Scott's Daily Fishing Reports April 2009

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Thursday, April 30, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:06pm

At least eight keepers were taken home for dinner today by anglers fishing Graveling Point and Pebble Beach. I would have to say today was one of the best days for keepers this Spring. Other days surly have produced more bass, but many of today's fish were in the 28 to 32 inch range. Clams were the only bait necessary.
This morning, Kevin Geoghegan weighed in a 23.5 33" Black Drum which he caught off of Pebble Beach last night. Just an occasional drum now and then with no pattern developing to say when they are coming through.
Still no weakfish reported from anglers fishing Little Sheepshead Creek. According to rumors I heard this afternoon, there seems to be a real good catch happening somewhere in the Absecon area. Lets hope those fish come on up over the next couple of days.
Sea Ya

Name: Richie Conrad
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/29/09
Location of Trip:
Species Sought:
Time of Day Fished: Evening (Sunset/Dusk)
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. Do not know info
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Fished from 9:30 til 11:30 had five fish. The biggest was 28 in. so no big keepers but a fun time catching stripers.
~Richie Conrad

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:08pm

From 85 to 45 degrees, is there no such thing as a happy medium with the weather?
Overcast and drizzly brought out the hardcore veteran anglers to fish Graveling Point. These are the guys I do not see on sunny days. The brave the uncomfortable weather because that's when the stripers bite best and they talk the least so no reports from the point today.
Anglers are trying to find those tiderunner weakfish at Little Sheepshead Creek. Don't wait until I post that they are catching. The guys are putting in their time and earning the fish they catch. They are unlikey to share just when the fish show up.
Sea Ya

Name: Dave
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 4-26-09
Location of Trip:
Species Sought:
Time of Day Fished: Early Afternoon
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. NE
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Catch and Release
Not Catch and Torture...
Fished the North end of Brigantine and watched a family of 5 catch a short striper and then TRY to THROW it back. After the fish landed in the shallow water 5 times a series of angry anglers made their way to the fish to give it a proper release. After words were thrown one angler explained it is NOT CAtch and Torture it is catch and release. Pass it forward...
~Dave

Name: Jim Hutchinson
Email: jamesghutch1@aol.com
Phone: 609-290-5942
Website: http://www.fishbeachhaven.com
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 4/25 & 26
Location of Trip: Inshore wrecks, Great Bay
Species Sought: Blackfish, striped bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SE
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
A sudden warm spell has raised water temperatures in southern Ocean County, and the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are finding the fish are in a feeding mode.
The boats bottom fishing in the ocean have seen some very good catches of big blackfish, but that season ends on May 1. Fortunately, black sea bass have started to arrive to pick up the slack.
Captain Adam Nowalsky of the "Karen Ann II" reports some good catches of tog or blackfish. Along with the tog, he has been noticing more nice sea bass showing up. Some recent limit catches of blackfish on the "Karen Ann II" include George Johnston of Philadelphia, Keith Stickles of Princeton, Robert Key of Reading, Pa., Johnny Lucario of Somerville to 5 pounds, and Bob Craney of Parsippany to 7.2 pounds,
Capt. Brant Whittaker took over the chores on the "Miss Beach Haven" from Frank Camarda last weekend and found some nice blackfish and sea bass on inshore wrecks and reefs. Dave Agar was the pool winner with his fat 12-pound tautog.
On Sunday the boat found even better fishing with a mixed bag of sea bass and tog with high hook being 7 fish.
Captain Fran Verdi ran some "open boat" trips on the "Cousins" recently and caught fish each time. One day he had Steve Richter and his son out for some bass. They fished in 55-degree water off Graveling Point. After a slow start, the fish started to bite when the tide turned and the rain started. In addition to several short fish they had keepers of 34 and 29-inches.
On Sunday Captain Fran tried bottom fishing in the ocean. After trying several spots with little success, they found a sweet spot on the Little Egg Reef. They managed to boat about 30 fish mostly blackfish with some sea bass mixed in. Many of the fish were shorts, but they did manage several keeper blackfish.
~Jim Hutchinson

Name: Mike Scuorzo
Email: mscuorzo@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.MagnumDjs.com
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/26/09
Location of Trip: Graveling Point
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Evening (Sunset/Dusk)
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Got 2 keepers (28 & 28 1/2") right after dark on clam using a fishfinder rig with a 7/0 Gami Octopus. 6 ounces required to hold bottom. About a half dozen people out there fishing, most hooking up with shorts- all on clams.
~Mike Scuorzo

