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

[DarkSkies]

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

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

Since Sandy and the rebuilding/Beach replenishment, a substantial amount of Fishing Access has been lost. The ones who want to fish, are now crowded into less places, particularly the popular ones.
Please use common sense, when describing where you were fishing.

1. Fishing an area that is NOT residential? Being vague is less critical. For example, (Any)Park, or (Any)Bay, or mention a specific state park that has loads of parking and can handle the crowds.

2. 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. 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

3. 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?
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, wind, bait present, or other mention of techniques or bait/plugs used - feel free.
Thanks, and good luck.

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
CMC - Cape May County


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

Mecca.....Montauk

[DarkSkies]

An old time mentor of mine and I were recently reminiscing about the way things used to be at Sandy Hook......and I thought I would share this......






Sandy Hook memories.....

August for me used to be a very exciting month....
When I fished fresh water a lot and snuck into many of the state's reservoirs to fish....the action would slow in August....and I would gravitate toward the saltwater bays and rivers.....

We're going back decades, when I exclusively fished bait in the salt.
I remember going to Sandy Hook....
When the "Real" Hook was there and extended out (about) 100' feet more than it does today....The channel was right at your feet.....one half-cast and you were in 30' of water....
No fancy lures or plugs needed.....

Just a seine net to seine the abundant spearing.....no fancy bucktails.....just a simple weight with dropper loop above....hook a few fresh spearing from the contractor's apron you had around your waist.....a few jig strokes in the channel....and you were into a multitude of fish....schoolie bass, small blues, weakfish, and fluke, with 1 in 10 being a keeper......

If some get irritated with my ranting here about the current state of the fishery...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...of-the-fishery
....This is my recollection of how things used to be....15-20 years ago....
When it really didn't seem that hard to catch fish....most of us weren't concerned whether there were a lot of them or not...because of the abundance in front of us.......
This was not only possible....but easy....as long as you had fresh spearing......

No $800 reels or $400 rods or fancy gear needed....these fish were there in large amounts.....none of us had to expend too much effort to catch them....(Try catching all those species now...in the middle of a hot August day..)..from any NJ surfline.......an almost impossible feat, given the current state of things.....

I bring these memories up....
to try to share with some of the newer anglers out there....why some of us are so passionate (or Grouchy) when we talk about the way things they used to be....

And to try to give the newer folks out there....
1. A sense of why we fight so hard for the access we are losing....
2. And why it's so important to counter the mis-information being spread out there...that there is nothing wrong with today's striped bass fishery.....

Yes, it is much different than what I remember 15-20 years ago....or even 5-8 years ago....
I hope some of you people out there....can get some understanding from some of the memories I share here....
For those my age, and older...it's very obvious to us...what we have lost, compared to the way things used to be....

[DarkSkies]

We're in kind of a "summer doldrums" mode where there are fish in the channels if you have a boat or kayak...and fish are in certain areas along the bays and ocean shorelines where the bait concentrations are high...but not at a lot of places in between.....

Catching fish requires patience and perseverance....and it seems many have taken the summer off....because it is hard....

Recap...July...
I posted the above last week.....July and August used to be months that I could at least catch a few legal bass without leaving NJ...and from land...not necessary to be in a kayak or boat.

We can look at August as being either "half-empty" or "half-full".
August for me used to be a very exciting month....
The best memories I have from August, for years at a time....is that this is "the" month....beginning August 1.... I could bring bunker chunks to various back bay points and drains, at the end of day, and happily catch small to medium blues and small bass....

1. When back bays literally fill up with every kind of bait imaginable.
2. When the tiny centimeter long bait that's been hard to identify all summer long, miraculously grows until it's clearly identifiable to fisherman and predator.
3. When the predators, un-noticed by most, will come in select areas, deep in the night, to savagely attack these blossoming bait populations.
4. This is why full and new moon tides are key.....as has been explained....
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5279-Let-s-talk-about-Full-Moon-Surf-Fishing-(and-New-Moon-as-well-)
5. These stronger tides push the bait out of it's safer hiding places to larger flats and channels....where the predators come in to feast on this bonanza.
6. One of the keys to understanding these is understanding "feeding windows", an important tool in any saltwater fisherman's skill set...'
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?9061-Following-the-Night-Tides-Do-You-have-What-it-Takes

7. And understanding temperature and how it affects feeding....in many cases a quick rise or fall of 8-10 degrees, in certain areas, is enough to turn the fishing on or shut it off completely....












