New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Northern New Jersey Fishing Reports

We spoke with Akira over at True World Tackle who told us he still got reports of bass being caught in New York Harbor however the number of anglers fishing has really started to taper or off especially during the middle of the week when the weather was at its worse. Blackfishing remained good with both pier and boat fisherman finding decent catches. The best fishing was at the Middle Grounds and Sandy Hook Reef, Fishing in the backwater areas of Raritan Bay was also good, but here too the number of anglers fishing was dropping fast as more marinas close for the season.

The news from Joe over at Fairfield Fishing Tackle set the tone for most of our other reports when he said striped bass fishing continues to be very good in northern waters and some of the best fishing has been along the middle of the state. It looks like more bass moved into Raritan Bay and from about mid-week on keepers and shorts were in good supply. On the blackfishing front the fishing has been up and down depending on the current conditions. There is still plenty of tog in the backwaters of the bay, and some of the reefs have also been seeing some fair catches.

The only report Mark over at Tackle World had for us was of very good fishing off the beaches and in boats with in a short distance from the surf in the middle of the state. Mark said anglers stopping in told him the fishing was non-stop with some bluefish mixing in with the bass and boats seeing some bluefin moving through the area.

Over at Ramsey Outdoors in Succasunna Don also told us of good striped bass fishing in the suds along the central portion of the state. He said several anglers told him the bass were smashing any that you put in front of them. He told us he also got reports of a lot of bass moving into the lower Passaic and Hackensack rivers. Reports on the blackfishing in the ocean are still of spotty catches. However fishing in New York Harbor and the backwaters of Raritan Bay continue to be good he said. I checked with the folks over at the store in Ramsey and they too said they got good reports on the surf fishing for bass from Seaside down the coast to Cape May.

I spoke with John over at Dockside Bait and Tackle and he told us this past week saw some good striper fishing in the back bay. Most of the bass were keepers and shorts anglers reported. There was also some decent fishing in the ocean at times but the fishing was more sporadic. Dockside will be open for at least another week, maybe two depending on the traffic and weather, he said.

It was another excellent week of striped bass fishing said sources over at the Keyport Marine Basin. The boat launch got a good workout on Saturday with a lot of anglers trying to get some last fishing time in before the predicted rainy weather on Sunday. The basin is now closed on Sunday and Monday.

Saturday proved to be the best day of the week for anglers fishing aboard the Keyport Princess. Capt. Victor Hartley told me the boat had a steady bite of shorts, slots, keepers and a few overs. The boat is currently sailing daily Wednesday through Sunday.

We got a call from Steve Haas at Up Front Bait and Tackle and the told me most of the better striped bass fishing has been in the ocean from the Hook down into the middle sections of the state. This past week saw some excellent fishing for mixed sized bass in the surf along the middle coast. Steve said the better blackfishing was still in the backwater areas but this past week saw some better fishing on local reefs and wrecks.

I spoke with Pat over at the Tackle Box and he said despite the bass moving around the striped bass fishing showed no signs of letting up. Seems most of the bunker has moved out and has been replaced by schools of sand eels some as big as 7 inches. As a result anglers have had to change their lure presentations to mimic the eels with Avas, Deadly Dicks, plastic eels and tubes taking the bulk of the fish from the boats until the end of the year. Some big bluefish were mixing in with the stripers all week and were even caught along the beaches. Anglers fishing in the suds from the Hook down the beaches into the middle of the state were also into the bass with shorts, keepers and some overs blitzing the beaches with the tides. On the tog fishing front most of the fishing in the ocean has been on Sandy Hook Reef and other artificial reefs we were told.

It was a quiet week at the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor. Lou Fligor told me, to say this past week?s weather was not conducive of a lot to people fishing would be an understatement. The mid-week cold snap and windy weather cut into the number of angels fishing but the weekend was a different matter. Lou told me the boat ramp was very busy on Saturday as many anglers tried to get in some last minute fishing before the predicted rains and nor?easter on Sunday.

The word from Steve over at Julian?s Bait & Tackle was good striped bass fishing but spotty blackfishing. Steve told me very few anglers are tog fishing out of the Atlantic Highlands and most of the serious Blackfishermen are fishing on Belmar boats. When it comes to the striped bass fishing it?s just the opposite, just about all the boats fishing out of the Highlands are fishing for stripers, even with the good numbers of tog in the upper bay.

?This week will be our last week,? said Tim over at Bahr?s Landing Marina. Needless to say it was one heck of a fall fishery and probably the best striped bass fishing we have ever seen in our local waters. Tim said the fuel dock will be open all winter, but he is heading for warmer beaches.

?We had some up and down days of blackfishing this past week with some days very good while other the tog were hard to find,? said Capt. Pete Wagner of the charter boat Hyper Striper. Pete said while tog fishing was picky there was no problem with the stripers and big gator blues which slammed jigs everywhere we found them. ?Looks like the schools of sand eels are keeping the bass and blues in northern waters,? Pete said.

?We got out right after the storm pasted early in the week and found miles of birds and stripers along with some whales,? said Capt. Chad Hacker of Tagged Fish Charters . Chad said he spent the rest of the week picking at the blackfish with some anglers decking limits and other just catching a few. The boat will continue to fish for stripers and tog into the new year. Chad also advises anglers who want spring striper charters to call soon as those dates are booking up quickly.

