chek at night she is an 8 out of 10 good eye candy. Hope this helps and tight lines.

Haha thanks Hookset ill get a MO and check her out..

Fished cape may this morning. dirty and full of junk. Fished clams. Skunk a roo.

Went to fish last night at the place where the body was found. dont know why I bothered the body being found didn't scare any fishermen away. There were about 50 guys out there and maybe 5 of us spoke English. Made a move to a less crowded place. Water was dirty and yoo hoo colored. Lots of debris. Managed 2 bass to 30" on incoming tide with clams.

Nice leahead!! 30# thats a great fish!! Better than me I decided to change it up and avoid the crowds..fished out front managed 2 small fish and some missed hits..At least the 2 I got came on a black/purple teaser I tied...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ledhead36

Managed 2 bass to 30# on incoming tide with clams.

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Congratss on the nice fish.

Sorry to disappoint you guys. I was half asleep and hung over when I typed that. That was 2 fish to 30". When I get a 30 I will be a little more enthusiastic about it. Maybe even use a smiley or two. I haven't done that well with bigger fish this year. There are just not too many of them to go around. My .02

fished RB on incoming during the late afternoon ...2 hours ....bunker chunks ....no bites ...water still brown and cold ...didn't see any other fish caught ....Attachment 18226Attachment 18227

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ledhead36

Sorry to disappoint you guys. I was half asleep and hung over when I typed that. That was 2 fish to 30". When I get a 30 I will be a little more enthusiastic about it. Maybe even use a smiley or two. I haven't done that well with bigger fish this year. There are just not too many of them to go around. My .02

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Haha understandable!! I was gonna say pretty calm report for getting a 30#er lol good job any way!

Haha Ledhead!!!! I kayaked last night and got a 26 and had a few other hits that never connected.



















26" <-- lol

Water was still very stained and brown with debris floating out there. The fish were there and wanted to feed but I think they just had too hard of a time finding our plugs. Had we bait fished I'm sure we could have caught double digits each. Fish were coming up to the kayak and swirling next to us kept scaring the crap out of us.

Jbarbosa that was funny. Fished the surf in moco this morning with positive results. From 5-7am the action was pretty good. Picked up 14 bass on a 3/4 oz bucktail and grub. These were mostly small fish. Only one was over 28". All released.

Nice going guys! Fished the db today it was windy and not that great. One 25" bass on bloods. Fed the crabs with the rest of the worms they are out early this year.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by madcaster

fished RB on incoming during the late afternoon ...2 hours ....bunker chunks ....no bites ...water still brown and cold ...didn't see any other fish caught ....Attachment 18226Attachment 18227

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Now this is what I'm talking about. The db is usually this brown color. Some times when I am out there I think of what it must have looked like 150 years ago. I bet a lot cleaner then

Fished RB last night outgoing ....bunker chunks ...no wind ...water calm ....lighting flashes north of me ....2 keepers 35 and 33Attachment 18230Attachment 18231Attachment 18232Attachment 18233Attachment 18234 both released ...still swimming .....caught them back to back ....nice fight on both of them

Quote:

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Originally Posted by madcaster

Fished RB last night outgoing ....bunker chunks ...no wind ...water calm ....lighting flashes north of me ....2 keepers 35 and 33 both released ...still swimming .....caught them back to back ....nice fight on both of them

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Congrats on the Bass MC, Awesome pics!!!!

I fished last night bayside, 1:30-8:30.
Finally got rid of the skunk (5th time out...).
Caught the top fish at 2:30 on a teaser, then at 3:30 on a 4" plastic plug I caught the short bass. Lost another shortly after on same small plug. Then around 4:30 I got the Fluke on a 5 inch plastic plug. Very nice night and felt great being out there, felt like a miracle to finally get a bend in the rod :lookhappy:.
Threw larger stuff, a lot, but nothing.

Attachment 18235

Awesome reports madcaster and monty! wtg on the releases as well! monty that fish in the top pic what is that is it a herring?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cowherder

Awesome reports madcaster and monty! wtg on the releases as well! monty that fish in the top pic what is that is it a herring?

