<b>Hudson River</b>

Trips for striped bass on the river at Saugerties got under way, said Capt. Chuck from <b>Angler Sportfishing Charters</b>. Three charters sailed, and no huge migrators reached that far upstream yet, but catches were steady, and a 22-pounder was the biggest. Chuck was on the waters last evening when he gave this report, and the charter had already bagged three bass after an hour of fishing, and was expected to limit out soon. The fishing was coming along well, and plenty of bait already migrated to the waters, and water temps were progressing like they should. The time was right, Chuck said. The boat’s anglers fish with live or chunked herring for trophy stripers during the Hudson’s spring migration. The run is one of the biggest concentrations of large, mature breeders, one of the best chances to land stripers of a lifetime. Chuck’s been fishing the run 30 years, and targets the angling through the first week of June. The fish will still be around then, but catches will become less reliable. Angler Sportfishing held New York’s record in 2001 for the largest striper hooked on inland waters with a 54.6-pounder, Chuck said. That fish also tied the year’s record for the largest bass caught anywhere from the state, he said.

<b>Staten Island</b>

With <b>Barbara Anne Fishing Charters</b> trips got back on the waters today after being weathered out through the week, Capt. Anthony said. The trip today began doing a combo of fishing for winter flounder and striped bass all over the bay, after flounder on the bay were the focus before. The anglers bounced baits for flounder an hour, bagging eight. Then they pillaged 45 striped bass on clams. Four were keepers, and the bass kept the rods bouncing during 4 hours of fun. Trips will probably keep doing the combo fishing until bigger bass migrate to the bay. Open-boat trips sail daily when no charter is booked, and space does fill up. See the Captain’s Log on Barbara Anne’s Web site for availability.

<b>Port Monmouth</b>

The boat will be splashed next week, and trips will launch for striped bass and winter flounder along the bay, said Capt. Justin from <b>Parksea Fishing Charters</b>. Lots of small stripers and occasional keepers, but good action, were clammed on many trips, and trollers stuck the fish while dragging Stretch plugs in the past days. A few flounder seemed to be collected around the back of the bay. Charters and open-boat trips will sail, and space remains on an open trip Tuesday, May 12, and call to claim before the trip fills. Looking head, trips are being booked for the migration of bigger stripers, bottom-fishing for ling and fluke fishing, when fluke season opens May 23.

<b>Atlantic Highlands</b>

On the <b>Fishermen</b> a couple of striped bass slammed baits even before the vessel fully came back on anchor Wednesday, Capt. Ron said in an e-mail. “Very good fishing right from the start!” he said. Action lasted until noon, mostly with shorts, but also a quality catch of keepers to 31 inches. The shorts, loads of them, kept things busy for fun. One angler limited out on three keepers with a bonus tag. A few others limited out on two. Ron’s dad, Capt. Ron Sr., was hot hand, whacking six keeper-sized bass, releasing them. Way too much roe in the fish, the e-mail said. One patron scored a 5-pound tog for a bonus. Ron hoped the fishing would keep up from now on.  The Fishermen is sailing for striped bass 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Magic Hour Trips also get under way this week from 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.

Winter flounder fishing got back on the waters Wednesday on the <b>Atlantic Star</b> for the first time since Sunday, because of the nor’easter Monday followed by winds afterward, Capt. Tom said. A few of the fish were knocked down, but the weather somewhat seemed to squash the action. The boat fished near the Navy Pier and Sandy Hook Point. Anglers will see whether the feed picks up through the next days. Today was supposed to be a little windy, but the weekend’s weather looked calm. The Atlantic Star is fishing for winter flounder on two trips daily from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Excellent striped bass fishing was hammered, said Jimmy from <b>Julian’s Bait & Tackle</b>. Boaters and shore anglers wrestled them in the back of the bay, and Jimmy pummeled them from a boat at Romer Shoal. Surf casters at Sandy Hook’s north beach could nab them, and river anglers on the Shrewsbury and Navesink could, too. Clams worked, and sometimes bunker did, like in the surf and rivers, and lures could do the job on the rivers. Bunker just started to pile into the rivers. A few winter flounder were picked up, but they might swim away soon, because imminent bluefish will scare them off to the ocean. Jimmy saw terns at Red Bank, and that meant blues would come any day. Clams, worms and all the baits are fully stocked.

