AUGUST 27, 2010
The fluke seem to be in deeper water the last 2 weeks with some nice keeper ratios coming in from 60-90 feet of water. Still fish in the shallows with alot of shorts mixed in, but the bigger fish are deep and hitting bucktails, gulp, sandeels, smelts and mullet!
The bay is loaded with snappers, crabs and still plenty of fluke being caught in the northern parts of the bay as well. The Mantoloking Bridge is giving up snappers, crabs, small seabass and fluke too. The canal is loaded with some nice fluke as well as keeper tog mixed in with the shorts being caught on the incoming water. Using clams and crabs will find you some of the bucktooths.
Offshore, the BFT bite continues with fish as close as Little Italy and as far out as The Hudson Canyon. The Mudhole is alive with life most days and recently the SE corner is hot. The Hudson is loaded with YFT and Big Eye for the taking. Bright colors are the ticket if trolling while jigging and popping is also right up there producing fish. Alot of boats are returning with great catches and well worth the trip!!
JULY 23, 2010
Fishing continues to get better with some better fluke reports recently! The bigger fish are being caught and we have more fish spread all over this past week. All of the regular spots from in tight to the beaches out to the ridges are producing fish. The blackfish are being caght on the local snags as well. Some nice seabass on the Sea Girt and other local reefs. Bluefish up to about 5lbs are being caught in the surf, but the biggest attraction in the surf right now would be the brown sharks and duskys that are being caught at night! Get some chum in the water and get those rods ready to battle sharks up to 6ft. There are also plenty of fluke hanging in the sand as well. The biggest weigh in to date from the beach is 8.9lbs.
The bay is alivwe with fluke and snappers for the family to keep busy. Crabbing continues to be great and we have reports of theives stealing overnighter traps so be careful where you leave them. Our customers are getting ripped off on a weekly basis!
The offshore reports continue to be good with some white marlin in the mix now as well. The grounds from the Glory Hole out to the Hudson are alive and loaded with plenty of life. The mahi have come in as close as 6 miles this week. Water has been very clean the last few days.
JULY 10, 2010
The fishing is good and just keeps getting better. The fluke are stacked up along our beaches adn the best catches are in 30-35 feet of water. Pretty much our entire area is alive with fluke right now. The offshore reports are insane! Yellowfin are in the Hudson and everyday we have boats coming back with big catches. Its been compared to shooting fish in a barrel as of late out there. There is plenty of life and plenty of action out there.
The bass are starting to quiet down some now with an occasional fish over 20lbs hitting the scales. Most of the makos are north of us now but there are plenty of Browns, Duskys and Hammer Heads for the shark enthusiast! The 20 -30 fathom line and the inshore lumps are alive with sharks right now. The Blue fin are being found in the usual haunts such as The Barnegat Ridge, The Glory Hole, The Mudhole and so on. Jiggin has been working better than trolling from the reports I am getting. So we have plenty of action out there right now.
The Bay report is great too right now. Fishing and crabbing is great right now. Plenty of fluke, blues, blowfish and the stray bass are being caught everyday. The Northern part of the bay is my favorite area recently Crabbing is excellent around the Mantoloking Bridge area, the local lagoons and coves as well. Some snappers are ripping through the bait and we have seen a couple of weakfish from the River up to 19 inches last week.
JULY 5,2010
Fishing is getting better everyday. We are seeing some more fluke moving into the Bay along with the river as well. The best catches outside have been in 25 - 35 feet of water along the beaches on the mussle beds and rocky bottoms. You will see alot of shorts but you will put some keepers in the cooler as well in the shallow water. The deeper reef areas are producing fish, nice fish at that, but you will not see as much action. Its a captains choice.....more fish with some shorts or less fish with bigger fish for the day! The seabass are pretty big too on the deeper reef waters.
The crabbing is pretty good in all of the regular hot spots. The bridge continues to be a great spot, but is very active most days with a good crowd there. When crabbing this area, I lik eto go onto the old bridge, the peir that is out there. I find bigger crabs in the deeper water. The only problem is the 15 feet from the water to the peir. You need to use traps, not hand lines from the old bridge. The fluke are hitting over by the Mantoloking Bridge as well..