Monday, April 26, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:14pm

The FIRST BLUEFISH was caught and was weighed in this morning. Jerry Creo landed four blues last night from Pebble Beach. He said first keeper was around 8:00pm. The big fish of the batch was a 7.1 33" long skinny bluefish and there were three other blues from the five-ish to seven pound bracket. Jerry also mentioned that there was a pretty good bite going on with the short stripers. He did not see any keepers taken.
It's time to start looking for the weakfish at Little Sheepshead Creek off of Great Bay blvd. just before sundown. We have yet to have anyone report any activity.
First bluefish means first blackfish in the Great Bay. Maybe you can try and catch a taug or two from the banks at the Old Coast Guard Station at the end of Great Bay Boulevard before the season closes on friday.
Sea Ya

Sunday, April 26, 2009 /\/\/\ 2:28pm

Hot and sunny; as pretty a July day as anyone could want to expect. Many fishermen call this a blue bird day and that usually means a pleasant day of fishing without any bothersome fish to clean. We did have one striper weighed in by a boating angler; the lona fish of the day. Pat Juliano brought in his 13.0 32" bass for a photo. I am glad he did, because that was pretty much the fish story of the day.
Fresh clams are really fresh and in pretty good supply as we had to wait for the bait house to shuck more for a mid afternoon pickup yesterday. Bloodworm and shrimp supply is also good. We are out of Green crabs and will not be getting any until July as the season closed on Thursday and the next chance to get crabs is Thursday.
Sea Ya

Name: Johnny Thomas
Email: jonhhyboy14@aol.com
Boat Name: THE BIG DOG
Phone: 677-8671
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/25/09
Location of Trip: WHIRLY POOL/ RISLEY CHANNEL
Species Sought: STRIPER
Time of Day Fished: Early Afternoon
Tide Fished: Blow Out Tide
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SE
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: Artificials Only
Lure Used: Bucktail
Fishing Report:
HEY SCOTTY, HAD FUN TRIP , RELEASED ONE 24" & HAD A MONSTER AT THE TOP BUT LOST HIM, WE ALSO CHECKED OUT THE "USUAL SUSPECTS" FOR THE FLUKE**, & YES THEY ARE HERE! FIRST FISH WAS A 20" WITH A TAG ON IT, NEVER GOT ONE OF THEM BEFORE, TALK AT YOU LATER, JOHNNY.......
~Johnny Thomas **Reminder Folks!: Fluke season opens May 23rd

Saturday, April 25, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:39pm

Weighed in another drum today and had reports from several other sources of more over the last few days. Also weighed in some nice bass. Bill Forlenza, who weighed in both stripers and a drum, said he had 10 fish over 1.5 hours down in Grassy Channel on the incoming tide. Not a bad morning's fishing!
Graveling Point and Pebble Beach anglers didn't produce much after eight this morning. There were a few fish after daybreak, but nothing to call hot activity.
Amazing enough, STILL no first bluefish. There are more reports of cut off lines and boaters reporting some bird play on the Great Bay, but no weigh-ins. Sea Ya

Friday, April 24, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:39pm

Evening fishing, before full dark, has provided the best activity this week. Most of the daylight activity has just been an occasional short striper. From dark to midnight last night, action consisted of two eels; not very exciting.
No more drum fish since Wednesday.
The $100.00 gift certificate reward for the first blue remains unclaimed. It's hard to believe, since Lenny had one break off at the bank on Tuesday night. Other customers have reeled in hookless monofilament rigs, so Lenny wasn't the only one to miss the prize. Shucked fresh clams, green crabs and bloods are all back in stock.
Sea Ya

Thursday, April 23, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:17pm

There has been a pretty good evening bite on the striper scene. Afternoon fishing has been slow, my guess, due to low tides in the middle of the day.
No word of any drumfish last night.
Supposedly, there has been a bit of a herring run at the Batsto Falls that started on Sunday. Now it's over? I am frustrated with trying to find the truth sometimes. Next place to look might be Beach Haven west, although I haven't heard any news as of yet.
Clam supply is low with new clams due in the morning. Green crab supply is OUT, again; more crabs due late in the morning. Lots of bloodworms, no problem there. Grass shrimp supply is critical and WILL RUN OUT. Truck is in the shop and there will be no opportunity to get more before the weekend.
Sea Ya

