New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Northern New Jersey Fishing Reports

Chris over at Bayonne Bait and Tackle told us peanut bunker moved into the Bayonne area early in the week with pods of bluefish right on their tails and anglers saw some decent choppers a couple times this past week. A few big weakfish were caught around Liberty State Park and croakers and spot along with some snappers are on tap for light tackle fishermen. A few anglers are also pulling some nice striped bass in the back bay and around the Hackensack River after dark on eels. He said some bluefin were caught off Long Island and yellowfin in the canyons. He said the shop is carrying butterfish and other tuna baits. Lastly he said the fluke fishing is seeing some decent numbers of keepers in the back bay waters.

It was an up and down week of fishing in the brine this past week cited Joe over at Fairfield Fishing Tackle. Reports coming into the shop this past week told of good fluke fishing one day and slow fishing the next; however a better number of legal fish made the fish box for most anglers this past week. Joe mentioned that fishing pressure was light this past week with the trifecta of nasty storms, heat and gas prices, along with the Canadian smoke pollution discouraging a lot of fishermen.

We gave Ken over at Dockside Bait and Tackle a call and he told us fishing in the bay since the Fourth of July celebrations was slow. When it comes to the fluke fishing it seems like the fish are there but just don’t want to hit in any big numbers. Every once in awhile someone hits a pocket of active fish and bags a limit catches but those times are few and far in between. The only fish that have been plentiful in the bay are the croakers and spot and dogfish. “This time of the year usually sees the warmest water temps of the season and hopefully that will translate into some better fishing,” Ken said.

Over at Raritan Marina Dave Rani told us boats sailing out of the marina have been in to some good fishing. Boats returning to the marina after fluke fishing have been telling of plenty of shorts but a very high ratio of shorts to keepers. Jerard Sessa went looking for jaws and caught and released a nice mako, while Mike Tindall also caught and released a mako and hammerhead on their shark fishing trip.

“It was a good week of fishing with plenty of short fluke caught and released along with some fair numbers of keepers to 7 pounds this past week,” said Capt. Victor Hartley of the Keyport Princess. Magic hour trips on Tuesday and Thursday did well with the flatties along with some croakers and spot. The boat has a change in her schedule with a 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. fluke marathon on Wednesdays, Victor said.

It was a good week of fishing, but not for anglers who simply stayed home, said Steve Haas over at Up Front Bait and Tackle. He said all different types of fishing have finally moved into Raritan Bay and surrounding waters this past week. In particular the fluke have finally moved into Raritan Bay and catches were the best of the season there so far. Croakers, spots and small blues also are in good supply if you can get away from the doggies and skate. “There are bluefin moving along the inshore waters, schools of blues with bonito mixed in outside, yellowfin and bigeye in the southern canyons and triggerfish, ling, one-fish limits of sea bass and tog and other ground fish for bottom fishermen and plenty of crabs all over,” Steve said.

Very few boats slid down the ramp this past week at Wagner’s Marina. Mike said between the weather, smoke storms and gas prices it was a slow week so we decided to put some gravel on our parking lots. That’s how slow it was. Some boats that did get out said they saw some better fluke fishing in both the ocean and bay. “So hopefully all the calamities we have been seeing will disappear and more people will get back to fishing,” he said.

“It looks like a lot of boaters heeded the smoke warning this past week because we only had a few vehicles and trailers in the parking lot on Saturday,” said Lou Fligor at Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor. Lou said he could hardly see out of the marina late in the week. When it comes to the fishing there were some better catches of fluke, plenty of croakers and spot, and some small blues being caught by anglers who did fish.

“We picked away at the fluke and sea bass on all our trips this past week,” said Capt. Mike Scardingo of the charter boat MiJo. Mike said all his trips this past week were in the ocean which saw a high short to keeper ratio.

“Schools of peanut bunker moving in and of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers with the tides seems to have stoked up the fluke fishing,” said Austin over at Julian’s Bait & Tackle. He told us in addition to the good fluke fishing some weakfish, croakers and other fish are also being caught on the moving tides there. He also mentioned bluefin along the inshore waters off Asbury Park and Long Island and some yellowfin and bigeye being caught in the southern canyons.

“Fluke fishing continues to improve on our half-day trips,” said Capt. Bob Henn of the Ebbtide Too. “We have been fishing the ocean just off the beaches and seeing both fluke and one fish limits of sea bass on our trips,” he said, adding “Let’s hope the fishing gets even better this coming week.”

Over at Bahrs Landing Marina Tim said he too has been seeing some real spotty fluke fishing since the holiday. The best fluke fishing has been in the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers and in the ocean in 15 to 20 feet of water just of the beaches to the south of the Hook. As to the fishing this coming week he said we should continue to see plenty of croaker and spot along with a mix of blues and bonito along the inshore waters. Since bluefin had showed up in the waters off Long Island it’s a good bet they will also provide some decent action. Lastly if the warm weather continues we should see some decent yellowfin action at the canyons, barring and big storms that would disrupt the fishing.

