New Jersey Fishing Reports

Usually the start of twice-a-week is a big to-do, and this year feels a little anti-climactic, because of cold and winds in the last week, especially after the warm winter.

But warmer weather is even forecast for later this week.

So, welcome to the fishing season!

Keyport

The season’s first trip, an open-boat outing, was weathered out Saturday with Papa’s Angels Charters, Capt. Joe said. The anglers were going to clam for striped bass on Raritan Bay, and catches of the fish were being reported. Some of the anglers expressed interest in rescheduling for this coming weekend. Papa’s Angels is sailing for stripers on the bay, and open-boat trips are available daily when no charter is booked. Call if interested.

Atlantic Highlands

Fishing for the season started off well on Sunday on the party boat Fishermen, Capt. Ron said in a report on the vessel’s Web site. Daily trips for striped bass were supposed to begin Saturday on the boat, but weather was rough that day. So the trips began Sunday. “To say I am happy with the start of the season (Sunday) is an understatement,” Ron said. June Benson was high hook with three stripers, including an 18-pounder, taking the lead in the boat’s springtime striper pool. She used a bonus tag to bag three, and so did two other anglers. A couple of anglers bagged two, and some bagged one, and some bagged none. All the bass were caught on bait, but with the amount of bait and birds working the waters, Ron wouldn’t be surprised if stripers were jigged aboard soon. He and four of the crew also clammed a good catch of stripers on a scouting trip they took aboard Friday. They bagged stripers to 15 pounds, one fish short of a limit. The fishing that day began slowly on the back of the bay. But the trip moved around until finding better fishing. Check out a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yArrwJmAAlw&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">video of Sunday’s trip</a>. “Sorry guys,” Ron said, “but the video is very cloudy. The settings got screwed up when I dropped the camera in all the excitement.” And check out a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK5rhvOB9r0&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">video of Friday’s crew trip</a>. The Fishermen is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily.

Ling were landed Sunday on the party boat Atlantic Star, Capt. Tom said. “Fair fishing,” he said, and all anglers left with fish. No blackfish were reeled in, and somewhat of a ground swell remained from weather on Saturday, but otherwise Sunday was nice on the waters. The trip Saturday was weathered out. The boat will now begin sailing twice daily for striped bass, though winds were potentially going to cancel today’s striper trips. The vessel will fish for stripers until switching to fluke when fluke season opens May 5. The Atlantic Star is fishing for striped bass on two trips daily 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 6 p.m. ***Update, Tuesday, 4/3:*** Fishing on the season’s first trip aboard for stripers today produced a few of the fish so far, Tom said in a phone call from the outing at 10:45 a.m. The angling wasn’t fast and furious. “It’s a start,” Tom said. One angler already limited out on two, and most of the small crowd, four or five anglers, bagged one. Most of the stripers caught were keepers, and three or four were shorts. The trip anchored and clammed for the fish. ***Update, Wednesday, 4/4:*** The day was nice on this morning’s trip, Tom said in a quick voicemail afterward. The weather was beautiful, and the fishing was better than before. More details will probably be posted on Thursday, after Tom is talked with further. Today’s afternoon trip stayed docked, only because too few anglers showed up at the marina.

Highlands

Trips fished for striped bass Friday through Sunday with Fisher Price Charters on Raritan Bay, Capt. Derek said. Trolling plugs worked best, and on Friday’s trip, 20 keepers to 20 pounds and 10 shorts were trolled. On Saturday’s trip weather was very windy, “limiting what we could do,” Derek said. But the trip trolled 16 keepers to 17 or 18 pounds and four shorts. For Sunday’s trip Derek was able to get bunker, and the anglers wanted to fish with bait, so they chunked bunker, going 5 for 17 on stripers to 17 pounds. Once the tide was lost, the trip trolled, grabbing a few more stripers, totaling 9 keepers for the day. Dates remain for charters, and the next open-boat trips are set to fish for stripers Thursday and Saturday. Call to climb aboard or to be kept informed about future open dates. More and more stripers are swimming into the bay, and the angling should keep getting better.

Neptune

An individual-reservation trip for blackfish, ling and cod will kick off the season Saturday with Last Lady Fishing Charters, Capt. Ralph said. Afterward the trips will run every Saturday and Sunday through April, and openings are available on most of the days. If the trips get a shot at striped bass, they’ll fish for them.

Belmar

On the party boat Big Mohawk anglers picked at blackfish Sunday, the vessel’s Facebook page said. “A lot of shorts and some keepers mixed in,” it said. That was the first day of blackfish season, and today’s trip was expected to stay docked, because of winds. The Big Mohawk is sailing for blackfish 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

The Katie H will be moved to Belmar for the season this weekend, Capt. Mike said. Then charters will be available for striped bass or blackfish, though this time of year is mostly about stripers on charters. The boat was wintered on Shrewsbury River, and the crew had planned to move the vessel last weekend, but decided to work on a few maintenance items before moving. The weather was chilly even working on the boat this weekend, after previously warm weather. The cold spell might’ve affected fishing. A friend fished for stripers on the back of Raritan Bay, traveling from Manasquan Inlet, catching the fish, but not a ton.

