New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Northern New Jersey Fishing Reports

The big news along the lower Hudson was the attack of the big blues at several piers this past week according to Akira over at True World Tackle. The gator size blues were smacking swimming plugs and other lures on the incoming tide and surprised anglers fishing for the stripers. Akira said the striped bass fishing got better as the week progressed with mostly smaller bass and some keepers being caught on worms, cut bunker and occasionally on plugs. The first reports on the fluke fishing showed picky fishing in the back bay but some better numbers coming from the Bay inside Sandy Hook.

We got another report of improved striped bass fishing when we spoke with Joe over at Fairfield Fishing Tackle. He too told us the bunker which moved into the bay early in the week was the main story. Most anglers were awaiting the return of the bunker which had not been seen in the bay in any numbers since the 4-1/2 inches of rain we had several weeks back. This past week was a good example of what can happen when you have a good forage fish populations and good numbers of stripers. With bait shops now able to get a limited number of fresh bunkers a lot of boats will start chunking. “Let’s hope the bunker stay around for a while,” he added. Joe said several anglers went looking for weakfish but failed to find them, however it the stripers and bluefish are around it won’t long before we see some weakies start showing up in catches, he said.

Over at Tackle World Mark echoed the reports of better striped bass action and said once the bass get on the heavy feed it will make artificials a lot more effective. There were a lot of stripers around this past winter and spring and the combinations of the weather and heavy amounts of freshwater that poured into the bay chased the bunker out a few weeks ago and this is what held the heart of the spring bass run back. Now that the bunker are in place other baitfish such as rainfish, mullet and spearing will start moving into the bay as waters warm up, and then, he said, it’s game.

“Boy what a difference a week and some good weather makes,” said Don over at Ramsey Outdoors in Succasunna said. The bunker are back, the bass are on the feed, the bluefish have showed up and fluke season is now open again. “How’s that for a good change in the landscape of the fishing along the northern coast,” he said, adding “All we need is to be able to keep a few more fish.” Anglers stopping in at the store are finally talking about good fishing and complaining about all the fish they had to throw back because of the insane regs. Andrew over at the Ramsey store was a little more definitive. He said reports on the fishing coming in from Raritan Bay and surrounding water including Sandy Hook were all good. He told us a couple of anglers who had fished the suds at the Hook stopped in and reported both mix size stripers and big bluefish being caught along with fluke that that had to be recycled. “Let’s hope the weatherman behaves himself so can enjoy the good fishing,” he said.

Back water areas continue to produce stripers, said sources over at Dockside Bait and Tackle. This past week saw more bass being caught on the flats off the channels we were told. In addition the big bluefish also made their presents felt. One thing anglers should remember is that they need their saltwater registration to fish and you need both New Jersey and New York is border areas. Some of the boats putting out of Dockside have had problems with that, we were told.

Boats sailing out of the Keyport Marine Basin saw a mix of stripers and big blues during the week and some fluke once the season opened on Saturday. When it comes to the striped bass fishing some boats did well while others saw spotty fishing; in both cases they had to release a lot of fish to get their keepers because of the regs. The big blues attacked baits and lures at will and Saturday’s fluke opener was a lot of shorts and a decent number of keepers, we were told. Just about everyone had an eye on this coming week’s weather, they added.

It was a decent week of striped bass fishing for anglers fishing aboard the Keyport Princess. Capt. Victor Hartley stated most days saw mixed size bass with some bluefish mixed in. Victor said he has added Wednesday and Friday evening striped bass trips to the boat’s schedule and will also be sailing for fluke on a limited basis. He advises anglers to give the boat a call to check as to what they will be sailing for during the week fluke or stripers.

“We had stripers, blues and fluke this past week,” said Steve Haas at Up Front Bait and Tackle. Steve told us the striped bass fishing was decent but as with past weeks the keeper ratio was poor. The bluefish moved into the bay and were even in the backwater areas chopping up baits and artificials. He also mentioned that the first reports on the fluke fishing to come into the shop told of a high ratio of short fish but a few nice keepers being taken as well.

