Northern New Jersey Fishing Report – August 3, 2023

Fluke continue to dominate the action with bigger fish showing up on the reefs, wrecks and rough bottom. There’s plenty of fluke on the beaches as well but anglers have to weed through a lot of shorts to find a keeper.

There are also loads of small bluefish around as the amount of bait in the surf, rivers and bays keeps increasing.

Bluefin tuna are in close feeding on live squid. The only drawback is that there’s a lot of boat traffic with everybody and their brother trying to catch one.

This past week also saw the summer opening of the porgy and tog fisheries, giving anglers a couple more fish to target.

In addition, freshwater fishing has been good in lakes and ponds throughout the state for largemouth bass, pickerel and catfish.

Rick Hebert at Tackle World in Rochelle Park went fluking aboard the Fish Monger last Friday and got a boat limit by 9 a.m., dozens of more keepers and about 75 shorts.

He also reported more cobia are being caught under pods of adult bunker.

The largemouth bass bite has been good early in the morning at Lake Hopatcong, he added, before the summer crowds come out.

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said a lot of big fluke are now being caught in the Ambrose Channel and at the Atlantic Beach Reef.

He reported an 11-pounder among the fish caught.  Bigger Gulp is catching the bigger fish and he recommends 6-inch grubs.

There are plenty of small blues in the bay and on the beaches of Sandy Hook, he added.

Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright weighed in a couple of nice surf fluke this week up to 3.6 pounds.

He also reported stripers in the Shrewsbury River at night on the incoming tide up to 30 inches on plastics and plugs. Pinto mentioned that the shop now carries Island X Hellfire plugs in the new chicken flash color.

Crabbing is also good in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.

Mike Gleason at Tak Waterman in Long Branch said there are loads of short fluke in the surf and, every once in a while, a keeper shows up. One customer had a 22-incher this week on Gulp and bucktails.

The bluefin are biting relatively close on live squid, he said, but the action is still hit or miss.

The water finally cleaned up along the beaches of Asbury Park, Ocean Grove and Bradley Beach and the fluking has improved. It’s definitely more quantity than quality.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar reported that fluke fishing is still going strong with back waters holding a substantial number of keepers.

Matthews said the charter and party boat fleet has been doing very well on the fluke front with bluefish and sea bass sweetening the pot.  And now blackfish and porgies are adding to the fun.

Surf fishermen are reporting good numbers of keeper fluke, Matthews said, and there have been stripers at night in the rivers hitting live eels near the bridges.

Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar reported good fluking on Wednesday’s open boat trip with a number of limits and sea bass to fill out the catches.

Anglers working bucktails did the best, Sykes said, but folks dragging bait also had their share of fish.

He’s looking forward to the rest of the month as the bigger fish move in and he’s scheduled several open boat trips later in August. Check his Facebook page for details.

Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar said there are a lot of fluke around along with sea bass and black tip sharks. He’s been putting lots of fluke limits together and everyone is going home with something for the table.

Capt. Spinelli has a few open dates available and can be contacted through his website.

Matt Heagen at the Reel Seat in Brielle reported that the fishing has been a little up and down the last week, especially with bluefin.

The tuna are close, he said, feeding on the tremendous amount of squid around. The problem is the number of boats, with only a handful hooking up compared with all those trying to get a bite. Livelining squid has been the most productive method by far.

The yellowfin bite in the canyons has been spotty, he said, but the bigeye fishing has been more consistent out there.

Heagen said the fluking in the Manasquan River cooled off a bit this week but there is still plenty of bait around.

Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said the Manasquan River now has more peanut bunker in it than he’s ever seen and small blues are feasting on it.

There are bass in the river at night as well.

Tangen said anglers drifting live squid are catching bluefin but it is crowded out there in the shipping lanes and at the Manasquan Ridge. Get outside the fleet, he advised, and do a little exploring.

He’s also had reports of yellowfin at the Triple Wrecks being caught trolling and on chunks. There are also king mackerel around and a 68-pounder caught on a Clark spoon earlier this week is now the pending New Jersey state record.

Tangen added that the shop is stacked to the rafters with frozen butterfish and sardines.

Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said the fluking has been very good when conditions cooperate. There have been plenty of limits on most trips with excellent short action. He had 35 keepers on board by mid-day on Wednesday.

Last weekend’s bluefish trip also saw plenty of action with fish up to 10 pounds along with some chub mackerel. He, too, had more reports of king mackerel being landed.

Capt. Brandon on the Mimi VI out of Point Pleasant Beach put anglers on fluke and sea bass all week. Wednesday was another good day with plenty of limits, loads of shorts and lots of action. Brooke Record had a double limit and the pool fish.

Check the website for upcoming open boat dates.

Chris Parlow from Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach reported that inshore tuna bite has been very good over the last few days, with a number of 80- to 175-pound bluefin being weighed in at the shop.

He also reported that the fluke fishing on the reefs has been very good with a number of 4-to 6-pound fish being caught daily.

Frank Giacalone at Gabriel Tackle in Brick said Tuesday’s blackfish open drew a few anglers to the Point Pleasant Canal where they had a decent day with a mix of keepers and shorts on green crabs.

The Manasquan Inlet is producing plenty of fluke, he added, as there is a ton of peanut bunker around.

Pete Kupper at Charlie’s Bait and Tackle in Normandy Beach said there are loads of fluke on the beach with keepers and shorts in the mix. There are also small blues in the surf and he got his first report of Spanish mackerel off the beach this week.

There are still fluke in the bay as well along with blues and blowfish.  Snappers are starting to show at the docks and the crabbing is very good.

Scott Thomas at Grumpy’s Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park said they got their first Spanish mackerel of the year on Monday with several taken from the beach.

He also reported excellent fluking in the surf and there have been spinner sharks caught on poppers and bait.

He also had reports of tuna just three miles out and he will be attempting to hook one from his kayak before the season is over.

Folks are fishing for tog at the inlet with clams and sand bugs and Thomas said the bay is loaded with spot and the crabbing back there is excellent.

Fishing Forecast for Northern New Jersey

Based on the above, fluke fishing is by far the best bet for the weekend. The surf and boat bite have both been very good, with the boats getting the better shot at keepers.

The rivers and bays are still holding some nice fish as well as the bait continues to stack up.