We can officially say its summertime! The month of May brought some fine striper fishing, in the central part of the state it was the best spring run in the surfside in years. June will see the remnants of the migratory fish sticking around. Fluke season opened a bit slow with cold waters, but come June, the bite should be on fire in the backwaters as they begin to push outside to set up on the inshore humps. Black sea bass season has a quick change in the month with the 12.5-inch minimum size staying stationary but a 10 fish limit until June 21, then a 1 fish limit from June 22nd onward. Bluefish were nowhere really to be found while bluefin tuna reports were slim last month, but that should all change now. As the summer sun shines down to warm things up, look for fishing to explode on all fronts. Here’s the plan:
RARITAN BAY
Striped bass were aplenty inside the Raritan Bay with many fish stacking near the Keansburg Pier and back by the Ammo Pier areas, but this month, look for most of the activity to locate around the mouth of the big bay at such spots like Romer Shoal, Coney Island, and up by the Verrazano Bridge areas. Boaters will be looking for blitz activity with bass pushing bunker schools to the surface in order to cast topwater poppers and glidebaits to them. Fluke will be the main focus now as flatties tend to lay in such spots as Chapel Hill Channel, the Coast Guard Row, on the backside of Sandy Hook and various ledges and dips more toward the mouth of the bay. Simple three-way swivel rigs baited with spearing, killies and squid will dial you in to the usual 2 to 5-pounder with always a chance of a 10-pound plus doormat finding a bait. For ghost hunters, there’s always a chance at finding some tiderunner weakfish drifting sandworms at night over Flynn’s Knoll or through the Highlands Bridge.
NORTHERN COAST
No doubt fluke are on the menu here, as party boats and private boats alike will target waters in the 35 to 55 foot range to bounce around for flatfish that have exited the backwaters and moved into the shallow ocean waters. Spots like the Deal Rockpiles, Long Branch Lump, Klondike and Sea Girt Reef all congregate packs of flatfish with 1-ounce bucktails tipped with fluke belly the best offering, but a well-placed spearing/squid strip combo will also work on a 3/0 Octopus hook. Morning sessions are usually best before the dreaded summer afternoon southerly winds kick in. The Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers will also be primed for fluke, back where the Two Rivers meet and by the Oceanic Bridge channels to drift shrimp imitations and Gulp baits. Big bruiser bass will still be hanging around as live eels sent back on planer boards account for some huge 30 to 45-pound linesiders that will stay around and feed on the new and full moons of the month off the Shrewsbury Rocks and out by the Sticks. Anglers looking for a thrill ride can actually target thresher sharks on the nearshore grounds as the whiptails are known to follow the bunker schools off Asbury Park and Shrewsbury Rocks as bunker spoons get obliterated by the sharks and you can target them effectively setting up on a bunker chunk slick if you are up for it.
CENTRAL COAST
Bass fishing was really solid along the surfline throughout May with the best spring run in years for both clamslingers and pluggers as overslot fish were the norm between 31 and 42-inches. There will still be resident stripers anchored down inside the Manasquan River system though they will tend to move toward a night feed on soft baits or live eels around the bridges and docks. A shot of black drum moved inside Barnegat Bay where big game battles were done by boat with fish upwards of 60 pounds or so and some leftovers could still be around to hit during the full and new moons this month. Fluke fishing will be the main game in town all throughout Barnegat Bay and Silver Bay. Flatwaters off the channels in 4 to 6 feet of water are a good place to bounce light 3/8 -ounce bucktails tipped with Gulp while the fluke warm up, then afternoons later in the month they will slip more into the channels of Oyster Creek and Double Creek Channels and remain there through the summer months. Other areas inside the bay are by the 40 Marker and between the BB and BI Buoys. The Mantoloking Bridge has been a secret spot to hang flatties in the summer months as well as up by the west side of the Canal. The Manasquan River can have fluke sticking tight mainly toward the mouth of the inlet anywhere from the 35 bridge out to the Dog Beach and inlet itself. Barnegat Bay will also see the first bay beasties starting to chew on a clam slick with blowfish, kingfish, triggerfish and such getting active in the warming waters.
OFFSHORE
As this is being written in early May, I have yet to hear of any bluefin tuna reports, but of course that should all change this month if all goes to plan. Bluefin can be anywhere, and I mean that almost literally from right off the beachfront out to 80 miles and it’s a crapshoot which line they will take on their northerly migration. Most tuna hounds have luck in the 5 to 20-mile range to start along the Mud Hole and 20 to 30 fathom lines, looking for foamers and tossing poppers, slidebaits or jigs to them. A lot depends on the bait around which can be spearing, bunker mackerel or sand eels. Offshore in the Hudson and surrounding canyons, the yellowfin tuna bite should begin to get going as overnighters start to run for butterfish and sardine chunk trips. The YFT chew really gets going during the summer and fall months. Golden tilefish are also a viable option on the Canyon flats as the 300 to 600-foot depths can have the tiles poking their heads out of their lairs to jump on big baits comprised of whole squid, whole mackerel, Peruvian sand eels and salmon bellies, all on one hook if you can find a size 10/0 to 11/0 circle hook.
June kicks off the summer fun, and there’s no finer time to be on the saltwater! Fire up that grill, we’ve got some fantastic fishing ahead of us.