New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Northern New Jersey Fishing Reports

Akira over at True World Tackle told us striped bass fishing has been hit or miss in New York Harbor because of the lack of bunker. Bluefish are all over the back bay and lower harbor taking poppers, metal and swimming plugs. On the fluke fishing front fishing in New York Harbor has been very slow mainly because of cool water. Most of the reports that have been coming into the store are coming from the front portion of Raritan Bay, Akira said.

Joe over at Fairfield Fishing Tackle said anglers stopping in at the shop after fishing Raritan Bay reported a good mix of different size bass and some jumbo blues. They also mentioned a good week of fluke fishing in Raritan Bay with most anglers the put in their time getting their limit of legal fluke. Joe as one of the first persons to tell us he heard of some weakfish being caught along the lower side of the bay.

It was a slower week of striped bass fishing along the northern coast according to Mark over at Tackle World Most of the better reports were from the early part of the week and fishing slowed down after Wednesday in most areas. Mark said fluke fishing also slowed down late in the week with the best catches coming from the front of Raritan Bay and around the Hook.

The news of better striped bass fishing continues when we spoke with the folks over at Ramsey Outdoors in Succasunna. They said while the fishing was fair the weekend weather kept a lot of anglers off the water. They too mentioned some good fluke fishing earl in the week despite the weather tantrums. A check with the folks over at the Ramsey store and they too said they got early week reports of good striped bass fishing with some big blues mixed in. The bass fishing tapered off about mid week. Fluke fishing was also decent early in the week with a lull later in the week and some fair fishing on Saturday they said.

Over at Dockside Bait and Tackle the thumbs pointed down on the striped bass fishing this past week. Brett said the number of boats fishing was down and fishing was spotty at best. Saturday was the only day any amounts of boats fished. Bluefish were all over and anglers had no problem catching them, Fluke fishing was also picky in the backwater areas mainly because of the off color water. Most of the flatfish action as on the flats along the south side of the bay and towards the front of the bay.

Wind and weather cut into the fishing this past week according to Dave Rani of Raritan Marina. Dave told us some of the boats at the marina did well with the stripers when they were able to fish. The better fishing was in the early part of the week with trolling taking the bulk of the bass. Fluke fishing was a lot of shorts for a fair amount of keepers being caught mostly off the flats along the lower side of the bay, we were told.

For the most part it was a slow week of fishing along the northern coast said sources over at the Keyport Marine Basin. Early week striped fishing was decent but the mid week winds and weather coupled with the bunker shortage put the breaks on the fishing. It was pretty much the same story with the fluke fishing which looked promising last weekend until about mid week when shorts started to dominate the catch we were told.

While it was a tough week of striper fishing, it was a decent week of fluke fishing according to Capt. Victor Hartley of the Keyport Princes. Victor said anglers fishing aboard the boat were able to pick up some nice keepers and the fluke fishing should only improve as more fluke move into the bay. The boat is now fluke fishing daily.

“Stripers, blues and fluke provided some fair fishing this past week,” said Steve Haas over at Up Front Bait and Tackle, adding that Fishing would have been a lot better but for the winds and weather that kept a lot of boats from getting out. The other problem we have been having is a big lack of bunker. “Local bunker boats simply can’t find a sustainable supply anywhere,” Steve said. Saturday saw the most anglers on the water thanks to a bogus weather forecast, he added.

“Boats that got out early in the week did well with both stripers and fluke,” said Mike over at Wagner’s Marina. Mike said you had to sort trough the shorts and overs to get a keepers but the fishing was good. Same with the fluke there were plenty to shorts but you could get you limit of keepers if you worked at, he said. “Hopefully this week’s weather predictions will be wrong and we will have some nice weather to jump start the fishing,” he added.

Another place that told us it was a up and down week was at the Tackle Box. The word there was good striped bass and fluke fishing early in the week. Then came the mid week winds and weather and fishing slowed up considerably. While there is virtually no bunker in Raritan Bay there are schools of bunker moving around to the south of Sandy Hook. For the most part what bass are being taken are being caught on the troll. Fluke fishing is mostly toward the front of the bay and some good catches of flatties were taken in the Sandy Hook Channel, around the Coast Guard Station and off the tip of the Hook. This would indicate that the flatties are moving into the bay. Rumors of some anglers getting spooled while fishing off Sandy Hook by big bluefin were also heard this past week.

“We did not fish this past week due to a couple of cancelations due to the weather,” said Capt. Joe Baumle of Sour Kraut Sportfishing. “We will be back at them this week weather permitting,” Joe added.

“The sunny Saturday between the rains and Mothers Day proved to be the busiest day of the week in Raritan Bay,” said Lou Fligor over at Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor. Lou said more boats slid down the boat ramp on Saturday then the entire week. Striped bass and fluke were the main targets and a fair amount of both fish came back to the ramp along with a few slammers, we were told.

“This past week’s fishing was a bag of mixed results,” said Steve over at Julian’s Bait & Tackle. Depending on who you talked to you either got a good report on the bass fishing or a poor report. Likewise some anglers said the fluke fishing was heavy with shorts, while others said the got their three fish with no problem. With the bluefish it you like catching them you had plenty if you don’t like the slammers they were a nuisance. “Hopefully we will have some more favorable weather and better fishing this coming week,” Steve added.

