NJ fishing report-2019

[SkunkBoat]

First post of the 2019 season.
The Grady is docked. Have a minor leak ing my new steering/autopilot...Shadow drive fitting leaking...

But...Stripers are stacked up in the dock light on a running outgoing tide.

[Destroyer]

As much as I love a good Striper dinner I'm not going to harvest any of them this year. Declining stocks, poaching and a host of other reasons. So it's catch and release them for me. Switching to circle hooks also to minimize damage to the fish. :head:

[SkunkBoat]

I only keep a couple a season. one in the spring, one in the fall. Try to keep the "Just a keeper" size. Have to save freezer space for mahi, tuna and seabass....

I've only ever use 8/0 circles for live-lining bunker because they work better than J hooks. I like the down turned eye and I snell them onto a 40# mono leader.

As for fishing reports- Stripers from 12" to 26" on my dock in Manasquan river. Night outgoing tide under a light is best but my brother has caught onesy-twosy in daytime when its really cranking...

Bluefish invaded the river yesterday....

Weather sucks for outside the inlet.

There is a beautiful Gulf Stream eddy in Toms Canyon and BFT have been caught.:sly:

[Destroyer]

I only keep a couple a season. one in the spring, one in the fall. Try to keep the "Just a keeper" size. Have to save freezer space for mahi, tuna and seabass....

I've only ever use 8/0 circles for live-lining bunker because they work better than J hooks. I like the down turned eye and I snell them onto a 40# mono leader.

As for fishing reports- Stripers from 12" to 26" on my dock in Manasquan river. Night outgoing tide under a light is best but my brother has caught onesy-twosy in daytime when its really cranking...

Bluefish invaded the river yesterday....

Weather sucks for outside the inlet.

There is a beautiful Gulf Stream eddy in Toms Canyon and BFT have been caught.:sly:

There's talk of new restrictions for the Stripers. https://www.onthewater.com/striped-bass-managers-vote-to-take-action?utm_source=On+the+Water+Subscribers&utm_campaign=8103024a97-Fishing+Forecast+-+NJ+2019-05-02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e472593b57-8103024a97-232445377&mc_cid=8103024a97&mc_eid=f3935f98a3 Personally I wouldn't be upset if they banned taking ANY of them (Both Recreational and Commercial) for a season or two.

Thank you on using Circles :) I've been getting 12" -18" in the Hackensack River near the power plant and up river around the Rt 3 Bridge. Fun to catch.

[SkunkBoat]

Bluefins were hitting my dock yesterdaybut they weren't coming from MY cooler....these were schoolies 40-60 lbs but we've seen some 400s weighed every couple days.
We took a ride out 65miles last week and saw a hundred humpback whales but no tuna. Gotta put in some time & gas. Schoolies have been seen and sometimes caught inside of 40 miles on out to the Toms canyon.
Some giants have been seen crushing bunker a few miles off the beach but no one can get one to bite

We took and easy day Monday and got out to Axel Carlson reef for some sea bassin'.
We managed 12 keepers and some ling too.
https://i.imgur.com/VgVKMNQl.jpg

My brother is down at his place in Alabama. He got one of his biggest Weiss Lake stripers the other day. Doesn't have to got far...thats his dock behind him.
https://i.imgur.com/HBWysgbl.jpg

[steplift20]

Me personally I don't like stripper fishing and if I do catch one I will keep the 28 in her and release the bigger ones if I'm fishing with my sons I will only keep one per person I'm a rare one who actually likes the taste of blue fish , bleed them and throw them on ice and when I fillet it I remove all the dark meat , and if that didn't get your attention I Aldo like false albacore, same thing bleed them ice them fillet the fish cut the meat in chunks and boil it, smells bad and all the slime goes to the top but it is very good, it's tuna fish . I eT sea robins too, and no I don't eat bunker at least not yet ,.

[Blue_Runner]

we caught 2 big Rockin Robins this past weekend. Should have kept and tried them.

[steplift20]

Fillet the tails, and remove the pin bones ,you will feel them,I just cut them out. There very good to eat, try them let me know what you think.

[SkunkBoat]

BFT at Resor

Youtube video: https://youtu.be/Lug-05gI15s


https://i.imgur.com/F4xKcUyl.jpg

[Giorgio]

Nice video and well done. :clap:

[phatdaddy]

Great video, best part is you stayed true to your school and still fly your V-20 colors

[SkunkBoat]

Got this 55" Bluefin, we're guessing 75 or 80#, near the Princess on Saturday afternoon, then we came in and gassed up for a Toms canyon run on Sunday. Seas were not as flat as predicted but we went anyways. Tried the Princess at sunrise on the way out with no luck. Got to Toms at 1030. Found edge of warm gulf stream eddy 71deg. We missed out on the good Bigeye bite at sunrise. Reports of mahi between Toms and Hudson. Got no bites trolling so switched to tile fishing. We quickly limited out on Bluelines. the first bite was immediate and a 50 bent butt was really bent, came up with a double with one monster and the bottom hook and weight gone

Can't say enough about the ride of this Grady 265 and the new Garmin autopilot is just fantastic on a bumpy 4 hour ride

https://i.imgur.com/t5DjcVyl.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/FY7HsEjl.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/Wdr00Asl.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/k7y97Cdl.jpg

[SkunkBoat]

Wed/thurs/Fri is V20 weather. Your chance to run 40-45 miles from Manasquan for a really good shot at Bluefins.

