Fished the surf this morning with Christopher and his crew. Early 6am start allowed for viewing the sunrise, always a nice bonus. The surf wasn't bad, but a steady two feet pounding the shore. That'll come into play later.
I set up six rods to start. Two with bloodworms and Brown Dog Bomb kingfish rigs, two with cut bait (bluefish, kingfish), and two shark rods with chunks of bluefish and kingfish. It didn't take very long for one of the kingfish rigs to attract a hungry fish.
Our first victim was a little kingfish, which we released. I figured out...
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 2 years ago
Fished the surf this morning with Christopher and his crew. Early 6am start allowed for viewing the sunrise, always a nice bonus. The surf wasn't bad, but a steady two feet pounding the shore. That'll come into play later.
I set up six rods to start. Two with bloodworms and Brown Dog Bomb kingfish rigs, two with cut bait (bluefish, kingfish), and two shark rods with chunks of bluefish and kingfish. It didn't take very long for one of the kingfish rigs to attract a hungry fish.
Our first victim was a little kingfish, which we released. I figured out the fish were in fairly tight to the beach, so I kept the casts short. The cut baits and shark baits were eaten by pesky fish and crabs. We picked at kingfish while the tide slowly began to ebb. I was hoping the turn out would spark the bite a bit. The only thing it did was bring in some weakfish and skates.
We ended up with six kingfish, three skates, and two weakies. Not stellar by any means, but a nice day. Things got a bit slow as the tide slowly ran out. Then suddenly one of the shark rods started to get pecked. Seemed like a skate or doggie bite, but when dude grabbed it, it took of screaming. He held on tight and reeled when he could. The beast dragged him down the beach a good way. I followed and coached him as he battled the heretofore unseen assailant. Finally, a good two hundred yards from where we started he began to gain line and draw the beast in toward shore. Suddenly the surface erupted and the head and pectoral fin of a sizeable sand tiger emerged and thrashed. I told him to expect heavy resistance when it hit
Flounder fishing has been pretty good in the back bays lately. Gulp and various meats have been working well.
The sea bass bite on the Inshore wrecks is on fire. You can't hit the bottom with a jig without being hooked up.
The surf continues to produce nice striped bass and puppy drum, both on fresh clams. Salted works for stripers too.
And to add to the fun there have been some nice weakies and blues around as well. Fishing is in full swing here and should only get better.
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 3 years ago
Flounder fishing has been pretty good in the back bays lately. Gulp and various meats have been working well.
The sea bass bite on the Inshore wrecks is on fire. You can't hit the bottom with a jig without being hooked up.
The surf continues to produce nice striped bass and puppy drum, both on fresh clams. Salted works for stripers too.
And to add to the fun there have been some nice weakies and blues around as well. Fishing is in full swing here and should only get better.
We ended the year with three great trips! We went out and spot locked over some wrecks and did well with tautog. Green crabs were the go to bait, but clams caught too. When running back inside, we spotted some birds and cruised in close to see what all the fuss was about. Turned out to be striped bass (finally!). So, we dropped jigs down and had a blast catching and releasing stripers up to 40". We kept a few for the table as well. The first two trips were mostly about the stripers. The final trip was all tog....
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 3 years ago
We ended the year with three great trips! We went out and spot locked over some wrecks and did well with tautog. Green crabs were the go to bait, but clams caught too. When running back inside, we spotted some birds and cruised in close to see what all the fuss was about. Turned out to be striped bass (finally!). So, we dropped jigs down and had a blast catching and releasing stripers up to 40". We kept a few for the table as well. The first two trips were mostly about the stripers. The final trip was all tog. The weather has been unbelievable, and unseasonably warm. If it stays like this we could fish right through the winter.
Tried bridge hopping with Justin tonight. We hit a few normally productive areas, but they were dead zones. They all held bait, mostly spearing, some sand eels, but no stripers. Not a nibble. There were great blue herons at just about every place we went. That was cool. Not sure what the deal was with the lack of fish. Impending full Moon, strong current, general lack of bait, quick drop in water temperature,...who knows. Maybe next time.”
Tight Lines!
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 3 years ago
Tried bridge hopping with Justin tonight. We hit a few normally productive areas, but they were dead zones. They all held bait, mostly spearing, some sand eels, but no stripers. Not a nibble. There were great blue herons at just about every place we went. That was cool. Not sure what the deal was with the lack of fish. Impending full Moon, strong current, general lack of bait, quick drop in water temperature,...who knows. Maybe next time.”
Tight Lines!
Not really doing a whole lot at this time with school back in session.
We were out this past Saturday and mugged up on nice flounder. We were throwing back over sized fish, which was painful. The key was making short drifts over the structure and working it hard. When the bite stops, hit the next piece. The fluke have turned on just in time for them to go out of season on the 27th.
The back bays are alive with peanut bunker, spearing, and some mullet. When you can get anything to actually bite there are stripers and weakies...
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 3 years ago
Not really doing a whole lot at this time with school back in session.
We were out this past Saturday and mugged up on nice flounder. We were throwing back over sized fish, which was painful. The key was making short drifts over the structure and working it hard. When the bite stops, hit the next piece. The fluke have turned on just in time for them to go out of season on the 27th.
The back bays are alive with peanut bunker, spearing, and some mullet. When you can get anything to actually bite there are stripers and weakies around. Small blues too. But the bite is very spotty with all the bait. But worth the effort. Fun times are ahead. Sea bass will be opening soon. And tog is just around the corner. As are the stripers. Come on Fall!
