With and eels finally settling in off Ocean County beaches, striped bass have a steady source of forage to keep them round well into December, though these are the small bass that usually signal the end of the season if water temperatures drop suddenly.

Jerry Lasko said there was a pick along Ocean County beaches this morning even though the bird action remained beyond casting distance where party boats were jigging. A return in the afternoon provided another pick as Maren Toleno released a dozen and Jerry added two. Surprisingly, anglers were often casting into working birds without getting hits.

Vinny D’Anton ended up in Brick late in the morning as he broke the ice with one bass and had another hit. He saw the party bots, but as of yet I haven’t received any reports from them.

Mike Monte stuck with the Monmouth County beaches and did nothing there in the morning though the sea was down enough to permit decent casting conditions.

A gale watch is up from tonight through Friday afternoon. Thursday starts with east winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25. Rain is likely in the afternoon.

Capt. Clinton Lessard sent the following report of yesterday’s trophy bass tagging on his SHO-NUF from Cape Charles, Virginia:

SHO-NUF Sportfishing / Charters

23h  · 

What started off as a rough miserable NW wind ended up beautiful. Changed it up a bit and fished a different area with high hopes. Well it payed off as we went 3/3 today. They were all safely tagged and released with Gray FishTag Research. Biggest today was 56lbs. The other two were 47lb ,and 48lb. As I always say, we go out in hopes to catch that one, and anything else is a bonus. We have availability early January. Give us a call 757-710-0098.

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A gale watch is up from this evening to Friday afternoon. The forecast for tomorrow is for east winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 and afternoon rain.

Capt. Clinton Lassiter sent the following report about big bass action yesterday on his Cape Charles, Va. charter boat:

SHO-NUF Sportfishing / Charters 

What started off as a rough miserable NW wind ended up beautiful. Changed it up a bit and fished a different area with high hopes. Well it payed off as we went 3/3 today. They were all safely tagged and released with Gray FishTag Research. Biggest today was 56lbs. The other two were 47lb ,and 48lb. As I always say, we go out in hopes to catch that one, and anything else is a bonus. We have availability early January. Give us a call 757-710-00

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Mike Monte reported no life in the still rough Monmouth County surf as he cast both Tsunami Sand Eels and tin squids, but he did get word about an Ocean County angler catching a legal striper that had a stomach full of sand eels.

Monte did see gannets diving well out of range from Belmar to Long Branch — a likely indication of herring which could attract another run of big bass. Herring often move into the surf at dusk where their flashes can be spotted

Fisher Price IV from Highlands wound up charter fishing for stripers with an early pick of schoolies to fill a limit plus a few releases for the open boat trip before the bass got lockjaw and wouldn’t hit anymore even as they continued marking. They will switch to blackfishing before concluding the season on Jan. 1.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar is set to sail for stripers at 7:30 in what may be their last trip for that species.

A small craft warning is up through Wednesday afternoon. The forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 before it’s back to east at the same speeds on Thursday.

Blackfish like this one hooked by Lou Castellano will be the featured inshore species this month.

The recent rough ocean has impacted both party boat fishing and surfcasting, but a shift to northwest winds tomorrow may briefly improve conditions.

Small craft warnings are up through tonight, but by morning it should be a calming 10-15 knot northwest with gusts to 25. That will be perfect for surfcasting, and boaters will be able to seek stripers and blackfish close to shore. Favorable conditions won’t last long as there’s a switch back to the east the next day.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar will seek stripers at 7:30, and the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant will make its last trip of the season tomorrow.

Jerry Lasko reports surf conditions at Ocean County beaches have been so poor that no one has been fishing. The wind switch may help, especially if sand eels and herring begin to provide forage.

Big bass have been heading south, but Chris Lido got into this release last week.

Big pre-spawning stripers are building up in Chesapeake Bay, and the Cape Charles charter boat SHO-NUF placed another sat tag in one which they reported as follows:

“Another amazing day here at SHO-NUF. Another satellite tag deployed from Gray FishTag Research with David Nova and Chuck Tyman. We went 6 for 8 on the big girls. We left the fishing grounds at 1 to go look in a different spot closer to home. We had another bite but she didn’t want to cooperate. What a beautiful day on the Chesapeake Bay. The only day we have left in December is this Friday the 16th and we have some dates early January. Give us a ring 757-710-0098.”

A small craft advisory is up through Monday afternoon in NY/NJ Bight. North winds at 15-20 knots are forecast for Monday with gusts to 20 plus morning rain.

Fisher-Price IV has Tuesday open for individual anglers, Call 732 861-3394.

Big pre-spawning striped bass are arriving off Cape Charles, Virginia — and will be providing anglers with a prime opportunity to catch a 50-pound bass of a lifetime. The SHO-NUF from that port had Chuck Many aboard today to place a Gray sat tag, and they did so on a 46-inch, 50-pounder. See photo below.

A 46-incher caught in northern waters wouldn’t be even close to a 50-pounder, but that can happen down there with bass stuffed with roe that adds many pounds. The charter boat also boated bass of 34 and 54 pounds.

If you can make a last minute move, the Jamaica from Brielle has three spots open on tonight’s sailing at 10 to fish tomorrow on far offshore wrecks for giant sea bass. Call 732 528-5014 for a reservation.

