NJ Fishing Reports for May 2015 - www.StripersAndAnglers.com

[DarkSkies]

Short and sweet......

1. Post your fishing reports here.....
2. Be as specific as ya want....but remember the limited access....If you don't enjoy fishing next to 40 friends at night in a 400 foot section of beach, think before ya post.....

3. Location -
Out front....
out back.....
or the county...

further details on the first page of any past S&A monthly fishing reports.

4. Moderation...
I rarely have time to moderate these threads.
If something needs to be addressed,and you are a contributing member.....please PM me or send an e-mail via the report post button.

** Thanks for your cooperation and for being such a great group!








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[DarkSkies]

Early Spring Recap
May is usually a great month for fishing for a lot of us.....some observations so far.....


1. For Northern NJ and the Raritan Bay bite....there was activity....but no consistent 2-4 weeks of activity of small to larger bass like there usually is...(the holdover bass that winter in the Arthur Kill and NY Harbor areas) before the Hudson bass showed up about 10 days ago.....

2. The bass that wintered over in the BBay seemed to spread out in April, and were available at a few early season locations....along with some drum and bluefish....

3. From the feedback I got from friends who were fishing on April 1...the fishing in the bays in the Southern Counties (Atlantic to Cape May) was a little better and more consistent....

4. As I have been explaining to the folks out there....the fish that showed up in Raritan Bay seemed to be very concentrated in certain areas....and feast or famine in others....
(this is a pattern that could indicate a shrinking biomass, explained in several threads here)

5. The fish that were supposed to spawn did not yet spawn in some of the usual places....Although the Delaware biomass and fishery is said to be strong...the fact that these fish....(with specific locations imprinted in their brains) did not spawn in certain areas....gives me great concern....

6. I'm also getting preliminary feedback that the 2015 Chesapeake spawning activity was not as great as anticipated...and was another very late spawn, relative to the other years.....




**It seems everything is off this year.....the cold Winter has been blamed....and that is likely true, to some extent....Spawning is very dependent on water temps...But is that the complete explanation?
I am not sure......

The above are not only my observations...but anecdotal reports from a few dozen veteran anglers that I regularly talk about some of this stuff with.....

Although I am not a scientist...I have been on this earth long enough to recognize patterns....or discern when they are changing.......

I will try to transfer some of these thoughts to the
StripersandAnglers yearly coastwide fish stock assessment, state of the fishery
thread...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ock+assessment

when I get a chance....

















In the meantime, I have been urging some friends to get out there and fish hard...
The fish in the Raritan Bay could be leaving any day to move upriver as water temps rise....

Many areas up and down the Coast now have big blues to target....
Although some anglers curse them....I feel they are great fun...and a welcome target when the bass action slows down as we await the Southern migrators to come North.....
It seems that the 2015 early season larger blues are now available in more areas than they usually are....

In trying to keep the positivity here...
Make some time....
Get out there....
Try different things....
Take a kid fishing....
Or challenge yourselves to learn new places.....

And you just might have some fun.....
Good luck and health to all.....
And God Bless

[buckethead]

I walked and fished out front in moco today. Outgoing tide early morning. Picked up one small bass on a bucktail and rind. Rough surf and NE winds made it not that great. Even if that were not that windy the fish are not really there yet. Fished a few times in the past week, some small fish and misses. I would call it a slow pick at best.

[buckethead]

5. The fish that were supposed to spawn did not yet spawn in some of the usual places....Although the Delaware biomass and fishery is said to be strong...the fact that these fish....(with specific locations imprinted in their brains) did not spawn in certain areas....gives me great concern....

6. I'm also getting preliminary feedback that the 2015 Chesapeake spawning activity was not as great as anticipated...and was another very late spawn, relative to the other years.....




**It seems everything is off this year.....the cold Winter has been blamed....and that is likely true, to some extent....Spawning is very dependent on water temps...But is that the complete explanation?
I am not sure......


The fish in the Raritan Bay could be leaving any day to move upriver as water temps rise....

I agree 100% with your assessment. I think the Delaware fish are almost done spawning. We really needed some strong spawns this year. Only time will tell with the YOY survey next year. I don't think the numbers will be that good though.
As for the fish being on the move you are right there as well. May 4th is the full moon. If they do not move this weekend they should be moving around that time. Historical pattern.

