Though the weather was fine in the morning, striped bass were generally very fussy  in the ocean,

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported seeing bass but few would hit in too much boat traffic Yet, Capt. Dave De Gennaro ran all the way north from Barnegat with his Hi Flier and found a spot where his fares were able to boat six bass on jigs and poppers while releasing others. He also called in Capt. Russ Binns from Bayville to that bite.  After boxing those bass, Dave ran off a bit to find bluefin tuna showing — though they wouldn’t hit.

Bob Correll  Didn’t get back to Bay Head  from delays in Dallas until almost daylight, so he slept in until going out after noon on his Sea Vee 32 from Crystal Point in Point Pleasant with wife Mary Agnes, two big dogs and Uncle Al (me). We ran well to the north and found some scattered bird action. Bob kept running after those birds every time they dipped, and hooked two in the 25-pound class on a big popper — bringing in one and handing the rod to Mary Agnes with the other. I only raised oneto my popper on a blind cast, but that fish missed it twice.

The 5-10 knot predicted wind was up to about 20 as we were reeling in to leave, when Mary Agnes hooked up on a jig. There was a big knot deep in the reel that prevented her from reeling, and Bob started handlining as I worked on it. We thought it was a small fish as it just dragged along while all this was going on. By the time we were able to. reel again, we were surprised to see a bass of at lest 30 pounds on the jig which hastened the release by spitting that jig just as Bob grabbed the leader. 

Blog reader Dan found lots of bunkers off Sandy Hook, but did nothing with a diamond jig and only fed dogfish while livelining. 

Tank Matraxia fished aboard Tagged Fish from Highlands. They didn’t find any stripers, but picked away at blackfish. Tank got his limit of one out of three caught.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc reported poor fishing to the north with his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands. as the ocean was barren. He finally got into a couple of shorts at the end of the trip.

‘Vinny D’Anton had caught bass in the Monmouth County surf yesterday, but both he and I cast Tsunami Sand Eels into perfect-looking surf without hooking a bass this morning. I did catch three small fluke, and Frank Manzi came down later to catch one hickory shad after another on a teaser.

Allen Riley and John Mazzeo also found perfect conditions at Sandy Hook, but no fish or bait except for a herring.

The marine forecast is for west winds at 10-15 knots before switching to northeast at     5-10 in the afternoon. A gale watch is posted for Sunday.

Not everyone is at the right place at the right time, but the current run of large stripers in the NY/NJ Bight area makes the effort well worthwhile.

For some there’s the prospect of catching their largest ever, which is exactly what 85-year-old Bud Schweiger did while fishing with Dave Lilly on a friend’s boat in Raritan Bay.  A surfcaster all his life, Bud hadn’t handled wire line before, and Dave was trying  to troll him the bass of his dreams on a mo-jo so he could fight it on mono.  However, once again the bass only wanted to hit the big Tony Maja bunker spoon. Therefore, Bud took the next hit on the spoon and handled the wire like a pro to boat a bass in the upper 30’s that was later weighed in the Tackle Box at Hazlet.  Dave said they were releasing big bass steadily during 1 1/2 hours of trolling.

Striper trolling certainly wasn’t like that when I joined Pete Connell on his new 30-foot Robalo along with his Total Marine friends, George and Brian,  at that marina in Neptune.  We ran north out of Shark River and started trolling in some scattered readings. I ran the boat most of the time and never saw any solid readings of fish and bait — but the scattered marks were good enough. The first hit on a bunker spoon fished on lead core was lost, but the second one turned out to be a 44-pounder that was released. A 33-incher on a mo-jo was more of an eating size, and we finished with a 28-pounder before returning for lunch.

Bud McArthur was fishing  further south with Bill on his 31 Regulator from Brick,  and they also trolled three bass with a top weight of 36 pounds. They saw  some bass splash, but couldn’t get them by casting.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar jigged some bass up to about 44 inches, but saw many more splashing. The best lure was an Ava 47 with green tail — but with a light wind it was possible to use the Ava 27 with green tail.

Friday’s forecast continues good with light southwest winds.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro is running open the next two days for big stripers and school tuna which are both about 40 miles north of his Hi-Flier from Barnegat.  Call him at 732 330-5674.

Vinny D’Anton found the Monmouth County surf to be clear and fishable as he caught four school bass on a Tsunami Sand Eel and an old tin squid.

