Tight Lines

April 11, 2026

Better weather & even better stripers

With warmer weather and lighter winds spring striper action in NY/NJ Bight even excites old pros like Jim Freda of Shore Catch Charters. “

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Jim Freda is with The Reel Seat and 15 others at Lockwood Boat Works, Inc.

22h ·South Amboy, NJ ·

What a day for the boys from PA started the morning off with a good bite on the outgoing then it slowed a little but on the incoming fresh fish started pouring in right down the middle of the bay! It was non-stop action. The guy’s experienced something a lot of clients will never see to catch a run come right under the boat! Multiple doubles and triples It was a lot of fun! Thanks guys great job today hopefully many memories made! Don’t wait to book call or text me now 732-7…

Se”

The Sunday forecast is for NE winds at just 5 knots before going SE increasing to 20 knot gusts in the afternoon.

April 10, 2026

April is for shad

Most anglers in NY/NJ Bight are seeking stripers now, but this is also prime time for shad.

Chuck Many joined Eric Fisler in trolling Delaware River at Phillppsburg with small spoons to catch over 40 shad including one over 6 pounds.

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

April 9, 2026

NJ surfcasters catching some stripers

Vinny D’Anton is finishing up his winter stay in Sarasota where sea trout have been providing steady action as he wade casts the DUOA Shrimp. Vinny has been in touch with some northern N.J. surfcasters who have been picking a few stripers. That’s a good sign after last fall’s school striper migratory run failure.

April 8, 2026

The striper bite goes on

Andreas Toy reported they were able to post the day’s report by 8 a.m. during a recent trip.

The forecast is for southeast winds at just 5-10 knots.

With the good forecast from Thursday through the weekend, the Golden Eagle from Belmar will resume trips.

Andreas Toy striper action

April 7, 2026

Stripers in Navesink

Capt. Lou Grazioso and Nick Honachefsky released lots of stripers on shads yesterday in Navesink River.

April 6, 2026

Shad lures best bet for Raritan Bay bass

Striper fishing has broke open

and shad lures seem to be doing best with the mixed size fish. That’s a good thing as there should be no mortality in releases while anglers seek those that are legal.

Even when bass aren’t showing, casting shad lures to fish marks on your fishfinder will usually get the job do without resulting in mortality in releases.

I’m still having a hard time finding mail.

The forecast is for west winds at 10-15 knots.

April 5, 2026

It’s on in Raritan Bay

That’s the good news about stripers from the April 3 trip with bass up to 40 inches on Andreas Toy.

Monday’s forecast is for west winds at 10-20 knots.

April 4, 2026

NJ/NY Bight stripers turn on

Capt. Frank Masseria of Vitamin Sea reported a great start with stripers as follows”When I said any day I guess I was right. Our first trip of the season was absolutely insane with 3,4,5 and 6 on at a time. No way I could keep up with the netting. Boiling water for over 2 1/2 hours. Today was as good as it gets. Many fish well over 40”. High hook had over 20 fish. All fish caught casting Shads.

Full boat limit of keepers.”

The forecast is for southwest winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 30.

Pretty close to 100 fish today. …

Wild striper bite in NY/NJ Bight

Capt. Frank Massaria reported

April 3, 2026

First good striper report

Matt Calabria supplied an April 1 night trip report of a wormball mayhem with over 20 bass caught with at least seven of keeper size. This was probably in the Raritan Bay area.

April 2, 2026

A very unusual catch

Paul Castelli had to drive up from the Everglades yesterday to drop a friend off at the Ft. Myers Airport, and joined me on the local ponds that I can’t fish alone at 89 due to the uneven surfaces and my inability to outrun the alligators.

Casting surface lures produced one decent bass and two little guys for me while Paul caught couple of small bass and a cicihlid while not holding me up. However the big surprise came when I hooked a bottom hugger that turned out to be a softshell turtle which hit a Gulp. It had a mouth full of long sharp teeth.