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Smooth dogfish taking over in Raritan Bay

Capt. Rob Semkewyc  was hoping to finish up his daytime striped bass fishing on the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands with a good catch, but wherever he went today there were smooth dogfish and no bass. He did report that trollers were catching stripers, and the first two blues of his season were boated. That was a complete mystery as blues were usually interfering with Raritan Bay striper fishing by May 1 — not June 1. The Sea Hunter switches to fluke from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, but some evening striper trips will be added.

Capt. Chris Di Stefano confirmed those trolling reports from Crisdel out of Brielle Yacht Club. He was part of Frank Criscola’s crew as they picked at large bass trolling mo-jos from Flynn’s Knoll to Deal. They had a couple of bass in the 40-pound class aboard  before the deadline for weigh-in at the Manasquan River Marlin & Tuna Club Tournament

Scott Leadbeater of Haddon Heights  ran his old 20-foot Aquasport out of Atlantic Highlands this afternoon and was trolling a mo-jo on a spinning rod in Swash Channel when a fish almost spooled him. An angler in another boat watched the battle and offered Leadbeater a scale to weigh his 46-inch bass at 41 pounds before releasing the largest striper of his life. He noted that the bass was spawned out.

Stripers haven’t been easy for anglers fishing live bait. Tank Matraxia and his crew from Lyndhurst never had a hit on lively bunkers fished yesterday  from Two Rivers Charters out of Highlands.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle and Miss Belmar Princess have been getting into lots of jigging action to the north with 1-to-3-pound blues.  Sea bass have been the targets on other boats there, and the Big Mohawk reported an early boat limit today.  Take advantage of that action on Saturday, because lots of NE wind is forecasted for Sunday.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant has been working on both the small blues and sea bass. They report that magic hours trips have been tough so far. The only remaining openings for the evening bite are on June 3, 5,10, 12 and 14.

Capt. Ron Santee  said he fished into overtime to bail out a slow trip with a late bite on the Fishermen up to Iris’ fluke of over 5 pounds.

Capt. Stan Zagleski had his best fluke action today from Elaine B. II out of Bahrs in Highlands on the incoming tide as almost all had a keeper and there were some limits.

 

If you’ve ever wanted to take advantage of a big price break in order to fish at world-famous Pesca Panama, there’s an opportunity coming up this month. Mike Augat has one boat open from June 17-22 for two to three anglers at a $1,500 reduction per person. He says the tuna bite has been red hot, and cuberas and roosterfish to over 50 pounds have been caught. Contact him at pescapanama.com

Chuck Many with a 46-pound striper release down the beach this week

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Canyon Runner starts mako season

Adam La Rosa reports his Canyon Runner crews from Point Pleasant have fought at least one big fish during all but one of the eight canyon overnighters they’ve run so far. It’s been mostly giant bluefin tuna, but Capt. Deane Lambros and mate Mike Kelly came up with the variety Friday morning for the Vincent Ponte charter as they boated an 85-inch giant drifting before catching three makos. The first two were in the 150-pound class and too small under the new regulations– but then they added a legal 84-incher of about 200 to 220 pounds.

CR mko

cr nj canyon giantA pretty good Friday morning canyon catch for the Canyon Runner!

Yesterday’s title of “Time for a 50” worked out for Paul Haertel of the JCAA as he put a 54.8-pound personal best striped bass in his boat out of Barnegat Inlet.   Paul has the unique honor of having caught 50s from both boat and jetty.

Bob Matthews weighed some big bass at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina.  John Reilly of Hookers Café in Belmar was credited with 50 pounds. Nickolay Kryvenka weighed a 45-pound striper that was caught this week on Miss Belmar Princess.  Ray Soyka had a 48-pounder from a private boat.

Mathews had no such big bass news from the surf, though small stripers are hitting clam. Jim Louro of Spring Lake has been catching a few school bass on Tsunami Shads from his local beach, but Vinny D’Anton of Wall returned from Florida and did much better in the middle of the morning today. After breaking the ice with bait for little bass of 20 and 21 inches, Vinny noticed splashes and switched to the Chug Bug to release four of 23 to 24 inches.

Capt. Sal Cursi has returned to Florida, but the former skipper of Cathy Sea from Sewaren had a good day of striper chunking in Raritan Bay before leaving while fishing out of Keyport with Ted and David Martinko as they caught bass up to 35 pounds.

