Fishing with Dad

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.

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

The big bluefish are here. Had reports of monsters being weighed in at the local bait shops, the biggest one being a 14 pound behemoth blue. Nothing from the fluke fisherman as the shoreline has been quite active because of Earl. I tend to believe that fluke like somewhat calmer waters, but this is definitely good water for bass if they were around. Another gorgeous day, get out there and enjoy.

The last couple of days have had some 12 lb Bluefish. They are taking assorted metals and bunker or mullet. The Fluking is still good on the surf, only 10 days left and bucktails with GULP is still a best bet. More of those rumors of keeper Bass are floating around. Get out there it is going to be a gorgeous weekend!!!!

Ronny Bala at Fisherman’s Supply said not much fishing got done early in the week with the ocean all turned up from the storm. Surfcasters were catching stripers in the dark hours on the beaches from Manasquan to Spring Lake. Needle fish with teasers rigs and single hook bucktails for a tail hook were working. Stripers are being pulled from the Point Canal Bala reported. David Oahncke of Brick caught one on a live eel. The fluke bite in the Manasquan River and the surf should be back on by the weekend. Capt. Willy Egerter of the Dauntless said they got back on the water mid-week, but conditions on the water were still reeling from the storm. “People were using 10 and 12 ounce sinkers to hold bottom in 70 to 80 feet of water,” he said. Egerter fished north on the rocks and found some sea bass and a few porgies biting. “Once the ocean settles the bite will pick up,” he said. Capt. Bob Bogan of the Gambler reported finding fluke in deeper water east of the inshore reefs on a trip this week. Mixed in with the fluke were sea bass. The fishing was slow with the swell on ocean, but he also expects it to improve for the weekend. Capt. John Cole of the Golden Touch found fluke up north for his parties just before the storm last weekend. Cole reported fishing on rocky bottom for the fluke. Bob Oehme at Better Bait and Ice said there is good fishing for snapper blues in the Barnegat Bay. Bigger blues can be found back in the Oyster Creek. Between the BB-BI buoys remain good for fluke and flatties are also being picked up by the Mantoloking Bridge. Out front the grounds off the Jenkinson beaches are holding fluke and small blues.

Dan Radel

Not much to report, the rain is keeping the fisherman away. I know the fish don’t mind getting wet, if you can brave the cool weather and rainy day, give it a shot.

Starting to hear of bluefish being caught in the surf. No monsters yet, but you can have plenty of fun with the snappers on light tackle. Fluking is still picking up and it’s getting close to the end of the season, so go out there and claim your big doormat.

Ronny Bala at Fisherman’s Supply said it was a slow week of fishing. They had reports of bluefish on the Shrewsbury Rocks biting in the chum slicks. “It was good to hear the blues were in close again,” Bala said. Along the beaches there have been reports of striped bass up to 34 inches in the surf from Manasquan to Spring Lake. The bass are hitting lures like Mambo Minnows, Needle Fish and Redfins with teasers. In the Manasquan Inlet, the fluke are biting for the over-the-rail gangs. Capt. Bob Bogan of the Gambler said they caught some nice fluke on their trips this week. The fish were up to 7 pounds with a bunch of 6 and 5 pounders mixed in the catch. Joe Muha of Scranton, Pa., won a pool with a 7-pound, 9-ounce fluke. At night they sailed a ling trip that saw a few big fish landed but a strong undercurrent made it tough to hook them up. Capt. Bogan said the blues are also coming within range again. Make it seven blue marlin this year for the crew of the Canyon Runner. This one was fought and brought boat side by angler Kevin McDermott of Point Pleasant. Adam LaRosa said the blue was estimated at 375 pounds and was released. Capt. Mark DeBlasio was at the wheel and the fish was hooked up on the morning troll. LaRosa added that they did good on the night chunk with yellowfin tuna on the same trip to the Hudson Canyon. Joe Melillo of Castaways Bait and Tackle reported the Manasquan River is still producing a large number of fluke. “Gulp!, squid and killies are the best bait,” Melillo said. Mark Stanko of Point Pleasant weighed in a 4 1/2 pounder, John Wittfield of Long Branch weighed in a 5-pound, 2-ounce fluke and Joan Sizemore of Manalapan weighed in a 4-pound, 4-ounce fluke. Melillo said there are blackfish and schoolie stripers in the Point Pleasant Canal.

Dan Radel

A 10.5 lb fluke was caught on a private boat yesterday. Fluking is starting to really hit its stride with only a few weeks left in the season, it’s time to go out and grab a share of the catch. The ocean has been pretty messy for the last week and a half, should start to clear up in the next few days. Island Beach State park is still treacherous at certain times during high tide, be careful and make sure to lower those tires. It’s amazing how many people get stuck and it’s because they did not lower their tire pressure. It’s shaping up to be a gorgeous weekend, enjoy it at the beach with a pole in the water.

Shark fishing has been sporadic at night, not much action since the water temps have dropped from their recent highs of near 80 degrees.

Finally got a report worth reporting today! I heard of bass being caught at night just north of Seaside Heights on small plugs. Fluking is steady down by the jetty on Gulp, although I do hear that people are having more luck with squid/killie combo. Blackfishing is also good on crabs.