on porgies during Monday’s trip with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, but it was a different story today as a strong current never backed off and porgy bites were few. As a result, Santee is taking tomorrow off.
Vinny D’Anton said the big blues didn;t return to northern N.J. beaches this morning, and a rough surf made it impossible to fish his Chug Bug, so he switched to and fleas and released three small stripers.
Max Koblan (9) of Manasquan Park was casting from a dock on Manasquan River last night when he caught multiple small blues casting a small Rapala.
The forecast is for northeast winds at 5-10 knots..
After many days of west or northwest winds. there’s a change coming after midnight with a switch to north at 5 knots but with higher gusts and a liklihood of showers.. This may actually imptove surfcasting for stripers which was still poor this morning when Vinny D’Anton tried casting at Spring Lake. Yet, he ended up with a good morning after getting a report of breaking fish well off Monmouth Beach. When he arrived there were bay anchovies littering the beach, indicating the blues had driven them up. After some time, the 8-12-pound choppers moved in again and attacked big poppers cast to them. Where will they be tomorrow?
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a fine Saturday night bluefish trip with a boat limit, yet the choppers were fussy again in the morning even though some were splashing and others following up hooked fish.; That boat is tuna fishing Monday, but will be back to blues on Tuesday.
Bottom fishermen are looking forward to the reopening of the sea bass season on Oct. 8. Some porgies, blackfish and triggerfish are being caught at prescent from amoing great quantities of small sea bass.
The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had their best Exotics trip on Thursday with quantites of the bonito that have been missing so far this fall, There were also Spanish mackerel, little tunny and lots of blues plus short weakfish.
The weather looks good with south winds at 5-10 knots and a chance of showers.
Chuck Many is taking a break from the fine redfish angling in Hilton Head, S.C.. and heading back to his Metropolitan stripers.
Vinny D’Anton checked the Monmouth County surf this afternoon and reported that surfers were having a great time in waves from an offshore storm that were as high as 15 feet.
The surf was rough, but fishable, this morning when I hooked a 24 1/2-inch striper on my first cast with a Chug Bug at Spring Lake. I lost another after a few casts, and Mike Monte lost a bigger fish on his last try before returning to Nantucket. Then it went completely dead. Vinny was fishing further north and spotted some fish chasing mullet which resulted in two bass and a blue releas ed. Tommy Cox was even further north when he spotted little tunny and got two hits without a hook-up.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar wasn’t bothered by the swell as blues were on top. The 3 to 10-pounders hit Ava jigs — and some little tunny were caught in addition to a boat limit of blues.
Red drum almost always have a spot or two at the base of the tail, but this one that Chuck Many caught at HIilton Head, S.C, was a real show-off.
Small craft warnings are up through Sunday afternoon though the winds are west at only 10-15 knots which go southwest at just 5-10 in the afternoon.
The commercial General, category for bluefin tuna has received an infusion from the Reserve category. and the Oct.-Nov. fishery is being opened by NOAA Fisheries on Oct. 3 with a quota of 212.2 metric tons.
At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported picky jigging for bluefish though some fares managed five-blue limits, with Ava 27 jigs being best. There were lots of chub mackerel added to the catch.The Big Mohawk is out of the yard and will sail at 7a.m. for blackfish and triggerfish
Mike Monte, back from Nantucket to chase stripers on his old Monmouth County beaches, releleased five schoolies this morning
Allen Riley said the small Lot A was filled when he arrived at Sandy Hook around 10 a.m. as there was gull action offshore of there. He fished out of Lot B and didn’t see any bait or anything caught. There was one offshore flurry around noon that looked like feeding little tunny, but they broke up.
Nick Honachefsky reminds that this is the last weekend to sign up for next weekend’s Barrier Island Beach Brawl with loads of prizes even for those who don’t catch a fish.
The forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20.
Those seeking stripers in the Hudson River today had to deal with a current of over 3 knots which required a 20-ounce sinker just to hit bottom. However, in order to drift an eel Dave Lilly had to power in reverse all morning as they picked five stripers from 32 to 36 inches.Lilly, who didn’t see any bass caught on boats not reversing, also noted the the bass were all in perfect shape, and didn’t look like typical Hudson stripers.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another good day of jigging for bluefish from 4 to 10 pounds while also adding little tunny and porgies while releasing sea bass that aren’t legal until Oct. 8.
Sorry for the late blog, but I was on a protracted ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Council conference call about the latest amendment that resulted in agreement only on the suggestion that it be considerably streamlined with many fewer options before being presented to the public.
There was good news from the Golden Eagle out of Belmar as 4-10-pound blues were hitting jigs and provided a boat limit. They also had a lot of porgies and released many sea bass while whales provided a show around the boat.
Tank Matraxia didn’t have such good news about striper fishing in the Hudson River on Tagged Fish from Highlands. They needed 14-ounce sinkers to drift eels, and only one small blue was caught.
The forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots.
Chuck Many is even catching tarpon in his salt ponds at Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Anglers on the Golden Eagle from Belmar saw bluefish splashing on the surface today, but had to work hard with Ava 27 and 47 jigs, plain or tailed, in order to bag a limit.of 2-8-pounders.
Capt. Ron Santee had tough porgy fishing conditions with a strong west wind against the incoming tide on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. The tiny sea bass were also ferocious. It was better Sunday when scup up to a 2 1/2-pounder were boated.
A cold front is coming through, and the forecast for the morning is northwest at 15-20 knots with gusts to 25. Showers are likely..
Though the recent garage sale went very well, there’s still plenty left — and I’m seeking bids on the balance before putting my home on the market in order to downsize. There are still over 60 rods along with hundreds of lures and such accessories as outrodders, wreck anchors, a two-man seine for bait, and several coolers including an unused giant Igloo. Contact me at cristori@aol.com or at 732 757-5531 for details.
Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina, says there’s loads of bait in the local surf — bunker, mullet and spearing. Unfortunately, there aren’t always game fish on them as Vinny D’Anton found this afternoon at Sea Girt as schools of small to medium bunkers remained untouched. However, Vinny did hit it right further north this morning as 6-pound blues chased bait to the beach and hit poppers.
The bluefin tuna bite off the Rockaways continues as noted by N.Y. skipper John McMurray on Facebook as follows:
“A solid 70” fish for the Oceanside Boys yesterday, in some not-so-nice conditions. Came after a heartbreaker that swam under the boat, even tho I was backing down full-bell and taking WAY too much water over the transom. Team effort by Ollie McMurray, Luke Cascarelli and Mikey Dannon, with Frank Monteforte providing instruction and muscle when needed. Props to Frank for keeping her under control while I got a measurement in the water. There were some STOKED kids on that tuna”.
West winds at 10-15 knots are predicted along with possible morning and afternoon showers.
Even the weekend crowd didn’t seem to scare off the big bluefin tuna at the Rockaways as N.Y. striper pro Joe Balzamo not only caught one on his boat but then went out on a friend’s for another.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another day with lots of chub mackerel while some bluefish and bonito were added while blacktip sharks were swimming around the boat. Some sea bass and fluke were released. The Saturday night bluefish trip was good, but anglers had to work for their choppers..That boat will be on a canyon tuna trip tomorrow.
Mike Monte left Nantucket early this fall in order to get into the mullet run along his native Monmouth County beaches, and was rewarded this morning with 27-inch stripers on a popper.
Tight Lines 