Name: Jack Hess
Email: jack@hessplumbing.com
Boat Name:
Phone: 856-889-0500
Website: http://HessPlumbing.com
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04-22-09
Location of Trip: Graveling Point
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Early Afternoon
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Rain
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. E
Sea Conditions: 4-6 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Bloodworms
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Fished most of the outgoing tide with no luck at all. 56 degrees in the back but still no blues. Made a trip to the inlet and found 52 degree water. Also found four seals feeding. Didn't mark any fish though. Stopped for lunch when the tide bottomed out. The rain stopped as the tide came back in. Fished the incoming till about 5:00. Caught 5 bass to 25".
~Jack Hess

Name: Bill Trapp
Email: bighunter6969@aol.com
Boat Name: trappers keeper
Phone: 609 812-0685
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 4/22/09
Location of Trip: out and about creek
Species Sought: striper
Time of Day Fished: Evening (Sunset/Dusk)
Tide Fished: Flood Tide
Weather Conditions: Cloudy/Light Rain
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. S
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: (Other)
Lure Used: (Other)
Fishing Report:
Got to the spot, 10 minutes bam, reel the striper in 29 inch. Nice sight to see. No one around but me and the birds. Caught a skate and 1 run off. Was there one hour, good times.
~Bill Trapp

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 /\/\/\ 5:52pm

A couple of pictures have been added to the daily reports page. Dave and Dan weighed in a couple of drum fish first thing this morning. Daves drum was 20.9 31" and Dan's drum was 8.2 pounder at 26". Another angler practiced some catch and release on three drum early this morning at pebble beach too. Largest drum was between twenty five and thirty pounds.
Lenny ALMOST caught the FIRST BLUEFISH last night. He had a big bluefish up along the bank and snapped the line as it wrapped around small stake in the water.
Lower Bank bridge has some good perch action. Quit a bit of live shrimp went out of here first thing this morning.
No word of Batsto Herring. New moon is the 24th and that is right around when they showed up is some kind of numbers last year. There was a little tiny shot of herring back on March 8, but it didn't turn into much.
Sea Ya

Name: Jim Hutchinson
Email: jamesghutch1@aol.com
Post Email?: YES, Post email with report
Boat Name:
Phone: 609-290-5942
Website: http://www.fishbeachhaven.com
----------------------
Report Details
Date of Trip: 4/18/09
Location of Trip: Great Bay-Atlantic Ocean
Species Sought: Striped bass, tautog
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: High (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SE
Sea Conditions: 4-6 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
The captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have kicked off the 2009 fishing season with some mixed results.
Captain Frank Camarda had some eager anglers out Saturday on the "Miss Beach Haven" for a day of bottom fishing. Camarda termed the fishing in 60-80 feet of water "a slow pick" although some nice blackfish and over 20 jumbo sea bass were brought across the rails.
The fish were biting lightly, and high hook was 3 blackfish. Al from the Rainbow Hunting Club won the pool with a 7-pound hake. Camarda said he felt the bite was slow due to the hard winds of the previous days, but the weather Saturday made for a nice day on the water.
Capt. Adam Nowalsky on the "Karen Ann II" reports blackfish have moved in to 65-feet of water. He termed the bite as not great yet with water temperature at 45-degrees on the surface and colder on the bottom. He has found some sea bass starting to show up in deeper water, from 80-100-feet. He had the Dennis Doriety group from Keyport out for their blackfish limit. Dennis boated a 13-pound tog and was high hook. Gene picked up eight and seven pounders. On an open boat trip Bill Pisarra was high hook while his friend Mike had the biggest fish at 8-pounds.
Captain Fran Verdi on the "Cousins" has been fishing the Graveling Point area with some success. He fished last Friday in 50-degree water with little action until the end of the day. They did manage to boat one 28-incher.
On Saturday he ran an open boat with two anglers, George and Zach. He fished a steady clam chum with no success in the morning on the outgoing tide. When the tide started in, the wind was against the tide, making for a difficult setup. Despite the conditions, the group persevered until George boated a 25-inch bass.
Shortly after, George had another bite for a 20-minute fight. When the fish finally was brought aboard, it measured 37-inches and tipped the scales at 25-pounds, 2-ounces.
~Jim Hutchinson

