Fishermen see fun weekend of bluefish blitzes and sea bass limits at Jersey Shore
Fishermen took away quite a few fish this weekend from the sea bass trips to the bluefish run on the beaches.
Friday was opening day of sea bass season and as expected the inshore structures were plump with fish. The for-hire captains boasted of a lot of limit catches made by their anglers. The Farms was one of the productive areas but just about any rock under 120 feet of water has sea bass on it.
Capt. William Egerter Jr. on the Dauntless party boat sounded very pleased with what he saw. Egerter had been observing the sea bass for a couple weeks as he ling fished, but finally given the green light to keep them, his fares filled their coolers right out of the gate. The ling and codfish were also biting, which means his anglers will be busy sautéing a lot of fish.
Clams and squid hook baits will catch the sea bass but so will jigs and teasers. Capt. Bobby Quinn on the Ocean Explorer said he had anglers who preferred to catch them that way. He too, saw plenty of variety in between the steady sea bass action. He reported catches of ling, whiting and winter flounder.
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Fishermen plucked away at fluke. It sounded like it was always the best of drifting conditions in the bays. Capt. Hal Hagaman of the Sea Tiger II out of Atlantic Highlands said he had wind against the tide or absolutely nothing at times, which forced him to do quite a bit of power drifting in the Sandy Hook Bay. When he did get a breeze it made for a little easier fishing. Overall he had at least a half-dozen anglers walk off the boat with limit and a several more with at least one or two keepers, over the four half-day trips he made this weekend.
Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park had a few anglers bring in fluke to be weighed that were caught in the surf. A pair of them were over four pounds. Gulp and teasers will get these surf fish on the hook, as will baits.
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The ocean county surf is giving up all sorts of fish. The bass is nothing new and continue to bite but there were several drum caught not too mention some furious bluefish action. Bob and Sue Misak of Lacey went down to Long Beach Island on Friday afternoon and battled the bluefish until their arms were tired. They were fishing the north end of the island on the incoming tide.
Bob said the bluefish one after the other on bunker baits. The fish tore up their fishing line a bit so they'll be re-spooling before the next time out.
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: NJ fishermen see bluefish blitzes, sea bass limits over weekend
