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It’s time for a 50

The big migrating stripers moving up along the Shore after spawning in Chesapeake and Delaware bays, provide possibly the best opportunity to join the elite of striper fishing with a bass over the coveted 50-pound mark. Though those fish lost a lot of weight after dropping their roe, they regain weight quickly by feeding on bunkers.  That’s what provided the 30-inch girth on only a 48-inch bass to get it over 50 pounds for John Wasnesky of Freehold when he trolled a Tony Maja #4 bunker spoon off Asbury Park last week with Capt. Jim Freda on Shore Choice out of Point Pleasant.

wasnesky 50That bass was released, but you can get a good idea of the weight by using the formula — length to fork of tail times girth squared divided by 800. Remember to use the fork length measurement , as the formula was developed in the old days when that was the standard for length measurements.

While going through some old JCAA newsletters last night, I read a Tom Fote column on striped bass in which he noted that trophy stripers are usually about 25 years old; At that time the great 1993 year class was the hope for the future — and Fote said he was looking forward to catching and releasing those 25-year-old fish from the 1993 year class in 2018 — “God willing”.  Tom, your time is here!

Capt. Vinnie Vetere had a great Memorial Day weekend except for the rain-out on Sunday as lots of big bass were trolled on his Ho-Jo lures from Catfish out of Great Kills — including a 52-pounder. Rockfish from N.Y had a 54-pounder on one of Vetere’s Ho-Jos.

Today’s great striper catch wasn’t a 50, but a 41-pounder fought on fluke tackle by Bob Evans of Flemington from Elaine B.II out of Highlands after it was hooked on a Spro rig.

Bob Evans 41 on Spro

Capt. Stan Zagleski said fluke fishing was also good. That was also the report from Capt. Ron Santee on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as he made the most of the morning incoming tide that produced the 7-pound pool winner.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar picked at small blues before adding sea bass in the afternoon. Miss Belmar Princess ran north from Shark River to jig small blues, including some limits before switching to sea bass and fluke.

 

 

 

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Manhatten Cup is back

There was good news recently for those of us who used to participate every spring in the Manhattan Cup fishing tournament to benefit disabled vets and other good causes.

The Manhattan Cup

                  Is Back!

And it’s Time to Get on Board

 

Date: June 8, 2018

Hosts: Capt. Frank Crescitelli & the Manhattan Cup Committee

Where: Liberty Landing Marina – Liberty House Restaurant, Jersey City, NJ

 

To Benefit: RFA Fisheries Conservation Trust & Wounded and At-Risk Warriors

 

The Manhattan Cup is the New York/Metropolitan area’s famous charity fishing tournament with a 17-year track record of great fishing, fantastic events and great people. It’s the only tournament where teams compete in a live release format to catch the biggest and the most striped bass, bluefish and weakfish. All in the shadows of downtown NYC and the Statue of Liberty, home to the most amazing run of striped bass in any river on the East Coast!

 

Reserve a Boat and Captain

You can fish aboard one of the top charter or light tackle guide boats, or with a local “sharpie” all with “local knowledge” by going to the website and making a donation that will entitle you and your team the boat and crew for the day. These boats are donated for your enjoyment and the proceeds of your donation are used to benefit our charity recipients. cSo get online at www.manhattancup.com and enter to secure one of these great boats and captains for your team. Four man teams sign up for a Platinum Entry. One or two man teams sign up for a Light Tackle Platinum Entry. Donated boats will be assigned on a first come – first serve basis so don’t delay.

 

Enter Your Own Boat

If you’d rather enter your own boat and team and compete against other boats in the Sportfishing Division we’ve got you covered. The base entry price covers up to three people, additional anglers can be included for an additional donation to the tournament. All entrants must be pre-registered and pre-paid and will include only the number of anglers specified. Remember, you donation is used to benefit our charity recipients.

 

*All divisions include a gourmet breakfast at Liberty House before blast-off; a scrumptious box lunch provided by Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio’s “witchcraft” restaurant in Manhattan; and a gala awards banquet at Liberty House after the live release weigh-in. Each entrant will receive a gift bag and exclusive Manhattan Cup clothing and a shot at some great door prizes plus access to the auctions and live raffles.