[VSdreams]

buckethead you are a trouper! I went down to the ocean in moco before work today and didn't fish because it was so windy. I wanted to throw plugs but they would have got pushed back to the shore. I guess that makes sense to use bucktails. Thanks for the honest report always enjoy reading yours.

[plugcrazy]

We're already in May and the ocean temperature is only 48 degrees. brrrrrrrr!

[jigfreak]

Yeah but that don't stop the blues from feeding. Got into a mess of them this morning on the outgoing in occo. Nothing visible on the surface but they were there. Just drop an ava and tail into the water, crank a few times on the bottom, and you were hooked up. 2 hours of solid action before work. Lots of fun. Might have been spitting up squid or something blobby looking. My arms are tired. up to 10lbs all released.

[robmedina]

Wow just wow. Started the day off at 7am in barney. The water was as flat as glass. I heard alot of hooting and hollaring while i was getting ready. My buddy Mikey was late so i went ahead. I paddled out towards the hollering and notice hundreds upon hundreds if tails sticking out of the water. I was in 6 feet of water so that made it even stranger. I realized pretty quickly they were blues and it was on fir 2 hours straight. I even got 4 of em on my flyrod. Was great fun.
Paddled around to stay on them but lost them once the wind picked up. Caught some more trolling and called it a day.
Snallest fish was 6 or 7 lbs buggest had ti go 12lbs.
I cant upload pics from my phone will do later.

[plugcrazy]

Wow just wow. Started the day off at 7am in barney. The water was as flat as glass. I heard alot of hooting and hollaring while i was getting ready. My buddy Mikey was late so i went ahead. I paddled out towards the hollering and notice hundreds upon hundreds if tails sticking out of the water. I was in 6 feet of water so that made it even stranger.
Snallest fish was 6 or 7 lbs buggest had ti go 12lbs.
.

Awesome report for once the BB is kicking butt on the RB!

[porgy75]

Got some nice blues in rb today. My biggest was about 33" I don't know how much pounds it weighed but it was FAAAAAAT. Got at least 22 or 25 I can't remember exactly. I didn't keep any but some guys were hauling them away by the coolerful. When you guys on here said your arms were tired I was sometimes jealous. Now I know the feeling and it was awesome! Get out there and catch them while its hot. Great day today.

[baitstealer]

Wow thats great news thanks for the reports and updates fellas. Drooling from the mouth reading them.

[seamonkey]

x2 hopefully they will chop up some bait and the stripers will be following closely.

[Blazin420]

blazing I agree with most of what you said. The big blues will chop up the weakfish and follow them every year. The striped bass as well.

Some fishermen blame the health of striped bass in the 1990's for the decline of the weakfish. I feel it is more complicated than that. There is still a commercial fishery for weakfish and they take the spikes every year. That should be stopped. The weakfish regulations of one per man make no sense if you don't take care of the gillnetters as well.

Your absolutely right clamchucker..Im not saying that the blues and bass are the reason for the huge decline in weaks...Not by any means..But i caught a lot of weaks in 2012 including my personal best of 8lbs..i would catch 1 or 2 each outing that year..I believe there was a lack of big blues for me that year...The main reason they are so scarce is definitely due to BS regs for the gill netters...

[robmedina]

while paddling around I saw what looked like chunks of meat floating about 1-2 feet under the surface. Also, some of the blues when boat side were spitting up shards of flesh.

[fishinmission78]

Fished island beach before work yesterday. Bunker chunks are good to go now. Snagged fresh bunker in the back and chunked. 2 short bass and a few blues to 12#.

[buckethead]

Moco 5-6am. Picked up three small stripers (released) right before the sun rose on bucktail and white grub. Water is very calm with a light SW breeze.

[cowherder]

Went out fishing the bay tonight. I didn't know that many people were into bluefish. I saw cars in the lot that were from PA. Guys driving all the way from PA just for a hot bluefish bite? Wow just wow.
I got a mess of them they were so feisty and bulldogging it was a lot of fun. To 13 lbs left em biting it got too crowded and I left. Ava and green tail.

[Blazin420]

I know your secret spot now! If you don't want to stand in a storm of wangs. Stay away from ASSbury then!

Hahaha not that kind of wang hahahaha...The kind that eat clams ment for bait!!!!

[hookedonbass]

lol awesome reports and commentary gents! News bulletin- the blues have invaded the north! the blues have invaded the north. Run for your lives! Was out yesterday and got a bunch right before dark on white pencil popper. lordy are they really big and strong.

[lostatsea]

Like the martians in war of the worlds lol.