Tight Lines

Spot make great live baits for stripers, weakfish and large fluke, but are usually only available to NY/NJ Bight anglers in the fall. However, Absecon Bay Sportsman Center reports that they have arrived the earliest ever and he’s got lots of them in his live well.

Fisher Price IV from Highlands sent the following Raritan Bay report from a couple of days ago:

“Great bite this morning for Paul and crew. Multiple fish on at a time being taken on live bunkers, shads, plugs, and spoons. Boxed a limit of keepers and released several dozen fish to 23#. This afternoon Jon and crew were out. Reloaded the wells and the crew had a nice bunker bite landing over 2 dozen fish to 20# with a few making the box for dinner.” They have a Sunday morning opening for livelining.

The forecast is for south winds at only 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternon.

As has been the case the last few days, stripers were on the feed today in Raritan Bay on both bait and lures plus trolling.

Party boat patrons will be able to get in on that tomorrow as the Golden Eagle from Belmar will be sailing at 7:30.

The forecast is for east winds at just 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon. Saturday morning is also looking good.

Vinny Di Anton has heard that Monmouth County surfcasters have been picking school stripers and blues. He’s still fishing in Sarasota, where ladyfish, jacks and even flounder have been hitting the DOA Ahrimp — but snook have been scarce.

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It’s just starting, but bluefish should be swarming into waters throughout NY/NJ Bight very shortly.

In addtion to yesterday’s report about Manasquan Inlet, John Bushell Jr. reports from Betty and Nick’s in Seaside Park that “Bluefish are here ” There were large blues caught in the IBSP surf during the afternoon.

Live bunkers have been producing big stripers in Raritan Bay. Capt. Frank Massaria said it was hard to net the bunkers, but they paired off quickly today on his Vitamin Sea from Keyport with a limit catch.

A small craft advisory is up through Thursday morning. The forecast is for northeast winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before going southeast 5-10 in the afternoon.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar found good variety bottom fishing during Monday’s trip even though increasing sea bass still have to be released. They reported “Beautiful day to be offshore,good life on the bottom as well.Blackfish,Ling,winter flounder,lots of nice sea bass showing up to look at then release.” The Capt. Cal 2 from Belmar had a similar report.

When I used to charter out of Manasquan Inlet many years ago, April was the best month to find big sea bass on inshore wrecks to the south before smaller fish became dominant.

Matt Calabria reported for Capt. John Contello’s Jut Sayin as follows”Excellent Bass fishing on the last bunch of trips!! The live bunker bite is savage when it’s available and the troll bite is just as good. This morning we landed several dozen fish up to 40+ inches. Non stop action from start to finish. Full boat limit of slot keepers as well. Thank you to all of the crews that have been out with us recently!! We look forward to seeing a lot of you soon “

A small craft advisory is up for NY/NJ Bight from this evening to late Wednesday night. The forecast is for southwest winds at 15-20 knots before shifting to west in the afternoon. There’s a chance of showers.

Chuck Many is giving stripers a break while enjoying black drum action from shore at Hilton Head.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar gave it a good try Sunday, and did find some stripers — but they wouldn’t hit. A switch to bottom fishing produced some ling and short tog plus sea bass that are out of season.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar only picked at tog and ling which had hit much better on Saturday.

Jim Hutchinson Jr. reports that bluefish showed up in Manasquan Inlet this morning.

Betty & Nick’s in Seaside Park has been selling lots of clams which are producing school stripers in IBSP. Absecon Bay Sportsman Center said clams have also been a hot bait in the back bay there.

The forecast holds for the morning with south winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz with a recent Raritan Bay striper

Fisherman’s Headquarters reported there have been several trophy stripers released in the Long Beach Island surf during the past few days.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar reported the following from Saturday’s blackfishing trip: “We headed off the where the fish have been chewing past few trips and unfortunately they were not chewing there today..It was tough all around,,,some ling and a few keeper blackfish was all we scraped up..Some spots were just no bites at all..So game plan tomorrow is head off in a different direction and look for some better chews..Weather looks very nice,,I am looking forward to getting back out there,so see ya for coffee”

Monday’s forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots before shifting to west 5-10 in the afternoon.

The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is good, and both striped bass and tautog are likely to be turned on in calm waters.

Sunday starts with northwest winds at only 10 knots before going southwest in the afternoon.

Chuck Many reports a recent trip on his Tyman from Highlands as follows:

” Definitely a WOOOOOOO!!!!! Kind of afternoon with my nephew, Jake Many!! Landed 38, all released. Sandworms were the Ticket!!”

Also keep an eye out for bluefish. Capt. Russ Binns said they haven’t arrived in Barnegat Bay as yet. but a surfcaster showed off a couple that passed by him. No location was given, but it looked like the rock jetty in Sandy Hook — which is where I caught my first of the season many years ago.

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The annual spring migration of big tarpon in the Florida Keys is usually well worth the trip even on a slow night.

Fly rod specialist Capt. Jake Jordan reported as follows:

One of my donated trips to “The IGFA fund raising auction” in 2024 was for a 4 hour night time fly fishing trip with me in “Tarpon World”. The lucky generous bidder was Charles Foschini from Miami. Last night Charles drove down and collected the trip which he had bought at that IGFA auction. We fished between 9:30 pm and 1:30 am in light easterly winds with 76 degree water and air temperatures. The fish were acting weird, not biting aggressively and as a result Charles only hooked a few on the fly.

Andreas Toy Charters reported a couple of days ago that “· We cancelled the morning today but this afternoon we had out the guys from Austin, Texas and despite most boats cancelling we figured we would give it a shot since they flew in just to fish. Conditions didn’t allow for drifting so we trolled the @shadlifebaits mojos and had steady action. We got our limit and released a couple more in a few hours this afternoon. Thanks guys!“

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight through the afternoon. Saturday’s forecast is for west winds at just 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20. Showers are likely in the morning.

Fisher Price IV from Highlands reported as follows a couple of days ago:

“”Had Paul and crew out this morning. Took some time to get the bait but we were fortunate enough to get what we needed. Started off kinda slow but we did some searching and found a nice bite for the guys. The guys fished hard making every bait count landing several dozen fish to 39” and releasing all for another day. We have some availability this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday for open or charter. Call or text 732-861-3394 for info and reservations.”Friday afternoon “

Small craft warnings are up through Friday afternoon in NY/NJ Bight.

The forecast is for east winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.

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Capt. Vinnie Vetere made is first trip out of Great Kills this week and was surprised to find that “bunkers were almost impossible to net “– though he was able to eventually do well with medium to large stripers by chunking.

Most charter boats have been getting by with stripers by casting shads, but more seem to be switching to live bunkers. Vetere says the water is still too cold but expects the bite will turn on when it gets to 54 degrees.

The Ocean Exp[orer from Belmar reported a flat calm Tuesday. “Fish were in the mood as well,,We had fish coming as soon as we stopped..The blackfish were in the mood today unlike the past few days…Lots of shorts,,and keepers mixed in.Plus we had a nice showing
Of ling and a nice codfish as well.Fast Eddie won the pool and had a limit of blackfish..lots of nice sea bass moving in to,unfortunately we have to release them until May 17th.”

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight from late tonight through Thursday afternoon. The forecast is for east winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 30. Showers are likely.

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