The water us finally warming up to where is should be this time of the year. We are starting to get better fluke action on the reefs and wrecks in the 40-80' range. There are good numbers of sea bass around too, but mostly on the short side. 1-4# blues have invaded the Inshore lumps and can be taken on small metals or trolling. There have even been some king mackerel taken while trolling. We had one launch right in front of the boat the other day. There are schools of bait pretty much everywhere you look, so it's just...
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 3 years ago
The water us finally warming up to where is should be this time of the year. We are starting to get better fluke action on the reefs and wrecks in the 40-80' range. There are good numbers of sea bass around too, but mostly on the short side. 1-4# blues have invaded the Inshore lumps and can be taken on small metals or trolling. There have even been some king mackerel taken while trolling. We had one launch right in front of the boat the other day. There are schools of bait pretty much everywhere you look, so it's just a matter of time, or finding the right one, to get on the fish. It should only get better from here on. Tight Lines!"
The fishing has been pretty off out front on the inshore reefs. We continue to have upwelling thanks to the constant southerly winds. The water temperature is fluctuating constantly from the upper 50s to the low 70s. The fish can't get acclimated and just turn off. So, we have been targeting the smaller fluke and little sea bass in the back bays.
The beaches are providing more consistent action with kingfish, spot, and a variety of other species. There are occasionally larger sharks and rays in the mix.
The back bays at night are loaded with peanut bunker and spearing....
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 3 years ago
The fishing has been pretty off out front on the inshore reefs. We continue to have upwelling thanks to the constant southerly winds. The water temperature is fluctuating constantly from the upper 50s to the low 70s. The fish can't get acclimated and just turn off. So, we have been targeting the smaller fluke and little sea bass in the back bays.
The beaches are providing more consistent action with kingfish, spot, and a variety of other species. There are occasionally larger sharks and rays in the mix.
The back bays at night are loaded with peanut bunker and spearing. Small blues are constantly harassing them. There are some stripers around here and there. The bite is definitely not what is should be though.
Things would bust wide open if the water would just get stable.
The inshore troll bite has remained consistent with a mixed bag of blues, bonita and spanish mackerel. Water temps are still cold for this time of year so any other exotic species should be here soon. Flounder has been a struggle, mainly due to the colder water temps.
The inshore troll bite has remained consistent with a mixed bag of blues, bonita and spanish mackerel. Water temps are still cold for this time of year so any other exotic species should be here soon. Flounder has been a struggle, mainly due to the colder water temps.
Fishing has been hot and cold, much like the water lately. Southerly winds are causing unwilling and it shuts the fishing down.
When we get northerly or westerly winds, and the water heats up, the fishing turns on.
We have been picking flounder off the reefs, and shorts un the back. There are triggerfish and sea bass on the reef structure as well. Ribbonfish made an appearance on a few of the wrecks too. In the surf we have been getting small weakies and blues, kingfish and spot. Occasional sharks and rays too.
Frank B.
Stone Harbor, New JerseyReported 3 years ago
Fishing has been hot and cold, much like the water lately. Southerly winds are causing unwilling and it shuts the fishing down.
When we get northerly or westerly winds, and the water heats up, the fishing turns on.
We have been picking flounder off the reefs, and shorts un the back. There are triggerfish and sea bass on the reef structure as well. Ribbonfish made an appearance on a few of the wrecks too. In the surf we have been getting small weakies and blues, kingfish and spot. Occasional sharks and rays too.
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Kevin was amazing!!! He explained everything we were going to do along the way! His passion for what he does is infectious! We can’t wait to book our next adventure with him!
Adam & his first mate provided an awesome experience for our party of 14. Adam knew exactly how & where to navigate for a great experience.We had a combination of experienced & first timers in our party & every person was able to catch a blue fish, sea bass or flounder. Adam took us to perfect areas for these fish. At the end our keep was cut, cleaned & bagged for cooking. Would definitely recommend Adam to anyone looking for a great trip. Will be using him again in the future as well as other people in our party have said.
Absolutely amazing experience! More than what I was expecting. Pulled in a few sharks! Frank was awesome and so helpful in explaining everything. Will be definitely using him again!
A few buddies and I went out with Clint and Kyle this past Sat (Oct 18) and we had a fantastic day. We caught close to 100 Black Sea Bass and had about 30 keepers. Clint is an experienced captain and fisherman and knew exactly where to go. Kyle was super helpful and kept our lines active with bait. I would highly recommend these guys and will definitely fish with them again.
Our family had a wonderful fishing trip with Jeff. We had our 7 year old granddaughter with us and, thanks to Jeff’s help with her fishing rod and making sure she saw her catches up close, she loved this fishing experience. We caught 6 flounder and several other kinds of fish. Jeff was great with communication and scheduling the trip for the best conditions. I strongly recommend him for a private fishing experience.
Frank did an excellent job putting us on the fish. We caught 26 fish and 8 keepers in 4 hours. Frank grew up in Wildwood, fishing and knows the back bays 💯
I had a really great experience with Frank. He took me to a beach where the fish were biting and I caught a lot of big bluefish, which is one of the species I was hoping to catch while here. I had a lot of fun; Frank is knowledgeable and helpful, and he gave me great tips on how to fish in the area. A worthwhile experience!!
Great Surf fishing morning with Frank
Learned alot and had an amazing time snagging lots of different sea life
Very experienced quide with great fishing stories and pictures! Will definitely request Frank again and again
Bill Richards
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