New Jersey & Delaware Bay - Central New Jersey Fishing Reports

Capt. Howard said sea bass are biting for anglers aboard the 125’ Big Jamaica. “Fishing has been very good,” was the report we received over the weekend. The skipper said the boat will be making afternoon trips for sea bass on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Congrats to Capt. Deane and the Canyon Runner Sportfishing crew for taking top honors in the wahoo category at this year’s MidAtlantic. There was only one ‘hoo weighed in this year, so the Canyon Runner’s 42-pounder ended up sweeping all three places in the category which was good for $135,736.

“Only 50 tickets left,” was the word we received on Monday morning from the Canyon Runner Crew. Their big offshore event in Atlantic City is this Saturday, with $150 admission price. “Please do not wait any longer to get your tickets we only have 50 tickets left and doubt there will be any available at the door,” was the final word to start the week. For details call 732-272-4445 or email info@canyonrunner.com

Kevin Fahey at Curlew Charters said they will be getting in the water the second week of April.

Frank at Gabriel Tackle said folks are landing fluke, blues, and Spanish mackerel in the inlet. The Manasquan River and Barnegat Bay are producing a mix of short and keeper fluke. There is decent striper fishing in the Manasquan at night. They are hitting Kettle Creeks and eels. The canal is producing blues, stripers, and fluke. Crabbing has been great at the Mantoloking Bridge. During the day, you can land some fluke in that area, and reel in some stripers at night. The south end of the bay has some blowfish and blues. For anglers who like fishing the surf, there are kingfish, blues, and fluke. The blues are hitting metals and SP Minnows while fluke are eyeing up the Gulp.

Hunter at Charlie’s Bait & Tackle said the surf is offering up some small blues on diamond jigs, bunker, and clam. Fluke are also being landed in the surf on spearing and squid. Anglers are getting fluke out on the boats as well. The bay has some snappers popping up and hitting spearing. Crabbing has been good.

Frank at Gabriel’s Bait and Tackle said the striper bite remains good in the bay and rivers on bloods or sands. You could also hit the Mantoloking Bridge late night or early morning with some swim shads or SP Minnows and have some fun. Also, there have been a few reports of stripers in the canal. The striper bite off the local beaches is picking up each day. Anglers hitting the local lakes and streams are doing very well with trout fishing and bass fishing. Great reports continue on the striper bite from Raritan Bay, either on a boat or from the surf.

Tom at The Dock Outfitters said folks are catching a lot of blowfish off the dock and in the back bay. Kingfish are also keeping anglers entertained off their dock. Crabbing is fair off the dock, and good in boats.

Our friends at Betty & Nick’s said they haven’t heard much this week but do know that you can get a lot of small blues off the surf on metals.

John at Betty & Nick’s reminded anglers to log in to the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife website to get details on the mobile surf fishing permits for Island Beach State Park, reminding surfcasters that the passes ran out in 2020.

Bob at Better Bait and Ice said folks are landing fluke in the Toms River, but they are small. For the bigger ones, fish closer to the inlet near the BB and BI. Near the bridge and behind the hospital in the Manasquan, folks have landed a handful of bigger fluke. Kids are having fun catching snappers on squid.

Mike at Hook House Bait & Tackle & Go Fish Bait and Tackle said anglers are getting stripers and kingfish off the surf. At night, sharks and rays are bending rods. Inside the bay, folks are landing fluke by the BB buoy. In the Toms River, snappers and crabs can be caught.

Capt. Tom of Dialed in Sportfishing said they have been targeting stripers and the fishing has been excellent. Folks are getting limits everyday with fish up to 30 pounds. Numerous releases as well with great action. They have some openings for sea bass coming up. Both boats ran this week and reported phenomenal fishing.

Skylar at Grizz’s Bait and Tackle said she heard reports of stripers and a few dogfish. Stripers are being landed by the rocks, out to 90 feet of water. Bloodworms are working to get them biting.

Dan at Lacey Marine said fluking has been hot in the bay just north of the BI buoy, Research Can, Double Creek Channel, and the inlet. Bucktails tipped with 5-inch Gulp grubs and killies have been the ticket all year. Pink shine and nuclear chicken have been the hot colors. Outside at the Tires is picking up as well. Forked River Tuna Club member Chris Fels stopped by Monday afternoon to weigh a 9.4-pound fluke that hit a bucktail with gulp in the inlet. Blowfishing is slowly picking up east of the Research Can and by the 42. Snappers are starting to make an appearance in the lagoons and crabbing has been great too. Offshore bluefin and albies are near the Resor and AP. There are yellowfin and big eyes in the canyons. They are open Sunday through Friday at 6 a.m., 5 a.m. on Saturdays!

