NJ Fishing Reports April 2012 www.stripersandanglers.com

[DarkSkies]

NJ fishing reports for April 2012. ..www.StripersandAnglers.com

NJ fishing reports for April 2012...www.stripersandanglers.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.

Please note: NO SPOT BURNING! Posts burning spots will be Edited or DELETED!
Some veteran fishermen have put in years developing and learning about certain spots.Some of these spots can only handle a few guys at a time. We are losing enough access as it is, due to the unfortunate behavior of a few selfish people. No sense in making it worse.

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. "Spot burning" also could involve mentioning something specific only to that area. If you do this, your post may be edited, or deleted. Remember that thousands of people could potentially read these posts. You don't want to be fishing next to ALL of them at the same time!


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.


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 here today?


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

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.Even if you struck out or got skunked, it would be helpful to hear that as well.

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
AI - Absecon Inlet
CISP - Corson's Inlet State Park
CMC - Cape May County
CMR - Cape May Rips
GEI - Great Egg Inlet
TI - Townsend's Inlet

RB - Raritan Bay
BB - Barnegat Bay
CB - Chesapeake Bay
CBBT - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
DB - Delaware Bay

[DarkSkies]

Ledhead36,
you won the plug in the March 2012 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!

[fishinmission78]

Fished OC early before sunrise. Clams, 6oz, big surf, outgoing tide, zip.

[xtreme_visions]

fished sun on the incoming with clams. nothing for me. guy by me caught 2 bluefish hit the same spot mon and fished the top of the tide & 3hrs outgoing. hope i have something better to report this week messed around with a few plugs and some rubber while the bait was sitting. fished with 3 other guys mon. nothing for any of us. i have been fishing the north & central jersey areas.

[xtreme_visions]

hey dark my signal was horrible out there. nothing for me tonight. 2 diff places. clams, bunker. 1st place got crowded quick. poles being put up within inches of each other.

[paco33]

Fished raritan bay tonight. Beautiful night out there hardly any wind. Got one 31" bass, clams.

[DarkSkies]

Xtreme, maybe it's time ya got a new phone....
Keep at it folks, there is a long line of bass out in the ocean.

My thoughts are that these are all Hudson fish, as Finchaser and I've been stating previously.
As it is, they are there now, feeding on the tremendous quantities of herring, butterfish, and bunker

It's my feeling that within 2 days- 2 weeks these fish could be gone....moving into the NJ/NY Bight and up the Hudson to spawn.

There is some regret as I read these reports and ponder the ones phoned in to me....there don't seem to be too many fish in the over 20# class,...

Finchaser was mentioning yesterday that they were probably made up of a band of year classes that comprise 3 specific classes at most.....The large numbers of older class, 30-45lb fish, seem to be greatly under-represented in this body...more on that in another thread.....

Remember these fish will not be in that general location forever, and there will be a lull in fishing for up to 30 days during the spawn....

Good luck out there....

[finchaser]

I know boat fish don't count but all kidding aside, there were no fish or birds from Monmouth to shark river inlet HEAD BOATS STRUCK OUT BIG TIME. We left them and made a run and finally found some. I ended the morning with 8 fish to 12# all still swimming. My friend who has the new(2012) 28' Regulator had 5 TO 11#.

Scary part there are no big or small fish around everything is 29 to 36".
Sad part is these fish are all spawning size and haven't spawned yet and very few are thrown back,these are the last of the breeders.

The major schools are 1 1/2 to 2 miles off very very little inside 50'. The bait out there you could walk on in spots did not mark or see any sand eels, 99% herring. The death wish Kayak crew were 2 miles out many you couldn't see in the swell and chop,they are not going to be happy until someone gets killed and restrictions are put into effect.

[DarkSkies]

Report 4-4-12
Was driving to fish the ocean last night and noticed the wind had kicked up to 20mph steady NW 2 hours after the tide change....modified my plans and fished in the back, artificials.

Wind was still a problem where I was, gave it some honest effort for 1 1/2 hours. Other than some stray bunker against the line, no action at all for me.

Still wanted to fish the ocean. Drove there, went to sleep in the vehicle for a few hours hoping the wind would minimize.
Woke up in the dark of night....wind was still unfavorable, called it a night.

It's my feeling that within 2 days- 2 weeks these fish could be gone....moving into the NJ/NY Bight and up the Hudson to spawn.

Remember these fish will not be in that general location forever, and there will be a lull in fishing for up to 30 days during the spawn....

Good luck out there....

This is why they call it fishing, not catching....
That big wave of bass minimized to less than 10% of the original mass, overnight....
Some may have headed a little south chasing schools of herring....bass are a little bigger in that wave or body of fish....

The rest probably split up within the NJ/NY Bight,,,,some in the rivers, some along structure, and a large procession following the natural highways (the Channels) on a direct line into the Hudson River....

Now is a good time to be on a boat as some of these fish are being trolled on the ledges I mentioned, stretch 25s.
Some friends have sent in some nice pics....

