Bass Fishing in NJ

[peterb]

Well I ran my SeaCraft one last time today looking for bass.
Lauched out of Atlantic Highlands and went around the tip of the hook to Shrewsbury Rocks. Marked a lot of fish but no takers. Next we ran up to Ambrose Channel and caught some slot fish (between 24 inchs and 28 inches)trolling shad bodies. The water was a sizzling 43.5 degrees.

[John R]

Next we ran up to Ambrose Channel and caught some slot fish (between 24 inchs and 28 inches)trolling shad bodies.

Slot Fish a/k/a Jersey Keepers....

How was your fall run? Mediocre up here but we can still chase some holdover fish.... MUST..... WAIT...... SPRING......

[peterb]

Yes, the slots were Jersey keepers which were caught on the Jersey/New York line.

All in all, we had an excellent fall. In Raritan Bay we had the best late Aug to early Oct weakfish run in about 5 years. Also, a lot of nice fluke were mixed. When they left the bass fishing turned on. We had our up and down moments. The past 3 to 4 weeks (up to last Friday) was red hot bass fishing. You simply followed the birds and caught as many bass as you wanted (mostely slots and shorts). A lot of fun on light tackle. Looks like the fishery has shut down for the winter.

We have one loval captain (Brian Rice from the Jersey Devil) who runs a 23 foot Seacraft. web page He comes to this site sometimes and will probably tell you that he catches fish whenever he goes out. If he said it I would believe it.