<b>Highlands</b>

Trips stayed in port because of winds, but striped bass fishing will kick back in on the boat through the weekend on the bay, said Capt. Derek from <b>Fisher Price Charters</b>. Open-boat trips are sailing then but are sold out. On the last trips lots of bass including a couple of keepers were decked Friday, and the fishing became difficult for everyone Saturday. Only shorts chewed on a trip Saturday, and Sunday’s fishing remained slow, and the nor’easter rolled in Monday. But trollers put a beating on the fish during the weekend, and maybe that will happen again. Fisher Price had been clamming them but will do whatever it takes. Derek is running open-boat trips when possible between charters, and call to jump aboard.

<b>Belmar</b>

None of the shop’s rental boats were taken out for winter flounder on Shark River because of the weather, but the fishing was a challenge before, said John from <b>Fisherman’s Den</b>. Belmar’s party boat anglers creamed blackfish. A few striped bass were angled from Shark River Inlet, so apparently surf fishing for linesiders was starting. That was about the news in the storm and winds through the week.

Blackfish got boated, “not bad at all,” Capt. Chris said, on the <b>Big Mohawk</b> yesterday and today, when the vessel could sail between rough weather. Today was windy as all get out, but catches were coolered. Lots of limits were lifted aboard lately, and the fish probably weighed up to 8 ½ pounds. The fishing was coming along, and the season closes next week on Friday. All the baits are carried aboard. After blackfish season the boat will bottom fish for sea bass, ling and whatever is around. The Big Mohawk is blackfishing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

<b>Point Pleasant</b>

Bottom fishing somewhat tapered off from all the storms, but patrons on the <b>Dauntless</b> sailed mostly for ling, and a few sea bass, blackfish and cod were mixed in, Capt. Butch said. Sea bass just began to arrive from the migration offshore, too few of the fish to target, but they’ll be the focus next, after the hunt for ling. None of the cod was a monster, but decent-sized keepers were clubbed. Waters warmed a little but were 45 degrees, not a temp for a major bail of any fish to begin. Mackerel were yet to appear in the cold waters, but the boat mixes in mackerel fishing with bottom dunking during springs when the Bostons swim close enough to shore. With their absence by now, sea bass should be the next focus on the vessel. Butch heard about some of the season’s first bluefish brought to market in Cape May, but didn’t know how far south the speedsters were caught. No mackerel were brought to market. Blues generally follow the mackerel migration north past Jersey’s coast. The boat got weathered out the past two days and two days last week. The Dauntless is bottom fishing 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily.

The <b>Gambler</b> is resuming trips to the 25- to 50-mile wrecks today through the weekend for cod, pollock, ling, hake and maybe sea bass, Capt. Bob said. Back in action, after a moment of maintenance on the boat and storms that weathered out trips. Blackfish trips will also fish at the beginning of the week. The Gambler is fishing the wrecks 25 to 50 miles offshore for cod, pollock, ling, hake and maybe sea bass 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Trips for blackfish are sailing 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays.

A few small striped bass were beached from the surf, said Ronnie from <b>Fisherman’s Supply</b>. Clams were the popular bait, but Ronnie would throw lures like Fin-S Fish or other rubber baits. Striper angling was best farther north in Raritan Bay from the back to Romer Shoal. But the spring migration of the fish will eventually slam the local coast. Bunker started migrating, but clams remained the favored bait for the bass. Local winter flounder fishing was good over the weekend, “like a two-day season,” he said. Weather kept pounding the fishery. A couple of out-of-season fluke, the first of the year, were landed and released at Manasquan Inlet. The party boat <b>Voyager</b>, docked at the shop, was on a seasonal break. But a couple of offshore sea bass trips are slated to fish 14 hours apiece in May. Trips in May also include a couple of two-day cod/pollock/hake trips and several 21-hour tilefish trips. Daily, ¾-day fluke trips will begin in May, but trips for tilefish, pollock and hake will be mixed in during summer, and tuna fishing will begin in late August, potentially lasting into November. See the <a href="http://www.voyagerfishing.com/html/trip_calendar.html" target="_blank">trip calendar</a> on the boat’s Web site for the full schedule.

<b>Bricktown</b>

Winter flounder moved to the Manasquan River from nearby Barnegat Bay, said Jason from <b>Pell’s Fish & Sport</b>. He watched loons pluck the flatties from the Point Pleasant Canal between the bay and the river. The migration was definitely on. On the river boaters hooked the fish from Clark’s Landing to the Route 35 Bridge. Striped bass were picked from the bay at the Mantoloking Bridge at night on Rapala X-Raps or other lures like Fin-S Fish. Some were also taken from the Point Pleasant Canal on herring. A few customers bought clams to try for striped bass in the surf, but nobody reported luck. No bluefish migrated yet, and Jason figured they’d arrive within 1 ½ weeks. Fresh clams, sandworms, bloodworms, chum, killies, fatheads and shiners are stocked.