The offshore reports are pretty dam good right now! The inshore lumps all of the way out to the Hudson are producing everything from Bluefin to Yellowfin tuna! Mahi Mahi are are stacked out there too. We have heard about 2 white marlin caught in the Hudson already as well.
The surf is loaded with fluke and yes they can be caught at night! There are still bass being caught from the sand as well. We have a big variety in the surf right now, bass, blues, fluke and the ocasional king fish as well.
JUNE 24,2010
The fishing has picked up and bass, blues, fluke, schoolie bluefin, makos and threshers are all being broght to the scales recently! The bass bite has been very good north of Shark River Inlet and we have top water action as well as bunker and trolling action. Most of the big bass have been concentrated north of Shark river Inlet.
The fluking is pretty dam good in the shallow waters with a ratio of about 5-1 shorts to keepers. Most of the heavy action is on the shallower waters off the coastline. Fish in 30-40ft of water for best results. There are some bigger fish in the deeper waters, but the action is alot slower, it depends on what your looking for. Seabassing is best on the Carlson Reef as opposed to the Sea Girt Reef, the better action is south of The Manasquan Inlet.
The sharking has started to improve as well with threshers from as close as 100 yards ff the beaches out to the triple wrecks! Fish as big as 495lbs have been caught just off the beaches. The mako fishing is pretty good with alot of the smaller, 140lb class makos being caght in the usual spots as well. The same areas apply for the makos.
The schoolie bluefin have invaded the tuna lumps and are being caught daily now! Most of the action is south on the North Ridge, and down into the Cape May areas. The closest they have been reported is about 13 miles out of LE Inlet. Trolling has been [roducing more fish than jigging, but the sharpies have been jigging them up too!
The northern Barnegat Bay area is alive with blues, fluke and plenty of blue claw crabs! All in all, it has finally come alive and theres something for everybody!!
JUNE 12,2010
The fluke reports are geting better recently with some nice fish being caught bot inshore and offshore! The fish are in deep water, 75-100 feet as well as inside in 25 feet of water. Congratulations to our own Bob Casale, fishing with Team Canyon Reels for winning 1st place in the JCAA Fluke Tourny. Bon won the Manasquan Port 1st prize.
There are plenty of drum fish being caught in the surf right now as well. We have had fish up to 68lbs weighed in that were caught on clams. The striped bass are still swimming in the suds, with the common fish hitting the scales at about 15-20lbs from the surf.
There are makos, threshers and some blue sharks out in the local haunts now too. The water temps are from 62 - 67 degrees and we have had plenty of action on the sharks from 15 miles out to 75 miles out. The inshore grounds are producing nicely right now. Get out there while it good~~~
MAY 28,2010
Plenty of bass being caught just outside the inlets! Same routines....jigging heavy jigs, snagging bunker, trolling bunker spoons, shad rigs, and so on! We know there are plenty of big fluke out there just waiting for the opener tommorow and I expect a really good shoing of door mats to be weighed in! I have pre fished soem areas and have had alot of reports from the commercial guys and we have a good population of fluke just sitting there ready for the nets.
We have stocked up on the new Blue Frog Bucktails! These bucktails are available up to 6ozs but have a size 3/0 hook on them rather than the traditional 8/0 or 9/0 hooks found on other bucktails. They smaller hook is perfect for fluking with these bigger jigs. Check them out online or in our online store. The northern parts of Barnegat Bay are loaded with big fluke too, as we have caught them while trolling for bluefish between the Mantoloking Bridge and Dales. Also loaded with blues up to 5lbs, smaller weakfish and a few bass that we have hit as well.
The crabbing is going strong, once the runoff from last nights storm is washed out withthe tides, I expect it to pick up and get back to normal.
MAY 20, 2010
Fishing continues to get better everyday! We currently have a massive body of big bass 30-50lbs in size that are off of Bay Head beaches in 40 feet of water. You can almost walk accross them!! Use big jigs such as the Krocs, Vikings, Bunker Jigs and large Ava's to jig them up. You can also snag some live bunker and send them down to feed these fish! A few guys are finding big fish from the beaches too in this large school of fish.
