Striped bass fishing in NY/NJ Bight has probably never been better for boaters than it is right now, Dave Lilly waited for the crowd to leave yesterday afternoon before going out to troll Tony MJA bunker spoons to Raritan Bay, and still had non-stop action with bass, many of which were in the 30-40-pound class on any color spoon he put out to troll through schools of bunkers so thick that that they blanked out his fishfinder. He was literally too tired to pull on any more bass to over 40 pounds and went in after a couple of hours. Other boaters were catching bass of various sizes on a variety of lures plus live baits. Years ago Tony Maja called this “the stupid fishing” when even casual anglers can catch large bass without having any real knowledge of the underwater structure.
It’s pretty much the same thing in the ocean. where the Golden Eagle reported the bass were up and lures were all that was needed instead of having to work for live bunker baits. Many of these bass are too big to be kept, and anglers have a good shot at a personal record by weighing the fish before release or using the formula of length to the fork of the tail times girth squared and divided by 800.
The Hudson River Fisherman’s Assn. Bass and Blues Surfcasting Derby will be held from 6 -11 a,M. tomorrow at Sandy Hook. The entry fee is $25, and info [s at hrfanj.org.
Surfcasting hasn’t exploded like the boat action, and I’ve been having phone problems today if anyone has been trying to reach me.
An exceptional early run of stripers seems to be covering NY/NJ Bight. Bass well over keeper size are common, and smaller fish are mixed in.
The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported it wasn’t as wild as yesterday, but still a great day. The Golden Eagle from Belmar had to release lots of too big bass, but still had lots of ocean keepers. They couldn’t get live bait, but swim shads, diamond jigs and Flutter Spoons worked as well, They start sailing at 6:30 tomorrow.
The HRFA has a Sandy Hook surfcasting contest set for Saturday. Visit hrfanj.org for info.
The NY/NJ Bight striped bass run is already so good that Capt, Rob Semkewyc was able to limit his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands on large bass by 9:12 a.m. before adding bonus bass.
Also at that port, Capt. Ron Santee had a similar report from his Fishermen as follows: “The Colder weather, Westerly winds, Water temp going down, loads of bait….it’s time!!Today the bite was on right from the start and only got better by the end of the day. Started out with some small fish action on bird life but we got out of there to go find the Big babies.
Found the bait and the bigger fish started to chew! Lots of personal bests around the boat with several guys catching 8 to 10 fish by days end. Larger Shads, Flutter spoons & Bunker were the ticket once again today.
Looking forward to spending my Birthday tomorrow with a good crew and hopefully another great Striped bass bite!\“
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had to search for ocean stripers, but found them to the south. Most were too large and included one over 50 pounds, but there were some keepers and bonus fish, Live baits and 9-inch shads did the job. That boat switches to a 6:30 sailing time on Friday
Capt. Joe Massa looked in the back of Raritan Bay yesterday with his My Three Sons from Morgan Marina and threw his cast net on a big school of bunkers Unfortunately, he got only one as there were four stripers in the net. After clearing up that mess, Massa released 14 stripers on a green Flutter Spoon.
Tomorrow’s forecast is for north winds at 5-10 knots.
The early report from Capt. Rob Semkewyc is that striper fishing is at least twice as good as yesterday on his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands. The following photo was taken at 11:55.
Vinny D’Anton fished the Monmouth County surf and said no one did a thing with lures though a school of bunkers got within a long cast. Vinny managed to reach them with a snag hook. snagged one — and fought a 15-pound bluefish to within sight before it cut off.
When Vinny got tired of casting lures yesterday morning he switched to Gulp and found fluke up to 17 inches were as thick as they had been a month earlier.
The forecast is for more northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 29 in the afternoon.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had lots of striper excitement today as “some” were caught but all were much too big at “50 pounds plus”.