Fluke and triggerfish made up the bulk of the fish that came over the rails of the charter boat Hyper Striper this past week. Capt. Pete Wagner said Capt. Sean has been fishing the boat while he is out of town just in time for the fluke fishing to finally break open. Pete was down in Costa Rica playing with some southern fish with good results, said he hopes Sean will save some fluke for him when he gets back.

Boats sailing out of the Twin Lights Marina have also been seeing some good fishing while being hampered by the smoke. Wayne told us boats fishing the inshore waters for fluke have been seeing a fair amount of keepers along with plenty of shorts and other fish. Both inshore and offshore tuna action is on the upswing and some threshers, makos and even a hammerhead were boat this past week.

“We had a good week of fluke fishing along with some one fish limits of sea bass, some stripers and plenty of dogfish, especially on the weekend,” stated Capt. Fletcher Chayes of Two Rivers Charters. Fletcher said he did a pair of striper trips which surprised everyone with some good fishing and fluke catches were decent all week, with the exception of Saturday. He also mentioned that the boat has some dates open for all types of fishing.

Another person that told us it was a good week of fluke fishing was Greg Hueth of the Big Mohawk III. Limit catches and better numbers of keepers ruled the decks on the boat on all it trips this past week despite the heat and weather. “Hopefully the fishing we had this past week will continue for the rest of the season,” Greg said.

It was a good week of fishing for anglers fishing Shark River and inlet, as well as on the party boats that call Belmar home, said Sean over at the Fisherman’s Den. Rental boat fishermen saw a two to three keepers per 20 shorts on most trips this past week. Triggerfish, kingfish and some small blues kept jetty fishermen busy if they caught the right tide. A rumor of a 12-pound fluke being caught on one of the party boats was also heard. Likewise some sharks were also rumored to have been caught. Party boats got into fluke, sea bass, blues with some bonito mixed in and some ling, triggerfish and croakers for sinker bouncers.

“Everything has been late this year and the fluke fishing is on exception, however now that it’s here let’s hope it keeps on going and stays good the rest of the season,” said Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle. Rich said not only was the fluke fishing good but other fisheries were also good as well. “We started our trips by putting anglers into bluefish and bonito, then switched to the fluke fishing which also served up one fish limits of sea bass,” said Rich, adding “We even had a bluefin, estimated at about 600 pounds, come completely out of the water right next to the boat and give us the fin on one trip.”

“Blues, bonito, sea bass and fluke; it was a good week of fishing this past week,” cited Capt. Al Shinn of the Half Day Boat, Miss Belmar and Miss Belmar Princess. Al said the Miss Belmar is strictly fishing fluke on her morning trip, while the Princess has been putting anglers into slammers and bonito, then switching over to the flat fish so anglers can put a variety of fish in their coolers. Both boat will keep their schedules the rest of the summer, he said.

I spoke with Capt. Nick Caruso of the Ol’ Salty II and Big Kid and he told us both boats have been busy. Nick said he has been doing inshore tuna and offshore yellowfin and fishing has been decent when conditions have been good. The Salty has also been bottom fishing and seeing some better fluke catches while fishing in the ocean to the north of Shark River Inlet. When it comes to the bottom fishing Nick said ling, one fish limits of sea bass, and tog, and triggerfish have been supplying the action. He said the fishing has been decent when the conditions have been favorable. Nick said the boat has dates open for all types of inshore and offshore fishing on both boats so give him a call if you want to get in on the fishing.

“Finally the fishing is producing some really good results, especially the fluke fishing,” reported Capt. Steve Spinelli of the charter boat Skylarker. Steve said he started the week off with members of the Happy Hour Bar who enjoyed the first good catch of the week. Next up was the Kelly’s Tavern charter who made it two good trips in a row along with some blues for good measure. A mid week trip with the Mike Kelly group enjoyed another good mix of keeper and short fluke along with one fish limits of sea bass. The Joe Diminsly group decked fluke to 4 pounds along with sea bass. The crew finished up the week with members of the Leary Fishing Club who had a good bite of fluke and sea bass on Saturday.

I spoke with Capt. Michael Doren of Lady K Fishing Charters and he told me his recent rips have been seeing some decent fluke fishing. The boat is also available for inshore and offshore tuna fishing, so if you want to get in on the action give him a call for additional info and available dates.

Over at Bullet Hole Annex we were also told of improving fluke catches outside and around the Oceanic Bridge. Here too we were told of a mix of croakers, spot and small bluefish popping up all over the bay. Bottom fishermen are into croakers, spot, triggerfish and occasional kingfish. Lastly we were informed that schools of mixed size bluefish with some bonito mixed in are being caught outside on some of the party boats.

Over at the dock of Misty Morn Capt. Phil Bouchard told us he was pleasantly pleased and surprised to see all the fluke that moved into Raritan Bay and the back water areas this past week. “We finally had a chance to fish locally and hammered the fluke on our trips,” he said, adding “We had been fishing the ocean and the short to keeper ratio was very high compared to what we had this past week.” Capt. Phil is hopeful that the fishing will remain good the rest of the summer.