New Jersey Fishing Reports

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Our New Jersey fishing reports come from all who fish the waters of NJ. We are looking for reliable information. We don't need the exact location that could threaten your favorite spot. When sending us a report include about locations, water conditions, and stage of tide (saltwater). It makes the posting of information meaningful. We believe in giving our customers an honest fishing report. Please use the below links to send us your positive or negative reports with honest information:

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Thank you from all of us at Fisherman Fred's LLC. Tight lines and we hope you hook that big one.


NJ Saltwater registry

                          CLICK HERE TO REGISTER       CLICK HERE TO RENEW

Rod building class -- Feb. 6 & 7
For more information please click here.

ROD and REEL REPAIR
For more information please click here..

Fisherman Fred's Custom Fishing Rods are here!
Well we are now selling custom rods. To see information please click here. If you have questions about our custom rods you can call us at 609-570-8035.

HERRING
The Division of Fish and Wildlife to comply with Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission requirements, the change in river herring regulations now reads as below:

Effective immediately, no person shall take, possess, land, purchase, sell or offer for sale any river herring (alewife and blueback) in the marine waters of the State. Only commercial vessels fishing exclusively in Federal waters while operating a valid Federal permit for Atlantic mackerel and/or Atlantic herring may possess river herring, up to a maximum of five percent by weight of all species possessed.

Thank you and good luck.

2011 summary
Well it is that time of year where a good re-cap for 2011 is in order. First I would like to thank everyone for your support of the store. It was a pretty good year considering the way the economy has been. I think we all felt it's effects in one way or another. Everybody I talked too has said they are not doing a lot of things including fishing because of gas prices and the prices of everything else going up. I also had a lot of customers who lost jobs too and that doesn't help. We had some crazy weather this year. Lots of snow and rain, hell we even had an earthquake and hurricane all in the same week. I have lived in NJ all my life and can never remember an earthquake I felt shake a building before. The weather didn't help the fishing either. So now on to the good things in life, yes I mean fishing.

Trout season wasn't so good because we had a ton of rain in April. It did pickup some but didn't really ever do any good. The fall and winter stocking went really well for those who fished it.

The other species of freshwater fish also got off to a very slow start because of the rain and the cooler temps we had this spring and the snow in April. However it did get into high gear about the end of June but then the rainy summer we had didn't help any either.

As for saltwater the spring was kinda strange, in that the ocean water temp in March was in the low 40's but climbed up to the upper 40's by the middle of the month. March also saw the first striper of the year out of the bay on the opening day of the season. It was caught out of Barnegat Bay and not Graveling Point (sorry guys). The rest of the bay season went strong with stripers, fluke, and blowfish along with a bunch of other species of fish. Crabbing went off the charts this year as well.

Stripers seem to hit the beaches around the middle of April with some keepers in the mix. May opened fluke season and some beaches lit up with fluke but then it slowed and the fluke season from the surf just wasn't too good. June brought the bunker in and the bigger stripers came with them. A bunch of 30 and 40 lbers were caught by live lining. By mid June the water temps were already in the 70's and the stripers had moved on but the brown shark fishing had kicked in. A lot of people had a blast fishing them from the surf. The kingfishing was only so so this year from the surf so the summer was pretty slow. Water temps remained high until October but then it happened. Water temps started to drop and some stripers were being caught.

As it went on into November the temps dropped even more and more stripers showed up. Then came the Thanksgiving weekend. WOW is all I can say. Those four days will go down in history as one of the best years for stripers off the surf ever. Reports of people catching 30 to 50 stripers a day. Only one thing, not many big ones. Most were shorts or dinner sized stripers in the 28 to 35 inch range. Then you have the boaters who were also in on it. Those four days the ocean off of IBSP looked like a Wal-Mart parking lot on Black Friday. To this day 12/22/2011 they are still catching stripers but not in good numbers. I have surfed fished for 46 years now and can not remember a good striper bite this late into the year.

So as we move into 2012 I can not even tell you what is in store for the up coming fishing season. I will tell you if you are going to have a custom rod built, rods or reels repaired you better think about it in the coming months as they are already coming in and the longer you wait to do it the longer you will wait until you get it back. Also don't forget our first rod building class for the new year is Jan 9 & 10 so you may want to sign up now while we still have room. We are also going to have classes in February and March as well.

