Fishing with Dad

Geri Demato at Jersey Joe’s Bait and Tackle said fluking is still hot in the surf. Anglers are using Gulp!, spearing and squid to land the fish. Little 1- and 2-pound cocktail blues are also biting in the surf Demato said. Anglers Dave Carluccio and Scott Kaufman, both of Toms River had a dozen blues on Hopkins and Crippled Herring metal lures. In the bay, Demato said the crabbing is fantastic with blue claws up to 6½ inches. Lou Antonis at Seaside Sam’s Bait and Tackle reports there are a lot of fluke running on both the bay side and in the surf. Tom Hansen at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle reports there is a night bite with 2- to 3-pound blues on metal. The shop also had a number of fluke weigh-ins from the boat My Honey II, which brought in four keeper fluke between 3 and 5 pounds. John Bushell at Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle also reported action with the bluefish. Bushell said anglers had them in the morning off the beach in the area of the Atlantic Bar and Grill and Area 7 on Island Beach State Park. The fish were hitting bait and metals. Bushell added that they had some reports of a few local schoolie-size bass in the water around the bathing beaches on IBSP. Jana Keslink at Grizz’s Bait and Tackle in Forked River said fluking remains decent in Barnegat Bay spots like the Double Creek Channel, the High Bar and the BB and BI buoys. Anglers are also catching blowfish in the bay on small hooks and clams. Out front anglers are catching sea bass on the Tires.

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Ronny Bala at Fisherman’s Supply, Point Beach, reports boats are catching bluefin tuna in the Chicken Canyon. “The guys fishing around the scallop boats are doing pretty good,” Bala said. The Shearwater had non-stop action and brought eight bluefin tuna boat side while fishing in the canyon. Bala said the fluke fishing has been decent on the Sea Girt Reef. The shop has new 6-inch Gulp! swimming mullet in stock that are perfect for catching fluke. Capt. Willy Egerter of the Dauntless, Point Beach, said they’re picking some sea bass inshore and ling and codfish in the deeper water. Egerter said the sea bass bite is fair. Anglers are catching two to six keeper sea bass on the inshore spots. Most of their pool fish have been 5- to 8-pound codfish. At night, they’ve been finding bluefish drifting around the banks of the Mud Hole. Anglers are landing between two and 10 fish on the half-night trips. Capt. Matt Sosnowski of the Norma K III, Point Beach, said the night bluefish bite has been decent but the fish are starting to get a little finicky. “We’re seeing them in the water but there not biting sometimes,” Sosnowski said. Sosnowski said they had a couple good nights this week with the blues in the Mud Hole catching 7- to 12-pound fish. On the day fluke trips they’re landing fish drifting around the Sea Girt Reef. Capt. Jeff Gutman of the Voyager, Point Beach, reports the bottom fishing has been good with a mixture of sea bass, cod and ling. The high hooks have been 15 to 20 fish per trip. On one trip Andre and David Huwyler combined for 31 ling and 6 sea bass.

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Jesse over at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the bass fishing finally slowed down. They’re still getting them on plugs in the morning, but the weigh ins have dropped off. The daytime blues have quieted down as well, but the night fishing has been good. He said the bluefish may be in their summer spawn. Capt. Chris Hueth of the Big Mohawk said the fluking was good all week with lots of fish. Fluke of up to 11 pounds were caught along with a bunch in the 5- to 8-pound-range. Capt. Ron Kish of the Capt. Cal II also reported a good week of fluke fishing in about 50 feet of water. Lois Plaska, Shark River Hills, took her first trip aboard the Capt. Cal II and won the pool with a 7-pound, 14-ounce fish, plus another at 6.8 pounds. Capt. John DeRose had the boat out when Carl Dienes, Whiting, landed a 10-pound, 14-ounce doormat. Capt. Howard Bogan of the Big Jamaica reported good bluefishing over the weekend, catching 7- to 14-pound blues chumming and on bait. Capt. Francis Bogan of the Paramount, Brielle, had two good deep water ling trips this past week followed by several days of mixed ling and sea bass on inshore trips. He reported sea bass fishing has still been from slow to fair depending on the day. He said he’s been mixing the trips with sea bass, ling and cod except for the Tuesday and Wednesday ling specials.

