Winter Fishing Thread.....

[xtreme_visions]

fished rocks last weekend for the 1st time and had a blast! caught alot of blackfish! lost 10 rigs/fished with crabs. alot of keepers but everything went back. plan to go again this weekend. could use a little help identifying the types caught. a few had a tiger like pattern while others solid black with a few white spots on each side.

[BassBuddah]

This is a late report, sorry for the tardiness. I drove from LI last Sat to Island Beach State Park with my nephew. It was the 2nd time we have been there. We both want to thank Dark for his guidance and feedback. It really helped us to dial in with the fish. He called several times to check up on us and gave us some different suggestions.
During the Thanksgiving week we went there, we both did well. This saturday, it was not that great. There was a line of guys where we were, about 300, and only maybe a dozen fish were caught. My nephew managed one fish out of those dozen, and nothing for me.
Based on Dark's advice, we did drive around, but did not stay for the afternoon, which I understand was a little better. We wanted to get back home and avoid the traffic. I want to thank you for your hospitality and involvement Dark, nice bunch of folks we met out there, and even some fellows from the area we fish. It was a pleasure to see my nephew get some fish, and we thank you for your part in that. We may be back again next year. Hope to see you all out there then.

[finchaser]

Dark, my last outing was only 3 hours long, 2:00 -5:00 AM, low tide, full moon (below 30 degrees), awesome structure with nice wave action. Only got that short bass, but as you said, "the solitude and awesomeness of those rocks", substitute the beach for me, I was awed by how perfect the night was. Its fishing, not catching, its the experience. Don't need to catch to enjoy the experience.

Thats because you are sane and use judgment (3 hours), while the head googan marathon man(DS) pursues rumors with kayak in tow. He as the Master Googan chases rumors ,spends way to much time matching profiles as he pursues a night bite that rarely if ever exists this time of year.

[surfwalker]

Sat. 12/17 - 6:30am-9:30am. 3 tiny shorts on leadhead/rubber. Quite a few light/lethargic taps. Saw no activity anywhere. Water a little off color. Beautiful morning for mid Dec.

[SharkHart]

Coming in now On the boat, the rumors of thick bass in monmoth county are indeed true drift was a bit fast but lots of bass and blues and birds all day bite unlike that ibsp early bite last month. Not dinks either

[DarkSkies]

Thats because you are sane and use judgment (3 hours), while the head googan marathon man(DS) pursues rumors with kayak in tow. He as the Master Googan chases rumors ,spends way to much time matching profiles as he pursues a night bite that rarely if ever exists this time of year.

Aren't you the one that says even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then?
Master Googan, I thought there was some kind of 3 year apprentice program to get to that level....thanks.

Sat. 12/17 - 6:30am-9:30am. 3 tiny shorts on leadhead/rubber. Quite a few light/lethargic taps. Saw no activity anywhere. Water a little off color. Beautiful morning for mid Dec.

Finally some activity, I know ya worked for each of those fish, congrats!

Coming in now On the boat, the rumors of thick bass in monmoth county are indeed true drift was a bit fast but lots of bass and blues and birds all day bite unlike that ibsp early bite last month. Not dinks either

G and Shark, saw that activity this morning, most of it was near the 3 mile line...the OFFC was watching it yesterday, same deal...if ya can cast at least 2 miles from the surf you got yerself some epic fishing!
Congrats to the guys getting them from the boats. IMO we'll close out the season with most of the numbers of bigger fish coming from boats from now on....as of now it doesn't look like that body is moving any closer to the surf line....
Glad ya's got in on it....

[DarkSkies]

Fished last night till the top of the flood, 2 hours and I couldn't take the cold any more....31 deg when I started, 28 when I stopped. The temp would have been bearable if not for the steady W/NW wind....

The bait I was looking for was not there. 2 other fools out there. We compared notes, they had been out since 8pm and had no luck...gave it a shot with swimmers, bucktails and rubber.

Slept in the car, took a walk along some ocean beaches around 7am but no fish or signs of life....

The fish I did find were all in one area, boats clustered up...
As mentioned, I was watching those fish this morning through binocs...pretty far out today, 95% of the boats aligned at 2 miles and better out there.... even the yakkers thought better of it and did not launch....



********
The OFFC was out yesterday afternoon, had very limited activity on plugs. had some on, dropped one decent fish, nothing landed, very sparse action....way to make the effort, guys!

[storminsteve]

Late report, fished nomoco twice on the weekend and got one micro bass on a rubber teaser. The fat lady she be rolling down the street! See my letter to Santa to learn more.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ta-please-help

[xtreme_visions]

thay are all black fish

ARE THERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLACKFISH THOUGH? HERE IS A PIC OF THE 1ST 1 I CAUGHT.

[gjb1969]

not in nj just the patterns and the colors of the fish can be differant

[xtreme_visions]

Thanks! I had a blast! Me and my uncle got alot of action that day. Wanted to give 1 a try but was not sure what the procedure was after catching them before taking them home. Just keep them on ice until home or would i need to do anything on the spot?

[vpass]

Fish from 7 am to 10 am. I caught 2 short bass 1 on teaser and the other on a SP minnow. Seen birds working just out of casting range. Off shore the gannets were dive bombing on the herring.

Attachment 14515Attachment 14516

[gjb1969]

nice fish dude fat clean and healthy

[jigfreak]

Fat slobs, these little footballs are. Fished moco around the top of the incoming tonight. 2 short bass on swimmer, 2 on the teaser. Nice fish vpass and xtreme visions.

[plugcrazy]

way to go guys! I fished lbi this morning and caught a skunk. There were birds working but they were too far out to reach. Oh well it was a beautiful sunrise and you cant beat fishing in December in 55 degree weather.

[hookset]

Fished somoco from first light to 7:30, one fat short bass on a black bomber. Plugcrazy I agree the sunrise was fantastic. There are some things about fishing that are as good as the catching. This morning was one of them. I don't remember the last time I was able to fish a beach comfortably on Dec 22.

[captnemo]

Good bite at the Shrews Rocks the last 2 weeks folks. We limited out in the last 2 trips keeping fish around 29" and releasing bigger ones. There are a lot of smaller fish and the action is great. A37 and 47 with green tails get it done.Get out there before it's over.

[vpass]

Went out again this morning in the same area as yesterday. around 7:30 to 9:00am Wished I got out earlier. Got 1 short on a Sp minnow on the 3rd cast and again I thought it will be a great day. Fish were raising to the top all over the surf line, and then it stopped as soon the sun broke over the horizon. Birds were working the whole streached from a 1/8 to 1/4 mile out. The Gannets were working from 1/4 mile to a mile out The birds stopped working as soon as the Sun broke the Horizon.

What a beatiful day can you believe it the first day of winter Nice going Guys Enjoy it while it lasts.

[clamchucker]

Fished the area in and around the park yesterday and this morning. Yesterday managed 1 bass to 25" on yellow teaser. Today managed 4 bass to 26", teaser and swimmer. There is a slow pick around sunrise. Today the cloud cover helped it to last a bit longer.

[storminsteve]

Great effort fellas! Going to try to get out there this weekend. It's too beautiful not to.