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First bluefish in surf

We’ve been waiting for the bluefish to arrive in force as they usually do by the end of April, but nothing has been happening in N.J. — and Fred Golofaro of The Fisherman, Long Island edition had the same report from another early location at Fire Island Inlet. However, just before writing this blog I got a photo from outdoor writer Nick Honachefsky of Normandy Beach of a surfcaster with a good-sized bluefish. I picked a logbook from 1998, and found that my charter party was inundated with blues on May 1 in Raritan Bay. Yesterday, Honachefsky caught eight small bass (a 26-inch and micros) plus five hickory shad on a fly rod in the surf.

First surf blue

There have still been no reports of blues up there, and a message from Rob Rommel noted that he fished with Chuck Many on Ty Man as they released 20 stripers up to a 38-pounder.  in Yesterday’s release count when I was with them was 30 bass up to 33 pounds, but I forgot to credit Many with his best catch — the first sea robin reported from the bay,  an aggressive little fish that hit a 6-inch shad cast into small bait off Staten Island.

Reel Fun from Twin Lights Marina in Highlands had the Sean Basilone party with six legal stripers just a half-hour from the dock this morning, but Capt, John Kolias said they couldn’t come up with an over 43-incher.   Kolias usually trolls.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported they had some bass chasing their jigs, but none were caught. After yesterday’s hot early jigging reports from Raritan Bay, there were no reports today from Atlantic Highlands boats.

Capt. Vinny Vetere of Katfish Charters in Great Kills reported small bass dominated early as he trolled his Ho-Jo’s, but bigger bass hit as the tide ebbed. Green chartreuse was the hot color.

Jim Louro of Spring Lake fished Raritan Bay in an outboard during the afternoon and had to fight the southwest wind while trolling mo jo’s and casting shads. He said they marked fish, but had no hits and didn’t see anything caught on other boats. The forecast for the next two days is similar with light SW in the morning before gusty winds in the afternoon.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield was happy with his Tuesday morTodayndy Hook surf. After catching a very small bass on a Tsunami Shad before sun-up, small bass turned on to sandworms fished on a very light rod. He released bass of 22, 24, 25 and 28 inches before the bite ended at 8 am. John Mazzeo of South Plainfield fished a bunker chunk to release a 26-incher.

 

 

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Raritan Bay comes alive with stripers

Just about everyone caught legal stripers today in Raritan Bay — and with both lures and live bait — while surfcasting produced mostly shorts in many areas.

I joined Chuck Many of Annandale for an afternoon trip on his Ty Man from Gateway Marina in Highlands along with Rob Rommel of Highlands who had already cast netted a live swell full of bunkers. Many set up very long drifts in shallow waters and we had blow-ups on the live baits all afternoon as 30 stripers from about 12 pounds up to Many’s 33-pounder were released. We must have raised about 100 bass in order to do that as most just played with the live bunkers and never ate them. Changing to fresh very lively baits was most effective, and we had to make another run to net bunkers during the afternoon.

30-pound bassThis 30-pounder is loaded with roe that will be shed very shortly in the Hudson River. Photo by Rob Rommel

Chuck Many will be coming in a bit earlier on Wednesday to explain how he releases so many stripers during a free seminar for the Staten Island Tuna Club to be held at the Great Kills Yacht Club from 7-9 p.m.

Boaters who got out in the morning were greeted with stripers on the surface. The Atlantic Highlands party boat fleet got into its first jig fishing of the year for legal bass as swim shads and metal with tube tails worked best. Capt. Rob Semkewyc said everyone ended up with a keeper on his Sea Hunter. Capt. Ron  Santee had a similar report from the Fishermen, as they picked on bait after the jigging bite stopped — but the outgoing was no good. Erick Simbard had a 20-pound pool winner.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar had more keeper stripers than had been the case while fishing both lures and bait.

There were very good surf striper reports all the way from Sandy Hook to Island Beach State Park. Most of the fish were small, but some keepers were mixed in. Nothing compared to the 58.10-pound striper weighed at Julian’s Tackle in Atlantic Highlands by John Callahan, who caught it at Sandy Hook on a bunker chunk. That was his only hit in three hours, and it took 30 minutes to bring in what might end up to be the largest surf striper of the year.

 

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First party boat striper jigging catch reported

The first significant party boat striper jigging catch was taken today by the Brooklyn VI out of Sheepshead Bay. They reported a near boat limit catch with a pool bass of about 25 pounds. It wasn’t specified whether that jigging took place in the ocean or Raritan Bay. They will also be carrying bait tomorrow, but don’t expect to need it.

There was also good news on bait, from the Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands. Capt. Rob Semkewyc had a slow Saturday, and Sunday started out the same. However, a move resulted in a hot bite of both shorts and keepers. They ended up with a boat limit of bass from 28 inches up to a pool winner in the 20-pound class.

