Surf fishing reports

[Jlavine]

Any reports from the surf? Seems like all posts here are from boats.

[RAMMFISH66]

I usually post surf reports but I am finished for the season...I know that stripers are around but do not want to deal with the type of weather late fall brings.I like to wade in the warm surf wearing shorts and short sleeve shirt, waders are not for me...good luck...I did read that further south it has been good, LBI seems to be where they are..see 'ya later, Robbie

[torchee]

Fished Sandy Hook - thurs, sat and sunday at sunrise

Thursday I got a keeper before light on bait.
Some nice blitzes of bass provided some other anglers fish but not me (7-9:30)

The week end was dead both mornings - didn't see any bass but i did catch a blue on sat.

Fishing 5-9 am

[NJ Dave]

Hear it's been hit or miss in MoCo. Ocean County was good today but not great.

Rammi, miss your reports but we have fish close to home as well with a view.

[WhaleFart]

Things are heating up after a big lull from the surf... Fished Monday and landed 57 bass 26"-42"... And hooked into and dropped just as Many.. I was the only guy on the beach for as far as I could see each way. The fish were working peanuts in 2' of water... It was probably the best surf fishing I've ever experienced... I used a brand new Gibbs 6" pencil and by the end of the day most of the paint was stripped off it. Insane fishing.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Things are heating up after a big lull from the surf... Fished Monday and landed 57 bass 26"-42"... And hooked into and dropped just as Many.. I was the only guy on the beach for as far as I could see each way. The fish were working peanuts in 2' of water... It was probably the best surf fishing I've ever experienced... I used a brand new Gibbs 6" pencil and by the end of the day most of the paint was stripped off it. Insane fishing.

WOW!! That must have been some scene.... The sort of thing you fish all your life for. I could just imagine what it was like taking it all in. Just being there to witness them feeding in 2 feet of water would have been enough for me.

[NJ Dave]

Things are heating up after a big lull from the surf... Fished Monday and landed 57 bass 26"-42"... And hooked into and dropped just as Many.. I was the only guy on the beach for as far as I could see each way. The fish were working peanuts in 2' of water... It was probably the best surf fishing I've ever experienced... I used a brand new Gibbs 6" pencil and by the end of the day most of the paint was stripped off it. Insane fishing.

Nice. I had a day like that last December. Not quite 50+ fish, mabey 13 or 14 fish but all 15-18 pounders but the beach was all to myself.
Those days are far and few but always remembered

[Cape Cod]

Last Thursday mid afternoon low tide. Walked out onto a Monmouth County beach with my 5 year old son for the incoming tide. Bunker pods being harassed within casting range and not a fisherman in sight. Tried snag & drop without a touch. Bunker moved on down the beach and we set up with a fresh chunk doing the bait and wait thing while we built sand castles and collected sea shells. We beached a 39" bass in short order while messing around.

[WhaleFart]

I've only experienced a bluefish blitz of similar time length and number of fish... They didn't move for 8 hours, just stood right there an equivalent size pod of peanuts and bass of a nyc city block... The water they were in was so shallow the birds didn't even work them I guess in fear of hitting the bottom. The water was gin clear and at times you could see schools of 5-10 bass almost strategically swimming to attack the peanuts. It was an incredible experience that I can only hope to experience again. I had the whole place to myself which is unheard of surf fishing in nj when fish are being caught. My hands literally look like they went through a meat grinder from all the lipping and unhooking. I can only hope i can experience it again! It sure made 20hrs+ of surf fishing with minimal success seem not so bad!

[Billfish715]

Surf reports are always great to read. However, they are always about where the fish WERE biting. By the time someone reads it and decides to go there, the fish are miles away. I've heard " You should have been here yesterday." too many times. That said, I'm the one uttering those words today.

Monday was a fantastic day for me in the surf. I had a fish on every cast for 30 minutes before they moved and I had to go. There was no indication the fish were there either. I could see a school of peanuts in the knee-deep water so I just kept casting my big pencil popper. Finally there was a splash on my plug and a 27" bass came tight. After that, there were many swings and misses and many connections with bass up to 41". The fish were in and out all day but I only caught the tail end. Had I fished all day, I would have needed a new popper. I felt badly for a guy who drove in from Pennsy who left just before things started. There were no birds or splashes so things looked dead.

One note, there was a CO checking saltwater registrations along the beach.

The surf guys are very tight-lipped about where the bite is or was. Even if they came clean, it would still be old news. Most guys use cell phones to call in their friends to the specific beach. As is the case so often, the fish get crushed on one beach in an area and not another. If you are only two blocks away, you might get shut out. When you put in enough time and have patience and good intel, you'll eventually score. The more time, patience and intel you have, the better you'll do consistently.

[SplitShot]

I live right near the beach here in Central Mon Cty and fortunate to be able to check out the surf every day all year long. Billfish is so right... you have to be in the right spot at the right time to catch some bass. Sometimes you get lucky and the bass come in to your spot and you're catching every cast, sometimes they won't take anything you're throwing... sometimes a blitz will last 10 minutes, other times an hour or so. And if you're really lucky, you're there all by yourself, because it doesn't take long for one guy to make the call on the phone and the trucks are flying in like flies and snag hooks are flying by your head inches away. And I've seen more then one guy getting snagged in their head, neck, arms, etc with so many guys casting out of control.

Surf fishing is a whole different animal than boat fishing but so rewarding when you have a nice catch.

A few days ago there were lot's of bass schools ravaging through the bait but just far enough out where no one could reach them casting... all part of the experience of Surf Fishing :D

[BigRock44]

no doubt about it, when you hit it right the surf fishing can be red hot. had a great morning i'll never forget about 6-7 years ago on a northern nj beach. caught a grand slam: striper, bluefish, fluke and weakfish all in the same spot, all safely released. none of them were huge, but never have repeated that since, even on a boat. and the icing on the cake was also a big school of very aggressive large shad/herring type fish that were hitting small metals on every single cast.