Brielle

Boaters, mostly charters, jigged striped bass on the ocean, not a bail, “but it is April,” said Dave from The Reel Seat. The fish were hooked both north and south. Catches to the north were heard about since the warm winter. But currently catches were also heard about from south as the Seaside Heights piers. The fishing seemed “one of those head out in the morning, take a guess which way to go, then look for birds,” Dave said. Surf anglers picked at stripers here and there, including locally, not only north like in winter. Dave heard about a catch at Point Pleasant Beach at the end of the week, for example. However, water temps dropped by the end of the week in colder weather, slowing the angling. Winter flounder fishing seemed good in northern Barnegat Bay toward the Point Pleasant Canal. No flounder caught in Manasquan River were heard about yet. A couple of customers were headed to fish for blackfish Sunday, opening day of blackfish season. Ling fishing held up well on the ocean. Not a lot was reported about cod from the ocean. But one of the local party boats sailed offshore for cod Friday, coming back with good-sized cod, sizeable pollock and a bunch of big ling. New tackle is arriving at the shop for the season. Catch the 30-percent sale on Stingo jigs. The shop will be closed on Easter but otherwise is open Wednesdays through Sundays.

Barnegat Light

Fishing will start at the beginning of May on the party boat Miss Barnegat Light, Marion Larson said. The angling begins each year with bluefish trips on the ocean each weekend through Memorial Day. Then the bluefish trips begin to fish daily.

Mystic Island

Not much could be reported about striped bass fishing at Graveling Point on Sunday, “(because) anglers didn’t report back in before we bailed out for lunch,” Scott from Scott’s Bait & Tackle said in a report on the shop’s Web site. But news was heard about hot fishing on the Mullica River on Sunday evening. Anglers there caught keeper stripers and whopper white perch. “I just hope the Gaveling Point folks got in on the action as the bass moved through,” Scott said. Graveling is a shore-angling spot at the confluence of Great Bay and Mullica River. On Saturday striper fishing seemed somewhat slower at Graveling than before. But reports were heard from a couple of anglers who said they scored so-so. The fishing seemed better for boaters then, because they could fish farther from land. Drum were in the mix now and then, and a 40-pounder was biggest. On Friday reports were heard about good fishing at the point. Anglers who fished there from night into early Friday morning beached plenty of striped bass “that were nice keeper size,” Scott said. Bluefish and drum were also taken there during the day.

Brigantine

Weather was windy, but the shop was busy, though surf fishing for striped bass was slow, Capt. Andy from Riptide Bait & Tackle said in a report on the shop’s Web site. He had thought that after the angling turned on for keeper stripers two weekends ago, the schools would keep moving through. But not many keepers were banked last week. Blackfish season opened Sunday. “The bridge pilings and the jetties have been showing signs of giving up some big ones,” Andy said.

Ocean City

Surf anglers banked striped bass, fairly good catches, mostly on clams and bloodworms, said Ed from Fin-Atics. Most of the fish were throwbacks, but keepers to 30 inches were heard about. Back-bay anglers nabbed stripers -- one here, one there. Lots of bait including herring and bunker swam the back waters. So sometimes anglers fished artificials like MirrOlures to imitate bait to catch stripers in the bay. Mostly shorts -- no big ones were heard about -- and white perch were pulled from the Great Egg Harbor River, far upstream toward Mays Landing. Occasional bluefish, sizeable for the time of year, sometimes to 30 inches, popped up from the surf to the bay. During some years blues that size aren’t seen till later in the season. The arrival of blues was early, usually happening later in April. Blackfish were caught and released along the jetties and bridges before blackfish season opened Sunday. The catches were expected to be bagged now. Plenty of bloodworms are stocked, and fresh, shucked clams are carried when available. Winds often kept clam boats from sailing.

Sea Isle City

The year’s first striped bass was beaten on the back bay Sunday aboard, said Capt. Joe Hughes from Jersey Cape Guide Service and Sea Isle Bait & Tackle. The fish was grabbed on a soft-plastic lure on a jighead, and winds and cold weren’t the best conditions for the angling that day. In fact, winds and cold in the past week probably slowed the fishing lately, but stripers held in the bay. Joe until now had been concentrating on fishing on traveling charters to the Florida Keys he offers each winter until Easter. He’ll fish in the Keys in the next week then pay all attention to the back bay at Sea Isle on charters for stripers and blues. The fishing is usually excellent this month and in May. Though past days were cold, the season was warm, and stripers were active early in the bay, and a few blues already swam the waters, though blues usually arrive in the third week of April. Out-of-season summer flounder were already caught and released on the bay, and flounder season will open May 5. Joe expects to hit the ground running when he returns from Florida in the next week. The bay trips at Sea Isle are some of the best of the year. Joe in spring fishes for the stripers and blues with soft-plastics on jigheads or small Clouser Minnow flies, imitating bait like spearing and shrimp. The lures and flies are bounced slowly along bottom. Outgoing, warmer tides are usually best in spring. Joe also looks for areas that hold warmer waters in spring. If interested in booking the fishing, or also flounder fishing, he recommends doing that soon.

Cape May

Two trips fished aboard the Down Deep in the past week, sailing for striped bass on Delaware Bay on Friday and Saturday, and got skunked, Capt. Bob said. Everyone seemed to struggle with the fishing then. The bay was 53 degrees on Friday’s trip, and was 61 on a trip aboard the previous Friday that nailed a good catch of stripers. On the trips this Friday and Saturday, plenty of bait, including bunker, and gannets working the waters were seen. Openings remain for striper trips, and for drum trips on the bay that will fish next this season. A few drum were already hooked, and the fish are usually first found on the bay in the third week of April.

A few striped bass were wrangled from Delaware Bay, said Capt. George from the Heavy Hitter. Some trips might’ve bagged a couple. The Heavy Hitter might be launched today for the season, and striper trips will be available on the bay. So will trips for blackfish, now that blackfish season opened Sunday. Drum fishing aboard usually starts in May on the bay. Sea bass fishing will be available on the boat when sea bass season opens May 19. Call if interested in any of this fishing.