With June, the true kickoff to summer is here! We now have sunny days and bluebird skies with 80-degree temps ahead of us for the next few months. Phew! Spring striper fishing was kind of lackluster but there should be some fish hanging around in June, hopefully plenty of them. Fluke season opened with a bang as a lot of keeper class 18-inch fish were found and that should roll big time in June. This month, black sea bass season is open only until June 19th with a 12.5-inch minimum size and 10 fish bag limits. Giant Tuna fishing was amazing in May, but as this is being written the quota was reached. Here we go, let’s roll!
RARITAN BAY
Strangely, the striper fishing inside Raritan Bay hasn’t been up to par here in early May, but that could very well change as they could be blooming later this year. The best bets in June inside the bay will be out toward the mouth of the bay off spots like Ambrose Channel, West Bank, Romer Shoal and off of Coney Island. Usually, live bunker on circle hooks are the mainstay, but there’s been a confusing lack of bunker in NJ waters this year, so you’re probably going to opt for finding busting bass and tossing popper, plugs and dropping shads for them. White YoZuri Mag Darters, Island X Sidewinders, Mambo minnows, Tsunami Talkin Poppers and Daiwa SP Minnows all were fast into fish. Most anglers will be hard after fluke this month. A good show of keeper class 18-inch plus fish will be inside the bay through the summer. Regular haunts are off the Ammo Pier, Chapel Hill Channel, the Coast Guard Row, and Keansburg, you just have to keep bumping around to find where the packs are holding and when you do find them, don’t leave them until the bite slows down. Simple 1 to 2-ounce bucktails tipped with 5-inch white Berkely Gulp! Grubs will do the trick, but you can drag baits too like spearing and squid combos on three-way rigs. Surprisingly, weakfish came alive last year in June and Flynn’s Knoll, the Highlands Bridge and even the Rip had weakies pushing 8 pounds. Use small soft baits on light jig heads to trick a few up, or send down a float sandworm rig near the bottom.
NORTHERN COAST
Bass were absolutely ghost this year in the Navesink and Shrewsbury River systems, most likely due to the absence of any bunker to bring them in to feed. But all hope is not lost on bass here as they could push in late. Meanwhile, bass schools could be roving anywhere from Sandy Hook through Manasquan Inlet as swimming plugs and paddletail shads worked around any signs of bait life will get hit. Trolling with Mojo Balls, shad bar rigs and bunker spoons will probably be the modus operandi as the schools all seem to be spread out. Be on the lookout for big blues up to 15 pounds or greater as they made an appearance throughout May, just be sure if casting plugs or poppers to switch out to single siwash hooks for an easy release when they are thrashing around on deck. Fluke fishing will really be amping up. Shark River was red hot during May with loads of throwback fish and plenty of keepers for the box as well. Light ½ ounce bucktails tipped with Gulp or Finessence squid strips worked super well. You can also use that method inside both the Shrewsbury and Navesink river systems. Ocean-going vessels will try for fluke off of Long Branch in 35 to 60 feet of water, the Klondike, Sea Girt Reef and surrounding humps and lumps throughout the coast up to Sandy Hook. Sea bassing will be prime for the pickings too, but try to focus on structure piles of rock and wrecks at the Sea Girt Reef, Elberon Rocks and Sandy Hook Reef where you can double up with sea bass and fluke on every drop. Chopper bluefish will be sticking around inside the river systems as well for early morning pre-work sessions to bend the rod.
CENTRAL COAST
Bass fishing was probably the best in NJ along this stretch of coast as stripers moved in big time in early May along the beaches from Point Pleasant down through Barnegat Inlet. Clam slingers were dialing in double-digit catches from the surf most days and that should continue, though you may want to change up the baits to sand fleas as that are the main forage for the fish during the summer months. Boaters didn’t have as much luck for some reason as bunker schools were non-existent, but that could change if the stripers may be on a late arrival pattern. Big slammer bluefish up to 16 pounds hit Barnegat Bay and the Manasquan River and should be sticking around the bays and rivers through the month. Try Treasure Island or Dog Beach inside the Squan Inlet during incoming tides. Fluking was top-notch in the Squan River as small bucktails tipped with Gulp were clutch to hook into boxers to fill the cooler with fresh fillets. Barnegat Bay’s Oyster Creek Channel and the area between the BB and BI Buoys could be lit with summer flounder activity, as is usually the norm. Pick your drifts to stitch the ICW channel and find where the pockets of fish are hanging on the tides. They will move during the tide so you have to chase them as they filter back in and out with the tides. Don’t be afraid to move around. Hopefully, we will see a resurgence in the weakfishing as big tiderunners of yesteryear showed up last June with some fish reaching the 10 to the 14-pound mark. Those tiderunners hit black Bomber plugs at night but will hit 5-inch pink rubber baits on light ¼ ounce jigheads inside Barnegat Bay during the pre-dawn hours. Historically, spike weakies up to 18 inches will start to colonize the area inside of Barnegat Inlet off of the Dike and Myer’s Hole. Gear up with a grass shrimp slick and send shrimp ball baits back on size #4 baitholder hooks on bobber floats to tempt them up in the slick. For some summer fun, bring a chum log or three out and anchor up in the BB or BI Buoy areas and the 40 Marker to pull on a load of beasties like kingfish, blowfish, weakies and fluke.
OFFSHORE
Giant bluefin tuna fishing was absolutely firing in May! True horse mackerel in the 400 to 800-pound range stormed the areas of the Seaside Lump and the Klondike, as ballyhoo baits rigged on Joe Shute lures were the ticket to an all-out brawling battle. That’s a good sign as bluefin in the 50 to 100-pound range could push into the same nearshore areas if the giants were there. A monster squid presence stood off of the Seaside Lump last year and the fishery was insane for anglers livelining squid. But you never know, they could be well offshore in their usual haunts at the Lillian, Chicken Canyon and out to the Canyon edges and Triple Wrecks areas, it’s just a matter of searching around for them with good intel. Yellowfin fishing will be picking up as well, but mainly from 45 miles out to the Hudson Canyon and surrounding canyon areas following the warm water eddies that spin-off of the Gulf Stream. Look for temperature breaks of even 3 to 4 degrees and work those spots, along with looking for visuals of whales, porpoises and bait schools on top. When out far offshore, be sure to bring the heavy-set ups too to drop down for golden tilefish as that fishery was bombastic in May as fish from 20 to 45 pounds came up on almost every party boat trip targeting them. Bait up with a ton of stuff on the hook including bluefish fillets, whole herring and mackerel and drop down in the 350-to-700-foot depths to unearth them from their holed lairs.
Let’s get started! June should be a phenomenal month on all fronts for the NJ saltwater angler.