Weak fish and Striped bass showing up along the coast in flurries from Raritan bay to Barnegat bay.
Porgies showing up along the local piers in numbers and plenty of slammer blues still patrolling the coast line in pursue of peanut bunkers. Bluefish have been fattening up before they head out for the winter. Anglers in Keyport were slamming blues up to 16 lbs from the new fishing pier on metals and plugs.
Aboard the Captain Dave from Atlantic Highlands 1st Mate and Fishing guide Brett Chamberlain had the gang from Roche Diagnostics. This party did it up right with plenty of good food and refreshments for the day. Hearing of a weakfish bite in the Reach channel, they decided to give it a try. Upon arriving on the fishing grounds, there was already a large fleet of boats in the channel. There were so many boats that it looked like the scene from the movie Jaws. Shortly after, the USCG sent its cutter out to clear the channel so commercial traffic would not be impeded. In the interest of safety they left the area and tried for action elsewhere. The result was a slow pick of fish.
Another repeat customer, the Shariff Elfar family from Franklin Lakes.
Capt. Kevin took this group to the weakfish grounds, but alas, the result was the same as
the morning’s trip with a slow pick exacerbated by another heavy fleet of boats to
contend with.
The first trip of the week started off slow for Captain Steve Purul from Reel Fantasea Charters out of Barnegat Light due to a stiff N.E. wind but as the wind laid down the bite was on fire for the rest of the week with blues, bonitos, false albacore, and even a few short stripers. Superior Court Judge Nicholas J. Stoumtos Jr. with friend Tom were out to start the week to find the fishing the toughest, although the guys had a few blues it was anything but stellar action. The very next morning Steve Vavrick was out for some non stop action with nice blues that hit just about everything thrown at them in the inlet. Steve had a blast catching blues on top water poppers , and with the clean water the NE wind blew in the visual strikes were a scene from ESPN .That evening Captain Steve was back at the inlet with another party for more of the same non stop action with blues and a few short stripers . Steve Ezzel was out for round two of trips this week and also the old Reel Fantasea's last trip of her career as the new 26" Cape Fisherman was delivered and is being prepped. Steve had more non stop action with a mix of blues, bonitos and false albacore, missing an Atlantic Coast Grand Slam by a striper or weak fish. Steve was on board last week were he scored a Barnegat Bay Grand Slam striper, fluke, blue, weakfish. Captain Steve still has dates available for this fall, the bait is stacked up behind the inlet, the temps are cooling down, October is here, the days are getting shorter and so is the list of available dates for some of the best action found anywhere. Give Captain Steve a call and take a day off you won’t regret it. Reel Fantasea Charters 609 - 290 – 1217
Updates & TournamentsHi-Mar Striper Club Annual Fall 40 Hour Striped Bass Tournament
The Hi-Mar club conducts one of the premiere striped bass tournaments in North Jersey. This year's 40 hour event will run from 8 P.M. on Friday (10/19/07) to Noon on Sunday (10/21/07) at Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor. To find out more information about this event, just call the tournament director, Bob Kamienski at (732) 495-9210. Or
www.Hi-Mar.comOne of the goals of the Hi-Mar striped bass tournament is to raise funds so that the club can help various local charities. For instance, Hi-Mar supports the Monmouth/Ocean County Big Brothers - Big Sisters, Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs, Clark H. S. Fishing Club, and Pt. Pleasant Fire Explorers, by providing a mid-summer fluke trip for local youngsters aboard local charter boats.
NJ World Record Fluke?Monica Oswald, the Neptune nurse who was savaged in online discussion groups after she caught the largest summer flounder ever brought in with a rod and reel, has been denied a place in the record books.
The International Game Fish Association said today that Oswald broke IGFA rules in August when she briefly rested her pole on the rail of her boat while wrestling with a 24.3-pound fluke off the Coast of Monmouth County. The rules clearly state you cannot use the rails to win the battle. This has raised even more controversy with angler’s nation wide. Monica did pass the lie detector test. The ruling cost Monica six figure endorsements. This raises many questions and doubts with angler’s world wide. For more information on the rules and other world records log onto
www.IGFA.org. To hear what the fishing community has to say and to get a heart beat on the NJ fishing community log onto
www.NJSaltwaterfisherman.com for all your fishing advice. What’s your opinion? Email me at Ron@signbrothers.com
