The big swell that Mike Monte reported yesterday morning was down to a perfect condition by dawn as he caught five stripers casting an Ava jig with a green tail to imitate the sand eels which now seem to be abundant all along the Jersey Shore.

Despite the good weather, I couldn’t find a single party boat report as of 6 p.m.

A gale warning is up through late tonight. Wednesday starts with west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

The fall bluefin tuna run has been very good, but this Shore Catch bluefin taken last week by casting a split tail jig could be the last if the winds don’t relate.

Mike Monte fished the Monmouth County surf at dawn, but soon found that his Tsunami Sand Eel and teaser was lost in a large swell that came up overnight. The only angler who caught school stripers did so by casting a large bucktail jig.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported that it took some time to get the stripers started, but ended up with boat limits.

There’s a small craft advisory up to late tonight before it changes to a gale warning through late Tuesday.

Nick Honachefsky of saltwater Underground had a ball in the NJ surf last week as he and Purple Pants Pete released over 60 small stripers. Nick even took advantage of bass in the wash to catch some on his fly rod.

Sand eels are the most important late fall to winter striped bass fishery as they stick around while other forage fish head south. The first boat mention of them came today from Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. He noted

“Changed things up a bit today and took a ride….Glad we did!

Found the first Sand eels of the season and the Bass were Hungry. First drift went 30 minutes with non-stop action on fish up to 36 inches. Everyone had thier two by trips end. Plain Jigs & Jigs with tails were the ticket catching these beauties. Can’t wait to get back at it tomorrow!

7:00AM Sailing,. Open Boat, No reservations, No crowds, Just come on down. Fare is $90, Rod Rental $20.“

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another big trip of stripers, and will be back at it at 6:30 a.m.

Mike Monte only had a short daylight shot at stripers in the Monmouth County, and had to switch to a Ava with a green tail for long casts to catch schoolies. He had to stop that for a time because he was afraid of hitting the mass of loons feeding on the sand eels.

Vinny D’Anton said there was blitz surf fishing yesterday morning in Ocean County with bass up to 35 inches on peanut bunkers.

A small craft advisory is up from 6 p.m. to late Monday night. The morning forecast is for west winds at 20-25 knots plus gusts to 30.

Though the surfishing report report wasn’t great, Mike Monte had some very good news about the Monmouth County bait situation as sand eels were definitely in the surf. Loons were diving, and the Tsunami Sand Eel plu a teaser produced three stripers for Mike. Those weren’t the large bass caught a week ago, but rather in the 22-25-inch class which are the norm for the late fall to winter Jersey Shore surfi fshery. Furthermore, Mike said the bite was brief and right around first light. Another angler managed some bass by making long casts with a diamond jig with a green tail.

Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen at Atlantic Highlands said being an early boat really helped today. “

“Once again the early sailing payed off for us today….“

Tried an area we haven’t fished in a while and worked the readings. Half a dozen nice drifts slugging away on the Bass.

Gregg P. had the hot hand landing 5 fish, couple guys had two, some with one.

Bite died after we got mugged, spent a few hours in search of with not much luck. Caught the end of the tide on the last drop and landed 3 more fish to end the day.  Back at it in the morning.“

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported “

SUPER ACTION WITH THE STRIPERS ALL DAY LONG!!

It was CRAZY GOOD FISHING TODAY with a big area of STRIPED BASS.  We had  nice long drifts with action around the boat and we had 6 to 8 fish on at times!  The boat was limited out with KEEPERS and TAGGED FISH and overs were safely released.“

The Ocean Explorer is fishing for blackfish. On Thanksgiving there was a 10-pound trophy tog caught by Jessie who released that spawner.

The forecast is for sutheast winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in tge afternoon plus a chance of rain.

i was wondering why I couldn’t find a party boat report on the busiest day of the year before seeing Capt. Frank Masseria’s comments from Vitamin Sea out of Keyport as follows: “Today was a grind kind of bite. The bird life that we’ve been used to seeing was nonexistent this morning. In fact, most of the morning went by without us having a single fish. We went into hunt mode and traveled many many many many many miles to find fish. eventually we ran into them and managed to put a limit of keepers in the boat and a bonus fish to top it off. Certainly not the fishing with have been used to but good enough.” Masseria (917 439-6448) has spots open Wednesday and next Sunday.

Capt. Ron Santee had a similar report on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as it was a tough day without the clouds of birds over feeding fish. There were some mid-water marks, but only a “handfull” of keepers were caught on jigs — with just one on a swim shad,

It appears that the period of rough seas and big swells pushed the initial mass of stripers in NY/NJ Bight along to spawning rivers to the south and perhaps into Hudson River. However, there are many more to come from New England. The waters aren’t even cold yet, and today’s bad surprise should be very temporary.

A small craft advisory is up from 6 p.m. to late tonight, but by morning it’s down to north at a mere 5-10 knots before going back to northwest in the afternoon – creating ideal conditions for surfcasters.

A final warning to those looking for the opportunity to fish aboard a party boat on a weekday — get there at least an hour before sailing time as Black Friday has become probably the biggest party boat day of the year. Those boats fill up to their Coast Guard-approved capacity and leave early. With a good weather forecast, there will be a barren marina by sailing time,

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported on their early return Thanksgiving trip as follows:”STRIPED BASS fishing continued to be good with lots of STRIPERS coming over the rail once again today! Swim shads and diamond jigs both worked.” They will probably be long gone at their 6:30 sailing time

The Sea Tiger II from Atlantic Highlands had the following report about today’s fishing:”

     We got out on our half day special turkey day trip after not sailing the  last two days and did better than I expected after yesterday’s reports. Picked on almost every drift  some guys catching 3 to 6 by the end of the day but some only one or none. Bruce took the pool with his keeper and we will be back at it tomorrow and everyday, sailing @ 7:30AM, no reservations needed. Thanks for looking and here a few pics.

