NJ Fishing Reports for April 2014...www.StripersAndAnglers.com

[Blazin420]

Nice job guys!...I REALLY wanted to get out tonight but work till 8 and thats when all the bait shops close ...Id guess some fish will be caught tn!

[plugcrazy]

Great reports gents. I fished the back in ocean county last night. Threw sps and bombers. No takers for me.

[ledhead36]

Bay water temps reached 48 in the afternoon yesterday. We were out and got blanked, go figure. Today it is trending down again. Need more sun.

[storminsteve]

Hey you can't always knock it out of the park ledhead. Thanks for trying at least you are catching something. Which is a heck of a lot better than half the internet cowboys are doing. I will be out this weekend rain or shine and hope to have something positive to post here. Good luck gents!

[Blazin420]

Like steve said ya gave it a shot!! better than i did ..I didnt even make it to the water this week....Ill be in AC this weekend for the beerfest!!!Should be fun! Then im hitting it a couple times next week starting Tuesday..rain shine cold i dont care im ready to catch enuff getting my gear ready and watching old videos of guys catching

[cowherder]

Fished early this morning in the bay. Used salted clams not too many guys out. I think it was a bad time as the tide was very low and just starting to come in. Got one 20" bass at least it was a tug on the end of the line. Beautiful day out boys catch em up!

[porgy75]

I just skimmed through an internet fishing report thread that had 11 pages and barely any fishing reports. Just senseless chatter and boasting. Half of the comments it felt like you had to be part of a special club to understand them. We are in America plain language is a good choice not some stupid chatter where you need a code book to understand it and no fishing or fish. I know I don't post a lot of reports but I appreciate all the good info and advice I read here.
Letting me know when is a good time to go is all I ask. Thanks for the honest reports and actually getting out there and fishing. My report - i decided to try for flounder this morning the weather forecast was fantastic. I got some worms and went to a pier area in ocean county. There were a few other guys there no one was catching though they did say they had got some earlier in the week. I threw a bunch of corn out and tryed anyway. Got one quicl tap and missed setting the hook. Maybe the water is still to cold. Might try again tomorrow or next week. Thanks for the positive outlook and reports it helps me ge through the week!

[hookset]

I just skimmed through an internet fishing report thread that had 11 pages and and barely any fishing reports. Just senseless chatter and boasting. Half of the comments it felt like you had to be part of a special club to understand them. We are in America plain language is a good choice not some stupid chatter where you need a code book to understand it and no fishing or fish. I know I don't post a lot of reports but I appreciate all the good info and advice I read here.

Letting me know when is a good time to go is all I ask.

^^^^^That's cause they're internet fishermen porgy. Common mostly to NJ this species of girl scouts sits comfortably indoors until they hear of multiple keeper fish on the video weigh in or tackle shop boards. Then they come out in droves. Especially common when the bunker show up. The sharpies who only fish for 3 months a year are out. You can spot them by their top shelf rods reels and surf bags. If you haven't spent $3k to get dressed in the latest surf wear that morning you cant be in the club. cell phones help them to find the fish. They sit on the internet and poke fun at everyone else until the big blitz happens.
Scouting or looking for early fish on their own? Never happen with this crowd.

[seamonkey]

Good to hear of the catching!
Got a phone call from a buddy of mine who lives on the Big D. He says the small stripers are being caught almost every day now on bloods. Just waiting for the females to arrive. This weekend should do it! Good luck out there.

[ledhead36]

We fished last night around high tide. 3 hours out, fresh clams. Picked up 14 bass between the 3 of us, all shorts. Action was a little better than it has been.

[seamonkey]

Burning the midnight oil - nice!!!!!!

[Blazin420]

Nice guys! Back from AC Beerfest had a great time lots of good brews and some good music!! And a hangover haha..Now its time to catch!! Ill be down south tomorrow at grams so ill be checking out some rivers and the bay..Then gonna give it hell in RB this week..

[robmedina]

soaked some clams yesterday afternoon. low tide in the back bays- caught a lot of grass.

[basshunter]

Nice work gentlemen! It was a beautiful weekend to be out there but I didn't have much success. I fished the ocean in monmouth county on saturday afternoon. Figured I would start out north of an inlet. Soaked clams for 2 hours no bites. It was a nice day on the water. Then on sunday I was fishing in the back of raritan bay. The first place I went to was crowded quite a few there and I saw 2 small stripers caught in an hour. I decided to try a spot that was close to that. For some reason no one was there. The crowd was at the other spot. I fished from dark till 10pm and ended up with one striper 25" on clam. Released to get bigger.
I think this week will be the ticket. The water was cold but when I was fishing into dark it was nice. And a lot warmer than the ocean.

[J Barbosa]

On Saturday I went clamming for the first time ever with two kayaking buddies. We caught a few dozen clams each and then had to leave because the tide was coming up quick and we were only equipped with waders.

My body is still sore from clamming, great exercise.
I took mine home and gave them to Momma Barbosa who went out and purchased some lobsters, shrimp and scallops and made some of her famous seafood Paella.

On Sunday, my brother and I went kayaking in the back. We tossed and trolled lures for a while with no luck. Tried all the spring favorites in the shallows, deeper water and even in the channels. I didn't see any bait around; we marked one small fish all day. By this time last year I was catching fish that were already feeding on live bunker (confirmed by stomach contents).

There were other kayakers out fishing bait and they came up empty as well. I talked to a boater fishing clams...same results for him.

A party boat came and anchored up on the flats...and well after an hour of heavy chumming and nobody catching he packed it up and left also.

Tons of guys packed the shorelines and after speaking with two of them nobody caught anything along the shoreline either.

Water temps 47-51F

Every year the spring run in the Raritan seems to get worse and worse.

I think we are two weeks delayed despite what some others have said on other forums. We have April 7th fish feeding like its March 7th

[ledhead36]

Tons of guys packed the shorelines and after speaking with two of them nobody caught anything along the shoreline either.

Water temps 47-51F

Every year the spring run in the Raritan seems to get worse and worse.

I think we are two weeks delayed despite what some others have said on other forums. We have April 7th fish feeding like its March 7th

Same thing for us. I'm worried about the small fish. Big ones will come soon but every year we have over 100 fish by this time in april. I know it's cold. What scares me is its good one day terrible the next. We fished last night with great expectations. Ended up with bubkus. Well not exactly we got one 17" striper between the 3 of us. Should have been slamming them. The water temps are high enough for them to hit regularly on bait but they are just not there. I say give it another week. Then I will be real worried. We usually get 3-4 weeks of bass before the bluefish come in. I don't think that will be true this year.

[hookset]

Same thing for us. I'm worried about the small fish. .

I think a lot of the small fish up our way are no more, I see less and less of them each year. Maybe the numbers are stronger in the Delaware bay but the Raritan has been on a decline for several years now. just my .02.
I went fishing last night in the rain. Out back tossing artificials. It sucked, I lasted an hour. The end.

[jigfreak]

hook you are a little nuts being out in that rain. It didn't let up all night. I fished the back this morning before work. Windy. Water a little dirty. Jig and rubber. Caught the skunk

[hookset]

^^^^^^ I know it was crazy but you go when you can. I say any day now. you have a better chance of catching near the water rather than on the couch. good luck led. I know a point where those bunks should be thick.

[finchaser]

I think a lot of the small fish up our way are no more, I see less and less of them each year. Maybe the numbers are stronger in the Delaware bay but the Raritan has been on a decline for several years now. just my .02.
I went fishing last night in the rain. Out back tossing artificials. It sucked, I lasted an hour. The end.

agree they keep more and more shorts and they are wiping out the resident fish