Monday, April 20, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:26pm

Anglers are tired of the cold rain. We saw a lot less folks then we normally would on a drizzly day when the stripers around. I suppose sixty degree rain is a lot more tolerable then forty five degree rain.
Word was the clams were scarce due to ocean conditions. I wouldn't risk my life or limb for any clam; I sure don't expect anyone else to. Clams and bloods will be in good supply Wednesday morning.
Supposedly four drum were caught on Sunday. Could be I am hearing the same fish stories from multiple people. Seems that the four fish that I have heard about are four different weights from the chatter, so I am confident that they are legit. Sea Ya

Sunday, April 19, 2009 /\/\/\ 1:58pm

Just a little showing of stripers yesterday and today. No blitzes and a very rare keeper; the only one I heard about was a 32 1/2 incher last night. Most of the fish reported this weekend were few and far in between and just schoolies at eight to fifteen inches. Word this morning from Pebble Beach was a ten pound and a thirty pound drum fish. Again, just a couple of shorties stripers early on.
Still no fresh clams...Something is up; I am sure there is going to be a lengthy story. With the crappy weather due in tomorrow, I don't expect any fresh clams until Wednesday. I have already made back-up arrangements for next weekend.
Sea Ya

Greg O' Reports on the tournament held yesterday, April 18th: Well, Maddox Kennedy of Newfield was the big winner at the Merchantville Fishing Club Junior Tournament. Maddox got a 21 inch striped bass. Overall fishing was slow but the kids get along well together and almost occupy themselves. Fish are a bonus. It was fun day out with them.

Name: Jack Hess
Email: jack@hessplumbing.com
Phone: 856-889-0500
Website: http://HessPlumbing.com
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04-16-09
Location of Trip: Batsto
Species Sought: herring
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Non-Tidal Waters (Fresh)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. Do not know info
Sea Conditions: Do not know info
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Scott- Myself,my son and a couple of other people were camping in Batsto over the weekend. We checked the falls for Herring and found none on Thursday, Friday, Sat. or Sun. Another angler there said he lives close by and there has been no action since March 8, 2008. Wish I had better news. Thanks..Jack
~Jack Hess

Saturday, April 18, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:03pm

Had multiple reports today of small striped bass 9 to 14" on Pebble Beach and Graveling Point and some kingfish out at Pebble. If you are feeling really small taps but can't hook up on the striper rigs, throw on a smaller hooked rig with smaller pieces of bloodworm if you want to try for those kingfish. Bluefish can't be too far behind if the kingies are here!

Bait status for tomorrow: Minnows and grass shrimp back in. We are low on bloods, but they are expected tomorrow morning-ish. We got skunked on clams today - no call, no show. Grrrr. We are out of frozen clams, the only type we have left are salted. Sea Ya~ MizMo

Name: Richie Conrad
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/17/09
Location of Trip: pebble beach
Species Sought: striper /drum
Time of Day Fished: Night
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. Do not know info
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Lure Used: (Other)
Fishing Report:
Well Scott, we fished from 10 oclock till 1:30am and had three fish. Two keepers 29in. and 31in. which we set back for another night. No drum or monster stripers so will continue to put in our time down along the banks......
~Richie Conrad

Name: Greg Gates
Email: ggates57@comcast.net
Boat Name: kayak
Phone: 609-335-2828
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/16/09
Location of Trip: mullica river
Species Sought: striper
Time of Day Fished: Early Afternoon
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Bloodworms
Secondary Bait: Clams, Frozen
Lure Used: Plug, Diving
Fishing Report:
Started fishing near parkway bridge two hours before high tide and caught eight stripers the largest 26 and 27.5. After high tide activity stopped; also caught large pregnant perch.
~Greg Gates