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Ronny Bala at Fisherman’s Supply said there is solid bluefin fishing in the Chicken Canyon. The area is holding a lot of life in the way of sandeels, whales and dolphins. The bluefin in the area are in the 60-pound range. Down off the Barnegat Inlet, Bala said there are triggerfish biting on the rocks and off the beaches fluke are hitting Gulp! baits. “Bass fishing is settling down but they are catching them on the Shrewsbury Rocks with bunker heads. There’s also some blues there,” Bala said. In the surf, the bass made a showing at Normady Beach and anglers are catching them at night with plugs and teasers. Capt. Bob Bogan on the Gambler reports the fluke fishing has been pretty good with anglers catching one, two or three keepers along with action from the throwback undersized fluke. They’ve had pool fish close to 6 pounds. The boat will be fishing for night stripers on Friday and Saturday and ling fishing Sunday night. Capt. Jeff Gutman of the Voyager is still making the run for codfish. The average landings on his latest trip were two to six cod per angler. Steve Stingler, Philadelphia, had 10 cod and took the pool with a 16-pound cod. On the ling and sea bass weekend trips Gutman said they are starting to see a little more presence from the sea bass. Capt. Ken Keller of the Norma K III reports the night bluefish trips have been very good. Anglers have been able to catch all the blues they can keep. Adam LaRosa of the Canyon Runner reports an excellent yellowfin bite this week. On one trip they brought boat side 30 yellowfin, keeping 13 and releasing the rest. The fish were caught on the troll and with jigs. Some of the yellowfin were in the 90 to 100 pound range. They also saw some action from white marlin, mako sharks and some mahi. Tommy Kilgannon at Pell’s Bait and Tackle reported a couple big striper weigh-ins. Bill Rodman landed a 52 pounder fishing with Dave D-Anna, who had a 37 pounder. The duo was fishing from a boat off Mantoloking. Matt Pharrell also had a 30-pound striped bass fishing from his kayak. The fluke bite is decent around the south end of the Sea Girt Reef. The fluke are also biting in the Manasquan River. It’s mostly a lot of shorts with a few keepers, but the action is steady. The blue claws are really starting to come alive. Kilgannon reported Bob Phillips had 6 to 8 dozen crabs in a few hours from Barnegat Bay. The light tackle action for small blues is good also in many places in the Barnegat Bay.

Zone 5: Seaside Park to Island Beach State Park

Geri Damato at Jersey Joes Bait and Tackle said the fluking has been hot in the surf. “The first day of the summer Scott Kaufman had a 21-inch, 2½-pound fluke and two other keepers on squid and Gulp!” Demato said. She said the crabs are really starting to come in and there is nice size to them. “There have some blue claws up to 6¾ inches in the crab traps,” Damato added. Lou Antonis at Seaside Sams Bait and Tackle reports anglers he spoke with this week were fluke fishing in the surf where they’re starting to have a pretty good run of fish. Interest in crabbing in the Barnegat Bay is picking up also. “People are stopping in for crab traps and nets,” Antonis said. Tom Hansen at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle reports they had a bass weigh-in at the shop this week over 50 pounds. Shop employee Ray Kerico caught the striper from a boat snagging bunker. It weighed 51.2 pounds. Kerico also had a 47.35-pound bass from his kayak. The shop also had some other nice weigh-ins of fluke, bluefish and triggerfish. Hansen said the triggerfish are being caught in the Barnegat Inlet on clams. Jim Baron had two triggerfish that were both around 2 pounds. Pete Hiener weighed in another at 3 pounds. The fluke are starting to make their presence felt in the surf. A number of fish were brought in by anglers fishing with smelt, Gulp! and killies. Ronnie Fecak had the big fluke of the week, at 7.15-pounds. John Picaroni had a pair of fluke at 3.9 and 3.1 pounds and Pete Hallihan had one at 3 pounds. Out of the blues angler Phil LaGrossa weighed in a 10.15-pound bluefish he caught on a bunker. Over at Betty and Nicks Bait and Tackle John Bushell also reports the triggerfish are biting in the Barnegat Inlet along with some fluke. Anglers this week spotted a big school of bunker with some bass ripping through them from Island Beach State Park just off Two Bit Road but Bushell said the fish were too far off the beach to be caught from the surf. Anglers did catch some stripers during the week and Bushell added he had an angler bring in a 16-pound striped bass.

