It was another tough weekend as the weather has been very uncooperative for most of the South Jersey anglers with high winds to 35 knots. Our long-awaited opening on the 5 fish limit for blackfish this past Saturday got pushed to mid-week as the waves were over 10 feet. I was fortunate to be out on charters last Friday and we had epic fishing with striped bass to 20 pounds being landed on soft plastic baits. The Hogy Shad, Tsunami Swimshads, and sand-eel imitations were the hot soft plastics. The mid-week opening on tog fishing was very good with several party boats hooking into multiple double-digit fish. Offshore action has been very quiet as the seas haven’t been favorable, but most of the headboats have rolled out their jumbo sea bass offshore trip dates. Now is the time to sign up and pack the freezer for winter.
South Jersey Fishing Report
Capt. Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach reported a slower week in terms of the weather, but anglers have been signing up for their 1st Annual Blackfish Tournament. The captain’s meeting is this Friday at 6:30PM. Some striped bass have been reported from the beaches, but most are in the 10 pound range.
Norma K III in Point Pleasant Beach reported a very good opening to the winter blackfish season with anglers catching fish to 9 pounds on green and white crabs. The boat will be sailing every Tuesday through Sunday for blackfish, and they are doing all-day Monday trips.
The Gambler out of Point Pleasant Beach had a tough week with bad weather and the boat being tied to the dock. They did make it out for Brick schools “Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs” trip and the kids did great catching some nice striped bass over 28 and tagged fish. The boat is running striped bass trips and also is booking for their winter jumbo sea bass trips in December.
The MIMI VI out of Point Pleasant has re-opened its bottom fishing trips for open anglers and Capt. Kenny is psyched to hit his favorite bottom wrecks. The skipper has quite a few dates available for December and all crabs/bait are included. I spoke to the crew and they said it’s best to call to reserve your spot. Call 732-370-8019 from 8am to 8pm please to get on the list.
Jersey Hooker Outfitter in Brick has a load of White Leggars for those big trophy blackfish and the shop is taking reservations for them this coming Friday. As far as fishing, it’s been quite as many anglers have been hampered by the winds and weather. A few did hit the beaches to catch schoolie striped bass to 22 inches on metals, plugs, and plastic shads.
Gabriel Tackle Company in Brick reported trolling, jig, and snag-n-drop are producing. The fish have been picky some days on the trolled bunker spoons and mojos. Lately, umbrella rigs have been producing with some good numbers. The Raritan has been producing great num-bers of short fish with an occasional keeper. The striped bass action around the train and Route 35 bridges have been producing on eels. It seems there are quite a few schoolies in the bays and there has been plenty of sand eels, bunker, and peanut bunker to hold the bass.
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Charlie’s Bait & Tackle in Normandy Beach reported some action on short striped bass off the beach on soft plastic shads, plugs, and metals. The bay action has been best on around the bridges during the evening tides on live eels and the Mantoloking Bridge has had some schoolies at night. The shop is running its 8th Annual Surf Turkey tournament and anglers can sign up at the shop for the tourney.
Grumpy’s Bait & Tackle in Seaside Park received good reports on productive fishing off the beaches for anglers working the late afternoon and evening tides. Chunked bunker and artificials have been producing the best results. The shop did have a 29-incher hit the scale this past Tuesday with anglers catching it on bait from Island Beach State Park. There have been lots of reports from anglers that sand-eels are off the beaches, so be sure to make your offerings resemble sandeels in the 5 to 6 inches.
Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported action from the Barnegat Bay, especially near the mid-Island bridges with anglers hooking up on schoolie sized fish with small Tsunami Swim Shads. Ocean action was very good for anglers working the troll at the 3-mile line and jig fisherman closer inshore. The weekend’s blow reset everything, but anglers have been hooking up with smaller fish on the jig.
Reel Reaction Charters out of Waretown and Barnegat Light was out for a double charter on Friday and his morning crew bailed over 50 striped bass to 20 pounds keeping five for the box along with a few keeper tog. The afternoon limited on blackfish/tog but had a tougher go at the striped bass with only 1 keeper and a half dozen throwbacks. The skipper had a few weekends left for striped bass, blackfish, or a combination of both.
Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom reported influx of a smaller class of striped bass filter in this past week, especially prior to the weekend. Light tackle anglers have been having a blast on these fish via the jig, fly, or small surface plugs. There are some bigger fish around, but most have been caught on the troll via mojos or spoons at the 3-mile line. Tog fishing was a moot point on over the weekend, but mid-week anglers did well at the Garden State South reef site on Blackfish to 10 pounds.
Brigantine to Sea Isle City has been good for Tautog off of the jetties, but the bite is better at some of the wrecks or obstructions in the 35 to 50 feet. Striped bass are still taking bunker chunks and artificials off the inlet jetties for land fisherman. Boat owners have had to troll on the 3-mile line for bigger striped bass, but unfortunately some nicer fish have been seen hitting baits at the surface in federal waters. Hopefully, the heavy NE winds and swell have pushed them back inside, but that remains to be seen until anglers get out and check it. The Wildwood and Cape May areas continue to have great tog fishing at the inshore reef sites. Sea bass fishing has been better in the 120 to 140 foot wrecks.
Jim’s Bait & Tackle in Cape May reported some thresher sharks inside the 3-mile line last week, and a slight uptick in striped bass this week. The weather has been a little on the tough side with high winds and seas keeping most boats at the dock. The mid-week tog trips have been good from the reef sites and inshore wrecks. Sea bass are still being caught, but anglers are having to run to the 140 to 155-foot depths.
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South Jersey Fishing Forecast
The best bet for this weekend will be to move all of the wife or girlfriend’s plans to Sunday and sacrifice the football games as Saturday looks like the best day in terms of winds to get outside and fish. If you’re a bonafide tog connoisseur, then Saturday is the day to jump on a headboat and hunt the white-chins. I can’t describe it, but tog fishing to me is like an addictive drug, and I can’t get enough. There is nothing like setting the hook on a double-digit tog, and now is the perfect time as most of the stops have been low on fishing pressure. Green crabs, white leggars, hermits, etc are the “go-to” baits for these guys. Striped bass fishing is still in play, but we are starting to see some smaller fish in the mix. The positive has been that more of the fish are cooperating on the jig as compared to the troll. I recommend bringing the 5 to 6-inch shads and 5 to 6-inch sand-eel plastics as these are very close to what the bass are feeding on, be safe, and tight lines!