Record-breaking heat hit early in July, meaning by August the waters should be ripe with tropical activity of mahi, Spanish macks, cobia and the like. Tuna season gained a lot of steam in early July and should be full-on running and gunning this month, both on the midshore and offshore grounds. Fluke fishing is entering its peak season now in the ocean waters as they search for deeper waters to cool off from the searing heat. Two season points to note are that regulation-wise, blackfish season reopens again from August 1 to November 15 with a one fish limit at 15-inch minimum size and black sea bass season is still open through September 22nd with 1 fish at 12.5 inches. It’s the heart of the summertime, let’s see what’s heating up!
RARITAN BAY
Raritan Bay is synonymous with big fluke come August, as many of the largest flatfish are reported from this area during the month. Fluke will gravitate toward the deeper channels to get cooled from the searing summer heat, so spots like Chapel Hill Channel and especially Ambrose Channel will be havens for fish as the depths can dive to nearly 75 feet in some spots. Scores of smaller fluke will be sticking to the bayside of Sandy Hook, anywhere from Parking Lot A up to the Coast Guard Barracks and you can work the shoreline anywhere in between. There’s certainly a possibility of catching big weakfish at night by drifting sandworms during the nighttime at spots like Flynn’s Knoll or Swash Channel, or targeting any resident stripers by drifting live eels at those same spots. Anglers looking for some zip will be on the lookout for the first false albacore schools to push in, which normally hang at the mouth of the bay off the Rip, as well as pushing back into the Romer Shoal area or right off Sandy Hook. Strange visitors like cobia always seem to tease around at the mouth of the bay, as they will chase live eels freelined back. Who knows, you may even find some weird jack species or even mahi cruising by the mouth of the bay, as water temps are generally tropical.
NORTHERN COAST
Some big fluke are always found around the northern section of the coast, especially around the rock and structure piles off of Elberon and Deal. It can get really sticky there, so bring plenty of 1- to 2-ounce white and pink bucktails, as you will probably lose quite a few while bouncing through the structure piles to find fluke stacking up. The lighter, the better; you can more easily pull them out of snags and get hung up less. Gulp baits like 5-inch Swimming Mullets or even the new Penny Shrimp are top producers, as are the tried-and-true long strips of fluke belly, big Peruvian spearing and long sand eels tipped on a size 3/0 Octopus hook teaser. This is the time of year speed demons rip through the waters as Spanish macks, bonito and even king mackerel have been known to show up over structure piles like the Sandy Hook Reef and Shark River reef sites. Hastily reeled metal lures or even trolled Clark spoons and feathers will get whacked and run off by the speedsters. Just be sure you are dragging them fast at a 5 to 7 knot pace and put a few down deeper with 2-to-3-ounce drail weights in the line. The Shark River Reef is also a hot bottom fishing spot for red hake up to 4 pounds, along with potential cod, pollock, porgies and sea bass this time of year. Other potential wreck spots are the Lillian, Arundo and the Oil Wreck that line the Mud Hole depths of 80 to 130 feet in depth. Look for bluefish schools to be feeding out in the Mud Hole as well, if they show up, where night trips can be fun, wrestling with 10-to-15-pound gators through the night. Interestingly enough, night squidding trips have also become popular for party boats on this section of the coast. You can load up a cooler full for tuna baits or fried calamari treats!
CENTRAL COAST
I love the Barnegat Bay during the heart of the summer madness, as there always seems to be something around to bend a rod. Starting off, weakfish can amass by the thousands back there, though most are smaller in the 10-to-15-inch range, but they are tons of fun to catch with grass and sand shrimp baits. Other bay beasties include a variety of northern kingfish, blowfish, porcupinefish, jack species, juvenile cobia, houndsfish, lizardfish and more that will eagerly jump on a slip float bobber rig fixed with a light leader and size #4 baitholder hook baited with a bit of clam or squid. Fluke will be a main target with some leftover fish sticking tight inside the Oyster Creek Channel and Barnegat Inlet, but a good amount of them will have pushed out to the Barnegat Light Reef tire units and army tanks as well as the Barnegat Ridge, Manasquan Ridge and Axel Carlson Reef sites. This is a prime time of year to target inshore mahimahi as they magnetize to the hi-flier pot flags, where you can sometimes see dozens or even hundreds of small grasshopper to chicken-sized dolphin ranging from 1 to 5 pounds around the pot lines. A well-cast ½ ounce bucktail tipped with Gulp grub will get you tight, as will any live lilies or peanut bunker cast back on a size 1/0 Octopus hook. Fun tropical visitors like hammerhead sharks, cobia, and even tripletails occasionally will hang off the pots and above reef sites, so always keep your eyes open for something new. Tailor bluefish of 1 to 3 pounds should be marauding the entire coastline this time of year, from the surf out 10 miles.
OFFSHORE
Early July saw the first real wave of bluefin tuna move into the midshore waters as 50 to 120-pound class tuna were in pretty close in the Glory Hole, Atlantic Princess and Virginia wrecks. Most fish were hitting jigs, poppers, and livelined squid all along the 30-fathom line. That bite should be firing this month as the schools could be anywhere from the Triple Wrecks, Resor Wreck, Texas Tower, Coimbra and so on, depending on where the bait schools of sand eels, mackerel, bunker and squid are. Yellowfin tuna fishing was already priming in July at the wall of the Wilmington, Lindenkohl and Spencer Canyons and should be lit up at the Hudson for night chunking trips now. All the big offshore billfish tournaments take place in August and for good reason, the canyons off Jersey are world-class white marlin havens as daily reports of hundreds of released whites are commonplace along the canyon walls from the Hudson down to the Baltimore. Blue marlin will also be on tap, though not as common as the whites and they can range anywhere, averaging 250 to 500 pounds and greater. Whites will hit ballyhoo baits and blue marlin will smack and stab at big chugger lures and skirted ballyhoo baits. Don’t forget when offshore, bring some lighter rods to toss at mahimahi that will magnetize to any floating debris, hi-flier potlines, or junk floating in the water. Larger model mahi, up to 30 or 40 pounds, can be caught way offshore. Mixed in as well are wahoo that can be trolled with high-speed swimming lures.
We are smack dab in the middle of summertime fun! Fire up the engines and hit the saltwater to put some fresh fish fillets or steaks on the grill!