Matching the hatch can be vital even during striper abundance

Bunker spoon pro Dave Lilly ran right into an abundance of bunkers and big stripers in Raritan Bay this morning, but his usually reliable large Tony Maja bunker spoons weren’t getting hit. Then he noticed the bunkers weren’t very large. He switched to a fluke rod with braided line and added a leader with a smaller Tony Maja Lolipop spoon rigged above a mojo to get it down — and it was game on with stripers over 30 pounds after that. Lily thought he had a real monster on at one point, but it turned out to be a doubleheader. He finally boated one bass barely small enough to keep at 37.5 inches on the mojo before heading back arm weary after a couple of hours.

Allen Riley saw the massive bunker schools as he was driving over the Highlands Bridge to the Sandy Hook surf where they were composed of large peanuts and stayed mostly out of range in a big fleet. Surfcasters were able to snag a few bunkers, but none of the anglers hooked up, and dead baits were ignored.

There was a brief, but better showing in the Ocean County surf, where Jerry Lasko finally connected with a 44-incher on bunker this morning as Maren Toleno caught a 45-inch bass.

It was fortunate that Chris Carroll had a day off school as he was able to join his father Bill on Megan Beth from Point Pleasant as they sailed out of Manasquan Inlet right into schools of bunkers being chased by whales and even a big tuna as Chris released his first two jumbo stripers of 40 and 45 inches

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had released a half-dozen jumbo stripers by 8 a.m.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar returned from Monday night’s tuna trip with all aboard catching at least one in the 60-80-pound class. They will be striper fishing in the morning when the forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

A tournament in which 30-40-pound stripers weren’t worth as much as some small species winners weighing ounces ! Nick Honachefsky reported the results of his weekend Barrier Islands Beach Brawl as follows:

“Thank you to all participants, sponsors, tackle shops and facebook groups who made the 4th Annual Barrier Island Beach Brawl a success! The swell from Hurricane Ian left us on Friday morning and Bass action exploded on Saturday.

A total of 55 bass were reported via catch, photo, release and nearly every fish was in the 43 to 50-inch range of 30 to 50 pounds. A mess of super snapper blues of 8 to 10 inches along with some chopper blues to 3 pounds were caught in the mix with hundreds reported. Blackfish settled into a solid bite at the North Jetty of Barnegat and the south jetty at Squan inlet. Filling in the blanks for serious cash and prizes were hickory shad and kingfish with even a few blowfish caught in the surf.

For the Locals Classics category, 1st place was won by the skin of his teeth as Bill Zbrozek brought in a 3.63-pound blackfish with only a half hour left in the weigh ins, 2nd place honors went to Tom Paolini and his 3.30-pound tog and 3rd was claimed by Cole Speiser and a 2.86-pound blackfish. The Wildcards category was interesting as 1st place went to a 1.01-pound hickory shad by Dave Engleheart, 2nd was won by a .97 pound kingfish by Frank Hubscher and 3rd claimed by a .90-pound kingfish by Cole Speiser. Goes to show, big things come from small beginnings. The Striped Bass release category usually has 1 winner but with so many bass released, 3 winners were randomly chosen that included Jon Peck, Payton Wolfarth and Virginia Murphy.

Capt. Joe Massa reported that huge bunker schools moved into Raritan Bay today with plenty of stripers averaging 40 inches on them for non-stop live bunker action. A whale even followed them into the bay.

The forecast is for west winds at a mere 5-10 knots.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported improved sea bass action, though it’s necessary to fish through lots of shorts.

Capt. Ron Santee had a similar report on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but the sea bass

are the best bet since porgies have been scattered since the storm.

Chuck Many is back from Hilton Head and on his usual striped bass NY/NY Bight stripers with Tyman.

More about the Beach Brawl from Nick: “While $25,000 of free door prizes were given away, the real top prize was that 50 pounds of fresh fish fillets were donated to St. Gregory’s Pantry in Point Pleasant to feed the homeless and those in need of a meal and $1100 from the 50/50 was donated to St. Judes Hospital.

Again, the Beach Brawl is all about bringing friends and family together and remembering old friends of past like Ronny Bala and Mike Malek to which the tourney is dedicated. The tradition continues! Thank you all for coming and if you missed it, we hope to see you next year at the 5th Annual Barrier Island Beach Brawl!”

