Fishing with Dad

Tom Hansen from Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle said the surf activity remains with fluke during the day and sharks at night. In Barnegat Bay, the snappers and crabbing have been very good. There isn’t much to report on the bass and blues. Some blackfish are being caught down on the Barnegat North Jetty. Mike Malek from the shop hit the canyons this week and had a catch of 13 yellowfin and four longfin. The fish were caught on the troll and chunk. Malek also reported cleaning up on the tilefish. Weigh-ins from the shop this week were Mauro Depinto with an 18-inch, 3 1/2-pound blackfish that hit a crab bait, Brian Donaghy with an 18-inch 3.15-pound fluke on a Gulp! and Bob Hryszko with 21-inch, 3-pound fluke on a Gulp! bait. John Bushell, Jr. and Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle said the south winds cooled down the fishing by mid-week. Before the southerlies, they had anglers bring some nice fish into the shop. Kimberley P. weighed in a 7-pound, 12-ounce fluke she caught fishing near a jetty with Gulp! and a bucktail. Kurt Schack had a pair of fluke up to 5 pounds also fishing near the jetty on Island Beach State Park. Lastly, Rick Ruab scooped up five keeper fluke among 40 throwbacks fishing all day. Dave Hughes at Grizz’s Bait and Tackle said the Barnegat Bay temps cooled off a bit over the weekend and the red hot fluke fishing in the inlet slowed up a bit. The fish are still biting but not at the hectic pace of the last few weeks. Fluke are being caught off the Island Beach State Park bathing beaches. Crabbing remains awesome in the bay and snapper blues and peanut bunker are all over the lagoons.

Dan Radel

Seems to be a steady fluke bite, still a high throw back to keeper ratio. Gulp on a bucktail jig should do the trick. Still looking for the bluefish to appear, could be any day now. There are still 30 days in the fluke season left, this is the time of year that the bigger ones start coming to the scales. Get out there and enjoy the beautiful weather we are having.

As of August 2nd, 2010 the bluefish have all but disappeared from New Jersey waters.  Who knows where they are hiding, normally this time of year bluefish are abundant and can be caught with anything you happen to throw at them.  Personally I have caught one with a hot dog, yes a hot dog.  The fluking off the shore has been getting progressively better with a higher keeper to throw back ratio.  There are fish to catch just not bluefish.

A BAD DAY OF FISHING BEATS AN OUTSTANDING DAY AT WORK!!!!

Tom Hansen at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle reports there is a definite shift in the fluke being caught. The throwback ratio is getting much more acceptable with more larger fish around. Gulp! baits seem to be working effectively to catch these fish hanging out in the surf. The most popular have been four-inch swim mullet, ghost shrimp and belly strips. There have also been abundant rumors of bluefish, but Hansen said it has been a long time since the proof was hanging on their scales. Some of the fluke weigh-ins from the shop’s log book are Robert Chatillion with a 3.7-pound fluke caught on a Gulp! bait, Don Brown with a 3.25-pound fluke on a Gulp! and Cheryl Vornhold with 2.55-pound fluke also on a Gulp! All those fish were between 19 and 23 inches. Out front on the boats, Mike Malek at the shop had Capt. John of the Debra Ann and Capt. John of the Tijereta out on the Evil Queen. The crew put together a catch of three keeper fluke up to 23 inches and had fun catching a mess of almost keeper and keeper-size sea bass. Down on the Barnegat Inlet North Jetty, blackfish are being caught. The daily bag limit is one fish per angler. At night from the beach, the surf anglers are tying into the brown sharks. Jana Keslink from Grizz’s Bait and Tackle said in the Barnegat Bay people are catching blue crabs, snapper blues and fluke. She mentioned the usual bay spots are holding fluke, the BB-BI buoys, the 40 can and Double Creek Channel and the Inlet. “In the bay Jig with a Grizz jig or Corky’s buck tail with spearing and squid,” she said. Out front, fluking is beginning to pick up in 50 feet of water off the Coast Station on Island Beach State Park. On the Barnegat Light Reef, or Tires as the locals call it, sea bass are being caught with clams and squid. Their big fluke weigh-in came from 7-year-old Gavin Guarascio who weighed in a 10.18-pound fluke.

Dan Radel

Tom Hansen at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said the fluke in the surf is the game most anglers are playing lately. There have been some scattered bluefish, brown sharks at night and some talk of keeper-size bass around also but none biting as much as the fluke. Blackfish is now open and the Barnegat Inlet Jetty at the end of Island Beach State Park is a spot where anglers catch them because of the structure. Weigh-ins at the shop this week were all fluke and Gulp! baits seemed to be the ticket. Danny Prickett topped all catches with a 7.95-pound fluke. Other weigh-ins were from Joe Cassini with a 1.9-pound fluke, Don Brown with a 2.8-pound fluke, Greg Hryszko with a 2.1-pound fluke and Bob Hryszko with a 2.85-pound fluke. In the Barnegat Bay the crabbing has been consistently good Hansen added. John Bushell, Jr. of Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park had some reports of anglers fishing the Barnegat Inlet. Bob Oxley had them one cast after another in the inlet, landing 14 fluke, however none were keepers. Brian K also fished the inlet and caught one shad, seven short fluke and one small bluefish. Brian was using the Gulp! sand eels. Darryl Zarichak fished the surf in Island Beach State Park and within a couple casts had a keeper 18-inch fluke on Gulp!. Zarichak said the keeper fluke was loaded with the crabs it was eating in the surf. Bushell added the crabbing in the bay continues to be good and there is light tackle action with snapper blues.

Courtesy APP.com

Dan Radel