Striped Bass Report, Jersey Shore

Crew keeps some for home, have a big party make a few dishes and we consume large amounts of sushi all night. the rest is donated to a friends non profit shelter.and we chefs fight for the cheeks of the tuna.

the good money is in shark fins if you are looking to make some cash.
 
We did a SW Fly-fishing class yesterday for 20 students at IBSP. Nothing happening there: no birds or bait or fish to be seen (or caught) and few anglers on the beach. The water temp was still in the mid 60's. Still too early. Hopefully things will start happening at the NJ shore in the next few weeks.
 
Sounds good shoot me a pm
 
No jam this year? Not that ive made it to the past ones I always wanted to try to get to it.
 
Saw some talk about it the second or third weekend in november. Not sure if it ever materialized though. I too would like to make it to one.
 
Sure, people are catching fish here and there, but man, the fall fishery has declined so much in the last 10 years. IF it does turn on, it is later and later into the season. When was the last time you fished over rafts of peanuts? And bass swirling through them.
 
VC,
I fished the fall NJ run off Sandy Hook regularly for 5 years via boat from 2007 to 2012. The really good, consistent fishing always occurred between Nov 15 and Dec 15.
 
Bosshog wrote:
Saw some talk about it the second or third weekend in november. Not sure if it ever materialized though. I too would like to make it to one.
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Its the weekend before thanksgiving 21-23 all are welcome to join . But I am not really advertising it . If you want more info shoot me a pm
 
The fishing has changed in jersey over the past years. it used to be schools of peanuts now it sandeels. which isn't a bad thing. sandeels stay in the same spot peanuts are always moving. Your not gonna get the true blitz but the fishing is much more consistent.
 
vcregular wrote:
Sure, people are catching fish here and there, but man, the fall fishery has declined so much in the last 10 years. IF it does turn on, it is later and later into the season. When was the last time you fished over rafts of peanuts? And bass swirling through them.
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Honestly I have never fished for bass when they were on peanuts which is sad . Hopefully with the new restrictions in place this year on bunker the populations will increase quickly. And hopefully the new striper regs I voted on get put in place to increase there populations as well. Since I started flyfishing there has been a trend for me that my favorite species to fish for first smallies now stripers has made a dramatic decline once I started fishing for them and I never kept a single fish .
 
I can say that the peanut ting is cool and all but its a short lived thing. I think you are more likely to see a school of adult bunker then peanuts now. Im sure over fishing has something to do with it but it might just be where we are located. I only have been able to hit two what I call peanut blitz. This was before my fly fishing. But like I said before all hell breaks lose for about twenty minutes then stops. I fine with the sandeels you can have two or three hours of consistent fishing before the dish move off the beach. Even then you can pick stragglers off. By far my most memorable blitz experience was in september when there were ten pound blues smashing big mullet. They were biggers then the normal ones you see. Water was red form blood and fish on topwater ever cast. Again this was before my fly fishing days. I think the one spot where ive seen peanut blitzes the most is in monmouth. On a section of beach right above jetty county. They always seem to hang two or three hundred yards off the beach. Boat guys kill them but then never seem to come in.
 
not much happening @ Sandy Hook on Saturday. Some Shad, 1 Schoolie, none caught by me. Rainbait.
 
We haven't had a good fall run since around 2008 or before. I've fished Jersey with a fly rod since 1999. There used to be beaches full of peanuts for weeks at a time. 100 fish nights on rainbait. It just isn't there anymore. There aren't as many stripers. It was never a matter of "will I catch fish today?" It was a matter of "will I catch many big fish today?". Peanut blitzes lasted for days. I think it peaked around 2005-2006 and has been in decline ever since. Sandeels are great. We used to have them, as well, but not until after the herring run in December. It used to be that, from about October 15-20 to right around X-mas, you could pretty much guarantee you were going to catch a few fish any time you went, if you knew what you were doing and the places best to do it. Now, crickets. I used to get about half a dozen each fall better than 20# from the beach on the fly rod, and another dozen on plugs. There were days around Thanksgiving in 2004 or 2005 when I caught 200 stripers in three days at the North Jetty on a fly rod. Nights where I completely wore out a new fly line in Bradley Beach in 2002. I used to catch more stripers in a night from shore than I do in a year, now. If something doesn't change and change quick, you might as well just save those 8-10 weights for musky and tarpon.
 
I'll say that in the Spring this year (from the boat), we had large stripers feeds on adult bunker. It was insane and very cool. Basically snagging bunker, put them on a circle hook and let them have it. The big splat and it was like the dinner bell. I've only seen stripers feeding on peanut bunker once. It was last Fall when I was kayak fishing in the back. It was quick, but exciting and the fish were smaller (schoolies). I definitely rely on the sandeels and larger bunker/shad for Fall fishing and Spring.

I'm still undecided on the striper population argument. I have not done this long enough or seen enough hard evidence to make a decision either way. I am in favor of more conservation. Even a slot size limit. Honestly, if you catch and keep a 28" striper, there is alot of meat on that fillet. No need for 3+ fish at that size.
 
Everybody cross your fingers
http://www.asmfc.org/home/2014-Annual-Meeting
 
I heard the party boats did well off shore on Saturday, but that is secondhand info. In know my neighbor did pretty well from his boat this spring, netting bunker and chunking or livelining. Sometimes I wonder if the fish are just staying offshore due to climate or bait changes?
 
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