First bluefish race in, hit the Jersey Shore surf & rivers
Like clockwork, the bluefish have arrived, livening up the pace of fishing.
Paul Lindsey at Fisherman's Headquarters in Ship Bottom said there haven't been any blitzes in the Long Beach Island surf yet, but several blues were reeled in by surf casters fishing for striped bass on Tuesday. Lindsay said most of the catches reported to their shop were on cut bunker.
Up the coast there have been more reports of bluefish. Mike Pinto at Giglio's Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said he hasn't any reports of bluefish in the surf in their stretch of sand, but a few have been caught on the bay side of Sandy Hook and in the Shrewsbury River. Gabriel's Tackle in Brick said the blues were biting in the Manasquan River between the island and the entrance to the Point Canal.
The appearance of bluefish wasn't the only exciting development this week. The tuna chasers have already recorded the biggest catch of the young spring. Capt. Kevin Goldberg and Mike Resetar landed a 718-pound giant bluefin tuna last Saturday fishing east of the reefs outside of Manasquan Inlet. Goldberg said they were 10 miles off the beach when they hooked the brute fish on a trolling outfit rigged with Joe Shutes spreader bars and ballyhoo.
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The duo were fishing on Goldberg's boat the Marener, a 36-foot SeaVee center console. The fish was too big for them to lift through the tuna gate, so they tide her off to the side of the boat and towed her in. It took them four hours to land.
April is a bit early to be talking about tuna but the word around the docks is that the fish are on the tails of schools of mackerel. Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park actually had a report and photo from a surf angler of a mackerel flopping on the beache that must have got pushed into the wash by something bigger.
Even without the bluefish in the equation, the surf fishing was picking up as fishermen are doing better with the bass. Ocean Counties two barrier islands are seeing the grunt of the surf-run bass so far. The drum are also coming up to the coast and hitting in the surf and bays.
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The spring fishery in Raritan Bay broke up a bit more on the full moon, said Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet. He said striped bass up to 40 inches are now being netted by fishermen using topwater plugs, metal lip swimmers and those trolling mojos off the back of their boats. Bluefish have been reported at the bug lite and speaking of black drum, there was lunker landed Monday night.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: They're here: season's first bluefish arrive, crash the surf