Boats fishing out of Wagner’s Marina enjoyed a good week of bass fishing with some big blues mixed in. Mike said the better catches were by anglers who got out early and were able to snag some bunker. Chris Black enjoyed a good bite of nixed size bass on live bunker, as did Stan Walter. Needless to say both groups had to put a lot of fish back because of the regs, we were told.

Anglers enjoyed a nice mix of fish to fish for this past week, said Phil at the Tackle Box. Phil told us backwater striped bass fishing was mostly trolling mojos, shads and spoons. Most boat fishermen said the big bluefish didn’t shy away from those offerings either. Some bass were also taken on eels and bloodworms by shore fishermen as well. The first reports on the fluke fishing told of some flatties being caught on the flats with a 25-inch fluke taken on an Atlantic Highlands party boat being the top fish weighed in at the store. The Keansburg Flats were one of the top spots for private boat fishermen as were the waters just inside the Hook at the Coast Guard Station and off Officers Row.

“We got in a pair of trips this past week,” said Capt. Joe Baumle of Sour Kraut Sportfishing. Joe said an early week striper trip accounted for a double-figure catches of stripers of which only two were legal keepers and the rest were overs. On Saturday the boat tested the tuna fishing and found no fish.

Boats sailing out of Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor reported up and down striped bass fishing all week. Lou Fligor told me while the number of boats sliding down the ramp is nowhere near when it was last year, the marina had to use a couple of alternate parking lots on Saturday to handle the boat and trailer parking. Anglers returning after fishing were bringing in some keeper bass and the big bluefish also bent some rods. “It will be interesting to see what effects the predicted week long rains will have on the fishing,” Lou said.

Over at Julian’s Bait & Tackle Jay told me he got decent reports on the fluke fishing in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers and the fishing on the flats at Keansburg. Striped bass fishing, while improved over last week continued to be plagued by bait problems. Most the bass that were caught by boat fishermen were taken on the troll by boats pulling mojos and shads. The big bluefish also made their presence know, but so far no weakfish have shown up, he said.

It was a busy week for the crew of the Little Hawk with a dozen groups enjoying good fishing. Capt. Joe Occhipinti said his early week fishing saw Bob and his party and Jim and his group started the week off with very good trolling and all released fish. A pair of trips on Monday and another pair of trips on Tuesday had good trolling with all released fish, while two trips on Wednesday had a few keepers mixed in with the recycled fish. Thursday and Friday saw good catches but all released fish. Saturday’s trolling was outstanding on both trips but here again the bass were all overs that were released. Joe said they simply have to do something about the regs which are killing more fish than they are saving.

“We got in our first trips of the season and found some good fluke fishing on Saturday,” said Capt. Mike Scardingo of the Mi Jo. Mike said Saturday’s catch saw a lot of shorts and good number of keepers, while Sunday had decent catches with about the same ratio of keepers. The boat us now fishing fluke and has dates open for the early season fishing and summer.

I spoke with Tim over at Bahr’s Landing Marina and he told us boats sailing from the landing enjoyed a decent week of striped bass fishing with most of the fish being caught on the troll. Saturday’s fluke opener also saw some fair fishing just inside the Hook off the Coast Guard Station and Officers Row and around the Bug Light.

The word from Capt. Pete Wagner of the charter boat Hyper Striper was a good week of striped bass fishing with fish to 30-plus pounds. Pete said patrons caught fish tolling mojos and spoons and on topwater plugs depending on the day as conditions changed from day to day.

“We had a good week with the stripers both jigging and trolling,” said Capt. Chad Hacker of Tagged Fish Charters. Chad said the bass were a mix of sizes and he had to put a lot of fish back before he had some keepers. “Sure would like to have some seasonal weather instead of the cold stuff,” he lamented.