That was the only report from Atlantic Highlands today, though the Atlantic Star had a 20-pound pool winner Saturday morning, and a 25 1/2-pounder on the Saturday afternoon trip.  The Sea Tiger II had a boat limit of legal bass on Saturday running up to one over 20 pounds.

At Belmar, the Ocean Explorer reported a lively bottom that produced a good mixture of short and keeper blackfish on a flat calm ocean created by west winds. A few legal cod were also boated. The blackfish season closes after the Monday trip which should have similar conditions from continuing west winds.

Saturday’s report from the Golden Eagle about a bluefish blitz on the Manasquan Inlet jetties led to my checking out Manasquan River early this morning, where a few anglers were doing nothing –before moving to the inlet, where there was no one casting on either side in the light rain. It didn’t look as if a blitz had occurred the day before.

There was good news from Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park as they had their first two striper weigh-ins of the year on Saturday. Doug Cobb had a 30-inch, 9.05-pounder on clam from the back bay, but Dave Hankins came in late Saturday with a 37-inch, 19.85-pound bass that hit an SP Minnow in the surf. That fish was a new arrival full of sea lice.

The surf was clearing today, and should be calm by the morning.

Chuck Many, with a recent striper released from his Ty Man, will be doing a seminar on striper fishing at the Staten Island Tuna Club on Wednesday evening. Details in tomorrow’s blog.Chuck striper

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Are the bluefish in?

Bluefish are overdue by the standards of recent springs, and I still didn’t have any confirmed reports from shore fishing sources as of this morning. Yet, while checking the striper report of the Golden Eagle from Belmar this afternoon there was a mention of a bluefish blitz on the Manasquan Inlet jetties. I’ll be checking that out tomorrow!

The Golden Eagle did boat a couple of keeper stripers and lost a few others — which was still better than previous trips and provides some hope for tomorrow.

I made my first surf attempt of the year in the morning at Sea Girt, but the surf was rough and there were no hits. A couple of other anglers there did likewise. Jim Louro of Spring Lake took a look at his local surf and switched to Shark River. The water was fine there, but he and Frank Manzi had no hits. Capt. Chrid Di Stefano of Wall lost a fish that hit a lure in the river during the week, and saw a fly fisherman catch a small bass.

Jerry Lasko and Maren Tolano of Point Pleasant combined for 10 small stripers this morning at Island Beach State Park though conditions weren’t good. The switch to west winds should improve surf conditions over the next few days.

Castaway’s Tackle in Point Pleasant is now open after a winter renovation took longer than expected. Joe Melillo said flounder fishing has been good at both ends of Point Pleasant Canal, and some stripers are also being caught in the canal.

Blackfish anglers are running out of time as that season closes at the end of the month. Bottom fishing party boats will be concentrating on them tomorrow.

Trolling was once again the best bet for stripers in Raritan Bay. Capt. Rob Semkewyc said he had some shorts and keepers on his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands, but not nearly enough. On the other hand, outdoor writer Nick Honachefsky made a late morning trip on Bunkertown, a Contender from Shrewsbury River, after the fog lifted enough for safe navigation. They had a good bite on mo-jos, with chartreuse being the hot color.  There was a mixture of sizes, but a 41.8-pounder reeled in by George Marc-Aurele was by far the largest. She was weighed on a hand scale before being released to spawn in the Hudson River within a couple of weeks.

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Last days for NJ blackfish

The N.J. spring season for blackfish concludes with the end of April. Blackfish anglers should have fishable weather this weekend to get their last licks in. The Big Mohawk and Ocean Explorer will be sailing for their target species plus a shot at a cod or two. The Paramount from Brielle will be bottom fishing both days from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Elaine B. II from Highlands sails the next two days for tog at 7 a.m., but then won’t fish Monday and Tuesday before switching to stripers at 7 daily on Wednesday.

The Jamaica from Brielle will be seeking stripers at 7:30 a.m. the next two days before starting daily trips on May 4. The Golden Eagle sails for stripers from Belmar

Atlantic Highlands party boats had action with short stripers today, but added some keepers. The Sea Hunter started slowly, but ended up with a good flurry despite “lousy” conditions.

Trolling was a different story for Capt. Vinny Vetere of Katfish in Great Kills as at least 40 stripers from 31 to 44 inches hit his Ho-Jo’s.

Ho-jo's bass

Both Grumpy’s Tackle and Betty & Nick’s in Seaside Park reported a hot Thursday night bite of small bass in the surf on bait plus small bucktails and shads. The shops have fresh bunker in stock plus some clams. Grumpy’s runs an ODM rods demo Saturday from 10-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bait fishing for stripers was mostly shorts today for Atlantic Highlands party boats. The Sea Hunter started slowly, but ended up with a good shot of keepers despite “lousy” conditions. The Fishermen also had legal bass, but they were all under 30 inches.