 

DON’T WAIT – SIGN UP NOW!!!

http://www.manhattancup.com

 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and get ready for a totally unique fishing experience.

 

Questions? Please call

Capt. Frank Crescitelli – (917-468-4817) or email finfly@aol.com

Gary Caputi – (732) 740 9982 or email caputifish@comcast.net

Capt. Jim Freda had a thrill Friday evening while trolling a Tony Maja #4 bunker spoon in 60 feet off Asbury Park from Shore Catch out of Point Pleasant when John Wasnesky of Freehold reeled in a 48-inch very fat striped bass. That magnificent bass was released after being measured with a 30-inch girth. After applying the formula for determining approximate weight (length times girth squared, divided by 800), Freda got a weight of 54 pounds, but later remembered that the length in the formula must be to the fork of the tail — not to the tip. Though 48 inches overall is short for a 50-pounder, that bass surely made that because of the exceptional girth.  The ocean bass migrating from the south are spawned out, but Freda said this one seemed to be full of bunkers.

Freda -48-inch

The skipper thanks Capt. Eric Kerber for info that put him in the right area.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had a 40-pound striper in the ocean today, but that was the only one. They added some sea bass. The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported some sea bass and bluefish.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands got into a shot of bass on the surface, but only a couple were caught on shads before they went down. The bait fishing was then slow with only a couple more caught. Due to the east winds predicted for Sunday being up against the tide, Capt. Rob Semkewyc is advising anglers to stay home.  Also at that port, Capt. Ron Santee said he had the same conditions that produced good fluking yesterday on his Fishermen, but keepers were harder to find today in the same areas.

Capt. Stan Zagleski reported it took some time before the drift got right on his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands. After that there were some fluke limits caught. He sails at 6 a.m. through Memorial Day.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield fished the Sandy Hook surf earlier in the week and had a thrill when a big fish took his bunker bait, though it turned out to be a 4 1/2-foot smooth dogfish.  He later added two sea robins and a 23-inch striper that morning on bait.  Returning Friday morning, Riley had an easier time with a 3-foot smooth dogfish on bunker before making his day with a 35-inch bluefish.

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Opening day fluking was promising

The opening day of the N.J. fluke season was probably better than most anglers expected as weather conditions were perfect.

Capt. Ron Santee was pleased with the drift in Raritan Bay as wind and the outgoing tide were together for anglers on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. Fluke were located in many areas. and keepers were well represented.  Robert Neilsen and his wife combined for five. The pool fluke was a 6.3-pounder.

Capt. Stan Zagleski said his early start with Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands gave him a jump on the competition as fluke were found in several areas and there were some limits. He’ll continue to sail at 6 a.m. through Memorial Day.

Elaine B fluke

Capt. Rob Semkewyc is sticking with the striped bass on his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands . The last couple of days have been slower, but today’s catch was topped by a 27-pounder fought by Jon  Keidel. The skipper hopes the full moon coming up will spark the striper action.

Capt. Sal Cursi relocated to Florida. but didn’t forget everything he learned from years of running his Cathy Sea from Sewaren. He Joined Capt. Hans Kaspersetz and his crew on Sheri Berri from Twin Lights Marina in Highlands as they scratched out a few fussy stripers plus some opening day fluke.

Cursi said they only had one bluefish at a time of year when we used to be overrun with them. Yet, Nick Honachefsky reports that Keith Schaudecker got into 15 gator blues up to 16 pounds Wednesday off Port Monmouth on live bunkers from his Castaway.

It took awhile to find them, but Bob Correll of Bay Head and I had plenty of action with 3-to-4-pound blues while casting Thursday afternoon in Manasquan River from his Boston Whaler. Metal was the best bet, but Bob also got hits flycasting.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle had no luck with stripers and blues before switching to sea bass for a good pick along with a few ling. Miss Belmar Princess ran north, but didn’t find stripers and blues before finishing up with sea bass.

At Point Pleasant, the Queen Mary had a good catch of sea bass today, Don Marantz and his party fished yesterday on Barb-Gail for limits of sea bass and some ling. Mimi VI will be sailing open on Tuesday. Call 732 370-8019 for reservations.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle reported surfcasting was slower Thursday, but bluefish are hitting bunker chunks off local docks.  Billy Martin checked into Betty & Nick’s early this morning with two 19-inch fluke taken in IBSP on a white bucktail with a chartreuse Gulp.