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I thought so, figures first fish of the year for me and its a freaking oddball:huh:.

Fished island beach early am. 2 micro bass on a stubby needlefish and teaser combo. Both hit the teaser. Saw gannets working way out but didn't have binocs. Maybe they were on bunker or herring but could not tell for sure. Next time I'll bring bunker or clams. Not much other action while I was out. Still a great morning to be on the beach. Nice going madcaster and monty.

Nice work gents thanks for the report.

Nice job Madcaster & Monty.

Blurry pic doesn't help to id it but I don't see the blue tint found in river herring. Body looks a little big for herring and the river herring are way up the streams right now getting ready to spawn.

Are you familiar with hickory shad Monty?

Nice job catchin fellas!! I would say some sort of shad for sure by the pic..Like J said not much color to it unlike herring..

Yeah maybe a hickory shad. Did a search and came up with this thread. Didn't know they came in this early?
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...g+hickory+shad

body shape, and tail looks like a blue back sea herring or bunker to me definitely not a shad no spots and wrong shape tail

Quote:

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Originally Posted by finchaser

body shape, and tail looks like a blue back sea herring or bunker to me definitely not a shad no spots and wrong shape tail

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I have caught Hickory Shad before and this did not look like one.
That's why I thought it was a herring. I have a pic from last week of a dead thing with no head. I thought they were similar, posted here
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ed=1#post78530

First 2 fishing trips of the year....
May 2, late night tides
May 4, late night

I'm embarrassed to say these are my first 2 fishing trips this year....can't remember the last year I started fishing this late in the season....life has thrown some curveballs and really gotten in the way of fishing.....I just don't have the time.....

The dominant forage now in North Jersey haunts seem to be bunker.....I knew I had to get out there, just to see if I could find any other forage...That's all important to a sustained and reliable Spring fishery..(Congrats to Monty for always finding the most unusual types of fish in an area).......:HappyWave:

On May 2, I could hear bunker in the distance.....along with a very scattered # of bass feeding on them.....
Fished 2 1/2 hours, 2 locations.....worked all levels of the water column, nothing for me at all.

On May 4, fished the back as well....short 2 hour trip...
Heavy sustained NW winds 25mph....water was not bad...perfect temps......
As opposed to the other night, the bunker numbers were substantially less......the water seemed dead but I worked it thoroughly anyway because those general areas should produce at least one bass this time of year....

** Although I searched thoroughly, I could not find any other forage....spearing, grass shrimp, herring, etc....in the areas I fished....









I see a lot of internet blaming of the water temperatures for the reason why the bass won't bite, or the NNJ artificial bite/ (clam/bunker bite as well) is not that (consistently) reliable this time of year.....I disagree.....conditions have been perfect for almost 2 weeks now......bass are being caught in the daytime on the Raritan Bay flats on artificials.....In my experience, there is no reason for lack of a consistent artificial night bite, other than lack of fish....

Meanwhile I have friends who own kayaks who are doing well on artificials daily....no need for them to lose sleep fishing the night tides....
There are also certain areas that are consistently giving up a few small bass at night....crowds are already forming....so for now I'll fish the less traveled areas.....

And friends tossing bunker heads who are catching nicer fish up to 26# at night....taunting me daily for not fishing bunker heads....:moon::kooky::HappyWave:

What can I say......I must love punishment......:rolleyes:
I tried to explain the challenge, and disappointment sometimes, of fishing artificials to someone I know.....I don't know if they understood the passion in my voice, or thought I was :kooky: as well.....

**I would like to report that I missed a fish, or felt some kind of action on those nights...
however, not a touch for me, in my first trips of the season.....
I remain hopeful......will try to get out more....but pulling less of the Monty marathons I did in the past......
This is the time of year that I really look forward to the night bite and the explosive action.........still optimistic......and ya can't catch em from the couch.....:learn:
Good luck to all.....:HappyWave: