EricDice Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 6 mins ago, cec127 said: OC had sand eels in the surf as of last week just nothing on them. Haven’t heard or seen much of them since that day. Definitely a lot of small fish gorge on sand eels. However two of the biggest bass I’ve seen from the surf came off a sand eel bite during the day (not the same day). In December? That’s what I’m really saying. Will the bigguns turn right down the coast in December when they mostly haven’t left yet according to reports, then stay along the shore to eat sand eels when they could stay in RB or RR & gorge on Bunker or PB? If these are Hudson River bass, I would guess not but I don’t get out enough to have any season or yearly pattern down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adams54 Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Deaone123 said: Moco managed 1 nice sized striper top water this afternoon, was waist deep so fish got unhooked in the water n free to go. Last night got the skunk in nomoco and the north wind was super brutal and there was a few decent sized stripers dead washed up So do dead fish count lol Dead striper from failed C&R and reel in the sand. I'm having nightmares tonight. joefishnj21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyMike609 Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 1 hour ago, chocodove said: Sounds like I picked the wrong year to start surf fishing. (still having fun, though) Don’t listen the comments that say it’s over, Everyone one says it’s over before it even starts.People can catch 50 27” in a morning and come on here and complain about the “rats” and how great it was in past years so just keep fishing. adams54, chocodove, LMBC and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDice Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 (edited) 26 mins ago, adams54 said: Dead striper from failed C&R and reel in the sand. I'm having nightmares tonight. I snagged a pic from his post (below). Is it just me, or does that fish look like it was gaffed behind the eye? Maybe it was discarded because it’s too big for the slot limit? Edited November 24, 2021 by EricDice Slot limit speculation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill cunnane Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 Late December 2004 bite. Sand eels in close. Ocean was like a lake. Just at sunset. Guys were tossing all sorts of plugs but no hookups, even the traditional needlefish plugs did not temp anything. I tossed a 1/2 oz leadhead with a gray sluggo on 10lb mono and light rod. We could keep two fish back then. I managed a doz before calling it quits. Kept the two for the table. This was my last visit to the surf. The 1/2 oz. leadhead and gray sluggo always seemed to work for me. Let it hit bottom, lift the rod tip get it off bottom and let it flutter back down. Bass seemed to hit just before the sluggo reach the bottom. Dhirsch, adams54, joefishnj21 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deaone123 Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 1 hour ago, adams54 said: Dead striper from failed C&R and reel in the sand. I'm having nightmares tonight. Lol my reel aint in the sand what kind of savage you think i am, i guess it looks like it but its angled JerseyMike609 and adams54 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAssasin Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 3 hours ago, Deaone123 said: Moco managed 1 nice sized striper top water this afternoon, was waist deep so fish got unhooked in the water n free to go. Last night got the skunk in nomoco and the north wind was super brutal and there was a few decent sized stripers dead washed up So do dead fish count lol You say a few? That's a shame. Maybe Bycatch from a comm. I hate to see that. Looks like fairly advanced stage of decomposition from the pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelP Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 Rookie to the forum. 45 years old (or young). Fished as a kid in the Navesink for snappers and fluke. Started fishing again last fall after a freshwater trip in VA got me hooked...pun intended. Had my personal best today in terms of the number of stripers caught, not size (well, almost. see below.). Fished north Monmouth County this morning from 9am-12pm. No birds working. No bait visible. No other fisherman or boats as far as I could see north or south of me. Peak high tide to beginning of outgoing. 2-3 ft waves. Decent NW wind with some surface chop. Wasn't expecting much to happen, but my kids were in school, wife was working, so I was fishing no matter what. Hooked up to 10 stripers, officially landed 9 of them, and got bumped another 5 times. They ranged in size from 15-23". The one that came unhooked while I was pulling it up the beach looked like a keeper at about 30". As disappointing as that was, I was just psyched to catch some numbers again after a couple of goose egg outings this past weekend. I was using a 3/8 oz jighead with a 5" shad. Initially, I was using a moderate steady retrieve with a few twitches after every few reels. The shad was probably in the mid to upper water column. Didn't get anything for that 1/2 hour, but the water looked super fishy so I switched it up a bit. Once the lure hit the water I let it dive towards the bottom for a few seconds before I started a slow steady retrieve focusing on the lower water column. I then started exaggerated lifts of the lure getting it to quickly rise 3 ft or so, then let it drop again, reel a few feet and repeat. Boom! Hooked up right away. They continually hit it