The ocean temperature is creeping up to 60 degrees, which is starting to attract more fish, like the very bullish cownose rays, which are known to pull the occasional unmanned fishing rod out of a sand spike.The bay temps are spiking up more quickly than the ocean. During the peak of Wednesday's heat, the weather buoy at Barnegat Light hit 69.1 degrees.On Monday, Greg Cudnik, at Fisherman's Headquarters in Ship Bottom, said he observed a school of cownose gliding through Barnegat Inlet. Later in the day, Cudnik was drifting for...
The ocean temperature is creeping up to 60 degrees, which is starting to attract more fish, like the very bullish cownose rays, which are known to pull the occasional unmanned fishing rod out of a sand spike.
The bay temps are spiking up more quickly than the ocean. During the peak of Wednesday's heat, the weather buoy at Barnegat Light hit 69.1 degrees.
On Monday, Greg Cudnik, at Fisherman's Headquarters in Ship Bottom, said he observed a school of cownose gliding through Barnegat Inlet. Later in the day, Cudnik was drifting for fluke in Barnegat Bay, and spotted more of them cruising through. Nick Honachefsky also bumped into them on Island Beach State Park when a cownose ate a clam bait he had set out to catch a black drum or striped bass.
Blowfish and kingfish are starting to appear in the surf on Long Beach Island. The blowfish have also begun to funnel into Barnegat Bay. Cudnik said he first noticed blowfish on May 29, when they were knawing at his Gulp baits. The Asbury Park Press hasn't received any reports of kings or blowfish north of LBI, yet.
Small cocktail size bluefish have been in and out of the surf and inlets. The Queen Mary party boat stopped on a pile of them in Manasquan Inlet early Tuesday morning on its way out to reefs and rockpiles for sea bass. The Dave and his son Cole Riback, have added a new boat, the 75-foot Point Princess to their operation. Dave said they're going to use that one for private charters and family friendly trips that will run this summer from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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Speaking of sea bass, that remains the most bang for the buck for fishermen looking to fill a cooler. Alan Shinn said the Miss Belmar got into a mess of fish on Wednesday. The main target was the sea bass and he said many of his fares caught their 10-fish bag limit, but they also landed fluke, ling and some Boston mackerel which have showed up. How long the macks stick around for is anyone's guess.
The ocean temps are starting to get into the neighborhood where the fluke like it. Capt. Jerry Postorino on the Fish Monger II, said they scouted for them a couple of times this week after cleaning up on the sea bass. His drifts were all off the coast of Monmouth County. He's observed a decent amount of bites, lots of short fish but some nice keepers mixed in especially for the short amount of time they've tried it.
If you're looking for fresh lobster, the Riddler, which docks near the Norma K III in Point Pleasant Beach is gearing up for a new season. The boat is getting ready to soak their traps and customers can buy them right at the dock when they come in.
The Big Jamaica went offshore for tilefish for a 36 hour trip. Capt. Howard Bogan Jr. said they wound up with a solid catch of good size fish up to the 38-pound pool winner caught by Danny Ciaburri from Oak Ridge. Several of his fairs caught their limits. The catch include golden and blueline tiles. The boat has two more trips leaving 10 p.m. on June 22 and 29.
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 at [email protected].