Weekend forecast looks good for sea bass and fluke fishing
Fishermen experienced a taste of summer on Tuesday when temperatures soared into the 90s.
Capt. Bobby Quinn, of the Ocean Explorer in Belmar, was out and said the ocean was calm and great for drifting. He was targeting sea bass which his fares started catching immediately after the first whistle. The fish kept biting all day and several anglers caught their limits. Quinn said jigs with sand eels drew most of the larger fish.
The sea bass fishing has been consistently good since the season opened and the for-hire captains have stayed with them instead of fluke, which have been biting in the rivers and bays but not so much in the ocean, so far.
That's bound to change as summer approaches and the fish turn on. The ocean's surface temperature was 62 degrees this week around the Klondike, said Capt. Bob Bogan on the Gambler. That's getting near ideal temps for fluking.
Bogan's been drifting near the ocean structures, trying for both sea bass and fluke. While his fares haven't had any trouble reeling in sea bass, he said he's only seeing a few fluke on the whole boat per outing. His biggest fluke to this point is 3 ½ pounds.
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Capt. Tom Buban, on the Atlantic Star, has been doing fairly good on drifts for fluke in Sandy Hook Bay. He had a couple of fares catch their three-fish limit on Wednesday morning's trip. He said the afternoon weather forecast that day scared some people off and he didn't sail.
As far as conditions go, fishermen should have partly cloudy skies, warm air temps and some light west breezes to push the boat around on Saturday, according to NOAA's coastal marine forecast. The direction will shift to the south by Sunday but remain very light, at 5 to 10 knots.
The bluefish have been hitting in the surf on the Ocean County barrier islands. No major blitzes to speak of but the area's tackle shops are getting a few weighed in or a picture from the beach from fishermen. Reports of kingfish are coming in from Jingles Bait & Tackle located in Beach Haven at the southern end of Long Beach Island.
Striped bass are still hitting at several surf fishing locales. Giglio's Bait & Tackle in Sea Bright had reports of fishermen landing bass walking the beach there, casting poppers and swim shads. The kayakers tied into a few paddling out a mile or more from the beach.
What's biting: get the latest fishing reports at here
Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park fish all week, starting with Scott Thomas who released a 40-inch bass Sunday night from Island Beach State Park. He was fishing with salted clams. Early Thursday morning the shop weighed in a 11 ¼-pound bass for George Ford, who landed it in the surf on clams.
Capt. Dave DeGennaro on the Hi Flier scored 28 and 30-inch striped bass for his charter. He split the day up catching sea bass at the Tires reef outside of Barnegat Inlet before live lining bunker in the inlet for stripers.
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: NJ fishing: Weekend forecast looks good for sea bass and fluke angling