Otherwise, trolling bunker spoons, bunker jigs and shad rigs continue to score big bass. YOU HAVE TO STAY VERY SLOW WHEN TROLLING!!! NO MORE THAN 4KNOTS!!!! Too many people troll too quickly and will find only bluefish.
The beaches are very good now too with bigger fish being caught all day and night. We have 30lb + fish being caught in the middle of the day. Mostly on fresh clams and bunker heads! Lures will work also , but unless your into a school, they will be slow producers. Get out fishing!! Now is the time!!! Stay tuned!
MAY 15, 2010
The fishing is improving and we are seeing more bait in the water this week. There huge pods of bunker out there with bass, blues, thresher sharks on them. The entire stretch from Sandy Hook down through LBI is alive with fish. If your out on the boat, trolling and jigging is working best as well as snagging bunker and dropping them down. Use heavy jigs such as Bunker Jigs, Krocs, Crazy Eels, Vikings and heavy AVA's for jigging the bass. You want to present a bigger jig to look like the adult bunker that they are feeding on. When your trolling, keep your speed down below 5 knots. 3.5 knots has always worked for us when trolling for striped bass.
Barnegat Bay Report - The bay is loaded with plenty of bait and plenty of blues, smaller bass and even fluke right now. The season is not open yet for fluke so if you catch any.....they must be returned. The crabbing is pretty damn good already as well. We are seeing soem nice catches on the top of the tide. The average is about 3 dozen in 2 hours down at the Mantoloking Bridge bulkhead. The Metediconck River has some weakfish in it as well. There are tons of spearing that have moved into the bay and its a good idea to use lures or jigs that look like these local spearing. We have just brought in a nice load of local spearing in the 4 -6 inch size. The canal area is giving up bass at night using lures and eel type lures and jigs. The blues are in and out with the tides as well. Theres plenty of action to keep you busy from the Mantoloking Bridge up into the nmouth of the canal.
MAY 10,2010
Bass and blues are everywhere. Both in the surf and from the boats! The boaters are finding bigger fish using heavy jigs such as the Bunker Jig, Krocs in 5oz + 7oz sizes, custom jigs in heavy sizes as well. The key i sgetting down deep quicker to avoid the bluefish! The entire coastline is active now with bass and bluefish. The surf is getting hotter too now with clams working the best for quantity. Most of the bass are being caught on bait. Soem of the die hards using plugs are scoring most of their fish on Fluke Spoons, Ava Jigs with tails, Sandeel Jigs and occasionally swimmers.
If your into trolling, use bunker spoons, Bunker jigs and tubes right now as they are all working.
The northern bay areas is alive with bass, blues, striped bass and even soem fluke being caught already. There are plenty of fluke in the area and they are being caught by mistake! There are plenty of spearing in the bay now and they feeding on the spearing pretty good!
Crabbing is also very good now and soem of the locals are getting a few dozen keepers in the overnighter traps hanging in the back yards. Things will continue to improve and get even better as the season moves on. The bay water temps are hanging around 64 - 68 degrees already. The shop is now open early every day!
APRIL 29, 2010
Alot of blue showing up from the surf and from the boats over the last 2 days. The blues are all along the coastline. The traditional things are working. Trolling metal, jigging metal, casting metal, etc... The bass are mixed in with the blues here and there as well as several pods of just all bass being spotted too. Trolling bunker spoons, jigging heavy, big jigs for the striped bass are working best. A few guys are snagging bunker to find some nice keepers recently too. The fish are all over th eplace, theres no secret spot to find!
The surf has been hit or miss. Some guys are seeing hours of action, while some are seeing hours of nothing. Clams, bunker are the best baits to use, while Whip it eels, sand eel imitations and metal are scoring some nice bass too. We have had a few bass caught on swimmers recently too. The swimmers seem to be working best under low light conditions, so be selective on what you throw to them! Weekend forecast looks good, lets hope it stays that way and we get a full weekend of bass bashing!