So in closing I wish you the happiest of holidays and the very best in the New Year.
Tight Lines,
Fred

Saltwater & Jetty Report:

2/5/2012
9:10AM
Don't think too many will even leave the house today as they get ready for their big Super Bowl parties. No word from any of the beaches yesterday. Was told Seaside as well as LBI was a ghost town. I also had no word from any of the northern beaches or jetties. You just because the groundhog saw his shadow doesn't mean you have to hide in the house. As for boats it is still pretty much mackerel and ling. There have been a few cod mixed when people are fishing ling. Well the time frame for reel repairs is now getting longer. So the longer you wait to get them here the longer you will wait to get them back. Also if you want that rod repaired or a custom rod built now is the time to get that order in. We also have a few spots still open for the rod building class that starts tomorrow. If you want to get in on it call us so we can get you on the list. If you want to attend the March one the sign up list has already started.

2/4/2012
9:30AM
Looks like you have to be on a Monmouth County jetty if you want any action. Small plugs off the jetties at night is the ticket. Heard as soon as there is any light the bite goes away. These stripers are not just shorts but a few dinner sized keeper are being caught. Seems any other beaches such as Seaside, IBSP and LBI there has been nothing caught lately, but I was also told that the beaches are empty. So let's see, empty beaches means no one fishing which means there is nobody to catch fish. So that means that there could be some action but we would never know. I know tomorrow will be slow because everyone will be watching the Super Bowl. As for the boaters only word is that mackerel is still pretty hot. People going for cod end up fishing ling and that's about it.

2/3/2012
10:30AM
The central surf around LBI, IBSP and Seaside has been really quiet lately. It could be due to the lack of people fishing as well. But the northern jetties have still been producing stripers at night on small plugs. This could add up to be being a great spring run but we will have to see. He is the kicker thou, I have been told that some boaters returning have run into birds working and under the birds are stripers. I have not been told if they are stopping to try and catch them and if they are I am not being told if they are catching any. Ok, ok I know you want to know where as well, only thing I been told is that it is up north. I know this time of year they keep their boat I believe in Shark River. That is all I know. As far as the party boats go, ling has been the best it has been in years. Mackerel has turned on a bit and people are getting coolers full of medium sized fish. Cod has been a pick at best and blackfish has not been much better.

2/2/2012
10:30AM
Sorry for the later report but one of the roads I use to get to the store was a parking lot this morning. Oh well see the above note about herring. Looks like for now it is gone as a bait and food. Well on to the reports. Nothing new to report seems it is mostly stripers from the jetties from Belmar and points north. One customer reported 3 shorts on a fresh water bass lure. So when I said small lures it is small lures. Try using 3 to 4 inch ones and work them slow. The blackfish regs went into effect yesterday. I know a lot of people are upset over these new regs but I guess we will just have to live with them for now. The new size limit for both commercial and recreational is 15 inches. The season for recreational is as follows:
Jan. 1 - Feb. 28 4 fish
Mar. 1 - Mar. 31 CLOSED
Apr. 1 - Apr. 30 4 fish
May 1 - Jul. 26 CLOSED
Jul. 27 - Aug. 31 1 fish
Sept. 1 - Oct. 17 CLOSED
Oct. 18 - Nov. 15 1 fish
Nov. 16 - Dec. 31 4 fish

2/1/2012
9:45AM
Wow who would have thought it could be 60 in January? Remember last year this time and all that four letter word? Yes, that word is snow. Only thing is we will have to wait and see what this month brings. February is when we get the most snow. And what a way to start it off by having a day that suppose to be 62. Not much on the fishing front. I do keep hearing that stripers are being caught from the rocks from Belmar north on smaller plugs but that is about it. You also can try to fish a high low rig with some salted clams on it. Remember striper fishing in the ocean doesn't close, it is open all year long. Also make sure you have your 2012 registry card with you. If you have not renewed now is the time. See the link above to go do it. AC Boat Show opens today at 11AM and runs thru Sunday.