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The Golden Eagle report didn’t come in before I posted my blog last night. That Belmar party boat had a great day with the big bass, claiming that there were a few 50-pounders included. Today’s catch wasn’t in that class, but they were able to pick away on bass to 48 inches during long drifts. See photo below,

The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported a good catch on their striper trip today, with a pool bass of about 40 pounds. However, they’ll be sailing in the morning for sea bass before running for stripers in Friday.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands sailed Sunday with only a small group, but managed to get into bass of 40.2, 39, 37 and 25 pounds plus another keeper that wasn’t weighed. They’ll start sailing daily for stripers tomorrow.

The forecast for Wednesday is excellent, with west winds of 5-10 knots before increasing a bit to 10-15 in the afternoon.

The west wind cleared the surf, but it was still somewhat rough from the swell — though fishable. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a touch at Manasquan, nor did Vinny D’Anton further north.

 

 

 

It used to be a rare event for thresher sharks to hit bunker spoons, but that has become almost common lately.

Capt. Chris De Stefano was the latest “victim” while trolling with the crew on Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club on Sunday. They went right to Deb’s Inlet which didn’t produce the big stripers they were seeking before Chris was tied up with a jumping thresher that was extra tough on the non-stretching wire. His arms gave out eventually and Frank took over as the harpoon was being rigged for a shark that was over 300 pounds. After all that, the bunker spoon finally pulled out of the thresher.

The striper problem was solved after thay got back off Monmouth Beach, though mo-jos did most of the damage. They  also got into a shot of action with live bunkers being attacked by stripers. About 15 bass were taken during the trip, with most released.

Point Pleasant Canal was slow this morning. I only saw two small bass brought in, and never had a hit until my ZMAN  7-inch DieZel MinnowZ was blasted. That fish started taking drag, but was off in seconds.

Vinny D’Anton and Tommy Cox worked the rough Belmar surf, but didn’t get a hit. Yet another angler casting a yellow Bomber caught his first striper — which was just short of the 28-inch minimum.

Mark Roy got into lots of bird action over school stripers yesterday evening within Raritan Bay on his Release Me from Raritan Marina. Pencil poppers produced lots of surface action,

The Big Mohawk from Belmar  will be sailing on a limited striper trip at 6:30 a.m.

A small craft advisory is up through tomorrow afternoon for the long-awaited west winds that should calm and clear the surf. West winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 30 are predicted.

Chuck Many sent over this note from Chesapeake ay charter skipper Capt. Capt. Clinton Lessard of Sho Nuf Sportfishing about changes in regulations there. It’s a good thing there will be more releases in that area, which is a best bet for a 50, because the stripers are loaded with roe.

Surprisingly. a  point of contention at last week’s ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Panel meeting in Baltimore was that recreational fishermen are releasing too many stripers.

You’d think that commercial fishermen would be happy to see more stripers in the waters of states which allow commercial stripers fishing as some would wind up in their nets. However, the ASMFC counts recreational releases as having a 9 percent mortality. With 90 percent of angling caught stripers being released, that 9 percent comes to such a large mortality that it puts the total mortality over the target at which an 18 percent reduction is required.  That’s why the commercial advisors insisted on Option 3 which would place almost all the reduction burden on angling rather than Option 2 in which both sides share the reduction evenly.

The 9 percent figure is based on studies done in controlled conditions which have little to do with the reality of normal habitat conditions. There’s also a world of difference in the care with which a Chuck Many, Joe Massa or Vinny D’Anton releases possibly stressed bass as opposed to others  simply tossing them back in warm waters. The 9 percent mortality is little more than a hopefully good guess. Yet, even if that figure is realistic, the other side of the coin is that 91 percent of releases survive. Is there any angler who feels it’s not worth releasing a striper that has a 91percent chance of surviving? That’s certainly a lot better than the chances of shorts ripped out of a gill net.

The northeast wind wasn’t as bad as predicted this morning, but Vinny D’Anton said the surf at Belmar was still rough from the offshore disturbance. Yet, it was fishable as he tried everything without getting a hit.

