Bayonne Bait and Tackle

When we spoke with Chris over at Bayonne Bait and Tackle on September 19 he told us most fisheries in his area were in flux. Some like fluke had started to move back into the ocean, while striped bass, mostly local fish, had just started moving into a fall pattern and were hitting in the evenings. Croakers, spot and small blues were still around in good numbers and should still be here for at least the first part of October. The best fishery going was the blues, bonito and false albacore that were moving along the inshore waters. He ended his report by saying it’s a good bet the fishing will break open after the full moon in early October, weather permitting.

We started off this week’s report with a call to Chris over at Bayonne Bait and Tackle who echoed the reports of peanut bunker moving into the back waters of Raritan Bay. He told us Bayonne, Perth Amboy and all the ports there saw plenty of peanut bunker and a good number of sea robins all moved into the area over the holiday weekend. More than likely this is the reason some schools of mixed size weakfish moved into the back bay as far up into the Hudson as the Statue of Liberty this past week. In addition he told us some stripers were caught in the deeper water after dark and croakers, mixed size blues, spot and some kingfish have also moved in. A few anglers took advantage of the nice weather early in the week to catch some of the mahi that have been reported around the Farms and the lobster pots. Chris told me the shop is all stocked up for the fall fishing. Lastly he was told the fluke fishing, while still being dominated with shorts also gave up some nice fish and you could find the pods of bigger fish.