Who has ever landed a 50 Pound Striper in Raritan Bay?

[Capt Sal]

I have been fishing Raritan Bay since the late fifties. I personally have landed one bass in Raritan Bay that was a legitimate 50 pounder. There were two 49 pounders landed on my charters. One was released the other we could not revive. This is over decades and a few thousand trips . We landed four stripers on the out side with the biggest being 55pounds and 52'' to the fork of the tail. Again this is over decades of live lining. Last year our biggest bass in Raritan Bay was 42lbs. on Shenanigans with my late life long friend Jim Curcio. Put her on the boga scale and let her go! We kept some nice 34'' for the table and we will have the picture forever. So what I am trying to say is fifties are not common and most people over estimate the weight. A 43'' stripers is usually between 28 and 32 lbs. Comments welcome.:)

[Take a kid fishing]

I've been at it for about 15 years from the Raritan to Barnegat and do not have any fish 43 inches or better. Plenty of fish caught and realeased but none that would get me a second fish this year.

[1captainron]

Some in the low 40's, only one that was close at 48 pounds after all these years.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Been fishing in the area for over 20 years and nothing even close to a 50... My biggest was a 40 caught on a clam on Romer.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Never

[slammer]

Im still trying to break 40lbs.My best fish in the bay is 32lbs live lining.

[tjd24]

We had a 52" bass one night fishing live eels during the Fall in the East River just South of the UN. It was safely released but we had no scale & no camera.

On a another daytime trip East of the Statue of Liberty, we had a bass that went just under 40 lbs.

In Raritan Bay the largest have been in the mid-30 lb range.

[Flygaff]

My Personal Best is 34 Lbs. My buddy caught a 43 pounder. It was on my boats so I get a small percent of the credit. Don't I?

[Capt. Lou]

483/4 # in the old rip, when it was a decent producer of Stripers I realize not actually in the bay . This fishing occurred @ nite & all trolling on ebb ! Lots of 40# fish but this was closet to that magic # !!

[makosnax]

My best RB bass is 45" 30# on a live bunker. Tried like hell but she would not revive, the neighbors loved it.

[hammer4reel]

best fish I had in the bay was low forties.

Have had 2 legit over 50 oceanside a 52 and a 54, and a 54 in VA

Have had three guys on my boat catch fish over 50

few high forties to go along with those

ALL weighed on 2 different digital scales.


I do think many bigger fish are lost due to guys not having equipment big enough to handle larger fish.
But equipment size is a tough call because you dont want to be fishing a broom stick when catching all the 25-35 pounders, as it takes the fun out of it.


as far as Over estimating fish , I think that happens more often than not. cant understand why many guys dont carry a scale so they know what they actually caught.

.

[D-ROD]

In 2006 I had my personal best striper right off carteret pier , caught it on a bunker head.. 42lbs!!!

[arat]

My largest in the bay was on a chunk off the beach, bottomed out at 38lbs 6ozs. Couldn't revive her after trying for a good 25 min.
Largest in ocean is 42lbs on a live bunker,
and a fish that hit a pencil taped out at 48.5" estimated never weighed it, so I'll call it 49lbs+ I believe the fish to be 50lbs but that's an argument for another time lol

[JBD3157]

Yes i caught one back in October of 1992 trolling bunker spoons, 52'' 501/2 lbs:)

[Capt Sal]

Yes i caught one back in October of 1992 trolling bunker spoons, 52'' 501/2 lbs:)

For sure 52'' is a 50 pounder. Rule of thumb is if it is 50'' to the fork of the tail it usually is a 50 pounder. I have caught a few 50'' skinny fish and they were only 43 and 44 lbs.

[Ryelof]

never even close.

[crabby]

everyone should own a scale !!!!

[Hunter 2]

Nothing over 30lbs in the bay. I've seen big ones taken by the back bridges and Arthur Kill. My largest 42.5lb was taken off Monmouth beach in 45' of water.

[shresearchdude]

Not verified but I did see a massive Bass that was caught fishing off the old Highlands Bridge. I saw it as they were beaching it after getting the "flying gaff" into it. This was more than 10 years ago but less than 20.

[River Rat]

20 plus years on the Raritan and still have not a landed a 40... 50 fugedaboudit!

[Anthony]

35 on live bunker....

[june181901]

A fellow I knew, the late Ken Buck caught an over 50 south of the Sea Bright-Rumson bridge in the Shrewsbury River on a live bunker.
They are there!

[Suntzu]

Biggest for me in the area is only 31# biggest ever high forties on a bunker head in southern ocean county
Have seen very large bass over the last 30 years at night under the bridges in the shrews when I used to fish them all the time, could never get them to hit they would just quietly submerge out of sight when you tried

[PippFishing]

Captain Steve Rhodes Sr and son Ronald "Pipp" Rhodes caught a 50lb 4ounce bass on the 34ft Striker PIPP out of Great Kills Harbor NY by buoy 4 on Chapel Hill Channel at 4:30pm in 1970 after trolling for 12 hours from the Knoll to Monmouth Beach ending up to Chapel Hill. Caught it on a yellow and gold Chub Creek plug. After 60 years of fishing on Raritan Bay we'll see you out there this year. Can't wait!

[frugalfisherman]

All the ones I ever caught adds up to 50 pounds. Does that count?

[Capt Sal]

There are big bass in Raritan Bay but A true 50 is surely not common. The post about multiple fifties in one day are grossly over estimated. We ran a two month tourney in the spring out of Sewaren. The winner was under 40 pounds. Your best bet for a true 50 is Oceanside in June. Raritan Bay is still a true bass factory but the Chesapeak strain are larger. Remember we are weighing these Raritan Bay cows when they are full of spawn and the Oceanside fish in June are spawned out. Could be a difference of 8-10lbs just in spawn!

[Chrisper4694]

Actually weighed and measured two biggest I've been present to witness... A 42" that weighed 33lbs absolutely full fat with eggs weighed quick in sling by the guide. And a healthy thickness 47" that weighed 31 lbs.

guys who catch 40" and call it 40 lbs...keep dreaming, buy a scale haha