For a majority of years.....
I would fish the back bays and rivers....exclusively during this period...and not go ocean side until after Columbus Day....
The folks who are waiting for the "fall run" to begin....are missing out on a large part of the fishing picture if you are not scouting back bays and marinas, and looking at what's under the lights at night........

You may not always find larger feeding fish right there...but they will appear, in the dead of night...at various shadow lines......
Finding larger predators in 10' or water or less, gives me a thrill every time....like a caveman hunting for his daily meal.......you really have to use your wits and analytical skills to dial in....to me that's one of the exciting things about being out there at night.......

It's been said here several times that there are no guarantees in fishing...
My old friend Joe also endlessly repeated "Find the bait and find the fish"....

Fishing the back bays and rivers, in August....will put you closest to achieving that goal....
Good luck to All......

[J Barbosa]

Sandy Hook memories.....

I remember going to Sandy Hook....
When the "Real" Hook was there and extended out (about) 100' feet more than it does today....The channel was right at your feet.....one half-cast and you were in 30' of water....

I remember going out there at sunset not too long ago and it wouldn't be unusual to see 5+ boats drifting the different rips out there for bass at night with worms or eels. Now you rarely see any boats out there at night and if you do its usually during the peak of the run later on in the fall.

[DarkSkies]

Now you rarely see any boats out there at night and if you do its usually during the peak of the run later on in the fall.

You're absolutely correct on this John....
I don't know why people have given up on this fishing....my best guess is they feel it's too inconsistent, with not that many fish around. NJ party boats wouldn't be able to find enough bass to satisfy their fares so they don't go out there, unless there are......
I don't know what the smaller boat owners feel overall, I know a lot of them don't like to go out at night....`
not just here but on the LI Sound as well....In the Summer, I can drift and peddle a yak all night (on a weeknight) Mid-Sound, and rarely see anyone except for the Commercial ships.....

If you talk to the old-timers, the "Cartoppers"......they used to.....
Bring an aluminum boat on the top of a station wagon or pickup truck...or small trailer...
Launch in the rivers, go all the way out in the ocean on a calm night.....
Or launch at Monmouth Beach, conditions permitting....

Like you said, they used to drift along out there....worms or eels.....
It wasn't too hard to catch fish, and come back in with the tides and small horsepower motor..........With some bass.....

Although a handful of smaller boats may be fishing in the dark at any time....most give up by 9PM...if there are any at all.....Most nights no one is out there.....

Another tradition that has died and gone the way of the Pony Express.......drifting worms or eels in your car-topped aluminum boat.....

[buckethead]

Fished this morning in moco and decided to change it a little. Fished a gulp on BT with redgill teaser. Managed 2 fluke to 17". One on the teaser other on the gulp. Low water made it tough. They have officially ruined all moco beaches. Waiting for the noreasters to drag some sand out. I hate this gov't welfare for the affluent.

Rich I really enjoyed your post on Sandy Hook. I remember that well. The carpenter aprons comment brought it all back for me.They were just the right size to hold spearing. Thank you for sharing that. Those were good times. You are right things were much easier then. Lord do I miss the real Hook.

[VSdreams]

SoMoco near the pocket today from 5-6:30am. Like bucket head said the water was real low. I think I was fishing the last of the outgoing. Lots of eelgrass in the water it really sucked. Then the surfers came it wasn't even good waves out and they were there. Have to get there early or you will get mugged by them. As I was getting ready to leave I thought I hit a snag. Thought it was a cable or something and it turned out to be a stargazer. Hit the green gulp on the bottom. Those things are a pita to bring in it felt like a bag of rocks. I guess it should be happy it saved me from the skunk though.

[seamonkey]

Good point something is better than nothing dude. Does anyone know how big stargazers can get?

