Fishing with Dad

Many New Jersey trout anglers now find fall their favorite trout season.
One reason is that since 2006, all of the trout stocked in the fall measure 14 inches to 24 inches and weigh 1 1/2 pounds to 8 pounds.
The big fish, cool water, great weather and spectacular scenery combine to make the fall season what many consider to be New Jersey’s premium trout fishing season.
This year fall stocking begins Tuesday, Oct. 5 and continues through Oct. 13. Over this period, a total of 21,000 trout averaging 14 to 16 inches, and weighing 1 1/2 – 2 pounds and 1,000 exceptionally large broodstock trout, measuring 17 to 24 inches, and weighing 3 to 8 pounds, will be distributed in 16 streams and 16 lakes and ponds statewide. All trout are raised at the division’s Pequest Trout Hatchery.
Waters stocked during the first week of fall stocking are the 16 large streams and rivers in northern and coastal areas, such as the Big Flatbook, Pequest River, South Branch Raritan River, Musconetcong River, and the Manasquan and Toms rivers. All fall-stocked waters may be fished as soon as they are stocked. There are no closed days during fall stocking.
During the second week, 16 ponds and lakes in the central and southern portions of the state will be stocked. Some of the more popular waters are Farrington Lake, Oak Pond, Greenwich Lake, and Mary Elmer Lake.
The complete list of fall-stocked waters and the stocking schedule is available at www.njfishandwildlife.com/flstk.htm or through the Trout Stocking Hotline (609) 633-6765.
Other waters offer fine trout fishing opportunities even though they are not stocked in the fall. The Holdover Trout Lakes, like Lake Aeroflex and Lake Wawayanda, provide year round trout fishing opportunities. The landlocked salmon stocking program at these two lakes, now in its third year, is starting to yield harvestable size salmon (12 inches).
Our two trophy trout Lakes, Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs, are also great trout fishing destinations. Shoreline fishing on Round Valley is particularly popular in the fall, as big rainbows cruise the shallows . Also, sea run brown trout begin returning to freshwater in the Manasquan River during the fall and early winter.
A distinctly different trout-fishing experience awaits anglers who fish the wild trout streams scattered across north Jersey. These small streams are not stocked with trout and anglers can expect to catch small, colorful trout, with most measuring less than ten inches.
Thirty-six streams are managed under special regulations to provide anglers with opportunities to catch stunning, stream-bred trout. All trout captured from designated Wild Trout Streams, from September 16, 2010 to April 9, 2011 at 8 a.m. must be released, and be sure to leave the bait buckets home – these streams are artificials only.

courtesy APP.com

Hurricane Earl, has come and gone. Looks to be a great Labor Day weekend for the beachgoers and for the surf fisherman. The seas are churned up, perfect fishing water for striped bass. The best thing you can do is get out there this weekend and give it a shot. The fluke season is almost over, try giving one of your local charter boats a shot this weekend. I would not recommend fluke fishing off the surf as the water will still be dirty and probably too rough for fluke. Try throwing out mullet for the monster blues that are finally showing up in our local waters. False albacore and kingfish have been caught recently also. There is plenty of action out there, get out and throw out some metal or some fresh bait. There probably will be some beach erosion, if you are driving onto Island Beach state park this weekend, be extra careful during high tide especially at beaches 12, 17 and 18.

The state Marine Fisheries Council took a step Thursday toward endorsing a state saltwater fishing license — but the advisory panel said it would support alternative funding proposals, too.

Pending legislation to create a “conservation lottery” and a saltwater fishing automobile license plate — the alternative proposals — should explicitly dedicate the proceeds to the chronically under-funded Bureau of Marine Fisheries, council members said.

Both those alternatives have been promoted by the Recreational Fishing Alliance, which is adamantly opposed to a state saltwater license. But top officials in the state Division of Fish and Wildlife and some fishing advocates support the license as a stable funding source for state fisheries management.

“New Jersey and Hawaii are the only two coastal states that don’t have a saltwater fishing license,” said Thomas McCloy, the division’s marine fisheries chief.

Both license supporters and opponents agree New Jersey shortchanges its fisheries programs to sometimes-dangerous levels. The money that comes from seafood and recreational fishing puts New Jersey in the top tier of East Coast fishing states, right behind leaders like Massachusetts and Virginia, but industry advocates complain the Legislature always fails to spend enough money to manage those resources.

For example, the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s inability to adequately patrol shellfish waters earned a rebuke this year from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which warned that federal certification of its clams and oysters could be at risk. Now the division is scrambling to add patrol officers and new boats.

Activists with the Recreational Fishing Alliance asked the council to support both the lottery and license plate proposal. The federal saltwater angler registry that started this year is counting New Jersey anglers, and there is no legislation proposed yet to create a state license, said Adam Nowalsky, a charter boat captain who works with the alliance.