It wasn’t like that in the bay today. Capt. Rob Semkewyc  didn’t have enough people to get out yesterday, when he heard the bass were up, and had high hopes for today. Yet, he said everyone was struggling to find any bass. He was fortunate to have two on his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands, but only heard of another two trolled on a charter boat. He’s finishing up with stripers the next two days before switching Saturday to daily fluke from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. He’ll also be setting up a few afternoon striper specials.

Capt. Ron Santee said most fares on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had a couple of legal fluke today, and the pool fish was over 6 pounds.

At Belmar, both the Golden Eagle and Miss Belmar Princess ran north to get into good jigging for 1-to-3-pound blues that lasted to about 11 before they switched to sea bass. The Ocean Explorer reported a great sea bass bite, with a plain chrome jig working best.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle weighed a big bass for their own Sean after he worked for 15 minutes to try reviving it for a boat release. The 47-inch bass swallowed a bunker and weighed 48.25 pounds.

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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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Ocean lays down nicely

The surf was still a bit rough this morning after yesterday’s northeast winds, but the ocean calmed down for boaters after they cleared inlets, and fishing conditions should be good tomorrow.

Fishing reports weren’t quite as good, but also should improve with clearing waters tomorrow. At Belmar, Miss Belmar Princess was able to boat three stripers north of Shark River Inlet. They later moved further north to the Highlands to add some small blues. The Golden Eagle found dirty waters from yesterday’s winds, though they managed one striper and a few blues. They are adding a prime time 3:30 p.m. striper trip on Tuesday. Call 732 681-6144.

At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Rob Semkewyc thought he was going to have a good day on his Sea Hunter as a 20-pound striper was boated right away and another lost on slack water. Yet, a bite didn’t develop on the tide, and splashing fish they ran to were only small blues. Fishing up at anchor, one more striper was caught and two lost. Semkewyc may check down the beach in the morning, and urges anglers to bring a rod with which they can snag bunkers.

Capt. Ron Santee saw an improvement in fluking from his Fishermen as he fished a different area that produced a pick of 2-to-3-pounders plus a pool fluke of over 6 pounds.

Capt. Stan Zagleski hasn’t sent a report so far, but he did fish Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands despite Sunday’s rain. Fluking wasn’t bad as long as the wind and tide were together. Yong Sim from Palisades Park had a fluke limit and added another limit — a 6-pound weakfish.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported some surf blues were caught Sunday evening on poppers and heavy bucktails.

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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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Give pregnant stripers a break

Raritan Bay-area striper fishing looks as if it will be breaking open any day now, but the downside to the good fishing is that it’s mostly on females ready to spawn in a week or two.

Actually, almost all stripers over 20 pounds are females. The very occasional male that large will probably be easily identified as it leaks milt when lifted. There are fair numbers of amaller males and immature females around if you want a fish for the table, but it’s clearly a shame to take a bass bursting with eggs that will be rejuvenating the stock in just a few days.  That’s especially the case in Raritan Bay where the Hudson River stock has been providing us with fine summer fishing after the southern spawners are long gone to the east.

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Bob Bowden with an obviously pregnant striper released in Raritan Bay recently from Ty Man  to spawn in the Hudson River next month.

The Atlantic Highlands fleet is getting into action. The Sea Hunter had a few keepers and some shorts Saturday, though trollers were doing better on the scattered fish.  They’re fishing daily except Friday when a Coast Guard inspection is scheduled. Capt. Ron Santee started his season Saturday on the Fishermen by observing a whale in the bay within a mile of the jetty before finding bait and some short bass plus three keepers up to 31 inches.

Capt. Stan Zagleski begins daily blackfishing at 7 a.m. with his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands on Saturday.

At Belmar,  the Golden Eagle sails for stripers on Thursday, while the Ocean Explorer and Big Mohawk seek blackfish and cod. Miss Belmar Princess joins the striper fleet on Saturday. So far, the weekend looks fishable — especially on Sunday.

The Gambler from Point Pleasant is running Lazy Man Tog trips from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Wednesdays to Sundays.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park had reports of some legal stripers in Toms River. Betty & Nick’s reported a calming and clear surf.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield gave the Sandy Hook surf a brief try with very expensive sandworms that were ignored in the calm surf that’s still a cold 43 degrees. The 38-degree air temperature and continuing blustery west wind this morning didn’t help.