Jersey Shore Fishing

Saltwater fishing updates from The Star-Ledger's Al Ristori

A rare fluke wins Governor's Cup

by Al Ristori/For The Star-Ledger

Monday October 06, 2008, 9:29 PM

Sunday couldn't have been a much nicer day on the beach, and as around 900 contestants enjoyed themselves during the annual Governor's Surf Fishing Contest at Island Beach State Park, Gov. Jon Corzine stopped by in the morning to greet the anglers who far outnumbered the fish.

Tom Fote of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, one of the sponsoring organizations, was surprised that not a single striped bass or large bluefish was caught. Yet, the action by New Jersey commissioners to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in obtaining a research exemption to allow fluke fishing during the one-day contest paid off, as a 21-inch fluke landed by Richard Abdill of Delran won the Governor's Cup as the longest fish.

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Scholl stripers off Sandy Hook

by Al Ristori

Monday October 06, 2008, 8:36 PM

Where you should go: Sandy Hook and between the channels. Schools of stripers were pushing sand eels and anchovies to the surface on Monday.

What you should use: Diamond jigs and other metal lures or lead head jigs.

Why today is a good day for this: It may be a little choppy, with 10-to-15-mph winds and gusts to 20, but that's usually good for this fishing -- especially with a north wind.

Other spots for other fish: Bottom fishing for sea bass, porgies and blackfish has been very good on the reefs and inshore wrecks. Albacore finally showed up in the canyons, and yellowfin tuna of various sizes are starting to bite at night in the canyons. School bluefin tuna are now available in the Mud Hole.

Recap of yesterday: Capt. Sal Cursi of Cathy Sea from Sewaren had hot jigging for school stripers up to keeper size in the ocean off Sandy Hook and between the channels. Those fish were chasing sand eels and anchovies to the surface. Capt. Mike Bogan returned with the Gambler from Point Pleasant after the best canyon trip of the season with a big catch of mixed-size yellowfin tuna caught in Toms Canyon. There was a hot albacore trolling bite Sunday morning north of Toms. Allen Riley said the Sandy Hook surf was quiet after the first little tunny from the beach were caught there Sunday morning. I saw no signs of life in the surf from Point Pleasant to Lavalette

Al's Tip of the Day: Even though stripers are showing on the surface, you'll usually catch more and larger bass by dropping a jig to bottom and retrieving slowly off bottom for 20 feet or so.

We'd love to see your photos!
Everyone has a good fish tale -- but how about a good fish photo? Check out the reader photo gallery (it's on the rail on the left of the page under ''Jersey Shore Fishing"). Now this only works if you send in your photos (send them to "fishpic@starledger.com") so if you've got a catch worth bragging about, send it in and we'll put it up for all to see.

And, as always, we'd love to hear from you. Just click on the "post a comment'' link at the end of the blog and let us know how the fishing is.

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Little tunny showing up inshore

by Al Ristori

Sunday October 05, 2008, 6:06 PM

Where you should go: Breezy Point to Sandy Hook

What you should use: Flies and small metal lures or bucktail jigs.

Why today is a good day for this: If the winds are really moderate from the north, as predicted, that will be fine at Breezy Point where there there's some lee from a north wind. There also shouldn't be the mob of boats that were chasing the tunny over the weekend.

Other spots for other fish: Yellowfin tuna are starting to appear in night chunking slicks in Hudson and Toms canyons. Some school stripers and blues may be jigged along the northern Shore around Long Branch. Clamming for school stripers has been productive at times on Flynn's Knoll and Romer Shoal. School bluefin tuna have been caught in the Mud Hole. Little tunny have also been spotted on the surface near Romer and along the northern Shore. Bottom fishing for sea bass, porgies and blackfish is good on inshore reefs and wrecks. Ling are available on deep Mud Hole wrecks.

Recap of yesterday: The first little tunny was reported from the Sandy Hook surf. School bluefin tuna moved into the Mud Hole on Saturday.

Al's Tip of the Day: Avoid using terminal tackle when casting for little tuuny. Small, slim metal lures of bucktail jigs should be tied directly to mono line or a very light fluorocarbon leader. Reel them just under the surface at a rapid pace.

We'd love to see your photos!
Everyone has a good fish tale -- but how about a good fish photo? Check out the reader photo gallery (it's on the rail on the left of the page under ''Jersey Shore Fishing"). Now this only works if you send in your photos (send them to "fishpic@starledger.com") so if you've got a catch worth bragging about, send it in and we'll put it up for all to see.

And, as always, we'd love to hear from you. Just click on the "post a comment'' link at the end of the blog and let us know how the fishing is.

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Errors in Sunday's column

by Al Ristori

Sunday October 05, 2008, 6:03 PM

The lead paragraph of Sunday's column got scrambled. Pangas are Mexican skiffs -- not squid!