Capt. Joe Massa reported that schools of bunkers moved into Raritan Bay

A hot offshore report was filed by Andreas Toy out of Perth Amboy as follows:

Got to the grounds in a few hours and landed over 18 fish in an hour on fish up to 80lbs. Towards the end we used strictly poppers. Before heading home we had a big bluefin feeding in our slick. I fed her a squid and she gulped it down, fought her for an hour and got her close enough to guesstimate her over 73 inches so we cut her loose. Great way to end the trip!

@yamahaoutboards | @garminmarine |@…

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The opportunity to catch big stripers in the Jersey surf is rare, but many large bass have been in those waters the last couple of days. The problem is that they’re on big schools of bunkers and that’s all they seem to want in the surf.

Surf pro Jerry Lasko said every bass he’s seen caught in the Ocean County surf have been on live bunkers, which wouldn’t have been a problem last year. Just cast a weighted snag hook into the bunkers, snag one, and let the bunker swim until a bass finds it. However, that method of fishing was outlawed last year as circle hooks became a requirement for stripers in order to lower hooking mortality and preserve the spawning stocks. As a result, to be legal you’ll have to reel in the snagged bunker and transfer it to a large circle hook rig.

This appears to be an all-release fishery at present since all those surf bass on bunkers appear to be well over legal size. However, there’s a great opportunity for anglers to enjoy a memorable battle and set a personal record. Boaters were out in force, and catching bass on both the bunkers and by trolling bunker spoons. To top it off, there’s the feeding show being put on by whales.

Marin Tolino released this 37-inch striper in Ocean County.

The forecast is for west winds at just 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 and 2-3-foot seas.

The following report was just submitted by the Golden Eagle out of Belmar: “

We saw STRIPERS on the fish finder and in the baitfish today and hoped they would have cooperated a little more but WE DID CATCH SOME FISH AND THE ONES WE CAUGHT WERE HUGE! The largest fish went 48”! The STRIPERS were at pretty much all the stops we made and we also saw three whales eating the baitfish. Everyone had a good time.

We will be STRIPER fishing tomorrow so check out the pictures below, make your reservations and come on down.

It was DECENT fishing for BLUES last night with a solid pick of mostly BIG FISH that were 6 to 12 lbs.! Some people also had their limit of SEA BASS.

There are a couple spots open on the MONDAY, OCT. 10TH 23-HOUR CANYON TUNA TRIP that departs at 4:30pm and returns the next day around 3:00pm. Fishing was good out in the canyons this weekend so it should continue for Monday’s trip. This is an exciting trip for anyone who wants to do some offshore fishing. If you don’t have the gear, you can rent it from us and the crew will get you all set you up.”

Big striped bass arrived in the NJ surf just in time for the Barrier Islands Beach Brawl. Nick Honachefsky reported that as of 1:45 p.m. there had been 51 bass releases in the 43-50-inch class released. Ironically there is no category for bass as all were to be released without photo proof.

Vinny D’Anton reported vast schools of large bunkers out of range along Monmouth County beaches with whales and dolphins on them yesterday, but only some fish eruptions offshore this morning – and no mullet in the surf. As it turned out. there had been shots of big bass on beaches further south the previous afternoon.

Fishermen’s Headquarters reported a couple of their LBI regulars had caught 20 up to Max’s 48-incher that was released with a Gray fish tag.

I’ll have more about striper catches tomorrow. The weather looks good with 10-15-knot west winds plus gusts to 20. Seas are down to 2 to 3 feet.

While the weather was good for the first day of New Jersey’s reopening of the sea bass season, bottom disturbance from the northeaster may have held catches down in some cases.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported decent sea bass fishing though anglers had to go through lots of shorts to bag keepers. The Golden Eagle had a few sea bass limits among lots of shorts. Both boats reported a few porgies mixed in.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands started at the porgy grounds, but Capt. Ron Santee said he found too much current for fishing and moved offshore to pick at sea bass.

Andreas Toy was moved to Perth Amboy, and Capt. Fred Gamboa took his dad and cousins out for stripers which they caught up to 36 inches.

The

Capt. John McMurray of NYCTUNA decided to check out the striper fishing while waiting to bet offshore again, and came up with this 55-incher.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 and gusts to 20. Light rain is possible in the morning.

There will be lots of activity over inshore wrecks and reefs off the Jersey Shore tomorrow as New Jersey’s sea bass season reopens from Oct. 7 to 26 with a limit of 10 at a 13-inch minimum.

The forecast is good, with southwest winds at 10-15 knots which carry over to Saturday. The party boat fleet will be out in force, but call your favorite skipper before arriving at the normal sailing time as many have scheduled Marathon trips by reservation and will be long gone.

