New Jersey Inshore Fun 2014

[MuskieBait]

I wasn't able to visit San Diego for some hot tuna and yellowtail action during this El Nino. This is as close as I can get to that action without paying for a charter to chase tuna on the Atlantic coast. Perhaps the El Nino also affected the fishing off New Jersey. Water has been warm and the August bonito fishing had been phenomenal (relatively speaking...but not on my day of fishing). I hope the hot trend continues and the Little Tunny fishing will turn on in September.

Full story here:

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/...day-1.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/...day-2.html

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/...day-3.html

I caught 7 new species on the trip, bringing my total to #410!

Brook Silverside (Labidesthes sicculus) - Species #404



Striped Searobin (Prionotus evolans) - Species #405



Atlantic Bonito (Sarda sarda) - Species #406





Banded Rudderfish (Seriola zonata) - Species #407



Northern Searobin (Prionotus carolinus) - Species #408



Altantic Chub Mackerel (Scomber colias) - Species #409



Northern Kingcroaker (Menticirrhus saxatilis) - Species #410

[OldTimer]

Hey - looks like a great time was had to me.

Sure beats world reality lately.

Thanks for sharing MB. Good stuff. Great pics.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MuskieBait]

Yeah, that party boat trip was a ton of fun. It was a SLOW day...I'm not kidding...action was slow for the most part except for the last stop with wide open mackerel action. Of course, today (Sep 3) they had limits+ Bluefish and multiple bonito action for each angler. Now THAT would be a blast! Check this out on their report page. Drool...

http://www.njqueenmary.com/reports.aspx

I would take shoulder-to-shoulder party boat fishing for mackerel on light gear over shoulder-to-shoulder river fishing for salmon any day.

At least on party boats the people are not snagging fish, and the ones that cross your lines are truly novice anglers.

On salmon streams, you have a lot of googans snagging and lining fish...and even experienced people cross your lines. The worst are the centerpinners making hero drifts and cut your drift off right in front of you. I can't deal with those antics anymore.

Suck to be back to reality...can't wait to get away again. #RealVariety #DragBurner #SaltLife #BringOnAlbies

[Eli]

Had a great time down there...and yes, seeing those pics now sure makes me wish I had thrown in $60 and got on that party boat with you, Ken. Just look at that Striped Searobin!

...I still hear that drag-screaming take of the Flathead Kitten. Next time...

[MuskieBait]

Yeah, I wish you on the party boat too. With a bit of bait, there would be no issue catching a searobin that day, Striped and Northern.

But that's always the gamble with party boat fishing. Some days there are variety, and some days there are simply one or two species but nothing else. It could have been a bluefish only day for me, just as likely as being a multi species day. I got lucky with a fruitful day.

That drag-screaming take was sick. Not sure what went wrong to be honest. It was looking really good. If you like, don't use circle hooks next time if J hooks give you more confidence. It's all about confidence in the end. However, my guess is that the flathead might be a smaller on that simply grabbed onto the bait and ran, thus, when we tightened down and reel to "set" the circle hook, the sunfish simple ripped off the hook. That's my theory anyways.

They are waiting for you. Plan a next trip