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Fighting Sea Monsters in Mexico

by Al Ristori

Saturday October 04, 2008, 11:47 PM

Though some of the species, such as dolphin and yellowfin tuna, encountered by Jersey anglers fishing last week off Mexico's East Cape are also found in canyon waters off our shores, we have nothing to offer like the "sea monsters," called pangas, that they encountered while fishing from Mexican skiffs. Those "monsters" were giant Humboldt squid in the 40-to-50-pound class that were jigged every morning a mile from Hotel Buena Vista on the Sea of Cortez.

Capt. Dave DeGennaro of Hi-Flier at Barnegat led the group that used 50-pound class tackle to fight those huge squid for 15 to 20 minutes before they were cut into small pieces used to chum up yellowfin tuna. Pete Zickgraf of Kenilworth fought a 30-pound yellowfin on 20-pound spinning tackle for 45 minutes after hooking it on a squid chunk, the same bait used by Steve Ondrof of Rockaway to boat a 50-pounder on heavier gear.

The highlight of the trip was the 275-pound blue marlin caught by Mountainside residents Troy Rillo and Mark McManus. Fred Edwards of Mystic Islands and Dominick DeFillippes, formerly of Brick, found a school of dolphins (the mammals) that were accompanied, as is often the case in the Pacific, by yellowfins, and trolled seven tuna from 30 to 75 pounds. Andy Dubman and Tim Richardson from Forked River boated 10 large dorado (the name in Spanish speaking countries for the dolphin fish) in an hour. All of the group members caught dorado, and also got into colorful 5-to-10-pound roosterfish inshore. For information about Hotel Buena Vista call DeGennaro at (732) 330-5674, or visit hiflier.com.

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The yellowfin are hitting the chum lines at Hudson Canyon

by Al Ristori

Saturday October 04, 2008, 8:47 PM

Where you should go: Hudson Canyon has finally broken open with large yellowfin tuna hitting in chum lines at night.

What you should use: Sardines, squid and butterfish.

Why today is a good day for this: Boaters may get another good night in before a change to northeast winds.

Other spots for other fish: See Thursday's best bets for the weekend.

Recap of yesterday: Capt. Bob Pennington had the first good night chunking catch of large yellowfin tuna Friday night on his Sea Devil from Point Pleasant. He said sardines were the prime bait. Those tuna were mostly 60-pounders, but up to 100 pounds. Boaters seeking little tunny found them on the surface off Breezy Point late in the morning. Bluefishing along the Shore was slow after jigging produced lots of blues off Long Branch the previous day. I saw nothing in or even near the surf from Bay Head to Mantoloking.

Al's Tip of the Day: Bring both squid jigs and Sabicki rigs along on canyon trips to try catching live baits that often make all the difference while fishing at night for tuna.

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Bottom fishing on inshore wrecks

by Al Ristori

Friday October 03, 2008, 8:05 PM

Where you should go: Inshore wrecks and reefs should provide good action now that the swell has dropped down. Fifty-foot depths are about right.

What you should use: Clams and squid. Crabs for blackfish.

Why today is a good day for this: The forecast of north winds at 10 knots makes any sort of fishing possible.

Other spots for other fish: See Thursday's best bets for the weekend.

Recap of yesterday: Capt. Scotty Hilliard of Prowler V at Atlantic Highlands said bottom fishing was very good for sea bass, and catching the one blackfish per man allowed was no problem. Porgies seem to be coming back after dispersing in the northeaster. Capt. Jim O'Grady was looking for little tunny and bonito in the Mud Hole with his Cock Robin from Point Pleasant, but found only lots of small blues.

Al's Tip of the Day: While a clam bait near bottom will keep you busy on wrecks, also try a longer-leadered hook about three feet above with a strip of squid that might attract a big sea bass.

We'd love to see your photos!
Everyone has a good fish tale -- but how about a good fish photo? Check out the reader photo gallery (it's on the rail on the left of the page under ''Jersey Shore Fishing"). Now this only works if you send in your photos (send them to "fishpic@starledger.com") so if you've got a catch worth bragging about, send it in and we'll put it up for all to see.

And, as always, we'd love to hear from you. Just click on the "post a comment'' link at the end of the blog and let us know how the fishing is.

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Hundreds expected at annual fishing tourney

by Al Ristori

Thursday October 02, 2008, 7:48 PM

The annual Governor's Surf Fishing Tournament will draw hundreds of anglers to Island Beach State Park on Sunday. There are numerous tackle prizes in youth, teen and adult categories, and for male and female anglers. Most local species are targeted, including fluke.

The opportunity to catch fluke long after the season closed was arranged last winter by the Division of Fish and Wildlife as a research project taken from the species' research allocation that is part of the quota. The 18-inch minimum length still applies, as does the eight-fluke bag limit.

The latter shouldn't be any problem as catching even a single legal fluke from the surf during the season was an accomplishment. Yet, this is the most likely time of year to catch a large fluke in the surf.

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