Capt. Frank Massaria got in a striped bass trip today which resulted in a full boat limit of schoolies on Vitamin Sea from Keyport. He has availability for that live bait fishing on the weekend. Call 917 439-6448.

The Barrier Islands Beach Brawl is underway, and surf conditions should be back in good shape after the northeaster. Anglers are hoping for the first big push of mullet down the beach — and the stripers and blues which should be on them.

Little tunny are still in the picture. Indeed, the famed saltwater flyfishing author Angelo Peloso was into pods of them this morning on the south shore of Long Island — though even he couldn’t get a hit from those great game fish which can be impossibly fussy when they are on tiny bait.

A new leader in the Martha’s Vinyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby is a 17.16-pound blue beached by Peter Hess while fishing with his 92-year-old father.

Boaters in NY/NJ Bight have been out of business due to the northeaster for several days, but the small craft advisory is finally coming down – and the weekend looks good.

Nick Honachefsky reports “The surf looks fantastic for the Barrier Island Beach Brawl this weekend! NW 2 to 4 ft 10 to 15 knots thanks to all who have entered. It’s gonna be a great time. Last chance to enter. See you Friday! Www.saltwaterunderground.com.”

The forecast is calming northwest winds at 5-10 knots switching to west in the afternoon as seas drop to 3 feet.

Nick Honachefsky

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands resumes porgy fishing Friday from Atlantic Highlands, while the Big Mohawk begins fall bottom fishing from Belmar.

Yellowfin tuna fishing was very good just before the storm. The 9/30 canyon trip of the Jamaica from Brielle produced a boat limit of yellowfins up to 80 pounds as the fish were boiling on the surface and hitting a variety of baits and lures. Capt. Dale Steinert noted that butterfish worked better than the live squid jigged under the lights at night which are usually the prime bait. The Jamaica has room on several upcoming canyon trips. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.

Capt. John McMurry reports his last few tuna trips produced wild yellowfin action in seas that were barely fishable for 100-pounders.

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Surf looks fantastic for the Barrier Island Beach Brawl this weekend! NW 2 to 4 ft 10 to 15 knots thanks to all who have entered. It’s gonna be a great time. Last chance to enter. See you Friday! Www.saltwaterunderground.com.

11Nick Honachefsky and 10 others

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Surf looks fantastic for the Barrier Island Beach Brawl this weekend! NW 2 to 4 ft 10 to 15 knots thanks to all who have entered. It’s gonna be a great time. Last chance to enter. See you Friday! Www.saltwaterunderground.com.

11Nick Honachefsky and 10 others

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Surf looks fantastic for the Barrier Island Beach Brawl this weekend! NW 2 to 4 ft 10 to 15 knots thanks to all who have entered. It’s gonna be a great time. Last chance to enter. See you Friday! Www.saltwaterunderground.com.

11Nick Honachefsky and 10 others

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Surf looks fantastic for the Barrier Island Beach Brawl this weekend! NW 2 to 4 ft 10 to 15 knots thanks to all who have entered. It’s gonna be a great time. Last chance to enter. See you Friday! Www.saltwaterunderground.com.

11Nick Honachefsky and 10 others

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The weather should improve for the Barrier Islands Beach Brawl, for which entries close tonight. Visit saltwaterunderground.com to sign up for that fun tournament offering so many prizes that you can hardly avoid not coming out ahead.

Though the gale waring is up until midnight, there will be gradual improvement tomorrow afternoon. The morning forecast is for northeast winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 35.

The striped bass of a lifetime could be feeding in surf that’s almost impossible to fish in, but be very careful as the backwash from waves hitting northern beaches is formidable and can sweep you off your feet in an instant.

This shot by the great photographer Mike Laptew looks enticing, though any fish which may be hooked would have to worked in close enough to have it cast up on the beach from the top of a wave. You’re welcome to fish in my spot!

The gale warning extends to Tuesday afternoon, with northeast winds at 25-30 knots plus gusts to 35 and 9-12-foot seas. Showers are likely.

As this storm is expected to continue until Wednesday night, Capt. Ron Santee won’t be returning to porgy fishing until Friday with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands.

The continuing northeast blast is not only killing fishing opportunities in NY/NJ Bight, but may even result in coastal flooding before it starts dropping off Wednesday night. A gale warning is up, and the forecast is for northeast winds at 25-35 knots plus 9-12-foot seas and rain.

That will delay Mike Monte’s return to NJ, but he’s also having fun in Nantucket with a great run of little tunny in the surf.

Though Ian was a problem in Key West, Capt. Greg Mercurio reports the Yankee Capts came thtough intact.