Dan Tholen at Lacey Marine said blowfish are still around in good numbers, but the fish are on the smaller side. Chumming in 6 feet of water between the BB and BI buoys is the best method and location for success. Blues are nailing plugs and poppers in the north pocket of the inlet and there are some false albacore and Spanish mackerel mixed in and the occasional striper as well. Weakfish have been hitting pink Zooms and peanut bunker near the 42 marker and in Myers Hole. Sea bass opened up to decent reports at Garden State North and one of their customers even had a 9-pound blackfish that he weighed in on Friday.

Capt. Ray aboard Miss Liane Sportfishing said he’s been doing a lot of fishing offshore in recent weeks when weather allows, and said the Triple Wrecks has been the place to be for big yellowfin.

Capt. Joe Rizzo of Barnegat Bay Fishing Charters got out Saturday in Oyster Creek and had some pretty good fishing. They managed a limit of blues. Anglers also reeled in half a dozen croakers. They used bunker chum and live minnows. Later in the day, he put out some crab traps and got half a basket of crabs.

Liza at Creekside Outfitters said they had a few weigh-ins this weekend. One was a 9-pound fluke caught by Rob Roy. Rob also reeled in a 2.06-pound sea bass. Three more fluke were brought in by Kyle Chudzinski. Two were just under 5 pounds while the third was right around 4 pounds. Folks are getting king mackerel at the ridge. Tuna are keeping folks busy at the triple wrecks and the ridge. There is still word of a ton of blowfish. Crabbing and clamming has been great.

Vince at Bobbie's Boats said striper fishing has been great on the rocks. Fluke fishing is also very good. All the sea bass anglers are doing good on wrecks using clams, squid, and Gulp.

Capt. Sam Rescigno of the Mary M IV said they have been going out for fluke which has been good depending on conditions. If they get a decent drift, they will manage a few limits. There are quite a few shorts. Some sea bass were caught and released as well. They are coming up with a mix of bonito, albacore, and Spanish mackerel.

Mike at Fisherman’s Headquarters said there was really good fluke fishing in the ocean this week. The Garden State Reef has been on fire with some fish up to 10 pounds. The surf is offering up some blues and sharks. The bay has some weakfish and short fluke.

Steve and Carole Ann Palmer at Jingle’s Bait and Tackle in Beach Haven are currently expanding the location and Jingle’s will be much bigger with a lot more product in stock. They said they hope to have the shop reopened by April 1.

The boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are facing a dilemma every time they leave the dock; exactly which species to target! Black sea bass fishing on the inshore wrecks and artificial reefs is very good right now. The summer flounder season has opened, and some decent catches have been made. To top everything off, there are good numbers of striped bass around, especially in the Barnegat Inlet area. The Star Fish under Capt. Carl Sheppard had several wreck fishing trips in the past days and returned to dock with some sea bass along with ling. Capt. Brett Taylor of Reel Reaction Sportfishing had client Aaron Edelman and crew out and found an isolated school of weakfish early with the anglers keeping five weakies to 6 pounds while releasing 35 others. They then hit an off-channel area to put two keeper striped bass in the boat while releasing six others. The crew added a few small blues in the mix. Capt. Gary Dugan of the Irish Jig has been finding some “drop and reel” action on inshore wrecks with sea bass along with ling. He fished a party for summer flounder in Great Bay and found a bit of action while managing one keeper. Capt. Gary expects the flounder action in the bay to improve as water temperatures climb.

Members of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association managed better action heading into last weekend once ocean conditions settled down after the Memorial Day weekend nor’easter. The Star Fish with Capt. Carl Sheppard and mates Jon and Max had a local family out for a day of active bottom fishing, which according the crew caught many fish. Capt. Gary Dugan of the Irish Jig made a quick scouting trip with his wife Tracy before the weekend, boating a nice fluke in the Great Bay area for a fresh fish dinner. Capt. Dugan also found good action for his charter in the Raging Raymond tournament over the weekend.

Capt. John Lewis of Insatiable Charters and the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association passed along great news at the end of last week. Apparently, Bill Figley (former NJDEP reef coordinator) got a call from Pete Clark (the new NJDEP reef coordinator) about the BHCFA’s Junior Mate Reef Project and the tentative go ahead for this week. “The boats for Little Egg Reef, a 140-foot barge, a tug boat and a push boat will be up here early next week,” Capt. John said on Friday, saying that didn’t have an exact date but he was hoping for Tuesday morning. For more on the possible reef deployment stay tuned in to Jim Hutchinson’s regular Thursday video forecast for updates.

Tyler at Surf City Bait & Tackle said folks are getting fluke and kingfish off the beach. Fluke are hitting Gulp with bucktails and kingfish are going after bloodworms and Fishbites. The bay has some blues that are hitting shiners. They still have their fishing class every Sunday at 6 p.m.