Friday, April 17, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:16pm

We are temporarily out of minnows. The water conditions just didn't allow us to catch many today. The water is cooler and the minnows just didn't want to feed. Evidently there are a couple of pickerel tournaments this weekend and we sold the couple of gallons we had at the dock.
Gets better. We are out of fresh clams. I knew the clams we were getting on Thursday were caught earlier in the week, due to the weather and I figured on a pick-up again this afternoon for the weekend supply of fresh clams so they would be real fresh. There are no clams to pick up. The rough seas are to blame? Maybe..I am on the call list and will update as soon as we get any word on the if's and when.
The striper fishing is strange. There is a lot of no action with little blitzes. The water temperature is back to 50 degrees and we did get several reports of catching incuding a couple just over the twenty eight inch mark. There are a whole lot of quite hours of inactivity between the schools of fish moving though.
...Still no herring at Batsto Falls. Sea Ya

Thursday, April 16, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:05pm

There has not been a lot of activity this week due to poor weather conditions. There were quite a few anglers fishing today at Graveling Point and Pebble Beach, but we did not get any reports back either good or bad. The water temperature dropped from fifty seven degrees down to forty seven this past week due to the cold temperatures and the volume of cold water rain. A couple of tide changes and the water should warm right back up and the activity should pick up again.
Plenty of cold water at the Batsto Falls and still no herring.
April 10th has come and gone and another week too and not even a hint of the word mackerel. Traditionally the schools of mackerel would be off of Atlantic City this weekend and anglers would catch up on a seasons worth of baits for the freezer. Those were the days.
Sea Ya

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 /\/\/\ 5:51pm

There was SNOW mixed in today's rain. I thought we were done with that! It rained hard all day. It was cold and windy and just downright miserable to be outside even for the time it took to get from a car to a building.
Yes, there were half a dozen folks who fished Graveling Point and Pebble Beach today. There was no report back about any catching though. I would imagine that when they packed up and got back into the car that stopping in the bait shop to give us an update on the fishing was not on their minds. I am pretty sure they were thinking a hot cup of coffee or soup and then a hot shower!
Sea Ya

Name: John Porchik
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/13/09
Location of Trip: Graveling Point
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Evening (Sunset/Dusk)
Tide Fished: Low Tide (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: No Second Bait Used
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Scott, Got out around 7pm and fished till almost 9pm had 4 shorts best one was 27.5". The rest were right around 20". I had a few hits that I missed oh well thats why they call it fishing not fish catching.
~John Porchik

Monday, April 13, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:02pm

Fishing dropped off everywhere. Did we loose water temperature or is it something to do with the back end of the full moon? Word at the end of the road was a couple of shorts early then an entire day without bites. Supposedly, there were a two keepers last night, but since last Friday, things slowed down quite a bit and we are only hearing of a fish now and then.
Sea Ya

Happy Easter! /\/\/\ 12:58pm

It was not the prettiest of spring mornings. The few ice cubes that I dropped on the sidewalk last night weren�t even wet when I arrived this morning. That meant it was below freezing all night. The wind was howling twenty plus out of the North West which probably put the wind chill factor down in the teens! Even so, there were a few surf anglers putting in some time at Graveling Point and Pebble Beach. The only fishing report I had today was from a couple of anglers who fished by boat off of Graveling Point earlier in the morning. They had eight short bass and a 1 pound 13ounce 15 1/2" white perch that they had their picture taken with and released off the back dock after the photo op.
The water temperature has dropped down some and has slowed the activity quite a bit since the last ok flurry of bites on Friday evening. It's hard to believe we are dealing with cold water second week of April! Once it gets back into the upper fifties, the activity will kick back into high gear until the bluefish arrive in two more weeks.
Sea Ya

Saturday, April 11, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:13pm

Wunderground/Marine Forecast: This Afternoon NE winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts to around 25 kt ...becoming N. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Periods of rain. Rain = 90% chance of precipitation.
Jack Bean reported a keeper and a throwback from yesterday afternoon out at Graveling Point.
We had a couple of weigh-ins. First bass this morning was a bass from last night caught by Jay Jeannotte 15.8 pounds and 33 1/2". ..Good size fish for a Pebble Beach fish. The weigh-in this afternoon was caught by Jack Hess 9.8 pounder 31"; caught in the middle of the afternoon during one of the breaks in the rain.
Joe Sikora comes through with a 17" 2.6 pound golden trout! The trout was caught up in Spring Lake. It was actually a pleasant surprise to weigh-in a trout today.
Word is there was a second drum fish caught in the past couple of days. We just might have a better run of drum this season then we had last year. Sea Ya

