Looking To Be A Good Weekend
The fishing is heating up, just in time for the holiday weekend. And not just the bass fishing either.
But first, shop news. With the upcoming holiday weekend, we field a lot of questions about what our hours will be. They will be the same as every other day, 4:30 am to 8:00 pm. We will have plenty of clams, both fresh shucked and salted, fresh bunker, frozen bunker, frozen mullet, spearing and squid for your fishing needs.
We received a box of hard to find plugs this week from Stillwater Lures. Their Smack-It poppers are one of the best plastic poppers to throw for local species like striped bass and bluefish. Those of you who fish for non-local species will find they work just as well on sea trout, redfish and snook. We have them available in the shop and the online store. They are selling like hotcakes, so no telling how long we will have them.
We also received some new stuff from Madd Mantis. We got a new larger size for the very popular Quake, plus a new color (Grapeberry). We also got in a Cherry popper in a size that nestles well between the 100 and 170 that will be perfect for striped bass and bluefish off the surf.
The fishing has been improving since our last wind event. The striped bass in the surf are still cooperating, and still feeding primarily on clams. We have heard a “low wattage” buzz around some stripers being caught in the dark on lures. The anglers doing this are keeping pretty quiet about it though.
Striped bass are not the only game in town it seems. Bluefish are still being caught in the bay on poppers and swimming plugs. They have also shown themselves in the surf, and bunker is the bait of choice for them. Mullet may work too. We have the bluefish rigs you are gonna need for these fish.
We have been hearing fairly consistent rumors of reports of weakfish in the Barnegat Bay. Our own Frankie Z went out and proved those rumors were true.
And it seems the black drum have shown back up in the surf.
Fluke fishing in the back bay has been steady. Some smaller fish but also some real nice sized fluke have come out of Barnegat Bay. Bucktails and Gulp! are still the method of choice.
Here are some notable recent catches:
Erck Regojo with a 30” 9.25lb Bass that took a clam in the surf. He also reported another bass he released!
Tom with a 29” 9.2 lb bass caught in the surf!
Our very own reel tech Frankie Z took the day off (again) to go fishing. He had this 4.35 lb, 24 inch weakfish on an S&S Bucktails Fluke Nukem jig and Berkeley Gulp! caught locally in the bay.
@wally891 is up to it again. “38 inch and 26 inch on grumpy clams” The beat goes on.
Surf caught. Tom Yesel 30.5" 11.30lbs.
Fran and Joe Hettler with blues up to 30” 6.25 lbs on bunker! This is a great sign for this weekend! Also hearing of some bass on plugs!!!!!
🚨 Monster Alert! @nohaters413 sent us this photo of a monster drum he caught off the surf on Thursday. Nice fish.
Ray has been skipping out on the shop whenever he can lately to …. man, this hurts to admit…. go freshwater fishing. He is claiming he is getting some nice green colored fish. He has not, however, supplied any pictures for this fishing report, so his claims are suspect. But, he continues to make them.
(Anyone else notice how well Ray’s face fits on Captain Picard’s head? It fits just as well as fits on a toddler’s head.)