After a generally slow Friday for boaters, striper fishing improved today.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported”
It was OVER THETOP EXCELLENT STRIPED BASS FISHING TODAY. The fish were on top working on bait and stacked up under the boat. There were nice long drifts where we banged right away with PLENTY OF KEEPER BASS along with SLOT FISH and throwbacks. Shads and poppers both worked great.“
Capt. Ron Santee saw amazing surface action yesterday morning, but anglers on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands could only catch a few bass before they would turn off. There was a lot of running and gunning before he found one cooperative patch. He had a charter today, and there was no such problem even with all the boat traffic.
Vinny D’Anton reported the Monmouth County surf has remained dead since the afternoon blitz earlier in the week.
The forecast is for northeast winds at just 10-15 knots before dropping to 5-10 in the afternoon.
The Bobby Tosto Blackfish Tournament will be held out of Captain’s Marina on Staten Island tomorrow, with a rain date on Sunday. There’s a $300entry fee in the expected $10,000 contest. Call Angelo at the marina for details, or visit captains marina@att.net.
The Big Mohawk from Belmar reports “
11/10/23. Back out on the striper grounds today. Started the morning with haystacks off striped bass readings but only picked a few fish. With heavy boat traffic we decided to take a ride in another direction. We found a few areas of bird life with fish breaking on top we picked a few more but they were moving fast and hard to catch. Tommorow is another day and we will be headed out. Book online to secure your spot or come on down walk ons welcome provided we have room.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had some action in the bunker schools, but it was nothing like what they have been enjoying every day. They are only charging veterans the kid’s fare of $70 tomorrow,
The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots.
My cell phone went dead this morning. Anyone trying to reach me should e-mail me at cristori@aol.com
Vinny D’Anton said he was picking Wednesday afternoon in the Monmouth County surf when a school of big bunkers moved inside the bars, While it wasn’t a classic blast, large stripers were under those bunkers. Vinny was fishing with Frank Manzi and Shell Caris and did best by casting down the beach rather than into the bunkers. The hot lure was the Lil DOC which is worked like a Zara Spook..Multiple bass often followed that surface lure (see photo below) The bass ranged up to 40 inches, with most being around 32 inches. Everyone was exhausted from the long-lasting blitz,, but they had plenty of time to rest this morning as there was no action on the same beaches.
The Big Mohawk from Belmar reported yesterday’s great striper fishing as follows: “Beatdown on the striper grounds today. Starting to sound like a broken record. The fishing we have going on in our backyard is incredible. The best that our crew has ever seen in our lifetime. It’s not everyday or year that Miles of fish up and down the coast are blasting bunkers out of the water. Todays crew landed over 250 striped bass with a full boat limit of keeper size as well. Fish ate Shad’s, bunkers, metals, metal lip swimmers, doc plugs and topwater poppers. We are going to let the pictures and videos show you the rest. We will be sailing tomorow book online to reserve your spot or come on down walk ons welcome provided we have room.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar noted today:
SHING EVERY DAY:30AM – 1:30PM(weather permitting)
Veteran’s SPECIALNOVEMBER 10TH & 11THALL VETERANSPRICE OF KID’S FARE $70V
IT WAS SUPER STRIPER FISHING! The early departure did not disappoint and great action continued around the boat all day. There were lots of fish on top in the bunkers and shads worked the best today. We had plenty of KEEPER BASS along with slot fish and numerous throwbacks.”
At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee had to fish in the snot during the outgoing tide, but his regulars worked hard to put a catch together with frequent moves. The high hook caught eight bass.
The forecast is better tomorrow with west winds at 10-15 knots before increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon.
Capt. Vinnie Vetere set a boat record last week with a catch of 75 stripers up to 25 pounds during a half-day charter on his Katfish from Great Kills.
Vinny D’Anton got the word about stripers in the Monmouth County surf during mid-morning and was able to get in on the action with mixed-size bass feeding on both peanut and large bunkers. A friend released a 40-incher.
Jerry Lasko reported very picky surfcasting in Ocean County, but was thrilled to see a large tuna basting bunkers well out of range.
At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported “
IT WAS SUPER STRIPER FISHING WITH GREAT ACTION AROUND THE BOAT ALL DAY! Thee were lots of fish on top in the bunkers and shads worked the best today. We had plenty of KEEPER BASS along with slot fish and numerous throwbacks. “
At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee said striper fishing wasn’t as easy as yesterday as he had to find a new area, and his fares on the Fishermen had to work harder in order to get it done with many keepers included,
The forecast is for south winds at 15-20 knots before going southwest at 10-15 in the afternoon.
Capt. Ron Santee got into hot fishing almost right away with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, and his second drift lasted for three hours of whitewater fishing. There were bass of all sizes involved.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a similar report.
The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant made up for a tough Sunday by heading in a different direction to put the annual Spring Lake Country Club charter into over a dozen keepers on shads while also releasing overs.
A small craft advisory is up through late tonight, but the morning forecast is for southwest winds at just 10-15 knots.
Capt. John Contello figured he might be able to catch a few stripers from this reading on the fishfinder aboard his Just Sayin.