Joe Melillo, at Castaways Tackle in Point Pleasant,  weighed a 35-pound, 14-ounce striper caught from a boat for Bill McCrystal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Boat traffic slows striper bite

It was a beautiful Sunday on the water, but boat traffic seemed to slow the striped bass bite in Raritan Bay. Capt. Rob Semkewyc was coming off a very good day of clamming with his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands, but only put a few bass aboard today as he felt the volume of trollers passing close to him was the problem. There was one highlight, as Andy Sokol of Manalapan boated a 41-inch, 29-pound striper.

001Andy Sokol 29 lb

Capt. Joe Massa found the trolling to also  be way off from Saturday as Carl Drehwing, Bob Correll and I joined him on his larger My Three Sons (a Grady White 30) from Morgan Marina.  Yesterday he had trolled 15 bass, though all were shorts. We started out casting shads around scattered marks where I caught a small bass right away — but there were no more hits. A crowd of boaters trying to net bunkers in Great Kills convinced Joe to troll instead — especially since he had spent three hours Saturday chunking on good marks without a hit. We did hook a half-dozen bass on Rapala X-Raps, but they were very small, and there were no hits on the larger stretch lures. There were lots of boats trolling in the back of the bay, but I didn’t notice anyone stropping to fight fish before we headed back early.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar read some bait and fish, but couldn’t get any bites, and won’t sail again for stripers until Thursday.

Capt. Stan Zagleski started blackfishing daily with his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands on Saturday as he found one spot to be dead but picked away with tog and even a few cod on another. Art Garrett of Red Bank won the pool with a cod. Clams were most effective for both species.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park reports small stripers in the surf for those casting small pieces of clam or bunker. Skimmer clams are back in stock along with fresh bunker. There’s still no word of bluefish, but there has been talk of weakfish in the southern end of Barnegat Bay.  Betty & Nick’s noted that small stripers hit in the surf yesterday before the wind came up in the afternoon.

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Much nicer weather coming

After yet another day of strong  NW winds, it appears that we’re finally  going to see some much better fishing weather.

The inshore marine forecast for northern N.J. to N.Y.  is for northwest winds dropping to 10–15 mph Saturday and then to 5-10 mph SW in the afternoon. Sunday is supposed to start at 5-10 mph NW — going to SW with seas of one foot or less. The seas remain the same Monday with a 5 knot breeze from the northeast — and Tuesday it’s 5-10 from the southeast increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

The Jamaica from Brielle should finally get a break for their offshore trips. An offshore wreck cod & pollock trip sails at 1:30 a.m. Saturday(boarding at midnight), and a tilefish trip departs Sunday at 10 p.m. Both trips are by reservation. Call 732 528-5014.

At Belmar, the Ocean Explorer found blackfishing to be very slow this morning, but it picked up in the afternoon as some fares had two to three keepers plus shorts.

The Atlantic Highlands fleet is getting more active as the Dorothy B. starts striper fishing Saturday from 7:30 to 2:30.  The Sea Hunter passed its Coast Guard inspection today, and will be sailing daily. The Fishermen got out with a dozen anglers on Thursday. Capt, Ron Santee said anchoring conditions were poor, but short stripers hit all around the boat along with the “odd” keeper.

Jim Louro of Spring Lake tried to fish Raritan Bay this afternoon, but the NW wind was too strong for comfortable small boat fishing. Trolling has been most effective lately for scattered stripers, but the bass are starting to turn on to bunker chunks when conditions are good.

The Mimi VI from Point Pleasant will be making limited open boat trips for blackfish at 7 a.m. on Sunday and Monday. Call 732 272-4445 for information and reservations.

The Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands begins its season with daily blackfishing at 7 a.m. on Saturday.

Some school stripers have been caught, mostly on bait, in the Island Beach State Park surf, but many more are hitting small lures in Barnegat Bay. Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park reports skimmer clams are hard to come by as bait, but they do have large chowder clams in stock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Belmar,