Zone Fishing Reports for the week of Oct. 4 Written by | By John Oswald and Dan Radel Zone 1: Verrazano Bridge to Highlands Bridge Jimmy Morenz at Julian’s Bait and Tackle said he had nothing to report from Sandy Hook because it’s closed and people are not too happy about it. The surf anglers are going south to Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach and finding bass in the dark and blues when the sun comes up. There are spot from the beach and The porgy fishing is excellent. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said Walter Fisher from Hazlet is catching giant blues jigging Avas at the Mud Buoy. He weighed in a pair of choppers at 22 pounds, 12 ounces and 20 pounds, 4 ounces on Wednesday. Mike Ramm from Keyport is catching big weakfish on the Knoll, with a 7½ pounder also caught on Wednesday. Capt. Hal Hagaman of the Sea Tiger II, Atlantic Highlands, said the porgy fishing is very good close to the dock with mostly keepers. The only problem is lack of anglers. “The fishing is good and the weather is great, just not enough people,” he said. The weekend looks good, so he’s hoping more folks come down to take advantage of it. Capt. Scott Hilliard of the Prowler 5 also lamented the lack of people getting in on these great conditions. He carried a light crowd on Tuesday and banged away at the big porgies. They are fun to catch and make a great meal. Capt. George Bachert on the Angler out of Atlantic Highlands said Tuesday’s trip was the best sea bass fishing since the season opened. One regular had 18 sea bass and 42 porgies. There were some triggerfish in the mix, too. Capt. Rob of the Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands began his striper season today, sailing every day from 7:30 to 2:30. Capt. Stan on the Elaine B. out of Highlands said a beautiful Tuesday provided his customers with a nice mix of porgies, sea bass and some blackfish. Zone 2: Sea Bright to Shark River Inlet Jack Monteiro at Surf Side Bait and Tackle in Long Branch said the fishing has been awesome. A mix of cocktail blues and stripers up to 17 pounds hit the beach Tuesday afternoon within walking distance from the shop and stayed until early evening. The five or six anglers that were there were hooking up on every cast, tossing yellow bombers. Ray Crelin at Long Branch Bait and Tackle also reported bluefish blitzes in the Long Branch surf and stripers being caught in low light on poppers and swimmers. There are also some big blues back in the Shrewsbury River. The water in the river is still very warm, but the crabbing has slowed down. Ernie Giglio at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Long Branch said one regular customer is doing very well drifting worms in the Shrewsbury River for stripers. The guys fishing clams off the beach are also picking up a number of bass. The croakers and spot seem to be taking a breather after biting well all summer. Dominick at the Bait Shop in Bradley Beach said Harold Burns and Ricky Donofrio trolled bunker spoons and umbrella rigs this past Monday and caught stripers up to 18 pounds. He said it was a little quiet on the beach this week with some bass taken on black or black and purple plugs in the surf, and he caught a couple of small blues early Thursday morning. Barbara over at the Oceanic Marina said things have quieted down over there as well with one crabber returning to the dock with just about a dozen blue claws. Zone 3: Belmar to Sea Tow Manasquan Inlet Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said the sea bass fishing over the weekend didn’t live up to everyone’s expectations, but updates from the Den reported a definite improvement in the action. Mathews said the boats have been getting giant blues and a good number of albies. The surf continues to hold a pick of stripers. SP Minnows with a teaser are producing fish. Shark River anglers still have snappers, kingfish and small porgies to keep them busy. Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer out of Belmar said the sea bass fishing was decent Tuesday and Wednesday, with Tuesday being the better of the two. High hook on Tuesday was a limit catch of sea bass and Capt. Quinn said some nice ones were caught on jigs on Wednesday, Ava 27s with no tails were the ticket. Capt. Chris Hueth on the Big Mohawk said he was very happy with the bottom fishing, finding a nice mix of porgies and black sea bass for his customers. Capt. Ron Kish of the Capt. Cal II, Belmar, also reported good sea bass fishing for the last several days with some limit catches and everyone going home with sea bass for the table. Capt. Rich Falcone of the Golden Eagle Belmar continues to hammer away at the monster blues up to 20 pounds. He’s been catching them consistently for days on end and also got some false albacore into the mix. Greg Bogan of Brielle Bait and Tackle said there are small blues at the Manasquan Inlet and anglers are getting small bass on eels at the Route 35 Bridge. Zone 4: Point Pleasant to Seaside Heights Capt. Willy Egerter of the Dauntless out of Point Pleasant Beach said the sea bass fishing wasn’t as good as he hoped it would be when the season opened up again. Egerter was hopeful the bite could pick up as water temeperatures continue to cool. The flip side is the porgy action remains hot and anglers are making catches of 20 to 50 fish per outing. Edddy Macon of Blairstown had eight Keeper sea bass and 40 porgies for his catch and Dave Bender of Aberdeen also had 40 Porgies and had 11 keeper sea bass. Capt. Matt Sosnowski of the Norma K III, Point Pleasant Beach, said they are picking away at sea bass and blackfish on the structures. High hooks for the bass have been from 10 to 15 fish. He had a nice 5-pound blackfish landed on one spot. Last Friday nights bluefish trip was so-so, but they got a bite going Saturday night with 7- to 15-pound fish. Adam LaRosa of the Canyon Runner out of Point Pleasant reports they are closing in on 100 bigeye tuna catches for the season. Capt. Phil Dulanie landed four on their latest trip. In the surf, the Dock Outfitters in Seaside Heights report small blues with small to keeper sized bass mixed in. Bait or artificials both seem to be working. Zone 5: Seaside Park to Island Beach State Park “This weather will not last forever so take advantage of it,” said Tom Hansen at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park. Hansen said not a lot of fishermen are on the beaches so it’s hard to gauge the fishing action. The sand eels have moved into the surf so Hansen said have some skinny metals and teasers in your arsenal when you go to the beach. Baits that are working are fresh mullet, clams and bunker. The blues are around and continue to delight some and frustrate others. There are also bass to be had by those who are putting some time into it. John Bushell at Betty and Nick’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park reports long-time customer Kevin Deiter fished Island Beach State Park landed seven short striped bass on metal, teasers, and poppers. “There is plenty of decent action out there if you are on the beach,” Bushell said. There were also some keeper bass landed on the island on clams. He had reports of other anglers doing equally well with bluefish on small metals. Capt. Bob DeSantis of the Skipjack II out of Waretown said he will begin targeting striped bass. Weather conditions kept him at the dock last weekend. Zone 6: Barnegat Light to Brigantine Capt. Charlie Eble of the Doris Mae IV out of Barnegat Light reports the mahi-mahi fishing in the offshore canyons remains good. The tuna have been showing up at first light though the bite isn’t lasting long. “We have been getting quite a mammal show, there are just loads of dolphin and a wide variety of whales, its really quite a sight,” Eble said. The Miss Barnegat Light has been fishing for bluefish, bonito and false albacore. Last weekend they had showings of all three fish. Capt. Alex Majewski of Lighthouse Sportfishing out of Barnegat said some nicer blues have started showing up ready to torture his light tackle gear. He’s also finding striped bass biting in the Barnegat Inlet and in some spots in Barnegat Bay. Sea bass are biting in Barnegat Inlet reports Tony’s Bait and Tackle in Manahawkin. Strongnortheast winds made fishing tough last weekend butCapt. Fran Verdi of the Francesca Marie out of Beach Haven was able to fish for sea bass and put some nice keepers into the fish box. The high seas made fishing a bit uncomfortable as well as hampering efforts to locate the boat exactly over the structure that he wanted to fish.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 14:57:08 +0000
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