New Jersey fishing reports for April 2009

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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
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

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...c/progress.gif

Fiished this morning Weds from 3:30-6am. Sent a friend out earlier in the night, maybe he'll come on here and post when he figures out how to download the pics. If not, let me know man and Ill post it for ya. :HappyWave: He got 13 fish total last night, 2 keepers on clams.

I started out earlier in the night looking for something specific, but I couldnt find it, water was too quiet. So I tooka snooze and met up with the new guy later. The bite slowed down then as the water went out, bottom of the tide. Fish were hitting very light. I got my first one by opening the bail and letting it run for a bit, then settin the hook. There was a nice SE wind going on kicking up the bay surface, good for fishin.:thumbsup:

He left and I got a total of 5 before I stopped at sunrise, all fish smalll up to 27". I feel I got thise fish by moving around in that area and looking for deeper water I remembered from previous low tide scouting.

Pics of the sunrise here. If he doesn't post his fish by tomorrow I'll post for him.

Attachment 6311

Attachment 6312

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We were out last night in the rain. It gradually slowed down and I thought there would be a good bite, but I was wrong. Conditions were almost perfect...a light rain, E/SE wind, a littlechop on the water. Moved afew places, not a tap.

Not a lot of guys out there, didn't hear any positive news. Maybe it was a little too cold, water seemed like it was in the low 40's.

Around 2am a friend left and I went to another flats area. Got 2 small fish between 3-4am clammin, middle of the outgoing. I got these fish the same way as last night, opening the bail when I felt the light hit, then striking after letting them run a bit.

After 4am, no activity for an hour, so I packed it in to go to work.

fished wed morning raritan bay. caught 11 schoolies two keeepers biggest 30 inches on clams

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tommy

fished wed morning raritan bay. caught 11 schoolies two keeepers biggest 30 inches on clams

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:clapping::clapping: Great post man, and congrats! Tommy's not an internet guy, not proficient at posting and downloading pics, yet!

We met fishin and he told me how hard he was fishin and how many hours he was out each time. The guy loves to fish, would fish ever spare minute if he didn't have to work so much. Only problem...it was in the daytime. So I got him outn at night and he did great. Great report and great pics, man! :thumbsup:

Last night went to Raritan Bay with DS, checked out 2 places, no bump just rain.
This afternoon ran down to RB again to test ride my new Yak, first when i got there some fog came thru from the ocean, so i picked another location, it was better, i went out , anchored down, then 1/2 hr later got little rough there, + i had to go home, so i called it a day.
Im totally new with yak fishing,but i wanna go for the "BIG" ones this year.
This is my Yak! (without my seat + all the other toys)


http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5743/sspx0201z.jpg

if anyone has a fishfinder for kayaks for sale, let me know.
Thanx

I crushed them in the backwaters of SNJ before the wind got stupid and then the rain came too. Most fish were 21-27" but i plucked out a nice 31" I was wading in up to pocket and it felt chilly (water) but not crazy, id guess 47-49ish maybe, this on a shallow flats type area. all on plastics. Wanted to see what would happen on the outgoing but rain and hard wind came before the tide switched but had i stocked trout earlier my back couldnt take anymore anyway :eek:

Fished RB last night. Started out slow, but after a few hours had two shorts.

Lenny, like the yak, nice setup! I see you had 2 rodholders instaled on the back, good deal. :thumbsup: Wait till you get towed around by a bigger fish, you won't be able to think of anything else, your work will suffer, family life will suffer, all for the yak addiction. :laugh:

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Originally Posted by SharkHart

I crushed them in the backwaters of SNJ before the wind got stupid and then the rain came too. Most fish were 21-27" but i plucked out a nice 31" I was wading in up to pocket and it felt chilly (water) but not crazy, id guess 47-49ish maybe, this on a shallow flats type area. all on plastics. Wanted to see what would happen on the outgoing but rain and hard wind came before the tide switched but had i stocked trout earlier my back couldnt take anymore anyway :eek:

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Nice, SH! I went down SJ last night to fish with a friend there, our goal was a "clam-free" night. :D We were throwin smaller stuff, saw some bait around, shrimp and spearing, bass would pop every now and then, but the water was colder where we were, around 43. They were sluggish. I only managed one short on a white tsunami shad, still a nice night.

Did you notice that wind shift, first was E/SE, and then shifted to the N for awhile, and then back?

oh man I wish i knew you were in the area. YEah it was gradually coming around into our face more north and brought in a ton of water. But once the rain started it was also being pushed into our face.