<b>Forked River</b>

The season’s first few blues got beaten by one customer at Oyster Creek, covered in the last report, and the wait was on for the bluefish migration to storm through any time, said Grizz from <b>Grizz’s Forked River Bait & Tackle</b>. Anglers also waited for tiderunner weakfish to come in, and none were reported seen yet. Rough weather kept customers from winter flounder fishing on Barnegat Bay. But waters around the BB, BI and 40 markers were the place to find them before. Doc Swain took a trip that mugged 11 big flatties on Friday before the weather. Striped bass could also be found on the bay, and Jay Close on Friday evening plundered 14 of the fish, including three keepers, in 7 to 8 feet east of the Intracoastal Waterway on Fin-S Fish. Another customer, Todd on the Impulse, reeled up six keeper-sized blackfish from an ocean wreck Sunday. He presumable kept no more than a limit of four. Grizz’s son Dane and Jason Marh pumped in one blackfish and three sea bass from the rough bottom Sunday on the ocean.

<b>Barnegat Light</b>

Sharpies who slung clams into the surf picked striped bass, probably 26- to 30-inchers, despite rough weather much of the week, said Nick from <b>Barnegat Light Bait & Tackle</b>.  A few 4- to 5-pound bluefish started showing up at Barnegat Inlet since about last weekend. Tog fishing really gained steam along the inlet rocks. Barnegat Bay boaters who anchored and clammed said they hooked stripers along the sedges and behind the Dike, the only two places Nick heard they connected.  Winter flounder fishing on the bay was practically weathered out, but a report rolled in before the weather about 21 flatties, all of them large or 14 to 18 inches, sacked on a trip between the BB and BI markers on the bay. The fish by now were probably staging at Double Creek Channel near the inlet on the migration to the ocean, but nobody got a chance to try there in the winds. Fresh bunker just got stocked, and fresh clams are carried. So are sandworms, bloodworms, green crabs, and live spots that stayed alive in the tank since last season.

<b>Mystic Island</b>

A bluefish, the first reported hooked this season, snapped off a line for one angler when he tried to leader the fish at Pebble Beach, said Scott from <b>Scott’s Bait & Tackle</b>. The bluefish migration was expected any day. Plenty of striped bass, ranging 8 inches to occasional 32- or 33-inchers, were looted at times from Pebble Beach and Graveling Point. Many seemed small, and many also seemed to be just under keeper size or 27 inches or so. But fun. Bloodworms or clams were the baits, and the bluefish migration will chase away the bass, although migrating stripers will later get belted in the ocean. But last chance for bass at Graveling Point and Pebble Beach. Weakfish should also arrive any time, usually showing up during the last week of April at places like Great Bay Boulevard and Seven Bridges Road. Blackfish should also appear along the banks of the bay any moment, although blackfish season closes next week on Friday, May 1. White perch, a fair number, got plundered around the Lower Bank Bridge on the Mullica River. All in all, a good run of fish around the Mystic Island area. Fresh clams, bloodworms, live grass shrimp, minnows and green crabs are stocked. Shrimp and minnows were difficult to keep stocked in the rains, touch and go, but on hand. 

<b>Port Republic</b>

White perch, respectable-sized, got mugged throughout the Mullica River and on the creeks like Nacote Creek, said Mary Ann from <b>Chestnut Neck Boat Yard</b>. Striped bass were wrestled from the river on bloodworms or herring upstream and on bloods or clams downstream toward Graveling Point. Herring migrated along the river, and live herring are stocked. The shop’s netter will have to stop catching them when the commercial season closes next week on Friday, May 1. Besides the herring, the shop is carrying bloodworms, fresh clams, eels and minnows.

<b>Absecon</b>

Back-bay boaters picked up striped bass, a few, from areas like Lakes Bay and off Beesley’s Point, said Ray from <b>Absecon Bay Sportsman Center</b>. Most of the fish were shorts, and most bigger bass seemed yet to leave the rivers. Clams and other typical baits got strikes, but the biggest linesiders engulfed herring chunks. The herring migration up the rivers continued. Live herring, not a ton but enough, are stocked. So are fresh clams, bloodworms, eels and other baits. Ray heard about some of the season’s first bluefish reportedly fought on Lakes Bay but saw none at the shop. Tog actively fed in the bays around structure like the bridges. Ray tackled plenty to 8 pounds. Clams worked better last week, but crabs got crunched now. A handful of drumfish began to be hauled from the bays. A few pups to 30 pounds were clubbed from the banks at Lakes Bay and Great Bay. Customers kept weighing in big trout around 5 pounds from Heritage Park. Check out <a href="  http://www.abseconbay.com/abseconbay/main.html
" target="_blank">photos</a>.

