Sand eels make a difference– beach & boat

Sand eels are the most important late fall to winter striped bass fishery as they stick around while other forage fish head south. The first boat mention of them came today from Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. He noted

“Changed things up a bit today and took a ride….Glad we did!

Found the first Sand eels of the season and the Bass were Hungry. First drift went 30 minutes with non-stop action on fish up to 36 inches. Everyone had thier two by trips end. Plain Jigs & Jigs with tails were the ticket catching these beauties. Can’t wait to get back at it tomorrow!

7:00AM Sailing,. Open Boat, No reservations, No crowds, Just come on down. Fare is $90, Rod Rental $20.“

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another big trip of stripers, and will be back at it at 6:30 a.m.

Mike Monte only had a short daylight shot at stripers in the Monmouth County, and had to switch to a Ava with a green tail for long casts to catch schoolies. He had to stop that for a time because he was afraid of hitting the mass of loons feeding on the sand eels.

Vinny D’Anton said there was blitz surf fishing yesterday morning in Ocean County with bass up to 35 inches on peanut bunkers.

A small craft advisory is up from 6 p.m. to late Monday night. The morning forecast is for west winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 30.