Capt. Rob Semkewyc barely had enough fares to sail for stripers on cold Saturday, but everyone was happy as stripers provided a boat limit on Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands while others were released. That should have set up a great Sunday in good conditions, but it turned out to be a “You should have been here yesterday” trip as the bass just didn’t bite.

Capt. Rob said October stripers are unpredictable from day to day, and he will be shaping up in the morning even though he only has a few reservations so far — and would appreciate calls in advance. The forecast is very good, with only 5 to 10 knot southeast winds.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar has will probably be running their last tuna trip with the Tuesday 11 p.m. offshore sailing. Call for reservations.

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant will run an open bottom fishing trip on Thursday at 6:30 a. m. The fare is $90 on the limited trip. Call 732 370-8019 for reservations.

The report from Miss Belmar Princess didn’t mince words — it was terrible. Only a few were caught where they had been cooperating

Though Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park saw their first fall surf striper on Wednesday, a 29-incher that hit mullet, surfcasting has generally been dismal as we are still awaiting arrival of stripers from the east. The migratory run has been delayed by very warm waters and probably a lack of bait in the N.J. surf.

Chuck Many has neen catching some large stripers from his Tyman out of Highlands which he’s identified as migrating fish due to the sea lice on them and their purple sheen.

The Queen Mary from Pt., Pleasant reporting seeing the first signs of migrating bass Friday afternoon and this morning. They run their first Striper Marathon on Tuesday, and have also set a tuna trip for 1 a.m. Oct. 21.

Capt. Dave De Gennaro is still catching blowfish in the bay and 4-6-pound blues casting in the inlet when he can’t get offshore with his Hi Flier from Barnegat. He’s open Sunday and Monday for offshore fishing if possible. Call 732 330-5674.

The Sunday marine forecast is for southeast winds at 5 to 10 knots.

The 2020 edition of the International Game Fish Association’s World Record Game Fishes contains every record updated through 2019 in both all-tackle and various line tests plus the many clubs now available to honor grand slams of a variety of species.

There were 448 records approved last year from 39 countries. Saltwatrer records dominated with 259, and 45 % of all records were released alive. A few more will be open this year because bonefish will have separate records for the Atlantic and the Pacific — just as with sailfish and blue marlin. All the rules and regulations pertaining to setting records are included, along with articles including one by Nick Honachefsky about catching monster fish from the surf. The book comes with IGFA membership along with many other incentives. Call 954 927-2628 for info.

Chuck Many reports the main body of striped bass “is still to our East, so Had to work super hard for every bite today!! Wind wouldn’t let up in the morning, but Ian Gardner& Nellie Nawd Ical Greer just stuck with it and it paid off. Only 5 fish, but size made it worth it with 3 over 30 pounds (31, 37, & 42). All released to fight another day!!+“

Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that a shop regular chummed from a private boat in Shark River to get into winter flounder, keeping his two up to 2 1/2 pounds that hit sandworms. Bob also noted that some blackfish are being caught from the Shark River jetty.

I tried the Manasquan surf this morning well before the rain started. There was a pounding surf, but it was fishable — though fishless.

Small craft warnings are up from 8 p.m. through Saturday afternoon as north winds gust up to 25 knots tonight. Tomorrow looks good for surfcasting with northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 before diminishing to 10-15 in the afternoon. Sunday looks best for boating with southeast winds of just 5-10 knots,

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Chesapeake Bay Young-of-Year Survey Results Released

October 13, 2020

Striped Bass Among Species Below Average, Others Flourish

Maryland DNR scientists examine juvenile striped bass for the annual index, before carefully releasing them back to the water.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced results of the most recent juvenile striped bass survey, which tracks the reproductive success of the state fish in Chesapeake Bay. The 2020 young-of-year striped bass index is 2.5, below the long-term average of 11.5.

Although the size of the striped bass population has decreased recently, the number of mature fish is not believed to be a limiting factor in reproduction. Striped bass are known for highly variable annual reproduction that is often influenced by environmental factors. Other species with spawning strategies similar to striped bass such as white perch, yellow perch, and river herring also experienced lower reproductive success. 

“We have implemented sound conservation measures to enhance the striped bass population in recent years and will continue to monitor and protect this important and iconic resource,” said Bill Anderson, Department of Natural Resources assistant secretary for Aquatic Resources.