Over at Twin Lights Marina Wayne said boat still sailing out of his place were into excellent striped bass fishing to the south off Seaside during the week and got a bonus of bluefin and big bluefish mixing it up with the bass a few miles off the beaches.

?We have one more week maybe two to go before we call it a season,? said Capt. Fletcher Chayes of Two Rivers Charters. Fletcher said this past week was a mix of good striped bass fishing and spotty blackfishing, and the boat will stay with that mix of fish this coming week depending on the weather and water conditions.

It was limits of striped bass and a couple of decent blackfish trips this past week for anglers fishing with BeastMode Fishing. Capt. Matt Quinones said the striped bass fishing continues to be outstanding with a good mix of shorts, keepers, slots and some overs supplying the fishing this past week. A pair of tog trips also found some decent size whitechins. He said the boat will continue to fish for both stripers and tog into the new year weather and anglers permitting.

Another person that told me his boat had mixed results with the whitechins was Greg Hueth of the Big Mohawk III. Greg said he is not seeing the numbers of tog he normally sees this time of the year. With water temps still a little warm for this time of the year, hopefully things will change and the blackfish will start chewing in better numbers he said. That said, the boat will continue to run daily for blackfish.

It was a good week of fishing in the Belmar area even with the mid-week weather problems according to Tom over at the Fisherman?s Den. Boats fishing for stripers out of Belmar hammered the bass most of the week even with missing a couple of days amid week. Blackfishing has also been on the upswing with some nice whitechins being boated and some better numbers being caught. Anglers fishing off the rocks at the inlet continue to pick up some tog and winter flounder numbers have been on the slow side for the few anglers fishing to them.

?Even with the Tuesday-Wednesday rains and wind we still had a very good week of striped bass fishing,? cited Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle. Rich said if you would have told him in the beginning of the season that he would still be fishing for stripers and catching the kind of numbers of fish he is catching in December he would not have believed it. We will continue to fish for the linesiders until either the fish move on or we can?t get enough anglers to fish, he said,

This past week saw some fantastic fishing with the boat maxing out with keepers and bonus tag fish by 10:30 a.m. according to Capt. Al Shinn of the Miss Belmar Princess. Al said the striped bass fishing doesn?t get any better than the fishing we started the month to December with. He also told us the boat has bonus tags aboard and this is giving anglers a chance to take a keeper and an extra fish in the bonus size class. He said he intends to sail the boat for stripers as long as the fishing remains as good as it is now so come on down and get in on the fishing before the boats is done for the season.

?We had some good striped bass fishing and had mixed results with the blackfish,? said Capt. Joe Paton of Nearfall Fishing Charters. Joe said the striped bass action continues to be unbelievable with mixed size bass giving late season anglers plenty of action. Some days have been very good while other days you have to put in a lot of work to get some fish. Joe told me he will continue to target the tog into January but will try for the stripers in the opportunity presents itself and the people are willing.

Several trips aboard the Ol? Salty II found excellent striped bass fishing to the south of the inlet this past week. Captain Nick Caruso said there are miles of bass on and just off the beaches and this past week also saw some bluefin mixing in with them only a few miles off the beaches. The boat also got in a couple of tog trips with 4- to 6-pound whitechins taking the pools. Nick said he will continue to fish for stripers and tog into the new year as long as the fish are there and there are fishermen to fish for them.

?It was limits of keepers and bonus fish, along with shorts, and overs on every trip we sailed on this past week,? stated Capt. Peter Sykes of the Parker Pete Express. Pete told me he has never seen striped bass fishing as good as this and there seems to be no end to the fish which are now feeding on sand eels. The boat will continue to run open boat when not charters and will be fishing open boat from Monday through Thursday this week, he said.

It was a busy week of fishing with mixed results for anglers fishing with the crew of the Skylarker. Capt. Steve Spinelli said he started the week off by putting members of the Monmouth Beach Car Toppers into a catch of blackfish. Next up were the Bill Perry party who found a fair catch of tog. The Chris Adler party opted for striped bass fishing and limited out with keepers and bonus fish. Members of the Belmar Fishing Club found the same results on their trip maxing out with keepers and bonus fish. The Charlie Rippendorff group enjoyed a good bite of whitechins, while the Steve Bin party saw slow tog fishing.

?This past week saw our last offshore sea bass trip of the year and it didn?t disappoint our patrons,? reported Capt. Ralph Leyrer of the Last Lady Fishing Charters. Ralph said fishing was very good, as was the boat striped bass fishing this past week. Ralph said there are still, acres and acres of stripers moving along our northern coast and fishing should remain very good into the end of the year, weather permitting. The boat will be doing an open boat trip this coming Tuesday and several more before the year ends. He advises anglers to check out his website for current sailing info and dates.

Another person that told us that business is starting to shift from tackle being used to Christmas presents was Nick over at Bullet Hole Annex. He said the mid-week cold spell had anglers scrambling for some more up to date winter clothing. One place there has been some very good fishing was off the beaches in the middle of the state. Nick said he got reports of big bass, keepers and shorts being caught in the suds most of the week. We also heard of a new body of bass moving into Raritan Bay late in the week. On the blackfishing front most of the better fishing is still in the backwater areas, however the recent cold snap seems to have put some life in the mid-range wrecks, he said.