They come into a few areas hard down there early season but some other good spots they dont come into later.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tommy

fished wed morning raritan bay. caught 11 schoolies two keeepers biggest 30 inches on clams

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Nice fish Tommy. The one in front looks fat! I fished some clams after work. In the back of raritan bay. I got one fish 26" but like you said Dark the hit was only a light tap. Where are the big cows? :drool:

WTG guys, I am glad the fish are starting to show up for you all.:clapping:

Yeah, it's just getting warm enough for them to get in the spawn cycle here. The water temk keeps fluctuating up here though, so you gotta put the time in.

Finaddict, what have the water temps been down by you? Up here I see a few degrees change makes all the difference in the world. I check that water temp on the site 3x/day. How about you, do you notice anything similar?

Last night I fished clams in the back of Raritan bay till 1am. 2 runts, biggest was 25".

Hit up about 5 different spots out back tonight and all I had to show for it was 1 measley little skate who swallowed a whole clam. The strong NW winds were almost unbearable except for one spot that faced directly opposite of the wind. Hope you guys did better than I did. Tomorrow another day and by 8 PM the winds should be back down to about 5 MPH.

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Originally Posted by amboyangler

Hit up about 5 different spots out back tonight and all I had to show for it was 1 measley little skate who swallowed a whole clam. The strong NW winds were almost unbearable except for one spot that faced directly opposite of the wind. Hope you guys did better than I did. Tomorrow another day and by 8 PM the winds should be back down to about 5 MPH.

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Hey, Amboy, out fishin in 40mph winds, at least you were tryin! :fishing: I wanted to come out lookin for ya's but was stuck at a lame reunion. The only clam we saw was when a woman in her 40's, thinking she was in her 20's, :rolleyes: was bent over a table for about 15 minutes in conversation without realizing she was giving the clam some air. Or maybe she did realize it and was lookin for some reunion action. :D

Nice effort guys, IMO the wind pushed too much water out of the bay at low tide yesterday. You'll gettum next time. :thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amboyangler

Hit up about 5 different spots out back tonight and all I had to show for it was 1 measley little skate who swallowed a whole clam. The strong NW winds were almost unbearable except for one spot that faced directly opposite of the wind. Hope you guys did better than I did. Tomorrow another day and by 8 PM the winds should be back down to about 5 MPH.

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not us dude, water was skinny so we fished by an inlet that wind was crazy fierce, lol! couldn't do squat, only one tap all night. water is warm so maybe tonight will be better

Fished r b friday evening , one keeper 30 inches. Three schoolies . It was blowing , but not too cold.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tommy

Fished r b friday evening , one keeper 30 inches. Three schoolies . It was blowing , but not too cold.

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Nice goin Tommy, hooked on the nite bite! :clapping:

fished r.b. last night bunker all over but no fish under them.

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Originally Posted by chas527

fished r.b. last night bunker all over but no fish under them.

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Nice chas, at least you were out there. :thumbsup: I was out last night from 12-5am RB, had almost the same experience you had. I wanted to see if a few colder water places had opened up yet, did some driving.

The wind was brisk at times, shifted back and forthe between SW and W.

Eventually found bunker, man were they big! Horsebunker.:wow: I snagged a few, livelined one or 2. Nothing, even put on a bloody chunk, nothing. It was amazing to see the sizes of some of the schools as they maneuvered in and out. Everything was quiet till 3am, just bunker, when all of a sudden about a dozen jumped out of the water. I knew there hadda be some bass under them, but there were none for me. :skunk:

Moved on to a shallower spot, tried my luck till 5am, bunker and clams, not a tap. Out again tonight hopefully.:fishing:

Yesterday evening hit RB, fished incoming and a little bit of outgoing tide.
Had some bites on the incoming tide, but as the wind died out, so does the bites too.
Managed only 1 short
I saw birds from the distance to dive into the water few times.
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2426/sspx0208.jpg

THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE HOW PEOPLE LEAVE THEIR TRASH BEHIND!
:devil:

http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/7352/sspx0207.jpg

^^ Keep at it Lenny, I see a 30# in your future. ;)

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Originally Posted by DarkSkies

^^ Keep at it Lenny, I see a 30# in your future. ;)

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Thanx, i hope that future is not far.
Im sure it will happen soon.:fishing:

Fished R B , bunkers are in. Also big bluefish !!! Sorry guys...

^^ Yeaah Tommy, I heard they were here on Sunday, but couldn't confirm that report from more than one source. But they were in the back in the daytime yesterday, chomping lines, and eating bait, up to 10 lbs.