<b>Brigantine</b>

The first striped bass school of the season tumbled through the surf Sunday around 4:30 to 6 p.m., said Capt. Andy from <b>Riptide Bait & Tackle</b>. Otherwise customers picked bass, like five at a shot or one or two. But during that time Sunday sharpies cleaned up, and probably 300 to 400 people filled the beach. Two customers bailed 13 of the fish on the north end. Another slammed six that were 30 to 36 inches at the Brigantine Hotel. Another pounded five or six. Clams, namely Riptide Rotters, were the bait to soak. It was a start, and bass could now be found from the shore. Waters around the top of the tides were best. No bluefish migrated yet, but boaters said bunker schooled a mile offshore. Anglers hoped the baitfish would push in along the wash. Boaters were yet to connect with stripers along the beach front. Fresh clams and bloodworms are stocked, and fresh bunker is carried when available. All the frozen baits are carried, and the shop is open 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. but later when business is active, like on weekends. The doors will be open at 5 a.m. when the season kicks in.

<b>Longport</b>

Tog were snapping at the reefs, but daily, open-trips for them were weathered out, said Capt. Mike from the <b>Stray Cat</b>. Fishing was good, all right, before, and the weather in the next days looked better, and the season is winding down, closing on May1, Friday of next week. Cooked shrimp worked miracles for bait, and get to Wal-Mart and buy a bag, he said. A few sea bass were mixed in, and Mike’s got a couple of wrecks that are stacked with them. He’s also got wrecks for tog that he normally saves for his “regulars,” but because the season’s ending, he’s going to hit them Friday to Sunday. They’re a little farther offshore, so don’t plan to be home on time. Call to reserve all open trips. Charters later this season for fish like fluke and bluefin tuna were booking up, so claim them while available. Don’t expect to get a Saturday in June otherwise, for example.   

<b>Ocean City</b>

Waters were cold, around 48 to 49 degrees in the surf, and the season remained early, and the temp will have to rise to make fishing heat up, said Ed from <b>Fin-Atics</b>. Nothing really bit in the suds, and little happened on the bay, and an occasional short striped bass was lifted from the rivers. Even anglers who tried for herring had no success on the Great Egg Harbor River at Mays Landing. Ed visited Maryland during the weekend, and anglers there also waited for the spring migration. If they waited, the run here was going to take a moment to begin. Fresh clams, bloodworms, green crabs and all the frozen baits like bunker are stocked.

<b>Sea Isle City</b>

Bluefishing could explode any day, the migration was imminent, and a scattered few might’ve trickled in already, said Wes from <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>. One line was bitten off on a trip he took on the bay with Capt. Joe Hughes, and the bite seemed to come from a blue. The line was sliced at the swivel that attached the leader, and blues are the only fish with teeth that would cut the line, and they commonly attack the swivel reeled through the waters. He and Joe landed and released maybe a dozen out-of-season summer flounder on the trip, and the flatties carpeted the bay. Striped bass could be played on the waters on either bait or lures, and tog hovered around structure like bridges or docks and also held at the ocean wrecks and reefs. On the bay the changes of tides were best for the blackfishing, so the current wasn’t ripping. The surf was cold, about 48 degrees, so dog sharks and skates were mostly the catch. Some areas were warmer, like 51 degrees, farther south, like at Cape May, and farther north. But the middle stretch, like at Sea Isle, was chillier. Still, conditions were on the verge of spring fishing busting loose, and blues that will slam the coast will rocket the action into gear. Could happen this weekend. Fresh clams, bloodworms, green crabs and eels are stocked, and the shop is open every day.

