THE RISTORI STORY
Your guide to the hot fishing action at the Jersey Shore To keep up with what’s biting — check out Al’s blog at nj.com/shore/blogs/fishing
Brooklyn
VERRAZANO NARROWS BRIDGE
Major marina RARITAN BAY & NEW YORK HARBOR The New York split season reopens today, and runs through Aug. 17. That opens up a lot of fluking area, though anglers fishing in N.Y. waters must observe a 21-inch minimum and a bag limit of two. Fluke fishing continues to vary daily, with lots of shorts along with more keepers some days. Capt. Ed Bunting of the Sea Horse from Atlantic Highlands recommends strips of mackerel in combination with either sand eels or spearing. Raritan Reach and Sandy Hook Channel are good bets for larger fish when wind and tide are together. Be prepared to use heavy sinkers or bucktail jigs when the current is strong. Dave Lilly of Hazlet checked out Ambrose Channel last Saturday and was happy to find the previously abundant spiny dogfish were gone — but all the fluke he caught with big baits were the same shorts that dominate inshore. The west end of Raritan Bay hosts some impressive fluke that seem to prefer the Gulp 4-inch Swimming Mullet tipped with a killie. That also works well in the Navesink River. SANDY HOOK TO MANASQUAN INLET Ocean fluking is lively, with lots of shorts and a fair sprinkling of keepers. Striped bass fishing varies daily, with the most consistent bite occurring late in the afternoon or just before dark from Shark River Inlet to the north. Chunkers often do well with stripers and blues on the rough bottoms off Monmouth Beach. A strong current is usually the key to success in that fishing. Sea bass fishing has been good at Shrewsbury Rocks and the Rattlesnake, as well as on the reefs and inshore wrecks. Mud Hole-area bluefishing has been excellent, with limit catches of big blues common on jigs during the day and with bait at night. Blue sharks have been dominating offshore, but more makos are now being caught. School bluefins were spotted inshore of the Glory Hole last weekend. Small yellowfin tuna are being trolled in the canyons, but many don't make the 27-inch curved fork length minimum. BAY HEAD TO BARNEGAT INLET Anglers working bunker schools still have a shot at big bass early and late in the day, though not much has been reported recently from the southern portion of this area. Sea bass and fluke can be caught at the reefs, but that fishing has been inconsistent. The new 12 1/2-inch minimum for sea bass has been a problem at times. Lindenkohl Canyon has produced some 40-pound-class yellowfin tuna for trollers as well as the small tuna that are most abundant now. Barnegat Bay has some keeper fluke in the channels but many more shorts. Small blues can be caught by light tackle casters in the bay, and those fish have also showed at times in the Island Beach State Park surf. SOUTH JERSEY Tom Paglioroli of Rack & Fin Radio, 97.3 ESPN FM says it's going to be “Flounder on the Fourth” around Great Bay and down through Atlantic City into Great Egg Harbor Bay in Ocean City. In Great Bay, there has been a rush of keeper flounder on the Mystic Island side of the Fish Factory into the clam stakes, where the flatties are inhaling squid/minnow and squid/spearing combos. In the ICW from marker 134 to 126, flounder from keeper to 23-inches are putting the bite on the 4-inch chartreuse Gulp! Swimming Minnow, squid strips and bucktail/mackerel strips. Ray Slemmer weighed summer flounder of 7 and 10 1/4 pounds in yesterday at Absecon Bay Sportsman's Center in Absecon. They were caught on bucktails, one tipped with a frozen mullet — and the other with a salted mackerel strip. At Harrah's in Atlantic City, there are flounder to 7-pounds under the lights at night on live spot, big minnows, bucktail/minnow and bucktail/Gulp Swimming Minnow. Flatties to 4-pounds are on the squid/minnow and squid strip bite in the deeper reaches of Man Killer Bay, Meadow Cut, Clam Creek, Josh's Slough and Reed's Bay. Some weakfish between 2 to 5 pounds are hitting shedder crab at Harrah's after dark, with legal to 16-inch weaks at the mouth of the Mullica and Deep Point at first light on shedder and salmon belly.
Staten Island
Romer Shoal
5 MILES
Sandy Hook
Coast Guard Station
MIDDLESEX
n Ba Rarita
y
Highlands
G.S . PK WY.
Sea Bright
Shrewsbury Rocks
MONMOUTH Shark River Inlet Belmar
HOT SPOT
THE SLOUGH
Location: LAT-LONG: 39 75.5"— 73 34.2" LORAN: 26725.0 43390.0 ■ 125 degrees, 21 miles from Manasquan Inlet ■ 138 degrees, 21 miles from Shark River Inlet ■ 73 degrees, 27 miles from Barnegat Inlet ■ 161 degrees, 36 miles from Sandy Hook
195
Manasquan Inlet Bay Head
9
HOT SPOT
Seaside Heights
WY . PK G.S
Tice’s Shoal
Island Beach State Park
This tongue of deeper water was a hot spot in the years when sand eel concentrations brought yellowfin tuna inshore during late summer. Even long after that, I always trolled through there on the way out to the Lillian area from Manasquan Inlet, particularly when blue waters moved inshore. A few yellowfins were trolled under those circumstances. Skipjack tuna and dolphin are also common there, and bluefin tuna are a possibility at times.
SOURCE: Capt. Vic's New YorkNew Jersey Bight Fishing Chart (732) 821-8810
OCEAN
Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Inlet
9
BURLINGTON
Little Egg Harbor Great Bay
Little Egg Inlet
ATLANTIC
G.S. PKWY
Brigantine Atlantic City
Great Egg Harbor Inlet
Ocean City
T I D E
TOMORROW
CAPE MAY LOCATION Barnegat Inlet Belmar Manasquan Inlet Delaware Bay
THE STAR-LEDGER
C H A RTS
SUNDAY
1ST HIGH 2ND HIGH 1ST LOW 2ND LOW 1ST HIGH 2ND HIGH 1ST LOW 2ND LOW 6:09 a 5:46 a 6:09 a 6:21 a 5:51 p 6:32 p 6:09 p 6:32 p 6:44 p 6:14 p 12:26 a 11:39 a 12:04 a 12:28 a 11:52 a 12:00 p 12:24 p 12:22 p 6:59 a 6:36 a 6:59 a 7:11 a 6:41 a 7:17 p 6:54 p 7:17 p 7:29 p 6:59 p 1:13 a 12:30 a 12:51 a 1:15 a 12:43 a 1:08 p 12:25 p 12:46 p 1:10 p 12:38 p
Sandy Hook Seaside Heights
SOURCES: Tom Pagliaroli, Rack ’N Fin Radio, 97.3 ESPN FM; saltwatertides.com