Happy 4th of July
The striped bass regulations in NJ have changed. As of 7/2, the regs are now one fish per person between 28 and 31 inches. Smaller and larger fish need to be released. The NJ Bonus program has not been changed. And the circle hook requirement for using natural bait has also not changed.
No shop news today. With the holiday weekend, there isn’t much new stuff to announce.
The fishing remains good, especially from the surf. Fluke is the name of the game, but both bluefish and striped bass are still showing up. The fluke are, as usual, falling for bucktails and Gulp! The blues are taking mullet for those who like to throw bait. If you want to fish lures, topwaters like poppers and spooks are getting attention. Fish the early morning or late evening if you want a bluefish on a lure.
The striped bass in the surf are smaller fish. Mostly shorts and a few that fall into the new slot (see above for those who skip to this part). Sand crabs are taking a lot of those fish, especially the smaller ones, but clams are also getting their share.
Some notable catches:
First, our cover photo: From left to right! Piper, Major, and Logan with a beautiful haul of fluke from the IBSP Surf all on Gulp! Great photo! Nice job guys!
Brett with a 20 inch 2.85 pound fluke from surf.
Bergen County Pete had a day! 29 inch Bass and keeper fluke from the IBSP Surf. Caught on Gulp! and Bucktails (both of them).
Thomas Mazzeo showing us there’s still great fish in the bay with this 9 pound slab
Proof the big blues are still around. Here’s Nicholas Long with the biggest blue we’ve weighed in in a long time. 17.15 pounds and 37.5 inches caught in the surf.
John Brattole with a 20.5 inch 2.55 pound fluke caught off the surf, his first of the year. Nice fish.
Keith Bolen with a 19 inch, 2.25 pound fluke that fell for Gulp! fished on a bucktail in the surf.
@wefish138 with a 23 inch 4.25 pound fluke caught in the kayak. There’s still a lot of fluke in the bay.
Brett yet again with a nice pair of surf caught fluke.
Ray was a bit shell shocked by how busy we were. How busy the whole island seems to be actually. You figure after being with Grumpys for well over 10 years, he would know by now…