After getting shut out Sunday morning in the Manasquan surf under perfect conditions, I switched to Point Pleasant Canal this morning. Hits were few and far between, but there was a pick of school stripers for those willing to blind cast into seemingly  dead waters with a very weak ebb current . I felt fortunate to release three  bass up to a 26-incher on a Z Man 7-inch pearl paddletail. Joe Melillo of nearby Castaways Tackle also caught three bass.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly of Hazlet is equally proficient at trolling stripers as he proved Saturday morning aboard Mike Saverese’s Cabo 40, Sonny Boy. They were fishing the Hi-Mar Fall 40-hour Striped Bass Tournament and trolled big bass steadily for 4 1/2 hours off Deb’s Inlet in 70 feet. To get the hits it was necessary to stream 400 feet between wire and backing, so each bass became a back-breaker to fight. The only lure that worked was the heavy chartreuse Tony Maja bunker spoon. The white spoon wasn’t hit, and mo-jos never got hit despite the amount of weight added or the colors used. Lilly said the bite ended as the tide slowed at noon, and didn’t resume after the turn. There were thresher sharks surfacing in the area. A 37-pounder topped their 20 bass, but a 4-footer that had to be at least in the forties was lost at boatside. That bass would have been what they needed to win the two-bass total contest, and everyone was too sore from pulling bass to do it again Sunday.

Tuesday’s forecast looks better at 10 knots east with a chance of light rain in the afternoon, The big change starts Wednesday with west winds at 15 knots and gusts to 25 which should settle the surf.

 

 

 

Small craft warnings are up for northeast winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 30 on Monday. They may diminish during the afternoon. The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported an improvement in bottom fishing for sea bass, porgies and winter flounder. They will sail for that sport in the morning, and have scheduled a striper trip for Wednesday. The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into stripers and sea bass today. They claimed a striper of about 50 pounds was boated. There were also tuna around the boat, with one hooked but lost.   Rich Carione fished  Saturday with his Bustin’ Chop out of Manasquan Inlet and jigged school stripers at Breezy Point before trolling at Romer Shoal and Ambrose Channel for a bass in the 40-pound class. A 26-pounder was added while jigging. Everyone yesterday reported huge bunker schools in both the bay and ocean. Several thresher sharks were hooked by bunker spoon trollers.                                          Sorry for the jumbled text, but my computer is screwed up.

They aren’t the jumbo stripers that arrived before the gale, but anglers aboard the Golden Eagle from Belmar were happy with the school stripers they caught today. That boat made a long run to get into them, but reported a 1 1/2-hour drift that produced singles and multiples of keepers and shorts.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had a mixture of bottom fish, but was hampered by about 200 spiny dogfish carrying live pups. Capt. Ron Santee is switching to stripers on Wednesday.

At Brielle, the Paramount is making a Saturday night bluefish trip at 7:30. The Jamaica has added a limited bonito, little tunny and bluefin trip at 6 a.m. Monday. Call 732 528-5104.

 

Right through last weekend’s canyon trip, the Big Jamaica from Brielle had marked some tuna on canyon overnighters, but they wouldn’t bite. That changed on the Tuesday to Wednesday trip as there was a pick on both bait and jigs in the dark and at sunrise.  There were limits of dolphin on both trips plus shots at swordfish.  A 300-pounder was boated after an hour-long battle on the last trip, while a 100-pound sword was added. The weekend trip produced a sword over 500 pounds by Chris Cholula of Freehold. There’s room on the Tuesday canyon trip –as well as on tomorrow’s limited trip for bonito, little tunny and inshore tuna. Call 732 528-5014.

 

 

Party boats were frustrated today by big stripers feeding on the surface that wouldn’t take anything offered. The Big Mohawk from Belmar will switch back to sea bass fishing the next two days.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar couldn’t fool the big bass, but did come up with some bonito and little tunny.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands switched to stripers on Columbus Day, and lost one during that trip. They’re chartered tomorrow, but will sail for stripers again on Sunday.The forecast is for diminishing winds and seas before a return to northeast winds by Sunday night.

I fished my local beach this morning and found enough water to work a Tsunami Eel that soon produced an 18 1/4-inch fluke and a smaller one before I moved and hooked into stripers of 19 1/2 and 24 1/2 inches. There were no signs of fish, and that action didn’t las long.

Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant, says there are a lot of stripers in the canal that are hitting at all times of day. I took him up on that and cast a Z Man 7-inch paddletail under a bright sun in the afternoon to catch seven bass up to 23 1/2 inches. I never saw such action under the afternoon sun in the canal, and it died out as the sun was getting lower.

I’ll hold out providing more info about the ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Panel meeting until over the weekend.