Name: Peter Balestrini
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/10/2009
Location of Trip:
Species Sought:
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: Slack Tide
Weather Conditions: Cloudy/Light Rain
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SE
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Bloodworms
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Fished graveling point early Friday. Nothing until around 10am, then a run came through. Caught one 30" @ 8lb and one 24" @ 6 lb. More of nothing for a couple hours, then two more, around the same size. Wrapped it up around 2:30, wind picked up and got a little miserable.
There were about 20-25 boats in the area, and about 30 folks fishing from shore all the way up past pebble beach.
Tried bloodworms and clams, nothing on the bloodworms. Did not try casting plugs...was better than being at work!
~Peter Balestrini

Name: Richie Conrad
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/10/09
Location of Trip: pebble beach
Species Sought: striper /drum
Time of Day Fished: Evening (Sunset/Dusk)
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. NW
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Secondary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Started fishing 9 p.m. end of incoming tide. clouds lifted and it turned out to be a beautiful night. Didn't catch first fish until 11:45...30 inch keeper...ended up staying til 1:30 and coming home with one. What a great night out on the bank.......
~Richie Conrad

Name: Anthony Zembrzuski
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 4/9/09
Location of Trip: clam stakes
Species Sought: winter flounder
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: High (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. Do not know info
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Bloodworms
Secondary Bait: Clams, Salted
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Was out for quite a while thursday but didnt have one single bite from a flounder. While I was out I checked my 2 crab pots and found 1 lobster. I was in complete shock. Also had 18 crabs. Thanks
~Anthony Zembrzuski

Friday, April 10, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:58pm

It never did quite rain here today but was just overcast that anglers were able to pick a bass now and then. I didn't hear of any keepers or blitzs, but it was still a good day to be fishing. It seems like we are on an evening bite the past few days which has been an incoming tide. Hopefully things will go well again this evening.
Plenty of lookers and the full moon was yesterday yet there are NO herring at Batsto Falls. Herring anglers seem to be keeping a round the clock vigil with a stream of anglers looking, testing and going home empty.
I have ten bushels of clams in the shell coming on Sunday morning; they have already been pre ordered. That will be the last of the bushel shell clams that I order. I apologize in advance, but my back can not handle the weight anymore. I will not even be accepting special orders. When we unloaded the truck this morning, I spent the next two hours choking down advil and gulping air due to the back pain. I have tried to be careful lugging the weight this Spring, but today the back gave out. I lived in misery most of the last fall as well. I just can not lift the weight anymore. I will continue to stock the pre shucked clams.
Sea Ya

Thursday, April 9, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:23pm

Again, bright sunshine and low tide during the middle of the day and not much activity for the bank fishing anglers. Last night, the bite was on with the incoming tide and sun down and the blitz of customers through this past couple of hours must have got the word that the bite was good last night and they were through this evening hoping to get a repeat of the good fishing.
Sea Ya

Thursday, April 9, 2009 /\/\/\ 8:13am

A chilly but calm morning and quite a few anglers enjoying the weather and are working the banks this morning at Graveling Point and Pebble Beach. No word on the action this morning.
A quick update on fresh clam status. We are out with more due later this morning. I am guessing between eleven and noon time. We have a ton ordered and should be good through the weekend.
We will be open 7:00am to 1:00pm on Easter Sunday.
Red wigglers and meal worms came in yesterday for the folks preparing for the opening day of trout season this Saturday, April 11th.
The State of NJ just posted the 2009 single sheet salt water regulations on the web site yesterday. We have printed copies available on the counter along with the 2009 season tide charts.
HOT NEWS of the morning come from Dave Clee. He weighed in a 23 pound 32" black drum which was caught from the banks at Graveling Point last night around 8:00pm. It's the first drum we have heard of this Spring. The regulations on drum fish have not changed as of yet. The bag limit is still three with a 16" size limit. There is a pending change on drum fish regulations due sometime this year.
Sea Ya

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:34pm

The feedback on how the fishing was the past couple of days is pretty scarce. The only chatter I heard was a pretty good shot of fish last night between 5:00 and sundown. Three keepers were released and a quite a bit of short stripers too with a couple coming in at just over eight inches. The larges fish reported yesterday were around thirty two inches. The better action for the land anglers was on bloodworms. It seems to switch every day.
One angler fishing from a boat had eighteen bass with four keeper size fish late yesterday afternoon over near the mouth of the Mullica River on clams.
Sea Ya

Name: Greg O'Connell
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/07/09
Location of Trip: Graveling Pt/Pebble Beach Area
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Fishing Report:
4/7/2009 6:50 PM: Good bite tonight. Only 4 to 5 guys fishing but its a GP allstar team. I got 12 in an hour and half so far. Blowin thru worms. Stock up for Fri, I need a bunch.