1/31/2012
10:00AM
Only action from the surf is from Belmar north and most of that is off the jetties. Small stripers and a few keepers thrown in on small swimming plugs. The LBI, IBSP, and Seaside areas have all been pretty quiet lately. Of course not many are fishing there so that could be it as well. Only thing I am hearing from the boating crowd is mackerel is doing really well right now.

1/30/2012
1:30PM
Only thing I am hearing is a few stripers being caught from the Belmar jetties and north. As for boaters mackerel has picked back up again. Cod isn't as good as last year yet and might not be.

1/29/2012
9:20AM
No more word out of the northern jetties and most beaches have been empty as well. With the nice weather would have thought more people would have been out. Only reports I am hearing is that boats fishing for mackerel are doing pretty good. Ling is hanging in there but pollock and cod have been a bit slow so far. Don't forget our sale on in store custom rods, they are 10% off until Jan. 31. Or if you want your own designed custom rod come see us. We can build you that custom boat, surf, spiral, jetty, or even a fresh water rod.

1/28/2012
9:30AM
Well yesterday was a wash because of rain and then the wind. Today is a nice day to be out there. Now the fishing shows and flea markets get kicked into high gear. If you want to blow some of the dust off ya from laying on that couch you could always go and walk around. If you have rod or reels that need something, now is the time to bring them to us. Also if you want a custom rod built there is no better time then now to place your order as the pipeline is slowly backing up. Or if you just want to get out come look around and BS awhile.

1/27/2012
9:15AM
Night time jetty fishing for stripers in Jan., who would have thought that? Not me that is for sure. I have picked off some stripers in late Feb. while probing the back bays before the striper season opened. Latest I can remember catching a striper off the surf is the end of Dec. and that was a short. I just wonder what the spring run will bring. As for the party boats the crowds have been bigger then most winters and you know it is because of the mild weather we have been having. They are having luck with mackerel, ling, some pollock, few cod and even a couple of out of season sea bass have been caught. I guess it is only going to get better as the weather gets better. Of course we still have Feb. and March and we do get a lot of snow in those months. If you are getting bored or cabin fever why not take our rod building class on Feb. 6 & 7 at the store from 6 to 9PM. If you want too please contact us ASAP as there is limited places open still.

1/26/2012
9:30AM
Ok I dug really deep yesterday and was told that people fishing the jetties up north (Deal and Long Branch) are catching stripers on plugs. Most are shorts but there has been a few smaller keepers as well. Night time seems to be the best time right now. I also heard that boaters that are out off that area have come across birds working with stripers under them. Wasn't told if any were caught or what they were feeding on. This has got to be the craziest year I have ever seen. As for anything else it is mostly Party boats fishing mackerel, cod, or ling. Mackerel has been a pick with most catches being smalls or mediums. Cod hasn't been too good so far this year but ling have filled in for now. Don't forget our Jan. Sales That end Jan. 31.

1/25/2012
9:25AM
Well a few die hards were out fishing in the nice weather we had yesterday. And guess what? yup you got it they caught a few short stripers. The action seemed to be from Belmar north. Also heard of a small keeper being caught from one of the Manasquan jetties. We do have a few eels left if you want to give them a try. As for boaters it has only been a pick of mackerel lately or the boats are not sailing because of the weather. Don't forget the NJBBA Flea Market is this weekend at Elks Lodge 1875 located at 600 Washington Street Toms River, NJ.

1/24/2012
9:45AM
No word of any die hards out fishing the beaches lately. Maybe today a few will try. Only thing I am hearing is that the ling fishing on the party boats is pretty good. Also the mackerel jigging is holding up but not as good as it was. Cod fishing has been slow to say the least. Don't forget out sales that are going on.

1/22/2012
9:45AM
No one doing much of anything yesterday because of the weather. The snow wasn't bad but the ice made things nasty. Well since the weather isn't too good our sales will go till Jan. 31. All in store custom rods are now 10% off or Penn 220 GTO on a Shakespeare BWB125 rod. Call 609-570-8035 for what we have and pricing. If you need reels or rods fixed or want that custom rod made now is the time. As we get closer to spring the longer you will most likely have to wait.

