NJ fishing reports for April 2010

[rip316]

Very respectful Dave. It is a pleasure to know you.

[storminsteve]

I know this post is late, but I needed to post it.

Just wanted to say, I had a blast fishing with Dark and Yardville this week. Was great meeting you Yardville, I had a great time fishing with you. Dark kept feeding me different ideas and plugs to toss and it was great once we figured what the fish were going to hit. I have done a lot of bait fishing from shore and my boat until I sold it. I also did some artificials, but only on bluefish.

This is another stage for me and I plan to perfect it as much as i can. I got a little bit fumbled up during the bite trying to make another leader and re-tie my lie in the middle of the bite. My adrenalin was pumping and I just couldn't get it right.

Don't give up on the bass though. They are still out there, you just have to be a bit more tactful as to when you're going to fish for them.

Thanks again Dark and Yardville. Looking forward to fishing with you guys again.

To Dark and Yardville, hope to fish with you guys as well one day. Good mojo to you for creating a new surfcaster. Cardoc, feels good to catch on artificials doesn't it? Welcome to the addiction.



I fished RB last night. There was a light drizzle, I fished part of the outgoing. Gosh there are some big bluefish out there.
I caught a mess of blues to 11pounds on poppers, black bomber, and mag-darters. It was a lot of fun, go out there and catch them up guys!

[buckethead]

SH early this morning. Caught a few blues on poppers.

[cardoc765]

It's always a pleasure to learn from others new ways of catching fish. To me, I get a bigger kick out of teaching others as well what I know. Like Dark, I love to teach new comers to this how to catch fish and watch them reel em in. I have taught a few people already some of the things I know, and look forward to the opportuunity to teach others as I go along. Especially the kids.

A thanks to you too Fin, can't wait to go out there together.

[surferman]

Congrats on all the catches guys, it looks like fish are filling in everywhere. Fished an inlet in the rain. It slowed down a little in the afternoon and the blues came in, tackle busters. First I was using shads but then switched to metals when they chopped all my shads up. Baaaaad blues!
Now all we need is the big girls to hit the beach.

[fishinmission78]

Today 4-6, all the bluefish you could reel in from the shore of Barnegat bay. Swimmers.

[rip316]

I was fortunate enough to fish with DARK last night and into the morning. Fished from 830 til 3am. Caught an a__ load of big bluefish. Learned a lot from DARK. They bit on a different variety of lures but, in certain places the bite was a little tougher and had to work for the fish. Great experience and can not wait to learn the next phase. Thanks Dark.

[DarkSkies]

Tried for the artificial bite with Rip316 last night. We drove to the ocean. The SE/E wind made it unfishable as we fished the last of the ebb, part of the flood, so we hit some back bay spots that gave us a lee from the wind.

First place on our list was a place I haven't been to for awhile. I wanted Rip to learn some different aspects of plugging that he wasn't familiar with, that was the goal. Catching fish was secondary.

What part of the water are fish holding at?
This was a good bucktail spot, but there were no indications of any bait or fish at all. I gave him a quick bucktail lesson and we were set.

Bang @#%!! First cast he nails a fat bluefish! I couldn't have been more proud, as he had never bucktailed from shore before.

The bluefish must have been stacked there by the hundreds, because I got one immediately after and we continued to hook them one after the other. The single hook bucktails, and one other factor, gave them a fighting chance, as we nailed big bluefish to 10# and lost a few bigger fish. The excitement and adrenalin for me was off the charts. I don't know if Rip felt the same way, but I was bummed we only got a 1/2 hour of crazy action at that spot, then we had to leave.

That was the best action of the night. It was all downhill from there. Actually, when I'm fishin it's all good as long as I'm out there. What I mean to say that is for the first half hour we had stupid fishing, and for the rest of the night we had to work for our big bluefish, changing presentations along the way. That was actually a blessing, as Rip got to see it isn't always easy to catch bluefish at night, especially as a storm is coming in.

He did get to use and learn different artificials and the right ways to present given the conditions of that moment.

We moved to the next spot. 2 guys were already fishing, getting bluefish on shads. We gave them plenty of space, left them alone. I taught Rip how to work a needlefish. He caught a few, then we got some action on shads. I worked bucktails and some mid level swimmers. Not much action as the bite died there. On to another spot, but not before we had to pick up the fishing garbage of the 2 idiots who were there and left 5 mins before we did. More on that in another thread.

The rain started getting more intense. We could see flashes of lightning, and the thunder sounded like we were in the subway, a low rumbling sound. It wasn't that bad because the storms were far off and moving away from us. However the rain did get stronger.

We went to the next area and worked it for an hour. There were fish, but they were scattered. We really had to work for the hits. I lost a nice one, and Rip lost some. The thing that kept us going was when we said we were going to leave after a few more casts, we would get a hit or tap and get sucked into a few more minutes working the water there.

We finally left when the rain was comng down in sheets. The whole time not one complaint from him. When I'm out there I don't want to go home until I'm shot or the weather forces me. Rip fits into that mindset just fine, I would fish with him again.





Work the bottom when the water is cold:

We made another move to the place Pebbles and I had done so well at Friday night. We fished the last part of the ebb there to slack, and then some.

Fish were there but we had to work at it. It was apparent the water was colder, and there was no bait on top for them to crash like it was the other night. Bunker were around, but they were very scattered "happy" bunker.


The decison was made to work the bottom. Rip did ok on bucktails and shads, but again, had to work for every fish.

I concentrated on mid-level to sinking swimmers. Also worked some fin-s rubber there, but no results. The magdarters that had proved so deadly for Pebbles and I a few nights ago produced nothing. Bombers and megabaits produced nothing. I really wanted to catch a fish on a plug that night and except for the needlefish, the plug bite wasn't happening.