“This past week’s weather forced us to cancel several trips,” said Capt’ Joe Occhipinti of the charter boat Little Hawk. Joe said the week started off with four straight days of picky striped bass fishing with all overs that were recycled. A pair of trips on Thursday also had all overs, while both trips on Saturday saw slow fishing. Over all it was a lot of work for too few fish in the fish box, Joe said.

“We got in a lone trip this past week on Saturday with members of the Keyport Fishing Club,” said Capt. Mike Scardingo of the Mi Jo. Mike said the group enjoyed a solid mix of shorts and keepers with all going home with fish.

Boats sailing out of Bahr’s Landing Marina found spotty fishing for the big three this past week, Tim said the striper fishing was decent early in the week but spotty after mid week, Likewise the fluke fishing saw the same fate and shorts started dominating the catch after mid week. Here to we were told that Saturday saw the biggest number of boats put out of the marina.

“It was a good week of bass fishing in between the weather problems,” said Capt. Pete Wagner of the charter boat Hyper Striper. Pete qualified that statement by saying the only thing wrong with the fishing is we did not keep a fish because of the 3-inch slot limit. “Needless to say a lot of our clientele are not happy about the regs,” he added.

“We had an up and down week of striped bass fishing,” cited Capt. Chad Hacker of Tagged Fish Charters. Chad said he can’t wait for the sea bass season to open so he can put some fish in the fish box for his clients. He also told me he will start mixing in fluke trips once that fish heats up for the same reason.

A call to Wayne over at the Twin Lights Marina also told us of a week with mixed results. Several boats fished out of the marina for stripers early in the week and did well, but those that fished later in the week had less success. Boats fishing for fluke also did well till the blow mid week on the flats in the bay and in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers. Wayne also mentioned that he still had a lot of boats to put in the water which is very unusual for this time of the year.

“Early in the week the striped bass fishing was good on topwater baits and swimming plugs, then after the weather the fishing got picky,” said Capt. Fletcher Chayes of Two Rivers Charters. “We had some big blues mixed in with the bass and the weekend fishing was mixed bag because of the weather on Sunday,” he added. The boat has some early season dates still available so give Fletcher a call if you want to get in on the spring fishing.

“We are ready for the start of the sea bass season this coming week,” said Capt. Mat Quinines of BeastMode Fishing. Matt said he has some dates for the sea bass fishing so give him a call for info.

“We are looking forward to resuming fishing this coming Friday,” said Greg Hueth of the Big Mohawk III. The boat will resume fishing daily for sea bass once the season opens leaving the dock at 6:30 a.m.

Fluke fishing in Shark River and inlet is holding up well according to Tom over at the Fisherman’s Den. Most rental boats are returning to the dock with some keepers and are reporting plenty to shorts as well. Big blues bounced in and out of the inlet on several days this past week and occasional stripers are also being caught both at the inlet and in the local surf. Some anglers are also playing catch and release with the blackfish off the rocks at the inlet. Tom also mentioned that some of the party boats sailing during the week enjoyed some decent striped bass action when they have been able to sail.

Another person that told us of a hit or miss week of striped bass fishing was Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle and Victoria Marie. Rich said some days the boat enjoyed very good catches while other days it seem like the ocean was void of fish. The smaller boat also saw some good days and some poor days and Rich said the fishing has been very inconsistent. Both boats will be switching over to sea bass fishing once the fishing opens up this Friday, but will be splitting their days between the sea bass, stripers and blues should the occasion arise, he said.

Tuesday proved to be the best day of the week for striped bass fishing aboard the Miss Belmar Princess. Capt. Al Shinn told us the boat limited out with keepers and threw back a lot of shorts and overs by 10 a.m. “Most of the fishing was on shad, the rest of the week was picky,” Al said.

“We lost our trips to the weather this past week,” said Capt. Joe Paton of Nearfall Fishing Charters. Joe said his last trip in Raritan Bay is this Wednesday and he will head back to Belmar on Thursday for the start of sea bass fishing. After that the boat will be bottom fishing and mixing in ocean stripers. The boat does have open dates so give Joe a call if you want to get in on the summer fishing.

“We had to cancel a couple of bottom fishing trips because of the weather this past week,” cited Capt. Nick Caruso of the Ol’ Salty II. Nick said he can’t wait for the sea bass fishing to open and hopefully it will be better then the fisheries we have been having so far this spring.

A Tuesday trip aboard the charter boat Skylarker with the Catherine party enjoyed a nix mix of ling, and recycled sea bass and tog. Capt Steve Spinelli said he also did some striped bass fishing over the weekend. Steve said he too is looking forward to the opening of sea bass fishing,

“We had very good ling fishing all day on Thursday’s open boat bottom fishing trips,” cited Capt. Ralph Leyrer of Last Lady Fishing Charters. Ralph said the boat has dates available for charters and open boat trips so give him a call for info.

The word from Nick over at Bullet Hole Annex was much improved striped bass action in both Raritan Bay and the ocean down from Sandy Hook. Trolling mojos, spoons and shads remained the top producer, however some boats are also taking the bass on topwater plugs and cut bunker when they can get it. Big bluefish continue to spice up the ca5ch in some areas. The first week of fluke season got good grades with plenty of short fish being caught and released and a good amount of keepers filling three fish limits, he said.