Tight Lines

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. was able to do two videos of the amazing striper action on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands today. It’s not going to last forever, so get in on it while it’s hot.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had similar action over the weekend, with Saturday being the best.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots.

Vinny D’Anton found the Monmouth County surf to be full of peanut bunkers this morning, but there were no stripers on them in the calm waters. The air was frigid, though water temperatures remain relatively mild.

Capt. Monty Hawkins has put a twist into his sea bass trips on Morning Star from Ocean City, Md. as bluefin tuna have been abundant in the same area.

“Troll up a tuna – a for hire trip..

Didn’t skip our reef blocks. Big Jon sent a twenty block unit by the rail atop Capt Bob Gowar’s Memorial Reef. That makes 4,938 blocks at Bobby’s. Hit 5K there and it’ll be time to pick a new spot to broaden.

Still had a good ways to go after we’d built a tiny bit more reef. Put lines in sooner than I thought though when we happened upon gannets plunge diving on bait 3 miles inshore where we’d left em Friday.

Worked a few hours with tuna often sighted busting the surface – had one short bite and one topshot knot fail.

You get zero mistakes with these big sons of a guns..

Once I thought every tuna in the area had seen our lures and chose not to partake I moved on off a bit further.

The same rod we’d lost one on earlier, & now with a new topshot(!) got bit again.

One hour and fifty six minutes later a 69 inch, 211lb bluefin was in the boat.

My anglers all took several turns at the reel – a true joint effort.

Clients got most of the fish. The boys & I kept dinner too.

I’m now confident we have this fishery somewhat dialed in. If interested in such a tuna trolling trip I’ll announce the next one in a ‘FIsh Report’ from morningstarfishing.com ..

They sure put everything to the test!

Cheers,”

It seems that striped bass fishing in NY/NJ Bight and off the N.J. Shore just keeps getting even better for boaters. Michael Koblan was amazed by all the whales and working birds encountered today as the Decker Seitz party fished with Capt. Jim Freda of Shore Catch off Mantoloking. Max Koblan caught the first bass, and Donovan Hannafey was high hook with over 20 which ranged from small to over 30 inches and hit everything from jigs to poppers as well over 50 were caught during a short trip.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported over 25 bass on the first drift of his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. June ended up catching eight up to a 25-pound release.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported stripers so abundant that they were into catch-and-release after the first hour.

The surf news from Vinny D’Anton wasn’t in the same class as lots of very cold surfcasters in the Monmouth County area only had a pick of school bass while casting into a calm surf.

A small craft advisory is up until 6 p.m. The forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots.

Dr. Pat Donnelly reported on this week’s trip out of Manasquan Inlet as follows” “I’m sure I’ve been fishing long enough that I take things for granted Today I had first time striper fishermen Colin, Danny, and John on board . Maeve worked the deck as my mate. Started the day jigging and trolling, shifted to live bait for a few more. Finally landed on the mother load to end the day. These guys were ecstatic and exhausted! Whale show, striper blitz, they can’t wait to go again.

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Just as expected. boaters encounted few problems in finding hungry stripers today, though the same didn’t apply to all surfcasters.

Mike Monte remains surprised by the lack of small bass in Monmouth County waters despite an abundance of sand eels. He fished among at least 40 surfcasters early this morning at Belmar and only heard of one bass being caught there. Some stripers likely came in sometime during the the day along the Jersey Shore, but it’s unusual for so many to crowd into an area not already producing.

There was no such problem for the fleet. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a solid day of striper fishing with everyone bagging a keeper and many adding a bonus bass. Some overs were released during long drifts.

Capt. Ron Santee, Jr. reported another fine day on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as follows:”Back out again to where we left them biting yesterday. Had to wait for the change to get things going.

Plenty of bird life but it did take a bit for the fish to settle up and start chewing hard. Once we got the current it was game on.

Lots of first timers out with us today, once they got the technique on how to do it they were in the ball-game.

Gary and Henry put on another clinic fishing up in the bow with double digits each.

Several bigger fish in the mix, no record breakers though. NW to West for the next several days don’t miss the bite. The fat lady is warming up with the swan song

small craft advisory is up through Sunday afternoon. The forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

It seems that most boaters had their Thanksgiving striper wishes granted. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported as follows:”It was VERY VERY GOOD STRIPER FISHING both yesterday and today! We had a complete boat limit of KEEPERS today with plenty of OVERS and a good number of SHORTS. With all the action, we were in catch and release mode early.

There are PLENTY of STRIPERS around and we will be fishing until they disappear and that probably won’t be for another 2 to 3 weeks. Get in on the action while they are still here.“

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands got into stripers today both inshore and in deeper waters. The only problem is that at least a 47 jig was required due to the fast drift with current and wind together. There were plenty of keepers and a few overs included.

Vinny D’Anton knew of one Monmouth County surfcaster who caught nine bass in the 24-inch class this morning. Vinny even got another good report from the other side of NY/NJ Bight at Breezy Point.

A small craft advisory is up through late tonight. The forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

Mike Monte was encouraged to see pods of sand eels in the Monmouth County surf yesterday morning, but something was missing — striped bass.

Mike didn’t catch a bass, nor did any other surfcaster he saw in that area. Mike is surprised that there’s been little sign of the smaller bass ordinarily found along the Jersey Shore at this time of year. Continuing relatively high water temperatures may have something to do with that.

I guess most anglers stayed home today as there were no reports.

A small craft advisory is up through Friday morning. The forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25.