[J Barbosa]

I fished NoMoCo surf from 1-8 today w/brother and friend. We had it all to ourselves practically...where is everyone?

Good action but the fluke were all shorts not really any size to them either. Will try to find some bigger ones on the kayak tomorrow AM.

Lots of snappers around.

[cowherder]

I fished NoMoCo surf from 1-8 today w/brother and friend. We had it all to ourselves practically...where is everyone?

Good action but the fluke were all shorts .

I felt like that too JB. Fished nomoco this morning from 6-8 and only 1 other guy out there. Caught a few short fluke and snappers were around. Glad I made my move to the gulp jerk shad they can't bite the tails off. Wish I could fish a little further into the channel. I know there must be some big fluke on the bottom there. IThe first hour was good then the northeast wind came and I didn't catch and got out of there before it got worse. Good luck on your kayak trip hope you find some big ones. Hope the winds are not too much for the bay.

[hookset]

Nice going gents looks like you fished ahead of the nastiness.

[J Barbosa]

Kayaked the RB yesterday with my brother and Rui. We launched around 5:30am. There was a steady rain and it was blowing 15-25mph out of the North East. Seas were 3-4+ ft in the bay...anyone who has fished the RB knows it gets down right nasty with a North/East wind.

We fished 20-35ft of water and had non stop fluke action. I must have caught over 100 fish but only managed two keepers, one 18.5 and one 19. My brother caught one keeper at 25" and Rui caught a keeper as well.




Only saw a few boats out there yesterday...about 3 party boats sailed and less than a handful of private boats. Again, where is everyone?

Also to the boat out of the RB that posts reports on a few different sites...where is your report from yesterday? I saw you out there I guess you didn't put enough meat on the deck to put up winning numbers for this tournament? A real fisherman posts all the reports or none not just the good but I guess that would be bad for future business.

[surferman]

There was a steady rain and it was blowing 15-25mph out of the North East. Seas were 3-4+ ft in the bay...anyone who has fished the RB knows it gets down right nasty with a North/East wind.

Thats interesting because in cape may a northeast wind is sometimes good for the back side. Turns the fish on big time. You were out in 3-4ft waves? You are a madman kudos to you dude! What did you catch that bluefish on were you using gulp?

[surferman]

Also to the boat out of the RB that posts reports on a few different sites...where is your report from yesterday? I saw you out there I guess you didn't put enough meat on the deck to put up winning numbers for this tournament? A real fisherman posts all the reports or none not just the good but I guess that would be bad for future business.

Thats one of the things I like about this site. Dudes are not afraid to post skunk reports. It makes it more real. I get sick of the guys who only post when they catch it makes it seem like they never get a skunk. Who is this boat you are referring to?

[buckethead]

^^^^^ Only posting when you have a great catch signifies a narcissistic personality. jmo.
Fished the first hour and half of the incoming this morning. Nice fog on the water, the waves are laying down, not bad. Managed 2 short fluke and one short bass. Gulp and gulp teaser. moco. There is a steady south wind out there so if you go out today try to find rocks or something that will give you a bit of a break from it. The fish I got were all in the north pockets.

[J Barbosa]

Some small bluefish around on Saturday surferman up to about the 1lb size. I caught a few and then I said well let me keep a few for the grill...after keeping that one they disappeared on me.

I did use gulp...I had plans to cast net some mullet in the morning but it was raining pretty good at 5am and would make it too hard to see them.

[hookset]

Nice going fellas. Good high tides around the end of the day this week. Will try to get out there and test the water. JB the last time I was out was late afternoon, great conditons and water. I fished some of the jetties. one short fluke but still had a good time. In 10 miles I only saw 2 other fishermen.

[cowherder]

Nice reports jb and bucket head. Thanks for the intel about the water cleaning up.

[VSdreams]

^^^^^ X2. I thought it would be dirty. Good to have someone who fishes a lot keep us updated thank you.

[baitstealer]

Thanks for the reports gents. I fished nomoco from 6-8 this morning. I would guess it was the last of the outgoing. Used the gulp setup like you guys recommended and got 6 short fluke and one big sea robbin. My first robin of the year. A little curious about how we had so many last year and this year they moved somewhere else?