By Al Ristori

December 04, 2009, 6:54PM

Striped bass fishing was generally poor today after a southeast storm that left off-color waters and lots of mussels thrown up on the beach at Brick. Capt. Jim O'Grady had his best bass fishing last fall after a similar storm, but stripers didn't hit for anglers on the Cock Robin from Point Pleasant today. Also at that port, Capt. John Brackett reported just scrathing out five short bass and one keeper bass on his Queen Mary. He won't be sailing Saturday due to the stormy forecast.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported a poor first and last hour, but jigging in between was decent as a few anglers caught 25 to 30 that were almost all in the 24-to-27-inch class -- though a few keepers were boated. Semkewyc said there was little bird action, and he had to find fish on readings.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield said there was no mini-blitz of small stripers this morning as there had been the last two days, but they were swirling. Riley caught one short on an A.O.K PB-40 P-nut bunker spoon, and John Mazzeo of South Plainfield beached the only other short on a teaser. Sand eels had been so thick that they were being snagged on lures, but that didn't occur today.

There was a surf schoolie bite this morning at Point Pleasant, but only a few bass were released there in the evening.

Capt. Gene Quigley of Shore Catch was casting deadly Dicks at jumping bluefin tuna at Shrewsbury Rocks, and one was hooked -- but lost.  

By Al Ristori

November 28, 2009, 6:05PM

The bluefish off our coast must think it's October rather than almost December as they even moved back into the surf today. With water temperatures hanging around 54 to 55 degrees, the choppers could still be with us at Christmas.

Boaters leaving Manasquan Inlet ran into big blues right away, and they were breaking off Bay Head late in the morning. Some big blues were caught by surfcasters there, though most refused to move inshore.

There were still big blues off Bay Head during mid-afternoon when I took Joe Andreoli of Wyckoff out for a couple of hours with his young children Jeremy and Natalie, and his friend Vinny. We found blues attacking adult bunkers not far from shore, and managed to put the kids into a couple of 12-pounders on a Tsunami Deep Wave jig. I was blind jigging on sandy bottom in 25 feet when I hooked up what I assumed was a small bluefish and handed the rod to Natalie -- who boated a 14-inch blackfish with the plain single hook of a Grim Reefer jig in its mouth.

With gale warnings posted for winds up to 40 mph, it wouldn't have been possible to take youngsters out if it wasn't for the northwest direction that flattened the ocean. It was actually quite comfortable close to the beach.

Capt. John Brackett said striper jigging in his Queen Mary from Point Pleasant wasn't up to par in the northwester. He worked up to Deal, and only managed three keepers plus 12 shorts among abundant blues. Brackett anticipates the predicted light southwest on Sunday will improve that situation. 

There was a report that adult bunkers were found in many areas from Manasquan to Deal. In addition to bluefish under them, there were also supposedly stripers up to the 30-pound class.

After many trips to the Sea Girt surf with no results lately, Jay Russell of Brick ran ino a Bonanza in the morning as he caught 10 stripers, including four of legal size, on metal. Some big blues were also in the surf. 

That was a lot better than what I ran into at my first stop in Bay Head. The northwester had done its job of flattening the surf, and stripers were swirling and chasing sand eels -- but no one got a hit while I was there. One angler said the bass would swirl behind his Needlefish, but wouldn't hit it. I moved further south and did see some bluefish and a couple of short stripers caught from the bars.

 

   

By Al Ristori

November 20, 2009, 7:27PM

The normal and ideal situation after a fall northeaster is to have a cool northwester following it to quickly knock down the swell and create calm conditions for boaters and surfcasters. That hasn't been happening very often this fall, but the table was set with today's west winds to be followed by a bit stronger northwester tonight. Saturday sounds like a perfect day with lighter northwest winds. The surf was still rough, due to a big swell, but it should be ideal by dawn. Surfcasters should do well in many areas along the Shore as it will be easy to spot swirling bass, and possible to cast plugs and other light lures. After a dead period since last week's bad northeaster, there was a pick of bass in some areas along the northern Ocean County surf. I met a surfboarder in Mantoloking who saw stripers chasing sand eels in the rough surf.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield once again found the Sandy Hook surf to be rough and unproductive early this morning, but he saw lots of bird action offshore of the Highlands Bridge.

Capt. John Brackett of the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant reported an early striper bite before the bass turned off the rest of the trip. His anglers jigged 37 linesiders, of which 13 were keepers.

