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Toms River
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A striped bass, the year’s first, was brought to Hook House Bait & Tackle, Dennis said. The angler clocked the fish from the Toms River on Saturday and won the $100 gift certificate to the store for the first. Other keepers also came from the river lately, among throwbacks, and striper fishing was great on the river, and getting better. Most were angled at night, and some were hooked at daybreak. The fish were grabbed this morning at Island Heights and Bayville. A customer said the top 4 inches of the river were 50 degrees at Bayville this morning. The river’s striper fishing was slow in the middle of the day lately. The bass were bloodwormed, and fishing for them with lures was good, too. Rapala X-Raps, Yozuri 3D Minnows and Kettle Creek shads were the top sellers for that. The river’s white perch fishing slowed, maybe because stripers were so abundant. Throw a hook in the water, and you’re likely to hook a striper before a chance at a perch. Stripers began to be wormed from Barnegat Bay at Seaside off the docks, too. Stripers were everywhere. Pushes of bunker showed up in Manasquan River and the Sandy Hook area. Winter flounder fishing improved beginning Saturday. One angler limited out on two Sunday on the Toms. Two anglers on a boat limited this weekend on a trip on that river. One of their flounder had mud on its back, and the others did not. There seemed a mix of flounder just coming out of the mud and others that were out and about a while. Dennis’s nephew limited on flounder off Pelican Island. A few flounder and stripers were heard about from the Mantoloking Bridge area, too. A few bluefish were rumored caught in the Barnegat Bay area, and anglers said they saw photos on Facebook. But Dennis saw no blues first-hand, and the earliest he ever saw blues locally was in the final week of March 2016. He’s lived along the Toms all his life. Blues traditionally show up around April 12 or 13 locally. No blues were even heard about from Delaware yet. Usually blues are reported from there. Then they’re reported from the Atlantic City area, and quickly they arrive locally afterward. Bloodworms are stocked. For freshwater, shiners, killies, nightcrawlers and garden worms are carried. Hook House, located on Route 37, also owns Go Fish Bait & Tackle on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River.
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