“We caught bass but we couldn’t keep them,” said anglers returning to Twin Lights Marina. Wayne said a good number of boats put out of the marina all week and that was their chief comment on returning. Several boats also mentioned that the bunker that had moved into the bay were hugging the bottom in deeper water making them hard to get at as well. This depressed the chunking bite Wayne said.

“We had a good week of striped bass fishing with some bluefish mixed in,” said Capt. Fletcher Chayes of Two Rivers Charter. Fletcher said that while the fishing was not as good as last season he was able to put anglers into the bass on topwater baits, swimmers and by trolling. Fletcher said he has some weekday slots open for the stripers so give him a call if you want to get in on the fishing.

The Miss Belmar Princess has changed her schedule and is now fishing for striped bass and blues daily leaving the dock at 7:30 a.m. In addition Capt. Al Shin told me the boat will kick off its spring Whale Watching Schedule on May 10 with a departure time of 1:30 p.m. and returning at 4:30 p.m.

The Big Mohawk III will not be fishing this week. Greg Hueth said the boat will resume fishing on May 17 and daily thereafter for sea bass leaving the dock at 6:30 a.m.

“Big blues hit the inlet on Saturday morning just in time for the fluke fishing,” said Tom over at the Fisherman’s Den. He told me all the rental boats were out for the start of fluke fishing and reports on the first catches were decent. The fluke were being caught and released for about three weeks in the inlet and river before the season opened, he said. A few bass were also caught at the inlet and in the local surf as well. “Hopefully the rains we are supposed to get this coming week won’t affect the fluke fishing,” he said.

“We had striped bass on Monday, Tuesday and Friday on the big boat,” said Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle and Victoria Marie. Rich said the small boat is still fishing out of the Atlantic Highlands and enjoyed a good week of striper fishing. Both boats will keep the same schedule this week, he said.

“We enjoyed a couple of very good days of striped bass fishing this past week,” cited Capt. Joe Paton of Nearfall Fishing Charters. Joe said some keepers came over the rails and plenty of throw backs. The boat will continue to fish for stripers until May 16 when it will return to Belmar and start sea bass fishing the next day. It will then sail for ocean stripers and sea bass, he said.

“The boat is in the water and ready to fish but won’t be starting the season until May 17 when the sea bass season opens,” said Capt. Peter Sykes of the Parker Pete Express. Pete told me the boat will be fishing open boat for the sea bass opener and has a few spots left for that trip to start the season.

“We got out and gave the bluefin a try before they shut the fishing down but failed to connect,” said Capt. Nick Caruso of the Ol’ Salty II and Big Kid. Nick said he has a couple bottom fishing trips slated for this week, weather permitting, and then will start sea bass fishing in earnest when the season opens. The boat has some early season date available so give Nick a call for info.

“The last trip we got in was with the Dan Brinks charter who enjoyed a mix of tog and throw back sea bass,” reported Capt. Steve Spinelli of the Skylarker, adding “The boat then went into the boat yard for maintenance and will be back at the dock on Monday.” Steve said he is looking forward to the sea bass fishing reopening.

“We will be doing an open boat striped bass trip on My 11, said Capt. Ralph Leyrer of Last Lady Fishing Charters. In addition Ralph said the boat will also be doing a pair of open boat sea bass trips on May 17 and May 29. For info on the trips give Ralph a call.

“We got much better reports on the striped bass fishing in Raritan Bay and surrounding waters,” said Nick over at Bullet Hole Annex. Bunker moved into the bay early in the week and the feed was on said a lot of anglers who fished the bay this past week. Nick told me jumbo bluefish were also being caught mixed in with the stripers which were a mix of all different sizes. “The fluke fishing opened up on Saturday and so far we have only gotten scattered reports of flatties being caught in the bay,” he said.

Members of the Jersey City Fire Department were on the decks of the Misty Morn on Friday and found tough bass fishing with Matt Rodrigez taking the pool. Capt. Phil Bouchard said the Latham family charter started off the fluke season aboard the boat with 7-year-old George catching the first fluke of the year, a 21-inch fish that also took the pool. Phil said the boat’s sailing schedule is posted on their website.