NJ Fishing Reports for the week of 3/24 - 3/30/2008

[bunkerjoe4]

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!

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




The week in review:
Well folks, it has been a week of ups and downs, depending on where you were fishing. Bunker have finally arrived in most of the back bay areas, but migratory bass have not started the usual springtime feast in northern NJ. Schools of bunker and herring are being sighted out front in their northern migration.

Bass fishing is spotty at best, although some keepers are being caught. The most positive news is that schoolies keep us busy while we wait for the bigger fish to arrive.

To add further confusion, the first bluefish have been reported caught in Raritan bay. That's about 2 weeks earlier than they were here last year.

The best chance of geting a keeper is in southern NJ, and the southern bay areas where waters are a little warmer, and bass have started attacking the bunker schools.
Some decent fish are being taken in these areas, and a very nice fish was allegedly taken yesterday near the Atlantic City area.

The flounder season has started with mixed results. Again, water temperatures in the northern bays is fluctuating, and trying to surpass the 50 degree mark. Windy N/NW weather patterns don't help that, but let's have some faith. Flounder are available, though fyke netting in certain areas may have hurt the population a little.

On the freshwater side, shad are being caught in the Delaware river. A small group of dedicated anglers has been catching them for almost 2 weeks, but much effort is required. This had been hampered by higher water and some rain runoff. Shad and herring will probably not be caught with any consistency for a week or 2, but they are out there.

In the back bays and the rivers, the spring fishery is really tied into the tides. Warmer water dumps out of the rivers and creeks into the bays, so fishing at the top of the outgoing would maximize one's fishing time and productivity.

This is the time of year when a few crazy, dedicated fishermen are catching most of the fish, and others may get discouraged. If you got skunked on your last trip, ask yourself what you would do differently next time to change that. For bass, time the tides in the back bays, and remember that low light conditions produce more fish.

Fishing conditions should improve with warmer weather. A good fisherman will have several alternate plans if his location for the night doesn't work out. A hot spot isn't always hot. Just because a place was loaded with bunker yesterday, there is no guarantee they will be there today. Remember that when reading reports and seeing how others are doing.

Learning to analyze conditions, scout your locations well to maximize productivity, and maintaining flexibility in your game plan will allow you to bring more fish in. Good luck out there, folks.

[clamchucker]

Went flounder fishing today SR in a friend's boat. Pulled in 11 between us using mussels, but ran through a lot of chum. Some people we know went yesterday, didn't do so well. Mussels work pretty well, but you really have to push that chum out there. I put cheap dog and cat food in ours to stretch it out, homemade mix.

[fishinmission78]

Fished for 3 hrs tonight back of RB. Wasn't as cold tonight. Really have to pay attention, no action for the first 2 1/2 hours, but got 3 shorts up to 24" in the last 1/2 hr, when I was ready to doze off. Clams. Weather system moving in, it should turn tyhe fish on.

[clamchucker]

Fished the outgoing RB this afternoon clams and bloodworms. Save your money on the worms guys, some places now selling them for $12dozen, better off with gulp worms. Water was very fishy, but couldn't get anything but a few very light flounder taps. Switched to smaller hooks, but still got the big zero. Water temps have to move up a few more degrees.

[wish4fish]

i been out 3 times in the last week, couldn't cach a fish if they were giving them away. clams and storms, where are the bass, maybe i should worry about trout instead.

[clamchucker]

Spent the last 2 days fishing for flounder by boat. A friend and I fished the Navesink and Shark river. SR is by far the best area, we really didn't fish the Navesink much, just a springtime cruise to check out spots. We did see a few seals there, so they'e eating the bunker. SR we almost limited out both days using clams & mussels, 2nd day he beat me. Decent flatties, up to 2lbs. A LOT of chum was the ticket.

[hookedonbass]

Fished raritan yesterday in the sun. Thought that would make a difference. Got the skunk, and didn't see any of the people on either direction from me catch anything either. I think the bass detoured to Bermuda for a few weeks.