Raritan Bay spring striper fishery sees fish up to 30 pounds
More chatter of striped bass coming out of the rivers and bays, as fish as heavy as 30 pounds were released by anglers in the last week.
Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said most of the fishing effort in his area is in the Raritan River, around South Amboy and Cliffwood Beach. The charter fleet really isn't out yet but he counted seven boats in the river on his way to the Saltwater Fishing Expo last weekend.
In about another week or so, many charter captains will be returning to water when the spring bass bite in the Raritan Bay should start to hit its stride. It could be a rough patch of unpredictable weather before that though as the forecast is all over the place between the rain, wind and patchy skies.
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Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park said the fishing in Barnegat Bay and its tributaries remains a worm bite. They have been trying to keep up with the bloodworm but have occasionally run out. They weighed in a pair of keeper striped bass for two fishermen that were right around the 29 inch, 10 pound mark. The shop said there's also been an uptick in winter flounder activity. One fishermen came back to the shop for flounder hooks after he was getting a ton of bites while bass fishing,
The ocean remains void of fishermen as there is not much to catch locally until the spring blackfish fishery opens up April 1 and the bass starting running the beach.
Out of Bogan's Basin in Brielle, the Paramount has been running a few days a week and catching some codfish and ling, enough for a dinner and leftovers. The 125-foot Jamaica party boat did run offshore to drift for tilefish last weekend. The results were not great because their baits were chased by spiny dogfish, which were a nuisance for most of the trip. When they finally slowed down, Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. said they caught a few tilefish. The big fish for the day was a 10 pounder by Luis Barboza of Hamilton.
Trout stocking
Staff from Fish & Wildlife have begun to make their rounds with big water tank trucks filled to the brim with rainbow trout for the pre-season trout stocking. They started Monday and will be at it until April 5, when they will have dumped a total of 184,360 rainbow trout into the state's freshwater trout lakes, rivers and streams. The season opens April 6.
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During the two-week pre-season stocking, trout fishing is prohibited. Fishermen are not even allowed to catch and release the fish. The exception is the trophy producing lakes, Lake Hopatcong, Mountain Lake, Prospertown Lake, Lake Shenandoah, Swartswood Lake and the section of Lawrence Brook from Davidsons Mill Road to Farrington Lake dam remain open for catch and release only during the pre-season stocking.
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 fishing: 30-pound striped bass hitting in Raritan spring fishery