[phatdaddy]

Nice report skunk. Great photos. I spent all weekend putting in laminate flooring

[Giorgio]

Nicely done with great shots!!! :clap:

[SkunkBoat]

left at 7pm Wed to run to the Princess. put lines out short of there before we lost light. just a small bluefish but that made a fresh shark bait. drifted for shark/tuna all night
bluefish got bit in less than 30 minutes ...small Dusky.
covered in squid under my new blue light stick. they didn't bite very well we got less than a dozen for baits...left the throw net at home:bat:...
dolphins and pilot whales came thru every hour and filled up on squid.
got a very small mako about 2 am. no tuna bites.
started to troll at 430am, first bluefin 46" at 5am, second bluefin 52" at 520am

headed to the tip of the Hudson Canyon. searched for tilefish for a couple hours with no luck just a handful of spotted hake, a whiting and a tiny rosey.

Hit the lobster pot markers on the way in and found some beautiful mahi.
One pot had an 18 pound bull and 12 pound cow and another 10 pounder.

https://i.imgur.com/TOPktdVl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/p8zSC9Ul.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/4jwiIe2l.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/Vf7i3m1l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VWyJBr6l.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/O7CNNqll.jpg?1
My 1/4 share of tuna...18 pounds!!! and 5 pounds of mahi!:sun:
https://i.imgur.com/iJ1PpT3m.jpg?1

[Giorgio]

Now that's a catch!!!! :clap::clap::clap: Beautiful pictures.

[SkunkBoat]

here is some video

https://youtu.be/KH1BD8kyxR4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz4Rf-R8-Jg

[Pipe_Dream]

NICE! :clap:

[Giorgio]

OH YEAH!!!!! :beer::beer::beer:

[bgreene]

Skunk - please send pic of your drivers license to verify it’s you who caught those fish.....because without, those pics and videos are worthless.

[SkunkBoat]

got a 24" fluke at north end of Axel Carlson reef. handful of shorts too.
South end was covered with sea robins

https://i.imgur.com/fzVv9ldl.jpg?1

[Giorgio]

Beautiful fish :love::love::love: :clap::clap::clap:

[bgreene]

Nice fish....I’m sure they’ll like to see it on the Grady White web site.

[SkunkBoat]

7/15 Monday morning I was at the Axel Carlson off Mantoloking again. South end was dead. drifted almost an hour then caught a skate so we moved.
Middle of the reef between rockpilez had fluke. we got 2 keepers and 10 throwbacks. No seabass on the rockpiles was surprising. We trolled a 15" spanish mackerel between drifts. Docked & cleaned up by 1130. Fried Fluke for lunch.

[SkunkBoat]

still jigging bluefins near the Atlantic Princess. Catching mahi on the pots in the Glory hole. Got 2 bluefins and 4 mahi again on Monday.
https://i.imgur.com/aVedCd6l.jpg?1

[Giorgio]

Nicely done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:clap::clap::clap:

[SkunkBoat]

Nicely done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:clap::clap::clap:

you can see by the glassy water that it was V20 weather. I would have been there in the Skunkboat for sure.

[bgreene]

Yeh but you’re not in a V.........

So it doesn’t count without pics......from a v

[SkunkBoat]

Yeh but you’re not in a V.........

So it doesn’t count without pics......from a v

https://i.imgur.com/IT5uSWwl.jpg


I'm sorry I offended you when I clicked on the :thre:
I like pix and videos, they add to the conversation. I assure you I will never ask to see a pic from you again.

I'm sorry my Grady offends you.

[SkunkBoat]

the wind finally died so we ran out to the Mudhole late yesterday evening.
Trolled a nice dolphin on the second pot marker and then nothing for miles. Fished a wreck on Shark River reef from sunset to 11 pm and got a bucket of ling and a sea bass(Season closed at midnight!) Beautiful night.

https://i.imgur.com/pzEwefSl.jpg?1

[Giorgio]

Good eating and it looks like you had a nice day on the water.:clap:

[Destroyer]

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

[SkunkBoat]

9-16 Monday- Took a lazy day Monday...got to the boat at 830, gassed up and ran in near flat seas to the Mud Hole pots...nothing but false albies(aka bonita)

Debated running to Glory Hole pots or wreck fishing. Decided to hop pots down the west side of the mud hole to the Lillian wreck area and try to find it. I have three numbers for it and there is nothing at any of them... While we were there we heard on vhf that the Glory Hole pots were covered in dolphin.