APRIL 27, 2010
Monday we had a few bluefish blitzs in the Brick area. The bluefish pushed the bunker right up onto the beach and Frank "The Fireman" was there to grab some bunker, chunk it and get it back out into the water to find some keeper bass. He had fish up to 11lbs late yesterday afternnon. Vinnie Weisel of Jackson also stopped in with a bass he caught on clams late yesterday, 7lbs 4ozs. The blue were there again this morning and we saw a few smaller bass that were beached in the short time that we were observing. Both bait and plugs were being used and the bait seemed to outfish the plugs. We had reports of more blue further south in the IBSP area this morning as well. The water has calmed down pretty good and its still al little dirty. Use those brighter colored plugs during the daylight in this dirty water.
APRIL23 2010
More of the same today to report.Bass up north of the Manasquan Inlet and Bass & Blues down around Barnegat Inlet and Seaside areas. The water temps are still 53 -55 degrees and the top water action is getting better today! Reports of birds and fish working on top just in time for the weekend. Recently you have needed to use the fish finder to locate the fish, but now with some top water action its a little easier to find them if not experienced. The birds were working off Deal today and soem customers got into fish up to 42" today.
The bass are still hanging around the bridges in the bay as well. Both Seaside Bridge and Mantoloking Bridges are producing surprisingly larger bass. Plugs, Mambo Minnows, poppers and even clams are working in the bay for fish up to 20lbs if you dont want to venture out into the open waters this weekend.
Crabbing is getting better in the bay as well. Some flounder are still being caught in the northern parts of the bay from the Mantoloking Bridge through the canal and into the river on sandworms, bloods and heavy cgumming with 2 pots working.
A few bass have been caught in the canal this week too using plugs, poppers and eels. We have not seen any weighed in here from the canal yet, but the reports are of bass in the canal. WE will update it as it happens!
APRIL 21, 2010
The bass and blues are being caught north of the Manasquan Inlet up to Sandy Hook area. Heavy Krocs are working very well for jigging the bass and blues. Trolling bunker spoons will be the best way to troll the bigger bass up! The bigger the spoons...the bigger the bass!!! Maja Bunker Spoons are killing fish right now! Theres a nice body of fish from Long Branch up to Monmouth Beach area...these fish are averaging in the 30lb+ range. Almost all of them are keepers.
Alot of bluefish south of the inlet down to Barnegat Inlet with smaller bass in this area.
The bay area continues to see flounder and smaller stripers up to 15lbs around the mantoloking bridge area. Crabbing is starting to pick up as well in the bay areas.
Surf fishermen continue to find fish all along the beaches and the fish are pretty nice too. Weigh ins up to 24lbs from the beaches in the Brick/Bay Head area. Fresh and salted clams working as bait while top water poppers and swimmers are working with the lure fishermen.
All around its a pretty damn good start to the season and the fishing is hot right now!!
APRIL 17, 2010
The bass are here early! We are getting some great reports from both the beaches and the boats. The beaches are giving up fish from 26 inches up to 20 lbs right now on fresh , salted clams and a variety of lures as well. The fish and the reports that are coming into our shop are from the Bay Head area down through Ortley Beach.
The guys in the boast are finding fish just north of the inlet up into the Sandy Hook area! Trolling bunker spoons and jigging has been putting some nice fish on the deck! MAJA Binker Spoons are scoring soemnice fish such as Mike Grande's 40 inch fish on Wednesday! Krocs and Viking Jigs are the hottest jigs working right now! Because they are available in larger sizes, they get down deep quicker and are the best jigs to use right now! You can read the fish on your finders, the top water action is not so dependable right now, keep an eye on the fish finders!! Water temps are around 55 degrees on average at the surface!
APRIL 12 ,2010
More guys hitting the beaches today. Reports of small bass and also some ling in the suds. Fresh clams working and our secret salted recipie also working well on the beaches. We have only had 2 fish weighedin from the beaches so far, most of our bass are being caught in the Northern parts of the bay still!! Larry keeps hitting them good around the Mantoloking bridge in his kayak.