Trolling was a much different story for Capt. Vinny Vetere. who was using his Ho-jo’s from Katfish Charters out of Great Kills to catch at least 40 stripers from 31 to 44 inches. The largest bass preferred the pink infused models. Ho-jo's bass

 

 

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Big swell hurts ocean fishing

The ocean swell was big enough today to make Shark River Inlet so rough that the Big Mohawk turned around and returned to its berth in Belmar.  They’ll give it another try at 7 a.m. Friday — and at 6:30 am. from Saturday through Monday to finish out the spring N.J. blackfish season which closes at the end of the month.

Bob Matthews reports from Fisherman’s Den in Belmar Marina that winter flounder still haven’t produced much action at the docks there, with more fluke taking the baits. Small stripers are being caught in the surf. However, Jim Louro of Spring Lake said he gave up quickly this morning due to the big swell. The forecast for Friday is for moderate east winds with small craft warnings plus rain before west winds should produce better conditions over the weekend.

The Sea Hunter got out into Raritan Bay from Atlantic Highlands this morning, but Capt. Rob Semkewyc said it was just a pick of shorts with an occasional keeper that kept him on the first drop for the rest of the tide rather than taking a chance by moving from the modest bite. He noted that trollers were doing better.

Capt. Joe Massa made a short Wednesday evening trip with John D’Andrea on My Three Sons from Morgan Marina and had good trolling in greater depths than the fleet has been fishing. They caught five bass of legal size, which had sea lice on them, plus two shorts.

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz is back from serving as an observer at a billfish tournament in the Dominican Republic, and ready to start chartering Sheri Berri from Twin Lights Marina in Highlands. If you’d like to fish with Hans and me on that fast 25-foot Regulator, send a e-mail to me at cristori@aol,com. — or call 732 757-5531.

 

Hank Matri - March 2018 - East End Lodge - Grand Bahama Is

A touch of the tropics. Hank Matri with a Bahamas bonefish on a fly before the release in March

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Where did all the mackerel go?

While cleaning my office on a rainy day, I came across one of my old logbooks and opened it up to April 25, 1970 to see what I was catching on that Saturday when I was still living on Long Island. It turned out that I fished with a couple of friends on their boat out of Jones Inlet as I jigged 102 mackerel and two herring.

That was just a routine day of spring mackerel jigging then, and in almost every other spring after I started saltwater fishing. Huge schools of mackerel started their northern migration off Virginia, and moved steadily up the coast during April before ending up in New England waters within a few weeks. Some years were better than others, but catching 100 or more a man was routine, and party boat fleets thrived on the great fishery for both food and a freezer full of bait for the months to come.

The foreign fleets caught millions of pounds and put a big dent in that fishery, but mackerel did come back after the 200-mile limit went into effect.  Yet, foreign fleets were allowed to continue taking mackerel if they participated in joint ventures with American trawlers. NOAA Fisheries considered mackerel to be underfished at that time, but after a few more years the spring runs diminished and then virtually disappeared even as NOAA Fisheries kept setting large quotas that weren’t being filled. When I called them about this, they admitted to be using an old stock assessment. There were some years when there was a good winter mackerel run off the N.J and L.I coasts, but even that has died out — and party boat skippers who used to run experimental trips for mackerel in the spring now don’t even bother. From millions of fish to none at all!

Due to today’s weather, there have been no reports. There was a very good one about surf stripers that came in after last night’s blog. Jerry Lasko and Maren Toleno from Point Pleasant cast Kettle Creek paddletail jigs in the Ocean County surf to release dozens of small bass in a spot where they never got a hit the afternoon before when the surf was calm.  A bit of white water turned the stripers  on, though the largest was only 22 inches.  It may take another day for the surf to settle and clear.

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park has been reporting small bass in the surf for over a week, and Betty & Nick’s notes the surf temperature has warmed to 50 degrees.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar will be sailing for stripers at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

There is a thick fog warning until 7 a.m. before a west wind kicks in.

The first two stripers caught last Thursday morning on bunker chunks before release from Ty Man in Raritan Bay

Ty Man morning stripers

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Rain & wind coming Wednesday, but it looks good after that

The weather from N.J. to Long Island isn’t looking good for Wednesday with rain and gusty winds in the forecast, but it’s supposed to be back to just 10 to 15 knots from the west for Thursday — and the weekend looks good.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands clammed in Raritan Bay today, but it was mostly short bass that responded. There were some keepers topped by Eric Nova’s 15-pounder. Capt. Rob Semkewyc won’t be sailing tomorrow due to the weather, but will be ready to go on Thursday.

