NJ Fishing Reports for December 2013...www.StripersAndAnglers.com

[DarkSkies]

NJ Fishing Reports for December 2013.....wwwStripersAndAnglers.com

**Important when registering on our site -- use an active email address so you can activate your account to be able to post.

Please post fishing reports here.......as little or as much detail as you want to give.

**For some areas, it would be wiser to say:
Out Front (Ocean) OR -- Out Back (Bay) -- if you feel too many people will figure out what you are talking about. 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.

1. 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 there today?

2. If the answer is "Yes", then you should probably not be so specific.
More discussion on this:
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ead.php?t=3763

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.












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
GEI - Great Egg Inlet
TI - Townsend's Inlet

RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
DB - Delaware Bay

[DarkSkies]

VSDreams,
you won the plug in the November 2013 random drawing!
PM me your address so I can send it out to ya!



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, or something similar.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...splay.php?f=83

Thanks for posting and helping to make this a great site!

[DarkSkies]

I'm setting this thread up early this month to make sure it starts on time....



Overview: I don't know what December will bring....
Historically, we have had up to 3 weeks of activity in late November/December as the "Death Rats" - Signalling the end leg of the Fall Migration...show up at a lot of NJ beaches.....

They should be here already, as friends in LI are calling me daily asking me about the fishing opportunities in Jersey....the bite over there has been winding down for some time now. It's safe to say the LI opportunities, other than a few stray fish end of day or night that may be following the last schools of bait...or some herring that are starting to show up...are getting very thin.....

Hopefully we'll have some good end of season action in Jersey.....
I have to sadly report that even those fish, may have passed us by.....last Sunday night into Monday there was a pretty decent bite of these smaller fish.....some got real excited by it...as did I...and within 24 hours the fish disappeared into the mist.....






**The lack of patterns has got many of us scratching our heads this year....once you learn these patterns and know what to look for, when to be out there......historically in the past we could catch fish for weeks at a time.......

As many other members have pointed out here, in much better words than I.....
Ya can't catch, what ain't there....
And the numbers of fish we traditionally saw inshore this time of year....are not there.....

I know about all the fish offshore...and the thousands of fish some will see if out in a boat in the midst of feeding fish,,,remember that thousands in one location, does not translate to the millions of pounds that the ASMFC claims exist.........

There are severe gaps in the oldest and youngest striped bass year classes.......
(posts #78 onward)
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...n-Corner/page4

I don't want to sound like a broken record....but many of us fishing for a few decades or more, understand that the bass are just not there......Yet there are some who continue to deny, what hundreds of us, are now noticing and talking about.....

There I go again, talking about the biomass....I imagine some folks are sick of it already....

What I want to convey is that fishing is as important to me, as the air I breathe.....a closure will not affect me.....I will still fish no matter what the consequences.....and I won't suffer as badly as many out there will, if there is a moratorium.......











**So please keep that in mind.....we love to catch and eat bass.....I just had some from my freezer this week...mixed with rice and with Spanish spices....it tasted great.....You can care about the future of striped bass...and still be a sportsman, and outdoorsman, and a man with principles........

We have to carefully monitor that we don't tell folks keeping legal bass, that it is wrong,,,because they are violating no laws....in the end, I think education and raising awareness, are the best ways to go about things......

[DarkSkies]

**In closing, most of us just want to catch some fish....we derive immense enjoyment from being out there, catching, and the whole experience of each trip........
In my hopes and prayers I am wishing for a decent month of fishing for most of ya's....more time out there in different conditions may help ya's to have success....as for patterns, don't ask me....all the patterns I used to look forward to...have fallen apart this year.........

Tight lines and Happy Holidays to All......
Catch em up!

[Blazin420]

Ill start Dec off with a good report...Got out this am 6-1030am..I was thinking this might be my last trip for a while..After the worst Nov I have ever had..I figured Dec couldn't be any worse..Well you can take me off suicide watch..Managed 10 shorts and 1 nice keeper @28.5in..shorts were all 18-22in with 1 or 2 that made 24in all fat as little footballs! They started as soon as the sun came up and I had them till the tide went out to much..Most guys in the area were catching the little guys didn't see any other keeper size fish hit the sand..It was all about the 007AVA with a tail hook I madethats all they seemed to hit for me..Nice morning and it wasn't that freezing out there which was a plus..Birds were picking here and there..Its been 2 years since I kept a fish so after all my hours of casting at nothing in Nov I decided I earned this one so she came home for dinner! Fish had a few sandeels and some small calicos in her belly! Seems like a morn/daytime bite right now my bud was in the same area last night with the same tide and didn't get a bump!....Guess I cant quite put my stuff away for the winter yet...That fish is gonna taste great lol!

[finchaser]

She's going to sing soon

Fished a 4 club 5 day surf tournament only 4 weigh ins total for 5 days.