However the action at this late stage of the ebb had slowed and I felt like experimenting. I diligently worked over 10 different presentations and styles before I came across something that worked, a no-name small sinking swimmer about 3" long. That finally produced results, which translated to a few hits and one landed bluefish. All that work for an hour to catch a few more fish, we must be crazy.

But, in a way, it wasn't that bad to be out there. The rain and wind died down, the temp was very mild, and the fog rolling in at different places made for some spooky cool landscapes.

Before we packed it up for the night, we decided to hit the first honey hole one more time. Good choice. I got one bucktailing, Rip managed a few hits and misses, and we added few more after that to our night's tally.




In summary, we didn't slay them, except at fhe first spot for a 1/2 hour. After that we had to work our presentations. This was good because Rip got a chance to see that surfcasting sometimes is hard work. Glad I finally got a chance to fish with him. It was a pleasure to teach him a few things, see that his understanding had increased, and watch his enthusuasm as he was drawn into the addictive world of surfcasting.

[GeoffT]

^^^^^^ Great report, DS. And good work getting yet another one addicted to plugging.

Blues are always willing participants when practicing your plugging.

[speedy]

Cardoc765 you won the plug in the March random drawing!

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.

If you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well. Anyone who posts a report can win a plug even if they got skunked!


This month we're giving out plugs from Ace Baits.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...splay.php?f=83

PM me your info so I can send it out. Thanks for posting and helping to make this a great site!

that swimmer is sweet who made that swimmer great job

[rip316]

Thanks for the kind words Dark. Can't wait to do it again.

[albanyguy1]

Great report Dark. Being so far away, its fun to fish vicariously through you and all the other members.

Shad fishing on the Hudson is prohibited this year, so I might have to hightail down to the Jersey shore a bit earlier than I planned. Fish em up.

[storminsteve]

The rain started getting more intense. We could see flashes of lightning, and the thunder sounded like we were in the subway, a low rumbling sound. It wasn't that bad because the storms were far off and moving away from us. However the rain did get stronger.

We went to the next area and worked it for an hour. There were fish, but they were scattered. We really had to work for the hits. I lost a nice one, and Rip lost some. The thing that kept us going was when we said we were going to leave after a few more casts, we would get a hit or tap and get sucked into a few more minutes working the water there.

We finally left when the rain was comng down in sheets. The whole time not one complaint from him. When I'm out there I don't want to go home until I'm shot or the weather forces me. Rip fits into that mindset just fine, I would fish with him again.

You write great Rich, you really should consider doing it professionally. I always look forward to reading your reports. I feel like I'm right alongside you guys as you are fishing.

Unlike you, I saw that rain forecast last night and stayed in like a punk. I got up at 2am, and fished 3-6 in the back of raritan bay. I got one bass 30" within the first 5 minutes on fresh bunker. The rest of the time I was getting battered by big blues. Hey it was a lot of fun like you said. A fish fighting on the end of your line is better than none, and these blues fight like crazy.

[fishinmission78]

OC surf 6-8 pm, surf was rough, threw 3 oz crippled herring and hopkins that got hammered by bluefish. Managed a half dozen 5-11pounds.

[rip316]

The 11lbers just wont quit. It's like arguing with my wife. lololololool

[DarkSkies]

^^^^^^ Great report, DS. And good work getting yet another one addicted to plugging.
Blues are always willing participants when practicing your plugging.

Thanks Geoff, I know you're happy that the artificial bite is finally in full swing. Best of luck to you and the JSS club this season!

that swimmer is sweet who made that swimmer great job

That's a surf pig from Ace Baits. It's a company, not one of the custom builders many know of, but he still makes great plugs. The finish in them is bulletproof. He uses a hardened 2 stage epoxy that is second to none. I have caught fish after fish on those plugs and they hold up without needing a repaint. They hold up well to savage teeth and jetty bashings. Ace Baits, and the owner is the nicest guy who really cares about quality control.

Thanks for the kind words Dark. Can't wait to do it again.

Ya done good, many of those presentations you were using for the first time. Made me proud.

Great report Dark. Being so far away, its fun to fish vicariously through you and all the other members....so I might have to hightail down to the Jersey shore a bit earlier than I planned. Fish em up
.

Come on down the water's fine and the fish are hungry.

You write great Rich, you really should consider doing it professionally. I always look forward to reading your reports. I feel like I'm right alongside you guys as you are fishing.

Thanks for the kind words Steve. I've been offered the chance to write for some magazines, but at this point I have many reservations about spot burning. I can't sell out spots for money, I just can't.
If I wrote for a big publication I feel that's what they would ask for, so I won't do it.

[GeoffT]

Thanks for the kind words Steve. I've been offered the chance to write for some magazines, but at this point I have many reservations about spot burning. I can't sell out spots for money, I just can't.
If I wrote for a big publication I feel that's what they would ask for, so I won't do it.

You don't have to, you can write one for me. I promise it'll be for my eyes only.

[fishinmission78]

Some bluefish action this morning in OC on krok spoons and heavy ava jigs with red tails, ava 27 to 47.

[finchaser]

SOS tell me your spot or I'll kill a SWAN

[clamchucker]

You write great Rich, you really should consider doing it professionally. I always look forward to reading your reports. I feel like I'm right alongside you guys as you are fishing.

I second what storminsteve said. Your reports are always entertaining, never bragging, and they are enthusiastic and informative. You let the new guys know what is working, and that is what it is all about. On the days when I don't fish I look forward to your reports. Keep up the good work.

I fished IBSP this morning from 7-10, first of the outgoing. There was a good bass bite, pretty steady for a few of us folks. The current was strong and you needed at least 6 oz to hold. I managed 6 bass to 32" and kept one. Clams were the ticket. I did manage one small bass on a hopkins as well around 7am.