So... ran there and stopped on the first pots we came upon.... 30 fish limit... awesome day!

No trolling just throwing albie chunks at pots and catching dolphin on spinning rods. We were 39.5 miles east of Manasquan Inlet.

https://i.imgur.com/1L8EDmMl.jpg?1

[Giorgio]

Nicely done!!!!! :clap::clap::clap:

[Pipe_Dream]

9-16 Monday- Took a lazy day Monday...got to the boat at 830, gassed up and ran in near flat seas to the Mud Hole pots...nothing but false albies(aka bonita)

Debated running to Glory Hole pots or wreck fishing. Decided to hop pots down the west side of the mud hole to the Lillian wreck area and try to find it. I have three numbers for it and there is nothing at any of them... While we were there we heard on vhf that the Glory Hole pots were covered in dolphin.

So... ran there and stopped on the first pots we came upon.... 30 fish limit... awesome day!

No trolling just throwing albie chunks at pots and catching dolphin on spinning rods. We were 39.5 miles east of Manasquan Inlet.

https://i.imgur.com/1L8EDmMl.jpg?1

Tremendous!

[SkunkBoat]

We caught a throw net full of very small Ballyhoo in Manasquan river last night. I have never seen ballyhoo in NJ.
These were from 3" to maybe 5". some were smaller and went thru the net.
My brother lived in Florida for decades and has never seen ballyhoo this small, ever. And he has caught thousands of ballyhoo for bait.

So I put one on a hook and caught a 16 " striper on a live ballyhoo. Don't think anyone in the world can claim to have done that!

https://i.imgur.com/DWHpEz2l.jpg?1


So a dock mate was walking by and we showed him and he shows us a picture on his phone of a 4" dolphin (mahi mahi) caught in a throw net in Barnegat Bay!

Bring on that global warming! We'll be catching sailfish in the mud hole in a few years at this pace!

[SkunkBoat]

ran out by myself this afternoon at 2:30 to the Sea Girt reef. Managed to get 4 keeper sea bass before calling it quits at 4:45. Wind had kicked up and I was not anchored. Basically drop on top of wreck, get bit immediately, catch fish or lose bait, off the wreck, go back around & try again .

Hoping to get out tomorrow afternoon. supposed to be flat. Maybe run to Shark River reef for sea bass and look for mahi & bluefins.

https://i.imgur.com/WIbLj2zl.jpg?1

[steplift20]

It looks me your docked at AHMM did you go to the mud hole in a steplift ? That's a ride. You had a great day , I'm jealous

[Giorgio]

Four Sea bass, now there is some good eating, ENJOY!!!! :clap:

[SkunkBoat]

There are 70 pound bluefins taunting anglers 8 miles east of Sea Girt in 78 ft of water.

Like everyone else, I could not catch one trolling, popping or jigging.

They are keyed in on sand eels at the surface.

At one point they were 10 feet from my boat.

I did hear of one guy catching an 80 pounder.

[SkunkBoat]

This morning straight out of Manasquan Inlet in 70 ft on a popper
https://i.imgur.com/BqjW8YUl.jpg?1

[Pipe_Dream]

This morning straight out of Manasquan Inlet in 70 ft on a popper
https://i.imgur.com/BqjW8YUl.jpg?1
NICE!! :clap:

[SkunkBoat]

We did an afternoon trip Thursday in flat seas. Found short bass everywhere on the surface. The screen was lit up but dropping jigs only caught dogfish.
We were using light gear and small jigs (up high in the water)and one guy was using a popper. He caught fewer but they were smacking it with reckless abandon.
Lost count of how many caught.
These were the same fish we've been catching on the dock at night all year, so that's done for the year.
We got one surprise 20 something pounder in the mix so there are big ones out there.

Ran home in flat water at 43 mph. Pulling the boat Saturday.

https://i.imgur.com/PbGyoz3l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SuFynnxl.jpg

[Giorgio]

Another fishing trip well done!!!!! :clap:

[bgreene]

My 2019 season ......

Fluke........fewer fish at all the usual ocean spots I fish .
Blues........fewer fish
Stripers....lots of fish from Raritan to ocean, but I read slow elsewhere
Seabass....lots of early season fish, very slow fall
Other........some ling, one bonito, some other species
Sightings...whales, dolphin, ocean sun

[Giorgio]

Lets see, here is my 2019 season in a nutshell:

Fluke - 52 - 1 keeper @ 20" - too many shorts
Blues - 0 - We didn't really go for them this year
Sea Bass - 52 - 1 keeper @ 16" - way too many shorts
Stripers - 0 - didn't fish for them this year
Porgy's - 32 - 20 keepers - we only kept fish 11" or bigger
Black fish- 451 - 15 keepers - way too many shorts threw back plenty
of 15 and 15 1/2" fish.

Other - Sea Robins - 59