Easterly winds have made for tough fishing along the Jersey Shore, and a small craft warning continues through tonight. East winds continue at 15-20 knots with five-to-seven-foot seas. There’s a chance of rain in both the morning and afternoon.

While surfcasters should be able to deal with waves from large swells that are coming at them, the greatest damage comes from the backwash behind them that can sweep an angler’s legs out from under him in without warning.

Getting knocked down in the surf is no laughing matter, as regaining your feet in waders with added water weight is a real challenge as the waves keep coming. Vinny D’Anton heard of that happening this morning in the Monmouth County surf which was rough and unproductive.

A small craft warning is up through Saturday night. The forecast is for northeast winds at15-20 knots before diminishing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

NJ surf stripers still scarce as waves decline

There was some improvement in NJ surf conditions today, but even small stripers were hard to come by.

Mike Monte said he ever had a hit in the Monmouth County surf, and he talked to a dozen other anglers who had the same experience even though the waves were down to 2 to 3 feet. There were also no signs of the recently abundant peanut bunkers.

It was the same story further south as Jerry Lasko only saw a couple of small bass caught in the Ocean County surf which had cleaned up since yesterday.

Capt. Mark DeBlasio reported decent blackfishing on his Water Proof yesterday despite a big swell, south wind and some rain. His party ended up just one short of a boat limit despite releasing a couple of large female tog to spawn again.

A small craft warning is up to late Friday. The forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots with 4-6-foot seas — but there’s a switch to northeast at 15-20 predicted for Saturday.

Big stripers have become harder to find recently, but Chris Lido managed this one just in time.

There were no striped bass reported along the N.J. surf this morning as Mike Monte noted Monmouth County was virtually unfishable with 3-5-foot waves plus rain. His catch yesterday of three bass in the 30-31-inch class on a tin squid was garbled in the blog.

Jerry Lasko had similar conditions in the Ocean County surf which was very dirty after all the south wind and swell.

A small craft advisory is up through Thursday afternoon. The forecast is for north winds at 15-20 knots before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.

The N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife has recognized a new state record albacore. That 78-pound, 2.4-ounce longfin was boated in October by Matthew Florio while chunking on the east wall of Hudson Canyon from Tuna Sea.

Though Capt. Ron Santee was discouraged by two poor days of striper fishing on hs Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands and ended his season yesterday, there was evidence today that there are still plenty of stripers available.

The fall season usually ends with rapidly falling water temperatures and a big storm, but we haven’t had any of that. The Golden Eagle from Belmar found striper fishing to be as good as it had been this morning despite choppy seas and some rain as boat limits of keeper and bonus bass were taken along with catch and release action. However, they won’t be sailing tomorrow due to the forecast.

Andreas Toy from Perth Amboy had the Daniel Ulmar party out to put Gray fish tags into 34 stripers while many others went back untagged because they couldn’t keep up with the action.

The Ocean County surf striper bite was dead early, but Jerry Lasko said he and Maren Tolano wait it out until the fish turned on at 8 a.m. They were mostly small bass, but with big fish mixed in such as Jerry’s 42-incher. At times it was an every cast bite.

Mike Monte fished the Monmouth County surf and was rewawere 30-31 inches. Those bass are feeding on sand eels, but he had to use a tin squid in order to cast into the wind.

A small craft warning is up from late tonight up to Wednesday afternoon. The morning forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 before going southwest 10-15 in the afternoon. Rain is also predicted.

The Cape Charles, Va. pre-spawning striper run got underway as Sho-Nuf Sportfishing caught a 45-inch, 36-pounder.

Chuck Many is fishing his salt ponds at Hilton Head, S.C. with light tackle for red drum (redfish).

The best fall striper season has suddenly ended for Capt. Ron Santee on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. He wraps it up as follows:

“FISHERMEN/The Fat lady has Sung!!

 Created: Monday, 05 December 2022 15:34 Written by Capt. Ron

Today was our last trip for the 2022 Season, the fat lady has sung!

Spent the last two days running all over the ocean trying to find a decent bite and only landing a handful of fish. The Bait & fish moved South over the past couple of days and it’s just out of reach for us.

The past 6 1/2 weeks were without a doubt the best fall fishing I have ever seen, for all those who got to par-take, some many times, we were all blessed.

Thank you so much to all my awesome customers for the support not only this season but all the seasons past, you guys and gals make me who I am.

I couldn’t do it without the Best crew on the Jersey Shore though…..Joey, Robbie, Jimmy (Bro),Capt. Dan and the Queen who keeps me in check! The love for the game keeps us all going.

Have a Great Christmas & Happy New Year. “

Whlle it may be over for a northern party boat operation, I would be surprised if all of the bait and striped bass has migrated south so suddenly with water temperatures still relatively mild. I suspect that charter and private boaters will continue to find shots of action for some time to come, and a pick of bass in the northern always occurs into the New Year.

Meanwhile, the southern surf bite continued yesterday for Nick Honachefsky on a surf charter that included a 45-inch release. See photo below.

Unfortunately, I just got a call from Jerry Lasko about the Ocean County surf action falling apart this morning as the bait didn’t come in and the few fish caught were under 20 inches. Jerry did see some terns working offshore, and hopes the bait may come in before dark.