The mild winter appears to have favored species that spawn in the fall off the coast, such as Atlantic croaker and spot. The survey documented a resurgence in abundance of these sought-after species. Spot abundance was the highest since 2010 and Atlantic croaker abundance was the highest since 1998.

The Department of Natural Resources has monitored the annual reproductive success of striped bass in Maryland’s portion of Chesapeake Bay since 1954. During the survey, biologists collected more than 36,000 fish of 59 different species, including 327 young-of-year striped bass.  

Twenty-two survey sites are located in four major spawning areas: the Choptank, Nanticoke, and Potomac rivers and the Upper Chesapeake Bay. Biologists visit each site three times per summer, collecting fish with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine net. The index represents the average number of recently hatched striped bass, commonly called rockfish, captured in each sample.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science conducts a similar survey in the southern portion of Chesapeake Bay

Though the above press release paints a poor picture of migratory striped bass prospects for the future, it must be understood that annual results often vary wildly — and only results over a period of time are meaningful except for the rare super year which can fuel the coastal fishery for decades. It should also be noted that our Hudson River stock has been in good shape and carries the NY/NJ Bight fishery.

Miss Belmar Princess had the striper catch of the day, but it hit while they were bluefishing to the east where they were jigging fussy blues. The 46-incher was probably in federal waters and too big to keep in any case. They had to work hard for every blue ranging from 3 to 12 pounds.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a good early shot at mostly gaffer blues, and another around noon. They also jigged some bonito, sea bass and even blackfish.

The Queen Mary from Pont Pleasant had poor bluefishing Wednesday but many sea bass limits. They won’t sail tomorrow.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands is canceling for Friday. It was nasty today, and the bottom is still disturbed from the storm with few fish being caught.

Though small craft warnings are up this evening for south gusts to 30 knots, the marine forecast for Friday is northwest at 10-15 knots with showers.

Striped Bass Among Species Below Average, Others Flourish

Maryland DNR scientists examine juvenile striped bass for the annual index, before carefully releasing them back to the water.

Reports from the beaches today were negative, and there were no boat reports — but better conditions are ahead.

The marine forecast for Wednesday is 10-15 knots northwest with gusts to 20 and seas down to 4-6 feet before a switch to west at 5-10 in the afternoon as seas drop to 3-5 feet. It goes to south on Thursday, but at only 10-15 knots until increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had to cancel their tuna trip due to the weather, but has added an 18-hour tuna sailing on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 11 p.m. Miss Belmar Princess will make their daily bluefish trip tomorrow.

The Jamaica from Brielle has three spots open at the last minute for the 7 p.m. offshore tuna trip with a $335 fare. Call 732 528-5014. There is also space on Sunday’s 10 p.m. sailing.

Though the surf was rough and dirty today, it may be fishable tomorrow in the calming west wind.

Nick Honachefsky got lucky with his second annual Barrier Island Beach Brawl as there was a nice weekend for surfcasting before a blowout Monday. His wrap-up follows:

“Thank you to all participants, sponsors, tackle shops and facebook groups who made the 2nd Annual Barrier Island Beach Brawl a success! We were blessed with friendly surf and the bite was on. While hundreds of fish were caught, at the end the leaderboard reflected the heaviest of the brawlers. In the Locals Classics category, 1st place went to Nick Petries’s 6.04 pound bluefish, 2nd was Nick Duefemia’s 4.38 pound blue and 3rd was claimed by Jenni Ackerman’s 4.32 pound blackfish. In the Wildcard bracket, 1st went to Zach Vendettis 4.17-pound triggerfish, 2nd was taken by Nick Petrie’s 1.91-pound trigger and 3rd was won by Cole Speiser’s .87 pound kingfish. There were 6 Photo/Release striped bass in the tourney and the Mystery Fish (catch) went to John Westerdale with his live bat, yes the flying mammal, that got tangled in his line. ”

Another “winner” in the contest was St. Gregory’s Pantry in Point Pleasant which received a bag of fish fillets donated by the participants.

The gale watch stays in effect until midnight. Tuesday starts with east winds at10-15 knots plus patchy fog and showers. Seas of 6-9 feet drop to 4-7 feet in the afternoon when the wind shifts to north at 5-10 knots.

The surf will be dirty. and may take one or two tide changes before cleaning up as winds go to the calming west. Hopefully this storm may bring in a first charge of migrating stripers from the east. .Chuck Many did find a few large migratory stripers that hit his trolled eels a few days ago,

Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina, is looking for an improvement in slow surfcasting after the storm, and notes that kingfish are still biting in Shark River.