4/7/2009 9:16 PM: 72 dollars worth of worms gone.......26 bass with 2 keepers in 4 hours time and after a crappy few days of work.......... Priceless
Sent from my BlackBerry� smartphone with Nextel Direct Connect
~Greg O'Connell

Name: joe rosenberger
Email: gypsyfish1@yahoo.com
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/04/09
Location of Trip:
Species Sought:
Time of Day Fished: Early Morning (Still Dark)
Tide Fished: High (Incoming water)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: 20-30 kts. NW
Sea Conditions: 2-4 ft.
Primary Bait: Bloodworms
Secondary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
We celebrated my cousin Jeff's birthday by sitting on the sod at the point all day in the wind, did i mention the wind. The three of us fished hard, we saw shorts caught to the left and right of us and it was not till late evening that we started to hook up. Beautiful day to to be fishing thou, yeah the wind and all. Final count was two shorts and a skate, and about 20 misses. We'll be back
~joe rosenberger

Name: Capt. Tony
Email: yohoff@verizon.net
Boat Name: Family Fisherman Ocean City NJ
Phone: 609-391-6446
Website: rainbowdeepseafishing.com
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 04/3/09
Location of Trip: Graveling Point
Species Sought: Striper
Time of Day Fished: Evening (Sunset/Dusk)
Tide Fished: High (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Cloudy/Light Rain
Wind Conditions: 10-20 kts. SW
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Bloodworms
Secondary Bait: Clams, Fresh
Lure Used: No Lures Used (Rig or Hook Only)
Fishing Report:
Fished from land not boat, two short stripers mid tide/outgoing. Caught two bunker on the hook (believe it or not) and one very large perch. No keepers. wind kicked up and made fishing impossible with light rods (which I was using). Saw five other stripers caught, no keepers.
~Capt. Tony

Monday, April 6, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:04pm

There was some striper activity real early around day break, but not much mid morning. Lightning streaks chased anglers who were attempting to fish back to the cars over and over.
Good job to the kids that were fishing there this weekend. It was noticed that you cleaned up your trash and other debris that floated in with the tide too!
Sea Ya

Sunday, April 5, 2009 /\/\/\ 3:08pm

Early on there was a little bit of striper activity at Graveling Point. There were about three shorts at the point and one over at Pebble Beach, but as the tide dropped and dropped and dropped due to the westerly blow, the fish moved off to deeper water. It was pretty quiet during mid day. Anglers agree, lots of bites, seems as if there are a lot of little fish around.
Sea Ya

Saturday, April 4, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:01pm

The wind was howling and gusty beyond belief all day today. The tide was really blown out. A surprising amount of anglers fished and caught lots of stripers. The catching was pretty steady with a little bit of a lapse mid day between 12 and 3:30pm at the time of very low tide and bright sunshine. I do not know of any keepers, but there were quite a few almost keeper stripers between the 27 and 28 inches.
Sea Ya

Friday, April 3, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:24pm

WIND RAIN COLD REALLY REALLY wet and the striper catching was good as anyone could hope for today. The sun broke out about 4:00ish this afternoon and I hope the bite continues on into the night with the nice weather.
Yesterday was goofy. It was the right fishing conditions for catching stripers, but very few bites until around six in the evening then things broke loose. Several anglers reported schools of bunker breezing by and there were stripers with them. Big bass of the evening was around 35" 17 pounds. Yes, the bunker were close enough to snag; bring the right gear just in case.
Sea Ya

Thursday, April 2, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:13pm

It was perfect striper weather today with air temperatures in the fifties and no wind all day. The sky was overcast gray with almost raining conditions. It should have been a striper catching bonanza like yesterday. I am hoping that maybe this late afternoon high tide change will trigger some fish catching activity. Reports were scarce this afternoon. The light activity reported was from the earlier morning anglers. My fingers are crossed that the afternoon anglers catch fish and that the bite turns back on. It's funny how the fish run through in waves. We need to figure out a secret to get them to linger longer.
Sea Ya

