If your normal fishing area is Ocean or Monmouth county, NJ I strongly urge you to go fishing today and the next few days of the downside of the full moon. Sea conditions remain stable but the key are the winds. Currently winds are coming from the SE but a swing to the West are ideal.
We cannot advise you of an exact spot to fish, just know that the fishing has been excellent and you should be prepared to move from one area to the next as schools of bunker are attacked by large schools of stripers.
Since my last Memorial Day report of the major blitz that took place on the beach and boats the striped bass action has been very good but mainly for the boats. There has been no lack of bunker and big bass in both Monmouth and Ocean county waters. It has just been a matter of moving around and finding where the greatest concentration of bait and fish has been. In the last week the most massive school of bunker has been from Manasquan Inlet north to Deal.
The only real slow down period in the last three weeks has been on this full moon that we had over this past weekend. The action took a nosedive and many boaters fishing the bunker schools out in the ocean struggled to catch a fish and even to mark them. There were plenty of bunker however so bait was not the issue. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were slim pickins.
When the action changes like this over a short period of time sometimes the cause can be analyzed by looking over year’s of logs. In the past this June’s full moon has slowed the bite and moved the fish away from the beach. Whether they head out to the east or have just moved on well to our north is not known. What we do know is the thousands of bass that were present prior to this lunar event are not there as they are not being marked on fishfinders.
Typically on the downside of this full moon the action picks. This is due to either a new body of striped bass moving into our area coming up from the south or the bass that were here move back in from the east.
And that is exactly what happened yesterday Tuesday as another epic blitz took place. Striped bass ranging in size from 25-45 lbs came pouring into the beach throughout many parts of Monmouth and Ocean county waters. The best action by far was up in Allenhurst as surfcasters had the fish on the beach for hours. My partner Shell E Caris was there and couldn’t even put it into words what was going on. The only downside of the whole epic event was the number of striped bass that were killed.
This is one of only a few beach blitzes that surfcasters have had in the last three weeks as the great action has mostly been a boating event. Moving around is key for the surfcaster as the big bass and bunker can crash the beach at anytime. Better yet being connected with a network of surfcasters by cell phone is even better. We are fortunate to have a major network of fishermen that we know and work with so when the action happens we usually know about it in literally minutes if one of our people are there.
I must say this is so far a great spring run of bunker and big bass and could be one of the best ever if it holds up like this in the weeks ahead. The big bass are here. We have caught and released by boat many big bass in the mid to upper forty pound ranges and there seems to be no end in sight right now.
Now if the action would become more consistent on the beach it would be great. For this to happen we need to have west wind and we haven’t had any. This will put the bunker and bass on the beach as the bunker 90% of the time swim into the wind. Get out there now, it can happen at anytime!
The striped bass fishing in the last ten days has been up and down as there has been some absolutely incredible days and also some very poor days. The water temperature has been fluctuating with the changing winds so the action has been unpredictable. When it blows from hard from the south or southeast for a day or two it drops down to about 49 degrees. When the wind comes from any other direction the water will warm back up to 54-58 degrees.
Normally the 49 degree water temperature would slow the bite down but it
hasn’t on every occasion so far this season. What we have been seeing is that the bass are feeding at some point in the day even if it is only short-lived for an hour or so. The bluefish are another story however as they will head east when the colder water sets up.
Personally I look for a steady water temperature of 54-58 to really turn the striped bass action on. I think this is the best temperature. Think of when we see the best action around here, it is in usually in mid June when the water temperatures are in the upper fifties to mid sixty degree ranges. The bass are more active with higher metabolic rates and so are the bunker. The bunker don’t hug the bottom as much and are up on the surface.
Right now there is a large class of 25-45 lb striped bass in our area and enough bunker to keep them interested so they are not going anywhere when the conditions change. On Sunday and Monday of this Memorial Day weekend the fishing was incredible as the first major beach blitz of the season took place late Sunday afternoon. Bass from 25-45 lbs were crashing through pods of bunker from Bradley Beach all the way down to Island Beach. Veteran striped bass fisherman Jay
Amberg of Neptune was in on the action in Sea Girt and said “This was the most incredible trophy bass blitz I have ever been in on in all my years surf fishing.” The boat action was also phenomenal as the big bass were taking pencil poppers and metal lipped swimmers up on the surface along with snagged bunker.
The bass action thus far is more typical of what we see in mid June so a big wave of fish are here now. We should expect to see even more Chesapeake big bass move into our area with more bunker over the next several weeks. These bass will be in the 40-60 lb range.
FRIDAY, 15 MAY 2009
Throw away the weather forecast, forget about the wind direction,water temperature, etc and just go fishing. There were not a large number of people out fishing during the week but there are fish present all along the coast, north to south. Just go!
Bait - go with FRESH clams and FRESH bunker. Clams have been better and since there are reports of BLACK DRUM in the central and southern coastal waters invest in clams. This Drum was caught on May 28th at Island Beach State Park on clams. You will note that Michael caught it on a heavy duty Tournament Trophy High Low Rig but for targeting Drum you will want your bait to be very close to the bottom. Use a single snelled Octopus “J” hook - minimum size 8/0, best size 10/0, (REALLY). Leader 60 pound test, length should be short, no more than 24 inches and be sure to use a decent pound test barrel swivel (150 Lb Test) on the terminal end. Please, please use a Palomar Knot to attach the swivel. On your main line attach a FishFinder slide for your weight.
You may be wondering why I am recommeding a large Octopus “J” hook rather than a circle hook, the same as Michael had on his rig. Well in all honesty, Michael was lucky, a Drum sucks in it's food and pulls it into the back of their mouth where they have a unique set of mashers which can crush just about anything, whole live clams in the shell AND hooks!
TUESDAY, 7 APRIL 2009
Betty and Nicks Bait and Tackle has something new on their fishing report page, a video from the beach. As you can see there is no one fishing right now but the beach sure does look good. Don't know if John intends to make a vido each day, I expect that will depend upon the number of customers in the shop. Note in this video he says that no fishermen were in the shop today!
Water temperatures have been buncing up and down along with the poor weather we've had recently. The forecast for the rest of the week doesn't look like it will improve it very much. The only places to try right now are the usual, Graveling Point down south and Cliffwood/Union Beach up north.
2005 Archives: The Cliffwood and Union Beach areas have and will continue to provide the best chances for surf fishermen to take good sized bass right now because there are so many shallow mud flats, sod and gravel banks in the immediate areas. These areas will warm up quickly from the sun and the bass will move in to grub for worms, crabs and clams. Blood or sand worms will work best.
Best go night, baitfishing with clams and bloodworms, forget plugging for now unless you are into rat sized bass. The majority of fish will be shorts but keepers are present. A good time to go is actually is when the wind is coming out of the northeast. It will be cold and uncomfortable but the wind will move the water into the shallows along with the baitfish. Hungry stripers will be there for easy pickings!
Don't forget about the Bald Eagle Cam at the Duke Frams in Hillsborough, NJ. One chick has hatched and today Mom & Dad shared a fish and it also appreaered as if they were feeding the chick a gray squirrel. http://www.dukefarms.org/page.asp?pageId=565
Veteran striped bass fisherman Jay
Amberg of Neptune was in on the action in Sea Girt and said “This was the most incredible trophy bass blitz I have ever been in on in all my years surf fishing.” The boat action was also phenomenal as the big bass were taking pencil poppers and metal lipped swimmers up on the surface along with snagged bunker.
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