There’s a big change in weather coming as a gale warning went up at 5 p.m. and extends to Monday evening. Monday’s forecast is east at 25-30 knots with gusts to 45 and 7-10-foot seas plus rain.

Fortunately, it’s supposed to switch to northwest at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 by Tuesday morning.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar found the big blues again on a calmer day — including one of about 20 pounds. Anglers had all they wanted if they kept jigging. There were also some bonito and sea bass.

Yesterday’s rough ocean forced the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant to fish closer to the beach where tiny blues and bonito were jigged along with weakfish that included a few keepers. Capt. Dave Riback advises anglers to look to Wednesday for the next trip.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had decent Saturday morning fishing for porgies and mostly small sea bass, but also some excitement when a fare cast a swim shad at a passing school of bunkers and hooked a striper before the hook pulled.

Dan Brodzinski tried the surf yesterday morning at Sea Bright and Sandy Hook with no action at all though there were big schools of bunkers offshore. I gave the surf at Manasquan a short try this morning, but there wasn’t much water at dawn — and nothing in the areas that were deep enough. One angler said he had caught a hickory shad.

Capt. Joe Massa of My Three Sons from Morgan Marina added a Rhodan trolling motor to his 30 foot Grady Canyon, which enables him to fish his blackfish spots without ever dropping an anchor.

The Rhodan  features a built in GPS that locks you on your favorite wrecks or rockpiles, and
takes bottom fishing to another level. Massa had the Rhoden installed by their N.J. dealer, J and 
M boat repairs (732 318-7044).

I was quite impressed as it held us on 3 different spots for 7 hours and kept its charge. Dan Rubino of Keyport was aboard along with famed Staten Island striper pro Capt. Vinny Vetere of Katfish from Great Kills — who was taking a busman’s Holiday to do some bottom fishing.

Massa first fished a spot off Breezy Point where he had been catching jumbo porgies, and I promptly had scup of 16 and 17 inches take my green crab-baited hook. Dan also caught a similar porgy on crab, but Vinnie could only get small sea bass hits on clam. Then, out-of-season blackfish took over and only one more jumbo porgy was boated.

Massa briefly tried sea bass jigging at Scotland before moving down the beach to his favorite tautog bottoms. I quickly came up with a nice sea bass on crab (see photo below) but after that we had to fight the little sea bass in order to enjoy a good bite of tog up to 19 inches. As the wind direction shifted a bit and swells pushed the boat off the honey hole, the Rhoden automatically took us right back. When the bite slowed, Massa used the remote control to move the boat around the spot to find more tog.

The Rhodan isn’t cheap, but it seems like a must for serious bottom fishermen as it eliminates all the hassles of anchoring on a small spot and staying there regardless of tidal or weather conditions before just returning it to its holder and running home. No more expensive anchors lost in the bottom!

While fishing in several ocean areas, we saw many schools of “happy” bunkers finning on the surface, though nothing seemed to be hitting them. We also saw birds picking on tiny surface bait off Sandy Hook, but there were no splashes in them or fish marks on the fishfinder.

There wasn’t anything caught during the first day of this weekend’s Barrier Island Beach Brawl that can’t be beaten. There was a 4.17-pound triggerfish; a 4.38-pound bluefish; a 3.36-pound blackfish; and a 0.74-pound kingfish.

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant is sailing open at 6:30 a.m. Sunday .The fare is $90, and reservations can be made by calling 732 370-8019.

Today’s windy weather prevented the Golden Eagle out of Belmar from getting out to the big blues they jigged yesterday. They fished in calmer waters closer to shore and found small weakfish that included a few keepers while adding some small blues and sea bass.

There are small craft warnings up tonight, but it’s supposed to drop to north at 10-15 knots by morning before northeast gusts to 20 in the afternoon. A gale watch is in effect from late Sunday night through Monday afternoon.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a great day of jigging blues which ranged from 3-12 pounds. They also had some sea bass and little tunny/

I got home very late from a bottom fishing trip with Capt. Joe Massa on My Three Sons from Morgan Marina, including blackfishing without anchoring. I’ll detait that experience tomorrow.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 15-20 knots with gusts to 30 tomorrow, but Sunday looks good with northwest winds.