Tank Matraxia and his crew from Lyndhurst fished with Capt. John Contello aboard Just Sayin from Keyport. After casting produced only one short, they switched to trolling mo-jos and limited out with keepers up to about 32 inches. Matraxia was also able to put ALS tags in five legal bass and a short. One of those bass had a fairly recent bite taken out of it — possibly by a seal. The action was in the back of the bay where there were lots of boats and kayaks.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk reported a good blackfish bite today, but won’t sail again until Thursday. The Ocean Explorer had good blackfishing Monday with some limits.

The Gambler has been getting out from Point Pleasant. but blackfishing has been slow so far due to cold waters. The Queen Mary starts striper fishing out of that port on Saturday.

At Seaside Park, Grumpy’s Tackle reports small stripers are hitting in the surf on small pieces of bait and lures. An angler fishing bunker chunks reported losing a better fish in the wash. An ODM rod demo will be held at Grumpy’s on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

 

 

Sandy Hook Late April SunriseAllen Riley photo of Sandy Hook at dawn Monday. Don’t expect that tomorrow!

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N OAA gives tuna anglers a break

The bluefin tuna regulations just issued by NOAA provide some hope for anglers who spend a small fortune to run offshore for them. The NOAA release follows (scroll down):

Atlantic HMS

April 23, 2018
bluefin tuna

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Angling Category Fishery: Recreational Daily Retention Limit Adjustment

NOAA Fisheries is adjusting the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) daily retention limits that apply to vessels permitted in the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling category and the HMS Charter/Headboat category (when fishing recreationally for BFT) effective April 26, 2018, through December 31, 2018, as follows:

Table

In deciding these retention limits, NOAA Fisheries considered the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments, which include available quota, fishery performance in recent years, availability of BFT on the fishing grounds, and the effects of the adjustment on the stock and on accomplishing the objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and amendments.  NOAA Fisheries also considered input from the HMS Advisory Panel.  These limits should provide opportunities to harvest the available U.S. BFT quota without exceeding it; prevent overharvest of the 2018 quotas; and collect a broad range of data for stock monitoring purposes.

Who is Affected?

These daily retention limits apply to vessels permitted in the recreational HMS Angling category and the HMS Charter/Headboat category while fishing recreationally.  The daily retention limits are effective for all areas except for the Gulf of Mexico, which is designated as BFT spawning grounds and where NOAA Fisheries does not allow targeted fishing for BFT.  Regardless of the duration of a fishing trip (e.g., whether a vessel takes a two-day trip or makes two trips in one day), no more than a single day’s retention limit may be possessed, retained, or landed.

NOAA Fisheries will continue to monitor the BFT fisheries closely.  HMS Charter/Headboat and Angling category vessel owners are required to report the catch of all BFT retained or discarded dead, within 24 hours of the landing(s) or end of each trip, by accessing the HMS Permit Shop,using the HMS Catch Reporting App, or calling (888) 872-8862 (Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.).  Depending on fishing effort and catch rates, additional retention limit adjustments or fishery closures may be necessary to ensure available quota is not exceeded or to enhance scientific data collection from, and fishing opportunities in, all geographic areas.

NOAA Fisheries regulations require that all BFT that are released be handled in a manner that will maximize their survival, and without removing the fish from the water.  For additional information on safe handling, see theCareful Catch and Release brochure.

This notice is a courtesy to BFT fishery permit holders to help keep you informed about the fishery.  For additional information, please go to the HMS Permit Shop or call (978) 281-9260.  Official notice of Federal fishery actions is made through filing such notice with the Office of the Federal Register.

The weather was good today, but Raritan Bay striped bass fishing was tougher for the Atlantic Highlands party boat fleet. The Fishermen reported all of their keepers were caught during the first hour before the bite dropped off to just a few shorts. The Sea Hunter had a similar report, but the largest bass of their season was boated by Dave Koczka with a 34-pounder.

At Belmar, the Big Mohawk had the nicest day of the season even though blackfishing was sluggish. Yet, there were a few limits and others with two to three keeper tog among the shorts. Blackfish jigs were most effective. Bob Matthews, at Fisherman’s Den, said blackfish are also being caught in Shark River Inlet. He weighed in a 14 1/2-pound tog that was caught by Ben Rich of Titusville, N.J. off Barnegat — and entered in The Fisherman Dream Boat Contest.

The rumor of weakfish in Barnegat Bay was confirmed in a Facebook posting by Frank Ruczynski. who once again caught the first one  April 19 on a Zoom jig.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield and Duke Matero from Piscataway tried the Sandy Hook surf early this morning with clams and fresh bunker, but caught only skates and the first sea robin reported from a flat surf.

 

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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.