Capt. Hans Kaspersetz trolled between the channels at mid-morning with Sheri Berri from Baker's Marina on the Bay in Highlands where he found his two keeper bass from among six caught on umbrella rigs. Surprisingly, there were no bluefish.

That wasn't the case for Capt. Rob Semkewyc on the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands. He couldn't get away from big blues, but his anglers only had a few keeper bass and a few dozen shorts.   

By Al Ristori

November 17, 2009, 8:09PM

It was a red letter day for boaters from at least Shark River Inlet to Manasquan Inlet as legal stripers were routine among lots of shorts and big bluefish -- all spewing up sand eels. Capt. Jimmy Elliott said he had about 50 keeper bass up to a pool-winning 18-pounder on Miss Belmar Princess. He did note there were more larger bass on Monday when the big fish weighed 20 pounds and almost everyone limited. All but a few had limits today as Elliott ran into them right away off Shark River Inlet. Plain jigs worked best.

At Point Pleasant, Capt. Jim O'Grady reported early in the morning about the hot jigging off Spring Lake on his Cock Robin, and Capt. John Brackett ended up with 162 bass on his Queen Mary -- of which 33 were keepers.

Joe Reap fished his Reaper out of Manasquan for solid action off Spring Lake before following the bass and blues further off later in the morning. His crew had bass up to 32 inches, and he noted the blues were 10-to-15-pounders.

Capt. Russ Binns started out looking for bluefin tuna on his Mar-Lin from Toms River, and he found some at the Axel Carlsen Reef. However, the 50-to-70-pounders were individual jumpers in a rough northeast sea. Binns gave up on them early to head inshore for stripers. His crew ended up catching 34 bass up to a 12-pounder among six keepers -- plus about 15 blues.

Capt. Stan Zagleski didn't get out today with his Elaine B. from Highlands, but opened the blackfish season successfully on Monday. The big swell from the storm had those fish turned off early, but they started biting at 11:45. There was a decent pick after that, and Mike Naipawer of Bloomingdale was delighted with his pool-winning 11 1/2-pounder.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield fished a rough surf at Sandy Hook in the morning, but said there was no action there -- nor any working birds offshore of the Highlands Bridge. I didn't see any action along the shore from Bay Head to Brick, but tried casting into a slough at Brick for awhile with no hits.  

By Al Ristori

November 16, 2009, 6:53PM

Boaters fishing out of Manasquan Inlet didn't have to go far this morning, as they did very well with legal stripers within minutes of the inlet. At Point Pleasant, Capt. John Brackett of the Queen Mary said many of his fares were limited within the first hour. Capt. Jim O'Grady reported similar results on the Cock Robin along with some blues. Whereas it didn't matter what jigs were used Sunday, the bass wanted Ava 47s with no tails.  Capt. Mike Bogan sailed the Gambler into the same fishing, and noted it was 75% bass rather than blues which dominated Sunday. The stripers were stuffed with sand eels. 

While checking out the Folsom wholesale tackle show in Atlantic City, I got a report that stripers were also being jigged off Spring Lake. Capt. Russ Binns of Mar-Lin from Toms River got a report that bluefin tuna were spotted not far off Manasquan Inlet. I tried surfcasting briefly and without success at Brick on the way down, but the surf was still rough, and few anglers were fishing. Some platforms from Bay Head south were closed after being undermined by the northeaster.  

By Al Ristori

November 15, 2009, 8:48PM

Stripers and bluefish were ready to bite as soon as the northeaster blew itself out. The well was large, but no problem offshore with no wind on it.

At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported in during the morning while still fishing as keeper bass were being jigged. Capt. Jimmy Elliott ended up with over 30 legal bass up to 26 pounds on Miss Belmar Princess. There were also 40 to 50 shorts plus plenty of blues.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant ended up with 13 keepers from among 32 stripers. Capt. John Brackett said there were also blues out there, but he avoided most in order to concentrate on bass.

Capt. Bobby Bogan had a good report from his Gambler out of Point Pleasant. He got into plenty of blues with some legal and short stripers. Ava 47 jigs were most effective.

Jigging should be very good all along the Shore after that northeaster brought new schools of migrating stripers to our area. Water temperaturesare still in the mid-fifties, so bluefish remain in the picture. 

The surf should be back in shape tomorrow, or definately by Tuesday. I checked Bay Head this morning and found what I expected -- big seas and discolored waters. Though much of the beach was chewed up, John Green of Brick reported he was able to run his beach buggy all along Brick Beach at low tide. A few tide changes should clear the waters and set up some hot fishing. 