Flounder fishing is still good in these same areas. The heavy chumming is getting them out of the mud and more active! Worms and clams for the flounder with double chum pots and you will get some nice fat fish in the cooler.
APRIL 10, 2010
We have FRESH CLAMS in now and several people have been going to the beaches wih reports of light hits which we think are probable ling that are still left over from the colder water temps. We have had bass weighed in from the bay but no beach fish weighed in yet. The Mantoloking Bridge continues to offer bass up to 15lbs and some nice flounder for the guys fishing the area. Yesterdays high winds kept fishermen away for the most part. Your best bet is the bay/canal/river right now for fish. The water temps are approaching 60 degrees in the bay now.
The ocean will pick up as the temps continue to rise. There are fish up in the back waters of Raritan Bay now too. Reports of fish up to 25lbs being caught up that way. Its only a matter of time before our beaches down this way see the early fish!
APRIL 9,2010
More of the same to report! Alot of bass in the bay up around Mantoloking Bridge, with alot of flounder action in the same areas as well. Chumming heavy is getting them active! The beach is still pretty quiet with reports of small fish in the wash, but I have yet to see one caught! I think alot of that is fish storys for now! lol. The bay is pretty hot though for both bass and flounder! Reports of some great whites about 7 miles out recently! You cant target them, but you can get some nice pictures I guess if yoy are bored and want to take a boat ride!! ( if your that sick) Other than that, not much new to report! Stay tuned, its only a matter of time beofre we get it going!!
Fresh water reports are better! The local lakes are producing some nice fish!
APRIL 6,2010
I was down at the Mantoloking Bridge over the last few mornings and its been a hit or miss type thing. When the water is moving, the bass are feeding. When its too calm and still, the bass are not responding and the crabs are more active! Larry the Kayaker has been out in his hole everyday, banging bass!! It sucks to see him out there with 2 rods bent, while all we can do from shore is watch him!! lol!!
The Flounder are still cooperating very well. Heavy chumming, clams, sandworms as bait and you are sure to boat some nice fish. Plenty of action on the flounder side of the fishery as well!!
The crabs seem to be coming out of the mud now with the water temps sitting around 55 degrees at about 7am each morning! Things will only get better from here!
APRIL 4,2010
More bass being caught down by the bridge! Seems to be a nice surprise with the size of the fish coming out of the area! Usually these fish are schoolies with an occasional keeper mixed in, but this Spring the fish are averaging 10lbs - 15lbs. Guys are using Mambo Minnows, sandworms, clam and even some topwater plugs to catch them. They are being caught on all tides with the dusk/dawn rule being the best producer from the weigh ins we are getting.
Flounder fishing continues to be very good in this same area as well as the northern sections of the bay up to Dale's. Chum heavy, using clam and sandworms as bait and you will get the fish feeding. The entire area seems to be very productive! Good Luck and Happy Easter!! The shop is open daily now and we are getting in new products weekly.
The boats venturing out to the bottom fishing grounds are doing ok with cod using heavy jigs, clam and getting into about 90 feet of water. Its not the best fishing, but its enough to keep the boats interested.
APRIL 3, 2010
Plenty of flounder being caught in the northern bay areas! Some fat fish are falling for sandworms with heavy chumming working best for the bigger fish. The Mantoloking Bridge area has been one of the most popular areas recently with alot of private and charter boats hanging in that area! Herring Island and Dales are also hot areas for flounder fishing right now! The key has been using lots of chum and letting the sun warm the fish up a little bit before heading out! No preference on the tides as of yet!
Some nice striped bass are being caught around the Mantoloking Bridge recently as well! The biggest fish to hit our scales from the bridge area was a 18lb 4ozs bass that fell for an orange Mambo Minnow in the 5 inch size in the mid morning hours!! We have aslo had bass in the 12lb - 14lb range being weighed in from the Mantoloking Bridge area as well!! Some are being taken by "Kayak " fishermen, while some are being taken from the old bridge along the shoreline!!
This are of the Northern Bay is your best bet right now for finding action. You have flounder and bass being caught everyday that its not raining!! lol!! The bigger bass are a nice surprise, even for the locals!! These fish are usually schoolies this time of the year!!