The grunting fish are back, triggerfish hit in Barnegat Inlet
Last week it was a tarpon, this week it's triggerfish as the summer ocean temps are drawing in more warm water fish. The temp was pushing 70 degrees in several surf locales, but off the beach it was a cooler 65 degrees.
Fisherman's Headquarters in Ship Bottom said the triggerfish are beginning to take up residence on the Barnegat Inlet rocks. On Saturday, a kid reeled one of these fun, grunting tropical fish in while soaking some bait in the inlet. The parent sent the report in to the shop.
While that certainly was a great catch, it doesn't quite top the 81 lobsters that Calvache family brought home from a charter on the Capt. Kevin Fahey's Curlew that same day. Fahey, who docks in Point Pleasant, takes charters out to pick up lobster traps and re-set them. He said the 81 bugs was a record catch on his boat. His previous benchmark was 61.
After the picking was done, the party went fluke fishing and at least one member caught a limit. Fahey said the fluke bite was fair compared to the lobster bounty.
Klondike rocks action
The fluke drifts are getting more productive a couple miles off the beach on the hills and around the reefs and Klondike rocks. The Big Mohawk party boat had several anglers catch their limits on Saturday. The pool fish for the day was a 6 pounder.
More: Fishermen land bluefish, bonito, mackerel on the inshore grounds
The Timothy Lisk party fished on the Fish Monger II Saturday and was rewarded with a very good haul of fluke. Capt. Jerry Postorino said the day started with some fast paced action where they had as many as seven fluke on at a time. Most of them were short fluke, though. He moved to another ground to see if he could increase the keepers. By the end of the day his 12-person party had boated their limit. The big fish of the day was a 9 pounder landed by Scott Kearney.
Keeper-size sea bass to be had
Sea bass are now open again, albeit the bag limit is one fish. Capt. William Egerter Jr. on the Dauntless said there are plenty of big, keeper-size sea bass around to land. The ling are also available and so he's been taking his fares to them, as well as finding the winter flounder hiding spots.
The Jamaica and Golden Eagle party boats had an excellent catches of mackerel and bluefish on Saturday. Capt. Rich Falcone said they anchored up offshore and had the mackerel on right away. The blues were under the macs. People also dropped down and reeled in ling and sea bass.
More: What's biting: get the latest fishing reports here
Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park weighed in the biggest bluefish they've seen in a long time. Nicholas Long brought one in late in the dat Saturday that was 17 ½ pounds. The slammer blue was caught in the surf. That wasn't the only big catch on the weekend. Thomas Mazzeo landed a 9-pound fluke from Barnegat Bay. The shop also had a gaggle of kids weigh their keeper fluke after they enjoyed a day at Island Beach State Park.
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: Fun to catch triggerfish are back, hitting in Barnegat Inlet
