Northern New Jersey Fishing Report- August 10, 2023

The weather had its way with the fishing this week creating some tough conditions, but the days that were fishable produced nice fluke, sea bass, bluefish and ling.  

Tuna anglers managed to find better action on yellowfin, while there were more reports of southern species in the area with bonito and Spanish mackerel caught.
 
And while we’re still in the heart of summer, there were some hints of changes to come. 

A lot more bait showed up in the ocean this week including rainfish, spearing and bunker. There were also reports of mullet starting to stage in the back of Barnegat Bay. 

Mark Fuduli at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said they continue to get good reports on the fluke bite. As has been the case most of the season, boaters just have to weed through loads of shorts to get to the keepers. Folks are also doing well on the beaches with ½-ounce bucktails tipped with spearing or Gulp jerk baits. Largemouth bass fishing has been decent at Greenwood Lake early in the morning on ned rigs and he had report of 30-inch muskie on a plug. He also reported excellent pickerel fishing at Lake Waywayanda and there were two landlocked salmon taken there earlier this week. 

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the fluking is very good in the Ambrose Channel and the mahi-mahi have moved onto the pots. Sciortino said he was out drifting sandworms earlier this week in an undisclosed location and did very well with striped bass. Anglers are still catching plenty of spot and croakers from the Keansburg Pier, he added, and the snappers are in the local marinas. 

Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright reported much better fluking on the beach this week as more bait appeared in the surf. There’s lot of small blues around as well and Pinto reported that shop regular Rob the Grinder got into bonito at the Shark River Inlet. Crabbing, he said, is good in both the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers. 

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Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch said the fluke bite on the beach has been good there as well with one customer getting a 25-incher in the surf earlier this week. Gleason said snappers showed up along the beaches this week which should keep the fluke interested. He also reported an improvement in the tuna bite with yellowfin showing up in a lot more mid-shore areas. They’re being caught on jigs, poppers and paddletails. There are still some bluefin around feeding on all the squid and there are cobia mixed in with them. 

There’s been a big increase in the amount of bait off Asbury Park, Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach. Big pods of adult bunker popped up off the beaches all week while shoals of smaller baits are hanging around the jetties. The water has been crystal clear this week and the new Ocean Grove pier provides an excellent vantage point to view for what’s going on along the shore. The party boats out of the Belmar Marina, including the Big Mohawk and Capt. Cal II, all reported good fluke fishing this week with plenty of limits, lots of short action and knucklehead sea bass. 

Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar has been finding keeper fluke for his charters and open boat trips. Big sea bass are filling out the catches. Bucktails, Gulp and dragging bait are all working. Capt. Sykes has a few open boat trips scheduled in the coming weeks and details can be found on his website. 

Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said it was a good week for fluke, sea bass and ling. Most of his anglers have been dragging bait and that’s been working just fine. 

Matt Heagen at The Reel Seat in Brielle also said there is suddenly a load of bait around. There are massive amounts of peanut bunker and smaller baits like spearing and bay anchovies at the Manasquan Inlet. He also heard it’s the same story at the Barnegat Inlet and received good reports on sheepshead fishing to the south. There was an increase in Spanish mackerel reports, Heagen said, while he heard of more wahoo being caught on the troll with Cow Bell lures a popular choice. He also reported a better yellowfin bite within a reasonable distance. Fluking remains good in the Manasquan River and bigger stripers are biting at night on plastics and plugs in the river, Heagen added. 

Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said tons of small blues in the 2-pound range have been feasting on all the peanut bunker and other small baits at the Manasquan Inlet. Fluking is still good in the river while folks are catching tog at the Point Pleasant Canal on sand bugs and green crabs. The local reefs are also giving up some bigger fluke as well. Tangen said the bluefin anglers did pretty well on Monday on the squid grounds as there was a lot less boat traffic. Yellowfin, he said, are at the Triple Wrecks out to the Bacardi hitting jigs and poppers. 

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain in New Jersey!

Capt. Kenny Namowitz on the Mimi VI out of Point Pleasant Beach reported a good day of fishing on Wednesday catching a mix of ling, porgies, sea bass, triggerfish, keeper blackfish and fluke. He also reported a successful mid-range tuna trip earlier in the week boating eight and sending everyone home with a cooler full of fish. 

Chris Parlow from Captain Bill’s Landing reported that the weather kept a lot of boats at the dock over the last few days, but before the blow the fluke bite was on. There have been a number of big fluke caught on the local reefs while the squid bite continues at the Tolten Lump.

Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said they were met with some windy conditions on Wednesday but still found fluke up to 5½ pounds. He’s been getting into them pretty good on most trips along with big sea bass.

Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle Co. in Brick said fishing is good overall with bluefin and yellowfin feeding on all the squid.  There’s action in the canyons and mid-shore spots. He reported that the mahi bite is starting to pick up at the pots and ocean fluking remains good with the Axel Carlson Reef producing some nice fish. The Manasquan River fluking is good as well, you just have to weed through the shorts. 

Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said the fluke bite is still good on the beach but it slowed down a bit from last week. It may be due to all the small blues around crowding out the flatties. There are still fluke to be had in Barnegat Bay, he said, and there have been reports of weakfish at the BB buoy. He also said the mullet is starting to gather in the bay in advance of their departure come fall. 

Ray Kerico at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park also reported the mullet is staging back in the bay. There are small blues all over the beach, he said, and the fluking remains very good in the surf. There is a decent amount of spot back in the bay and the crabbing is very good. Surprisingly, blowfishing has been off so far this year. Ocean fluking has been solid at the Axel Carlson Reef and anglers are catching tog at the inlet jetties, but not a lot of people are targeting them. 

Best Bets for the Weekend

Fluke still lead the hit parade with plenty of action on keepers and shorts on the beach and from the boats. The Manasquan and Shark rivers still hold nice fish and bigger fluke are showing up on the reefs and wrecks. 

Small blues are at the inlets and on the beach and keep an eye peeled for Spanish mackerel and bonito as bigger numbers of southern species are showing up in the area.