With a long winter behind us, the striped bass have shown up from Raritan Bay all the way to Cape May and they are bigger and hungrier than ever.
Reports from NJSaltwaterfisherman. com were slow last week with only a few diehard fishermen braving the weather in search of the first bass and bragging rights for the 2010 season. April rolled in and the boards lit up. It was Christmas in April on NJSaltwaterfisherman. com with reports of keeper bass from the backwaters of the Raritan Bay to the tip of Cape May. It’s “fish on” in the Garden State with some of the world’s best bass fishing and it starts now.
Capt. Bob from Sandy Hook Fishing Adventures couldn’t wait any longer to wet a line and hit his favorite spot in Belford to test the waters. Capt. Bob was able to get what he wanted in a short period of time and kicked off the season with four bass from 22 to 26 inches and bragging rights back at the marina. Capt. Bob is ready for an excellent season ahead so if you’re ready, drop him a line at sandyhookfishing@ verizon.net.
Capt. John from Sea Bright aboard Reel Fun Sport Fishing is waiting just another week or two for the numbers to pick up and believes cleaner water and the arrival of bunker will set the stage for the best season yet.
Barnegat Bay this week was like shooting fish in a barrel. Leave it up to Capt. Steve Purul from Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters to find the party. Early season light tackle bass action was the game Capt. Steve played. Regulars Jay Simmons and Ernie Rosenberg were on board teaming up for great striper fishing.
T hey had their first and second “doubled
up” with stripers and if that was not enough, Ernie had the honors of securing the team’s first limit of stripers at 29 inches and 33 inches.
The first day of the season, Reel Fantasea saw eight stripers with the second trip seeing a solid 17 total bass come over the rail along with a limit of stripers to 33 inches. Lock in a date with Capt. Steve and take the day off — it’s for your health (www.realfantaseafighing. com).
Cape May’s Capt. John Peterson from Unreel Sport Fishing is in the thick of it and it’s a great sign of what’s to come. UnReel Sport Fishing is living up to its name and had an eight-man limit of 16 bass in the box for the past six days in a row with fish up to 24 pounds. Capt. John definitely gets bragging rights and this can only mean the start of an incredible season (www.fishtheunreel. com).
Fish on!