Good intel, Tommy gets the credit. :clapping:

Last year I think they showed up around April 10, around April 14 the year before. Getting earlier and earlier every year for the yellow eyed demons. Time to take the kids out fishin, what kid doesn't love catchin bluefish? :thumbsup: :viking:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tommy

Fished R B , bunkers are in. Also big bluefish !!! Sorry guys...

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I don't mind bluefish, i prefer bass but still gives me satisfaction when nothing else happening on the beach.
I personally like to fight with them, its awesome how they attack poppers.
:D

Lenny, I would rather catch bluefish in the 10-15lb class than 24" bass. Not ashamed to admit it. Late in the season when the cows are in Rhody, I start fishin for sharks, and big bluefish at night. Great fight those bluefish, they will bust up your spinning reels. :D


Congrats to the guys who got some nice fish yesterday afternoon, I couldn't make it, but at least a few went home happy! :lookhappy: Right place, right time, wtg! :thumbsup:

Bass were churning the water last night in south NJ, we each had double digit cathces on the outgoing on pink and white zooms on a 1/2 jig head. My biggest fish was 27" funny thing is i got 8 fish @27 none bigger

Fished RB this evening, had a bad feeling about it, no wind no good fishing, at least for me.
Hit 2 spots on incoming, nada.
The bay was like a big lake, perfect for kayak fishing, saw 2 guys out there on a kayak.
Tomorrow is an other day.

No 4/10 early am report? You guys sleeping in or what? :HappyWave:

Lenny, hey at least you gave it a shot, there were no superstar catches last night, only a slow pick here and there. :thumbsup:


Mick, there were a lot of guys fishin last night, similar sentiments echoed, too bright, water too calm, many bunker around but no bass. I would be suspicious of a report by anyone who said they killed them big time yesterday unless they were fishin at a trout hatchery. :laugh:

A friend called to tell me it was slow, then he had a hit so hung up. Called back later and he had a giant eel. If you were targeting giant eels, last night was the night to be out! (Hey, in my book an eel trumps a skate, and beats the skunk :D)

Gotta put that time in. On Wednesday when guys killed them in the afternoon towards the end of the incoming, some might have said they were lucky. Maybe so, but some guys are out there 5-7 nights a week, they hit it big 1 or 2 nights out of that, and they deserve it. That particular spot had not given up big fish like that for awhile. One place is hot one night, cold the next. I'm kinda glad things are that way for now.

Even to go out and get skunked, and spend the rest of your night scouting a new place that you never went to before, that's admirable. :clapping: It they caught them every night at the same place, I think I might give up bass fishin, it would be too much like the rocks in moco in May/June. ;)

fished rb last night and again this morning.finally got some fish. got 3 last night one keeper 281/2.and 1 short this morning.it' been awale been out 10 times and got nothing.did any one see that moon last night.it was was something else.

Nice, chas! I got 2 hits last night, but they were light, no fish. :( I thought it was too calm like Lenny said, and the moon was like a silver charcoal in the sky, very bright. Would you say your fish all came around the same time, or were the hits scattered?

Went to SH and fished from about 4am to 8am. Made my way from Buglight all the way around the point and did not even see a ripple. It was my 1st time out this season, what a beautiful night. I started talking to a guy when I got back to the parking lot, turns out it was another threader Monty. Nice to meet you Monty. Hope everyone had a healthy winter. Good luck to all this season.

Mike O:fishing:

Clammed from 6:30am to about 10:30am this morning (4/10). Water very cold. The only bend in the rod was when I casted. Nothing doing. Just wanted to stay away from the crowds (and the Bass too, I guess). Anyway, it always feels good at the edge.

Happy Trails

Hey Mike, nice meeting you too.
Like you said, was great beeing out there, even without any action.
Will more than likely see you during the season.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike O

Went to SH and fished from about 4am to 8am. Made my way from Buglight all the way around the point and did not even see a ripple. It was my 1st time out this season, what a beautiful night. I started talking to a guy when I got back to the parking lot, turns out it was another threader Monty. Nice to meet you Monty. Hope everyone had a healthy winter. Good luck to all this season.

Mike O:fishing:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by chas527

fished rb last night and again this morning.finally got some fish. got 3 last night one keeper 281/2.and 1 short this morning.it' been awale been out 10 times and got nothing.did any one see that moon last night.it was was something else.

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Nice chas, ya puts in your time ya gets your fish!! :clapping:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike O

I started talking to a guy when I got back to the parking lot, turns out it was another threader Monty. Nice to meet you Monty. Hope everyone had a healthy winter. Good luck to all this season.

Mike O:fishing:

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Montys like the guy from the Fugitive, he's everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Only in the dark of night, or maybe he's like the Shadow from the old time TV series. ;)