New Jersey Fishing Reports

Striped bass, good-sized ones, were bunker chunked on the bay, and the fish remained in the waters, said Rick from Big Timber Bait & Tackle. Big blues were ferocious in the bay, gave up more catches than the stripers did, and had to be fought through to land the bass. The outer shoals of the Cape May Rips also turned out the linesiders, and anglers could cast metal to them to hook up. But the rips themselves also held the fish, and anglers there swam live eels or spots or worked bucktails. The later in the season, the more that small stripers usually school the rips, and plastics like Bass Kandy Delights and Hogy lures are more effective on them. Fishing on the Delaware River was still feasible for plenty of catches. Rick in a previous report said resident stripers could be caught that already gathered to winter in the river’s deep holes such as at the Graveyard north of the Commodore Barry Bridge. But angler participation slows down on the river at this time of year. Freshwater anglers remained active on the ponds throughout South Jersey like at Penns Grove and along Route 295, especially anglers who fished for largemouth bass with shiners. That fishing served up lots of the bucketmouths, and 15 pounds of shiners, lots of the baitfish, sold out at the shop during the weekend. Big Timber carries bait and tackle for all fishing from freshwater to offshore. That includes a complete supply of lures and baits for rivers and lakes; rigs, tackle and frozen bait for bays; and offshore lures, rigs and baits.

Port Elizabeth

Customers returned to fishing the bay Sunday after the gale, and they caught, said Sharon from The Girls Place Bait & Tackle. They boated plenty of striped bass throughout the bay, all the way north to Ship John. Dogfish seemed more of a nuisance on the southern bay. Big blues hammered baits throughout the bay. Nobody talked about tog fishing along places like the rocks at the bottom of the lighthouses. But Miah Maul Lighthouse attracted plenty of the blackfish in the past, so maybe they’re still there. Anglers cleaned up on tog from the ocean, where the angling is more popular. Fresh bunker for striper bait is stocked, and anglers should call ahead to order if possible, because the bunker boats are sailing less frequently, because of demand and the weather. If anglers are really serious about the fishing, they should call two days ahead of time, not the day before, to help the shop be prepared and to better ensure fresh bunker. The Girls Place is located on Route 47 just after Route 55 ends, and it’s the long, one-story, yellow building on the right. There’s a large parking lot with plenty of room for trailered boats.

Fortescue

Three striped bass 36, 34 and 29 inches and a couple of big blues were bagged Sunday on the Buccaneer, Capt. Ralph said. The fish were there, were biting, he said, even if some caught, and others did not. The fish on the trip were hooked on bunker toward the Elbow. The Buccaneer will keep sailing this season at least through the weekend, and space is available. Grab a spot before the fish depart and before Ralph calls it a season.

Big blues and sometimes decent striped bass catches were boated on the Bonanza, Capt. Mike said, and trips will fish through Saturday before the crew calls it a year. Anglers on Monday’s trip kept nine big blues and one legal-sized striper, losing two big stripers near the boat, tossing back a half-dozen short stripers, seeing plenty of action. Trips fished shallow waters not too far from port, and catches were “actually all right in the past couple of days,” he said. Striper fishing was holding up, producing better on some days than others, and will probably last a little longer. Trips did a little tog fishing recently, and the blackfish probably weren’t so much in the waters yet. An open-boat trip will sail Friday, and a charter is scheduled for Saturday. This will be the boat’s final report of the season, and Mike thanks everyone who hopped aboard this year and wishes everyone Happy Holidays and a good New Year’s, and a safe winter. He looks forward to seeing anglers on the boat again next year. Next year’s season will begin with striper fishing in May, and drum fishing will soon follow. Customers already called to book probably a half-dozen drum charters, and reserve preferred dates. Call 609-381-2978.

The weather made the week a slower one, preventing trips from sailing a moment, and big blues and a keeper striped bass were reeled aboard early last week, if Capt. Howard from the Salt Talk remembered correctly, he said. A trip Sunday when the weather broke scored a few run-offs but was otherwise slow. The boat fished to the north but probably should’ve been run to the south, because other boats seemed to connect more there. That was the last trip of the year for the Salt Talk, and Howard thanks all the anglers who fished aboard this season. He wishes everyone Happy Holidays and New Year and a good winter, and hopes to see everyone back aboard in spring, kicking off the boat’s fishing in May with striped bass and drum fishing.

Bivalve

The weather knocked out a couple of entire days of fishing, but good catches of striped bass held up when boaters could sail, and the marina and parking lot were jammed with anglers when the weather cleared on Sunday, said Pat from Longreach Marina. The fish seemed to be caught all over the bay, a wide spread of the fish still. Plus the bay was full of big blues. Fresh bunker, the bait of choice for stripers, is stocked. Anglers and their catches included: John Frank, Gordon Wollenberg and son Teryl Wollenberg, a 36-inch striper and 20 blues that each topped 30 inches; Chuck Umba, Rick Harris ad Wayne Baker, West Deptford, a 41-inch striper, a 34-incher and three 32-inchers; and Mike Cargin and Anthony Centritto, Blackwood, 47-, 36-, 31- and 30-inch stripers. Plenty more bass were docked, but those were fish that anglers recorded in the book.

Cape May

Anglers just couldn’t get a break from the weather, but when conditions permitted them to take trips, the fish were there, said Matt from Jim’s Bait & Tackle in a fax. Striped bass continued to be boated on the bay at Joe’s Tip, the upper ends of 20-Foot and 60-Foot sloughs and the Punk Grounds at least toward the end of the week, the last time reports rolled in to the shop from there. Big blues also invaded the Punk Grounds at the time. Stripers were pulled from the Cape May Rips on Thursday, but catches sounded slow there on Sunday. On a brighter note, stripers began to appear at the lump in the ocean just off Wildwood. Surf anglers beached stripers and blues when conditions enabled them to fish. The waters were dirty through the weekend, but a couple of fish were weighed in from the suds: Larry O’Brien’s 49-1/2-pound striper walloped at the Gun Mount on Thursday, and Percy Hamilton’s pair of 15- and 13-pound stripers plugged at the jetty at Philadelphia Avenue on Sunday. Tog bit well at the ocean wrecks and rock piles, and a 10.57-pounder was checked in that was hooked at Cape May Inlet.

On the Heavy Hitter anglers trolled the ocean for striped bass and blues Thursday, Friday and Saturday, because the Cape May Rips were too muddied for the fishing, because of winds, Capt. George said. Thursday’s trip limited out on 12 striped bass by 7:15 a.m. Friday’s trip hung stripers to 34 inches before returning to port early because of winds. On Saturday’s trip a bunch of keeper stripers and plenty of throwbacks were landed.

Striped bass, a decent catch, were angled in from the Cape May Rips on Wednesday with Legal Limit Charters, Capt. T.J. said. Afterward winds muddied the waters, so no trips tried for stripers in the area, but T.J. heard the fish were trolled since then. T.J.’s other boat fished for stripers and blackfish from Tuckerton on Saturday and Sunday, and the weather made the fishing tough.

Trips were weathered out that were slated to sail for striped bass at the Cape May Rips on Friday and Saturday, said Capt. Craig from Fish Tale Charters. No trip was scheduled for Sunday, but the weather was beautiful, and boaters who sailed found stripers all over the ocean. A trip with Fish Tale on Thursday eeled one 15-pound striper at the rips in dirty waters churned up from winds, hampering the angling.