I’m sorry about not being able to do a blog last night, but as noted in the last blog  I was attending the ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Panel meeting in Baltimore and my return flight was delayed for  hours and didn’t leave for Newark until 11:30. Needless to say, I wasn’t in shape to write at 2:30 a.m., and was sure that there wouldn’t be a need for fishing info with gale warnings up.

There were no decisions made as commercial fishermen insisted on Option 3 which takes almost all of the reduction required from the recreational side which supported the equal division of the burden provided in Option 2. Ex-State Senator Lou Bassano and I stood with the unanimous choice of Option 2 by sportfishermen, and both positions will be presented to the ASMFC Striped Bass Board at the upcoming meeting in New Hampshire which will set the 2020 regs.  I’ll have more about the panel’s discussion tomorrow.

Boats that got out early enough Wednesday to beat the rising wind were able to find the jumbo stripers for trolling or jigging. The Golden Eagle from Belmar also reported a good bluefishing trip the night before when choppers up to 15 pounds hit after dark. They do that again on Saturday night at 7:30 .

Capt. Chris De Stefano was aboard Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club on Tuesday when they ran to Deb’s Inlet to troll big stripers on bunker spoons.  They finished up off Monmouth Beach to limit out and release more bass to total over a dozen that were mostly in the thirties, but included two of 41 and 46 pounds. Some of their bass off Monmouth were jigged as all five anglers hooked up at once.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside reported their first weigh-in of the fall when Tony Ciasca beached a 47-inch, 26.75-pound striper that beat a small blue to a mere strip of mullet Wednesday.

Vinny D’Anton and Tommy Cox gave the Monmouth County surf a mid-morning shot and found it fishable in the rough surf  with a hard northwest wind behind them, but did nothing in the discolored waters. Hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow,though the wind has blown most of the water offshore and it will be very shallow at low tides.

Those winds will diminish tomorrow, but will remain gusty until the afternoon — after which the weekend looks good,

 

 

Many anglers seeking sea bass and bluefish were surprised to find themselves wrestling with jumbo stripers off the northern N.J. Shore today.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar got into bonito and chub mackerel in the morning, but crushed big bass in the afternoon. About 15 lines were snapped and rods shattered as all the bass were “huge” — 25 pounds and way up.

Tank Matraxia sailed in Tagged Fish from Highlands. He caught a bass in the 30’s  as the boat limit was taken — leaving no room for the biggest of all which was hooked by the mate while they were sea bass fishing nearby. That provided the opportunity for Tank to put an ALS tag in a 54-incher that weighed 52 pounds on the boat’s Boga Grip before being released. Tank also noted that some very small weakfish were caught while bottom fishing.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar also got into the bass , and will run a special open trip for them tomorrow at 5:30 a.m.

Though small craft warnings go up in the morning, the winds start at only 10-15 knots southeast before increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon as a gale warning will be posted for Thursday.

Some stripers are now showing in the surf, though they are quite a bit smaller. Vinny D’Anton started at Manasquan this morning without success, but kept moving north  and ended up releasing six bass from 23 inches up to a 27-incher on the Tsunami Eel. Linda had used that lure to catch a bass at Manasquan yesterday, but didn’t score this morning.

It was a different story at Lavallette, where John Mazzeo had caught bass up to a 28-incher yesterday. This morning all he saw were beach buggies and fishermen — but never got a hit.

Jerry Lasko got word of bait schools moving down the northern Ocean County beaches — but with no fish on them.

Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant said he lost a good-sized blue while casting metal in the canal yesterday. He noted that the canal is loaded with blowfish, and blackfishing is good.

Nick Honachefsky provided additional info about the weekend Beach Brawl. as follows:

“The striper category was won by Bob Misak, It was a random draw out of the 21 bass photos. Chris Bodner had high hook with 5 bass, and he also split the mystery fish pool with Liam Rea who released a strange spotted hake overnight. Most of the bass were reportedly caught at IBSP, though a few were in Lavallette and Mantoloking on a variety of cut mullet, metal jigs, and rubber baits. A 50/50 was held for a cash donation to St. Gregory’s Pantry to help the homeless and hungry. The after party at Playa Bowls and Crab’s Claw was legendary. We look forward to putting on the 2nd annual next year!”

Tomorrow’s blog may be late as I’ll be in Baltimore for the ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Panel meeting to discuss next year’s regulations.