Most surfcasters concentrate on striped bass’ and some don’t even “waste” their time on bluefish. That’s too bad because there’s some good sport to be had at this time with fluke.

The vast majority of surf fluke are shorts, but it takes a good “touch” to tempt and hook them while seeking an 18-inch keeper in the N.J. surf.

Vinny D’Anton has been frustrated by the lack stripers in the northern N.J. surf this spring, but has enjoyed fast action with white Gulp every time he’s switched over — and he finally hoked a keeper this morning. Vinny had given sand fleas a good try without a hit, though he heard that one bass was caught on fleas this morning. He notes that the fluke are very close to shore, and it’s important to fish your lure or bait right into the wash.

Vinny fishes the Monmouth County surf. but there have been even better surf fluke reports coming from South Jersey beaches.

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The NY/NJ Bight forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots.

West winds at 5-10 knots continue unil a slight increase to 10-15 knots southwest in the afternoon.

Betty & Nick’s Tackle in Seaside Park reports: “6-10-25 UPDATED 7:55 AM Based on yesterday and today, getting a run of big bass from the south hitting here now. Jim and Tommy with a 47 inch, 40+ pound bass this morning on clams.— with Kevin Deiter.

The 67th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead City, N.C. started in rough seas though 43 of the 267 registered boats managed to release 12 blues. 4 sailfish and one white marlin on Day 1. Just 8 dolphin were weighed up to a 14-pounder on Offshore Outlaw.

The NYNJ Bight forecast is for west winds at 5-10 knots before switching to southwest at 5-10 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

Johnny Calamari reports “SUMMER VACATION! As the BIG GIRLS head north for their summer vaca there’s still a few in our area to tussle with! Just believe in the eel and put your time in! Constantly changing baits (“frisky eels”) and working the spread are key for a TROPHY!! #stripedbass#fish36#tackleboxNJ

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The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for southeast winds at 5 knots before switching to south in the afternoon.

Vinny D’Anton raised a few cocktail blues to his Chug Bug in the Monmouth County surf this morning, but remains surprised at the lack of school stripers there as none of the regulars are catching them. Stripers should be gorging on sand fleas by this time, and those baits are abundant. Yet, Vinny can’t get a bite on them despite perfect conditions. A switch to fluke on Gulp was a lot more productive even though there wasn’t an 18-incher among them.

Capt. Frank Masseria of Vitamin Sea from Leonardo has been out of action due to a reaction from a medication, but his crew has continued to do well with the Raritan Bay stripers.

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The NY/NJ Bight forecast is for east winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20. There’s a chance of morning rain.

Party boat skippers often contend that NOAA Fisheries underestimates sea bass populations which results in tougher regulations than necessary. The results from New Jersey’s season so far seem to uphold that stance as catches haven’t dropped off.

The latest report from the Golden Eagle from Belmar was of a full boat sea bass limit along with the usual few ling. Capt. Ron Santee actually had a slower start on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands this morning due to poor conditions, but the trip ended with another good catch. That boat is chartered on Sunday.

The forecast for NY/NJ Bight is for northeast winds at only 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

Sorry I couldn’t get up for the annual Manhattan Cup (now run out of Liberty Landing in Jersey Cit),especially when compared with the first one I fished in pouring rain plus thunder, lightning and hail before ending up with a tornado warning which required ordering all boats into Great Kills. The contestants had to be transported by a party boat to Manhattan for dinner and all the festivities.

The Viking Fleet at Montauk reports as follows: “Steven Sr. reports a very good trip on the Viking Starship. Day 1 the Tilefish were picky to start, but when the conditions changed it got better and better. We had mostly Tile with some Pollock and Hake too. A lot of the Tiles were Large and X-Large. Day 2 started with a bang then slowed down, so we tried deeper water where we found Jumbo Tiles and very Large Hake. On Day 3 we fished the Fluke grounds. It started off slow with wind against tide. As the tide picked up it got better and better! We left them biting!! Don Wetzel won the Tile pool with a 39.6 pounder. Anthony Zheng won the Fluke pool with a 9.2 pounder. The edible pool went to Bill Beacher with a 34.9 lb Hake. “

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The forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for south winds at just 5 knots. There may be some areas of fog plus showers in the morning, and seas will be up to 5 feet.

Vinny D’Anton found no stripers yesterday morning in the Monmouth County surf, but had good action with medium-sized blues. Blind casting with a Chug Bug brought the blues up. Unfortunately, surf stripers remain hard to come by. Vinny and Frank Manzi gave sand fleas a good try one day last week. There were plenty of bugs to be raked, but no hits on them. It’s just a question of time before that fishery breaks open as the surf remains cold.

Kil Song reports “I fished weakfish on the Hamton Lady out of LI
.I read they catch many weakfish on the boat and I missed weakfish so long. I used Kil R Rig with sand eel style Gulp which I bought for fluking. I know Kil R Rig is working for weakfish as I caught many big 10 plus lb weakfish with the Rig in Bay Ridge Flat in front of Statue of Liberty years ago.
Finally I got a baby weakfish. 
Back to fluking on next trip.”

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The forecast remains great with southwest winds at 5-10 knots, and only a slight chance of afternoon showers.

 

Kil Song did some rod testing on Long Island Sound this week and reports “IFished for fluke on the Celtic Quest out of Port Jefferson, NY again today

Fishing was as good as on the last trip. KIl R Rig was not effective today though I had 44 shorts and one keeper. I missed lots of bites as my hook setting timing was off. One angler got my attention as it seems he landed fluke on every cast though majority were shorts. He must landed 100 fluke today. He used small jig with long Gulp and sand eel style teaser on the high hook. I think it matches bait as fluke are feeding on sand eels.”

Capt. Ron Santee reports sea bass fishing on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands was very good again on Tuesday. No fluke were added, but there were some ling.

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The forecast in NY/NJ Bight is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 plus gusts to 20 in the afternoon.

It wasn’t long ago when scientists were worried about the striped bass resource in NY/NJ Bight. but the change to a release fishery has resulted in trophy bass becoming so common that it’s often harder to find a much smaller bass to keep.

Johnny Calamari was amazed at the size of stripers caught yesterday by winners of a raffle to raise funds for the fight against cancer which took his father’s life. Yet, that’s become relatively common these days as a result of so many spawners being released every year.

I also had other such reports on Facebook today, though something went wrong with my computer and they were lost.

Capt.Ron Santee had another fine catch of sea bass up to 2 3/4 pounds during Sunday’s trip on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. A few ling and a couple of fluke were added.

The Sea Tiger II from that port worked hard for fluke on Sunday, but the catch included some bigger specimens at 3.6,4.6 and 5.2 pounds.

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The forecast is for southwest winds at a modest 5-10 knots.