NJ fishing reports July 2017 www.stripersandanglers.com

[lostatsea]

I think all the larger fish are on vacation in the big fish hotel in some other state. Fished 4-7 pm in moco yesterday. Got a few short fluke and some hefty sea robins on gulp. Summer doldrums I guess.

[lostatsea]

Fished the 2nd Annual King of the Creek fluke tournament out of Morgan creek with Alex Obolsky, Rui Goncalves, and Kevin Kolovich.




With tough fluke fishing in and around Raritan Bay we decided to dedicate the entire trip to a known big fish spot that produces quality over quantity.




Our three biggest fish were good enough to take 3rd place for the second year in a row weighing in at 6.3, 5.8 and 2.9lbs.




Only had 4 keepers, releasing two NJ sized keepers and about 6 other shorts on the day.




We had a great time and will be back next year hoping to place again.

wow you always seem to be dialed in to the fish, congrats on your success.

[fishinmission78]

x2, Barbosa you are having a fantastic season.

[fishinmission78]

Been out a few times in the mornings and end of day towards dusk. Not much going on in the park. Did manage one striper in the last 2 weeks, near sunset by the inlet. Bucktail. Had those sores, tossed him back quick. Also a few short fluke. Like someone else said, the searobin population sure is healthy, tho.

[baitstealer]

Wow I heard even the fluke fishing in raritan bay isn't that great. Why could it be so slow, agricultural runoff?

[ledhead36]

RB gets a lot of brown algae this time of year. The storms help some but not much. Ag runoff is a problem. There is some bright spots, fish have been following bunker at night. The trick is finding them there are not a lot around.

[cowherder]

A few short fluke this morning in mo co. Right around sunrise. Some nips at the gulp as well. Must have been cocktails. Oh well some fish are better than no fish!

[cowherder]

.Had an hour to kill after work stopped by a spot in NoMoCo on the way home..730 till 845..went 3 for 4 on little bass using sand crabs in the wash...smaller fish..biggest was about 20in dropped 1 in the wash that was better looked about 24in..not bad for an hour...
Nice reports fellas....Felt nice to get a tug on the line...it seems they have been few and far between this season!!

Way to be creative thanks for sharing!

[porgy75]

Nice job with the sand crabs. If I could ask, what size and type of hook are you using to keep them on without falling off? thank you

[hookset]

Wow I heard even the fluke fishing in raritan bay isn't that great. Why could it be so slow, agricultural runoff?

That, and the fact that with most of the stripers up north the boats who don't fish the reefs haven't much else to fish for. So when you have 200 boats on a weekend targeting fluke, by monday morning there isn't a lot of keepers left. jmo

[baitstealer]

Thanks for the quick response. Never thought of it that way.

[baitstealer]

Congrats on placing in the tourney JB, nice work.

[Blazin420]

Nice job with the sand crabs. If I could ask, what size and type of hook are you using to keep them on without falling off? thank you

I was using a 4/0 octopus hook..used 2 to 3 good sized crabs on the hook..to hide the hook mostly..I will say I'm still new to using them and I'm experimenting more each time I go have been for a while now..i think I found a rig/setup that works for me..you could prob use a 3/0 but I like the 4/0 and 5/0 for most of my fishing....seems find some moving water is definitely key, a outflow on the beach or near some rocks..I like it to float so I 20lb test leader with a split shot up at the swivle....again this worked for me and i really have no clue of the "correct"way to do it LOL...hope this helps a bit

[bababooey]

Good going. Catching stripers in the summer is too much work for me, but I respect the craftiness. Way to put your time in!

[baitstealer]

Sorry haven't reported much in a while guys. Have been busy with family. Not much going on in the shore fishing world. For me at least. Decided to grab a quick 2 hours in no moco today before work. Tide was just coming in, around sunrise. got two short fluke on gulp. Then I got hammered by what I thought was a world record striped bass or blue. It fought funny and had my fluke pole bent in half. Everything was set up for light fishing so I felt I had no chance of getting this fish in. It pulled a lot of drag but stayed deep so I thought it could be a stray striper. after about 15 mins I could see it. A brownish cow nose ray with the 2 devil wings flappling Lost it in the wash, thank God. Did not want to deal with unhooking something like that as I am not sure their tails have a stinger or not. Oh well it was fun for a while pretending I had a real big striped bass on the end of my line lol.

[storminsteve]

I usually catch a bunch of rays this time of year. Handle them with caution and you will be fine. The first one is great when you think it might be a big fish. Psych! Good catch when kids are around to teach them about the diversity of the ocean though.

[J Barbosa]

Did a half day fluke trip (slow) and spent the other half of the day on anchor which was much better.




Load of porgies, 15-20 keeper sea bass (only keeping 4 man limit) and 7 triggers (released a small one).




Seen a few rays out there and even had a cobia come up to the boat...tossed a bucktail at him but didn't connect.

[hookedonbass]

Wow you are killing it dude. Nice going. Whats the bait for the triggers if you don't mind me asking?

[hookedonbass]

Fished nomoco yesterday there was a lot of bait in close. Small fish pushing it out of the water. I think snappers are here. Myself I got 4 short fluke.

[porgy75]

Great job jbarbosa you got enough there for a giant fish fry. Do you fillet the smallest fish or bake them whole on the grill?
I was out near an inlet in South moco yesterday from 6-9. The most common fish seemed to be the sea robbins. Got a few shorty fluke as well. Seems very slow this time of year. jmo