Sandy Hook Bass Blitz 11/1

[Captain Dave Wittenborn]

The fall bass run in Sandy Hook lived up to it's reputation yesterday as the action was unlimited for a good portion of the day.  We got a late start as we headed out from our marina in Sea Brite and didn't get set up until around 11:00am over by the Romer Shoal light.  We had some decent action be we missed most of the incoming tide and the action slowed as the flood tide reached it's height around 12:30pm.  The boating pressure was severe due to the fact it was a beautiful weekend day.  We decided to head up the beach and see what the action was like off the Highlands Bridge.  We trolled north to the Shrewsberry Rocks but only found blues in the five pound range.  Good eaters but not what we were after.  After getting snagged on the rocks and almost loosing my wire line outfit we decided to head back to the bay and catch the outgoing tide.  Things were not looking so great up to this point.

We decided to run over to the NY side of the Ambrose Channel and set up in 30 ft of water near the party boat Fisherman.  He does a nice job and usually puts his clients on the fish.  We lowered our clam bellies into the water and it wasn't long before we had our first keeper bass in the boat.  He measured 30" and weighed in at 10#.  Our second keeper came over the side shortly there after and measured 31" and weighed 12#.  The skates ans sharks moved in and the tide slowed so we were about ready to call it a day.

As we were heading in around 4:00, we spotted bird action " between the channels" and decided to go have a look.  We figured it was blues coming to the surface for their afternoon feeding so we didn't get too excited.  To our surprise, it was an all out bass blitz and we has constant action of bass in the 24"-28" for the next 1.5 hours.  We actually got tired of reeling in bass and decided to head in and start cleaning up before it got too dark.  The bass were still blitzing when we left and there were only a few other boats in on the action.  The wind had died to about 5 knots and the bay was like glass.  The day was as good as you could hope for and is the reason why we fish the Sandy Hook region in the fall.
 

[Pops Soul]

Nice Report Capt. Dave

[lucky enuff]

   Wtg....we were out there also and caught a tad bit of that blitz. Not to the degree you guys did, but fun none the less! We did basically the same trip routine you did...Great day on the water....It doesn't get much better than that.

[Bucktail]

Nice going Captain!   

[mgm]

Good report...sounds like a great day on the water

[Skolmann]

Nice report  .

I was fishing Romer's earlier in the day (yesterday). Probably started fishing @ 7 AM. Bite was red hot for about 2 hours.

FYI, we weren't fishing with the rest of the fleet that was just east of the lighthouse. Rather we were fishing further east (maybe 1.5 miles). Only had 2 other boats within 150-200 yards of us. Judging by the amount of times I saw them drop the net, they were doing pretty well.

Not 100% sure it the bite is on only during a certain stage of the tide or if the bite is related to how high the sun is in the sky. However, the captain I fished with had the fish in the same local on Friday as yesterday. He was out again this morning at 6 AM. I'll call him in a few to see how he did.

[Captain Dave Wittenborn]

We were on the north side of the Lighthouse at around 11:00am and it was pretty slow by the time we got set up.  Most of the boats were scattering by 11:30am.  We managed some shorts but we clearly missed the morning bite.  Glad we stuck it out until later in the day when it turned on again. 

I think it is a combination of sun and tide which turns the bass fishing on and off, however, slack tide on either end usually turns the fish off.  I love fishing on blue bird days but the catching is usually a little off. Fluke and sea bass tend to be influenced more by the tide than the sun.  Water temp obviously effects all fishing classes.

Most important of all is that the fish have to be there which is why I love to fish Sandy Hook in the fall.  It has the most consistent fishery than the rest of the Jersey coast.

[kezsr]

nice report and catch, t^going to try tomorrow morning,hope I can find a blitz.

[Hotrod]

Cool Capt Dave

[Pfishingruven]

Great report and nice catching!!

 

[IrishAyes]

 

[makokeith]

excellent report guys,  thanks

[ped579]

Great job Capt. Dave, and thanks for the report...

[Hotrod]

Nice pics

[FINITALIA2]