By Al Ristori

September 29, 2009, 8:16PM

There weren't any good reports today, but all that could change overnight. Allen Riley said he and Duke Matero of Piscataway each released a 26-inch striper on metal at Sandy Hook, but the only other fish caught were a couple of small blues. I checked out Bay Head, and was surprised to see seven anglers casting. They had seen bait and a few signs of fish, but only a few hickory shad were caught. 

Capt. John Brackett of the Queen Mary at Point Pleasant was surprised to find little tunny and bonito scarce in his chum slicks as three spots only produced four tunny and two bonito. He did get good reports from boats jigging out of the wind inshore, and will be bluefishing there tomorrow. The Cock Robin sails from Point Pleasant for tunny and bonito at 6:30 a.m.

The Jamaica from Brielle has a 7 a.m. trip set for Thursday to seek bluefin tuna, dolphin and tilefish. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations.   

By Al Ristori

November 04, 2009, 7:16PM

Striped bass fishing picked up somewhat on the northwest wind that also calmed the seas somewhat before the afternoon switch to southwest. Thursday morning also looks good before the arrival of much stronger northwest winds for which gale warnings are posted for Friday.

Capt. Pete Wagner of Hyper-Striper from Highlands reports clamming for stripers has been producing limits every trip, though the Lou Nardone party from Monroe managed 15 keepers plus shorts and bluefish while jigging down the beach Wednesday. Wagner said his legal bass are averaging 29 to 36 inches.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc of the Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands has also done best with stripers by clamming. Most of the bass run 26 to 27 1/2 inches, though there are also good numbers of keepers.

At Point Pleasant, Capt. John Brackett of the Queen Mary reported three keepers out of 10 bass jigged along with lots of b

By Al Ristori

November 02, 2009, 5:56PM

Hard northeast winds are tough on both boaters and surfcasters in the short term, but usually provide a spurt in striper action after the switch to west winds. Though some stripers were caught in a very rough surf this morning, most surfcasters gave up quickly after metal lures cast into the wind quickly ended up practically right on the beach since the wind blowing down the beach created a big bow in the line. By the time the angler started reeling after casting his lure would be out of fishable water. The predicted switch to northwest winds should help calm and clear the waters while providing fine casting conditions with the wind at your back.

Allen Riley of South Plainfield said the northeaster made it impossible to get out on the bars or to cast beyond them this morning -- resulting in a Sandy Hook shutout. He found out that John Mazzeo of South Plainfield stuck it out after Riley left about 8:40 Saturday morning and got into a blitz of bass and blues under birds by moving to Area A.

I was ready to try Mantoloking this morning, but watched about 15 anglers leave the beach after taking a fruitless beating from the wind and surf.

 

Most boaters stayed in port today, but those who clammed out of Atlantic Highlands found lots of action at anchor. Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen said the bass ranged from 25 inches up to 16 pounds, and most anglers were able to bring a striper home while releasing many shorts. Capt. Rob Semkewyc had a similar report with his Sea Hunter.

At Point Pleasant, Capt. John Brackett didn't sail his Queen Mary, but is looking forward to much improved striper action on the west winds after finding only one keeper bass among bluefish on Sunday. The Cock Robin also only had blues that day. 

Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. reported weekend wreck trips on his Jamaica from Brielle produced some sea bass limits.

By Al Ristori

November 01, 2009, 7:00PM

Though this should be close to the peak of the fall striper run, boat fishing hasn't been anything special so far. Lots of boaters were trolling along the Shore today, but most only found small blues. There were some keeper and short bass, though they seemed to be in the minority. Capt. John Brackett said keeper bass were hard to come by on his Queen Mary from Point Pleasant, and bluefishing also wasn't up to par. Capt. Russ Binns ran his Mar-Lin from Toms River up to Shrewsbury Rocks, where it was surprisingly rough. There were some small blues, and he trolled a 27-inch striper. Hoffman's Marina in Brielle reported trollers caught some short bass and a few of keeper size trolling south of Manasquan Inlet. Capt. Hans Kaspersetz ran Sheri Berri out of Baker's Marina on the Bay in Highlands to boat his striper limit at Romer Shoal by trolling small plugs. He said there were working birds there, but only bluefish below them. Clammers did well with bass at Romer.

Surfcasters picked some stripers at many spots early in the morning. I tried Mantoloking and released one 26-incher while observing several others being caught.