Zone 6: Barnegat Inlet to Brigantine

Capt. Charlie Eble of the Doris Mae IV, Barnegat Light, reports night blue fishing remains excellent with fish running 8 to 12 pounds. Some of the pool winners on the night trips this week were Anthony Kilpatrick, Allentown, with a 12-pound bluefish and Ed Bradford, Crum Lynn, Pa., with an 11-pound bluefish. On the daily fluke trips, Capt. Eble said the fishing slowed up a bit but they’re getting nice pool fish. Some pool winners were Pete Bonilla, Whiting, with a 4-pound fluke, Keith Wisner, Collingswood, with a 5-pound fluke and Nicky Mielewski, Bayville, with a 3½-pound fluke. Capt. Dave DeGennaro of the Hi Flier is on the trail of the bonito and bluefin tuna again. The captain found both species on a trip out to the Barnegat Ridge. The bonito were caught on a troll with a spread of eight rods. The bonito were little 4 pounders. The bluefin tuna was caught on a diamond jig by Bob Diener, Nanuet, N.Y. The tuna weighed 20 pounds. DeGennaro also made morning and afternoon trips for stripers putting his anglers into 30- and 40-pound bass. Angler Gene Linder had a 30 and 42 pounder fishing the pods. Capt. DeGennaro even had a 40 pounder himself taking time to drop a line in the water. Jeff Bauer of the Carolyn Ann III reports mostly 4- and 5-pound fluke won their pools this week. Pete Rudolph of Mahwah had the biggest fish of the week, a 5.5-pound fluke. Some other pool winners were Nick Perrone, Levittown, Pa., with a 5-pound fluke and Tony Boonstra, Cedar Grove, with a 4.1-pound fluke. Capt. Jack Shea of the Rambunctious is on the trail of the fluke. This week angler Rachel Synder landed a 21-inch fluke on board with Shea. Capt. John Koegler of Pop’s Pride, Beach Haven, drifted the Intercoastal Waterway and had reported three keeper fluke among many throwbacks. On a trip out front in the ocean, Koegler trolled up one 45-inch bluefin tuna. Scott Albertson of Scott’s Bait and Tackle said anglers are doing pretty good fishing for fluke in Grassy Channel.

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Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den, Belmar, said the fishing is just phenomenal. There are still tons and tons of bass around feeding on all the bunker. Tom Riggs, Neptune, weighed in two bass of 29 and 30 pounds and Eric Johnson, Colonia, landed a 44 pounder, both from boats. Ray Zoyka, weighed in a 40 pounder and Brian Biedinger came in with a 34 pounder. Both belong to the Asbury Park Fishing Club. The fluking is good in the Shark River. Ed Klump got six up to 4½ pounds in one of the Den’s rental boats. Capt. Greg Markert’s Golden Eagle is doing great with blues in the 7- to 10-pound range, with pool winners running to 12 pounds. Capt. Howard Bogan of the Big Jamaica also reported good bluefishing on both the day and night trips with choppers up to 15 pounds coming over the rails. Capt. Greg Hueth of the Big Mohawk, Belmar, reported a string of days of good fishing with lots of action and plenty of keeper fluke. The biggest fish was around 8 pounds. Capt. Joseph Bogan on the Jamaica II reported good fluking most of the week with tons of shorts and a good spread of 3- to 5-pound fish showing up on the local reefs. Capt. Ron Kish of the Capt. Cal II, Belmar, said the fluke fishing is good with lots of bigger fish. Capt. Francis Bogan of the Paramount reported an increase in sea bass action during his ling trips.

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Jack Monteiro at Surf Side Bait and Tackle in Long Branch reported that the amount and variety of bait around is phenomenal. There is mullet, rainfish, sand eels, adult and peanut bunker. Tony Melo of Long Branch netted the biggest mullet Monteiro has ever seen, an 18.6-inch, 2.4-pound specimen. Monteiro said you could throw everything in your bag to match what the blues and bass are feeding on. He weighed in a 25.2-pound striper for Al Watson, Oakhurst he caught on a popper in the Long Branch Surf and a 16.4-pound bass for Jack Kinsey of Long Branch. Monteiro expects the fishing to really explode any day now. Bob Staub of Long Branch Bait and Tackle reported all kinds of bait in the wash and he weighed in bunch of bass this week, including a 14.6 pounder for Chris Wean and an 11 pounder for Taylor Cook. Most of the fish are being caught on plugs and clams. He also weighed in a 12.8-pound false albacore for Herbie Bohnert and an 8-pound albie for Bryan Mejia, of Long Branch. Ernie Giglio of Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright, weighed in a 22 pound striper for Pat Kichskov of Howell he caught on a Vision sand eel teaser. He also weighed in a 14 1/2 pounder for Chris Buchta of Long Branch. Ernie said big blues, up to 15 pounds, could be found at the juncture of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers on Tuesday. John Christensen of Scott’s Bait and Tackle in Bradley Beach weighed in a 17.7 pound striper for Randy Tremling of Freehold he got on a bomber at Deal and a 13 1/2-pound bluefish for Unique Washington of Asbury Park caught on a diamond jig.