Charter boats are giving up and switching to blackfish

Head boats are fishing 5 miles off a big no no also the 3 boats had no pool winners

water down to 43

[cowherder]

Congrats on the catching blazin and also the keeper. You put your time in and have got a lot of skunks lately. I fished nomoco last night before dark. Picked at the small fish and ended up with 3 to 22" on a small bomber. The water felt cold and I think the fat lady she will be singing loudly soon.

[Blazin420]

Thanx Cow..yeah she's tuning up..but I hope the lil guys stick around a bit thry are fun to play with! Im thinking the warmer temps this week hopefully keep the water temp at least the same it is now..

[fishrich]

Two of us fished OC from 2pm to 6pm and only caught a fish each at dark to avoid the skunk. Only saw two other fish caught.

[DarkSkies]

Two of us fished OC from 2pm to 6pm and only caught a fish each at dark to avoid the skunk. Only saw two other fish caught.

The OFFC is some of the best of the best, and those were your results......

She's going to sing soon

Fished a 4 club 5 day surf tournament only 4 weigh ins total for 5 days.

Charter boats are giving up and switching to blackfish

Head boats are fishing 5 miles off a big no no also the 3 boats had no pool winners

water down to 43

**Kind of sobering, to realize that with all those veteran anglers fishing...that's the top tier of the anglers out there....those were the best results...it's been stated over and over by Fin, the OFFC..... and others on here...ya can't catch what ain't there.....


Finchaser is so modest...he forgot to mention that he came in first in that tourney......
Congrats, pal.....great job.....for an old grouchy basstid......

[storminsteve]

Hey at least you guys tried and got some fish. That in itself is a small miracle. Fished moco yesterday 4-7pm and got one small bass about 18" on the redgill.
Finchaser congrats on the tourney win! How big was your winning fish?

[Mike O]

I took the day off Monday from work and decided to catch the incoming tide. Actually that is all I was able to catch. At dawn birds were working, when I made a cast I caught something else A FRIGGIN BIRD! I reeled him in, he must of weighed at least 5lbs. what a fight!I would have gotten a more accurate weight, but I could not figure out how to keep my Boga grip attached to his F"in beak! Is their an accessory that I can buy for that? As I proceeded to untangle my line from it's wing (catch and release) whatever fish were under all the birds swam away into the sunrise. After that fiasco I just went home.

[Mike O]

BTW the bird is still flying

[finchaser]

This AM 9 bass to 29" all released all on SP Minnow my friend had 18 fish were there for like an hour and disappeared

[finchaser]

Hey at least you guys tried and got some fish. That in itself is a small miracle. Fished moco yesterday 4-7pm and got one small bass about 18" on the redgill.
Finchaser congrats on the tourney win! How big was your winning fish?

16 1/2 pounds caught on SS stubby

[Shorelady]

Haven't been out much in Nov. Fished pretty hard the past weekend and Sunday found some shorts in NoMoCo. Really can't get too excited about the fall I had. Lack of time and wrong place at the wrong time. As far as Yak fishing, I'm guessing I'm done for the year. Will still try to hit the surf, when work allows.

[fishrich]

Fished MoCo 2:30pm to 5:30pm with the OFFC and an old fart guest fisherman. Got off to a slow start but at 4:30 we had a good bite for 45 minutes which ended abruptly. All fish were caught on SS needlefish and mambo minnows.

[basshunter]

Haven't been out much in Nov. Fished pretty hard the past weekend and Sunday found some shorts in NoMoCo. Really can't get too excited about the fall I had. Lack of time and wrong place at the wrong time. As far as Yak fishing, I'm guessing I'm done for the year. Will still try to hit the surf, when work allows.

hey nice to see you posting again. on here I read something about you winning a tourney as well last year. If the kayakers are giving up that can't be good can it? I remember in the last 2 years you all were fishing in dec and jan.

[buckethead]

I took the day off Monday from work and decided to catch the incoming tide. Actually that is all I was able to catch. At dawn birds were working, when I made a cast I caught something else A FRIGGIN BIRD! I reeled him in, he must of weighed at least 5lbs. what a fight!I would have gotten a more accurate weight, but I could not figure out how to keep my Boga grip attached to his F"in beak! Is their an accessory that I can buy for that? As I proceeded to untangle my line from it's wing (catch and release) whatever fish were under all the birds swam away into the sunrise. After that fiasco I just went home.

16 1/2 pounds caught on SS stubby

MikeO funny story. Hope the fish Gods smile on you for next time.
Congrats on the tourney win finchaser.
Fished the atlantic ocean yesterday until sunset. Managed 17 bass. What worked was metal and teaser, and small plugs. Fish were mostly smaller but fat and aggressive. As I said most were very small, up to one keeper at 30", still swimming.

[fishinmission78]

Nice catch and release on the bird mike. Sometimes a towel can help put it over the head and then work the plug out or cut it. Fished oc for an hour. Trying to make the fat lady go away. Nothing for me. Lots of rain and clouds but the water wasn't that bad. grats on the tourney win finchaser. With the small size of the fish we are seeing lately 16.5lbs is a beast.