Surfcasters crush bass during blitz at Toms River, Seaside beaches

Dan Radel, Asbury Park Press
·2 min read

According to those who witnessed it, Sunday's bass blitz in the Seaside area was one of those days where you simply had to be there.

Some of the very seasoned surfcasters are even going as far as calling it the best striped bass fishing they've ever experienced on the beach as the mayhem lasted for hours.

The conditions started to come together on the incoming tide. Sean Smida said he watched the morning develop from his truck while parked in the Normandy Beach section of Toms River, his hometown. He watched a pod of bait swim down the beach with not much on it. He waited sipping coffee.

Sean Smida, left, and Allen Gonzalez, both of Toms River with striped bass from Sunday's blitz in the Ortley Beach, Seaside Heights stretch of sand.
Sean Smida, left, and Allen Gonzalez, both of Toms River with striped bass from Sunday's blitz in the Ortley Beach, Seaside Heights stretch of sand.

Twenty minutes later, he saw the first good swirl appear. What followed was five hours of a nearly non-stop bass blitz. Word quickly spread through the local surf fishing pipeline and soon the beach was filling up with anglers clad in waders and armed with spin rods.

More:What's biting: Get the latest fishing reports here

"There are good days, there are great days, and then there are otherworldly days," said Allen Gonzalez, of the Ortley Beach section of Toms River, and former Reel Class charter captain.

Gonzalez dropped everything he was doing, and jetted to the beach with his daughter Lauren in tow. He said the bass hit pencil poppers and pretty much any topwater lure they threw at them. He lost track of how many fish they caught and released but it was several dozen, or over 40 by his count.

Smida said most of the fish he saw were under 40 inches, meaning anglers most likely got a keeper fish to take home for dinner during the melee.

More:Fisherman brave cold for offshore sea bass, pollock

Surf anglers had a good weekend on Long Beach Island judging by the number of entries into the surf fishing classic. All told, 14 bass were brought in from up and down the island. None big enough to budge the leader, Alfonso Parente's 19-pound, 5-ounce bass caught on the afternoon of Nov. 3.

Wreck fishing

The Big Mohawk took a party of anglers for blackfish, or tog as many call them, on Sunday. According to the boat's fishing report, the bite was decent and it didn't matter where anglers stood on the boat because the keepers were spread out. The high hooks caught their limits while everyone else had between 1 to 4 fish. The big fish for the day was 5 pounds. As far as bait went, green and white legger crabs worked equally well and some fishermen pulled some tog on jigs.

The Big Jamaica went offshore for sea bass on Saturday. Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. said the conditions on the wreck weren't the best but his fares still pulled in a lot of fish between the sea bass and porgies. Once again they got into some pollock, which won the boat pool.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Surfcasters crush bass during blitz at Toms River, Seaside beaches