Wreck fishermen jig pollock offshore, while striper run has some gas left
Striped bass fishermen had another good day at it on Saturday, then the weather took a turn for the worse and very few if any people have been out the since then.
The rain and breezes started overnight Saturday and there was a washing-machine like swell on the beach. While the rain was forecast to dry up on Monday, the wind could hang around for the week. The good news is it will be out of the west, so that should clean up the swells so bass fishermen should be able to go. The water temp is also holding at 50 degrees, which is still bass conditions.
Capt. Rich Falcone on the Golden Eagle said the boat will sail this week for striped bass as soon as the weather passes. The boat was out Saturday and he said the bass were up on top working on bait. He said they had readings of fish stacked 12 feet off the bottom. It made for long, productive drifts and again they blew through their bonus tags for the slot fish. Almost everyone on board also had a keeper bass in that small window of 28 to 31 inches.
Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom weighed in a fish for Dave Minnick on Saturday. Minnick was surf fishing on Long Beach Island and landed a 6
striper that hit his teaser.
Wreck fishing
The blackfish boats keep pounding away at the inshore structures. The boats are coming back with keeper fish every trip but it’s been hard work at the rails for the togging faithful.
Capt. Ron Kish on the Capt. Cal II out of Belmar was out Saturday and while the weather was great the fish were not very cooperative. He said they had a few shots at every spot but couldn’t really build anything up. It didn’t matter what crab anglers put on their hooks cause the tog hit white and green crabs.
Further out, the Big Jamaica out of Brielle, went offshore fishing for sea bass on Friday. Everyone who sailed on the trip caught their 15-fish sea bass limit, Capt. Howard Bogan Jr., said. They also landed more than a few sizable pollock. The biggest of the bunch was 12 pounds. The fish were caught on bait and jigs. There weren’t than many porgies landed as that fish seems to have thinned out in the areas he looked.