Black Friday is traditionally a great day for party boats. Anglers should arrive an hour early in order to avoid looking at an empty slip.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a family day, and it may be hard for anglers to get away for even short periods to pursue their sport. However, even when stripers weren’t as abundant as they are now, there usually was a blitz somewhere that day. A few party boats are sailing early trips which will get you back long before turkey time, and the fishing seems to be close to a sure thing.

It was like that this morning for Hazlet pro Dave Lilly as he ran Rick Martel’s boat down the North Jersey Shore until a couple of feeding humpback whales were spotted. Though bass weren’t showing, they were marking — and Lilly could hardly get his secret rig out before he was hooked up with 20-30-pounders. They managed only one keeper among all the big fish and were worn out before heading back at 10:30 from the spot they had all to themselves.

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported from his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands as follows: Started out the morning locally, caught some fish right away but didn’t like what I saw.

Took a ride and found some amazing life for the rest of the day. Fish were stuffed with sand eels and still hungry at the end of the day..

Not Sailing Thanksgiving, will be back at it bright & early on Friday! DONT MISS THE BITE, The clock is ticking.

7:00am Sharp. First Boat out, First Boat on the meat. No Reservations. Fare is $90, Rod Rentals $20. All Jigs & Tackle aboard for sale.

Happy Thanksgiving“

Vinny D’Anton only caught one striper yesterday morning in Ocean County before getting word of bunkers back in Ocean Grove. The bait was so thick that surfcasters couldn’t get lures through it without snagging them. Vinny’s legal circle hook snagging rig was the answer to that problem, and he released all big bass up to a 45-incher. After a while it appeared that conditions had changed enough to try plugs – and anglers started hooking up on swimmers. That blitz continued until almost dark.

Nick Honachefsky of Saltwater Underground fished in Monmouth County this morning, where he had to make very long casts with the Ava jig in order to get over the bar and catch school stripers.

The forecast is for southeast winds at 10-15 knots before going southwest at 15-20 knots in the afternoon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The weather was good, and stripers cooperated for boaters today.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported fine surface action throughout the trip. The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had a similar report — and got into some bigger bass when anglers cast poppers toward shore when stripers came up. The front came through as they were fishing, and tomorrow looks very good. The forecast is for west winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20.

Dr. Pat Donnelly reported a fine Sunday striper trip that also included some spectacular surface sights with whales. The Brielle dentist noted: “Great striper fishing Sunday. Maeve and Dave David Donnelly( trained on Fisher Price IV Sportfishing) for snag and drop fishing. Over 100 bites landed 30+, kept our limit of slots and bonus. Was spooled by a big thresher during the whale show. Literally Nat Geo! “

Capt. Ron Santee Jr. reported his customers on the Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands were delighted with both the weather and the fishing as he was into stripers right away for a day-long bite that produced mostly keepers. Bill V won the pool with a 31-incher. The first drift lasted 35 minutes.

Surfcasting is almost always a matter of being at the right place at the right time. Vinny D’Anton said that the Monmouth County surf which was only a pick yesterday morning, produced hot action with school stripers later around 3 p.m. This morning was also picky. but Vinny was on his way to a blitz at Seaside Park when he reported in the afternoon.

Mike Monte was shut out at three Monmouth County spots in fine early morning conditions, but saw loads of big bunkers being torn up by whales outside the bar — along with a couple of 80-90-pund tuna which were jumping among them.

The forecast is for south winds at 15-20 knots before increasing to 20-25 in the afternoon.

A potential record yellowfin tuna was boated on the Ecel out of San Diego while fishing to the south. The 442.5-[ounder was almost 20 pounds over the present record. Though biologically the same, Atlantic yellowfins never seem to grow as large as their Pacific kin.

The cold northwest wind didn’t interfere with NY/NJ Bight boaters, but a lack of early morning water on northern N.J. beaches was a problem for surfcasters.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands reported lots of stripers right from the start. Even a later wind against tide situation didn’t stop the day long bite as everyone went home with their slot and bonus bass. Miss Belmar Princess had a similar report with plenty of surface feeding action.

On the other hand, Mike Monte couldn’t get a hit at a couple of his favorite Monmouth County beaches even though sand eels were evident. A hard northwest wind is usually good for Jersey surfcasting as it’s at your back. However, it also pushes water off the beach — which is a big problem on lower tides.

The gale warning is down, and the forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots plus gusts to 20 before diminishing to west 5-10 in the afternoon.

Andreas Toy Charters reports on a trip this week as follows: “Had one of the funnest days of the year. Shot an episode with host Nick Honachefsky of Salt water Underground and guest angler Bass master Champion Mike Iaconelli. Started out in bunker pods, lots of dogfish and few bites. Made a run and found the fish all to ourselves for the remainder of the day. All the fish on light tackle on the surface, easily landed over 30 fish. Thanks to Capt Jamar on the assist, and camera men Ryan and Alec. Cant wait to do it again “.

The smaller striped bass typical of this time of year in the northern N.J. surf seem to be dominant now. At least that was the case this morning as anglers cast into a still rough Monmouth County surf in a frigid northwest wind. Mike Monte said he wasn’t getting hit on an Ava jig before switching to a Tsunami Sand Eel that matched the natural bait present.

Vinny D’Anton and his crew found the jigs to be effective in the areas they fished. Vinny only saw bunkers well outside the bar where two whales were putting on a show by blowing them up.

I didn’t receive any boat reports, though it is possible to fish close to shore under the hills of northern N.J. When I was chartering out of Manasquan Inlet, I fished during northwest gales by turning north out of the inlet and staying in the calm waters within a half mile of shore.

A gale warning is up through Sunday afternoon. Sunday starts with west winds at 25-30 knots before diminishing to 20-25 in the afternoon. Seas in open waters will be 4 to 6 feet.