Jim Hutchinson Sr. reports “Night temperatures are cooling, leaves are turning color, and football games are filling stadiums. Fall is on its way, On Long Beach Island that means the LBI Surf Fishing Classic is fast approaching. The 2021 version of this historic fishing tournament promises to be an exciting one with cash and other prizes awarded for four varieties of fish. Striped bass lead the way with prizes also available for bluefish, kingfish, and red drum. This year is the 67th annual running of the contest with a starting date of Saturday, October 10, and ending up Sunday, December 12. Entry fee is $30 for adults with those seventeen and younger paying just $15. Anglers can sign up at any of the three official weigh-in stations on LBI including Jingles Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven, Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom, and Surf City Bait and Tackle. “Official Classic 2021 hats and decals are available to those who register early.” Once again there are daily, weekly, and grand prizes available along with special “Bonus Prizes.” There are also special prize categories for junior anglers seventeen and younger, “Senior Citizen” prizes for those 62 and older, and “Ladies Prizes.” Prizes range from $50 daily awards to $100 and $250 weekly prizes, $500 and $1,000 for 3-week segment winners, and $1,000 for the grand prize for bluefish. Local fishing experts are optimistic about this year’s fall fishing run on Long Beach Island and its impact on the Classic. Steve Palmer, owner of Jingles Bait and Tackle, is looking forward to the upcoming action. “I have a gut feeling this will be an exciting tournament. We have had a good spring and summer on other fish, and I expect it to continue.” Palmer advises anglers to be ready to “put the time in.” He likes the prospects of action at Holgate to lead the way for surf fishing. He notes strong showings of mullet and other baitfish in that area already. Greg Cudnik from Fisherman’s Headquarters also expects good surf fishing this fall. He points to a strong run of striped bass in the spring and feels the new striper regulations seem to have resulted in more fish already. Cudnik is expecting a good number of new entrants this year. He has seen an increase this year in anglers new to the area and looks for many of them to enter the contest. He too is encouraged by the amount of bait in area waters and is keeping his fingers crossed for good weather conditions. “We have had good, clean water all summer. We now have plenty of anchovies and mullet around and as long as they are here, we should have fish feeding on them.” Sue Castrati of Surf City Bait and Tackle points to striper action already happening around Barnegat Inlet and the LBI Causeway with good numbers of schoolie stripers showing up. “We are having a good start already on bass, and the amount of bait in the water is encouraging.” Her shop has already had a goodly number of anglers signing up for the Classic and attributes the interest to “a great annual tradition.” She saw an increase in new registrations in 2020 and is hoping for more again this year.
Boat fishermen found striper action in NY/NJ Bight today, but surfcasters are still waiting for the first big blast
The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands marked lots of bass and picked on lures. The Golden Eagle from Belmar hooked many on bunkers, but they kept breaking off.
The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands caught six stripers and lost a couple. The Golden Eagle from Belmar found stripers and had some hits, but didn’t catch any even though there were lots of marks. A small craft advisory is up to Monday afternoon for NW winds 15-20 knots,
Enough of east winds. Sunday’s forecast is for southwest winds at 15 knots plus gusts to 20. The Golden Eagle from Belmar will be sailing for stripers in the morning.
Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that offshore fishing has been shut down by the east winds, but there’s been a surprise run of 6 to 10-inch squid which can be jigged for bait or food in Shark River where anglers are picking at flounder and kingfish. The gale watch is up through late tonight but drops to southeast 10-15 knots in the morning. The Sea Hunter hopes to make their striper trip from Atlantic Highlands.
Crazy Alberto Knie and I joined South Jersey native David Rizzo on his boat at Marco, Florida on Tuesday to enjoy a sunny day on the water even though fishing was tough as noted by the shot of Dave and me with a sheepshead and a mangrove snapper. I also had a light tackle fight with a ray, and Alberto hooked a Goliath grouper that immediately broke the 400-pound leader on a bridge column. At least we weren’t fighting a northeaster!
Vinny D’Anton looked over waves up to 15 feet this morning to spot massive bird action about a mile offshore of the Jersey Shore.
It might take some time before boaters can get to that action as east winds are predicted to continue.. Thursday’s forecast is for northeast at 15-20 knots before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon. Seas will be 4 to 7 feet.
The Jamaica from Brielle had some good canyon fishing before the storm as noted below. “We had a limit of yellowfin plus some Longfin on the Thursday/Friday trip.Friday night as also very good and Sunday was pretty good.The longfin were 50-60lbs and the yellowfin were 30-80lbs.The canyon is loaded with yellowfin and good numbers of longfin tuna are also moving in.It looks good for our upcoming trips. We have trips scheduled through mid-November. Upcoming“
Tight Lines 