“Back out on the striper grounds today. Truly incredible today. World class fishing. As good as it gets. Had em chewing right out the gate this morning with 10 on at a time. Bite got better as the day went on with 15-20 fish on at a time. Over 200 bites landing over 150 for the day. Back at it tommorow sailing 6am book online to reserve your spot or come on down walk ons welcome provided we have room.“
The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands got off to a slow start this morning before conditions got right and everyone went home with bass up to 31 inches’ including Bonus Bass.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported: “IT WAS ANOTHER DAY OF FANTASTIC STRIPER FISHING! The early departure time really paid off. There were no other boats when we got out there and the birds and fish were everywhere! Fish just kept coming over the rail. We had KEEPERS AND SOME BONUS FISH and we released an incredible amount of OVERS. They were caught on shads today. It was CRAZY GOOD STRIPER FISHING.” They sail at 6:30 a.m., and noted that 70 degree temperatures are forecasted for tomorrow,
Even in abundance there may be a poor day in some areas, which is what happened Sunday to the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant. They went into the bunker schools down the beach that had been producing jumbo bass, but only had some bites and a few catches.
There’s a small craft advisory up from late tonight to Tuesday afternoon. The forecast is for southwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 before dropping to 10-15 in the afternoon.
While anglers running down the beach have been complaining about all the stripers being too big to keep, Dave Lilly went the other way to the Tin Can Grounds off Brooklyn and found almost all keepers averaging about 32 inches with just a few shorts and overs that weren’t very large. Though the bass were feeding on peanut bunkers, they also hit bunker spoons and mojos. As the fish were being reeled in. anything cast in that direction was hit for a more sporting fight.
Lilly said it didn’t take long before both the N.Y. and N.J party boats were on all the surfacing bass. Lilly did get one surprise in all those bass as a bluefish in the 14-pound class was also caught. That got Lilly worried about losing his mojos. There used to be jumbo blues mixed in at this time of year, but that’s the first blue I’ve heard of lately. Dream Boat contest anglers who have a minimum of 15 pounds would love to find some jumbos.
Capt. Ron Santee reported another great trip with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, and said everyone went home with fish. Miguel released a 35-pounder at the end of the day.
The forecast remains fine with northeast winds at 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar made a long run to get into bass on top without a crowd for hot action all day as shads had the edge today.
Vinny D’Anton reported Monmouth County surfcasters didn’t share in the striper catch this morning as nothing was doing inshore.
There are so many stripers around that they’re also getting caught in Capt. John Contello’s bunker cast net.
Capt. Ron Santee celebrated his birthday just the way he wanted to by putting a charter party into a great day of strper fishing on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. Everyone went home with fish as Santee said there are more keepers now.
At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported
“IT WAS GREAT ACTION FROM THE FIRST DRIFT EARLY THIS MORNING UNTIL THE LAST DRIFT OF THE DAY! With plenty of bunkers to fish in along the beach and plenty of fish in the bait, it was non-stop action on some drifts with BASS up to 49”. There was white water with the STRIPED BASS crashing on the bunkers. Both bunkers and shads worked today. A great day was had by all on board.“
The forecast is perfect – northwest at 5-10 knots.
Jeff Merrill’s Kathy G. s surrounded by bunkers while striper fishing off Asbury Park in this drone shot by Entwhistle Photography
Capt. Frank Massaria of Vitamin Sea from Keyport reported yesterday as follows:”National Geographic fishing today. Just incredible sights of acres and acres of bunker being blasted out of the water by savage feeding bass. Gary and crew had a great day catching them live lining, flutter spooning, casting Shad’s and working spooks. Dozens released and boat limit of keepers and bonus fish. We have 2 spots left for Monday morning. We have availability Nov 16 & 17.917-439-6448
“The new striped bass addendum has just been released. It seems that we will only have a choice between a slot limit of 28″- 31″, as we currently have or changing it to a slot of 31″- 33″”. However, there are a couple options that would widen the slot for the for-hire fleet but not for private boaters or shore based anglers. JCAA is adamantly opposed to sector separation and believes that the striped bass regulations for all of our anglers should be the same.”
Comments to the ASMFC are open through. 12/22/2023
All striped bass reports today were positive. The Golden Eagle from Belmar noted it was a beautiful day on the water as they caught all jumbo bass that were released. The Big Mohawk had an exceptional trip yesterday as bass hit all day and most fares released 10 or more.
As previously mentioned, I don’t text. I received some photos there today with no explanation. Please e-mail to cristori@aol.com.
The forecast is for west winds at just 10-15 knots before dropping to 5-10 in the afternoon.
Andrew Sokol forwarded this shot of a whale too close!
Vinny D’Anton said the morning was dead in somewhat rough, but clean water as stripers stayed well out of reach. However, it was a different story by early afternoon in the northern Monmouth County surf. Though these weren’t the big bass of earlier in the week, they were mostly 28-inchers and were willing to hit poppers. Vinny said there were also whales putting on a show.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported “WHAT A GREAT DAY OF STRIPER FISHING!! There were plenty of fish in the bait and NICE BIG STRIPERS caught on bait and shads. The fish were spread up and down the beach and we had action all day long.“
The Golden Eagle is chartered on Friday. That boat has announced a Veterans Day opportunity for those who have served as they will only be charged kid’s fare ($70) on Nov. 10 and 11.
Capt. Ron Santee said it took some time to find stripers that wanted to hit, but then there was action all day which included keepers and some bonus bass on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands,
Though it was cold this morning, tomorrow’s forecast is fine with southwest winds at just 10-15 knots.
The IGFA is running another opportunity to bid on great fishing trips, gear and art in its Swordfish Auction which ends at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Deane Lambros had a great canyon trip aboard the Thirsty Hooker that was topped by a 77-inch bigeye.
Tight Lines 