Capt. Joe Hughes from <b>Jersey Cape Guide Service</b>, affiliated with <b>Gibson’s Tackle</b>, and Wes Bandy, owner of the shop, jigged and released a dozen summer flounder on a trip on the back bay, Joe said. The flatfish are out-of-season until May 23, but the fishing was in full gear, always is around this time, because of the warm shallows that make up the bay. The late opener in recent years was less than ideal. But Joe is pumped for the opener, because the fish are paving the bottom. He tosses 3/8-ounce jigs tipped with Bass Assassins or Gulp Shrimp at this time of year. The bay is also poised for an invasion of migrating bluefish any day. Joe’s charters will slam-bast the rampant blues on soft-plastic lures. Fast and furious! He’s always psyched for blues. The fish hit the bay a few weeks in spring before most move to the ocean through summer. Striped bass will remain in the bay while the blues push in, but aggressive blues will overshadow striper fishing a moment. Joe’s been catching stripers on flies, soft-plastic lures and clams at places like the bay at creek mouths. Big, tiderunner weakfish can also swim to the bay when bluefish do, especially the first couple of weeks of May, and if numbers show up, a trophy can be among catches.  Jersey Cape is offering after-work special trips on the back bay from 4 p.m. to dark, a great time to fish, when nobody else is on the waters, and action can be best. Convenient, too. Joe this season is also offering striper and drumfish charters on Delaware Bay on a 26-foot Regulator. His back-bay charters fish on his flats boat. Looking ahead, offshore charters will be on the menu in the coming months that will troll for tuna in the mornings and pitch live or dead baits or flies to mahi mahi later in the day. The blue-water fishing can be done on the Regulator or on a 42-foot Liberty, depending on the size of the group and the type of fishing, like whether a charter wants to fish with flies or conventional tackle.

<b>Cape May</b>

Delaware Bay’s striped bass fishing turned slow since last week’s storms, but daily trips will keep going after the linesiders, anchoring and clamming for them, said Capt. Bob from the <b>Sea Star III</b>. Catches so far included shorts and keepers, and a 25-pound bruiser was the biggest to date. The Sea Star III is fishing for striped bass on Delaware Bay 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Storms, winds and seas weathered out striped bass trips on Delaware Bay on the <b>Heavy Hitter</b>, Capt. George said. He knew about one boater who fished the bay at the Maurice River Cove on Tuesday, marked lots of the fish but got none to bite. A couple of other boaters sailed more than 25 miles up the bay to Ship John, and one striper was landed among them. A few drumfish were hauled from the bay so far this season, and George during some years shellacked the boomers at this time of year. Sometimes a bite will turn on in April then pause a moment while the fish spawn or something and then go full force in May. Other times piles of the fish are marked around now, but none will bite, either because of cold waters or the spawn, until the feed goes nuts afterward. One never knows, but drum are a possibility on the bay at this point, and the Heavy Hitter runs a busy schedule of the fishing. Clamming for striped bass on the bay will also continue on the boat.

Capt. Ray from <b>Jaftica Sportfishing</b> will probably chase down striped bass on the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Trenton on charters through next week or so, because the fish were on a tear, he said. Lots of them. Big. Normally he’d fish Delaware Bay now, but the river currently seemed too good, and the boat’s been in Philly, where it winters, so he may as well get on the fish. If anglers were chomping at the bit to go after them after seeing all the reports, here’s the chance. It’s a brief one. Charters will liveline herring. Afterward the boat will be splashed in the slip at Cape May like usual for striped bass and drum fishing on Delaware Bay.

Striped bass on Delaware Bay failed to be hooked on Wednesday, according to reports that Capt. Tom from the <b>Fishin’ Fever</b> heard, he said. He ran no trips since Sunday because of the weather. A trip is slated for Friday, and if hears about no stripers, and locates no good numbers, he might switch to drumfishing that day. The new moon is on Friday, and the days around the moon can trigger the fish to eat. Catches could be good. A few drum were boated so far this season, and marks were sometimes seen that appeared to be a bunch of drum. The fish in the past have been known to stack up in the bay in the early season and only suck up food at certain times, like the moons. Fishin’ Fever is also up for togging and sea bassing, and Tom heard that tog catches were on fire. Get them before the season closes next week on Friday. Nobody fished the deeper waters for sea bass, but a few were hung closer to shore, and if they’re there, Tom thinks they’re probably thick at the deeper areas, on their migration from offshore. Fishin’ Fever offers both charters and shared charters.

Surf fishing for striped bass started to pick up along the ocean front, said Nick from <b>Hands Too Bait & Tackle</b>. Clams were the bait to toss, and few anglers fished the suds, but they should get out there, time to begin. Wildwood was productive at times, and Poverty Beach in Cape May put out on occasion. Boaters on Delaware Bay found striped bass fishing turned tough by the weekend, but some supposedly trolled the fish on Bomber plugs. The fish seemed not to hang along the bottom, where the anglers normally clammed for them. The Bombers got higher up in the water column. Striper fishing on the back bay was yet to kick in for the most part, but give it time. But tog were willing to chomp along the Cape May Inlet jetties and places like the Rope Barge in the ocean. No blues or weakfish migrated to the coast, but the fish are due. Plenty of fresh clams are stocked, and bloodworms, green crabs and frozen baits are on hand.

Back to Top