First surf striper on sand fleas reported

Mike Monte had no luck again this morning with stripers in the Monmouth County surf on lures,, but he did see one caught on sand fleas by an angler using that bait earlier than I’ve ever heard of it being tried in the northern surf. Furthermore, that angler also lost another bass.

Sand fleas are a logical bait as waters warm up and live bait gets scarcer since bass can always root through the sand to fill up. Fishermen who have picked up that skill have often scored well while others can’t raise a thing on lures.

Every report from charter and private boats fishing in Raritan Bay was positive. It just seemed to be how long it took to catch what they wanted in various sizes.

The Jamaica from Brielle reported a very good Saturday striper trip with almost a boat limit on shads and crocs. They are sailing daily at 7:30 from Tuesday through Sunday.

A small craft warning is up through 8 p.m. The forecast for tomorrow is for southeast winds at 5-10 knots.

You’ve probably seen enough striper photos lately, so here’s something completely different – a bluefin trevally caught by Bob Malloy during Chuck Many’s trip to Pesca Panama. When I first went to Panama’ Pacific coast decades ago we called that abundant species cobalt jack.