Raritan Bay Reports?

[bulletbob]

I know its all about the rocks and hard bottom out front right now, but geez there must be something in the bay along the channels, and near shore. I have seen very few bay reports past few weeks. Is it mostly just shorts, or are the majority of the fluke already heading into the ocean?... Are small blues busting on top early in the AM anywhere in the bay?...
I want to take my little 14 footer down.. Its a stout, heavily built and supremely stable little side console Grumman with a 30 HP and a 4 HP backup, great for the bay in decent weather,but it IS only a 14 footer, and I should probably not try and go all the way around the hook, and then 5 miles downthe beach...

If fluking is that slow in the bay, have the Porgies started yet in the bay, or is that still a few weeks away??.. Any help would be appreciated. I have a bigger 17 center console boat with a 70, but this will be a solo trip down, and the small rig is SO much easier to deal with for 1 guy, plus its way better on gas.. PM's are fine if a public reply would not be appropriate.... bob

[Fishermancraig]

Sending you a private message.

[Skolmann]

Plenty of fluke in the bay.

[Togfather2530]

Fluking sucks period. I don’t mean to be negative but that’s why the party boats are traveling 20 miles to go fluke fishing. It’s not like it was 15 years ago, it’s all going to shit. Sure you can catch some fluke in the bay and if you drift over a good body of fish you can catch a couple of keepers in an hour but that is you being very lucky.If you want the truth you run 20 miles to get a hard bottom to east jabiff and you will get one and a half keepers per man fishing all day LOL. Fluke fishing is a lot of luck as we all know you have to drift over a good body of fish. New Jersey ruined the fluke fishing with the 18 inch regulations. We all need to get our heads out of the sand and wake up to the reality that we ruined this fishery. I took a handicap guy out in the bay in a wheelchair the other week and I was disgusted with what I had to offer him. It’s a disgrace

[Togfather2530]

I hate to say it pull it Bob but you I’ve seen better days of fishing in New Jersey

[Togfather2530]

I get sick of these reports sugarcoating everything

[Jigman13]

I've been catching plenty of keepers this year in the back. Find the peanuts and you'll find the fluke. All my fish been caught on a single jig head and gulp mullet. Nothing fancy. No bucktail. No teaser. Prob 4:1 short to keeper ratio. No giants but fish to 21".

[bulletbob]

Ok, well thanks guys... Look I understand fluking is not what it was..

Mixed reports here, some good others awful, so I suppose its just give it a shot and see what happens.




I was just hoping that there was something I might have missed, and that the fishery in the bay was worth the effort.. As stated, I was going to bring my little Grumman down, and she's plenty fast, but the range is very limited as its only a 14 footer.. I could go on a PB but that makes for too long a day, as I can't leave the shore until around 3:30, and the NJ traffic gets real bad real fast and its a 6 hour drive home..

When I take my own rig, I can leave here at around 1 am, and am at the shore and launching around 5:30 am, and can be pulling out of the ramp around 1 PM and home by 6:30 PM..
In any case I don't typically do party boats for fluke anymore, as I simply never do well.... Last time I tried I got a keeper and a big blue and maybe 3 shorts.. I was undergunned badly. Guys that were catching fish had huge weird color GULP on gigantic 8 ounce jigs,, Several guys were using double tandem tied -4 ounce jigs, each with 6 inch Gulp and masses of bait globbed on.. Thats what you needed that day to get anywhere near bottom and I was unprepared, using 2 ounce jigs...

My 8YO grandson is driving me crazy, and desperately wants to come to NJ to go salt water fishing.. He watches the videos with me all the time.. Dogfish, sea robins and skates are something he has never seen up close, and he would be fine catching those, but he also loves to eat fish, and I would rather him catch a few fish we can take home. I would hate to have to make him throw back every fluke he caught.

Might be a better plan for me to take my 17 footer down when the Porgies are in the bay, and take him and my son along. Thanks for the heads up..bob

[NoLimit]

Originally Posted by Togfather2530

Fluking sucks period. I don’t mean to be negative but that’s why the party boats are traveling 20 miles to go fluke fishing. It’s not like it was 15 years ago, it’s all going to shit. Sure you can catch some fluke in the bay and if you drift over a good body of fish you can catch a couple of keepers in an hour but that is you being very lucky.If you want the truth you run 20 miles to get a hard bottom to east jabiff and you will get one and a half keepers per man fishing all day LOL. Fluke fishing is a lot of luck as we all know you have to drift over a good body of fish. New Jersey ruined the fluke fishing with the 18 inch regulations. We all need to get our heads out of the sand and wake up to the reality that we ruined this fishery. I took a handicap guy out in the bay in a wheelchair the other week and I was disgusted with what I had to offer him. It’s a disgrace

Worth repeating....and I will go a step further. Fishing for fluke is a long long tradition. So was whiting and ling in the winter. But have you noticed the other traditions that are going by the way side? The shut downs especially targeted other traditions like family restaurants, family clubs, cultural centers, and even churches. Connect the dots before it is too late. There are social forces that do not want these traditions.

[Skolmann]

Originally Posted by Jigman13

I've been catching plenty of keepers this year in the back. Find the peanuts and you'll find the fluke. All my fish been caught on a single jig head and gulp mullet. Nothing fancy. No bucktail. No teaser. Prob 4:1 short to keeper ratio. No giants but fish to 21".

Exactly, find the bait and you’ll find the fluke either off a boat or beach. 👍