Southern New Jersey Fishing Report – June 13, 2019

The weather this week has put a damper on the fishing with strong winds and lots of rain which will impacts the water clarity and salinity in the backwaters. Prior to the low-pressure systems, fluke fishing has been fair at best for most South Jersey locations to Cape May. There is a lack of keepers to show for as some of the ratios have been as high as twenty-to-one. Ling and sea bass have been the complete opposite, with lots of boats and charters reporting limits of these quality tasting fish. Bluefin tuna has been running steady at the nearshore grounds on trolled spreaders and feathers. Pink, purple, and rainbow colors have been producing the best in the early morning hours and anglers have reported a ton of false albacore in the same areas.

Southern New Jersey Fishing Report

Capt. Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach caught good numbers of bluefish along the Manasquan Inlet and fluke caught in the Manasquan River on S&S Bucktails from ½-to-1½-ounces in white. The boats have been hooking up on bluefin tuna just past the Manasquan Ridge on trolled pink feathers and cedar plugs. The beach has offered schoolie striped bass during the evenings with some nice bluefish pulled on plugs.

Norma K III in Point Pleasant Beach reported fluke fishing has still been picky with a few keepers being landed during the trips this week. Anglers are getting bites, but a lot of the fish just don’t want to commit. The bluefish trips have been slow, but the ling have made up for it as they have been stacked at almost every stop, along with some quality sea bass. The vessel is sailing every day for fluke and weekend nights for bluefish and ling.

The Gambler out of Point Pleasant Beach reported some good night wreck fishing trips this past week with excellent numbers of ling and some bigger bluefish being caught. The half day fluke trips have been tough with a few keepers, sea bass, and ling on the drops. The crew reported lots of foul-hooked fluke, so they know they are there but are just slow on the bite. The boat is running every day for fluke unless the weather/sea conditions don’t permit, so give them a ring.
The MIMI VI out of Point Pleasant has been on the structure fishing spots that have been loaded with sea bass, ling, whiting, and winter flounder. The fish have been very aggressive on the bite. I spoke to Capt. Ken who said the boat has some open boat dates towards the end of the month as they are booked with full charters the next couple weeks.

Jersey Hooker Outfitter in Brick reported bluefin tuna being landed from the Manasquan Ridge to the Klondike on trolled feathers, spreader bars, and cedar plugs. Sea bass fishing continues to be consistent at most of the inshore pieces along good numbers of ling which have been reported by some of the charters. The beach and jetties from Point Pleasant to Seaside have had decent action on 2 to 5-pound bluefish and short striped bass with the early morning bite producing better results.

Charlie’s Bait & Tackle in Normandy Beach reported striped bass being landed off the Mantoloking and Chadwick beaches during the early morning hours. Bluefish are still being caught on worked metals or chunked bunker along the suds.

Grumpy’s Bait & Tackle in Seaside Park reported black drum being caught off the Island Beach State Park (IBSP) surf on clam baits. Some of the drum have been over 30-pounds. Schoolie striped bass, a few keepers to 30-inches, and 3-pound bluefish are also being caught in the surf. Anglers fishing the south end of Island Beach State Park are hooking up with bluefish and stripers along the Barnegat Inlet jetty. Darters, pencil poppers, and bucktails tipped with grub tails have been working for both species. IBSP should start seeing some of the toothy critters in the next couple of weeks.

Jersey Buoyz out of Forked River was held at the dock during the past weekend with rough sea and wind conditions. The crew is booking pelagic shark trips and also summer flounder trips for the rest of the season.

Lacey Marine in Forked River reported better crabbing along the banks in the Oyster Creek and along the sedges in Barnegat with Bunker baits. Crabbers have been reporting some blowfish being caught in the traps. Striped bass and bluefish are still being landed from the sedges behind Island Beach State Park and from the Barnegat Light surf on Long Beach Island. There has been a lot of throwback fluke caught off the surf near the lighthouse on bucktails. The backwaters are still the place to be for keeper fluke, but it is still relatively slow.

Creekside Outfitters in Waretown reported good crabbing out of the Forked River, Lacey, and Bayville areas on the outgoing tide. Short striped bass have been located around the sod banks near Oyster Creek and Inlet submerged rocks on submerged rocks and white bucktails along the rocks of the North Jetty. Oyster Creek and Double Creek are holding some short fluke with an occasional keeper being caught. The Myers Hole area has produced some fish to 26-inches on drifted minnows.

Reel Reaction Charters out of Waretown and Barnegat Light had a busy extended weekend running five trips and most of the trips have been combination striped bass, bluefish, and fluke trips. Anglers found striped bass to 24-inches and bluefish to 7-pounds near the Barnegat Inlet on light tackle bucktails. Fluke trips have been ranging from 20-to-30 throwbacks on bucktails tipped with natural baits. Keepers have been up to 24-inches and ranged from 1 to 4 per trip.

Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom reported good striped bass fishing from Barnegat Inlet and the bridges during the night tides. Soft plastics, worked Clouser flies, or white bucktails tipped with grub tails have been the main lures to use. Bunker chunks and clam baits are also picking up striped bass along the rocks. Anglers working the south jetty of the Barnegat Light inlet during the night tides are scoring some keeper striped bass on live eels. Sea bass and ling are producing at most of the inshore wreck spots on clam and squid baits. The bridges leading into Long Beach Island are producing striped bass on soft plastics with an occasional weakfish being landed.

The Ocean City to Cape May areas have been getting some nice fluke in the backwaters especially behind Avalon, Wildwood, and Cape May Harbor on bucktails tipped with Gulp baits. Pink Shine and White have been the hottest colors this week and most of the fish have been in 10 to 16-foot areas. Weakfish are still around picking up soft plastic baits in jig heads which are worked around structured areas. Boats leaving out of the southern ports are scoring good on false albacore and bluefin at the 35 to 45-mile ranges on trolled pink squids, pink and purple feathers, and tuna jigs. Crabbing is starting to pick up in the 4 to 5-foot depths around some of the back sedges. Some surf anglers are reporting small brown sharks and sand tigers off the beaches on fresh bunker or small bluefish.

South Jersey Fishing Forecast

Although we had some rain to deal with this week, the weekend weather looks better for fishing and the best bet would be to target sea bass at the wrecks with the season ending soon. It’s your last chance to load up on these tasty sea biscuits. The ling bite has been lights out at some of the same locations. Fluke fishing seems to be tough at most locations with some keepers being caught, but anglers have to really work for them. 1/2 to 1-ounce bucktails tipped with Gulp baits and fished with the Tsunami Flats jigs are producing better keepers. The ratio at most locations has been 15 to 1 in terms of keepers. The Ocean City, Avalon and Wildwood areas have been very good on the fluke bite. There seems to be a fair number of weakfish around so if you have bridges with lights in your area, try them with pink soft plastics at night as you will most likely score on bluefish and striped bass. Lastly, the bluefin tuna bite has been on a very hot streak last week, but the bad weather the last few days may throw a curve into the fishing. It’s best to try any of the following in your search for these pelagics: Resor, Monster Ledge, Manasquan Ridge, Barnegat Ridge, and the Fingers. Good luck, be safe, and tight lines!