“There’s a federal registry out there. We don’t even know if there will be a fee yet,” Nowalsky said.

It’s “reasonable to think the federal government will not charge us now,” added Alliance member Fran Verdi.

In a report, the council’s executive committee stressed the state license as the most viable vehicle to provide a stable, sustainable funding base for fisheries management, said council member Patrick Donnelly.

His colleague Ed Goldman was unconvinced.

“The license could be worse than the first two possibilities,” Goldman said, referring to the lottery and license plate sales.

Finally, council members agreed to adopt the report with new wording that kept the saltwater license idea foremost, but recognized the alternatives and noted: “The committee endorses these funding options as well.”

Kirk Moore

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North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters buy it now.

IN-FISHERMAN BAITS, RIGS AND TACKLE BOOK – BRT buy it now.

Fish Without a Doubt: The Cook’s Essential Companion buy it now.

What Fish Don’t Want You to Know: An Insider’s Guide to Freshwater Fishing buy it now.

The crew from the Miss Barnegat Light reports the bluefishing has been heating up. Limits have been the norm for anglers on blues from 6 to 12 pounds. The fish have been hitting bait and jigs. Jeff Bauer of the Carolyn Ann III reports fluke won all their boat pools this week. Rich Rolenc of Manahawkin landed the biggest fluke, a 7.2 pounder. Stew Patterson from Conshohoken, Pa., was next closest with a 5.8-pound fluke. Capt. Jack Shea of the Rambunctious had David Kruge, his 11-year-old son Kevin, and brother-in-law Jerry on the Barnegat Bay grounds for fluke. The charter landed about 80 fluke during the morning putting only two in the box that were big enough. “It’s still a 40-to-1 throwback to keeper ratio, but with a fish coming over the side on ultra-light tackle every couple of minutes, it’s surefire fun,” Shea said. The boats of the Beach Haven Charter fishing Association have been sneaking out on successful fishing trips in between northeasters and tropical storms. Capt. Carl Sheppard on the Star Fish reports he had some great trips. The spawning season for the black sea bass is just about over and he sees improvement in the catches of sea bass. He says there are occasional keeper fluke in the back bay, but the best action is in the ocean. Both the Little Egg and Garden State South Reefs provided him with some keeper fluke. He is also picking up a dozen bluefish each day around the inlet on his way out to the reefs. Capt. Fran Verdi reports his parties are coming home with a mixed bag of fluke and sea bass. He has also gotten some good reports of croakers and small weakfish along the beach the last couple of days.

Dan Radel

Ronny Bala at Fisherman’s Supply reported the fluke fishing was good in the Manasquan River this week. Ashley Hawes, 9, of Brielle, had five fluke up to 17 1/2-inches fishing with Gulp! bait. Blowfish have moved into the Upper Barnegat Bay. Anglers are finding them around Dale’s Point. Big bluefish showed up a quarter-mile off the Mantoloking beaches. They were big fish up to 15 pounds. “A lot of bait moved in. We’ll have to wait and see how the fishing shapes up after the hurricane,” Bala said. Capt. Bob Bogan of the Gambler reports the fishing has been changing constantly. “Not just day to day but almost hour by hour.” On a morning trip this week, they caught fluke and sea bass but it wasn’t very good. In the afternoon, the fishing picked up and anglers caught small weakfish, big blues and keeper fluke up to 5 pounds. Tommy Kilgannon at Pell’s Bait and Tackle reports people fishing the Manasquan River are mostly catching fluke. In Barnegat Bay, the snapper blues are getting bigger. “They’re almost bluefish,” he said. People are catching them with spearing. In the bay, blowfish are also beginning to hit hook baits and the crabbing remains good. In the Point Pleasant Canal, nighttime anglers are catching a few stripers on live eels and soft plastic shads. Blackfish are also biting in the canal. Dennis Palmatier at Murphy’s Hook House said the crabbing is still excellent from Island Heights to Good Luck Point in Barnegat Bay. The snapper blues are all over and ranging between 6 to 8 inches. Over by the BB buoy, there is a decent run of blowfish going on. Anglers anchoring up and chumming heavy with clam chum have caught up to 50 of them. Mixed in with them have been small croakers and burr fish.

Dan Radel

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the fluking is still good in the Shark River with the rental boats getting two to three keepers per trip. The better anglers are coming back with more. Matthews is hoping the weather doesn’t hurt the last few days of fluke season too badly. The kingfishing is also good with nice catches reported inside the inlet. One angler landed 10 the other day on worms. Surf guys are doing well on bass with fly rods and plugs with teasers. The snapper fishing continues strong and guys are doing will with blackfish on crabs. Capt. Ron Kish of the Capt. Cal II reported he’s fishing in 70 feet of water on mussel beds and doing real well with nice sea bass. There are also a number of keeper fluke in the mix. Capt. Howard Bogan of the Big Jamaica, Brielle said the bluefishing couldn’t be any better than it is right now. They are biting on jigs and bait. On Wednesday’s trip, Capt. Bogan reported false albacore and skipjacks mixed in with the blues. Capt. Captain Greg Markert of the Golden Eagle. Belmar, said customers are reeling in blues until their arms are too tired to reel anymore. Greg Bogan of Brielle Bait and Tackle reported Lee Karosen of Manasquan caught two school stripers in the early morning surf on clams. He also weighed in a 6-pound fluke for Greg Jewell, Manasquan, he got off Sea Girt.

