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

[Monty]

Managed 2 bass to 30# on incoming tide with clams.

Congratss on the nice fish.

[ledhead36]

Sorry to disappoint you guys. I was half asleep and hung over when I typed that. That was 2 fish to 30". When I get a 30 I will be a little more enthusiastic about it. Maybe even use a smiley or two. I haven't done that well with bigger fish this year. There are just not too many of them to go around. My .02

[madcaster]

fished RB on incoming during the late afternoon ...2 hours ....bunker chunks ....no bites ...water still brown and cold ...didn't see any other fish caught ....

[Blazin420]

Sorry to disappoint you guys. I was half asleep and hung over when I typed that. That was 2 fish to 30". When I get a 30 I will be a little more enthusiastic about it. Maybe even use a smiley or two. I haven't done that well with bigger fish this year. There are just not too many of them to go around. My .02

Haha understandable!! I was gonna say pretty calm report for getting a 30#er lol good job any way!

[J Barbosa]

Haha Ledhead!!!! I kayaked last night and got a 26 and had a few other hits that never connected.



















26" <-- lol

Water was still very stained and brown with debris floating out there. The fish were there and wanted to feed but I think they just had too hard of a time finding our plugs. Had we bait fished I'm sure we could have caught double digits each. Fish were coming up to the kayak and swirling next to us kept scaring the crap out of us.

[buckethead]

Jbarbosa that was funny. Fished the surf in moco this morning with positive results. From 5-7am the action was pretty good. Picked up 14 bass on a 3/4 oz bucktail and grub. These were mostly small fish. Only one was over 28". All released.

[surferman]

Nice going guys! Fished the db today it was windy and not that great. One 25" bass on bloods. Fed the crabs with the rest of the worms they are out early this year.

[surferman]

fished RB on incoming during the late afternoon ...2 hours ....bunker chunks ....no bites ...water still brown and cold ...didn't see any other fish caught ....

Now this is what I'm talking about. The db is usually this brown color. Some times when I am out there I think of what it must have looked like 150 years ago. I bet a lot cleaner then

[madcaster]

Fished RB last night outgoing ....bunker chunks ...no wind ...water calm ....lighting flashes north of me ....2 keepers 35 and 33 both released ...still swimming .....caught them back to back ....nice fight on both of them

[Monty]

Fished RB last night outgoing ....bunker chunks ...no wind ...water calm ....lighting flashes north of me ....2 keepers 35 and 33 both released ...still swimming .....caught them back to back ....nice fight on both of them

Congrats on the Bass MC, Awesome pics!!!!

I fished last night bayside, 1:30-8:30.
Finally got rid of the skunk (5th time out...).
Caught the top fish at 2:30 on a teaser, then at 3:30 on a 4" plastic plug I caught the short bass. Lost another shortly after on same small plug. Then around 4:30 I got the Fluke on a 5 inch plastic plug. Very nice night and felt great being out there, felt like a miracle to finally get a bend in the rod .
Threw larger stuff, a lot, but nothing.

[cowherder]

Awesome reports madcaster and monty! wtg on the releases as well! monty that fish in the top pic what is that is it a herring?

[Monty]

Awesome reports madcaster and monty! wtg on the releases as well! monty that fish in the top pic what is that is it a herring?

I thought so, figures first fish of the year for me and its a freaking oddball.

[fishinmission78]

Fished island beach early am. 2 micro bass on a stubby needlefish and teaser combo. Both hit the teaser. Saw gannets working way out but didn't have binocs. Maybe they were on bunker or herring but could not tell for sure. Next time I'll bring bunker or clams. Not much other action while I was out. Still a great morning to be on the beach. Nice going madcaster and monty.

[surferman]

Nice work gents thanks for the report.

[J Barbosa]

Nice job Madcaster & Monty.

Blurry pic doesn't help to id it but I don't see the blue tint found in river herring. Body looks a little big for herring and the river herring are way up the streams right now getting ready to spawn.

Are you familiar with hickory shad Monty?

[Blazin420]

Nice job catchin fellas!! I would say some sort of shad for sure by the pic..Like J said not much color to it unlike herring..

[basshunter]

Yeah maybe a hickory shad. Did a search and came up with this thread. Didn't know they came in this early?
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...g+hickory+shad

[finchaser]

body shape, and tail looks like a blue back sea herring or bunker to me definitely not a shad no spots and wrong shape tail

[Monty]

body shape, and tail looks like a blue back sea herring or bunker to me definitely not a shad no spots and wrong shape tail

I have caught Hickory Shad before and this did not look like one.
That's why I thought it was a herring. I have a pic from last week of a dead thing with no head. I thought they were similar, posted here
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ed=1#post78530

[DarkSkies]

First 2 fishing trips of the year....
May 2, late night tides
May 4, late night

I'm embarrassed to say these are my first 2 fishing trips this year....can't remember the last year I started fishing this late in the season....life has thrown some curveballs and really gotten in the way of fishing.....I just don't have the time.....

The dominant forage now in North Jersey haunts seem to be bunker.....I knew I had to get out there, just to see if I could find any other forage...That's all important to a sustained and reliable Spring fishery..(Congrats to Monty for always finding the most unusual types of fish in an area).......

On May 2, I could hear bunker in the distance.....along with a very scattered # of bass feeding on them.....
Fished 2 1/2 hours, 2 locations.....worked all levels of the water column, nothing for me at all.

On May 4, fished the back as well....short 2 hour trip...
Heavy sustained NW winds 25mph....water was not bad...perfect temps......
As opposed to the other night, the bunker numbers were substantially less......the water seemed dead but I worked it thoroughly anyway because those general areas should produce at least one bass this time of year....

** Although I searched thoroughly, I could not find any other forage....spearing, grass shrimp, herring, etc....in the areas I fished....









I see a lot of internet blaming of the water temperatures for the reason why the bass won't bite, or the NNJ artificial bite/ (clam/bunker bite as well) is not that (consistently) reliable this time of year.....I disagree.....conditions have been perfect for almost 2 weeks now......bass are being caught in the daytime on the Raritan Bay flats on artificials.....In my experience, there is no reason for lack of a consistent artificial night bite, other than lack of fish....

Meanwhile I have friends who own kayaks who are doing well on artificials daily....no need for them to lose sleep fishing the night tides....
There are also certain areas that are consistently giving up a few small bass at night....crowds are already forming....so for now I'll fish the less traveled areas.....

And friends tossing bunker heads who are catching nicer fish up to 26# at night....taunting me daily for not fishing bunker heads....

What can I say......I must love punishment......
I tried to explain the challenge, and disappointment sometimes, of fishing artificials to someone I know.....I don't know if they understood the passion in my voice, or thought I was as well.....

**I would like to report that I missed a fish, or felt some kind of action on those nights...
however, not a touch for me, in my first trips of the season.....
I remain hopeful......will try to get out more....but pulling less of the Monty marathons I did in the past......
This is the time of year that I really look forward to the night bite and the explosive action.........still optimistic......and ya can't catch em from the couch.....
Good luck to all.....