.A small craft advisory is up until 6 p.m. The morning forecast is for northwest winds at a modest 10-15 knots before going to 15-20 in the afternoon. Seas will be down to 2-4 feet, and that creates a perfect situation for NJ surfcasting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The weather in NY/NJ Bight has resulted in no boat reports the last two days, but conditions may be favorable for a surf striped bass blitz on Thanksgiving.

A small craft advisory is up through Thursday afternoon. but the northwest winds from 15-20 knots with gusts to 25 should knock down the rough surf and provide ideal casting conditions.

Vinny D’Anton said a few bass were caught yesterday morning in the Monmouth County surf, with one angler doing very well by dredging them out with the most basic of striper surf lures — the bucktail jig. Vinny is hoping he won’t get the call during Thanksgiving dinner, and expects that Friday will be ideal for the surf.

Many party boats will be making early return striper or blackfish trips on Thanksgiving. Seas are expected to drop back to 4-7 feet — which shouldn’t bother the bass. Of course, those fishing the north side of Raritan Bay won’t be fighting those seas, and the same applies to boaters tucked in close to the northern NJ hills where it will be flat calm in a northwester.

As noted yesterday, party boats will be packed on Friday. Get there at least an hour before sailing time!

The Jamaica from Brielle will be striper fishing the next two days ,but reported that Sunday’s far offshore sea bass trip resulted in a boat limit of that species up to 5 pounds plus some jumbo porgies, a few blues, and a couple of cod.

Happy Thanksgiving

Though fall fishing weather has been generally good, there was a bit of a problem today — and some more wind to follow’

Some party boats are scheduled to run early return trips on Thanksgiving, and all will be aiming for Black Friday which is probably the busiest party bat day of the year. Anglers are advised to get there long before sailing time!

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported as follows: “The weather will keep us at the dock tomorrow but will clear tomorrow night and the sun will be back Thursday for our SPECIAL THANKSGIVING DAY TRIP that departs at 6am and returns at 12:30pm. STRIPER FISHING has been excellent and the weather moving through should have no effect on that so come on down for our early Thursday trip. Enjoy catching some STRIPERS and be home in time for your turkey dinner with family and friends.” They will be sailing Friday at 6:30 a.m.

The Big Mohawk from Belmar took a pass this morning due to the weather.

The Norma K III from Point Pleasant has added Friday and Saturday night bluefish trips.

The Jamaica from Brielle sails for stripers at 6 a.m. Thanksgiving and 6:30 a.m. Friday.

A small craft advisory is up until 6:30 p.m. That changes to a gale warning through Wednesday morning. South winds at 20-25 knots with gusts to 35 change to west 15-20 plus gusts to 25 in the afternoon. There’s a chance of rain in the morning, and seas will run at 8-11 feet.

Over the years there have been some great striped bass surf blitzes on Thanksgiving — and the switch to calming west winds may set up that possibility.

Capt. Bob on the Sunbeam shows off a 21.5-pound tautog at Hlllyer’s Tackle in Waterford, Ct. after it was caught recently on his boat

It wasn’t anything like last Tuesday’s blitz of big stripers, but Vinny D’Anton said everyone fishing Monmouth County beaches this morning seemed to catch some striped bass. Those bass were smaller than last week’s, but still very welcome at 24 to 30 inches. Vinny used the L’ll DOC plug which he was able to cast into a rough surf.

Bobby Matthew’s sister posted the following information: “The memorial service for my dad will be Saturday, December 16th from 3 to 6 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore, 75 S. Pomona Road, Egg Harbor City. Exit 44 off the parkway. Light refreshments and casual dress. “

Tony Almeida of Belmar suggested that last Tuesday’s long-lasting blitz be referred.to as the Bobby Matthews Blitz of Nov, 2023 as his parting gift to the many who probably scored their biggest surf bass that day.

A gale warning is posted for Tuesday morning through late night. Tuesday starts with east winds at 10-15 knots which increase to southeast 15-20 withs gusts to 25 plus a chance of rain in the afternoon

The Jamaica from Brielle has added a striped bass special on Friday at 6:30 a.m.

Many party boats will running early return trips on Thanksgiving, Check with your favorite skipper for details.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported about today;s fishing as follows:”

IT WAS STRIPER MAYHEM AGAIN TODAY! They hit pretty much whatever you threw in the water – swim shads, diamond jigs, crocs, etc.  Everyone went home with their limit of STRIPED BASS!  We did a lot of catching and releasing as well.  

IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL GET OUT FISHING TOMORROW as the weather won’t arrive until the afternoon. 

Capt. Ron Santee also is optimistic about the morning. as the east wind will be with the incoming tide. Today started out like the last three days with lots of life, but hard to catch fish. They picked away before he took a ride and got into an area all by himself that produced 20-minute drifts with non-stop action. Those bass ranged up to a 30-pounder by Ray. Plain jigs and Crippled Herring worked best.

W eekends are always a problem with surfacing fish, but there are so many stripers in NY/NJ Bight now that boaters still did well today

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported as follows:“It was a slow pick on the STRIPERS in the morning but the last half of the day the fish were splashing on top. We had better action as the day went on. We ended up with a good amount of throwbacks along with Keepers and some SLOT FISH.“

Capt. Ron Santee said it paid to be an early boat today. He had a good bite going on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands until the boat traffic shut it down. After that he covered a lot of miles which produced some bass in a few cases, but none at all on other stops. Henry was high hook with eight and added the pool.

A small craft advisory is up through the morning. The forecast is for north winds at 15- 20 knots with gusts to 25.