John Oswald

I did hear of some action regarding big bluefish in Island Beach State Park.  They were caught on bunker, striped bass are still a little bit of a hit and miss.  Still waiting for the water to cool down a little more to hopefully spark the fishing into a fall blitz.  Today might not be one of the better days to go out and fish, since it will probably be raining all day and the wind will be kicking.  If you are not afraid of the wind and rain, as the fish don’t mind getting wet, you might as well give it a try.  Beats a day at the office.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den said things had slowed down in the surf the past couple of days, with few anglers reporting much success on the beach. It might have something to do with the moon, he suggested. He did say the party boats out of Belmar are having a field day with the bluefish, with big choppers being caught. He also reported plenty of bait around and he expected things to pick up again quickly. Dave Arbeitman at the Reel Seat in Brielle said boats trolling umbrella rigs with small baits are doing well with stripers and the offshore fishing in the Hudson Canyon is producing yellowfin and longfin tuna. Capt. Howard Bogan of the Big Jamaica also reported good canyon tuna fishing on the Tuesday overnight trip. They got their first tuna shortly after arriving at noon and picked yellowfin until the early evening. The night bite was slow, but it picked up again in the the morning when they caught 50- to 70-pound yellowfin until it was time to head home. Bait fishing was the best method this trip, Bogan reported. Mike Jung, Woodside, N.Y. caught his limit of yellowfin and John and Alex Mattina from Brick, caught four yellowfin and one 60-pound longfin. Bogan reported was plenty of action and it looks good for upcoming trips. Capt. Ron Kish of the Capt. Cal II, Belmar, said the porgy fishing is excellent and he is still getting a lot of sea bass and can’t wait for the season to reopen.

John Oswald

The crew at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park tallied quite a number of fish in their log book this week as the fall action is heating up. Most of the fish were blues. Tom Hansen at the shop said they had some silly fishing that started at sundown last Friday and lasted through Sunday with just a couple of lulls. The good fishing continued into the week. The first weigh-ins Friday were bass over 20 pounds on metals, teasers, swimmers and clams. As the weekend continued Saturday they had bass up to 32 pounds and blues up to 16 pounds. Anglers added pencil poppers to their arsenal. “The bass and blues were mixing up real good so you didn’t know what was going to end up on your hook,” Hansen said. Sunday saw a lull for a most of the day and action pick up again late. The start of the week was dominated by some pretty big blues up to 17 pounds. “We have tons of bait in the area and all signs are pointing to a great fall,” Ray Cherico at the shop said. John Bushell at Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle reported Bob Tice weighed in a 30-pound, 11-ounce striped bass at the shop. On Tuesday the action was pretty good by Judges Shack in Island Beach State Park where the blues chased the weakfish up on the beach. There was also corn cob mullet in the wash. David Hughes at Grizz’s Bait and Tackle said the blowfish bite has died out and the crabbing is getting real quiet. The action is now with the striped bass and blues off the beaches and stripers at night around the sod banks with live eels. The bite is still pretty steady with pickerel and catfish in the freshwater lakes in Forked River.

Dan Radel

Ronny Bala at Fisherman’s Supply said fishermen were active this week catching weakfish, blues, albacore and stripers out front and blackfish in the canal. The weakies were found right outside of Manasquan Inlet where spikes up to 16-inch fish were schooled up. Ronny’s grandson Kenny Bala was on the school and landed his first albacore and a bunch of weakfish on shiny metal. The big blues were from Spring Lake north and the stripers are being trolled or jigged on the Shrewsbury Rocks. Capt. Willy Egerter of the Dauntless reports the porgies are jumping in the boat. Anglers are catching between 30 to a limit of the small panfish. Egerter is fishing north on the rocks. On their way out on a trip this week Egerter said they spotted schools of false albacore all the way up the beach from the Manasquan Inlet to the Shrewsbury Rocks. The fish were on the surface chasing bait. Jason Szabo at Pell’s Bait and Tackle reports Kevin Ketelaar trolled up a 29-pound striped bass using shad umbrella rigs. Ketelaar brought five more bass to the boat. Off Mantoloking Beach, Todd Gansereit landed a 12-pound bass fishing with salted clams. Szabo said the fall run of bass should pick up once the water temperatures drop a few more degrees. Joe Meerman got into the weakfish good, catching a 4 1/2 pounder and releasing hundreds more. Jigs with small teasers are catching them. In the Point Canal, the blackfish action is hot. Paige Stevens landed a nice 18-inch tog fishing with green crabs. Szabo added the blue claw crabs are still around. Crabbers are fairing best with overnight traps catching about six keeper blue claws.

Dan Radel