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Bay Report:

2/1/2012
28 days until opening day of striper season in the bays. Been a bit quiet this year because of no ice, but have heard that some are fishing white perch in the Mullica River. Most are very tight lipped about anything right now. I am sure once March 1st gets here there will be more reports coming in.

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Fresh Water Report:

BUY NJ FISHING LICENSE ONLINE CLICK HERE

2/5/2012
Some out fishing but didn't hear too much back. AMC and Miry Run is producing catches of pickerel and a few bass. Pickerel is on shiners and bass on fatheads.

2/4/2012
Walleye in the Delaware River is doing better then what I was told. Seems they are catching a good number of them now. Had a few reports from Lake Mercer that the muskie fishing is doing pretty good. I am going to try and get some bigger shiners in for that. Right now I have large but some people like to use much bigger bait. You can also use saltwater plugs as well. Pickerel has been doing really good as well, with crappie coming in a close second. The bass fishing has been on the slow side but they are being caught when using fatheads.

2/3/2012
Pickerel, crappie and a few bass are being caught. Pickerel is on spoons or shiners and the crappie and bass have been on fatheads. Reports came out of a few of the local lakes. Some are catching catfish out of the Delaware River and had a report of a few walleye from up around Washington Crossing. If you are fishing south of the Calhoun Street bridge don't forget you need to have a Saltwater Registry card. If you don't or need to renew it for 2012 see the links above.

2/2/2012
Great day and a bunch of people fishing. Assunpink Bob reports that the pickerel bite in the Assunpink lakes is going strong. Just so you know Bob fishes from the shore and not in a boat. So that just goes to show you that you don't need a boat to fish them lakes. Also had reports that some bass were caught on fathead minnows from AMC and Miry Run.

About river herring see above.

2/1/2012
Bunch of people out fishing on a 60 degree day in January, who would have thought that? Did hear some bass are being caught on fatheads in some of the local lakes. Only thing is most are not saying where. Pickerel has been the main type of fish that is being caught right now. Shiner is the best bet there but spoons do work.

1/29/2012
Nice day and a bunch of people out fishing.Had reports of pickerel being caught from a bunch of places. Also a few crappie and bass were caught as well. Looks like another great day to be out fishing.

1/28/2012
UPDATE 11:00AM
Thanks to Paul on our Facebook page, we have found out that as of Thursday January 26, 2012 river herring which includes both blueback and alewife is banned. What this means, that by the state order it prohibits you to catch, possess, or sell river herring in NJ.

Assunpink Bob called in a report that pickerel are being caught out of the smaller lakes on spoons. He also said some bass were following the spoons but wouldn't hit them. He also tried other lures but no bass were caught. Also had a couple of late reports from Miry Run that some pickerel were caught earlier in the week. On a side note, I have been getting more and more calls about herring in the river and if you can keep them. Well as of right now the State of NJ has not imposed a ban that I have heard or read about. That doesn't mean there isn't one. It does state on their website the following:
DUE TO SERIOUS DECLINES IN RIVER HERRING NUMBERS, THE TAKING OF ALEWIFE AND BLUEBACK HERRING IS ANTICIPATED TO BE PROHIBITED BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2012. BE SURE TO CHECK FISH AND WILDLIFE’S WEB SITE, NJFishandWildlife.com, FOR UPDATES.

Also don't forget that some waters are closed to fishing for all species from March 19 to April 7, 2012 at 8 a.m. because of trout stocking.

1/27/2012
Couple came in for shiners to go pickerel fishing. Never heard back from them but that doesn't mean nothing was caught. We had some good rain last night so a lot of places are now running high and coffee colored. Looks like today will be a wash but the weekend is looking pretty good so far.

1/25/2012
Few out fishing because it was such a nice day. With temps in the 50's why not. Did hear of a few pickerel being cught from Miry Run and AMC. Also heard of a few bass but wasn't told were from. We do have live shiners and fatheads in stock.

1/24/2012
Did have a couple of reports from yesterday. A few pickerel were caught from some of the local lakes. Too bad they didn't say where.

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Fisherman Fred's LLC.
2222 State Highway 33 Hamilton, NJ 08690
Phone: (609) 570-8035 Fax: (609) 570-8036

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