Fishing with Dad

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said it’s a mixed bag of fishing with lots to choose from. The size of the fluke, at least from the ocean, is improving with more keepers being caught. There’s plenty of fluke in the river, but you just have to wade through a lot of shorts. Matthews did report some very nice blackfish are being caught on the rough bottom, with a 14-pounder reported. Currently, there’s a one-fish limit for tog. He also said the party boats are reporting a return of big drum and the there’s lots of bait, peanut bunker and mullet, in the river. Capt. Ron Kish of the Capt. Cal says there’s plenty of life out there with his customers getting nice mixes of fluke and sea bass. Guys are getting three keeper fluke and 8 to 10 sea bass. You just have to get through the shorts. Capt. Greg Markert of the Golden Eagle, Belmar, reports bluefishing is looking up, as the large blues took Ava 47 jigs on Tuesday. The blues were the large variety 10 to 12 pound choppers with plenty of attitude. He believes things are looking good. He reported a change in the tuna schedule so check the website, www.goldeneaglefishing.com for updates. Captain Francis Bogan’s 100-foot Paramount returned to the dock Tuesday with good catches of sea bass. Sam Cohen, Princeton, had 18 keeper sea bass, two ling and one blackfish, Cai Chen, Harrison, had his limit of sea bass along with a keeper fluke and John Moon, Jersey City, 12 sea bass as well as the pool winning fluke, a 7 1/2 pounder.

John Oswald

Capt. Joseph Bogan of the Jamaica II reported decent fluking all week fishing the deep water and shallows south of Manasquan Inlets. He said there was lots of action with tons of throwback and keepers mixed in. Some nice catches were Dale Isaacs, Manchester with five fluke up to 6 pounds, Bob Murphy, Trenton, with six fluke up to 5 pounds, plus seven sea bass and Ryan Broyles with six fluke up to 7 pounds, 3 ounces. Monthly pool winner was Mike Prozor Piscataway, with a 9 pound, 1-oz fluke. The grand prize was accumulated cash plus one year of free fishing aboard the Jamaica II. Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said there’s fun to be had fishing in the Shark River. Anglers can catch a barrel of fish in the river, just not a lot of keepers. Dave Siegel got a few, though, four fish up to 5 pounds. The crabbing is good as is the snapper fishing, with the little blues reaching edible size. Ocean fluking is good too, with fish weighed in up to 8 pounds. Flyrodders are still getting small bass in the surf real early in the morning and Bob Pastor won the Den’s spring bass contest with a 36.5-pound striper. Capt. Howard Bogan said big blues were on the menu Wednesday. He read big schools of 10- to 15-pound blues when he reached the grounds but they were hard to catch. Jigging proved best. Dan Jones, from Brookhaven, Pa., took the pool with a 16 pounder. Greg Bogan of Brielle Bait and Tackle reported Andrew Cosma, Fairless Hills, Pa., got a 9-pound fluke in the ocean off Manasquan on a bucktail. Emma Kuper, 10, of Manasquan, fished with her family in the Manasquan River, and caught her first two keepers, both 2 pounds.

John Oswald

Bob Mattews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the fluke got real good on Wednesday with lots of keepers caught and weighed in. Colin Burck, Brielle, got nine fluke with several keepers up to 2 1/2 pounds mixed in. Chris Hutchison, Trenton, landed a 9-pound, 11-ounce fluke off the Red Church on a Spro baited with squid and Steve Beismann, North Hanover, fished with his son and they had seven keepers between them up to 4 pounds, 10 ounces. Chrystan Peddie, Jackson, landed a 3 3/4-pound fluke while fishing aboard the Tropical Adventure and weighed her catch in at the Den. Peggy and Dave Smith, Howell, got 10 keepers between them up to 5 pounds. Matthews also reported the crabbing is picking up in the river and nice-sized snappers are showing up. Capt. Ron Kish of the Capt. Cal, Belmar, said he’s been very happy with the fluking. The fish are biting in 40 feet of water and guys are getting three and four keepers along with big sea bass. Frank Geraci, Hamilton, landed a 5-pound, 10 ounce pool winner on Wedensday. Capt. Howard Bogan of the Big Jamaica said good bluefishing has returned with lots of limit catches and the best area a dozen or so miles east, southeast of Brielle.

John Oswald

Bob Matthews of Fishermans’ Den, Belmar, reported that things are about the same in the Shark River, lots of fluke but not a lot of keepers, with anglers reporting one to three keepers an outing. One Den regular, Mo, and his grand daughter, Ashley Benyola, 8, and her mother, Allison, from Brick, went fluking and Ashley outfished them all, catching 35 flatties and a couple of keepers up to 3 pounds. Matthews also said the party boats are doing real well with sea bass with fish up to six pounds being caught. They are also doing pretty well with ling. He’s received reports that the bluefishing is slowing down somewhat and he suspects they are on the spawn. He hasn’t heard much from the bass guys except the fly rodders are picking up schoolies at first light. The snappers are getting bigger and are now bait size. He’s got green crabs fro blackfish and the porgies are hitting sandworms. Capt. Ron Kish of the Captain Cal said the fluke fishing has really improved and he’s concentrating in deeper water. Dan Retelle, Philadelphia, landed an 8.8 pounder and he’s getting one to three keepers per drift. Capt. Ron said he’s going to stick in 60 to 70 feet of water where there seems to be a lot of life. Capt. Joe Bogan of the Jamaica II out of Brielle reported respectable catches of fluke and sea bass this past week when conditions were favorable. He’s been fishing in deeper water which requires a proper drift. Some notable catches this week were Ryan Bogan Jr., Brick with a 10-pound fluke, Pete Talevei, Trenton, with four fluke up to 8 pounds, 12 ounces along with six sea bass and Alex Pilewski, Trenton, who had a limit of fluke up to 8 pounds, 2 ounces, plus five sea bass. Some of the sea bass were up to 5 pounds, Capt. Bogan reported and most of the fluke caught were keepers. Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle reports that the The Manasquan Inlet is alive with fluke, blackfish and hickory shad. Guys using Gulp!, killies and squid are catching fluke in the Inlet and throughout the Manasquan River. The hickory shad bite at the inlet every night around 8 p.m. on Sabiki rigs and shad darts. He also reported big blackfish in the rocks hitting crabs. On the freshwater side, Lake Riviera in Brick is red-hot in the evenings for largemouth bass hitting top-water lures.

Courtesy of APP.com

John Oswald