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:36pm

No April Fools joke here today. I could print New York's Fluke regulations, it would be hard to tell.
Overcast and almost raining all day made for a good catching day at Graveling Point and Pebble Beach. Two anglers at Graveling were very lucky with three keepers! Chris Monaghan and Eric Perlowski weighed in a 13.2 33 12", 10.5 30" and 7.2 29". Quite a few other anglers came up with shorts, but like always in the spring at Graveling, keepers are scarce. One angler who fished Pebble Beach from 3:00am to 10:00am ended up the day with nine shorts. The first four hours without a bite was rewarded in the end.
We ran out of clams in the shell earlier in the day. I was able to arrange a pick up and we have plenty back in stock this evening. Bloodworm supply is holding good with lots more do on Friday.
Sea Ya

Monday, March 30, 2009 /\/\/\ 6:44pm

Thanks to Jim, I have some info to pass along today. It was hard to believe a few anglers tried and did fish in the FIFTY mile per hour winds. If you were here before the wind, it sounded like there was some good fishing again.
Clams in the shell are in low supply. Tomorrows delivery is off, clam boat didn't sail. Go figure. Sea Ya

Scott,
Bought a bag of worms this morn. and hit the point at 8AM. Caught 3 shorts 18" 21" and 22" on the rising tide. Wind got to be too much and I left at 11AM (felt like 50 mph west winds) Still a good morning. Only one other guy out there.
Thanks,
Jim

Sunday, March 29, 2009 /\/\/\ 3:23pm

8:22am I received a cell phone call from an angler who is on Graveling Point and is catching STEADY BASS. He had an almost a keeper; missing by just half an inch. It's the same conditions; low tide was around five and the incoming tide is bringing bright silver linesiders in off of the ocean. This is the shoulda been here morning we have been waiting for!
The activity dropped off toward the top of the tide when the fog cleared and sun came out. I am hopeful that the afternoon guys get a bite as well as there are quite a few people along the banks this afternoon.

8:29pm I sneak back into work this evening and what a delight to find this in the E-mail box..

" FYI, both tides work.
I'm still on the point and plan on giving it another hour or so, but so far I'm at 11 fish with 2 keepers. 29 and 32 inches. Both released.
Saw one other keeper leave the beach and 4 to 6 other shorts caught. Guess I'm in the hole.
Actually very few guys fishing."

Sea Ya

Saturday, March 28, 2009 /\/\/\ 7:17pm

It was a striper weather day, but anglers don't seem ready to face the damp and cold. There was no problem finding a spot to fish along the banks today.
Last night, there was a little flurry of activity just after the change of the tide. The incoming water brought a fresh school of bass in off of the ocean and for a couple of hours there was some catching going on at Graveling Point. A few of those anglers were headed back down this beveling hoping to get a repeat of last night. The change of the tide was about 5:00 this evening.
Sea Ya

Name: Stephen
Boat Name: Sea Word
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 03/28/09
Location of Trip:
Species Sought: Striped Bass
Time of Day Fished: Morning After Sunrise
Tide Fished: High (Outgoing water)
Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy
Wind Conditions: less than 10 kts. NE
Sea Conditions: less than 2 ft.
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: Bloodworms
Lure Used: Plug, Diving
Fishing Report:
Fished around Graveling Point and up the river for a few hours in the morning with out a bite. Early in the afternoon I decided to toss a plug while fishing my worms and clam. I picked up 3 shorts in about an hour and a half, all on the plug. Nothing for the box but a great day on the water.
~Stephen

Name: Tomasz Nicewicz
Email: private.arms@yahoo.com
Boat Name: n/a
Phone: 732-525-0137
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Report Details
Date of Trip: 03/27/2009
Location of Trip: Kennedy Park, Sayreville, NJ
Species Sought: speckled fish
Time of Day Fished: Late Afternoon
Tide Fished: Non-Tidal Waters (Fresh)
Weather Conditions: Sunny
Wind Conditions: Do not know info Do not know info
Sea Conditions: Do not know info
Primary Bait: Artificials Only
Secondary Bait: (Other)
Lure Used: Bucktail
Fishing Report:
Casted many times around the lake (Kennedy Park), after about 20 casts, I cought a 18" speckled fish.
~Tomasz Nicewicz