Fluke fishing in the Garden state is in full swing. Hundreds of boats covered the tip of Sandy Hook this week drifting for enough keepers to make a dinner. Water temperatures in the bay reached 63 degrees and this should turn on some good summer fluke action in the coming weeks.
Be prepared, bunker, clams and live killies were a hot commodity this weekend and hard to find if you waited until the last minute to get bait
Romer Shoals continued to hold massive schools of bait and hundreds of hungry bluefish. I had a chance to catch a day where the blues were working the surface and the bay was flat as a bathtub. Conditions perfect for top water plugs. I felt like a kid again playing catch and release with top water action only seen on ESPN. I was also able to have my kids Ronnie, Nicolette, and their cousin Keith fight their first monster blue fish with an aerial performance they will never forget. Nicolette won the pool with an 11 lb chopper. Thank goodness for the old faithful blue fish, as always saving a trip from going bad.
The term “find the birds and catch fish” has changed, to “find Captain Ron’s The Fishermen and catch trophy bass”. Captain Ron leads the fleet again this week with an incredible week of trophy bass fishing. Captain Ron has remained red hot on the trail of monster bass and maxing out anglers on most trips. Do not miss some of the best bass action on the east coast. Captain Ron is sailing daily from Municipal Harbor in Atlantic Highlands.
Captain Jerry aboard the Fish Monger has been cleaning up the bottom with some of the best sea bass and ling fishing in years. Sailing from Pt. Pleasant Captain Jerry and crew fish the bottom hard core and always come back with a mixed bounty of fish. Fish Monger is also live lining during the week am and pm trips for trophy stripers. If you never had the opportunity to live line for bass, then you do not know what you are missing.
Remember when approaching a fleet to keep your distance and crawl around the fleet not through it. Always keep a safe distance from other anchor and trolling lines. From a boat or from the surf give yourself some elbowroom, the ocean is a big place. Fishing is a great experience, always use common sense and be courteous to others.
Fish On!