John Oswald

Jack Monteiro at Surf Side Bait and Tackle in Long Branch reports sand eels, peanut bunker, spearing and rainfish are in the suds. He’s also had reports of keeper stripers being caught but none weighed in so far. Bigger fluke are being caught in the surf using Gulp! and spearing and killies. Monteiro says the fall striper and blue season looks promising and don’t forget his blowout fall specials with 10 to 20 percent off on most items. Bob Staub at Long Branch Bait and Tackle reported that Shawn and Pat Stiles weighed in a 91-pound bluefin tuna caught offshore. They also released several others, which hit chunks and jigs. James Laco, Long Branch, weighed in a 9 1/2-pound fluke and a 12-pound mahi-mahi. Staub also reported kingfish, snappers, cocktail blues and plenty of bait in the wash. Stripers are being caught at daybreak in the surf and he’s heard of 5-pound weakfish hitting worms north of the Highlands Bridge. Ernie at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle said school stripers are hitting bucktails in the Shrewsbury River and he weighed in an 8 pounder for Paul Noonjian of Laurence Harbor. He also reported blues in the surf. John Christensen at Scott’s Bait and Tackle in Bradley Beach weighed in a 4.7-pound fluke for Ryan Degraw, 11 of Wall, a 5.4-pound fluke for Gene Saks of Bradley Beach caught on squid in the surf and a 10-pound striper for Lee Rubin of Montclair he got on clams at Bradley Beach.

Sam Snyder of Brown’s Point Marina in Keyport said the crabbing hasn’t been this good in years. Anglers are still finding plenty of fluke on the Keyport flats with enough keepers mixed in with the shorts to make it worthwhile. He also reported bluefish up to five pounds are now showing up in the late afternoons. Captain Mike Russo of the Sea Hawk out of Perth Amboy is making the most of the fluking until he switches over to porgies, blackfish and sea bass on Sept. 7. Kasper Pullem, Linden, got a 3 1/2-pound sea bass on last Wednesday’s trip and John Butler, Edison, got a 4-pound fluke on Tuesday. Capt Sal Cursi of the Cathy Sea will fish in the bay until Earl passes by then head back in to the ocean where he’s doing well with fluke and sea bass. Capt. George Bachert of the Angler said the ocean was flat on Thursday, despite all the warnings. Tuesday’s fishing was good in the Ambrose Channel but a tougher on Wednesday. The Angler will continue fishing for fluke after the season closes with a special permit. The Angler is one of five boats in the Raritan Bay area that has the permit. Phil Sciortino of the Tackle Box in Hazlet reported his father and uncle did real well on bluefin tuna, landing a 125 pounder and releasing a bunch more.

John Oswald

Tom Hansen at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle said time is running out for the fluke season and they are just beginning to see the big ones. The spearing are on the move and the bigger fluke are on them. Joe Barbee nailed a 10 pounder in the Barnegat Inlet. The fluke are also in the surf. Unfortunately, Hurricane Earl may cut the season even a few days shorter. Bigger 10- to 12-pound blues are coming close enough to be caught from the beach. They are hitting metals, bunker and mullet. Mike Malek said he got a new shipment of Hercules 748H blanks into the shop. Weigh-ins from the shop this week were Bill Morgan with a 5.5-pound fluke caught with Gulp!, Joe Barbee with a 10.1-pound fluke with spearing and Craig Napolitano with a 12.2-pound bluefish that hit metal. John Bushell at Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle said one of his early morning customers this week found the pocket at the North Barnegat Inlet Jetty loaded with small bluefish. “He had them in the dark all night on Hopkins. These bluefish will provide that action we want until the striper run gets here time around the end of September.” Bushell said. One of their shop regulars already found some stripers. John Bartoli of North Bergen had a nice day this week fishing when he landed a 30-inch striper and a 36-inch bluefish. Some of the bigger blues are slowly making their way to the beach now. Dave Hughes at Grizz’s Bait and Tackle said the fluking is good in the Barnegat Inlet. Triggerfish are also being caught in the inlet on the rocks. He said a lot of people are doing the blowfish thing as their bite really seems to have turned on this week. “Lots of snapper blues, peanut bunker and mullet in the lagoons,” Hughes said.

Dan Radel