on the drop within 5-10 ft from shore. Great day that I can reflect on to get me through the inevitable goose eggs to come. Hoping tomorrow brings the same luck, with the addition of the 30+ incher of course. Good luck to all and Happy Turkey Day. Looking forward to gaining some fishing knowledge from the more experienced of you on here. belford perry, yarddog59, adams54 and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Marc H Posted November 24, 2021 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 6 hours ago, EricDice said: The December sand eel run of the last few years is fun & foolproof- even for my dumb a$$. And it’s an extended season - so to speak. But it’s also a total dinkfest. And that sounds like our best case scenario now??!! In other words, the big ones who were going to migrate already went buy in one & only one wave of good bass. Everything else is probably schoolies and be thankful if that happens. (tell me I’m way off, please. ) Don't stop fishing yet. December can be very good. Had one of my best trips ever on a Christmas Eve years ago. 3PM into the dark. All fish over 20-25lbs. Hours of fun without another soul in sight. Caught absolute holy HELL from the wife when I got home. I did not care hobobob, JMB, JimK and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnoozeFishing Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 6 hours ago, EricDice said: In December? That’s what I’m really saying. Will the bigguns turn right down the coast in December when they mostly haven’t left yet according to reports, then stay along the shore to eat sand eels when they could stay in RB or RR & gorge on Bunker or PB? If these are Hudson River bass, I would guess not but I don’t get out enough to have any season or yearly pattern down. In the last 5 years for me if you want to catch a big fish out front, the couple weeks around halloween are the times to get it done. The chances of connecting with big bass short of a random unicorn is pretty low for the rest of the year, though this is my favorite time to fish just because of the numbers you can get into. EricDice, kurazy kracka and Irishfire18 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 7 hours ago, adams54 said: Dead striper from failed C&R and reel in the sand. I'm having nightmares tonight. Or from a boat as well. 1 hour ago, SnoozeFishing said: In the last 5 years for me if you want to catch a big fish out front, the couple weeks around halloween are the times to get it done. The chances of connecting with big bass short of a random unicorn is pretty low for the rest of the year, though this is my favorite time to fish just because of the numbers you can get into. True. You could have 20-30 fish days of 20”+ fish. also for those that continue to think the bay fish will turn around the hook and head south, im of the opposite opinion. TheLuckyStrike, EricDice, kurazy kracka and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnoozeFishing Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 32 mins ago, Goldy said: Or from a boat as well. True. You could have 20-30 fish days of 20”+ fish. also for those that continue to think the bay fish will turn around the hook and head south, im of the opposite opinion. I’ll reiterate my theory that bass follow the same route every year and by same route I mean like within a mile width. I think that’s why most of the big fish caught now are at the 3 mile line. I just think the fish that take the route further from shore survive. Let’s see how many make it from that huge class of schooly 26-28” fish that have been following the coast the last couple of years. EricDice and SurfCaster01289 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Caboose Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 15 20 years ago u want to catch big fish southern part of state cape may rips and Delaware bay no place better. In bay one day buddy threw third of his hoagie overboard cow slurped it up no lie. still tons of bait there not many stripes. Big fish cut through C&R canal. Fish have changed migration pattern. My guess because of warmer temps further out that provides plenty food. in time east coast main spawning area will probably be Hudson and north cause of deteriorating Chesapeake conditions TheLuckyStrike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLuckyStrike Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 I believe that most of those fish on the north end are not coming further. There was also an epic bite on big fish (boat only reports) from a close friend in the southern part of the state, one you wouldn’t guess. It went on for 3 weeks and he’s still on many in the back and outfront. Every year is different, I have caught some nice fish this fall sporadically but my numbers are way down and I’ve been pretty consistent for a long time. But I hit my regular spots along the coast. I didn’t explore enough. I haven’t been I a blitz yet this entire season and that hasn’t happened in a very long time. December can be incredible just hope for a little warm up and sandeels. Skunked last night and cold as hell Dhirsch, adams54 and Whortleberry 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdowning Posted November 24, 2021 Report Share Posted November 24, 2021 9 hours ago, BassAssasin said: You say a few? That's a shame. Maybe Bycatch from a comm. I hate to see that. Looks like fairly advanced stage of decomposition from the pic. Looks like the work of gulls to me. Pecking a hole plus the eye is gone. Pfantum Pfishah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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