From the Surf
10-05-2010
By Paul Danielczyk
The Mainland angler with the Aloha Spirit
What a fall this could turn out to be if all the fish start to stack up and stick around. This will probably be the case as the bait fish are here and more pouring out of the inlets in droves. There are large schools of sand eels in the surf in Monmouth County especially from the Shark River Inlet to the Manasquan Inlet. All this adds up to striped bass starting to be caught and they are attacking the bait schools hard. Lookout you could get hooked on this fascinating sport.
There is plenty of small blues in the wash as well. This weekend at Island Beach State Park there were blues, kingfish, fluke and striped bass being caught even though the weather was pretty snotty. In Ocean County the surf fishing continues to heat up with some nice size striped bass being reported in along Seaside Heights and Seaside Park. Try 33+” on Sunday on a clam, go figure. Plus there was a roomer of a few Weakfish being caught as well.
In Southern Ocean County the Fisherman Headquarters reported striped bass being caught on bunker chunks. Good going Jeff Whalen on Pennsauken who weighed in a 20# striped bass (mid-island) and William Molinaro of Manahawkin who weighed in a 14lb 8oz striped bass (mid-island) on bunker.
Along with that report we are also hearing of kingfish and small blues also being caught in the surf all up and down Long Beach Island not just mid-island. So get out and hit the beaches hard as the fish are starting to become the norm once again. If you are successful and would like the bragging rights PM me with the details and I will put you in the articles each week.
The choice of bait seems to vary but the top 3 are mullet, clams, and bunker. To cover all bases I would probably throw on a teaser in a sand eel pattern as well.
If the weather clears up soon this report will be the same up and down our coast, from Sandy Hook to Cape May from out front to the bridges and the back bays. The fish are here you just have to put your time in to be productive. But do it wisely. With this nasty weather clams are the first choice as the beds have been taking a pretty good hit. If you see clam shells on the beach it is a good indication that the clam feed bag is on.
Following clams is the lowly mullet and then the bunker. All this will change through out the season so be ready to change your tactics.
Plus if the surf is to rough try the inlets as they are producing some nice sea bass down south especially at Corson’s Inlet. Now is the time to plan your fall fishing trips. It looks to be a good year maybe right into December. Stop in and talk to your local bait & tackle shop. Their information could be priceless.
Happy Catching
Paul