Some have also splintered off to the edges and hard and soft structure. If you know the area you fish and the best tides for that area, now is a good time to be out there.....anytime within the next 2 weeks,

After that most of the fish will be involved in the spawn and there could be a noticable lull in the action....

[DarkSkies]

Fin, WTG on the action....glad ya got some on your first trip of the season.,....IMO it was a long-overdue one....


Small question....is it possible yer gonna be a little less grouchy from now on?

[cowherder]

Fished last night at a nomoco park. One 27" bass on a storm shad, right around sunset.
Finchaser congrats on the bass, good to hear you are out fishing again!

[storminsteve]

Good for you cowherder. I tried MoCo between 9:30-10. The wind was honking and my plug was getting tossed like a piece of paper. i went to a heavier plug and still it was like flying a kite with that wind. Hope it will be better tonight. Good job finchaser!

[jigfreak]

Fished the last hour of incoming before it got dark yesterday. 2 bass to 32". Swimmers.
Way to get the job done finchaser.

[captnemo]

This is why they call it fishing, not catching....
That big wave of bass minimized to less than 10% of the original mass, overnight....
Some may have headed a little south chasing schools of herring....bass are a little bigger in that wave or body of fish....

Yes they did, ds. We got into some nice fish today NE of MI. 9 stripers for the 2 of us, up to 18lbs. Kept 4 around 13lbs each. We did have to burn some fuel to do it though. Herring with bass under some of them.
Finchaser wtg sounds like you had a good trip as well.

[finchaser]

Did the boat thing this AM 18 fish to 23# my partner had 12 to 19# only us and another boat until a few party boats joined us.

Did the boat thing late afternoon howling SE wind and gun and run boaters put them down and spread em out but managed 3 to 14#

All released and still swimming

[xtreme_visions]

TONIGHT I MADE MY 4TH TRIP THIS WEEK. WISH I WAS STILL FISHING WITH A $50 WALMART COMBO SO I COULD HAVE SMASHED AND STOMPED IT IN THE PARKING LOT CONGRATS TO ALL U GUYS WHO R CATCHING.


FISHED 6PM-9PM WITH THE WIND AT MY BACK WATER VERY CALM. FISHED BUNKER WITH 1 POLE AND TRIED A FEW PLUGS AND BUCKTAILS ON ANOTHER. GIVING IT ANOTHER SHOT TOMORROW

[jigfreak]

You can't hit them out of the park every time, EV. Maybe the water was too calm. Maybe the bait wasn't there. I was out 3 times this week only started to pick up better numbers the other night. I fished the front tonight and it was breezy and cold. The wind kicked a bit and it was a strange S and SE. At first there was a flurry, several of us got fish. Then it died, I stayed and ended up with 4 bass to 13#. Swimmers,
Nice catching FC. Some of the boats said it was epic but it wasnt't even close to that where we were, just a slow pick. Thanks for the dose of reality. Speaking of the run and gunners, I hate guys like that. Sinker time when those JOs come around.

[Monty]

Did the boat thing this AM 16 fish to 23# my partner had 12 to 19# only us and another boat until a few party boats joined us.
Did the boat thing late afternoon howling SE wind and gun and run boaters put them down and spread em out but managed 3 to 14#

All released and still swimming

Great to see you fishing and catching Finchaser, congrats on the great outing.

[DarkSkies]

Xtreme, hope your phone works, make some time to fish this weekend....Like Jigfreak said, all it takes is one nice fish to turn a dull night into an electric night....
It's time to fish, people.....





****

. I fished the front tonight and it was breezy and cold. The wind kicked a bit and it was a strange S and SE. .

My report 4-5-12 - marathon session....
Drove down to fish the surf. We've had some crazy shifts in patterns from beginning to end of day, Jigfreak. Congrats on sticking it out. By the time I got out there last night the wind was back to NW again. I fished for an hour before it became difficult, some gusts NW were 25mph.

West isn't that bad, for NNJ and SNJ. Even at 30mph and 35 degree temps...it's bearable because the wind is at your back...

a N/NW is fantastic for Bay Head, and further South....For above that and North, Surfcasting the ocean, it can be an issue when it's more N than NW.




Nothing for me.
Went to sleep for a few hours waiting for the wind to lay down.
When I woke up, I ran into some folks who come in to the area to fish, and drive 1 1/2 hours each way, each time.

The guys were both plug makers. I took pics of some of their work and even managed to ho a plug from one.
Great to finally meet you guys, thanks so much for the plug. Hope you got some fish.

Still had a few hours of darkness....made a drastic move and got on the road to a different area.
Launched the yak and managed 2 bass in the same size class. Dropped one, but the one I landed was 41" and about 25#.
My nicest fish of the year so far.

Full report in the kayak reports thread.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...g-Reports-2012

[DarkSkies]

The death wish Kayak crew were 2 miles out many you couldn't see in the swell and chop,they are not going to be happy until someone gets killed and restrictions are put into effect.

Fin, I responded to this, and will try to post it on a few kayak sites when I get a chance. I'm not trying to offend or start arguments but you are absolutely right.


Posts 26 and 27...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...s-the-US/page3